I am so pissed today. The other day, an ex-colleague, Krishna, from my previous company, GES, called to ask me on something they have problem on. He has sent me an email on his problem. I find it quite strange, it's been more than a year since I have left that company already. They can still call me, asking me how to do this and that. How came I remember that especially since I have not been working on it all these while? But I still gave them some suggestions and apologise if it doesn't work out as I can't really recall it after such a long time. Guess what?! Today, an email reply from Krishna and in his own words "At least would you please give any info about adding check sum to bootloader?". I thought WTH! That prick is accusing me of withholding information? I am not working there anymore and is not obliged to support them on anything. What I did is only based on goodwill and this is what I get. Grrr.....
Friday, June 30, 2006
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Star Wars Band.
Found this video on YouTube of Gnarls Barkley singing "Crazy" at the recent MTV Movie Awards. Everyone is dressed as a famous Star Wars character. Love those guitar playing stormtroopers.
I like to see such acts, whereby movie characters are potrayed as a pop band. Here's another one based on Final Fantasy: Spirit Within characters.
I like to see such acts, whereby movie characters are potrayed as a pop band. Here's another one based on Final Fantasy: Spirit Within characters.
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Lessons Learnt From World Cup
Once again, the World Cup has taught us some valuable lessons.
1. It is OK to Cheat.
There are so many divings and play acting to win penalties and get opponents yellow or red carded. And these cheaters often are unpunished. The most famous is the Italian penalty unfairly awarded against the Australians. It is that the Italian player, Grosso, purposely tripped himself over the lying Australian playerto win a penalty. Worse still is the blind referee believes it is a foul and awarded the penalty. Even though the whole world claims Grosso cheated from the video replay, he is not punished. Not even a fine.
2. Life is Not Fair.
Good performance is not equal to progress through the World Cup. Just ask Australia, Mexico, Ghana, Czech and Ivory Coast. They are out of the World Cup even though they play better football than the others. Soon Germany or Argentina, facing each other in the quarters, will join them. All lousy teams like England and Italy can go through easily performing badly or even through cheating.
Oh may I remind you, the best team does not always win the World Cup. I hope I dun see England lifting the Cup comes 9th July. :S
3. Lady Luck Have a Bad Taste.
Luck does not like to bless the good people. England, despite playing like shit, still can progress to the quarter-finals. Their group is easy, last 16's opponent, Ecuador, easy and can't score. Now their quarter-finals oppoenent, Portugal is below strength due to suspensions and injuries.
1. It is OK to Cheat.
There are so many divings and play acting to win penalties and get opponents yellow or red carded. And these cheaters often are unpunished. The most famous is the Italian penalty unfairly awarded against the Australians. It is that the Italian player, Grosso, purposely tripped himself over the lying Australian playerto win a penalty. Worse still is the blind referee believes it is a foul and awarded the penalty. Even though the whole world claims Grosso cheated from the video replay, he is not punished. Not even a fine.
2. Life is Not Fair.
Good performance is not equal to progress through the World Cup. Just ask Australia, Mexico, Ghana, Czech and Ivory Coast. They are out of the World Cup even though they play better football than the others. Soon Germany or Argentina, facing each other in the quarters, will join them. All lousy teams like England and Italy can go through easily performing badly or even through cheating.
Oh may I remind you, the best team does not always win the World Cup. I hope I dun see England lifting the Cup comes 9th July. :S
3. Lady Luck Have a Bad Taste.
Luck does not like to bless the good people. England, despite playing like shit, still can progress to the quarter-finals. Their group is easy, last 16's opponent, Ecuador, easy and can't score. Now their quarter-finals oppoenent, Portugal is below strength due to suspensions and injuries.
Monday, June 26, 2006
Having a bad flu for the whole of last week. Thought I have recovered this morning, but once I step into the office, it came back again. maybe i developing some office withdrawal syndrome. :p Think I really have to pay the doctor a visit. Lately, I am getting frustrated and upset with everything. I will get very irritated when things doesn't go my way or to my liking. It is like the whole world owns me something. Sometimes, I wish I have a punching bag to vent all my anger.
