Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Private Blog? As long it is on the internet, it is in the public view!

Some posts worth reading with regards to the latest controversy.

The first thread here

Another thread on it here

Follow up by dad here

Monday, October 23, 2006

Region Code change for DVD Recorder BENQ De325

First is to power up your recorder and press "INPUT" to switch the display to "Cam1" and press "OK".

Next press "3 2 5 0" and press "OK", finally you would see the display to "000" and your player is now a multi-region player

Think by pressing the 325 is the model number, pressing 0 is multi-region, pressing 1 is code 1, 3 is code 3 and so on....

Friday, October 20, 2006

Princess Hour - Goong Perhaps Love lyrics

J & HowL ~ Perhaps Love (Sarang Een Gah Yo)
Romanizer : Huay

uhn jeh yuht duhn guhn jee gee uhk nah jeen ah nah
jah kkoon nae muh ree gah nuh roh uh jee ruhp duhn shee jahk
hahn doo buhn ssheek dduh oh reu duhn saeng gahk
jah kkoo neul uh gah suh joh geum dang hwang seu ruh oon ee mah eum

byuhl eel ee ah neel soo eet dah goh
sah soh hahn mah eum ee rah goh
nae gah neh geh jah koo (neh geh jah koo)
mahl eul hah neun geh uh saek hahn guhl

sarang een gah yo geu dae nah wah gaht dah myuhn shee jahk een gah yo
mahm ee jah koo geu dael sarang hahn dae yo
ohn seh sang ee deud doh rohk soh ree chee neh yo
wae ee jeh yah deul lee jyoh~ OOH~
suh rohl mahn nah gee wee hae ee jeh yah sarang chah jaht dah goh

jee geum nae mah eum eul suhl myung hah ryuh hae doh
nee gah nae gah dweh uh mahm eul neu kkee neun bang buhp ppoong een deh

ee mee nahn nee ahn eh eet neun guhl
nae ahn eh nee gah eet deu shee
oo reen suh roh eh geh (suh roh eh geh)
ee mee geel deul yuh jeen jee mohl lah

sarang een gah yo geu dae nah wah gaht dah myuhn shee jahk een gah yo
mahm ee jah koo geu dael sarang hahn dae yo
ohn seh sang ee deud doh rohk soh ree chee neh yo
wae ee jeh yah deul lee jyoh~ OOH~
suh rohl mahn nah gee wee hae ee jeh yah sarang chah jaht dah goh

saeng gahk hae boh myuhn (saeng gahk hae boh myuhn) mah neun soon gahn sohk eh (sohk eh)
uhl mah nah mah neun (YEAH~) suhl leh eem ee ssuht neun jee
joh geum neu jeun geu mahn keum nahn duh jahl hae jool kkeh yo..

hahm kkeh hahl kkeh yo choo uhk ee dwehl gee uhk mahn suhl mool hahl kkeh yo
dah sheen nae gyuh teh suh dduh nah jee mah yo
jjahl beun soon gahn joh chah doh bool ahn hahn guhl yo
nae geh muh mool luh jwuh yo~ OOH~
geu dael ee ruh geh mah nee (geu toh rohk mah nee)
sarang hah goh ee ssuh yo (geu dae yuh yah mahn) ee mee~

[translation]

I don’t know when it all started
When my head became dizzy with thoughts of you
These thoughts would often pop up in my mind
I feel anxious as my heart expands towards you

It’s nothing.. it’s just a little thing
Your words are awkward to me

Is it love? If you feel the same way, is it a beginning?
My heart keeps saying it loves you
It screams out for the whole world to hear
Why has it taken so long for me to hear it~?
We’ve finally met.. finally found love

If I wanted to show you how I feel
The only way would be for you to become me

I’m already inside of you
Just like you’re inside of me

To each other [to each other]
We may already be too accustomed

Is it love? If you feel the same way, is it a beginning?
My heart keeps saying it loves you
It screams out for the whole world to hear
Why has it taken so long for me to hear it~?
We’ve finally met.. finally found love

When I think about it [when I think about it]
I realize how many moments there were when my heart trembled
I’ll try as harder as I was late in realizing my feelings
I’ll be with you, I’ll only give you fond memories
Please don’t ever leave me again
Even the shortest moments without you make me uneasy
Please stay by me~

I already love you so much (you’re the only one)

Monday, September 18, 2006

First epl win for arsenal


It took a long time in coming but when it came, it was good. Imagine beating manchester united at old trafford. Good game nonetheless though there are some mistakes.

