Dreamt of mum last night. It is my first time that she appears in my dream since she pass away. In it, she looks like she is folding clothes, looking very gentle and at peace. Sadly I can't remember much of the dream after I woke up though it seems to last very long. I am happy to see her but sad that it had to end when the morning breaks. Still missing her...

I am too old for this....

Woow... it's been a crazy and hectic week for me. Got a huge problem on my project's prototype build 3 run at the factory. Causes so much panic around. Finally some peace n I pop over to YouTube for some R n R and I saw this video of the next generation of gameplay by Valve, the makers of Half-Life 2. OMG! And I tot using the gravity gun in Half-Life 2 is tough for me and now this... Look at the unlimited crazy/creative (choose one) ways to use this portal gun. Man... I think I am too old n slow for this shit. But kudos to the genius at Valve for coming out with such a brillant idea for this. The programming to get this to work must be a nightmare.


Also found this cool music video made entirely using the Half-Life 2 gaming environment. These guys are good...

Sunday Breakfast with Dad

Went out on Sunday morning with Dad and my aunt to the newly opened Chinatown Complex Temp Market and Food Complex to have breakfast. as the old complex is closed for upgrading, all the shops and the stalls selling tasty and cheap food are shifted to the nearby Outram area. We supposed to have porriage but the stall have not started business till Monday. So we end up having noodles.

Dad had raw fish noodles, something that I saw for the first time. After the meal, we walk around where Dad met alot of his Chinatown friends. Feel like accompanying an Minister of Parliament around on election day. :p All in all we have an enjoyable time, even my grouchy aunt also flash a smile.

My aunt enjoying herself

Juventus Relegated! :(

Juventus have been found guilty of corruption and been demoted to the Italy football second division and start next season with a 30-point deficit, as well as being stripped of the league titles they won in the past two seasons. Why do they have to go do all these bribing and match-fixing when they have such a wonderful squad that can win the league without any help? Now, all the top players in the team will leave the team and with the 30 points deduction, it signals that the club will stay at least 2 seasons in the lower league.

And with AC Milan also banned from playing European football next season, Chelsea will have a bigger chance of winning the Champions League as they are hardly any challengers to them now with the lost of the Italians powerhouses. Something I wish won't happen. Especially for a club that bought its way to success.

Vitagen: Good for Breast?

Haha, just when I am about to write an entry on the latest Vitagen ad featuring Felicia Chin, Eternity on a Rock, did it ahead of me. The latest ad gave the similar impression as the one did by HL Milk. The Vitagen ad definitely looks like those breast enhancement advertisment you see in the papers. ^_^

PC Upgrading Blues

Holly cow. From the way the PC market is heading, if I am gonna upgrade my PC, it won't be called an upgrade. More like buying a new PC. Things are moving so fast that my PC is becoming obsolete at the blink of an eye. The "IN" thing now is dual cores CPU. Hence instead of the one CPU per chip, there are 2 running concurrently in the same chip, greatly increasing speed and performance. And rumors has it, it is moving towards "Quad" core (4 CPUs per chip) in the next few years. Geezz...

I tell you har, hardware makers are all bitches. Every time there is something new, they change all the various CPU connections and standards such that a simple upgrade will end up changing the entire PC. Take my case, if I want to upgrade my PC to a Dual-Core CPU, I will need to upgrade the motherboard as well because the new CPU is not compatible with my current motherboard. Next, the new dual-core CPU and motherboard uses DDR2 memories while mine uses DDR. Bye-bye DDR RAM. Finally, my current graphic card interface is AGP while the new motherboard interface for graphic card is PCI-E. There goes my graphic card. In the end, I need to spend almost $1.5k just to upgrade to a Dual-Core CPU. Mind you this is only for a low-end upgrade, and let's not go to the high-end ones. And that's not all, if my current power supply is not powerful enough to support all the new hardware; I need to get a new one too. Sometimes I wonder where the f@*k those gurus in the IT forums got their cash to constantly upgrade to the high-end stuff. Sell backside? Anyway my conclusion is.... dun upgrade unless u r flirty rich. Got to start saving...

So much for upgrading my rig to play the latest games. :(

Revision of Taxi Fares. Does it really help the cabbies?

It's very difficult to hail a cab at my place in Punggol especially during the morning rush hour from 8am - 9am. Unless you call a cab, flagging down an empty cab is very difficult. Most of the cabs coming in have "On-Call" sign. But this have changed ever since the taxi fare hike on Monday, I have counted more than 9 empty cabs roaming around my area this morning around 9am and only one cab with On-Call sign. The hike in fare price is really taking a toll on the cab drivers. People are not willing to take cab much less calling for one. The cab drivers are so desperate that an elderly lady is trying to cross the road and a cab immediately drove up to her thinking that she is trying to flag one.

Really sympathize with cabbies. Is this the so called benefits cab drivers will have from the fare hike as explained by the cab companies? Looks like it is doing more harm. But on a second note, I guess this is only temporary. Singaporeans are quite fan jian. Once they got used to the change, they will take the cabs again and everything will goes back to the way it was before. That is until the next fare hike...

