World-Walking Window

Why Do Freeways Come To A Stop?

2012-01-08T15:50:00.001+08:00

It happens to most drivers a few times a year. You’re sailing along on the freeway when you’re forced to come to a stop, or at least a crawl. You can’t see why things are slowing around the bend – and when you get there, traffic is moving better.

Traffic planners call this a “shockwave.”

Here’s how it happens:

Traffic is rolling along at 60 mph when someone slows to 50 mph. In this example, the driver in Car B does so to avoid hitting Car A, whose driver swerves at the last second to exit.
The next driver slows to 45 mph to maintain a safe distance from cars A and B.
Drivers farther back see the brake lights and begin slowing down.
The pattern continues, and more drivers apply their brakes until traffic comes to a crawl. By the time the rear of the jam catches up to where the shockwave began, the offending parties are long gone and there is no sign of what caused the problem.

These are the culprits who cause early morning traffic congestions at all the major roads. Traffic cams should look out for these inconsiderate drivers and take down their vehicle numbers. If they do it too often, they should fine them, charge them for it and deduct the fine at the next toll booth or ERP gantry!

Top 5 TV Series To Watch For in 2012

2012-01-06T22:55:00.006+08:00

If you are still lamenting that 2011 has just whizzed by and all your favourite TV shows have ended, get over it and look forward to these exciting brand new television series -- or at least their second seasons -- to be shown in the U.S. this year.

Alcatraz (FOX)

Sarah Jones as detective Rebecca Madsen (YouTube Screenshot)

With TV veteran J.J. Abrams as executive producer, this series revolving around the infamous Alcatraz Island in the San Francisco Bay area already has some cachet. American actress Sarah Jones plays the main protagonist, San Francisco Police Department homicide detective Rebecca Madsen. She needs to find a former prisoner, Jack Sylvane (played by Jeffrey Pierce) whose fingerprints were found at a crime scene despite the fact that he was supposed to be dead. What is more intriguing: he hasn't aged one bit after all these years. Alcatraz might remind viewers of the hugely popular Prison Break and Fringe. With seemingly similar plot and characters, Alcatraz has the potential to become the next television breakout series. In June 2011, it was honoured as "Most Exciting New Series" at the 1^st Critics' Choice Television Awards.

American Horror Story Season 2 (FX)

FX network president with the cast and producers of American Horror Story (Getty Images)

Do not write this off thinking it is another cheesy American horror series just because it is from the creators of Glee. The initial plot for the first season was lazy and predictable. It started off with the Harmon family moving into the haunted mansion because it was selling way cheaper than other properties in Los Angeles, where season 1 is based. Fortunately, the yawn factor ends there. The plot thickens with each new episode introducing previous owners whose spirits are still lingering in the mansion, haunting the current owners. With solid acting from the good-looking cast, riveting storyline and the sensual sex scenes, this series has redefined horror genre as sexy and provocative. American Horror Story is also in contention for two Golden Globes Awards for Best Television Series and Best Supporting Actress in a television series.

Game of Thrones Season 2 (HBO)

A scene taken off Game of Thrones Season 2 Screenshot

The king of current HBO series with an impressive 13 Emmy Awards nominations, Game of Thrones has fans eagerly anticipating the second season debuting in April. The epic battle which broke out in season one has left viewers on edge over what will happen with the dragons, white walkers and civil war. It has been a while since television viewers have been treated with such clever storylines and well-executed fighting scenes. The plot for the second season may remain a mystery if you haven't read the second book in the series by George R. R. Martin, but it promises to be worth the wait.

Spartacus: Vengeance (Starz)

Spartacus played by Australian actor Liam Mcintyre

The death of Andy Whitfield (who played the role of Spartacus in the first season) has not led to the series' downfall. It is still going strong with the third season premiering at the end of this month. The sequel to Spartacus: Blood and Sand will kick off with the gladiator rebellion that is causing fear in the Roman Republic. Spartacus (now played by Australian actor Liam McIntyre) will have to make a crucial decision to either save his army or take vengeance against the man who forced his wife to slavery, indirectly causing her death. The new season appears to follow the successful formula of its prequel with more sex, villains, heroes and heart-throbbing action.

Touch (FOX)

Kiefer Sutherland as Martin Bohm in Touch

Alerting all Fans of Kiefer Sutherland and the critically acclaimed series 24. The Emmy award winner ditches his character as Jack Bauer and now plays Martin Bohm in this new series. Bohm, a single father, has an 11-year-old mute and autistic son, Jake, who is born with a special gift. He is able see the past, present and future. Unable to utter a word, Jake can only attempt to communicate to his father by writing random numbers hoping he can decipher what he has written in order to save people. Take note of the timing 0318 hrs as it is when strange occcurences happen. With a strong plot and starring the charismatic Sutherland, it is not surprising that Touch has garnered hype long before its premiere.

Top 10 Reasons Why Good Employees Quit

2011-10-18T21:06:00.001+08:00

According to the US Department of Labor and Statistics, turnover can cost an organization 33% of an employee’s total compensation including both salary and benefits. But the impact is not only financial it also affects employee morale. Therefore, it would be prudent for hiring managers to focus on reducing turnover rates but in order to do that they must first understand the reasons why employees quit.

