Sunday, November 30, 2008

Okto, 10pm, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

Okto, 10pm, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

Catch it today on Okto - free to air



from: http://img.verycd.com/posts/0801/post-455487-1200563793.jpg
~

Singaporean hostage killed in Mumbai

I feel sorry for her husband :(
I cannot express enough disgust at those excuses for a human.
~

Beverly Hills Chihuahua: Jamie Lee Curtis

Beverly Hills Chihuahua: Jamie Lee Curtis

Ah... I thought she looked familar.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween_H20:_20_Years_Later

Btw, the shop is surprisingly good.  Recommended for a good laugh :)
~

Rise in crow population

Since a friend complained that I only potray the nice side of myself, here's some bigotry.

Over the last 2 months, I've noticed a change over Avenue X.  The crow population there at night has grown from 1 and reached a peak of 9 on Thursday.  Yesterday, there were 7 of them.  I'm not sure I very pleased with this development.  Though it takes 2 hands to clap and I guess my neighbours are no saints but this is my neighbourhood and I don't like crows here.
~

Thursday, November 27, 2008

On the use of terrorism in achieving independence

On the use of  terrorism in achieving independence.

Just imagine when the next generation asks...
Child: "How was our country born?"
Ex-Terrorist: "Oh, we killed a lot of tourists who were just unlucky to be there.  Finally, the government caved in from pressure.  Now we lead free and innocent lives."
Child: "What does innocent mean?"
~

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Keeping updated with friends who blog

Keeping updated with friends who blog
previously: http://jwitworker.blogspot.com/2008/06/blogging-reasons-for-blogging-and.html

I guess it's too tedious to remember all the blogs lying around. Let me teach you how to use a simple RSS reader.

Here's how:
1. go to http://www.google.com.sg/
2. sign in with your google account, if not, please sign up
3. click on "Add Stuffs"














4.Click on "Add Feed"






















5. Add the URL, then click "Add"










6. Click "Back to IGoogle Home"












7. Now with one page, you can monitor multiple blogs and get notified when they are updates.
You can drag them around and choose how much to see.
Isn't this great?

~

Last 2 weeks of work

Things have gotten busy with requests coming ever since I stepped into office on Monday. Mi.Ki. has given me and a fellow colleague a lunch treat - much appreciated. Towards the end of the week, I should be doing my work rather than slacking off. By next Monday, I should be doing my last month end closing, which I hope will be smooth.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Friday, November 21, 2008

New guidelines for layoffs

from: http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_302964.html

New guidelines for layoffs
New guidelines for employers to make sure any retrenchment is done responsibly

WITH more retrenchments expected in the coming months, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is reviewing its guidelines for employers on how to handle excess manpower.

This includes informing MOM well before a company sends out termination letters so that the Workforce Development Agency can find alternative jobs for affected employees.

Employers can also send workers for NTUC-subsidised skills training courses to better prepare retrenched staff for transition to a new job.

The new guidelines will include more details about flexible wage systems and a shorter work week or temporary layoff schemes that companies can adopt to trim costs, rather than lay off workers.

Employers will also be encouraged to work with their workers' unions to solicit support for any retrenchment plans.

A revised version is expected in the next few weeks, said Acting Minister for Manpower Gan Kim Yong, on the sidelines of a Chinese Development Assistance Council event yesterday.

He said the new guidelines will 'send a clear message to employers on the need to leverage on the tripartite framework' between the Government, employers and workers' unions, so that any retrenchment can be conducted in a 'responsible manner'.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Office and NTUC chief Lim

Swee Say, who was at the event, agreed with Mr Gan that retrenchment should be conducted in a 'socially responsible' manner.

On Friday, he chastised the way DBS Bank axed 900 of its staff without first consulting its union.

[visit link for full story]
~

Jin Saotome's Super-Cool Custom Superheroes

Jin Saotome's Super-Cool Custom Superheroes
http://www.wired.com/culture/art/multimedia/2008/05/gallery_custom_figurines
~

Monday, November 17, 2008

Overseas Notification

Overseas Notification...
I hate the NS portal...
~

Freedom Of Speech In Your Own Blog (And Blog Direction)

Freedom Of Speech In Your Own Blog? No, I don't believe it exists.

It's not a matter of whether we can be sued or prosecuted for what we say. It's not as simple as, "If you don't like her blog, then don't read it". It's the fact that blogs, despite the owner's intention, are not private.

"So and so is a liar", someone wrote about you in his blog. Can you say that by simply not visiting his blog, your name does not get smeared? Should not that person be called to stand by his wild accusations?