Duno why I am feeling this way, maybe it is due to the frustration I am facing at my workplace. It's been 6 months since I am here but I still dun feel like I am doing anything productive. Everyday it is testing, reporting test failure, follow up on these failures, occasional building of software images. For some, this is life to them cos this is so relaxing and no brains cells are hurt. For my case, I dun feel any sense of accomplishment. To me, this is a die-pan job. Sigh... should have gone to Lawton & Yeo. Perhaps it's time to update my resume. But firstly, must get this sickening flu bug off my nose.
Duno why I am feeling this way, maybe it is due to the frustration I am facing at my workplace. It's been 6 months since I am here but I still dun feel like I am doing anything productive. Everyday it is testing, reporting test failure, follow up on these failures, occasional building of software images. For some, this is life to them cos this is so relaxing and no brains cells are hurt. For my case, I dun feel any sense of accomplishment. To me, this is a die-pan job. Sigh... should have gone to Lawton & Yeo. Perhaps it's time to update my resume. But firstly, must get this sickening flu bug off my nose.
England: The New Italy?
Saw the World Cup match between England and Ecuador last night. Man, I thought I was watching Italy playing. I have never been an England supporter cos I hated their boasting and hyping everything. Was hoping Ecuador will give them a tight slap. But England's performance last night is a total disgrace. 4-5-1 formation against Ecuador?!! What was Sven-Goran Eriksson thinking?!! Wow... Ecuador must be damn good cos England have to play with a 5 man midfield to stop them. As for the game itself, England play without any real sting in their attack. They just stroke the ball around as if it is a training session and were lucky not be a goal down when Ecuador's Carlos Tenorio had his shot hits the bar. And just as I predicted, England scored through a set-piece from a David Beckham's free kick. It is the only thing they know. After tat, they hid back into their hole (An Italian's specialty). The most disgraceful thing is seeing English players play the time wasting tactics near the end of the game (Another Italian's specialty) where they have not one but two players booked for it. Didn’t the English consider such tactics as an ungentlemanly behaviour last time?
Another thing I like to complain is what’s Sven relationship to Owen Hargreaves? He is a midfielder! Why name him as right-back when Jamie Carragher is a better option. And every time, there is a substitution; it is always Own Hargreaves, even when he have better players on the bench. Anyway, the competition is not always won by the best team. Maybe after seeing the way Greece won Euro04, Sven tries to do the same for the World Cup by playing defensive tactics, boring their opponents to death. After all he was coaching in Italy before he became England Manager...
P.S. Seems like all the good attacking teams are dropping like flies. Quite a waste that teams like Czech, Holland and Mexico have to go out so early. Hope Argentina, Brazil and Germany goes all the way
Another thing I like to complain is what’s Sven relationship to Owen Hargreaves? He is a midfielder! Why name him as right-back when Jamie Carragher is a better option. And every time, there is a substitution; it is always Own Hargreaves, even when he have better players on the bench. Anyway, the competition is not always won by the best team. Maybe after seeing the way Greece won Euro04, Sven tries to do the same for the World Cup by playing defensive tactics, boring their opponents to death. After all he was coaching in Italy before he became England Manager...
P.S. Seems like all the good attacking teams are dropping like flies. Quite a waste that teams like Czech, Holland and Mexico have to go out so early. Hope Argentina, Brazil and Germany goes all the way
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Another "Money Spinning" Show?
Last night Channel 8 shows the first episode of 全民创意争霸赛 (It's Showtime). It is sort like a direct copy of the Japanese version of 超级变变变, where contestants create all kinds of objects using their bodies, props and most importantly their creativity. Back to It's Showtime, it has the same concept. Contestants are made up of teams from various schools in Singapore. The funny thing since this is a creativity contest, why does we still need to have a viewers voting system as one of the judging criteria? Isn't this silly? Yes even though the overall scores is evenly divided between viewers votes and judges marks, both my wife and I still feel that viewers voting have no place in such competitions. As I have pointed out in one of my earlier post, my reasons being as long as you have a huge support (for this case, big schools), you will get thru the competition even though your performance sucks. Which brings us the question: What is the logic behind MediaCorp decision to add viewers votes in this kind of contest? Well.... see my post title...