- This blog was updated through my M1 mobile phone.

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Movie to catch


Hollow man 2. The cave. The dark. The descent. Take the lead. Inside man. A sound of thunder. Death tunnel. Black pearl. Recycle. Rumor has it.

- This blog was updated through my M1 mobile phone.

Friday, August 25, 2006

For the males out there!

Your definitive guide to your tool!

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Faster web experience!

New Tech Stuff updating~!

Found this Firefox  extension when surfing one of the forums I frequent. Adblocker Plus.
A good filter list (for SG only) can be found here. Subscribe to it and it will be updated automatically.

Purpose of this extension is to block advertisements on website and certain trackers tracking your movements on the net. Result is a faster surfing experience as less stuff will be downloaded and less information sent out.

Initial use has increased performance in loading that particular forum itself. However, it seems not to be that stable as it crashes a few times after prolonged use. A good companion will be using a Session Saver extension which will save your FF session whenever it crashes. Yet to use one as I am still reading up on a getting a good stable extension for it.

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Political apathy?

Elections may be over but several political blogs are still active which I feel is a good thing. During the Election period, political blogs are ‘banned’ to prevent people from influencing others to vote for certain political parties. The blogs I seen so far are pretty fair as they generally report on the political scene and with a balanced tone. Some may tend to be fairly leaning towards some side but I feel that this is a freedom of expression rather than any influencing.

I feel that discerning people will realized that the media tends to have a certain bias so through Internet, there is a wider exposure to what is not covered by the media and hence make a better discerning choice.

Without further ado, here are the blogs which I believed a lot of people recognized it already.

http://www.yawningbread.org/

http://singaporeelection.blogspot.com/

http://sgrally.blogspot.com/

Thursday, May 11, 2006

Rejected!!! Hahahaha!

PREMIER LEAGUE LETTER TO TOTTENHAM

The Premier League has issued the following letter in response to Tottenham Hotspur's open letter, stating the reasons for the course of action taken on Sunday and why a replay of the Barclays Premiership match at West Ham United cannot be sanctioned.

10 May 2006

Mr Daniel Levy

Chairman Tottenham Hotspur Football & Athletic Co Ltd.
Bill Nicholson Way
748 High Road
London N17 0AP

Dear Daniel

Re: Protest and request for the match between West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur FC on 7/5/06 to be replayed

The Board of the Premier League has today convened to consider your letter to Dave Richards regarding the above and would respond as follows:

Firstly, the Board and a majority of Premier League Clubs are sympathetic to your situation. To have Tottenham Hotspur Football Club’s (“THFC”) “momentous day” marred by such unprecedented events is clearly an unsatisfying way for the season to end. However the Board has to take a dispassionate view, independent of Clubs’ opinion, in order to protect the overall integrity of the League competition.

The fact that so much may have been riding on one game is not as a consequence of just last Sunday’s results, but is the product of 380 games played throughout an entire nine-month season. Speculation about what may have happened in different circumstances even within our league is inappropriate and, in other competitions, irrelevant.

As always, the Board can only deal with the facts on an individual basis and deal with any situation as and when presented. All those directly involved on the day acted in the utmost good faith and with due care in what were unusual circumstances.

The Board of the Premier League, as you might expect, were spread around all parts of the country on the last day of the season. The time frame during which the defining conversations took place was between 11.00am and 1.15pm. The initial contact between yourself and the Chief Executive took place around 11.45am. As always, the Premier League acknowledged your position and promised it would make a proper assessment but in order to do so, the General Secretary, Mike Foster, would need to be contacted. This area of the Premier League’s role is Mike’s responsibility and his experience in these matters since the League’s inception in 1992 is well known to all Clubs. The Board look to his wisdom and counsel on all such matters. Jane Purdon, the Premier League Company Secretary, volunteered to go to the team hotel. This was deemed sensible as it meant we could assess the facts on a first hand basis and have an established line of communication with your people at the hotel. Similarly the decision to send a doctor was deemed sensible to assist in any way we could and for gathering evidence in the event that further facts needed to be established independently for whatever purpose.