In a little Paintball politics, someone called my teammate a noob on his blog, as well as several other players he played with that day. I got disgusted about his elitist attitude and complained about noob-calling on my blog (see old link here). Next thing I know, I was labeled the "noob-with-a-blog". A few weeks, he attacked me again, "You're a noob - you'll be called a noob - get used to it. Don't bitch on you blog because people call you a noob."

Am I gonna be whacked by him whenever he feels like it?


Good thing is, this second attack finally won me some support from friends who thought that I was overreacting the first time round. It's a victory of sorts.

Just because we ignore a problem doesn't mean it's gonna go away. Blogs, password protected or not, are public domain. You can just make irresponsible statements if you feel like it. Do you know that there's actually a blog from a neighboring country saying that Singaporeans are so kia-si that if she walks across our streets without checking, cars would actually screech to a stop. That's a dangerous attitude to pass around.

In short, no. We're not US president candidates.
~

This blog started out as a means to log my dreams and games. It spun out of control after I added events of my social life into it. As such, some articles are not safe for public consumption. To counter this, I now manage a personal blog and a games blog. The next direction for my personal blog will be - no complaints about work. A goal I'll strive for.
~

Hiroshima: The Lost Photographs

Hiroshima: The Lost Photographs
(A lengthy read)
http://designobserver.com/archives/entry.html?id=38841

Macross 1/60 Queadlunn Rau Max & Rau Miria (re-run)

Macross 1/60 Queadlunn Rau Max & Rau Miria (re-run)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/15107713@N02/2946063585/sizes/l/

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Parental Guidance

When we have kids in tow, what are we teaching them when we...
  • cut queue to get goodies bags
  • throw that tissue onto the grass
  • not give seats to elderly
  • block outgoing train passengers
  • collect 50 odd goodies bags, sort through them with your kids and discard the non useful things onto the field?

Goodness. And you wonder where Singaporeans get their bad manners from.
~

Sunday, November 09, 2008

Fujifilm FinePix F60fd: Trial 2

[background]
After searching around, I stumbled onto F100 as being one of the best compact cameras in light sensitivity. From there on, I chose F60fd. It has a decent CCD ratio and a good battery life. The price tag is also cheaper by a $100. That settled it.
Product: http://www.fujifilm.com/products/digital_cameras/f/finepix_f60fd/

[/background]

Some comparison between the Night and Natural Light modes

-temple



-walkway



-tree



-plants



-tree



Natural Light mode tries to capture the scene "as it is". It does not use flash and opts for a higher ISO setting instead. However, this may introduce noise into the picture.
For general photos, I think Natural Light mode may turn out quite well.
~

Fujifilm FinePix F60fd: Trial

[background]
After searching around, I stumbled onto F100 as being one of the best compact cameras in light sensitivity. From there on, I chose F60fd. It has a decent CCD ratio and a good battery life. The price tag is also cheaper by a $100. That settled it.
Product: http://www.fujifilm.com/products/digital_cameras/f/finepix_f60fd/

[/background]

The F series is supposed to be good for night shoots. Just happened that I have to meet some fellow StarTrek members for a hike today so I thought this is a good time to test it out.

Bootup:
In 1 sec, fast!

Ease of use:
Haven't explore much as it is my first day. I snapped everything with the AUTO mode. It seems intelligent enough. My pictures were fairly bright as it selected ISO 800 for me. However, this added some noise into the picture.

Sensitivity:
They say that to catch a shot of the stars, you need manual controls. This is done with AUTO mode.


Intelligent Flash:
First shot is focused on the front tree. Second shot is focused on the back tree. Flash is not suppressed for both cases.
Prevents a frontal object from being flashed if the target is "behind"




Low light:


Colours:


Overall, I'm pretty pleased with the camera. I'll be doing more tests with it.
~

Saturday, November 08, 2008

Fujifilm FinePix F60fd: Purchase

[background]
After searching around, I stumbled onto F100 as being one of the best compact cameras in light sensitivity. From there on, I chose F60fd. It has a decent CCD ratio and a good battery life. The price tag is also cheaper by a $100. That settled it.
Product: http://www.fujifilm.com/products/digital_cameras/f/finepix_f60fd/

[/background]

I went to the mall and started my search. The first shop was selling at $429. The second did not carry the model I want. It was the third that held my attention for the longest.

