Before the wet market opposite my house moved into the present building, it was situated beside its current location. I used to follow my mother to the market early in the morning, and I liked the place.
The wet market was, literally, wet. To keep the raw food fresh ice was needed, so ice water was everywhere, and people's feet carried the water all around the floors of the market. Then there was also the little pails of water to wash your hands after you have picked out the fish you wanted.
The market was a very friendly place; the 酿豆腐 auntie, the fishmonger, and the vegetable seller were the ones I had the most impressions on. And the many neighbours too. In short, every corner my mother turned into she was bound to run into someone she knew, resulting in the large number of 'uncles' and 'aunties' I had to call each time.
The whole morning shopping experience did not just end at the wet market. After buying the raw food for the day's cooking, there would be the buying of the breakfast at the various kopitiams. Which meant a whole new round of 'uncles' and 'aunties' to call.
I had only been to the 'new' wet market once after it moved into the new building, and it was a long time ago. From what I remembered, the cosy feeling was missing a little, perhaps because the place was bigger, but at least, the sellers were the same, and the friendliness was still there.
Can supermarkets fit into this 'morning shopping experience'? I'm not quite sure. At the very least, I don't think I can find the same hustle and bustle in wet markets, in supermarkets. Supermarkets are far too quiet. Wet markets make you feel out of the world because they are so darn noisy and crowded at 7am in the morning.
Well the wet market does have its shortcomings. Most are open only in the morning, while supermarkets are there the whole day, but I think supermarkets and wet markets can do well on their own without eating into each other. My personal opinion is that supermarkets, wet markets and the coffee shops are all essential components in the 'heartlands' model.
While on the topic of markets, I thought of another type of market, now that one is ongoing opposite my house as well - the night market, or the pasar malam.
Back when I was a kid, pasar malams were major events. They were there only for three nights, and each night was a 'PC Show', with loud music, loud noises, and huge crowds.
Now? A pasar malam can run for one entire week without anyone noticing if he doesn't look out of the window.
Very soon Singapore will become a lifeless state.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Saturday, September 26, 2009
the rich poor divide
People who are poor, and don't open their mouths, loses all the time.
All the time.
In the past, when we were all young and shielded from the outside world by school, one would naively think that he was good, and had put in alot of effort into doing things, when compared with the local school population.
As we grow up, we are increasingly being exposed to more and more people from outside our circles, and the population grows. With the increase in population comes the increase in competition. And after seeing the things they do, one realises that he has actually done nothing at all, and he is just a damn loser. I can't live up to the expectations.
Its 5am in the morning. I think I'm not conveying what I want to say, without saying too much.
All the time.
In the past, when we were all young and shielded from the outside world by school, one would naively think that he was good, and had put in alot of effort into doing things, when compared with the local school population.
As we grow up, we are increasingly being exposed to more and more people from outside our circles, and the population grows. With the increase in population comes the increase in competition. And after seeing the things they do, one realises that he has actually done nothing at all, and he is just a damn loser. I can't live up to the expectations.
Its 5am in the morning. I think I'm not conveying what I want to say, without saying too much.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
like poles repel
My father switched off the television and lights in his room, walked out to the kitchen, wanting to have his dinner. He saw that my mother was still in the kitchen, so he went back to his room, switched on the lights and television, and sat down again.
When my mother wakes up in the middle of the night to use the toilet, her habit is to use the toilet in the kitchen instead of the bathroom in her room. The first thing she does each time when she steps out of her room is to first look into my father's room. If there's nobody inside, she concludes that my father is still in the kitchen, so turns back into her room and use the bathroom. Otherwise, she will proceed on to the kitchen.
On a sidenote, my house has a new rice cooker, and its so new, my rice gets overcooked every night. Haha.
I didn't know the new version of Chrome came with themes until my friend pointed it out to me haha.
The problem with themes is that they slow down startup noticeably, probably because the theme have to be applied first before the browser shows up.
When my mother wakes up in the middle of the night to use the toilet, her habit is to use the toilet in the kitchen instead of the bathroom in her room. The first thing she does each time when she steps out of her room is to first look into my father's room. If there's nobody inside, she concludes that my father is still in the kitchen, so turns back into her room and use the bathroom. Otherwise, she will proceed on to the kitchen.
On a sidenote, my house has a new rice cooker, and its so new, my rice gets overcooked every night. Haha.
I didn't know the new version of Chrome came with themes until my friend pointed it out to me haha.
The problem with themes is that they slow down startup noticeably, probably because the theme have to be applied first before the browser shows up.
Monday, September 21, 2009
the tomb of love
A friend of mine got married over the weekend, at the age of 22.
The story went something like this: This friend and the girl met and became friends back in school. The girl had a boyfriend, and they broke up last year. My friend and her became a couple at the end of last year, and by January this year, they were already talking about getting married.
A few months ago when a group of them went to Batam for a leisure trip, the girl flared up, apparently over some very trivial matters, and stormed off. The rest of the group spent the rest of the day looking for her.
Less than a week ago, the wedding almost got cancelled, because the couple quarreled.
In the end everything went well; the wedding proceeded as usual. Not that I want to say anything bad for such a nice event, but honestly I have my doubts about whether their marriage is going to work out. Hope I'm wrong though.
Will never understand how people can fall in love so easily these days.
The story went something like this: This friend and the girl met and became friends back in school. The girl had a boyfriend, and they broke up last year. My friend and her became a couple at the end of last year, and by January this year, they were already talking about getting married.
A few months ago when a group of them went to Batam for a leisure trip, the girl flared up, apparently over some very trivial matters, and stormed off. The rest of the group spent the rest of the day looking for her.
Less than a week ago, the wedding almost got cancelled, because the couple quarreled.
In the end everything went well; the wedding proceeded as usual. Not that I want to say anything bad for such a nice event, but honestly I have my doubts about whether their marriage is going to work out. Hope I'm wrong though.
