Ashcuse me, there ish a problem wit your mic. The other day I was handling an Anti-Tobacco talk in my auditorium where the Emcee was a pack-a-day smoker. There were many boring speeches by many people who had a lot to say including a "recoveree" who literally gave a 2 second pause after reading each sentence very slowly in his "How I Gave up Smoking Speech". Of course there were 'fun' speeches from a few like the 9Div Commander who was open enough to actually interact with the crowd although if one of the 2ICs had shared his story of why he quit smoking it would have been really nice (it's really very touching but it's his story to tell, so...) .Anyway, apart from all that, there was a skit by HPB.There was this young lady who looked alright but who wore a figure-hugging dress that was really flattering, and misleading. So when we set her up with the wireless clip-on mic, almost all of us were wondering where on earth she kept the transmitter. I don't need to tell you where our first guess was.About halfway through the skit, she forgot to unmute her mic and she was left to shout out her lines. Being the gentlemen I was, I rushed backstage with a wireless handheld mic before stopping at the curtain.The lead actor was very observant and saw me standing by the side and cued me out with a "Yes? Can I help you?". So I walked out and knocked on the invisible door and handed the mic to the young lady. There was silence for a bit before the lead actor thanked me with great exaggeration and I gave him a down-swinging 2 finger salute. Then the crowd went wild, cheering loudly.My hands were shaking a little when I reached the curtain not because I was enjoying the glory, but because that 2 finger salute was actually a really good save from my performing a real SAF salute. When thanking or acknowledging my friends, we generally salute each other and I realised how close I was to almost giving that civilian the same thing. Luckily, muscle memory from previous habits managed to convert that salute to a casual one.For Pete's sake, the COMMANDER of the 9th Division was there!Anyway, I promptly headed back up to the control room after the scene was over but by the next scene, she had turned off the microphone again. wtf.Talk about a 'doh' moment. Luckily, that was her last scene. I cannot hear you lah sir. The army is full of 'one-kind' people. I think it's because of the different subcultures that we grew up in. Something acceptable to one subculture might not be in another and that's just assuming we're all conforming to it.I know of one such person who has been stuck as a 1st Lieutenant for a really really long time. He is the last minute king. Recently, he strolled into our office 4.45 and calmly informed us off a high key talk the next day. He then proceeded to arrow(the art of military delegation of work) a few other key personnel in the other offices. Then he went home.Then there was the other time he called me at 8pm to tell me he needed to use the auditorium the next day. I gently told him to bugger off as we don't entertain requests as close to the eleventh hour because of the preparation we need to do but somehow he managed to butter my officer and suddenly I found myself with a booking slot with no aircon schedule and ill-prepared equipment.Then there was the Master Sergeant who followed his OC around like a puppy. He's a nice guy when he's not pissed and has a wacky sense of humour but to see a grown man follow his boss around even between rooms and even sitting on the floor while his boss sits on the chairs, it's really degrading.I have a million other stories to tell and I'm not even half way done with my NS life.Fascinating. Lady from Quebec In the army, we constantly point out and rate chicks. At least that's what me and my colleagues do. Perhaps because we have nothing better to do, perhaps because of the sudden change of visual stimuli or even because of an apparent need to prove one's manliness, but every time I oversee a Graduation Parade or an Enlistment, my colleagues and I trade hand signals and silent nods showing our approval or disapproval of our targets.This is especially true during Graduation Parades when girlfriends(usually) dress to impress. It's a proud moment for their other halfs to 'pass-out' and many are not shy to mirror that sentiment in their fashion sense. Sometimes even sisters decide to put on a little show for the soldiers she knows are watching her.Sometimes we even consider fashionable aunties in our assessments. 1 out of every 4 GPs though have poor showings in terms of the statistics of 'hot chicks'.There was however this one GP 2 days ago where there was this supremely gorgeous chick. With a plunging neckline that still kept her classy and not in the least bit inappropriate and a smile to match, she truly was a vision of an angel. People use that phrase all the time to describe pretty women but in truth, she could have truly been an angel and I would not have been surprised.In her gray dress (I swear it was light gray but my friends said it was an obvious blue :x) with flowers above the hem, with legs to die for and slightly brown, slightly wavy hair done by God himself, she was a radiant vision of beauty and style.In my book, she was a perfect 10. She was even familiar with some of the other recruits' girlfriends who were of no similar caliber when they stood next to her. From the way she walked, to the way she interacted with her friends, I stopped caring about stuff like how she might sound like and what attitude she had. I was mesmerised.She was slow in going to meet her boyfren/brother and that loaned more credibility to the notion that she was someone's sister. Instead of being all over her, the recruit was instead more content to take photos with his buddies and another girl(yes, there was another girl), leaving me even more convinced that she truly was just someone's sister.She had caught me looking at her a number of times and was not afraid to look back. There was once she even started waving in my general