Dream: Interviewee

Dreams as they go don't make sense. I just thought that it's amusing to log them and read at a future date. Readers might want to skip this entry.

[dream]
Me, Shijie were standing around when a little girl walked through the door. She approached the secretary who asked her to wait a while. She's the kind of age where you'll plait her hair and send her to pre-school. She stood there, innocently, waiting for the person she was supposed to meet.
We check her appointment card for who she was supposed to meet.
JW: Who's XB?
SJ: Me lor.

[furiously thinking] Don't we have a new guy, already? Don't tell me he's going to leave soon?

[another girl enters]

JW: Shijie, what's going on?
SJ: I don't know.
[/dream]

Migration in process

I'm shifting posts on games, trek and paintball to a new blog.
Posts that intersect with my social life or has comments will be retained here; those that have been migrated are already archived.

Once the shift is complete, I will post up the new address.

Aim:

1. To have a more coherent message
2. To properly track readership
3. To not hear, "but your blog is all about games..." anymore
   
4. To segregate readers that are friends and readers from paintball and startrek community
5. To be able to share posts of my gaming activities without exposing my personal blog

if u wanna try paintball..

edited and refreshed...

If u wanna plan a paintball game by urself...
Or you wanna try out paintball but do not have enough people...
Join the people at this site
http://paintball--101.blogspot.com

Basically, they buy the 250 balls package and sell it to at u 100 balls at that package price.
so it's cheaper for pple who dun wan pay $50 for 250 balls


I'm planning a recreational game is on 2 Aug, 10am-12nn, who's keen?
Location: BottleTree Park, Khatib

Wedding dinners

I went Kieran and Isabel's traditional wedding with Estee last night. Congratulations.

Had some thoughts...

--Food wastage
Yes, it is sad. But in the case of a buffet, the portioning is not fair. I've been to 2 wedding buffets and all I got was sandwiches because everyone made a mad rush for the pricier food. They had no concerns about leaving enough for others.

--Punctuality
I think it's rude and it's kinda maddening. Do you turn up late for your friend's walk down the aisle? Your child's graduation ceremony? Why be late because everyone else is doing it?

--The sharks conservation message
I understand what it is about. However, the same cruel act applies to our farm animals as well. I'm not advocating sharks fishing but to appeal to the public to be more aware.

MUTO - a wall painted animation by BLU

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

Blog directions

As I give out my blog address to more people, I get more worried about what I could write.
Granted that what I wrote were what I saw as facts and I could not be faulted. However, this could jeopardise working relationships that I'm currently holding.

Secondly, my blog has obtained too cluttered a feel. I want to give it a focused theme.

Therefore, I've decided. This blog address will become purely my personal blog, using my true name.
A new blog will hold stuffs under a new address, which will continue the tale of Joran - my gaming alter ego.

This will take some time to prepare; stay tuned.

Macross Frontier: The face of Ranka Lee

http://scottd.wordpress.com/2008/06/26/miss-macross-nakajima-megumi/

"Bold attacks" behind a mask of anonymity

In another blog, I spoke up against people attacking other people via comments (while leaving the name Anonymous); I was told to go and perform a crude act with the blog owner.

Some Blog owners can shoot their mouths off as they like; earning enmity.
Some readers can shoot their traps off as they like; leaving no names.

BlogSpace should not be a warzone; you know who you are.

Mozilla Download Day Certificate

http://www.spreadfirefox.com/en-US/worldrecord/certificate_form

Noob Calling

Earlier grumbles: http://jwqh.blogspot.com/search?q=noob

I hate noob calling.
A derogatory term from an elitist.

We are all here to play.
We all started from level 0.
What gives you the right?

SPNS Leg 2 Field Layout: Valley of Tombs

Blogging: reasons for blogging and personal views

[reasons for blogging]
Why do we blog? This topic has been covered to death. We're talking about personal blogs, of course. An uncharacteristic sharing of our personal lives and thoughts, un-imaginable, not very long ago.

Why not ask, "Why do we read blogs?"

Once you have that answer in your head, realise that I could not fight dragons; post pictures of my sexual exploits; or go on breath-taking trips on a regular basis.