Will never understand how people can fall in love so easily these days.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
sanity check
The recess week cannot come at a better time now that I'm starting to have difficulty catching up with the modules. The recess week is like telling the faster runners to pause, so that the slower runners can catch up. Once all the runners are [hopefully] next to each other again, the run resumes. Which means the slow runners don't get a chance to rest at all.
I have a couple more problems to go for my programming module's third problem set on RSA encryption, and the fourth problem set on complex numbers has just been released. I had just submitted my second assignment for my Life Science module last week, have not started on my third assignment, and the fourth one just came out.
Its Singapore Grand Prix next weekend! At least there's something to look forward to, although its already mathematically impossible for McLaren to get the world championship, thanks to some stupid driving at the last race.
Need for Speed: Shift is out! Had not [and I don't think] have the chance to play the PC version yet, but tried out the PSP version, which I feel is just Undercover without the police. Somehow I feel most game companies don't really put in effort into PSP games.
I have a couple more problems to go for my programming module's third problem set on RSA encryption, and the fourth problem set on complex numbers has just been released. I had just submitted my second assignment for my Life Science module last week, have not started on my third assignment, and the fourth one just came out.
Its Singapore Grand Prix next weekend! At least there's something to look forward to, although its already mathematically impossible for McLaren to get the world championship, thanks to some stupid driving at the last race.
Need for Speed: Shift is out! Had not [and I don't think] have the chance to play the PC version yet, but tried out the PSP version, which I feel is just Undercover without the police. Somehow I feel most game companies don't really put in effort into PSP games.
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
累。
I thought that movies like Suicide Club would stay where they were supposed to be: in cinemas, until eight students tried to commit suicide together, and of all places, in Singapore!
What in the world were they thinking of? Where have their past 10+ years of education gone to? Demon slayers? Save mankind? Revive back to life?
Oh man.
After a short breather last weekend after submitting CSOneOneZeroOneS' Problem Set 02, its back to rushing tutorials and lectures again this week. The good news is that the deadline for Problem Set 03 has been extended by four more days to include one more weekend into the recess week. Still there are a few deadlines to meet next week.
I received a rather amusing email recently:
Haha.
What in the world were they thinking of? Where have their past 10+ years of education gone to? Demon slayers? Save mankind? Revive back to life?
Oh man.
After a short breather last weekend after submitting CSOneOneZeroOneS' Problem Set 02, its back to rushing tutorials and lectures again this week. The good news is that the deadline for Problem Set 03 has been extended by four more days to include one more weekend into the recess week. Still there are a few deadlines to meet next week.
I received a rather amusing email recently:
Haha.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
tutorials
Stepped into Wednesday's OneOneZeroOneS' tutorial to be surprised with a 'micro-quiz'. After the quiz while going through the tutorial I realised I made a mistake in one of the three questions, and although the 'micro-quiz' would not be graded, I still felt rather upset that I got such a simple question wrong.
First OneTwoThreeOne tutorial was demoralising. Stepped into a room of mostly non-Singaporeans fully confident of their answers, while I sat in one corner praying throughout the entire duration that the tutor would not call me up to present my answers.
Argh.
First OneTwoThreeOne tutorial was demoralising. Stepped into a room of mostly non-Singaporeans fully confident of their answers, while I sat in one corner praying throughout the entire duration that the tutor would not call me up to present my answers.
Argh.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
to keep her flag unfurled
I was reading through the hordes of Facebook comments on VJC's move to establish its own 6-year Integrated Programme, which was perceived by students and ex-students of Victoria School as an act of 'breaking away from her roots', when I saw this comment:
-.-|||
I don't blame them actually; I myself still feel more attached to AHS than VJC, what's more VS has some hundred and (sorry how many?) years of history, so its understandable that they are not happy about VJC becoming a direct 'competitor' to VS. It does feels weird when the day comes where VJC faces VS in some competition, and both schools sport similar school logos and anthems.
I think the close relationship between VS and VJC contributes to the overwhelming school spirit that VJC has come to be famous for, among other things. However it is the same affiliation, coupled with VS being a boys' school, that is limiting VJC's ability to provide a good through-train programme that can compete with those offered by the top schools. I thought a good solution is for VJC to set up a secondary school section for girls, while VS provides the guys for VJC's six-year programme, but I have no idea why they will not implement it.
Interesting how schools today operate more like commercial companies that have to constantly come up with ideas to attract 'customers', even if they meant stripping all their past heritages and traditions.
Maybe all these will not be happening if the founders of Victoria had set up a girls' school a hundred years back haha, but whatever it is, no Marine Parade Junior College please. I like the name Victoria.
-.-|||
I don't blame them actually; I myself still feel more attached to AHS than VJC, what's more VS has some hundred and (sorry how many?) years of history, so its understandable that they are not happy about VJC becoming a direct 'competitor' to VS. It does feels weird when the day comes where VJC faces VS in some competition, and both schools sport similar school logos and anthems.
I think the close relationship between VS and VJC contributes to the overwhelming school spirit that VJC has come to be famous for, among other things. However it is the same affiliation, coupled with VS being a boys' school, that is limiting VJC's ability to provide a good through-train programme that can compete with those offered by the top schools. I thought a good solution is for VJC to set up a secondary school section for girls, while VS provides the guys for VJC's six-year programme, but I have no idea why they will not implement it.
Interesting how schools today operate more like commercial companies that have to constantly come up with ideas to attract 'customers', even if they meant stripping all their past heritages and traditions.
Maybe all these will not be happening if the founders of Victoria had set up a girls' school a hundred years back haha, but whatever it is, no Marine Parade Junior College please. I like the name Victoria.
Monday, August 17, 2009
the simplicity of complexity
I was stuck at this particular problem on recursion for a very long time, and when I finally got it, the code was so simple and elegant, I wanted to kill myself because I felt so stupid why I could not think of it earlier.
Recursion has the powerful ability to make one feel like a complete idiot when the answer is revealed.
I need to spend less time to derive answers, for the luxury of time will be gone once the tutorials start.
Recursion has the powerful ability to make one feel like a complete idiot when the answer is revealed.
