We decode the message and took the first train out to Raffles Place.
Upon there, we solved another code and this gave us 2 locations: City Hall; Lavender and Kembangan. We probably took the second train out to City Hall.
There, we were stuck for 45 to 60 minutes behind a long queue of participants waiting to clear the game challenge.
We then headed to Lavender to play a game, where we got a new clue that Tanjong Pagar is one of the game stations.
We then procedded to Kembangan, then Tanjong Pagar before returning to Toa Payoh for the completion.
We finished in 148th place out of 250.
Were we that slow? Did that many people cheat? Or was the delay at Raffles Place the wrong strategy for us to take?
Anyway, it was an exciting 3 hrs.
~
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Friday, August 29, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Google Street View by Wii Balance Board
What's street view?
Well, go to maps.google.com, click on those cameras, and knock yourself out.
Apparently, Singapore is not interesting enough to be mapped.
Learn how: http://maps.google.com/help/maps/streetview/
Anyway, here's the meat.
Navigate street view with Wii Balance Board!
http://www.vimeo.com/1565343?pg=embed&sec=1565343
~
Well, go to maps.google.com, click on those cameras, and knock yourself out.
Apparently, Singapore is not interesting enough to be mapped.
Learn how: http://maps.google.com/help/maps/streetview/
Anyway, here's the meat.
Navigate street view with Wii Balance Board!
http://www.vimeo.com/1565343?pg=embed&sec=1565343
~
Monday, August 25, 2008
The 80-20 rule
This was the observation by Pareto that 80% of a country's wealth is held by 20% of the population. This is roughly true for most countries.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/80-20_rule#Practical_applications
~
-Just for fun
-Based on airfare and seating plan from Singapore to Zurich, SIA, B777-300ER
Economy --> 228 seats (approx), 80.85%
Business --> 42 seats, 14.89% of load
First class --> 12 seats, 4.26% of load,
Economy --> $1700 per ticket, 44.89% of total revenue
Business --> $7900 per ticket, 38.43% of total revenue
First class --> $12000 per ticket, 16.68% of total revenue
-so.. 20% of the passengers pay for 50% of the flight
these are my own calculations for the purpose of study. I apologise for any errors
ref: http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Singapore_Air/Singapore_Air_Boeing_777-300ER.php
~
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/80-20_rule#Practical_applications
~
-Just for fun
-Based on airfare and seating plan from Singapore to Zurich, SIA, B777-300ER
Economy --> 228 seats (approx), 80.85%
Business --> 42 seats, 14.89% of load
First class --> 12 seats, 4.26% of load,
Economy --> $1700 per ticket, 44.89% of total revenue
Business --> $7900 per ticket, 38.43% of total revenue
First class --> $12000 per ticket, 16.68% of total revenue
-so.. 20% of the passengers pay for 50% of the flight
these are my own calculations for the purpose of study. I apologise for any errors
ref: http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Singapore_Air/Singapore_Air_Boeing_777-300ER.php
~
Saturday, August 23, 2008
BB: A can of worms that showed *some* Singaporeans to be the greedy beings they are
Some parents want more. Back-date it, they say. It's not fair to me, they say.
Some parents spoke out against this, saying that a decision to have a child should be one of love, not incentives.
To the second group, I salute your passion and bravery in speaking out against such vicious money grabbing people.
To the first, my tags say it all.
~
Some parents spoke out against this, saying that a decision to have a child should be one of love, not incentives.
To the second group, I salute your passion and bravery in speaking out against such vicious money grabbing people.
To the first, my tags say it all.
~
WTH?! You CHEATED me of my baby bonus!!
Beanbear showed this to me from the motherhood forums.
[When it was 1 Jan 2009]
1. Our baby is about to be due soon. When we heard about the baby bonus, we were quite happy. Now they tell us it will start on 1st Jan. I feel so ANGRY with the government! They cheated my feelings and now I could not get any bonus at all!
[When it was to be effective immediately]
2. This is not fair! Why not backdate it to 1 Jan 2008 instead? What about mothers who just gave birth?
~
[When it was 1 Jan 2009]
1. Our baby is about to be due soon. When we heard about the baby bonus, we were quite happy. Now they tell us it will start on 1st Jan. I feel so ANGRY with the government! They cheated my feelings and now I could not get any bonus at all!
[When it was to be effective immediately]
2. This is not fair! Why not backdate it to 1 Jan 2008 instead? What about mothers who just gave birth?
~
Ugliness in forums
Beanbear showed this to me from the motherhood forums.