You say, "Why should I read when I can ask you?". Fair enough, but are you sure you're checking with me on a weekly basis? If you are, would you want me to come bursting to you with stories on how I told someone to shut up; what nice places I discovered; what a good mood I was in, *everytime* you sign onto your IM?
"Hey, guess what?"
"Woah, listen to this!"
"Check this out!"
"Wa... I so mad"

You'll tire of me and I'll tire of myself. So there it is. An obvious answer to an obvious question.

Objectives
-----------
1. Document key events in my life
2. Bitch about stuffs
3. Share things I deem nice
4. Promote causes and groups I support: Acres; Star Trek; Paintball

Out-of-scope / Not-interested
-------------------------------
1. Entertaining the masses
2. Making money out of my blog

Now on to views...



[personal views]
1. BlogSpace should not be a warzone.
Should not use it to attack people unfairly, if the subject can be easily identified.
This is a tricky thing to balance, since most complaints are aimed at someone.

2. Posts should be written with the intention of public scrunity
Should not write something, that you'll feel uneasy to show the world later; prompting a deletion...

Erm... looks like I broke both rules #1 and #2 from time to time...
Still, a change for the good is better late than never

Paintball gear, finally!

edited for mistake
Dye Jersey and Pants --> Proto Jersey and Pants

Mask
$80

Jersey
$50?

Pants
$106

Finally! They're in!
No thanks to.. let's say it again! paintball-online.com, shit u!

However, since we now "downgrade" our Jerseys and Pants to Proto, instead of Empire, there's now no padding to speak off. I'll be buying a ground-pounder(padded vest) next.

Thanks to Chak for tying up loose ends.

Toilet habits of people on my floor

1. The holy water
1.1. Deliver his goods
1.2. Use napkins
1.3. Punch the tap with one hand
1.4. Touch the holy water with the same hand
1.5. Share it with the Earth God
1.6. Exit

2. The quick get-away
2.1 Deliver his goods
2.2. Use napkins
2.3 Exit

3. Special non-stick surface
3.1 Deliver his goods
3.2. Punch the tap with one hand
3.3. Touch the holy water with the same hand
3.4. Share it with the Earth God
3.5. Exit
Noticed something missing? OMG!!!

[Predictions]
a. If punching taps become a Olympic sports event; Singapore would sweep all the medals
b. Roger aka Smeagol would stop using the toilets in my building after reading this

Job direction: travel opportunities (not); bored

A mis-communication; so no trips to HK and VN till next year.

I'm bored; I need a challenge.

Norm: Do you really feel like a grown up?

http://www.mycomicspage.com/features/113/feature_items/366226

Paintball FAQ

edit1: adjusted cost of equipment downwards

[the below refers to the paintball variant: speedball, where players fight in out in a restricted field with bunkers littered around]

1. Is it expensive?
House markers (think, guns) and house masks are available "free" for your use.
We typically spend $50 per session to purchase our pellets.
If you want to invest in protective clothing, it might cost you between $100-$500. If not, you can use the equipment provided by the management.

2. Is it paintful?
Imagine someone "piak" you with their fingers as hard as they can. Now multiply that force by x5 for a long range shot. x10 for an average shot.
At competition levels, players are allowed to run past the safety line. This allows opponents the chance to get real close. The pain could be as high as x20 for a point-blank shot. Relax however, that the damage is only superficial, limited to broken skin and a "little volcano" bruise at its worst.
Protective clothing can limit these bruises by a huge factor; other than looking cool.

3. Safety (Center) line?
Under SPF and SSC regulation, the cener of the paintball fields must be separated by a safety line; No one is allowed to cross it, so opposing teams can only shoot at each other from their half of the field. However, in 2008, paintball enthuasists in Singapore managed to get the green light for the center line to be waived for competitive level of paintball.

4. Is it dangerous?
Damage is limited to small, localised bruises. Nothing could be permanently damaged. However, the eye is more fragile and is vulnerable. Paintball games place a serious emphasis on mask protection. In the event that someone's mask falls off (or taken out), the game is stopped immediately and the person is driven off from the field.
Speedball is a non-contact sports; no physical contact is allowed. So serious injuries are usually the result of recklessness and stupidity - like diving, sliding, jumping.
If someone is very malicious, a shot at the back of the head, at point-blank range might cause unconsciousness. I doubt the marshals would take kindly to such an act.