Over the course of the following hour, the Board gathered its facts and gave the matter due consideration. It concluded the following:

1) It was satisfied that the following significant facts pertained:
· 6 players had been confirmed as having suffered from either sickness and/or diarrhoea (S & D) that morning
· 2 other players had felt unwell but had not suffered from S & D
(These facts were established by Jane Purdon in consultation with the THFC Doctor)
· 17 players had been at the team hotel overnight
· 3 other registered players had been contacted by THFC and were able to make themselves available
· The match was due to take place at West Ham United (“WHU”) – geographically close enough to Tottenham and its vicinity so as not to prevent other players being called upon.
· An informed estimate that THFC had a minimum of 30 registered players.

2) Following a full discussion between all members of the Premier League Board and Mike Foster, we decided that the game should not be postponed. To do so would be inappropriate given past application of Premier League Rules and would lead to future problems for the Premier League if Clubs deemed these circumstances or similar to be worthy of postponement.

3) The appropriate course of action, having given due consideration to the facts, was to not postpone the game and to inform THFC that it would be their decision as to whether or not they fulfilled the fixture.

As you say, this decision was relayed to you by me whilst travelling towards London. You asked what the consequences would be if THFC failed to fulfil the fixture. I said that I could not pre-judge or advise. An independent commission would be convened to consider the facts and clearly THFC could plead mitigating circumstances. However this was one of the most serious of offences and John Alexander could advise on what has happened in the past, though, of course, all cases were different and based on their own facts.

On the basis of this, THFC obviously undertook your own assessment of the facts and reached your own decision.

THFC then asked the Premier League what our attitude would be to a delayed kick off. The Premier League Board reacted with empathy but needed to consider all the facts. WHU were contacted and made every effort to accommodate. However, understandably, the risk to public order of over 35,000 fans potentially converging on Upton Park for a four to five hour wait was deemed by the Police to be too great. A two-hour delay to kick off was considered to be of no material benefit to your players by your own medical people and therefore was rejected by THFC and the game proceeded at 3pm as scheduled. The Premier League response to your request in this matter bears no relevance to your request for a replay.

Clearly the Premier League Board, as THFC have done, reflected on Monday and re-assessed certain facts:

The Premier League appointed doctor we sent to the hotel arrived after the team bus left for Upton Park. However Jane Purdon, our representative at the hotel, had already relayed to the Board in detail the medical opinion of the THFC Doctor, Charlotte Cowie. The Board accepted her professional opinion and had no reason to dispute it. The Premier League-appointed Doctor’s opinion therefore was not needed.

We had made an informed estimate as to how many registered players THFC had. On checking records it turns out to be as follows:
- Registered players (full contracts) 48
- Out on loan (-6)
- In on loan +1
- Scholars +9
- Total eligible to play 52
- 33 players used in the first team this season

Of the six players confirmed with S & D, only two were in the starting eleven for your last three Premier League matches.

With respect to other matters that you do not fully understand, I set off to travel to Highbury for a pre-arranged end-of-season interview with Sky Sports. I arrived at 2.00pm having travelled 111 miles from the West Country. The earliest I could have arrived at your team hotel was 2.00pm, even if I had travelled directly there on approaching west London. I had already confirmed with John Alexander that the team bus was leaving at 1.15pm and so it would have been pointless to go there.

The Premier League made two official statements via its press office to PA concerning the situation. I only referred to the contents of those statements as part of a pre-planned review of the season on Sky Sports. This was not the chosen method of conveying the decision. For your information, the Sky Sports interview took place 40 minutes after your own Press Office had confirmed you were playing the game as scheduled at 3.00pm.

In summary, the Board having considered the contents of your letter carefully, finds no grounds for acceding to your request for a replay. Indeed, this power only exists under certain circumstances as specified in Rule E. 16 and E. 39, neither of which apply in this case. THFC did have the option of not fulfilling the fixture and will have made its own assessment of the risks associated with that decision. It would have been for an independent commission to have decided the merits of your case; rule on any sanction and/or the appropriateness of a replay.

The Board does not wish to jeopardise the respect and excellent relationship that exists between us and THFC. We remain very sympathetic to the unenviable position you found yourselves in and hope that neither THFC or any other Club will suffer the same fate again. However we believe we expedited our responsibilities effectively and with due care and consideration based on the facts available to us. We of course realise that for THFC a feeling of unfairness at the ill fated events of last Sunday will linger but trust that you will put this behind you and concentrate on domestic and UEFA Cup success next season.