I need to spend less time to derive answers, for the luxury of time will be gone once the tutorials start.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
first day
First day in school went quite well for me; GEK1506 lecturer was interesting, though I think we have to form groups soon and the only friend I know already has enough friends to form their own group. Haix.
Ran into many familiar faces during my entire duration in school from Science to Computing to Central Library to home.
1) Orientation mate at Science canteen.
2) This guy whom I think had crossed paths with me many times back in National Service whenever his team was attached to my unit.
3) Senior at Computing.
4) JC friend, although this was a pre-arranged meeting rather than a coincidence.
5) National Service friend A at Computing.
6) National Service friend B first at Central Forum, then at Central Library.
7) National Service friend C at Central Library.
8) National Service friend D at Central Library.
9) JC friend at Clementi MRT Station.
Lol.
Today was also the day technology went wrong for me.
The first incident occurred when my school account was rejected when I tried to log to the school's unsecured wireless network, while two friends tried theirs and worked. I approached the School's technical service, where the personnel tried to smoke by saying that I was rejected because the IP addresses available had all been leased out!
She guided me to configure my laptop to log on to the secured network instead, which worked [which was what I ultimately wanted to do as well], but it did not solve my problem of me being rejected on the unsecured network!
Finally I made a guess that it might be because my password was too...secured haha; I thought my password combination of letters, numbers and symbols was an overkill, so I changed my password to a more ordinary one, which worked! Well I don't know if the problem really lies with the password, because it doesn't make any sense, but at least its solved now and it doesn't bug me anymore. Haha.
The second incident occurred when my ATM card was repeatedly rejected by Transitlink's Add Value Machine, without any reasons given. When it finally worked later, I came to the conclusion that the previous attempts failed because my ATM card was bent. Haha.
Its lessons again tomorrow; being still rather new to the environment I still feel quite lost; hope I can get used soon.
While googling the word 'coincidence' just to make sure I had spelled it correctly :p I came across this interesting article: 20 Most Amazing Coincidences. Very unbelievable in my opinion.
Ran into many familiar faces during my entire duration in school from Science to Computing to Central Library to home.
1) Orientation mate at Science canteen.
2) This guy whom I think had crossed paths with me many times back in National Service whenever his team was attached to my unit.
3) Senior at Computing.
4) JC friend, although this was a pre-arranged meeting rather than a coincidence.
5) National Service friend A at Computing.
6) National Service friend B first at Central Forum, then at Central Library.
7) National Service friend C at Central Library.
8) National Service friend D at Central Library.
9) JC friend at Clementi MRT Station.
Lol.
Today was also the day technology went wrong for me.
The first incident occurred when my school account was rejected when I tried to log to the school's unsecured wireless network, while two friends tried theirs and worked. I approached the School's technical service, where the personnel tried to smoke by saying that I was rejected because the IP addresses available had all been leased out!
She guided me to configure my laptop to log on to the secured network instead, which worked [which was what I ultimately wanted to do as well], but it did not solve my problem of me being rejected on the unsecured network!
Finally I made a guess that it might be because my password was too...secured haha; I thought my password combination of letters, numbers and symbols was an overkill, so I changed my password to a more ordinary one, which worked! Well I don't know if the problem really lies with the password, because it doesn't make any sense, but at least its solved now and it doesn't bug me anymore. Haha.
The second incident occurred when my ATM card was repeatedly rejected by Transitlink's Add Value Machine, without any reasons given. When it finally worked later, I came to the conclusion that the previous attempts failed because my ATM card was bent. Haha.
Its lessons again tomorrow; being still rather new to the environment I still feel quite lost; hope I can get used soon.
While googling the word 'coincidence' just to make sure I had spelled it correctly :p I came across this interesting article: 20 Most Amazing Coincidences. Very unbelievable in my opinion.
Monday, August 10, 2009
开学了!
Now that orientation is over, this week marks the start of lessons. After two years of National Service its time to hit the books again. Not sure how I am going to fare after two years of brainless activities; hopefully I can get into the mood quickly.
Module bidding went well for me; three modules have already been pre-allocated, leaving space for two modules which I got at 1 point each. 5 modules at 5 points, good start! =D
The bad thing about pre-allocation is that to avoid all the bidding wars I have to accept whatever they give, and so I could not get the four-day school week that I had hoped for. In fact my timetable is screwed up pretty badly haha.
CS1101S Programming Methodology: My first gamble, instead of the more ordinary CS1101. I thought that instead of going through all that I have already learned in JC, perhaps I should go for something that I have not learned before. Scheme promises to be tough, and at first glance I did not understand most of the technical terms in the lesson plan. Haha. Hope my gamble will turn out well.
CS1105 Computing and Society: From the module title, it sounds very much like all the essays that I have written back in junior college. Haha.
CS1231 Discrete Structures: The third module I was pre-allocated, instead of MA1521 Calculus for Computing which I had hoped for. CS1231 is taught by the School in the first semester, and the Maths department in the second semester, and apparently the Maths department teaches the module better.
On the other hand its a good thing that I take my maths module in another semester, because right now I am still undecided on whether I should take a minor in Mathematics, from which I can choose to take MA1102R Calculus instead of MA1521. Now I can gauge where my intelligence level stands first before I make my decision. Haha.
Initially I intended to take two General Education/Singapore Studies modules, but I was afraid I could not outbid the returning students, so I bidded for LSM1302 Genes and Society in the protected Round 1C. I made the correct choice to do so, but I have not mentally prepared myself to take a biology related course in the first semester. Lol.
GEK1506 Heavenly Mathematics: Cultural Astronomy is the last module I bidded for. Taking it out of interest, although as time went by this module became one of the very few that I could bid at 1 point as the bids for other modules started escalating skywards. This module is also the reason why my Tuesdays and Fridays start at 8am haha. The price to pay to conserve my points now.
Finally after days of procrastination I dragged myself to the bookshop opposite my house to buy stationery that has mysteriously gone missing. It had been more than two years since I last stepped into a bookshop! I have always loved shopping in the bookshop, because of the wide variety of things offered, low population density due to the large shop space, the lack of aggressive salespersons, and the nice smell of books haha.
