The Internet Is For Porn

A truthful confession by a satisfied Dell customer. LOL

A Distasteful Prank

Recently, I received a audio recording of 2 guys making fun of a Muslim prata seller by repeatively ordering pork in their orders. Whether the recordings is real or not, I still find the entire "joke", if you still want to call it that way, distasteful. A more worrying problem is that people are laughing over it. Have the racial harmony build up by our fathers starting to crumble away?

Attended the Microsoft Windows Embedded Seminar yesterday. After the seminar, I realised that I have not done any actual programming for over one year. It's been THAT long... All those testing in Motorola really have zombified the developer in me. Even though, occasionally there's a need to study and review codes, the entire process have slowly drain my drive for programming... Do I still have the ability to write a decent piece of code out. Is this the beginning of the end of my developer life? I need to find the drive back or have the damage been done?

What's on TV

Found some time to watch some tele last night and saw Channel 5 is showing CSI:Miami. I never like that show for only one reason, Horatio Caine. Ok, he may have serious experience of his family and live with criminals. That doesn't give him the rights to go around baring his teeth and behaving like an a$$hole with a capital A. Of all the 3 CSI series, I still prefer the original, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. It is still the best and does not involve so much plot twist as the other two spin-offs. The crew are more natural and I can link better with them, especially my favorite, team supervisor Gil Grissom. Anyway, the series is getting a bit ridiculous with all the scientific equipments used. Sometimes, it's like "Are you sure that really exist or you made it up just to solve the crime? How come that is not used in the other crimes?" Other than this, there is one thing I learnt from watching all the CSI dramas; I will never want to work as a Crime Scene Investigator. Look at the amount of OT they have to put in to test and analyze every single piece of evidence. Checking every tool in the world to find the correct murder weapon to match the stab wounds? No thanks, I got a life by the way. The most amazing thing is the CSI team can do this in record time. Hah...

Oh, I heard US is showing the third season of Lost. That started to be a good and intriguing show but all the questions, mysteries and twists have really made me "lost". :p I hope the producers just tied up all the loose ends in season 3 and let the people be "found". ;p Else it will be another confusing X-Files series.

Stupid Man U lost to Arsenal make me unable to sleep the whole night. No matter how I try, the images and the scoreline kept appearing on my mind. I can't believe the way Man U players collapse and allow Arsenal to come back from 0-1 down to win 2-1. In the final 10 mins some more. The way they play after scoring is damn sloppy. They practically let Arsenal come at them. It is one thing to lose to a superior team, it is another to lose without a fight. Wasted a great opportunity to extend the lead over Chelsea by 9 points. And the stupid f*$king referee allow all the hacking and fouls by Arsenal to go unpunished, while everything Man U did is a foul. WTF! The whole match is joke. Got my adrenaline so high that kept me awake the whole night even after the match ended. I curse Theirry Henry to get his legs broken n never play again. Damn I shouldn't stay up to watch the match. !*@&#

The Truth About Korean Dramas

So Rain is finally here. What I mean is Rain, the Korean actor, not the weather, which is enjoying its fun on us for the past few weeks. Looking at the commotion at the airport when Rain arrived on the news, it shows Korean drama have reach a feverish heights. This brings me to the main topic. Do you know why Korean dramas become so popular suddenly? The reason being Korean drama follow a standard set of formula, based on our everyday life with a pinch of fairy tale. I called it the "Princess Formula". Basically all the Korean dramas follow this method. No matter how different is the settings, background and actors occupations, it is always the same things.

In the drama, the female lead, or the princess for this case, is a poor but pretty, kind-hearted and out-spoken girl (This is to let the female audience relate her to them). Then comes along not 1 but 2 capable, wickedly good-looking and rich guys, who fell in love the girl at the same time. The male lead is of course the prince (白马王子), while the other handsome dude should be the fairy-god mother? :p Anyway, how can a fairy tale do without a witch? So, in comes a woman (the witch), who likes the male lead too. She will scheme and harm the female lead in order to get the male lead. There you have it, one real-life modern version of the Cinderella/Snow White fairy tale. If you dun believe, run down to the nearest VCD shop and look at all the Korean drams. ;) Or go to this website to read on some of the popular korean dramas of recent years and see if I am right.