[When it was 1 Jan 2009]
1. ...the government should have been thoughtful towards those mums that are still pregnant and but not given birth. Any cut-off date introduced if it is not IMMEDIATE or Backdating would create unnecessary stress to the mum-to-bes near the cut-off date. We know that some doctors may advise mum-to-be to induce or bring forward C-sect for all sorts of medical reasons. These group of mum-to-bes would be very stressed when confronted with such scenario then.
[When it was to be effective immediately]
2. mummies.. no angry and pissed liao.. we got the enhanced baby bonus!
now is happy happy.. so now's the time to tell those "nasty" ppl on the thread today that we got the 7K!! go eat your grapes! woohoo..
3. if we really get the incentives, i will buy grapes for that Brown woman...but sour ones....:-)
~
[When it was 1 Jan 2009]
1. ...the government should have been thoughtful towards those mums that are still pregnant and but not given birth. Any cut-off date introduced if it is not IMMEDIATE or Backdating would create unnecessary stress to the mum-to-bes near the cut-off date. We know that some doctors may advise mum-to-be to induce or bring forward C-sect for all sorts of medical reasons. These group of mum-to-bes would be very stressed when confronted with such scenario then.
[When it was to be effective immediately]
2. mummies.. no angry and pissed liao.. we got the enhanced baby bonus!
now is happy happy.. so now's the time to tell those "nasty" ppl on the thread today that we got the 7K!! go eat your grapes! woohoo..
3. if we really get the incentives, i will buy grapes for that Brown woman...but sour ones....:-)
~
VF-25 toy
such details for the VF25
haiz...
http://superrobotwar.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/srwhotnewshj10mf.jpg
~
haiz...
http://superrobotwar.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/srwhotnewshj10mf.jpg
~
Job direction: Why I did not send in my resume that time
previous:
http://jwqh.blogspot.com/2008/03/dash-of-updates.html
http://jwqh.blogspot.com/2008/04/bored-to-death-and-drowning-in-mucus.html
Between Feb-March, I was invited by 2 of my ex-colleagues to apply at their company. The offer was flattering but I had just sent one of my ex-colleague there for an attempt; I could not in good conscience deprive him of a chance.
Hope this cleared a mystery.
~
http://jwqh.blogspot.com/2008/03/dash-of-updates.html
http://jwqh.blogspot.com/2008/04/bored-to-death-and-drowning-in-mucus.html
Between Feb-March, I was invited by 2 of my ex-colleagues to apply at their company. The offer was flattering but I had just sent one of my ex-colleague there for an attempt; I could not in good conscience deprive him of a chance.
Hope this cleared a mystery.
~
Friday, August 22, 2008
Cleaning up the codes
Darn... I didn't have time.
Talking about that; ever came across the situation when you spend time debugging something, only to find out that someone had solved the very problem before you, but only for his own scenario?
There is but a thin line between being prudent and being chicken.
~
Talking about that; ever came across the situation when you spend time debugging something, only to find out that someone had solved the very problem before you, but only for his own scenario?
There is but a thin line between being prudent and being chicken.
~
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
The Beijing Olympics Village - recreated!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1046255/On-marks-set-Lego-Welcome-Olympics-everyones-quick-blocks.html
The Beijing Olympics Village - recreated!
The Beijing Olympics Village - recreated!
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Getting rid of Block-Checker
Sisters are terrorists...
Here's the solution, donated by Chak
http://www.geeknewz.com/board/lofiversion/index.php/t3546.html
~
Here's the solution, donated by Chak
http://www.geeknewz.com/board/lofiversion/index.php/t3546.html
~
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Macross Frontier: Pictures of Valkyries
Macross Frontier: Pictures of Valkyries, click to enlarge
[info] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macross_Frontier#Mecha_and_Ships_of_Macross_Frontier_Fleet
[info] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macross_Frontier#Mecha_and_Ships_of_Macross_Frontier_Fleet
Bloodless Diamonds
Most diamonds are linked with bloodshed
Here's a site that sells diamonds that are obtained though less violent means.
http://www.brilliantearth.com/dispcont.aspx?pageid=ABOUT_US
Here's a site that sells diamonds that are obtained though less violent means.
http://www.brilliantearth.com/dispcont.aspx?pageid=ABOUT_US
Friday, August 15, 2008
Urgent tasks upon urgent tasks
Suddenly realised that one year has passed..
http://jwqh.blogspot.com/2007/08/coping-with-work.html
http://jwqh.blogspot.com/2007/08/end-of-little-ot-spree.html
http://jwqh.blogspot.com/2007/08/my-first-lecturing-stint.html
A little unhappiness in the afternoon.