First lecture kicks off tomorrow at 8am! I wish myself good luck!
Module bidding went well for me; three modules have already been pre-allocated, leaving space for two modules which I got at 1 point each. 5 modules at 5 points, good start! =D
The bad thing about pre-allocation is that to avoid all the bidding wars I have to accept whatever they give, and so I could not get the four-day school week that I had hoped for. In fact my timetable is screwed up pretty badly haha.
CS1101S Programming Methodology: My first gamble, instead of the more ordinary CS1101. I thought that instead of going through all that I have already learned in JC, perhaps I should go for something that I have not learned before. Scheme promises to be tough, and at first glance I did not understand most of the technical terms in the lesson plan. Haha. Hope my gamble will turn out well.
CS1105 Computing and Society: From the module title, it sounds very much like all the essays that I have written back in junior college. Haha.
CS1231 Discrete Structures: The third module I was pre-allocated, instead of MA1521 Calculus for Computing which I had hoped for. CS1231 is taught by the School in the first semester, and the Maths department in the second semester, and apparently the Maths department teaches the module better.
On the other hand its a good thing that I take my maths module in another semester, because right now I am still undecided on whether I should take a minor in Mathematics, from which I can choose to take MA1102R Calculus instead of MA1521. Now I can gauge where my intelligence level stands first before I make my decision. Haha.
Initially I intended to take two General Education/Singapore Studies modules, but I was afraid I could not outbid the returning students, so I bidded for LSM1302 Genes and Society in the protected Round 1C. I made the correct choice to do so, but I have not mentally prepared myself to take a biology related course in the first semester. Lol.
GEK1506 Heavenly Mathematics: Cultural Astronomy is the last module I bidded for. Taking it out of interest, although as time went by this module became one of the very few that I could bid at 1 point as the bids for other modules started escalating skywards. This module is also the reason why my Tuesdays and Fridays start at 8am haha. The price to pay to conserve my points now.
Finally after days of procrastination I dragged myself to the bookshop opposite my house to buy stationery that has mysteriously gone missing. It had been more than two years since I last stepped into a bookshop! I have always loved shopping in the bookshop, because of the wide variety of things offered, low population density due to the large shop space, the lack of aggressive salespersons, and the nice smell of books haha.
First lecture kicks off tomorrow at 8am! I wish myself good luck!
Sunday, August 09, 2009
le kua simi
Its National Day!
National Days were much more happier days for me in the past. No lessons, just going to school for celebrations, watching the National Day Parades on television, while waiting for RSAF's fighter jets to roar across my window, and seeing the distant skies light up at night as the fireworks were let off.
Then the studio apartments came up opposite my house, and blocked the view to the fireworks. Not long after the NDPs are shifted to Marina Bay, and the fighter jets no longer fly across my window.
Before 9/11 and the SARS outbreak, I'm quite sure security and temperature checks weren't top priorities then. Now, not just at NDPs, X-ray and temperature scanners are common sightings at all major events.
Maybe I'm older now, I'm more aware of what is happening around me, and I find that things are not as good as they should be, people are not as happy as they should be, I am not as happy as I should be, and I'm not exactly in the mood to celebrate anymore.
So now National Day becomes another ordinary day for me, just that the broadcast of the parade and the news bulletin that comes on earlier at 5.45pm instead of the usual 6.30pm adds a little difference to the usual programming.
This year's parade is surprisingly refreshing however; perhaps because there's more singing and music than dancing. Would have hoped for more fireworks though.
Whatever it is, I still wish her a happy 44th birthday and 国泰民安.
******************
The movie G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra reminded me of the Command and Conquer universe, with all the soldier suits and advanced weaponry, while the story itself reminded me of Ironman and the controversies around the weapons industry. They made the major battle scene between the underwater marine crafts looked more like a dogfight in the air instead, and I found it interesting how the Japanese ninjas fits nicely in the movie where it was set in the future with all the weapons and technologies.
Overall I liked the movie; gave some space for imagination.
National Days were much more happier days for me in the past. No lessons, just going to school for celebrations, watching the National Day Parades on television, while waiting for RSAF's fighter jets to roar across my window, and seeing the distant skies light up at night as the fireworks were let off.
Then the studio apartments came up opposite my house, and blocked the view to the fireworks. Not long after the NDPs are shifted to Marina Bay, and the fighter jets no longer fly across my window.
Before 9/11 and the SARS outbreak, I'm quite sure security and temperature checks weren't top priorities then. Now, not just at NDPs, X-ray and temperature scanners are common sightings at all major events.
Maybe I'm older now, I'm more aware of what is happening around me, and I find that things are not as good as they should be, people are not as happy as they should be, I am not as happy as I should be, and I'm not exactly in the mood to celebrate anymore.
So now National Day becomes another ordinary day for me, just that the broadcast of the parade and the news bulletin that comes on earlier at 5.45pm instead of the usual 6.30pm adds a little difference to the usual programming.
This year's parade is surprisingly refreshing however; perhaps because there's more singing and music than dancing. Would have hoped for more fireworks though.
Whatever it is, I still wish her a happy 44th birthday and 国泰民安.
******************
The movie G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra reminded me of the Command and Conquer universe, with all the soldier suits and advanced weaponry, while the story itself reminded me of Ironman and the controversies around the weapons industry. They made the major battle scene between the underwater marine crafts looked more like a dogfight in the air instead, and I found it interesting how the Japanese ninjas fits nicely in the movie where it was set in the future with all the weapons and technologies.
Overall I liked the movie; gave some space for imagination.
Saturday, August 08, 2009
my ultimate social experiment
After hearing many horror stories about how one would end up lonely and all in university if one never attended orientation, I decided to sign up, albeit with utmost reluctance, with the hope that I find at least one person to go to lectures and tutorials with, look after each other's things during lunch and dinner, and do projects together.
Unfortunately by the end of orientation, I haven't found any.
