I've a suspicion that the train company is pushing the peak hour earlier. So from this day forward, I will start logging the time I catch the train and how minutes away is the next train.
week 1
1. 0741 hrs, 6 min
2. 0740 hrs, 4 min
3. ??, ??
week 2
1. 0740 hrs, 5 min
2. 0740 hrs, 4 min
3. 0740 hrs, 4 min
4. 0744 hrs, 3 min
~
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Saturday, March 28, 2009
JW's Laws of Deadlines
Law #1
Deadlines are set by whims of users; not logic
Law #2
A deadline is not set in stone
Law #3
The nearer you get to a deadline, the probability of it getting shifted earlier becomes higher
Law #4
The work done for a brought forward deadline is often required only much later
~
Deadlines are set by whims of users; not logic
Law #2
A deadline is not set in stone
Law #3
The nearer you get to a deadline, the probability of it getting shifted earlier becomes higher
Law #4
The work done for a brought forward deadline is often required only much later
~
Friday, March 27, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Train timings #1
I've a suspicion that the train company is pushing the peak hour earlier. So from this day forward, I will start logging the time I catch the train and how minutes away is the next train.
1. 0741 hrs, 6 min
~
1. 0741 hrs, 6 min
~
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Bias?
Recently, my friends and I took part in a competition. This game, like soccer, had 3 referees.
My friend did something that by right, should get himself and his opponent out of the field together. However, the referee insisted that his opponent was to be alive. We would have lost that game anyway; so it doesn't really matter. We were livid because we wanted justice. However, we stopped arguing so not to make a fuss. I know we are clean.
I got to know some of the guys from the other teams. One of them had a complaint about unfair refereeing. I had a personal chat with him and without showing my cards, he confirmed that we were talking about the same player who got this preferential treatment.
This isn't concrete proof but what are the chances? The same team. The same player. The same situations. Both time, this player was allowed to play on. Thanks for opening my eyes.
~
~
My friend did something that by right, should get himself and his opponent out of the field together. However, the referee insisted that his opponent was to be alive. We would have lost that game anyway; so it doesn't really matter. We were livid because we wanted justice. However, we stopped arguing so not to make a fuss. I know we are clean.
I got to know some of the guys from the other teams. One of them had a complaint about unfair refereeing. I had a personal chat with him and without showing my cards, he confirmed that we were talking about the same player who got this preferential treatment.
This isn't concrete proof but what are the chances? The same team. The same player. The same situations. Both time, this player was allowed to play on. Thanks for opening my eyes.
~
~
Saturday, March 21, 2009
My daughter was struggling and wasting time and effort because she did not know how to type
My daughter was struggling and wasting time and effort because she did not know how to type
We had to learn how to speak
We had to learn how to write
Funny, I remembered I had to spend hours to learn how to type. By my second project, I was striking the keys of my conventional typewriter at a furious pace. What does she want? Typing lessons for her daughter?
Wouldn't that take up more time?
Schools in future will have courses to teach your kids how to take the bus to school. They will learn how to tie their shoe laces. There will be practical and theory lessons on how to make new friends. They will have someone pointing out their mistakes so that everyone get full scores and no one's delicate egos get bruised.
Days will also be restructed to be 48 hours / day, since there's not enough time to do all these. By the time most people graduate from universities, they will be only 12 years old. Hurray!
~
Quote:
Recently, my daughter, who is in Primary 4, was required to turn in her school work as computer printouts. She was struggling and wasting unnecessary time and effort because she did not know how to type. It is obvious that children are loaded with homework and project work which require using the computer and typing skills. What are the Ministry of Education and schools doing to help them?
We had to learn how to speak
We had to learn how to write
Funny, I remembered I had to spend hours to learn how to type. By my second project, I was striking the keys of my conventional typewriter at a furious pace. What does she want? Typing lessons for her daughter?
Wouldn't that take up more time?