P.S. Co-host Kym Ng's dress last night looks really horrible. It's like.... huh???
P.S. Co-host Kym Ng's dress last night looks really horrible. It's like.... huh???
Monday, June 19, 2006
哗啦啦... 下雨了...
A heavy downpour occur today morning. So heavy that the blocks of flats facing us seems to be disappearing behind a curtain of rain. Scary sia... We even thought of calling a call to go to work even though my wife's workplace is just across the street. Luckily the rain subside around 8.45am when my dear and I are about to leave for work, else we will be drenched no matter how big an umbrella we have. Whew....
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Weekends Outings
Saturday: ChongQing Hotpot & Ah Chew Desserts
My sisters and I brought my father out for dinner to celebrate Father's Day. We went down to Beach Road to have 重庆老火锅 (ChongQing Hotpot) to try the 麻辣火锅. It is a buffet style steamboat where the highlight is the super spicy hotpot. I have tried 麻辣火锅 at The Magic Of Chong Qing Hot Pot at Tanglin Shopping Centre, which isn't very spicy, but this one takes the cake. One tiny sip and my tongue is on fire and numb. Wooo... take about breathing out fire.
After dinner, I recommend we go try Ah Chew Dessert just along Liang Seah Street. The shop is famous for its Cantonese Desserts. Being Cantonese, this is something we won't reject. The place is packed full but we are lucky enough to get a table (free sitting by the way). As we were there quite late, most of the good stuff are sold out among them 蛋花马蹄露 (Water chestnut paste with egg). Mum used to make this for us and it is one of my favourite. I still remember she learn to cook this dessert from 方太, a Hong Kong TV Chef. The cold 鲜奶钝蛋 (Fresh Milk Steamed Egg) is a recommeded dessert for me. Other than these two, the hot sesame paste, peanut paste and almond paste also looks and smells very nice to me. Will definitely come back with my wife some other day to fulfill my wish of eating 马蹄露.
Sunday: Pet Movers
My wife and I, together with my in-laws brought Mickey to Pet Movers. It is a pet farm, which have an open field where dogs can run around freely and enjoy the companies of other dogs, sniffing each other's backside :p. But do be careful when walking around the open field as the dogs have planted several "land mines" around. Shame on those owners who don't remove them. As for Mickey, he is so scared there, afraid to mingle with other dogs. They also have a wading pool there for dogs to swim in. Our timid dog is so horrified when we place him into the pool that he struggle desperately to get out of it. Click here to see more photos.
After dinner, I recommend we go try Ah Chew Dessert just along Liang Seah Street. The shop is famous for its Cantonese Desserts. Being Cantonese, this is something we won't reject. The place is packed full but we are lucky enough to get a table (free sitting by the way). As we were there quite late, most of the good stuff are sold out among them 蛋花马蹄露 (Water chestnut paste with egg). Mum used to make this for us and it is one of my favourite. I still remember she learn to cook this dessert from 方太, a Hong Kong TV Chef. The cold 鲜奶钝蛋 (Fresh Milk Steamed Egg) is a recommeded dessert for me. Other than these two, the hot sesame paste, peanut paste and almond paste also looks and smells very nice to me. Will definitely come back with my wife some other day to fulfill my wish of eating 马蹄露.
Sunday: Pet Movers
My wife and I, together with my in-laws brought Mickey to Pet Movers. It is a pet farm, which have an open field where dogs can run around freely and enjoy the companies of other dogs, sniffing each other's backside :p. But do be careful when walking around the open field as the dogs have planted several "land mines" around. Shame on those owners who don't remove them. As for Mickey, he is so scared there, afraid to mingle with other dogs. They also have a wading pool there for dogs to swim in. Our timid dog is so horrified when we place him into the pool that he struggle desperately to get out of it. Click here to see more photos.Saturday, June 17, 2006
Tied Down By Cables?