Yours sincerely,

RICHARD SCUDAMORE

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Crap Letter

Mr Dave Richards

Chairman
The FA Premier League,
30 Gloucester Place
London
W1U 8PL

9 May 2006

Dear Dave

Re: Protest and request for the match between West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur FC on 7/5/06 to be replayed
As you are aware, Sunday could have been a momentous day for our Club and our fans. It was the first time since the inception of the UEFA Champions League that we were in a position to qualify for European club football’s most prestigious competition. After such a successful League campaign, the excitement and expectation of our fans was simply enormous. Our match at West Ham was effectively a Cup Final.

However, we believe that our chances of success were significantly reduced by the exceptional circumstances brought about by the sudden illness of the majority of players in our First Team squad in the early hours of Sunday morning. In being given no viable option to postpone the match other than a 2-hour delay to kick-off, our players were denied the possible opportunity of competing in the Champions League, while our fans have been left with a sense of suspicion and injustice at the way subsequent events unfolded.

We contacted the FAPL early on Sunday morning and, after a series of conversations, the FAPL called for the England Team Doctor and the FAPL Company Secretary to attend our Team Hotel to assess the situation. We believed that the FAPL were examining the situation in good faith and were seeking to obtain all relevant information before coming to a decision. Indeed, in those early conversations the FAPL’s Chief Executive had given us every reason to believe the match could be postponed to allow our players some extra time to recover from a lack of sleep, vomiting, diarrhoea and dehydration.

At this time, myself, Board members and other key decision makers joined the players at their hotel. Whilst waiting for the opinion of the England Team Doctor, who was yet to arrive at our Team Hotel, I was contacted from a distance by the FAPL and told that we had to play the game that day or suffer the consequences. This, by implication, may have meant a significant loss of points and the denial of participation in any European competition – a situation I could not sanction. This threat was made by the FAPL despite the fact that West Ham United, acting honourably and fairly as would be expected from that club, had consented to the postponement of the match provided that any re-match did not interfere with their FA Cup Final preparations.
The FAPL’s Chief Executive then said he would consider the match being delayed to later on Sunday evening, but unfortunately the Police would not sanction a kick off time beyond 5pm. Our medical staff advised that a delay of at least 3 hours would be necessary to have any impact on the players and therefore it was Martin Jol’s view that, in the absence of a postponement or a much later kick-off, we had no choice whatsoever but to proceed to play at 3pm. What puzzles us is why the FAPL were prepared to sanction a 4 hour delay but not a 24 hour delay. If the integrity of all matches kicking off at the same time was your primary concern, why sanction a delay of any kind?

Our next issue was team selection. Martin Jol and his staff, having originally selected their squad of 17 players for the match, were then left in the invidious position of choosing between starting the match with their original 17 players, 10 of whom were feeling very unwell, or drafting in Reserve Team players, the majority of whom have not played for the First Team this season or are untried and untested at First Team level. In any case, having ended their season, our Reserve Team players were scattered across various parts of London and the South East, would not have been prepared to play in a Premier League (or any other) match at such short notice and would rarely, if ever, have played together.

This was an impossible position for our coaching staff to find themselves in on the morning of what was our most important match for many years. Playing a make-shift, inexperienced and ill-prepared team in such a high profile game could have turned the match into a farce, resulting in an embarrassment for the players, the coaches, the Club, our fans and the Premier League competition as a whole. To add insult to injury, the FAPL’s announcement that our game would not be postponed was made live on Sky TV from the pitch side at Highbury. In light of the obvious sensitivities and the competition for 4th place between Arsenal and Spurs this was, to say the least, an unfortunate choice.

We simply do not understand why the FAPL failed to appraise itself of all of the facts before turning down our request that the fixture be postponed under rule E 13.4. We were surprised that the FAPL’s Chief Executive did not make the short journey from Highbury to the Team Hotel at Canary Wharf to assess such a serious issue first hand. We also fail to understand why the England Team Doctor, having been sent to the Team Hotel, was not even consulted before an announcement was made (in fact, he did not even arrive at our hotel before the decision was made or even before our players had to leave the Team Hotel to travel to Upton Park for the match). As a result we played the game with players who were unwell but who were desperate not to let their fans and colleagues down. Clearly, our governing body put us in an impossible situation and gave a significant advantage to Arsenal in competing for that 4th position.
With this in mind we contacted those Premier League Chairmen and Chief Executives we were able to locate to establish what fellow members feel is an appropriate way forward given the unorthodox decision made by the FAPL prior to receiving objective information on the situation. We now have confirmation from a majority of Premier League clubs that they would support a replay and in similar circumstances would expect the game to have been postponed. This is a gesture made by fellow clubs which supports the Charter’s aims of running a professional league in a manner in which all of its member Clubs are treated equally and in a professional, fair and objective way. Additionally, from comments made by Sepp Blatter in the media in the past 24 hours, even FIFA would support the idea of a postponement provided the match was played on or before 15 May 2006.