direction and flashing that gorgeous smile but as there were still parents in front, I assumed that she was waving at her friends. Little did I know that she was waving at me.Alas she was too far away for me to go down and talk to her while still looking casual and my stupid stupid refusal to screw up my military life stopped me from even waving at her.Instead, I continued to look at her and she would occasionally look back, throwing me for a loop and wishing that from a distance, she would think I was worth it to break all protocol and actually walk up the bleachers to me so I could save my stupid military face. But life is not like the movies.Too soon, the parents and graduants from BMTC Quebec 02/08 were invited to make their way to the ferry terminal. Throughout her slow and beautiful stroll to the edge of the parade square, she kept looking back and with each step she took, she moved further and further away until she could not be seen.I was left alone again, wondering what had just happened.The next day there was an enlistment exercise and although I related my story to my friends with vigour, the traditional practice of pointing out the 'hot chicks' no longer had the same appeal as it once did. Instead, I stared out into the sea of parents and silently wished she had another brother enlisting.I was day dreaming again of course but sometimes, just sometimes, foolish hope pays.Sometimes I wish Singapore was smaller. Microsoft loves the taste of feet in mouth. http://www.news.com/Microsoft-says-Firefox-not-a-threat-to-IE/2100-1032_3-5448719.html?tag=nw.20Hahahaha! Watergun v2 I was thinking.Since water can be manipulated by magnetic fields, would it be possible to create an ice bullet.I know the mythbusters have done an episode regarding the efficacy of an ice bullet. The bullets either shattered on firing or when they impacted the target, they left behind tell tale signs of gunpowder from the charge.I was thinking, since water can be manipulated by magnetic fields, would it be possible to create an ice bullet using a railgun or a coilgun? It would solve the sudden impact problem that a traditional explosive charge could cause and it would even even out the the force acting on the projectile, preventing it from cracking or shattering. It would also solve the problem of gunpowder residue.Granted this "gun" would possibly be too large for any one man to carry by himself (at least with current technology) but hang on. This is the ultimate weapon in a would be assassin's arsenal. Using an entire black ops team(maybe even a crane) to carry the damn thing would be cumbersome but would definitely be worth the effort and risk. Not that I'm condoning assassinations. But imagine if a would-be hitler-esque person were to rise up again in the near future. Bang (or whoosh)! Hitler gone, little to no fallout.Granted it would be relatively expensive what with the purity of water being important to the integrity of the bullet at possible supersonic speeds and the enormous amounts of energy but it is from massive problems that monumental solutions are foundFood for thought? Or maybe it's already been done.If i don't post anytime soon, you know what happened. heh. The woman behind every man You know what they say? Well it's absolutely true.There is always a woman behind a man, manipulating him and pulling his strings. I hate these kinds of people. I've seen it happen a few times before. They manipulate everyone to some degree such that everyone thinks like her.I've working in a current project where this new comer comes in, knowing nothing but the moment that person is ready to stand, he/she comes out fighting. Thinking that he/she fully understands how things work and in fact, how THE WORLD works, I'm inclined to disagree. We literally had to guide this person every step of the way and even as a department head, we were continuously working behind the scenes to cover up her mistakes. I'm pretty sure some bodily fluids were exchanged prior to her appointment as department head.Is there no justice in this world? Or will it come only in the next.ps. I'm biased of course and have overly generalised (gender and magnitude) because I was pissed but this post will stand. A world without terminal velocity I often (not really but it sounds cooler) wonder what our world would be like if there was no terminal velocity.Terminal velocity is a phenomena when the upward drag caused by a falling object moving through the air would counter the downward force of gravity to a point where the object simply cannot go any faster.In a world without terminal velocity, raindrops would be like bullets (or perhaps the curved nature of the droplet form would help dissipate the impact more than I would have thought). A sneeze from a skyscraper could land you in jail for 'intent to cause grievous hurt' or 'terrorism'. Killer litter would seriously be killer litter.Then I realised, I'm talking about life on the moon. Having no atmosphere, the moon is unable to slow down extra-lunar material to it's terminal velocity because it has no terminal velocity in zero atmosphere.So I sit back, imagine I'm on the moon and stare towards the sun, picturing Osama in front of me. ironies My Chinese New Year celebration was fraught with ironies and oddities that I simply must share.Firstly, my lucky draw number was 123. It is STATISTICALLY IMPOSSIBLE for me to win with the number 123 as my 'lucky number'.Then there was the official photographer who won a camera in the lucky draw.Not forgetting of course the getai singers, one with a beer belly and another with a double chin so big, you could fit a small infant inside.These are the little things that I experience in my journey as an NSF. Things that I'll tell my kids are reasons to look forward to NS. Things that without me and my comrades having been bored out of our skulls would have annoyed us all at the sheer absurdity of it all.I can speak no more for the last parade calls me. With a trumpet nonetheless. Formalities and ironies. These make up my life. What the