Schools in future will have courses to teach your kids how to take the bus to school. They will learn how to tie their shoe laces. There will be practical and theory lessons on how to make new friends. They will have someone pointing out their mistakes so that everyone get full scores and no one's delicate egos get bruised.
Days will also be restructed to be 48 hours / day, since there's not enough time to do all these. By the time most people graduate from universities, they will be only 12 years old. Hurray!
~
My son is a whiz kid; do not give him anything less than an A
My son is a whiz kid; do not give him anything less than an A
So we have parents who believe their kids are elite and should be treated differently. Everyone has their pride; why should the pride of a whiz kid be greater than ours? If the egos of these kids are so fragile, do they have a problem with their EQ?
Already, we have a society that treats elites differently. Would they one day believe that they should not mingle with us? Should we cultivate a breed of scholars who have never known failure?
~
Quote:
Teachers who supervise whiz kids for project work should not end up giving a grade which is lower than expected. This should be done only if at least three reminders given to students about the need to improve their work have gone unheeded. These reminders should also be sent to parents.
So we have parents who believe their kids are elite and should be treated differently. Everyone has their pride; why should the pride of a whiz kid be greater than ours? If the egos of these kids are so fragile, do they have a problem with their EQ?
Already, we have a society that treats elites differently. Would they one day believe that they should not mingle with us? Should we cultivate a breed of scholars who have never known failure?
~
Friday, March 20, 2009
A wrong reported as a right
A wrong reported as a right
bloody hell... someone entered an blank PO into the the dbase, making all search into the PO table successful, instead of an error
i wasted one day wondering why i keep encountering no errors
[explaination]
The program is coded wrongly and so should get an error when reading the database. Someone entered "garbage" into the database, causing all errors to be reported as right.
~
bloody hell... someone entered an blank PO into the the dbase, making all search into the PO table successful, instead of an error
i wasted one day wondering why i keep encountering no errors
[explaination]
The program is coded wrongly and so should get an error when reading the database. Someone entered "garbage" into the database, causing all errors to be reported as right.
~
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Dream: Virtual Reality Game Park
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]
Entered a spacious room. The entrance was lined with machines that required credits. Inserted a plastic currency note that came in denominations of 5 and 10. We were granted 1 hour.
A comrade was with me. An alien appeared. He shot at it close range. The creature pounded on him. He discharged his shotgun into its belly. The alien was shot up by the impact and the acidic blood splattered all over him. My comrade thrashed on the floor in agony.
I looked up at the bulkhead.
"Computer?"
I waited for a reply. There was none.
"Computer?"
A responding star-trek theme door bell chime replied me.
"Increase blood transfer to 25%"
"Acknowledged"
3m away from me, my comrade recovered and stood up. We were in a garden. We started jogging and the path took us in a clockwise direction. We avoided short red plants that had vines radiating out from the center, whipping blindly. Without knowing how, we knew that these plants are carnivourous. We came upon a swarm of snakes, short and fat like sea cucumbers. We couldn't dodge them so we waved 2 short twigs with leaves at them. Strangely, they exploded.
[/dream]
I came briefly conscious of my dream, "Weird"
[dream]
A group of was in pursuit of us. They caught up.
We were in a hall, sparse and undecorated except for about 8 tables, lined up in 2 rows. On each table, some items were in preparation. Our group now consisted of 6, a task force of some kind.
We were in a carpark, among cars that are vacant, discussing our plans. A woman approached us, insisting we help her.
"I got something to show you but I can't cause it's from the future"
"If you don't, then the timeline is going to get changed anyway", I retorted.
Acknowledging the logic, we walked over to her SUV where she produced a large encyclopedia. The book was a bounded copy and parts of the pages were falling out. At some parts, she stopped us from looking, "These contains weapons of my country (future)", she said. We stopped at a map of the country she wanted us to help. It was a map of Sweden.
We were in a room discussing our plans. There's a show at the airport and there's a flower fair in the town.