My PC table is starting to get messy again. I remember I just tidied it up last weekend. I realise that I have this big bag of cables and accessories for every electonic gadget I own. Every gadget has its own USB data cable and charger. The frustrating thing is all gadget's USB data cable uses their type of USB connector to the gadget. So you end up with one cable for your digital camera, another for your Ipod, another for your videocam and the list goes on... And to make matters worse, there are the composite cables for your PC speakers, TV, DVD players and different chargers for each gadget. Why can't the manufacturers just agree on a common standard for the damn USB data cable and chargers?
Cable SpaghettiFriday, June 16, 2006
How well do you know your neighbour?
Have you ever notice we hardly knew our neighbours nowadays? I remember my parents telling last time when they were staying in Kampung or Chinatown area, everybody living in the same street knew each other, helping each other out. Even during my younger years staying in Redhill, my family is on very good terms with our neighbours. So good that even after we shifted away for more than 6 years, they still come to attend my mother’s funeral when they saw the news of my mother’s accident in the papers. I still vivid memories of my childhood where I used to play with my neighbours’ children, hanging around the corridors and void decks. But those days are gone now. People have drifted further and further away from each other. Especially in those new estates area, everybody just closed their door, shutting themselves in. We hardly see our neighbours let alone talk to them. There are still those occasional encounters at the doorways and lifts, but all we give is just a simple smile and ‘hello’. The funniest thing is my neighbours are such total strangers to me that sometimes I don’t even recognise them when we run into each other outside.
The other day, my colleague is talking about the games we play when we are young. I realise that our children now don’t go out and play with our neighbours’ children. They sat at home with their Playstations and computers, serving the net, chatting with friends on the IRC. Heck, their best friends might not even be staying in our neighbourhood but their classmates at school or someone they met in some internet forums or chat rooms. Walking around our HDB flats, the atmosphere is like a ghost town. Neighbours are supposed to be our closest friends. Yet we have cut off ourselves that we have become total strangers.
The other day, my colleague is talking about the games we play when we are young. I realise that our children now don’t go out and play with our neighbours’ children. They sat at home with their Playstations and computers, serving the net, chatting with friends on the IRC. Heck, their best friends might not even be staying in our neighbourhood but their classmates at school or someone they met in some internet forums or chat rooms. Walking around our HDB flats, the atmosphere is like a ghost town. Neighbours are supposed to be our closest friends. Yet we have cut off ourselves that we have become total strangers.
My New Sony Ericsson K750i :)
My wife saw my earlier post and got me the Sony Ericsson K750i. Woohooo... so happy. It's been a long wait to get my hands on this baby. What I like about this phone is the 2 megapixel camera. Now I can take sharp and clear photos wherever I go. Thank you darling :)
My new phone :D
A photo taken with the phone
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Must read for guys who have girlfriend n wife.
Found this funny article by a football critic @ Soccernet about women and watching soccer.
"When you get a text from your loved one saying something like 'Love You' or some other pithy comment, the proper response is, apparently, to text back straight away 'Love You Too' and, for best practice, add something equally as meaningful and romantic. Failure to do this will result in 'bad points' being awarded against you for which the eventual sentence will be swift, unexpected and almost certainly painful."
"When you get a text from your loved one saying something like 'Love You' or some other pithy comment, the proper response is, apparently, to text back straight away 'Love You Too' and, for best practice, add something equally as meaningful and romantic. Failure to do this will result in 'bad points' being awarded against you for which the eventual sentence will be swift, unexpected and almost certainly painful."
Before
AfterWednesday, June 14, 2006
Screw You Starfug!