army teaches us One of the few things that the army brings out in us is lust.I swear, after hearing your commanders shouting in your ear and forcing you to do really stupid and exhausting things, the (perceived) soft and gentle "company" of a lady feels like the 7th level of heaven.Recruits, during their Basic Military Training(BMT), routinely bring their magazines featuring bikini clad women and read, in earnest, the air-headed conversations with these ladies written across the pages as if they were really talking to them. It gives them a sense of reprieve from the harsh and controlled masochistic mayhem that is the army. I'm not implying that they "use" the magazine because in the psychological state that they're in, most impressionable recruits follow the much joked about rule against wanking off in the SAF. True to making use of every available resource in resource-scarce Singapore, the SAF is against informal discharges.This goes on (the lust, not the magazine reading) throughout one's tenure in the army and in some cases, well past it.I remember during a Chinese New Year event that was held on the same day and near the vicinity of a similar event held for employees of Cycle and Carriage. I had already been posted out as a permstaff guy and was no longer a recruit. Halfway through the insanely boring army event filled with Getais and a fat man promoting their services by handing out their flyers in the form of a game/contest, a few of us began noticing hot women(from the Cycle and Carriage event) walking past the entrance of the event room, presumably to the toilets.With the true courage of an SAF Warrior, a few of us headed to the corridor to stand by the wall like pimps watching our fodder go by. We were not dissatisfied. The fodder apparently was though.I have a BMT buddy who constantly SMSed and talked with his girlfriend throughout his BMT days and seemed oblivious to the surrounding pressure and chaos that most of the rest of us went through. I always wondered how he did it (from blatant eavesdropping sessions, I gathered his girlfriend was herself a handful).I have another friend who routinely visits Geylang for tau huay and then for the other tau huay. I kind of got the feeling that he felt at peace in that fantasy world.In the army, when you're not talking about current affairs, fucked up commanders or the latest white horse who's enlisting, you're either talking about hot (in some cases "cute") chicks or verbally rating the babes from friendster or facebook profiles according to hotness, cuteness and several other attributes. Quality of tau huay included.Look Mum! The army has made me into a man!Fuck it.note: I don't really know how the 302's are affected by National Service. I'm still here A lot's been happening lately and I before I've had the time to sit down and write about it, another thing crops up.That would explain my lack of writing shit here. :pChanged the playlist and the player so sound quality and loading speed should be much better now.Spent a bomb upgrading my guitar gear so posts with pix on that coming soon.Housekeeping coming soon too. Links getting stagnant even though the sites are alive. Thinking of doing a randomising script to display diff links per load.Very soon. Do the math Imagine a taut rope is put perfectly center around a smooth earth. Now add a metre to the rope and pull it taut upwards so that the rope is raised evenly above the earth's surface.How high will the rope be above the earth?You're thinking a fraction of a fraction of a millimetre right? So did I. And we'd be wrong.Apparently, if you do the math, the answer always rounds off to 16 centimetres.Not convinced? Neither was I. heh. So here's the formula. All calculations are in metres.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------Pi = π ≈ 3.14Circumference = 2 x π x radius(r)∴ Add a metre to the circumference = Add 16 centimetres to the radius∴ 2 x π x r + 1[metres] ≈ 2 x π x (r + 0.16[metres])-----------------------------------------------------------------------------Now this may still be a little hard to believe so take out your calculator and substitute r with any number.Now go post it on your own blog and watch the geeks start to 'digg' it. Forza Ferrari! *Shouts with utter glee.Kimi Raikonnen for Ferrari wins the world championship! Rookie Hamilton and FORMER world champion Alonso bite the dust.Can't wait for next years season. Hopefully Massa will be given a better chance this year especially since he's a great team player, hopefully Kimi can reciprocate. Too much sugar can kill http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_molasses_disasterNow you know. National Service Off to go learn how to defend my country from (presumably) the neighbours up north :pTons of posts left to complete but I figured I'd just post this first so you know where I'm at.Do read the barely completed "Tioman Trip" post that you can see just below this. Apologies for the boring story but you can just look at the pictures and that should be enough. heh heh.And, oh yea. WOOTS for F1 coming to Singapore. =DCheers,Shawnster. Tioman Day 1(This is one of those stories that you can read by only looking at the pictures. Sort of. Only if you want.)Woke up early in the morning (5am) half dead, knowing that a headache would be following soon but also knowing that I could sleep it off in the van. Did some last minute packing, stuffing my chargers and batteries into my travel bag which was carrying all my fishing tackle and could've easily weighed 20kg.Made my signature egg mayo sandwich for my dad and me. This time though, I used double slices instead of folding the bread slice in half. This presented a problem in terms of bread supply so I ended up using wholemeal bread that had expired the day before, with no ill effects I should add.We were supposed to take the train down to Eunos MRT where the Malaysian van was supposed to pick us up but we ended up taking a cab. One of the Comfort cabs refused to stop for us and I immediately called the company to