Different people are taking different majors; those taking the same majors are taking different modules; and those taking the same modules are taking different lecture groups and tutorials. Therefore I conclude that the chances of us seeing each other again will be rather low.
On the other hand, maybe I never try hard enough. Ha.
Not to say that there was no use attending orientation. In every sense of the word, I did get myself rather 'oriented'. At least I now have a slight sense of direction when navigating around the different places.
The games planned by the School were indeed mild by the university's standards, especially after I saw and heard about orientations by other faculties.
The orientation ended with Rag Day today. My first Rag Day experience was not from the grandstands but from the tent that housed the participants' belongings; for some reason I somehow became involved in the School's float. I would have liked to watch from the grandstands, but staying at the tent had allowed me to catch up with my sleep.
[Reminded me of how my Army Half Marathon experiences were not of those as participants but as organisers. Interesting why I always seem to get the short end of the stick lol.]
Having being involved in computing since secondary school, I have met plenty of like-minded people at different stages of my life. After some time, our paths diverged, and it never occurred to me that we would ever meet again. Even better, it never occurred to me that these different people that I have met, and the different people that these different people have met, would all converge and become friends with each other one day.
Below as follows:
1) A friend, not a close one though, from my CCA in secondary school. Never in same class, went to different junior colleges, and now met again studying in the same School.
2) I have a friend, A, whom I met in my active unit during my National Service. He has a friend B, whom he met during his Basic Military Training days. A, B and I are now in the same School. In addition, B and I have four common friends, C, D, E and F, where C and D were my classmates in secondary school, and E is a good friend of my friend F. B, C, D and E met in their unit during National Service. During orientation, B was in the orientation group where F was the group leader.
3) One of my group leaders who is a friend of A in secondary school.
4) Three seniors, one from my CCA in secondary school and two from two different CCAs in junior college, are now all studying in the School. Now they are friends with each other.
5) This guy in my orientation group who is in the Computing class as my three gay friends in their junior college.
6) This girl in my orientation group who is a friend of the sister of F.
Some statistics should be drawn up next time!
All in all, I consider it a feat that I managed to attend so many days of orientation; felt rather guilty to have skipped two of the days, but I'm not ready for everything yet.
Unfortunately by the end of orientation, I haven't found any.
Different people are taking different majors; those taking the same majors are taking different modules; and those taking the same modules are taking different lecture groups and tutorials. Therefore I conclude that the chances of us seeing each other again will be rather low.
On the other hand, maybe I never try hard enough. Ha.
Not to say that there was no use attending orientation. In every sense of the word, I did get myself rather 'oriented'. At least I now have a slight sense of direction when navigating around the different places.
The games planned by the School were indeed mild by the university's standards, especially after I saw and heard about orientations by other faculties.
The orientation ended with Rag Day today. My first Rag Day experience was not from the grandstands but from the tent that housed the participants' belongings; for some reason I somehow became involved in the School's float. I would have liked to watch from the grandstands, but staying at the tent had allowed me to catch up with my sleep.
[Reminded me of how my Army Half Marathon experiences were not of those as participants but as organisers. Interesting why I always seem to get the short end of the stick lol.]
Having being involved in computing since secondary school, I have met plenty of like-minded people at different stages of my life. After some time, our paths diverged, and it never occurred to me that we would ever meet again. Even better, it never occurred to me that these different people that I have met, and the different people that these different people have met, would all converge and become friends with each other one day.
Below as follows:
1) A friend, not a close one though, from my CCA in secondary school. Never in same class, went to different junior colleges, and now met again studying in the same School.
2) I have a friend, A, whom I met in my active unit during my National Service. He has a friend B, whom he met during his Basic Military Training days. A, B and I are now in the same School. In addition, B and I have four common friends, C, D, E and F, where C and D were my classmates in secondary school, and E is a good friend of my friend F. B, C, D and E met in their unit during National Service. During orientation, B was in the orientation group where F was the group leader.
3) One of my group leaders who is a friend of A in secondary school.
4) Three seniors, one from my CCA in secondary school and two from two different CCAs in junior college, are now all studying in the School. Now they are friends with each other.
5) This guy in my orientation group who is in the Computing class as my three gay friends in their junior college.
6) This girl in my orientation group who is a friend of the sister of F.
Some statistics should be drawn up next time!
All in all, I consider it a feat that I managed to attend so many days of orientation; felt rather guilty to have skipped two of the days, but I'm not ready for everything yet.
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
backtracking
I recall Seagate once said Singapore was an excellent place for their hard disk business, because of its strategic location, high education levels among her citizens blah blah, and manufacturing costs constituted only a small portion of their total costs, so Singapore, despite being an expensive place to work in, was no problem to them.
HAHA.
Perhaps National Day is coming; or perhaps 2000 seems too big a number to be comfortable with; the media decided to carry in the same news bulletin, the new Integrated Resort at Sentosa will hire 8000 people by the end of this year. Good move.
Please continue to love Singapore!
Genuinely a good video.
**************
Not too long ago our dearest Government published the criteria to be selected as a scholarship holder under their prestigious Public Service Commission, and one point they stressed on is to say the truth, not throw out all the politically correct answers.
I wonder what if I say, "I have no interest in working for the Government. All I want is your money to sponsor my studies so that I can study for free!"
**************
And so China just experienced a once-in-a-lifetime full solar eclipse. Ironic how China was the place where the old stories of 天狗食日 came from, and now the entire country got all hyped up over the Moon covering the Sun and throwing entire cities into darkness in minutes.
**************
Google's way of explaining recursion. Short, sweet and brilliant!
**************
The singer. Not bad a song I feel.
**************
My All-in-One printer which I had won from a quiz back in JC days has a funny problem which I hate: Regardless of the operation, as long as any of the four colours [black, cyan, magenta, yellow] is empty, the printer will refuse to do anything. Not even scanning. -.-
So when my printer refused to print my black-and-white forms which I needed for registration because my colours were empty even though I had a full black cartridge, I turned to the Internet for help.