I Am Singaporean

Well, in line with Mr Brown's call to record our "I Am Singaporean" speech for the upcoming National Day, I also did mine. In support for Mr Brown, I change the color of the font to... yes... brown :D

I am tiger4, born and raised in Singapore.
I can speak good singlish, with all the lah, leh and loh
I believe cursing relieve stress and should be in dialect and angmoh

I am married for more than 2 years, planning to have a child
I get around with my "kar" although hoping to own the 4-wheels one

I like playing computer games but hardly have time or money these days
I watch pirated videos cause weekend movie tickets are not cheap

I like to watch football except the S-League as it sucks
And no, I din subscribe to World Cup Cable packages, Thank You SCTV and CCTV!

I read Mr Brown's blog, cause his views reflect the people's thoughts.
Unlike the lies n the crap, the papers and the news report.

I hate the start of the month, cause the salary I just received will be gone.
I am kiasu, but at least I give way for people alighting bus and mrt

I support the Worker's Party, even though they din contest my constituency.
I dun believe you dun need CEOs, PhDs or army generals as good leaders, just people who are willing to serve the public with heart, passion and soul.

I love my country though I don't hang my flag.
I love my country though I dislike the system.
I am tiger4, my name is Daryl Ng Wai Leong and I am a Singaporean
So say we all.
so say we all.

Technorati Tags: iamsingaporean

Cops looking into gathering in support of mr brown

How come I din receive the sms? I also want to join in the support leh. :(

News report here

World Cup Over

Well the World Cup is finally over. Not a very classic final but I still feel Italy deserve the victory. The current topic now is Zidane's headbutt. Everywhere I surf on the internet, it have to be mentioned. There is a funny explaination on why Zidane do that and a poll on what did Materazzi said. There's even a online game.

For me the one below takes the cake - Zidane Street Fighter.


07/12/2006: Another updated one courtesy of Gameaxis. But I still prefer the above one. :p

On a side note, dear, sorry I neglected you during this period. But I'M BACK! ^_^

Things that I Don't Like
1. Woken from my sleep, especially in the morning of an off day.
2. PC crash and how to reinstall
3. No money in my wallet
4. Kiasu people boarding MRT/bus
5. Crowded and noisy places.
6. Having a running nose
7. Sun on my face

Things that I like
1. Sleeping (lagy best on rainy days)
2. Weekends and off days
3. Money in my wallet
4. Driving on a quiet expressway
5. Silence of the night
6. Gaming without the disturbance.
7. Wind on my face

Change in Grading Standard?

Seems like after the General Elections, there is a new grading standard. 66% is considered very good. ^_^. As it is shown in this cheeky shampoo ad.

Wah, 66% leh. Must be very good :p

So Much For Freedom Of Speech

Mr Brown just announce that TODAY has suspended his column. Bloody TODAY, so damn timid. They should have anticipate this will happen when they approved Mr Brown's article to be published. Just one government letter and they hang Mr Brown out to dry. Damn gutless papers, so much for freedom of press and speech. Nevermind, I never really bought TODAY to read anyway. Mr Brown does not need that teeny weeny column space. His blog is his real home and he can continue to write what he wants there.

The phrase below was copied a long time ago in an IT forum. It is posted by a forumer, who use it to describe the mindless devotion some people have to either Intel or AMD and the fierce argument they exihibit defending of their respective camps. I find it quite fitting to what we see so far from this episode.

"Truth ran away a long time ago and didn't leave a forwarding address. There are two sides. For and against. Us Vs. Them. Truth? There is only one truth: Us is right; Them is not only wrong, but evil. Attack with anything and everything that can be used against Them; ignore anything and everything that can be used against Us." by Sin on the ceased Superpet Forums

Mr Brown Hits Back!

Mr Brown replies to government critism of him with this podcast

Well Said. Well Done!

"I AM A SINGAPOREAN! SO SAID WE ALL!"

Download the podcast here

P.S. Well, well, well... seems like this story is spreading around the Singapore blog scene like wild fire with support for Mr Brown coming in non-stop. Some bloggers even took the time to make a funny video of it.
Mr Miyagi's Blog
Tommorrow

And History Repeats Itself Again

Sigh... once again the familiar cycle of increasing the cost of living in Singapore after the General Elections has started. News of raising cost coming in fast and furious. After the announcement of the raise in electricity charges comes the news of plans to revise bus and MRT fares and taxi fare hikes. I wonder how those silly PAP supporters, waving PAP flags and cheering the MPs, feel now? Is this the big thank you for all those support you gave?

Well last Friday, our local celebrity blogger, Mr Brown, posted an article in his column in TODAY newspaper. In the article, he jokingly expresses his views on the latest raises. Sadly, the Ministry for Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA) does not have the same sense of humour, and releases a press release on Monday to critise Mr Brown for his views and calling him "a 'partisan player' in politics". What does this show? Our government cannot take a little feedback and sarcasm. Or Mr Brown has hit a weak spot... ;) Judging from the comments received on Mr Brown's blog, making people are quite unhappy with the government heavy-arm method

P.S. If you read the MICA reply, the so called purpose of progress package suddenly have changed from "a distribution this year to share part of our surplus with Singaporeans" to money given to help you cover the raising cost. How fitting...

A Lousy Start to the Day

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.....

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.

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.

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.

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