complain. As I write this, I have still not received an update on the situation as promised by the company. As always is the case, when carrying my fishing rods, there will be those who taxi drivers who drive past and there will always be the eventual taxi driver who will stop for us and will turn out to be an angler himself.We arrived at Eunos in no time and I headed off to do my morning business while my dad went to the carpark to meet the rest of the guys. Said the customary "Hello Uncle"s (they were my dad's Badminton kaki) before we headed off to Marsiling MRT to pick up the remaining passengers. The driver though, ended up stopping at 2 other MRT stations before finally finding out where Marsiling was.We finally reached the Woodlands Causeway where our driver told us that he could persuade the Malaysian customs to overlook our bags with just RM40. Thinking "oh what the hey", we paid him the money as we went to get our passports stamped.After I did more of my morning business at the terminal, we headed for some genuine Malaysian coffee. Sent an sms to cutie as promised just before we headed off to Mersing, and just before I was out of Singtel's range because it turned out my AutoRoaming had been cancelled. Took them 2 days to activate it.Lean into that curve!Our driver must have thought he was Schumacher because he cornered at speeds between 100 and 120 KPH and even leaned into the curves but I guess you could also consider it a blessing because we reached there in no time.Ferry TerminalWaiting for AhmadWe had to wait about half an hour for Ahmad to arrive and then another half for the boat to leave port. I watched the inhouse movie which was about a dirty cop who started loving his slut of a wife after he recovered from a gunshot-induced coma. The show had quite a few scenes that probably the kids shouldn't have seen. I was like, "WTF?" and then I was like "Hang on? Isn't this a Muslim country? A country where they won't even let former Muslims change their religious status on their Identity Card". There was one sex scene where all orifices, appendages and the twins were not visible but everything else was! Including "the ins and the outs".Pirated disc clearly visible.The journey itself was around 1 hour but because the boat had to drop passengers off at different jetties across the island, by the time we reached ours, slightly less than 2 hours had passed.Blue WaterI know a few Singaporeans who wouldn't dare go on that.We finally reached our stop and we unloaded our stuff, helping each other with our baggage as we went along.Our rooms were right in front of the jetty which had since been converted from a wooden one to the concrete one that you see below.RoomsOld aircon disconnected.Like no Sauna you've ever felt!Empty JettyMy dad and me changed rooms thrice because the air con was not working. We both can live without aircon but when there are no windows, the heat gets to you in a way no one likes. Anyway we headed off to a little "restaurant" that some of the guys had been to in their earlier trips here for a late lunch.FoodThe guysHad a nice late lunch even though the kangkong was damn oily. Stole a bit of left-over prawns and rice from the fried rice to use as bait and berley for river fishing. I had spotted a nice small river with some fish that I was keen to try out.Over the food, we decided to go for a hike at around 5 plus to fill up our day.We headed back at around 5 to prepare for the hike when Uncle Robert came out of his room to let us know that Ahmad was inviting us to fish on his boat for an hour or so. I came here to fish so I said I'd go along once I unpacked my gear and stuff, which wasn't long. Since the boat was small, some of us would fish while the rest would go for the hike.You put the lime in the...Had a sip of nice cold sweet fruit punch before heading out for my first ride on a speedboat and after riding it, I must say, I WANT ONE! The speedboat I mean. :pWe fished till about 8pm where we returned to the shore where our part of the island had a blackout. My pants were all wet and sandy by the time we reached land because I had been the anchorman, taking turns with George, and then helped to pull the boat up 10 metres from the shore to save it from the tides.AhmadMe andWe had a dinner cooked by Ahmad's mum followed by a mini "peanut-party" and then I headed off to bed with my dad warning me to let the water run for a bit before using the toilet because the first part was black and full of sand. The rest of them went Karaoke-ing with Ahmad in his Karaoke room.As I was about to turn in, I saw a cockroach crawl underneath my dad's bed but I shrugged it off and just laid my head on the pillow. I figured if it had another dark place to hide besides under my blanket, it would stay there.Day 2Today was to be a "full fishing" day. But before we were to head out on Ahmad's bumboat, we decided to go to a "waterfall" somewhere behind the chalet.Had a breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast bread with delicious kaya and margarine, and instant coffee! Tasted just like home. I don't know what it was but it reminded me of civilisation!Went to the nearby shop to get myself a pair of pants and bought myself a pair that costed RM29.99 (and as I would later find out, was NOT machine washable).Kua Simi?Ready for a dip.We took a group photo before heading off for the hike to the "waterfall". As you can see, the sky was pretty dark by the time we set off and I was actually afraid that it might rain."Upper Class" Chalets.Fat Ass LizardMarch de TriumphA River Runs Through It.There were quite a few things to see on the way there. Monitor lizards, power cables coild and stranded like suspension bridge cables, sea coconut plants, rivers. Unfortunately, there was no eye candy but that would have been only a bonus, not the main attraction. I think.Some of the wildlife, coexisting with humans.The source.Thankfully, when we reached the "waterfall" it didn't start to rain. The water was really cold. It must've been at least 10° to 15° C and