A salesman conducted me to the FujiFilm camera section and then began to give me a demo of the camera with great enthusiasm. I told him I have already decided on *that* camera and asked him for the price. When he said $499, I was ready to escape but he got his seniors to make a counter to me. They lowered to $429 with cash payment but I still wanted to check out the freebies at the other shop. They then offered $429 at credit and I took it.

"I did remember $429 upstairs correctly, right?"
"I think I saw $449"
"Oops.."

I ended up buying extra warrenty and battery for $30 each, for a total of $489. Happy.

Thursday, November 06, 2008

We are not packed like sardines!

LTA wrote to the papers,
"At 1,600 passengers per train, the MRT pasenger density will translate to about 4.9 passengers per square metre, which is significantly lower than the actual loading density of 7.0 passengers per square metre experienced on the Tokyo metro."


Woah, what a mouthful. Ok let's see.
Out of the crowded can, 2.1 sardines were taken out. Thanks.
You took 7.0 - an unacceptable rate, to show how comfortable we should be. We are not.
Third, we enjoy warm weather all year round; Japan only suffers it for 1 season.
Lastly, our population is nothing compared to theirs! Please play with figures fairly.
~

Why do you want to leave your job?

If it is for pay,
would you leave if your company makes a counter offer?

If it is for learning,
would you leave if your boss offer to put you in another project?

If it's the work culture,
is it your attitude that needs changing?
~

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Measurement of Beauty

How to measure Beauty?
Let's take Helen of Troy as a yardstick.
http://66.117.155.127/Writing/HELEN_of_TROY.html
~

Saturday, November 01, 2008

Big Walk Info Tomorrow

http://bigwalkonwater.wordpress.com/info-for-big-walkers/

Where to assemble: Suntec City Fountain of Wealth

When: Sunday 2 November 2008, by 7am

Programme:

- 6am onwards: Big Walkers arrive
- 7.30am: Flag-off for 5km walk to Marina Barrage
- Average estimated time to complete walk: 1.5 hours
- 9am onwards: Exploring the Marina Barrage and collecting the NTUC FairPrice goodie bag
- 9am to 1pm: Free shuttle buses back to Suntec City Mall, collecting the Suntec goodie bag and enjoying the post-walk carnival

How to get there:

Big Walkers are encouraged to take public transport to the start point at Suntec City’s Fountain of Wealth. This is due to road closures and diversions due to the Big Walk.

- By MRT: City Hall MRT

- By bus: Please note that due to road closures, buses into Suntec have been diverted.
SMRT bus services 106, 700A and 857 will be temporarily diverted. Refer to SMRT’s website for details.
SBS bus services 10, 14, 16, 36, 70M, 97, 107M, 111, 133, 162M, 502, 518, 578, 579 and 581 will not stop at certain bus stops. Refer to SBS Transit’s website for a full list of affected bus stops and their routes.

What to bring:

- The 4 items you received during registration: Your goodie bag coupon, sun visor, fan and Big Walk sticker (you could stick this on your T-shirt, body, or pin it on using safety pins). Remember, you need your goodie bag coupon to redeem your 2 goodie bags. Also, you stand to win up to $250 each in NTUC FairPrice vouchers if you are spotted with the visor, fan and sticker in our Spot Me Contest (click here to find out more).

Public defamation on the WWW

Over the week, I received 2 mails.

#1
The first, was someone warning us about a guy who goes around asking ladies to be his girlfriend. He doesn't want to spend time knowing them, just want to find a mate right away. When rejected, he got nasty and threatened to upload the girl's photos on IRC. The girl reacted by posting this email, with his photos, handphone # and Friendster profile, warning everyone to be careful.

#2
After her boyfriend returned to her home city, he broke up with her 5 days later over the phone. He said she was the cause of his misery; her expectations made him run into debt. He wants a girlfriend who is rich and will always support him. She blasted how ungrateful he is as she had housed and supported him financially for the last 2 years. Barely 10 days after they broke up, he was already showing off his new girlfriend. She posted his name, contact, workplace up. Appealing to his company to sack him, if not, that company is a fool to hire someone without morals.

I disagree with the methods used, especially the second case. The use of internet has now allowed acts of vengeance to cause much more damage. The posting of personal particulars and the damage to that person's life and career. We only have one side of the story but heaps of abuses were already launched upon the offending guy. Everyone, feeling injustice for the girl, simply forwarded the article along and the spread was especially prevalent in that guy's company.

How do we know this one-sided story is right? How have we become gossip-mongers at a click of a few buttons?

This is way wrong. I hope this is not a sign of things to come.