Apparently light sensors are used to detect the ink cartridge levels; so when I pasted black tape over the translucent portion of the cartridges, the printer was tricked into believing that the cartridges was full!
**************
I'm getting very drained out from orientation. I need rest very, very badly.
HAHA.
Perhaps National Day is coming; or perhaps 2000 seems too big a number to be comfortable with; the media decided to carry in the same news bulletin, the new Integrated Resort at Sentosa will hire 8000 people by the end of this year. Good move.
Please continue to love Singapore!
Genuinely a good video.
**************
Not too long ago our dearest Government published the criteria to be selected as a scholarship holder under their prestigious Public Service Commission, and one point they stressed on is to say the truth, not throw out all the politically correct answers.
I wonder what if I say, "I have no interest in working for the Government. All I want is your money to sponsor my studies so that I can study for free!"
**************
And so China just experienced a once-in-a-lifetime full solar eclipse. Ironic how China was the place where the old stories of 天狗食日 came from, and now the entire country got all hyped up over the Moon covering the Sun and throwing entire cities into darkness in minutes.
**************
Google's way of explaining recursion. Short, sweet and brilliant!
**************
The singer. Not bad a song I feel.
**************
My All-in-One printer which I had won from a quiz back in JC days has a funny problem which I hate: Regardless of the operation, as long as any of the four colours [black, cyan, magenta, yellow] is empty, the printer will refuse to do anything. Not even scanning. -.-
So when my printer refused to print my black-and-white forms which I needed for registration because my colours were empty even though I had a full black cartridge, I turned to the Internet for help.
Apparently light sensors are used to detect the ink cartridge levels; so when I pasted black tape over the translucent portion of the cartridges, the printer was tricked into believing that the cartridges was full!
**************
I'm getting very drained out from orientation. I need rest very, very badly.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
ever changing
Unavoidable
Cloudy, sunny or windy
Unpredictable.
**************
Tried out Ubuntu 9.04 "Jaunty Jackalope" Live CD on my laptop today, and it works like a charm! So most likely the old Ubuntu I have, 7.10 "Gutsy Gibbon", has old Nvidia drivers that does not support my graphics card. Probably I can bypass the Graphical User Interface and install the operating system, thereafter update the Nvidia drivers, but I'm lazy haha.
Say, with a new release every six months, its a waste of my CD-Rs. Maybe I should try installing via thumbdrives someday.
Next up is to try it on my desktop after I have backed everything up.
School is starting, and I'm getting scared.
Cloudy, sunny or windy
Unpredictable.
**************
Tried out Ubuntu 9.04 "Jaunty Jackalope" Live CD on my laptop today, and it works like a charm! So most likely the old Ubuntu I have, 7.10 "Gutsy Gibbon", has old Nvidia drivers that does not support my graphics card. Probably I can bypass the Graphical User Interface and install the operating system, thereafter update the Nvidia drivers, but I'm lazy haha.
Say, with a new release every six months, its a waste of my CD-Rs. Maybe I should try installing via thumbdrives someday.
Next up is to try it on my desktop after I have backed everything up.
School is starting, and I'm getting scared.
Friday, July 10, 2009
laptop
Strong gusts of wind blow
I left my windows open
Cooling but dusty.
After weeks of using my laptop, I learnt some interesting things.
1) The laptop's LCD which is only 14.1 inches big is too small. After prolonged use of the laptop and switching back to my desktop with my lovely 19 inch LCD monitor, my eyes feel so refreshed. Each time I got 'refreshed' I will wonder why the hell people need 24 inch LCDs when my 19 inch looks so big and nice. Haha.
I also wonder how I survived my primary school days when my 80486 came with a 14 inch CRT. Haha.
2) I don't like wireless connections. Maybe because of dropped packets or the authentications, I find myself running into time-outs more often on my laptop than on my desktop while surfing the net. RJ45 for the win!
3) Back in the days of Starhub, things were simple. Starhub gave a modem; we bought a cheap router-cum-switch, and we were happily connected. Now with S1ngnet, a stupid 'Mi0b0x' was given to us, which is essentially a modem, router, switch, wireless access point, and hardware firewall all in one.
Due to gaming and *ahem* torrenting, the firewall is obviously an obstacle, but we are not allowed to switch it off. The only way is to set the computer to an 'elevated' mode, where the computer will 'share' the same IP address as the 'Mi0b0x', so all packets will now route to the computer, 'bypassing' the firewall.
So I set my desktop to this 'elevated' mode then.
The problem is only one computer can be set to this stupid 'elevated' mode, so now I have a laptop, the laptop only gets an internal IP address, aka 'normal' mode.
Since my desktop and laptop have IP addresses that are in different families, I can't get them to see each other, even though they are connected to the same 'Mi0b0x', which makes sense logically but not physically.
Worst of all, the 'Mi0b0x' comes with S1ngnet's custom firmware, which is rather restricted. I am guessing static routing might work, but am lazy to find out how.
I understand they are trying to make things user-friendly, but sometimes things get too simple, they become too difficult to use instead.
I left my windows open
Cooling but dusty.
After weeks of using my laptop, I learnt some interesting things.
1) The laptop's LCD which is only 14.1 inches big is too small. After prolonged use of the laptop and switching back to my desktop with my lovely 19 inch LCD monitor, my eyes feel so refreshed. Each time I got 'refreshed' I will wonder why the hell people need 24 inch LCDs when my 19 inch looks so big and nice. Haha.
I also wonder how I survived my primary school days when my 80486 came with a 14 inch CRT. Haha.
2) I don't like wireless connections. Maybe because of dropped packets or the authentications, I find myself running into time-outs more often on my laptop than on my desktop while surfing the net. RJ45 for the win!
3) Back in the days of Starhub, things were simple. Starhub gave a modem; we bought a cheap router-cum-switch, and we were happily connected. Now with S1ngnet, a stupid 'Mi0b0x' was given to us, which is essentially a modem, router, switch, wireless access point, and hardware firewall all in one.