is not the kind that you can get used to over time, unlike a "cold swimming pool". When you're in the water for a while, your legs start to feel a little numb and tingling sensations move up your leg and although they stop getting worse after a point, it doesn't disappear.The guys."Waterfall" :P10° - 15° waterBuilding a damThe water was much colder than the surrounding air so if you got out of the water for even a few seconds and then hand water splashed on you, you'd feel it. You can ask my dad for verification on that. hahaThere was 2 foot long catfish swimming among the rocks but thought nothing of it. In the river there were also Yabi, crabs and tons and tons of insects. No snakes though. =)Managed to catch a crab with the help of Uncle Robert's croc slippers. He stood on 'em and I grabbed them buggers from the back.Soon it was time to head back as we had to do some boat fishing and I picked up a few pieces of driftwood that I found along the trail to put into my fish tank back home.Dry riverbed.Fallen trees on thesame riverbed.We trekked uphill for a bit to check out what was higher up the mountain. We saw dried up rivers hundreds of meters long. In place, we saw pipes which were used to supply the island's plumbing with fresh water.Cool plant (Not edited!)There was a lot of interesting stuff to see along the way. Seeing a dry riverbed was way cool, the plants were cool, the insects were cool. It was all cool.If this river was deeper, it would have been my dream fishing spot.Heading backArmed like RamboFungusSpot the Monitor Lizard!Attap Palm (Attap-chee)3 Brothers - 1 + AhmadHeaded back to the rooms to get our gear for the boat fishing that we were going for soon.The fishing was somewhat odd. Size 20+ weights and size 1 to size 4 hooks. For those not familiar with this stuff, we usually use size 1 and size 2 weights (a.k.a the sinker) with size 1 and size 4 hooks. The current was simply so strong that we had to use super heavy weights just to keep our line straight.The viewSome of the guysI started using a fishing rod and a reel but the rod couldn't take size 20 weights so I had to use size 5 weights which ended up drifting. Fed up that that was happening, I asked uncle Vincent if I could borrow his handline, which he let me to use.SchoolingSchoolingThat's when the fish started coming in. Using a handline, I could feel every single nibble by the fish and I spent less time reeling my line back in to check the bait. But trying to pull a line without the aid of a rod and a reel up possibly about ~50 metres with just your bare hands was tiring work and I began to ignore small nibbles so I didn't waste my energy just to bring up the small fishes.Uncle Vince (not Uncle Vincent)Caught a number of small-medium fishes. They call this a good haul. I suppose it's alright but I was used to bigger fish than this in Singapore. Luckily, the use of the handline made it much more fun.The catchPosing (with some strangers)QuantityPosed with this Canadian lady and 1 third of the "Indian Brothers". Had a home cooked dinner of Chilli Kangkong, Fried Battered Sotong (which tasted heavenly) some Asam fish and rice.Managed to catch a live telecast of a soccer match final (Not sure which it was. I only follow F1 these days) while sipping a beer.Went to sleep shortly after. The simple life. heh.Day 3Headed to the gift shop/provision store and bought a few trinkets for the folks back home. Was pretty expensive stuff. The shop lady, as usual, was a bit nosey and poked us into telling her how much fish we had caught and what not.Most of us headed to the waterfall again, this time bringing ourselves a couple of beers left over from last night which was frozen solid, having being accidentally left in the freezer. lolAfter lunch, we headed off for another boat trip. My dad caught a nice sized parrot fish and I caught my first barracuda(s). When we got back I tried to bait the parrot's at the jetty but they were not interested.All in all, my hands were cut all over because of the handline and the size 24 weights on size 1 hooks.Good enough for the market.Not for boasting though.This one is good for boasting.Handlines all the way.Huge schoolsMy first BarracudaHome-made incineratorCows at nightO 'Rly?Did you know that monkeys socialise? Yea. It's true. We spotted a whole bunch of them taking turns to jump into a pool of water from the tree branches.After dinner, we saw Ahmad walking quickly to the jetty for some late night egging (squid fishing). Seeing him catch a few of them got enough of my adrenaline pumping and I ran to my room to go get my rod and my virgin squid lure. Within seconds of casting out, I managed to snag a big one. The water was crystal clear and you could actually see the squid turning and then sprinting to your bait. Snagged on the hooks of the lure, the squid tossed and turned and squirted ink in a blind panic, only to tangle itself more on the numerous barbs of the squid lure.Good fightGood eatingDay 43 for RM10CrunchyToday was our last day on this little island. Woke up and had a cold shower, yet again. You know, someone should build a portable water heater - wrap the device around the pipe and it heats it for you.Tooks some pictures of the island while waiting for the ferry.In our rush to board the ferry, we almost left the fish box behind. Then there was some dude who was trying to bluetooth rubbish to me. So I decided to send him/her a picture of me and a huge fish I caught.... and the toothing promptly stopped. =/On our way back home, our van had to pass through a roadblock but the policeman waved us by with a smile. From this trip I will remember the "peanut parties" and watching a live final of one of the soccer cups on a 20inch TV, 10 metres away. Of course then there's the scenery.Persecution is rampantWaterfront propertyCrowdedRight out of a postcardBullshitYour dream or mineEmpty but fullWaterfront propertyTo see more photos from my trip, visit http://www.fusionforest.com/main.php?g2_itemId=213.Apologies for the poorly written story. You know how