We therefore formally request that you order that the game be replayed.

It is regrettable that we have been put in this position, but we feel let down by the FAPL’s abdication of its responsibility to consider the request for a postponement fairly and after due consideration of all relevant factors. Where such significant commercial and competitive interests are jeopardised it is only reasonable that our governing body ensures we play on a level playing field and supports us by making decisions based on the facts of the situation which has to include all relevant information. We feel sure that the FAPL, along with most reasonable minded people, would not have wanted such a controversial outcome to the final day of the Premier League season. Furthermore, the FAPL was inconsistent in its approach in being prepared to consider the kick-off to be delayed but not allowing the match to be played on a different day.
Finally, whilst our primary concern here is for our own Club, the situation we find ourselves in highlights what could have been an even bigger issue for a Club facing relegation from the FAPL. Similarly, it is hard to believe that, faced with an identical issue on the morning of a Champions League Final, a club would not seek a postponement (with the opposing team consenting) and that, given the importance of such an occasion, such a request would not be granted by UEFA in the interests of fairness and good sporting practice. In our view, and regardless of the outcome of our case, the FAPL’s decision making process and lines of communication in such a situation need thorough and urgent review in order to ensure that no other club is similarly disadvantaged in the future.

Yours sincerely

DANIEL LEVY
Chairman of Tottenham Hotspur

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

March to France!

Another soccer update!

Arsenal drew with Villarreal last night to qualify for The Champions League Finals! Arsenal secured an aggregate 1-0 win, courtesy of Kolo Toure in the 1st leg of the 2-legged semi-finals!

What was stressful was Villarreal almost scored an injury time penalty which Jens Lehman did well to make a save and hence will be traveling to State De France in France for the finals!! Anyway, it was not a penalty as Jose Mari simply fell to the ground after a light touch and the referee was tricked to believing so!

Thanks goodness that Lehman did his homework on Juan Pablo Riquelme possible penalty kick and correctly predicted where he will shoot and save it. Due to this marvelous save, he has became an Arsenal Legend!

Now on to the Finals and hoping Arsenal will bring back the trophy back to Highbury!

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Idiot Driver

I met my fair share of lousy drivers so far and yesterday I met one of the lamest and lousiest driver in Singapore.

Please note that following story comes with a 6 demerit points and $150 fine with it. Do remember that if you chalked up 4 similar offences within 2 years, it is sayonara to your driving lesson. The offence is failing to give way to pedestrian at pedestrian crossing.

I just alighted from the bus and was crossing the zebra crossing. A stupid SUV has just previously move and stopped just before the markings and so I started to cross the zebra crossing. The next thing I know is that the SUV drove pass in front of me when I am on the crossing. I was infuriated and bang my hand on the window. The driver stopped the car after the crossing and wind down his window. I shouted angrily to him that he has just drove pass a zebra crossing with pedestrians on it. His reason, the gap has become wider and he feel that it is large enough for him to cross. I replied angrily that he should give way and not crossed the crossing even if it is wide enough. He then shakes his head and waves his hand at me which I reacted by shouting back that I will call the Traffic Police and report him to it. Just that I am hungry and a bit lazy to report to Traffic Police and I did not note down his car license plate. Next time, the next driver will not be so lucky!

I hereby like all Singapore drivers to note that it is a TRAFFIC OFFENCE NOT TO GIVE WAY TO PEDESTRIANS ON A PEDESTRIAN CROSSING. The result is a 6 points demerit on your nice license and also your wallet will be lighter by 3 crispy $50 notes, a $150 fine. Save time? Save your money and your license instead.

Sidenote : to see more horrible drivers, look at these parking idiots!

Friday, March 31, 2006

2 yrs anniversary at company M

It has been 2 long years since I joined company M.

It is a neither short nor long period but I have seen enough of the company, experience enough and hence decided to move on. Work environment is great, colleagues are cool, work to a certain extent, just fine. The management is a bitch though.