Due to gaming and *ahem* torrenting, the firewall is obviously an obstacle, but we are not allowed to switch it off. The only way is to set the computer to an 'elevated' mode, where the computer will 'share' the same IP address as the 'Mi0b0x', so all packets will now route to the computer, 'bypassing' the firewall.
So I set my desktop to this 'elevated' mode then.
The problem is only one computer can be set to this stupid 'elevated' mode, so now I have a laptop, the laptop only gets an internal IP address, aka 'normal' mode.
Since my desktop and laptop have IP addresses that are in different families, I can't get them to see each other, even though they are connected to the same 'Mi0b0x', which makes sense logically but not physically.
Worst of all, the 'Mi0b0x' comes with S1ngnet's custom firmware, which is rather restricted. I am guessing static routing might work, but am lazy to find out how.
I understand they are trying to make things user-friendly, but sometimes things get too simple, they become too difficult to use instead.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
street fighter IV benchmark
I wonder why a benchmark program for Street Fighter IV was developed when its not expected to be a resource-demanding game[unlike all the hype created around Crysis]. Nevertheless I still tried it out of curiosity. Haha.
Not that bad for my two-and-a-half year old desktop.
Tried it out on my new laptop too:
Haha so much for the dedicated graphics card. Of course I'm not expecting much from the G105M; its a low end card after all, but still find it interesting that my desktop's X1950 Pro thrashed it flat despite it being a three-year-old card.
While at it I decided to monitor the laptop's temperatures as well.
It was a ridiculously hot Tuesday afternoon and the GPU temperatures especially, shot up as soon as I fired up the SFIV benchmark; I quickly blasted my house fan at it.
More 'normal' temperatures.
A little upset I cannot control the fan[or fans, I don't know] residing inside the laptop; nothing shows up in SpeedFan. Overall I'm quite okay with the temperatures, but the area where I rest my palm on gets considerably warm after a while due to the hard disk drive, and it bugs me. Haha.
I decided to get my laptop from the recently concluded PC Show, after a long dilemma on whether to get a cheap laptop or to wait out for Windows 7. So far so good, hopefully it will last long and prosper.
Firefox 3.5 is out! A little tempted to try it now that Google Chrome seems to be a little buggy to me.
Not that bad for my two-and-a-half year old desktop.
Tried it out on my new laptop too:
Haha so much for the dedicated graphics card. Of course I'm not expecting much from the G105M; its a low end card after all, but still find it interesting that my desktop's X1950 Pro thrashed it flat despite it being a three-year-old card.
While at it I decided to monitor the laptop's temperatures as well.
It was a ridiculously hot Tuesday afternoon and the GPU temperatures especially, shot up as soon as I fired up the SFIV benchmark; I quickly blasted my house fan at it.
More 'normal' temperatures.
A little upset I cannot control the fan[or fans, I don't know] residing inside the laptop; nothing shows up in SpeedFan. Overall I'm quite okay with the temperatures, but the area where I rest my palm on gets considerably warm after a while due to the hard disk drive, and it bugs me. Haha.
I decided to get my laptop from the recently concluded PC Show, after a long dilemma on whether to get a cheap laptop or to wait out for Windows 7. So far so good, hopefully it will last long and prosper.
Firefox 3.5 is out! A little tempted to try it now that Google Chrome seems to be a little buggy to me.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
OpenNet
Sian still so far away.
Given that my current Singtel contract ends end-2010, I will be in a dilemma then whether to subscribe to a copper line based network or to wait out for a fibre optic based network.
Check here.
Saturday, June 06, 2009
Home
In conjunction with World Environment Day a documentary titled Home was released worldwide, with Youtube as one of its platforms.
And gosh was it gorgeous!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqxENMKaeCU
Unlike ordinary videos where they are subjected to 100MB size and 10min time limits, the one-and-a-half-hour documentary was uploaded in a single video and weighs in a heavy 1.4GB. With no loss of quality, there was a occasional lag when playing it on my Pentium D.
I found myself losing concentration to the background narration at times because I was engrossed in the stunning and flawless images of our Mother Earth. Too bad I had no High Definition equipment to enjoy them.
I find that Dubai is strikingly similar to Singapore, especially after listening to the commentary.
"Dubai is a sort of culmination of the Western model, a country where the impossible becomes possible. Building artificial islands in the sea, for example. Dubai has few natural resources, but with the money from oil it can bring in millions of tons of material and workers from all over the planet. Dubai has no farmland, but it can import food. Dubai has no water, but it can afford to expend immense amounts of energy to desalinate seawater and build the world's highest skyscrapers in the world. Dubai has endless Sun, but no solar panels. It is the totem to total modernity that never fails to amaze the world."
The difference is that we did not depend on oil to be where we are today, otherwise we might be the subject of controversy in this documentary now instead of Dubai.
Just like many other documentaries, Home gave some numbers to drive the message furthur. One particular number that got my attention was:
"The world spends 12 times more on military expenditures than on aid to developing countries."
Ha! Try telling that to our country!
Then again, I guess most people will just watch and forget.
And gosh was it gorgeous!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqxENMKaeCU
Unlike ordinary videos where they are subjected to 100MB size and 10min time limits, the one-and-a-half-hour documentary was uploaded in a single video and weighs in a heavy 1.4GB. With no loss of quality, there was a occasional lag when playing it on my Pentium D.
I found myself losing concentration to the background narration at times because I was engrossed in the stunning and flawless images of our Mother Earth. Too bad I had no High Definition equipment to enjoy them.
I find that Dubai is strikingly similar to Singapore, especially after listening to the commentary.
"Dubai is a sort of culmination of the Western model, a country where the impossible becomes possible. Building artificial islands in the sea, for example. Dubai has few natural resources, but with the money from oil it can bring in millions of tons of material and workers from all over the planet. Dubai has no farmland, but it can import food. Dubai has no water, but it can afford to expend immense amounts of energy to desalinate seawater and build the world's highest skyscrapers in the world. Dubai has endless Sun, but no solar panels. It is the totem to total modernity that never fails to amaze the world."