when things seem funny or important at that moment, but don't later on? Well this is one of those times. The difference is, I still wrote about it. hahaCheers,Shawn. Siao bo? http://sg.news.yahoo.com/070411/1/47qxy.htmlGahmen say UP GST to help the poor, but UP liao somehow got some "extra money" to feed into PM Lee's pocket.The fuck is up with that? No doubt the Singapore government deserves a good pay rise but a 25.5% increase in pay after talking about shortages of money which was the apparent cause of the rise in the GST smacks of fucking greed if you ask me.Every single damn cent should be aimed at the poor. They should take a page out of the US's books. The reward is serving one's country, not getting a nice retirement. Being the prime minister/president is an honour and a responsbility and that should be enough. Sweet Smelling Pimple Pus What the hell?!?! Virtual Keyboard Remember when you were promised all those amazing future tech innovations? Just around the corner was supposed to be a shining technology utopia with flying cars, personal space travel to distant galaxies, and bio-implantable cell phones. It's almost disappointing enough to make you sit at home and watch old episodes of "Space 1999".Don't lose hope! An amazing glimpse of this promised future has just arrived at ThinkGeek in the form of the Bluetooth Laser Virtual Keyboard. This tiny device laser-projects a keyboard on any flat surface... you can then type away accompanied by simulated key click sounds. It really is true future magic at its best. You'll be turning heads the moment you pull this baby from your pocket and use it to compose an e-mail on your bluetooth enabled PDA or Cell Phone. With 63 keys and and full size QWERTY layout the Laser Virtual Keyboard can approach typing speeds of a standard keyboard... in a size a little larger than a matchbook. It appeals to my inner geek.http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/input/8193/  Lindelof and Cuse are sick! So I was watching Lost Episode 14 of Season 3 right? Ok. You know what? Fuck the summary. Let me get to the good part!Two of "our losties" are mistakenly buried alive!!! Watching it happen is excruciatingly painful even though from their backstory which was shown in the episode, you want them to bite the dust. BUT NOT LITERALLY?!It's like.. like.. alright. Just watch the episode. Lost fans only in it for the big picture may either see it as 1: "This doesn't help the plot at all" or 2: "I see that the "not so good people" seem to be getting it."Lost fans like me, however, who live day by day on pure adrenaline from watching the episodes would've had an orgasm had the episode not make you want to scream out at the top of your lungs and bang your fists in agony at the atrocity that befell Nikki and Paolo (who I started to appreciate as a 'man in love'). Watch the episode to understand.From a "Lost story-telling style", it had one or two drawbacks with mild but still noticeable regurgitation's of flashbacks from episodes gone by, peppered with some filler of unseen in-between events. It sort of filled up the holes in the Swiss cheese that is Lost but in all honesty, we just want more cheese added on top, because regardless of the holes in the "cheese", it can still support the weight of the plot advancement.On the other hand, this episode is definitely my most favourite episode from Lost although, it is not my most favourite Lost episode. If you get what I mean.Episode rating: 7/5Lost story arc: 3/5 (Interesting information given but next-to-no plot advancement)You can read an interesting after-you've-settled-down article here. Bye bye Mr Soldier man Good game.... :) Formula 1 in Singapore Ok. Firstly, fuck that pubokia Malaysian Sports Minister Azalina Othman Said.You're in politics. Play the damn game or prepare to be verbally assaulted by me the next time you bad mouth "your wealthy neighbour", Singapore. Fuck you and your pampered ass and stop dissing us just because you're unsuccessful, stupid and useless.If you don't stop dissing us sooner or later you will find yourself at the brink of war with no funds because of your ignorant stupidity. It was your own damn fault that you wanted us out of Malaysia so now piss off and mind your own damn business you sad sad loser.Malaysian Minister being an asshole: http://www.f1way.com/.../singapore-should-not-host-f1-race-says...Malaysian Minister trying to deny being an asshole:http://www.channelnewsasia.com/.../266587/1/.html(NON F1) Perm track in Changi: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/.../267970/1/.htmlLocal motorsports gets a boost:http://www.channelnewsasia.com/.../268444/1/.html Ferrari remain at the top Today was the start of the Formula 1 season with the race at Melbourne.It was an exciting race. Massa started from the back of the grid and picked his way up to 6th. He was originally slated for 16th(Gearbox problems so he DNFed the Q2) but Ferarri pulled another good strategy out of thin air which saw them replacing his engine and filling him up to the brim which penalised him to 22nd but game him extreme "stamina".Kimi raced relatively unapposed with a superbly fast car and finished first. Kimi later sported a grin at the podium.Alonso and Hamilton raced each other for 2nd and 3rd but Alonso used his experience in Formula 1 to put himself in a position to regain 2nd (which Hamilton had stole in the early stages of the race) in the final quarter of the race.Webber made a daring late-game move (which he would have won had Wurz seen him coming) which saw his car vaulting over Alexander Wurz's Williams at turn 3. The car narrowly missed Wurz's hands and helmet. Both drivers were DNFed.Super Aguri did quite well in qualifying and at the end of the race, Takuma Sato placed 12th.Alber's crashed his Spyker in turn 3 and later said that 'his ear plug was hurting his ear and so he missed the braking point'.And oh yea... Spyker are headed for arbritation over the alleged fact that the Red Bull, Toro Rosso and Super Aguri cars are all the same