"I think it has to be a 2 days event", I said.
I was in a lab. Some of the bunsen burners were lighted but there was nothing cooking above it. I turned them off.
Back at the hall with 8 tables; I turned off all the bunsen burners for the various dishes that were cooking, without consulting my senior, declaring that the dishes were ready.
"Very good", said my teacher. "You have shown confidence"
[/dream]
[dream]
Entered a spacious room. The entrance was lined with machines that required credits. Inserted a plastic currency note that came in denominations of 5 and 10. We were granted 1 hour.
A comrade was with me. An alien appeared. He shot at it close range. The creature pounded on him. He discharged his shotgun into its belly. The alien was shot up by the impact and the acidic blood splattered all over him. My comrade thrashed on the floor in agony.I looked up at the bulkhead.
"Computer?"
I waited for a reply. There was none.
"Computer?"
A responding star-trek theme door bell chime replied me.
"Increase blood transfer to 25%"
"Acknowledged"
3m away from me, my comrade recovered and stood up. We were in a garden. We started jogging and the path took us in a clockwise direction. We avoided short red plants that had vines radiating out from the center, whipping blindly. Without knowing how, we knew that these plants are carnivourous. We came upon a swarm of snakes, short and fat like sea cucumbers. We couldn't dodge them so we waved 2 short twigs with leaves at them. Strangely, they exploded.
[/dream]
I came briefly conscious of my dream, "Weird"
[dream]
A group of was in pursuit of us. They caught up.
We were in a hall, sparse and undecorated except for about 8 tables, lined up in 2 rows. On each table, some items were in preparation. Our group now consisted of 6, a task force of some kind.
We were in a carpark, among cars that are vacant, discussing our plans. A woman approached us, insisting we help her.
"I got something to show you but I can't cause it's from the future"
"If you don't, then the timeline is going to get changed anyway", I retorted.
Acknowledging the logic, we walked over to her SUV where she produced a large encyclopedia. The book was a bounded copy and parts of the pages were falling out. At some parts, she stopped us from looking, "These contains weapons of my country (future)", she said. We stopped at a map of the country she wanted us to help. It was a map of Sweden.
We were in a room discussing our plans. There's a show at the airport and there's a flower fair in the town.
"I think it has to be a 2 days event", I said.
I was in a lab. Some of the bunsen burners were lighted but there was nothing cooking above it. I turned them off.Back at the hall with 8 tables; I turned off all the bunsen burners for the various dishes that were cooking, without consulting my senior, declaring that the dishes were ready.
"Very good", said my teacher. "You have shown confidence"
[/dream]
A flower from my baby
A flower from my baby
ST felt that I was feeling stressed from work and bought me a small gift. Thanks, dear =]
~click on any of the pictures to visit the album
ST felt that I was feeling stressed from work and bought me a small gift. Thanks, dear =]
~click on any of the pictures to visit the album
Friday, March 13, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Overtime and personal time
Overtime and personal time
A major project made me very busy. Coded and recoded the same thing over and over. I scheduled the UAT to be next Friday; my user asked for this Friday. wth?
Being "soft-hearted" and being a day ahead of schedule, I agreed to insert an interim UAT for Monday. I told him the original timetable was already highly optimistic and there was no buffer for mistakes and reworks. He seem to think it's unlikely. We shall see...
So now I have very challenging deadlines, interspersed with personal events I have lined up. I'm not going to skip them! The alternative of course is the dirty word - overtime.
It looks like there'll be days where I clock very late hours, so that I can leave on the dot on other days. I wonder if my colleagues will find this irregular. Once, the days when I do overtime are dependent on my energy level. Now, the days are marked on my calendar.
There never seem to be enough hours in the day to complete the tasks on hand. Some colleagues never seem to need to do overtime at all. At first, I attributed it to the fact that there are more programming requests for my logistics modules. Later, I realised that some of their work were deflected to my side. Some, I learnt, told their users that certain things could not be done. "Manage your users", they say.