I was dead-locked because I don't have information that I need from my users. I sent them an email to two of them but they didn't reply. When pressed...
Me: What's the material groups?
key user: You(me) should know which material groups belong to which division
Me: What percentage do you want for this setup?
key approver: It's in the system!
I think they think I'm GOD sometimes...
~
http://jwqh.blogspot.com/2007/08/coping-with-work.html
http://jwqh.blogspot.com/2007/08/end-of-little-ot-spree.html
http://jwqh.blogspot.com/2007/08/my-first-lecturing-stint.html
A little unhappiness in the afternoon.
I was dead-locked because I don't have information that I need from my users. I sent them an email to two of them but they didn't reply. When pressed...
Me: What's the material groups?
key user: You(me) should know which material groups belong to which division
Me: What percentage do you want for this setup?
key approver: It's in the system!
I think they think I'm GOD sometimes...
~
From A Guy's Point Of View
[From those emails circulating around]
We don't care if you talk to other guys.
We don't care if you're friends with other guys.
It doesn't help if you sit there and talk to him for ten minutes without
even acknowledging the fact that we're still there.
We like you for WHO you are and not WHAT you are.
Or my t-shirt and boxers, not all dolled up.
Don't take everything we say seriously.
Sarcasm is a beautiful thing.
See the beauty in it.
Don't get angry easily.
Stop using magazines/media as your bible.
It's boring, and we don't care.
You have girlfriends for that.
Whatever happened to the word 'handsome'/'beautiful'.
On the other hand im not sayin i wouldn't like it either.
We don't care if you talk to other guys.
We don't care if you're friends with other guys.
But when you're sitting next to us, and some random guy walks into the room
and you jump up and tackle him without even introducing us, yeah, it pisses us off.
and you jump up and tackle him without even introducing us, yeah, it pisses us off.
It doesn't help if you sit there and talk to him for ten minutes without
even acknowledging the fact that we're still there.
We don't care if a guy calls you, but at 2 in the morning we do get a little concerned.
Nothing is that important at 2 a.m. that it can't wait till the morning.
Also, when we tell you you're pretty/beautiful/gorgeous/cute/stunning, we freaking mean it.
Don't tell us we're wrong.We'll stop trying to convince you.
The sexiest thing about a girl is confidence.
Yeah, you can quote me.
Don't be mad when we hold the door open.
Take Advantage of the mood im in.
LET US PAY FOR YOU! DON'T 'FEEL BAD'
We enjoy doing it.
It's expected.
Smile and say 'thank you.'
Kiss us when no one's watching.
If you kiss us when you know somebody's looking, we'll be moreimpressed.
You don't have to get dressed up for us.
Also, when we tell you you're pretty/beautiful/gorgeous/cute/stunning, we freaking mean it.
Don't tell us we're wrong.We'll stop trying to convince you.
The sexiest thing about a girl is confidence.
Yeah, you can quote me.
Don't be mad when we hold the door open.
Take Advantage of the mood im in.
LET US PAY FOR YOU! DON'T 'FEEL BAD'
We enjoy doing it.
It's expected.
Smile and say 'thank you.'
Kiss us when no one's watching.
If you kiss us when you know somebody's looking, we'll be moreimpressed.
You don't have to get dressed up for us.
If we're going out with you in the first place, you don't have to feel the
need to wear the shortest skirt you have or put on every kind of makeup you own.
need to wear the shortest skirt you have or put on every kind of makeup you own.
We like you for WHO you are and not WHAT you are.
Honestly, i think a girl looks more beautiful when she's just in her pj's.
Or my t-shirt and boxers, not all dolled up.
Don't take everything we say seriously.
Sarcasm is a beautiful thing.
See the beauty in it.
Don't get angry easily.
Stop using magazines/media as your bible.
Don't talk about how hott Morris Chesnutt, Brad Pitt, or JesseMcCartney is in front of us.
It's boring, and we don't care.
You have girlfriends for that.
Whatever happened to the word 'handsome'/'beautiful'.
I'd be utterly stunned by a girl who greeted me with 'Hey handsome!'instead of 'Hey baby/ stud/ cutie/ sexy' or whatever else you canthink of.