car, last year’s Honda RA106.It's gonna be a fun season. :D So.. like... Lost is out... LOST IT OUT! I SAY AGAIN! LOST IS OUT!Got my damn dates mixed up again and found myself in a situation where I could watch the 5 latest episodes in one shot! WOOHOO!!!!This is about the best time in TV Land. All the shows either come out of their hiatuses or new and good ones start. Stargate came out of their hiatus at about the same time as well.And.. oh yeah... Formula 1 is about to start next week!!! WOOHOO!!!!!I'm soooo gonna grow fat... *fat-ter. Teenage Magazine So, like, I'm on the media again. This time it's on Teenage Magazine and the SP Website (just a scan of the Teenage Magazine article).Click on the image to see a bigger version of it with words that are legible.A good photo that shows the WHOLE team.Anywayz, sorry for not blogging regularly. Been tied up with a lot of projects recently. In any case, you guys should check out www.fusionstream.org. I've got my personal site up and running (still needs some fact correction though). I've got a good webhost hosting it now, it's no longer on my Broadband connection (Singnet recently proxied our IPs. Damn fuckers).Will blog soon enough and btw.. FORZA FERRARI!!! Only recently Only recently, I had yet another strange dream.The characters involved included the characters from Prison Break as well as the characters from a fictional clinic from one of my previous dreams.Well anyway, I was with T-Bag on the MRT. Somehow or other, it surfaced that I had either left his son behind or I had killed him during the prison escape.Without so much as an "aiyee", he pulled out a cleaver and tried to chop me at the neck. I managed to stop his hand but as I was just a kid(I'm my real age in the dream), the cleaver got closer and closer to my head. Suddenly, the knife moved fast and cut part of the left of my skull taking a tiny piece of brain with it.T-Bag was shocked and so was I. Literally. I fell to the floor and was unable to speak coherently nor move. T-Bag was apologetic and when we alighted at Simei MRT, he carried me towards a fictional clinic that had originated from one of my previous dreams.Halfway to the clinic though, he put me down because all of a sudden, I could walk, albeit I had to shake "it" off.As in my previous dream, the staff at the clinic asked ME patient information questions slowly and without urgency (I was able to talk by now). Again, as in the previous dream, there were no doctors in the clinic whereas there were like 4-7 Nurses/Receptionists.It surfaced that T-Bag did not pick up my brain nor my skull to bring to the clinic because "It had touched the dirty MRT floor". Fug!The cute receptionists were there again. One of them was having a problem with her computer so I took a look at it. I took a quick look at the hardware and then try a reboot. Everything seemed fined and I told here that. That's when she told me that she wanted to put her hard drive inside but I told her it was impossible because all 8 IDE cables(4 from RAID) had been used by 6 HDDs and 2 DVD/CD-Roms. From what this computer looked like, it looked like my P3 1Ghz Computer. wtf?!As I was putting the casing back on, I knicked her black stockings just a little. Had a look at the tear and ended up staring at her legs. She noticed me and I looked away sheepishly and mumbled a sorry while the rest of the receptionists there had a good laugh.**I now recognise her as Mellisa from Whose Line Is It Anyway, the one who's skirt was lifted by Wayne when he carried her to the stage. She isn't exactly pretty. Stupid sub-consciousThen all of a sudden, I was in a room(in the back of the clinic) with T-Bag, Manche(the fat guy), C-Note, and some other dark dude (Up till now, everyone except T-Bag had been Asian).Only T-Bag, C-Note and me were talking. What we were talking about I forget(was some plan) but I distinctly remember telling C-Note to remove some chain/bracelet from his pliers because the public would immediate recognise that being from prison (I'm just as WTF?! as you). He was hesitant at first because his daughter had gave it to him (I know it contradicts here. Blame my brain) but eventually he removed it and stuffed it in his pocket.Anyway, after that, we left the room and I called out again, reminding them that "the thing" was on Thursday.I went back to the helpdesk and again enquired where the surgeon was. This time, there were only 2 receptionists. Mellisa and some Chinese chick. They were painting each other's nails. I asked them where the surgeon was and the Chinese chick looked around and then mumbled a "er.. coming soon". Mellisa didn't even look up and was still painting the Chinese chick's nails. So I said "Are you sure? What kind of clinic is this! Why do I always have to wait!" (from my previous dream, remember). The Chinese chick was very dismissive and shooed me off with a "Erm, soon.. soon. ok.. bye bye bye..."So I went to the toilets which were on the right side of the clinic which is where the non emergency patients were at (Was a pretty big clinic. This fictional clinic is located at the void deck of block 141 in Simei). The non-emergency side was like a bank in that the pharmacists/doctors all sat behind a glass panel with a hole cut in the middle. That was when a male receptionist came over and politely chided me for being "so impatient" and I began shouting out stuff about him being cocky and snobbish.To make matters worst, the non-emergency side was working very efficiently and politely.After that, I woke up because I had to do a big number 2. You know the kind that you get when you eat chilli late in the night and then go to sleep? Yea. That one. :)I know it's very boring and anti-climaxic and I'm sorry for that. Promise to blog about something nicer soon. :-) Prison Break Overnighter So I spent yesterday from around 4pm till this morning's 8.30am watching Prison Break on DVD!I watched up till the latest Season 2 episode, the one where Kellerman/Kravecki shoots Mahone and helps the brothers.I have to say though, if