Since I'm not likely to change my creed anytime soon, then I shall have to manage my time. I'll put in whatever hours are necessary in those pre-determined days. I won't be working weekends if I could help it - I've been duped enough times. They gave an outrageous deadline and when I complete my task; they sit on it. Or they suddenly decided they don't need it anymore. Ouch.
So I put more time at work, so that I'll get more time to play.
~
A major project made me very busy. Coded and recoded the same thing over and over. I scheduled the UAT to be next Friday; my user asked for this Friday. wth?
Being "soft-hearted" and being a day ahead of schedule, I agreed to insert an interim UAT for Monday. I told him the original timetable was already highly optimistic and there was no buffer for mistakes and reworks. He seem to think it's unlikely. We shall see...
So now I have very challenging deadlines, interspersed with personal events I have lined up. I'm not going to skip them! The alternative of course is the dirty word - overtime.
It looks like there'll be days where I clock very late hours, so that I can leave on the dot on other days. I wonder if my colleagues will find this irregular. Once, the days when I do overtime are dependent on my energy level. Now, the days are marked on my calendar.
There never seem to be enough hours in the day to complete the tasks on hand. Some colleagues never seem to need to do overtime at all. At first, I attributed it to the fact that there are more programming requests for my logistics modules. Later, I realised that some of their work were deflected to my side. Some, I learnt, told their users that certain things could not be done. "Manage your users", they say.
Since I'm not likely to change my creed anytime soon, then I shall have to manage my time. I'll put in whatever hours are necessary in those pre-determined days. I won't be working weekends if I could help it - I've been duped enough times. They gave an outrageous deadline and when I complete my task; they sit on it. Or they suddenly decided they don't need it anymore. Ouch.
So I put more time at work, so that I'll get more time to play.
~
Monday, March 09, 2009
Makan week: food from the past 7 days
Makan week: food from the past 7 days
Wednesday - Ate at Brazil Churrasco, Gillman Village
Variety:
Beef fillet / drum / steak / ribs / garlic; lamb fillet / ribs; chicken hearts; Salad Bar
Description:
This place is for meat lovers. Once the meat is ready, the waiters will bring out the skewers to your table and cut the meat onto your plate. If it is a steak, he'll ask you what is the done-ness you desire and he will slice accordingly.Taste: Good
Price:
$46++
Ambiance:
huh?
Room:
no smell. Air-conditioning was not on till we asked. Otherwise, everything is fine.
Like it?
Ya
Would I go again?
Probably not. Not that I don't like this place but too much red meat made me heaty and drowsy.
Friday - Ate at CoCa, Takashimaya Square
Variety:
Chicken fillet; Golden mushrooms; Cockles; Squid; Oysters; Beef stripes; Chicken balls; Pig livers; Crabs; Prawns; Fish glue.
Description:
A Thai steamboat buffet chain gone global. Like all steamboats, the distinction is hard to tell.
Taste:
Okay
Price:
$??
Ambiance:
huh?
Room:
Hot. The Air-conditioning drips. When we complained, the waitress took a mop, tied with a dust coated static paper into the room. While we frantically covered our food, she nonchalantly raised the mop to wipe off the water droplets. We called her to stop soon after.
Like it?
-.-
Would I go again?
I don't think so.
Saturday - Ate at Vino Vino, Mohammad Sultan Road
Variety:
Porterhouse steak, Sirloin steak, Lobster pasta, Fish n Chips, Lamb Chops, lots of wine.
Description:
A popular place for drinking with their cheap wine, priced at $6++ to $9++ / glass. Online reviews raved about how huge the Porterhouse steak is, at 400 grams.
Taste:
Below average
Price:
$40 (split bill evenly)
Ambiance:
Decent
Room:
Pleasant
Like it?
Okay
Would I go again?
Not for the food. A decent place to chill out and have something light to eat though. I'll won't recommend sitting outside - it kinda smell of grease from the exhausts.