On my 3rd contract now with this company. As an agency contract worker, I was given none of the perks but only took part in some company events. the feeling given to me was that I am and will be an outsider until they decided to convert me. The worst issue now i that I am an one-man team now who can only take leave if the company schedule allows me. Long breaks are out of the question as it may clash with schedules and this simply sucks! It was such a hassle when I have to go for reservist!

Had decided to leave the company and had went for a few interviews. Wish me luck in the previous interviews and snaring more interviews, chances in leaving company M.

Happy Anniversary!

Monday, March 20, 2006

Lousy friday and boss

Yet another lousy Friday. My Fridays are getting worse and worse. A lot of things will definitely happen or boss putting unreasonable requests again.

I was seated on the bus already and boss call me twice. Codes for program were changes and testing could not be ended on time on Friday. She wanted me to come back on Saturday to help compile and release the program in. It was pointless as I was needed for a simple thing and I may have to stay quite long for it.

I tried to reject it but informing her that I will be out and sleeping later and will not be able to wake up on time for it. It was scheduled for me to come back at 11am but on hearing that excuse, she said 11.30am. Hey 30 minutes are not making much difference and you think a miracle will happened and I will be fresher and wake up in time? Lucky D managed to convince her that they can test everything fine and I will be needed on Monday morning only.

End of the story is that they stayed back till 9+, bug fixed, tested okay, morning I compiled and tested okay and finally sent to ops. Conclusion, do not, on your whim, ask people to come back on weekend as it is precious rest time and also especially when you yourself are not affected.

Chelsea lost!

Yeah. Shocked defeat for Chelsea as they were defeated by Fullham 1-0. Although it does not makes much difference that they are mostly likely to be the EPL champions but it delayed their championship by one more match.

Also William Gallas was red-carded which means one less player for Chelsea and things can go badly from then on. Who knows, maybe Manchester United may even overtake Chelsea right up to the last match!

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Opportunities

Took leave yesterday to attend an interview at the eastern part of Singapore with a Japanese Company, Y.

Had a hard time taking leave because there was some technical problems with an environment which is not under my care and nor can I help much. Managed to smoke saying that I have family matters to attend to and I certainly cannot change the date.

The interview went pretty smooth but overall it took me close to 2 hours to finish it. 15 minutes to complete form, 15 minutes wait, 30 minutes of written test, 15 minutes of waiting and 30 minutes of an interview by an Indian lady and Japanese man. Talking to the Japanese is a killer as I have to speak slowly and his English is too soft and not really understandable. Overall, the interview went pretty good and I feel confident. Nonetheless it is up to the interviewers to determine whether will I be accepted.

After the interview, I went next door to another company to pick up a goodie bag for helping with a survey. The liaison person, after hearing what I was there for, offered me to join his current company as there are a few vacancies. So far no news from him. Lunch time today, the girl from P call me again, telling me to go for another interview but I am unable to take leave till like last week of March due to my boss.

Hoping to land a few more interviews and then hopefully find a new job and leave here.

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Champions League Update!

Yes! Hooray!

Congratulations to Barcelona FC for kicking Chelsea (Smelly) out of the Champions League!

A sore loser in Jose Mourinho who cannot admit that his team has been outplayed and the goal they scored is probably a poor judgment of the referee in awarding a penalty kick to them.

Justice has been served!

Courtesy at MRT!

Had a bad time this morning at the MRT.

I was walking towards the ‘turnstile’ with my card in hand and a guy just in front of me. He managed to not tap his card on the reader or bother to check his card was detected successfully. I was too close enough to release it last minute and tap my card on the reader for him. For him, coz the gate does not open, reached back and tap his card successfully. However, the gate only opened once for him to pass.

Hence I went to the station control to resolve the solution. However, a middle aged lady who is on my right side was having difficulties taping her card successfully also went to the station control. I was there first but she threw her card at the counter and then placed her card on the reader. I was pissed off and said loudly to her, “Do you know how to queue or not?”. She apologized to me but I was still unhappy. It was so obvious that I was in front and she threw her card down like a dog to claim her territory.

This is so typical of Singaporeans!

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Proud Owner of PS2 (slim version)

Hee. Made my big purchase yesterday. I can say that it is a bit of impulsive buying but I do not regret making the decision. However the dealing with the dealer leaves much to desire.