not for me being a sucker for mystery, the show has many many problems. Factual errors, In-Story Factual errors, Continuity errors.One factual error is that from looking at Fox River, it IS NOT a Max Security Prison. Why? Go find out. Furthermore, there is absolutely no way security is that lax. Max Security Prison personnel never ever slack because their life depends on it and they are trained as such. In-Story Factual errors also appeared because some of the plots just didn't gel. You need to watch it to understand. The most obvious is continuity errors. Guns pointed point blank at heads suddenly appear far away in different camera angles, items in opposite hands, etc.Still.. I can't wait for more.. lolI enjoy intelligent conspiracy shows because it alerts people to the possiblity that this is happening. Politics is a dirty game. Politics across all forms(Democracy, Communism, etc) always has dirt. People should be aware that some of these guys are pretty good at disguising themselves. PICA press conference Waiting for PY to give me the rest of the pics would give me enough time to grow a beard. So I'll just go ahead with this post using the pictures I have.Only interested in the client. :(It's a bit annoying that I got so stressed up to deliver a good speech and got next to no airtime. No check that, it's immensely frustrating. Daryl pushed me into making doing it even though he knew full well that I didn't want to (I even told him flat out no) but you know ole Daryl Lim, always needs to get his way.Su Ling interviewing DarylI shall say no more about this in this long overdue "Draft Post" because I feel it best to bottle up my feelings.... and save them for your family one day.Wei Li and Gary. (Khian Ping is camera shy)In any case, it wasn't really a press conference and was more like a launch. It was, quite frankly, a waste of time because the exposure was next to none. If there's a next one, I'll be skipping it. Let the rest of the team members stress themselves up.Anyway, here is a link to the video of the launch aired on the Chinese News. The Radio Interview Part 2 Khian Ping, Li Ling and mua.Gary, Wei Li and Khian PingSu Ling, Gary and Wei LiGary, Wei Li, Khian Ping, Phui Yung and Li LingNothing much to say here. It's all in the previous post. Except for the fact that I think Su Ling's cute. heh. Although for some reason, her eyes are always half shut whe she's in a photo.As mentioned in the previous post, I don't think my voice will be inside because the recording stopped and she only has that small part of my voice(see previous post) which is like worthless even though my voice is damn nice. ;pPodcast Part 1Podcast Part 2 The Radio Interview Part 1 Headed down to mediacorp for a radio interview for PICA(The board game project we created during FYP). Phui Yung's supervisor was in charge of the thing so she scheduled this (She's interned at MediaCorp).Took a taxi cuz I was late and ended up tumpang-ing Weili and Gary who I saw on the side of the road.Me, Wei Li, GaryCamwhore!Entered the MediaCorp gates a.l.a "The Sum Of All Fears" and headed down to RSI. We passed by the live 93.8 studio which was basically made of glass. This made me want to see the 987 studio where Muttons In The Morning was on especially after they pulled that stunt about having Beckham on the line. Neh neh la! lolTap N Go (or something)We headed deep underground and entered the studio. It felt like a bunker and my ears began to ring from the sheer quiet.♪ Nobody said it was easy... ♪We were interviewed by this University Intern named Su Ling.It was all in Mandarin so I was like "huh? yea. erm.. yea".I only said a "Hi. My name is... and I do the..." and a "What I learnt was..." in English.The thing is, I believe the rear part of the interview was not recorded. Particularly because the timecode had stopped and because Su Ling looked a bit shocked when at the end of the interview, she went to "stop" the recording.So that meant that the only recording of my voice was the "Hi. My name is... and I do the...".The last I heard, my voice was totally removed and Su Ling introduced me herself.Apparently the only cafeteria at MediacorpWill update with broadcast timing or podcast link once I get more info. PHP Developers Headed out to Brewerks for the PHP User Group meeting and as usual it was raining cats and dogs.Starting to floodOnly 3 of us were there excluding a non-participant. I guess it was because of the rain.An Indian national came down. He didn't know what PHP was and didn't seem interested in learning about PHP. Fulfilling the stereotype, he came only to sell his product and his services. He pointed the organiser to visit many websites on his laptop which was connected to the net and then proceeded to ask us if we were able to crack proprietary embedded software so that he could sell it, on behalf of us of course... repeatedly.The 3rd guy, a business man familiar with the local software scene but not any good at programming came down about half an hour after the Indian national left apparently had to leave to go cook food for his roommates.I'm becoming a cam whore.This 3rd guy was really knowledgeable about handling an idea and with the organiser's practical experience in the field, the stage was set. There are loads of interesting things that we are hoping to start in the local PHP community.From those few hours I learnt quite a few interesting things from the organiser(although in brief). I was going to implement them in FishingKaki the next day but my school (Singapore Poly) had other plans for my schedule so that unfortunately will come later.Some of the things that we discussed included how PHP developers were in short supply. This actually shocked me because I thought that there would be a healthy supply of them. Now I'm trying to teach Sam some PHP but he doesn't seem interested. I also invited Chen Shan to join this user group and we'll see where this goes.Beauty of the midnight trainLeft the place very close to midnight and managed to take one of the last few trains.