5. How do I join the local paintball scene?
Please visit the forums at http://www.weplaypaintball.com/forum/
You can find me there.

related:
http://joranAtPlay.blogspot.com/2008/04/how-safe-is-paintball.html
http://jwqh.blogspot.com/2008/06/force-ma.html

Force = mA

edit1: corrected by ST
edit2: added new comparisons


[units needed]
mass --> kg
acceleration --> m/(s^2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acceleration

1. Being hit by Superman at escape velocity
m = 120 kg
Velocity = Mach 9
A = 2970 m/(s^2))
F = 1,058,508,000 N

2. Force of a passenger hitting windscreen/seat in a car accident
m = 60 kg
Velocity = 80 kph
A = 22.22 m/(s^2))
F = 29,624 N

3. Force of a assault rifle round
m = 3.95-5.18 g (0.00395-0.00518 kg)
Muzzle Velocity = 990 m/s
A = 772–930 m/(s^2) -- apparently, energy is lost. so the Force for the paintball pellet should be lower
F = 2,354 - 4,480 N

4. Force of a 9mm handgun round
m = 7.5-9.5 g (0.0075-0.0095 kg)
Muzzle Velocity = 300-360 m/s
A = 300-360 m/(s^2) -- assuming no energy loss for simple calculation
F = 675 - 1,231 N

5. Force of a paintball pellet
m = 3 g? (0.003 kg)
Muzzle Velocity = 90 m/s
A = 90 m/(s^2) -- assuming no energy loss for simple calculation
F = 24.3 N



Conclusion:
a. It's easier to dodge a speeding car
b. Belt up!

edit: [courtesy of ST]
force needed to propel a paintball pellet
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080307185202AAyfPfU

Shadow Play

Today, the fresh batch of reservists did their duty with us, pushing our strength to 10.

At 7.15am, I got to know one of them and he was quite decent. The rest, I've worked with them before.

Staff was quite pissed that the 2 jokers from my batch are not to be seen. He gave an ultimatum that if he doesn't see their face by 12 noon, then he would cancel their ICT. I happily forwarded that message.

Meanwhile, having got the feel of the new batch, I tied down things with them so that those 2 would be doing their duties during the hot and boring hours of the day.

Ah... "Justice" is sweet. I don't have to handle them anymore. =)

Job direction: travel opportunities

This isn't exactly a secret since I have gushed it out to several people.

From July to September, it is likely that I will get to travel to Vietnam and Hongkong with my small boss to sync the region's ERP (SAP). I have long suspected that my role will be as a travelling Abaper (programmer).

Initially torn between going and staying, I finally decided I want to have the travel exposure. However, with the entrance of our new member, I fear that he'll get precedence over me as this company seem to favour those that hail from their home country.

Last week, Shijie updated me that I might be travelling to do some implementation on behalf of her division. This sounded strange to me. Then *today*, I got my answer.

On my new colleague's desk, was a book titled, "Easy ABAP". That explained it. I *am* going to be a travelling programmer.

Later, I learnt from Shijie that he has programming experience in Finance and HR modules, but not in Sales and Materials. Ah... a bit double standards(n1) in hiring their own countrymen, it seems. Oh well, who cares. What is important is that he is willing to work as a team. Time would tell.

note:
n1 - we are the logistics team, who deal in sales and materials

Cycling in the lion city

http://www.mrbrown.com/blog/2008/05/things-i-learne.html#comments

Poisoning the well

Something I remember from my English class, half a lifetime ago.
http://www.philosophicalsociety.com/Logical%20Fallacies.htm#poisoning%20the%20wells
http://www.newmanreader.org/works/apologia65/preface.html

In a nutshell, it refers to the act of discrediting an opponent during a debate.
"Before we start, let me tell you that my opponent is a liar"
This leads the listeners to have a bias against the other party, sometimes even before he has a chance to speak.