The difference is that we did not depend on oil to be where we are today, otherwise we might be the subject of controversy in this documentary now instead of Dubai.
Just like many other documentaries, Home gave some numbers to drive the message furthur. One particular number that got my attention was:
"The world spends 12 times more on military expenditures than on aid to developing countries."
Ha! Try telling that to our country!
Then again, I guess most people will just watch and forget.
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Electronic Entertainment Expo 2009
I can't help but laugh whenever I see the cover image for the sequel to the popular Left 4 Dead.
Ok the game is not supposed to be funny; its about killing zombies. The first game came out last year and had a striking, easy-to-remember cover image:
A disgusting hand with the thumb gone; simple yet told us alot about the game. I thought it was pretty well done.
Now at the gaming exhibition that is ongoing in USA, Left 4 Dead 2 was announced. And the game cover?
Haha I just find it amusing. ^^v
There are plenty of announcements in this year's E3, and many companies use this platform to showcase new games in development. Game trailers are getting more and more movie-like from my observation; besides the Modern Warfare 2 a couple of posts below, there's also:
Assassin's Creed 2,
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction,
Star Wars Old Republic,
and last but not least, the oh-so-funny Left 4 Dead 2 ^^v [gore alert for the innocent minds!]
Soon we can whack zombies with frying pans! ^^v
As I am typing this Sony is holding their press conference, and they just finished showcasing some Playstation 3 game which I have no interest in. Now they are announcing some new developments on the Playstation Portable.
Allow me to give some live updates! Haha.
0235 Singapore Time:
Pink PSP Hannah Montana package! Lol. And some new PSP games.
CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment announces PSP Go! A new PSP device! Me: With 'new' features that don't sound new at all.
Will be launched in October in North America and November in Japan.
Ahahaha new PSP games will be released on UMD discs and digital downloads! Me: Maybe they realise nobody buys the discs? :x
0244 Singapore Time:
Playstation Video Store will be available natively on the PSP.
Some Japanese boss announces Gran Turismo, a Sony flagship racing game on the PSP.
"This is not a shrunken down subset of the series," says the nervous translator. Me: LOL.
Me: Gran Turismo looks interesting enough, but otherwise the PSP Go and its new features don't really attract me.
0250 Singapore Time:
Some other Japanese boss announces a true sequel to the Metal Gear Solid franchise for the PSP, coming out in 2010. Me: Looks like yet another typical game.
0300 Singapore Time:
Resident Evil game for PSP! Designed from ground up.
Me: As I read the posts of the live blog, apparently they will be launching 100 new titles on the Playstation 2. Looks like they haven't given up on their old system.
0305 Singapore Time:
Talking about their Playstation Network. Me: Doesn't really affect me since I don't own a PS3.
0315 Singapore Time:
Now they are talking about games coming on Playstation 3, showing off gameplay of Assassin's Creed 2, and trailers of Final Fantasy XIII and XIV.
0330 Singapore Time:
Some motion control technology which looks like Sony's answer to Nintendo's Wii Remote is introduced. Me: Pretty interesting. Microsoft announced a 'Project Natal' during its own press conference, something similar which was rather awesome. I think these real-time interactions will be the future of gaming.
0345 Singapore Time:
I shall stop here. Haha.
Ok the game is not supposed to be funny; its about killing zombies. The first game came out last year and had a striking, easy-to-remember cover image:
A disgusting hand with the thumb gone; simple yet told us alot about the game. I thought it was pretty well done.
Now at the gaming exhibition that is ongoing in USA, Left 4 Dead 2 was announced. And the game cover?
Haha I just find it amusing. ^^v
There are plenty of announcements in this year's E3, and many companies use this platform to showcase new games in development. Game trailers are getting more and more movie-like from my observation; besides the Modern Warfare 2 a couple of posts below, there's also:
Assassin's Creed 2,
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction,
Star Wars Old Republic,
and last but not least, the oh-so-funny Left 4 Dead 2 ^^v [gore alert for the innocent minds!]
Soon we can whack zombies with frying pans! ^^v
As I am typing this Sony is holding their press conference, and they just finished showcasing some Playstation 3 game which I have no interest in. Now they are announcing some new developments on the Playstation Portable.
Allow me to give some live updates! Haha.
0235 Singapore Time:
Pink PSP Hannah Montana package! Lol. And some new PSP games.
CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment announces PSP Go! A new PSP device! Me: With 'new' features that don't sound new at all.
Will be launched in October in North America and November in Japan.
Ahahaha new PSP games will be released on UMD discs and digital downloads! Me: Maybe they realise nobody buys the discs? :x
0244 Singapore Time:
Playstation Video Store will be available natively on the PSP.
Some Japanese boss announces Gran Turismo, a Sony flagship racing game on the PSP.
"This is not a shrunken down subset of the series," says the nervous translator. Me: LOL.
Me: Gran Turismo looks interesting enough, but otherwise the PSP Go and its new features don't really attract me.
0250 Singapore Time:
Some other Japanese boss announces a true sequel to the Metal Gear Solid franchise for the PSP, coming out in 2010. Me: Looks like yet another typical game.
0300 Singapore Time:
Resident Evil game for PSP! Designed from ground up.
Me: As I read the posts of the live blog, apparently they will be launching 100 new titles on the Playstation 2. Looks like they haven't given up on their old system.
0305 Singapore Time:
Talking about their Playstation Network. Me: Doesn't really affect me since I don't own a PS3.
0315 Singapore Time:
Now they are talking about games coming on Playstation 3, showing off gameplay of Assassin's Creed 2, and trailers of Final Fantasy XIII and XIV.
0330 Singapore Time:
Some motion control technology which looks like Sony's answer to Nintendo's Wii Remote is introduced. Me: Pretty interesting. Microsoft announced a 'Project Natal' during its own press conference, something similar which was rather awesome. I think these real-time interactions will be the future of gaming.
0345 Singapore Time:
I shall stop here. Haha.
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