Since all women like princess fairy tales, they will fantasize that they are the female leads, get smitten and drool over the handsome actors with their gentlemen behaviour. That's not all, they will start to compare their spouse or boyfriend with the actors, complaining that we are not as gentleman or caring as them. So my advice to all my guy friends, dun let your other half watch too much Korean dramas. Yes, it may distract her and keep you from accompanying her, but the side-effects are much more than you can bare. ^_^

Oh.. for those looking for Rain, here is a blog on everyday happenings related to the singer. Rain Fever

Argh... got stop by the MRT security to check my haversack on my way to work. Guess I have that suspicious terrorist look :( or the secuirty officer noticed that I am shivering in fear. It's because I having a stomachache and need to go to the washroom :p

Thai TV Ads

The Thai never stop to amaze me with their creativity in making funny commercials ever since Smooth E. Compare to Singapore which have a higher educated population and workforce, all we can come out is silly ones featuring Zoe Tay telling people to swallow. No wonder we are criticized by Ian Livingstone for our lack of creativity in game development.

Quote:

"The tendency here [Singapore] is to make copies of previous games, rather than to think about what the world hasn't seen before or what new games haven't been done before."

A Rainy Sunday

It rain all day today where the weather is cold. It is one of those days where all you wanted to do is to lie on the bed cuddle under the bed sheets to sleep. Or just sit next to the window, listening to Duncan Shiek and watch the world outside goes by. A great way to relax and prepare for the start of another hectic work week tomorrow.

Woman like to ask the strangest questions. Questions like "What should I wear tonight?", "Do I look nice in this?" and the worse of them all, "Am I fat?" have tormented us men for years. And as if that wasn't enough, my adorable wife came up with a new one "Why do couples hold hands?". If you have the answer to this question, please let me know, so that I can give you the second part of the question, "Why do couples kiss?" :p

YES! IT'S ALIVE!!!

Update: 11th Jan 2007
Shit, ever since I got this working on my PC, it is in my mind every minute and every second. Which player to buy or sell, which tactics to use, who to mark and who to take freekicks and corners etc... Argh....

YES! YES! YES! Finally, after more than 3 long years, I have finally managed to get Championship Manager 00/01 to run on WinXP SP2. I have given up hope in getting it to work but too reluctant to remove it from my PC as I always have a feeling it can be fixed one day. And today is THE day. HAHAHA! Everything is working, my old save game data restored, able to run and play a match. What a way to start 2007. Whooohooo...

A Few Interesting Blog Posts

I was searching through Tomorrow for news of the bright light spotted across the Singapore sky, ended up finding a few blog posts worthly of note.

1. Maia Lee - A New Piece?
Metrosexual Me wrote a post on why we should ask for a new piece when buying clothing.

2. Do we really need tuition?
Read a parent's worries as she ponders whether to engage a tuition teacher for her daughter and whether tuition is the correct solution.
I very much agreed with Trisha Reloaded views. My sister-in-law, who is a part-time tuition teacher, has seen students who are good enough not to take tuitions. Have our society become too demanding for our own good? Are we setting too high a standard for our children?

3. Boycott Bee Cheng Hiang!
Sparklette is pissed by the underhand method use by Bee Cheng Hiang to pass off badly charred Bah Kwa as edibles ones.

4. My neighbourhood… after dark
theonlinecitizen took a walk round his neighbourhood at 3am in the morning and made a startling discovery.

09th Jan 2007:
5. Marriage for all the wrong reasons?
Diodati had a conversation with a member of her forum on the general attitude of Singaporeans today towards marriage and life, which I find quite true.

Update the fireworks video on my New Year post. Find the previous damn lame with those three guys. *puke* If you listen carefully to the new video, pass all the screamings and "woo"ing by the swah koo Singaporeans -_-", you actually can hear the music, which syncronized with the fireworks display.

The Ugly Side Of Singaporeans

For such a civilized and highly educated society, the behaviour and attitudes of the Singapore population at times is far worse than those in the less developed countries.

E.g. 1: Sign? What Sign?
The pictures says it all... A case of selective blindness by some Singaporeans.












E.g. 2: The Maid Will Do It
A topic posted by Naked Cow on our overly reliance on maids. So much so that even simple task is expected to be done by the maid.

E.g. 3: It's Not My Job
This sign spotted at Giant supermarket. A look into the bin - Empty. A look on the floor - litter with spoilt vegatables.

A New Year, A New Chapter.

*Sigh* It is the start of another year. Dun ask me for any new year resolutions. One, I dun make them cause I am too damn lazy and... Two, I always dun have the discpline to complete my resolutions. I will do one this year. Yes just one which is earn more money and KEEP IT! Always find myself broke. Must learn to control my spendings which means no more teabreak snacks or buying of computer stuffs. Well, wish everyone have a great year ahead. Keep smiling ^_^

P.S. The photo is this year's New Year fireworks display at Marina Bay, courtesy of etegration. Below is a funny video footage of the countdown.