Dug up my TV antenna the other day and connect to my room TV. Managed to tune to the Indonesia channel SCTV , which broadcast the World Cup for free! A big hurray for people who like me, who prefer to stay at home to watch the World Cup than goes to McDonald's. And a big FU! to Starhub, who charges us to subscribe to their "special" World Cup package. So special that according to a forum, the commentary sucks BIG TIME! WHAT! No Martin Tyler!. Plus no pre-match formation preview, no half-time analysis! Pay $10-$15 for this type of lousy broadcast? NO WAY! Now I still can watch the World Cup Live. Although there's still no Martin Tyler :(, at least the commentaries are more professional and doesn't call Paraguay Columbia -_-"
Monday, June 12, 2006
"But there never seems to be enough time,
To do the things you want to do
Once you find them..." From the song, Time in A Bottle.
Sigh... the weekend zoom pass again. So fast that there isn’t much time for me to do any personal things. Life is getting more and more robotic. I have a long list of things to do and yet I just can’t seems to find the time to do them. Nowadays I hardly play any PC games. I dun even watch the World Cup, just did a quick check on the results every morning. Actually it is also because I din subscribed to Starhub World Cup Pay-Per-View. Wait till I setup my TV antenna to watch it on RTM1/2 or SCTV. Argh.. another item on my TO-DO list.
I know it’s all about planning your time and prioritizing your tasks. But either my planning sucks or shit always happens to me. Whatever I plan, it always does work out well. Can’t imagine what life will be like if I were to have kids. Sometimes, you really have to compromise between family, work and personal life. Sadly for me, personal time is always the one who have to sacrifice.
To do the things you want to do
Once you find them..." From the song, Time in A Bottle.
Sigh... the weekend zoom pass again. So fast that there isn’t much time for me to do any personal things. Life is getting more and more robotic. I have a long list of things to do and yet I just can’t seems to find the time to do them. Nowadays I hardly play any PC games. I dun even watch the World Cup, just did a quick check on the results every morning. Actually it is also because I din subscribed to Starhub World Cup Pay-Per-View. Wait till I setup my TV antenna to watch it on RTM1/2 or SCTV. Argh.. another item on my TO-DO list.
I know it’s all about planning your time and prioritizing your tasks. But either my planning sucks or shit always happens to me. Whatever I plan, it always does work out well. Can’t imagine what life will be like if I were to have kids. Sometimes, you really have to compromise between family, work and personal life. Sadly for me, personal time is always the one who have to sacrifice.
Friday, June 09, 2006
Rants For the Week
Have a couple of rants to make over the past week. Written them down long ago but can't quite find the time to post them.
Money CAN buy success…
Ever since Chelsea football club has been bought over by the super wealthy Russian Oil tycoon, Roman Abramovich, money is the least of their worries. These days they simply go out and buy whoever they want at any cost. Take for this coming season; they have acquired the services of Michael Ballack and Andriy Shevchenko plus the young talents like Salomon Kalou and Jon Obi Mikel to add to their already overly talented squad. They can just win everything easily without breaking a sweat. And to think that Jose Mourinho still has the nerve to say that winning the English Premier League is tough. Hell, with the kind of squad available, they can win the European Champions League even with an idiot as their manager. They are luring the best players from other clubs even though the club itself is not willing to let the player go. Using cash and the promise of success with the squad they have, which player will not be tempted to join them? And the way they over paid to get the players they want is causing everybody to overpriced their players. They deserve no respect from me. All their success is bought. There is no pride in this kind of success. No matter how much Chelsea will try, they will not gain the same support as Liverpool, Arsenal or even Man U has. Oh… I pray that they never win the Champions League.
Singapore Idols - Are they really that popular?
Lately, there is a string of idols show on TV one coming after the other. Immediately after Project Superstar comes Campus Superstar follow by Superbands with the latest being the Singapore Idol Season 2. Other than the winning contestant, I believe the biggest winner in all these shows must be the phone companies and the Mediacorp. Charging 50 cents for every SMS or phone calls made, they must be laughing all the way to the bank from the amount of votes being cast for each show. Imagining if every idol competition adopts a charity organization? Guess that organization won’t have problems raising funds for the next few years. ;) From the experience, we also see how immature Singaporean youth can be, wasting so much money and effort on star chasing someone, whom you may probably forgotten by this time next year (Taufik / Sylvester Sim anyone?).