~
Wednesday - Ate at Brazil Churrasco, Gillman Village
Variety:
Beef fillet / drum / steak / ribs / garlic; lamb fillet / ribs; chicken hearts; Salad Bar
Description:
This place is for meat lovers. Once the meat is ready, the waiters will bring out the skewers to your table and cut the meat onto your plate. If it is a steak, he'll ask you what is the done-ness you desire and he will slice accordingly.Taste: Good
Price:
$46++
Ambiance:
huh?
Room:
no smell. Air-conditioning was not on till we asked. Otherwise, everything is fine.
Like it?
Ya
Would I go again?
Probably not. Not that I don't like this place but too much red meat made me heaty and drowsy.
Friday - Ate at CoCa, Takashimaya Square
Variety:
Chicken fillet; Golden mushrooms; Cockles; Squid; Oysters; Beef stripes; Chicken balls; Pig livers; Crabs; Prawns; Fish glue.
Description:
A Thai steamboat buffet chain gone global. Like all steamboats, the distinction is hard to tell.
Taste:
Okay
Price:
$??
Ambiance:
huh?
Room:
Hot. The Air-conditioning drips. When we complained, the waitress took a mop, tied with a dust coated static paper into the room. While we frantically covered our food, she nonchalantly raised the mop to wipe off the water droplets. We called her to stop soon after.
Like it?
-.-
Would I go again?
I don't think so.
Saturday - Ate at Vino Vino, Mohammad Sultan Road
Variety:
Porterhouse steak, Sirloin steak, Lobster pasta, Fish n Chips, Lamb Chops, lots of wine.
Description:
A popular place for drinking with their cheap wine, priced at $6++ to $9++ / glass. Online reviews raved about how huge the Porterhouse steak is, at 400 grams.
Taste:
Below average
Price:
$40 (split bill evenly)
Ambiance:
Decent
Room:
Pleasant
Like it?
Okay
Would I go again?
Not for the food. A decent place to chill out and have something light to eat though. I'll won't recommend sitting outside - it kinda smell of grease from the exhausts.
~
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
World view
Once upon a time, men believed that everything goes around the Earth. Though the masses believed them to be spirits of heroes and messengers of gods, the wise among them recognised them to be stars and planets. Interestingly, they deduced that the Milky Way was further away then the stars in the skies.
A scientist with a telescope proved that the Milky Way is made up of vast quantities of stars. The astronomers of that age concluded that these stars are larger than the planets we know.
Came along a mathematical genius, who proved to us that our Sun, our Earth and the planets we know exist in a Heliocentric system. Unfortunately, the very maths developed for this became the bane of millions of students thereafter. Our world view was changed. We now exist in a Solar System. What other Solar Systems are there, out there?
Breakthroughs in the 20th century were stunning. Calculations using distant points proved the existance of different galaxies. With the deployment of the Hubble Telescope, images of 3000 galaxies were captured. From this, we arrived at the estimate of 125 billion galaxies in the Universe. The figure simply blows the mind away.
Maybe we think we know everything. Then when we probe, the world just got a little bit bigger.
~
A scientist with a telescope proved that the Milky Way is made up of vast quantities of stars. The astronomers of that age concluded that these stars are larger than the planets we know.
Came along a mathematical genius, who proved to us that our Sun, our Earth and the planets we know exist in a Heliocentric system. Unfortunately, the very maths developed for this became the bane of millions of students thereafter. Our world view was changed. We now exist in a Solar System. What other Solar Systems are there, out there?
Breakthroughs in the 20th century were stunning. Calculations using distant points proved the existance of different galaxies. With the deployment of the Hubble Telescope, images of 3000 galaxies were captured. From this, we arrived at the estimate of 125 billion galaxies in the Universe. The figure simply blows the mind away.
Maybe we think we know everything. Then when we probe, the world just got a little bit bigger.
~
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