The package is supposed to include 10 free games and I have emailed him a list of games I wanted but he did not bother to read it. So on the spot, I chose 10 games from his list but the list is small and incomplete. Certain games such as NFS Most Wanted, The Sims 2 and Harvest Moon are not to be found and he own me 2 games and say the games are swappable due to his small list. I will probably get 2 games and swap about 2 games from him.

Anyway the PS2 slim version is so small and the feeling is so great. Played War of God for about 30 minutes last night, it is violent, bloody but it is not your usual typical slash and hack game. Some puzzles and you can play mini games as combo to finish up the enemies. Great game! Not recommended for the weak heart and under 18.

Thursday, February 23, 2006

Champions League Update!

Yeah. Good news in Champions League.

Arsenal outgunned Real Madrid in Champions League 1-0 with the game at Real Madrid home ground, the San Bernabeu stadium. This set up an advantage when the return leg is played at Gunner’s home ground at Highbury.

Meanwhile, Chelsea lost to Barcelona 1-2 at Stamford Bridge which gives Barcelona a huge advantage when the return game is played at Barca’s home ground, Nou Camp.

Yeah! Down with Chelsea! Gunners forever!!!

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Legal mp3?

A asked me about buying mp3 from a particular Singapore site (sorry, no free advertising for you). I am all for supporting buying things legally etc. However for mp3, especially since it is sold and downloaded digitally, how do we prove that this particular mp3 is legal? The website, I assume, should be legal and bought the licensing and rights to sell the mp3s. As the consumer, how can we prove that this particular mp3 is legal whereas the other are not? Should we keep a recipt, a transaction record? What if the company lost all the records and hence all its customers are now being branded as downloading mp3s illegally? Discussed briefly with a colleague and it proved inconclusive.

Digital Rights Management (DRM) software can fix this issue but with the advent of mp3 players, if the software do not allow legal transfers to such players then the consumers will be stuck with mp3s that are stuck to wherever they download the mp3.

If you can fill me in on the above topic, do leave a comment! Thanks!

Monday, February 06, 2006

Useful Tools!

Some useful websites I came across which I think it is a good idea to share with everyone!

I am not advertising on their behalf but they are genuinely useful to both me and A so here are they! I try to categorise as best as I can and update them whenever I can.

Internet Hard Disk / File transfer

www.transferbigfiles.com

Spyware Removal /Antivirus

Spybot (Spyware removal)
LavaSoft Ad-Aware
Trend AntiVirus


XML Programming

http://www.javaworld.com/jw-04-2000/jw-0407-advsax.html

Games Information / FAQ / Tips

http://www.gamespot.com

http://www.gamefaqs.com

Techonology in General

Prefetch with Mozilla Firefox? Truth or Myth?

Thursday, January 26, 2006

Promotion..................

My company has 2 periods for promotion, one in January and the other in July. For the promotion period just gone by, 2 lunch mates has been promoted. One from a senior to a lead, the other converted from direct contract to a permanent position.

After one year of agent contract, he was converted to direct contract. After another year of direct contract, he was then converted to a permanent position. Discussions on his speedy conversion came out a prominent conclusion. His boss has helped him a lot to get him converted and my boss is doing nothing about my conversion. Having a good boss is important to your career. We definitely need them to help and promote your career or you will be stuck in the same position and place.

2 years of service already, on the 3rd contract, at least 2 converted to direct contract and 1 of them is now a permanent (as above). Maybe it is because of my position, as my ex-teammate took 3 yrs to convert to direct contract.

Hmm , hope to strike Toto top prize and then I can resign liao hahaa.

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Disappointing soccer movie

Got some free tickets (via some kind souls in my department) to watch a soccer movie. No. It is not the movie Goal!. That is a bit old and also not Football Hooligans (or simply Hooligans). It is the up and coming movie Real (starting in Singapore early February). The Spanish name is Real, la pelĂ­cula, translated as Real, the film.

My opinion on the film is, if you are a Real Madrid fan, good show for you; Soccer fan, normal so-so show and luckily only 1.5 hr only; Non-Soccer watching, what are you doing here wasting your money.

The movie is almost a propaganda film to promote Real Madrid, a money-earning vehicle in my view. It features the 2004-2005 Real Madrid Team which still includes Michael Owen.