On the other hand im not sayin i wouldn't like it either.
~
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Blog Monetisation
Blog Monetization
For those interested in making money from blogs..
http://www.dannychoo.com/adp/eng/837/Blog+Monetization.html
For those interested in making money from blogs..
http://www.dannychoo.com/adp/eng/837/Blog+Monetization.html
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Blogger: Blog of note
Blogger recommended this site during my log in, so here it is.
http://asliceofcherrypie.blogspot.com/
A blog on food, sort of
http://asliceofcherrypie.blogspot.com/
A blog on food, sort of
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Age guessing
[in foot massage parlours]
"Oh you must be 25!"
"Oh no no, I'm more than that"
"You must be kidding"
While it brings a blush at first, this trick is wearing thin on me. Come on lor, sometimes I'm even estimated at 21 yrs old. While such flattery at foot massage parlours are harmless, I think I'll prefer people who don't go for such cheap tricks to generate small talk.
Which brings me to another topic. Why are people so afraid to guess ages? Just go with your gut feeling. Nowdays when I see someone counting beads in their head, I tell them to be brave and skip the politness, just say the age the believe is true.
We're friends, not clients.
"Oh you must be 25!"
"Oh no no, I'm more than that"
"You must be kidding"
While it brings a blush at first, this trick is wearing thin on me. Come on lor, sometimes I'm even estimated at 21 yrs old. While such flattery at foot massage parlours are harmless, I think I'll prefer people who don't go for such cheap tricks to generate small talk.
Which brings me to another topic. Why are people so afraid to guess ages? Just go with your gut feeling. Nowdays when I see someone counting beads in their head, I tell them to be brave and skip the politness, just say the age the believe is true.
We're friends, not clients.
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Left my handphone behind and guess what happened?
Angry..
The trade-in value was $0, if not below, for goodness sake!
Please email me your hp contacts. Don't sms, I don't have a SIM card yet.
(Don't leave your hp number in the comments either)
previous: http://jwqh.blogspot.com/2006/12/exploding-phones.html
The trade-in value was $0, if not below, for goodness sake!
Please email me your hp contacts. Don't sms, I don't have a SIM card yet.
(Don't leave your hp number in the comments either)
previous: http://jwqh.blogspot.com/2006/12/exploding-phones.html
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
How you expect me to know?
[Act 1]
Ticket comes in.
Subject: MC45A
Request: Assign MC45A to HCT
me: ???
Tcode? nope
Program? nope
Material? nope
Material group? nope
me: ...
Search Material by *MC45*
found - MC45T/XST
me: ...
[Act 2]
she: You called me?
me: Yes, I don't understand your request. What is HCT?
she: Aiyoh. You speak Chinese?
me: Yes.
she: How ah? I don't even remember where now...
me: ...
she: Oh, it's material group TE051
me: The material master is showing it correctly ah.
[Act 3]
she: Some reports showing this material's material group incorrectly ley..
me: So what are these reports?
she: How would i know! you guys should know right?
me: [msg] shijie! that stupid woman here again!
me: You don't know; how I help you?
she: This is so funny. How you expect me to know?
me: Grrr...
me: So who's affected?
she: My salesmen la!
me: So what reports are affected?
she: How would i know!
[Act 4]
she: You guys should have a list of all the reports right?
me: no...
she: Aiyoh... how can? All my reports affected how?
me: What are these reports?
she: All lor
me: ...
me: It's not so straight forward. I have hundreds of reports.
she: But cannot la, you find all the reports and you changed them all lor
me: ...
[Epilogue]
I got the report name from her salesman who was more than ready to trip over his own foot to help me. The error was no error at all but a misunderstanding of the program usage.
-material and material group information changed to protect identity
Ticket comes in.
Subject: MC45A
Request: Assign MC45A to HCT
me: ???
Tcode? nope
Program? nope
Material? nope
Material group? nope
me: ...
Search Material by *MC45*
found - MC45T/XST
me: ...
[Act 2]
she: You called me?
me: Yes, I don't understand your request. What is HCT?
she: Aiyoh. You speak Chinese?
me: Yes.
she: How ah? I don't even remember where now...
me: ...
she: Oh, it's material group TE051
me: The material master is showing it correctly ah.
[Act 3]
she: Some reports showing this material's material group incorrectly ley..
me: So what are these reports?
she: How would i know! you guys should know right?
me: [msg] shijie! that stupid woman here again!
me: You don't know; how I help you?
she: This is so funny. How you expect me to know?
me: Grrr...
me: So who's affected?
she: My salesmen la!
me: So what reports are affected?
she: How would i know!