Another provoking thought is the contestants’ fate in the competition is determined by the number of votes they received even though a large number of the votes may come from a small group of people. Is it really a fair way in determining the contestant’s popularity? Why not make it such a way that all SMS/calls from the same number are counted as 1 vote and let the judges’ marks have a higher influence in the final score. Won’t this be a fairer result and give every contestant a better judgment?
Money CAN buy success…
Ever since Chelsea football club has been bought over by the super wealthy Russian Oil tycoon, Roman Abramovich, money is the least of their worries. These days they simply go out and buy whoever they want at any cost. Take for this coming season; they have acquired the services of Michael Ballack and Andriy Shevchenko plus the young talents like Salomon Kalou and Jon Obi Mikel to add to their already overly talented squad. They can just win everything easily without breaking a sweat. And to think that Jose Mourinho still has the nerve to say that winning the English Premier League is tough. Hell, with the kind of squad available, they can win the European Champions League even with an idiot as their manager. They are luring the best players from other clubs even though the club itself is not willing to let the player go. Using cash and the promise of success with the squad they have, which player will not be tempted to join them? And the way they over paid to get the players they want is causing everybody to overpriced their players. They deserve no respect from me. All their success is bought. There is no pride in this kind of success. No matter how much Chelsea will try, they will not gain the same support as Liverpool, Arsenal or even Man U has. Oh… I pray that they never win the Champions League.
Singapore Idols - Are they really that popular?
Lately, there is a string of idols show on TV one coming after the other. Immediately after Project Superstar comes Campus Superstar follow by Superbands with the latest being the Singapore Idol Season 2. Other than the winning contestant, I believe the biggest winner in all these shows must be the phone companies and the Mediacorp. Charging 50 cents for every SMS or phone calls made, they must be laughing all the way to the bank from the amount of votes being cast for each show. Imagining if every idol competition adopts a charity organization? Guess that organization won’t have problems raising funds for the next few years. ;) From the experience, we also see how immature Singaporean youth can be, wasting so much money and effort on star chasing someone, whom you may probably forgotten by this time next year (Taufik / Sylvester Sim anyone?).
Another provoking thought is the contestants’ fate in the competition is determined by the number of votes they received even though a large number of the votes may come from a small group of people. Is it really a fair way in determining the contestant’s popularity? Why not make it such a way that all SMS/calls from the same number are counted as 1 vote and let the judges’ marks have a higher influence in the final score. Won’t this be a fairer result and give every contestant a better judgment?
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Superman or Super Dork?
With the latest installment of Superman movies, Superman Returns, coming to our movie screen. I am still unable to understand one thing… How the hell did no one can identify Superman from Clarke Kent?!!! Are they blind?!!! A pair of glasses and a change of hair style. VIOLA... No more Superman. Must be the red underwear. Everybody must be ogling at those pair of bright red underwear when Superman appears cos no one in their right frame of mind will wear something so striking on the outside.
OMG! They are indeed two totally different persons!
My Damage At the PC Show
Strike off another item from my list of desires. Bought myself a cheap digital videocam at the recently concluded PC Show. It is a Digilife DDV-C330 DV Camcorder. It is a mini-camcorder that is also a digital camera, mp3 player and voice recorder. Compact and comes with a 3.2 Mega Pixel Sensor and 6x digital zoom. Quite good video n picture quality under good lighting. Almost got con at buying it at $288. Luckily i walk around n saw it selling @ $189 at another booth. Next item on the list, Sony Ericsson K750i. My M1 contract is now eligible for phone upgrade. With my current K500i still having a trade in value of $100, signing a new contract n getting the phone will oni cost me $98. Tempting... ^_^
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