There is perhaps 2 main storylines in the movie. One is the preparation works leading to the match between Real Madrid and Barcelona which Real Madrid won 4-2. The other is a history teacher who moved to Madrid and experienced first hand the excitement and the passion of soccer, although it is specifically to Read Madrid.

The other side stories told of different reasons on why fans love Real Madrid. One is the Beckham factor or the idol factor, shown by a Japanese school girl almost breaking up with her boyfriend over David Beckham. The boyfriend eventually learns to accept and then ignore the idolism by his girlfriend and fit in well.

The English female amateur soccer player, who had a serious right knee injury, looks at Ronaldo as inspiration and determination to overcome her injury and idolizes him.

The Senegal father who was said to travel 60km (2 days journey) to watch Real Madrid play and then back home (another 60km) to relates the match to his son. He then manage to enroll his son, who cannot concentrate on his studies due to obsession with playing soccer, to a Unicef – Real Madrid sponsored Soccer Academy for studies and learning soccer.

The last story is of family relations torn apart by the love of Real Madrid. A grandfather is one of the kidnappers who kidnap Real Madrid’s star player, Alfredo Di Stefano, nicknamed “The Blonde Arrow”. His son never forgives him and deny the existence of his father to his own son. By chance, the grandfather and grandson met and forge their new relationship by soccer and their passion for Real Madrid.

In all, it is a disappointing show. Though it is about Real Madrid but the method is too documentary. Maybe this is due to it being the official Real Madrid movie. Editing was poor. Scene changes illogically at times. As mentioned, view it only if you are a Real Madrid fan.

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Sleepy............

Will update this blog later....

Currently very very sleepy!

hee overdue update.

Was very sleepy due to some informal technical support on the wee hours of Wednesday.
There was program migration on Wednesday midnight. M ran into some problems and had to call me for help. There was around 3+ in the morning. Took about 30 minutes in all.

Later around 4.30am, I (think I) heard the phone ring. Pick up the call but heard a lot of background noises but nobody is talking to me! So I terminate the call, tried calling back but got the wrong person. Luckily, it was BQ who came back to do testing also. So I call M and things are not resolved also. Was stressed that the migration has to be rollbacked.

5 something morning. Woke up, decided not to call back to ask since it will be a forgone decision whether is there a rollback or not.

Sleep was interrupted and hence, did not have enough rest as needed. So was damn sleepy the whole day. I can bring up to my boss on support work done and get the morning half off. However, this will sabotage M as its implicates him on something. So well, just being damn tired for the whole morning instead of sabotaging M. Anyway, minor issue with me also =P

Monday, January 16, 2006

Sunday OT!!!!! Damn!

Have to work yesterday on Sunday morning from 9.30am to 1.30pm. I am damn pissed off. What is done yesterday can be done this morning. The 2 bosses only think of their own bottom line, which is to settle everything asap without care and considerations of the people below them. No issue was found and everything went smoothly.

The only thing out of is that I get to earn $100 and claim 2 ways taxi for my effort. I rather sleep in for another 2 hours, read my papers etc though!

Saturday, January 14, 2006

Movies galore!

Watched 2 movies for the past 2 fridays at TBP with A. First up is The Chronicles of Narnia : The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. The next is In Her Shoes, starring Cameron Diaz. Both are movie adaptions of books.

The Chronicles of Narnia was adapted from a series of children books written by CS Lewis, friend of J. R. R. Tolkien, writer of the series Lord of the Rings. The 2nd book from the Chronicles of Narnia was taken and made into the movie. Comments from colleagues and friends about this show was that it is too kiddish. One main reason for this comment was probably due to the fact that this is a children's book and not adult fiction. Comparisions made to Lord of the Rings is like comparing a child and an adult. Harry Potter was actually catered more to Teenagers and appeal to Young Adults. Themes explored certainly is too deep for children and hence better appreciated by Teenagers and Young Adults. If you was to think of the movie as a movie for children, an adaption of a children's book, you will enjoy the show immensely. I read the Chronicles of Narnia when I was a teenager or even younger but I enjoy the book lots and hence the movie too.

In Her Shoes, an adaption of a book also, was pretty good also. Maybe due to the adaption and limited screen time, I feel something is lacking in the movie. Perhaps it is the fleshing out of characters or the plot needs some strengthening. 2 sisters of very different qualities clashes and then come back together stronger after knowing and meeting their grandmother. Nevertheless is a good movie recommended by A. Thanks dear. :)