[Act 4]
she: You guys should have a list of all the reports right?
me: no...
she: Aiyoh... how can? All my reports affected how?
me: What are these reports?
she: All lor
me: ...
me: It's not so straight forward. I have hundreds of reports.
she: But cannot la, you find all the reports and you changed them all lor
me: ...
[Epilogue]
I got the report name from her salesman who was more than ready to trip over his own foot to help me. The error was no error at all but a misunderstanding of the program usage.
-material and material group information changed to protect identity
Monday, August 04, 2008
Nudge nudge nudge
edit: corrected for grammar
A bit short of patience here.. It's like, what the hell? You guys can enjoy years of courtship yet I must be packed to the altar, a month after I started going steady?
I don't know who will see this but sorry, no more class gathering for me; till you guys can respect my space.
I didn't rush down to this gathering to have a wedding date forced on me and shown what a respectable wedding ring should BE like.
A bit short of patience here.. It's like, what the hell? You guys can enjoy years of courtship yet I must be packed to the altar, a month after I started going steady?
I don't know who will see this but sorry, no more class gathering for me; till you guys can respect my space.
I didn't rush down to this gathering to have a wedding date forced on me and shown what a respectable wedding ring should BE like.
Saturday, August 02, 2008
I had it!
When I first joined, month end closing was a painful affair. My user would compare 2 reports together and they would NEVER balance. Reason being one of the report is bugged! I took a look at it and admitted that it was beyound me. What could I do that a whole line of predecessors couldn't?
So we left it alone; working out the difference via manual checks and hand calculations. Till I decided to cut myself some slack by writing a helper program - one that would fix simple errors.
It worked like a charm and it reduced the number of corrections needed from 100~200+ to 10+. It was a great improvement and I had peace for months. Shijie got green for the last 2 closings; I ribbed her for not doing what I did earlier.
The Achilies heel - material revalations. A large batch of them was done this month and my program was way out of its league. Time for human brains.
Human brains worked till 9.30pm, tired and irritated. A part because I knew it was partly my fault.
The reluctance to change a working system that I do not understand when I first joined was excusable. To not do so after a year was not. Even though my predecessors had stayed longer; they had not worked up from a programming background. It was meant to be me; I shrank from it.
While waiting for my key-user to check the corrections by hand, I did a quick analysis of the flawed report and concluded that the bug is solvable. It was meant to be me; I will do it this time.
So we left it alone; working out the difference via manual checks and hand calculations. Till I decided to cut myself some slack by writing a helper program - one that would fix simple errors.
It worked like a charm and it reduced the number of corrections needed from 100~200+ to 10+. It was a great improvement and I had peace for months. Shijie got green for the last 2 closings; I ribbed her for not doing what I did earlier.
The Achilies heel - material revalations. A large batch of them was done this month and my program was way out of its league. Time for human brains.
Human brains worked till 9.30pm, tired and irritated. A part because I knew it was partly my fault.
The reluctance to change a working system that I do not understand when I first joined was excusable. To not do so after a year was not. Even though my predecessors had stayed longer; they had not worked up from a programming background. It was meant to be me; I shrank from it.
While waiting for my key-user to check the corrections by hand, I did a quick analysis of the flawed report and concluded that the bug is solvable. It was meant to be me; I will do it this time.
Friday, August 01, 2008
Macross Frontier: Best Song Moments
Diamond Crevasse (Macross Quarter leaving for it's first combat with the enemy)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMjywH9Slmc
Don't Be Late (The first attack combat sequences)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb1w80cLt5g
Infinity (Macross Quarter, Transformation!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UB5_nV6Fe40
星間飛行 / Seikan Hikou (Poor Zentraedi... so vulnerable to the Minmei Attack!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6TNMk_nq-8
What About My Star? Sheryl & Ranka Duet (The love triangle duet)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErtIYqn0xvA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMjywH9Slmc
Don't Be Late (The first attack combat sequences)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb1w80cLt5g
Infinity (Macross Quarter, Transformation!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UB5_nV6Fe40
星間飛行 / Seikan Hikou (Poor Zentraedi... so vulnerable to the Minmei Attack!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6TNMk_nq-8
What About My Star? Sheryl & Ranka Duet (The love triangle duet)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErtIYqn0xvA
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