There have been many studies and articles written on why good employees leave their current positions. As a veteran search consultant, I have heard an infinite number of reasons first hand. Over the years, I have identified and compiled a list of what I feel are the “Top Ten” reasons why good employees quit:

1) The job was not as expected. All too often the job changes from the original description and what was promised during the interviewing stages. It becomes painfully clear to the new hire that their new company played the bait and switch game which ultimately leads to mistrust. The new hire is now thinking, “What else are they lying about?”

2) Work/Life imbalance. There are times when management demands that one person do the jobs of two or more people. This is especially true when a company downsizes or restructures resulting in longer hours and possible weekend work. Employees are often forced to choose between a personal life and a career.

3) Mismatch between job and new hire. No matter how much you love the candidate, don’t hire them unless they are truly qualified for the job and they mesh with your company culture. Too many times, I’ve seen hiring managers try to fit a square peg into a round hole especially when it comes to a sales position.

4) Management freezes raises and promotions. Money isn’t usually the first reason why people leave an organization but it does rank especially when an employee can find a job earning 20-25% more somewhere else. Make sure your wages are competitive and your benefits package is attractive. Resources like www.salary.com can provide accurate and appropriate information.

5) Feeling undervalued. It’s human nature to want to be recognized and praised for a job well done. And in business, recognizing employees is not simply a nice thing to do but an effective way to communicate your appreciation for their efforts and successes while also reinforcing those actions and behaviors that make a difference in your organization.

6) Lack of decision-making power. Too many managers micromanage down to the finest detail. Empower your employees and allow them the freedom make suggestions and decisions. I realize that Empowerment is a ‘catch-all’ term for many ideas on employee authority and responsibility; but as a broad definition it means giving employees latitude to do their jobs and placing trust in them.

7) Too little coaching & feedback. Many managers have no clue on how to help employees improve their performance. In addition, many managers put off giving feedback to employees even though they instinctively know that giving and getting honest feedback is essential for growth and in building successful teams and organizations. Your role as a manager is to help your people find the right behavior, not just tell them what to do.

8) Management lacks people skills. Remember that many managers were promoted because they did their first job well, but that doesn’t mean they know how to lead others. People skills can be learned and developed but it really helps if a manager has the natural ability to get along with people and motivate them.

9) Too few growth opportunities. One of the most common reasons employees express for leaving their jobs is lack of challenge and potential for career growth. The most successful employers find ways to help employees develop new skills and responsibilities in their current positions.

10) Loss of faith and confidence in corporate leaders. With employees being asked to do more and more, they see less evidence that they will share in the fruits of their successes. More often than not, when revenues and profits are up, employers are still thinking competitive wages but employees are thinking bonuses, stock options and creative development opportunities.

Original article courtesy of Shel Myeroff

Three Ways To Spot A Liar

2011-09-01T00:01:00.000+08:00

Look out for these three signs that you're being lied to:

1. Discomfort. People who lie often demonstrate visible anxiety. This may be because they're afraid of getting caught or they feel guilty. Be on the look-out for a fake smile, frozen body language, or lack of eye contact.

2. Evasiveness. Someone who withholds information or keeps the conversation vague, or wants to discuss matters offline, may not be telling the truth.

3. Manipulation. When you ask a question, people lying may answer with more detail than necessary. They may also use overly explicit language for emphasis. Watch out for this kind of manipulation.

Worse-Case Scenarios

2011-08-07T16:27:00.000+08:00

I had completely forgotten what it was like to be in the military. These 3 weeks, I'm back in-camp doing reservist training and I missed that good feel and friendship with some friends and former army buddies I haven't seen in a really, really long time!

There are so many things I had to catch up on, but the most important thing I enjoyed was the ideas behind ops planning. In the real world, whenever we plan for something at work, nobody seems to know the meaning of a worse-case scenario. Nobody knows, or nobody cares.

A worse-case scenario is planned such that if anything goes wrong, there are redundancies set in place to ensure that things will still run smoothly and accounted for. Nobody at work believes in a worse-case scenario, they think it will never happen, but stupidity dictates that we plan for it, because at the end of the day, when the situation goes south, blame will be placed on everyone. This is the precise reason why a worse-case scenario is planned, for something that will never happen, but used as a safety net in the event that it does. The low probability of it happening doesn't it it will not happen at all.

It's so strange that anyone will say it's enjoyable going back to camp and doing reservist. There are some truths to that, but most importantly, it is a good break away from all the stupidity and office politics, to get away from all those waste-of-time meetings that seem to go nowhere and of course, the pesky answering of all those useless emails.

Then again, we know Murphy's Second Corollary:

It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious!

God, I miss the cold war...

10 Ways To Keep IT Emergencies From Derailing Your Vacation

2011-07-25T22:11:00.000+08:00

Takeaway: Vacations are sacred. They’re for decompressing, relaxing, and having fun — not for putting out fires back at the office. Don’t let your work interfere with your downtime.

One of my biggest passions in life has always been exotic travel. But traveling to faraway places for weeks at a time does not always mesh well with working in IT. Over the years, I have learned some tips that can help prevent an IT emergency (or even a non-work related non-emergency) from interrupting a vacation.

As you read these tips, keep in mind that everyone does things differently, so not every tip will be a viable option in every organization or for every IT position. Even so, these are all techniques that have worked for me at one time or another.

1: Pick the right time

When you plan a vacation, try to match your vacation schedule to the organization’s project calendar. If your goal is to vacation in peace, try to avoid scheduling your vacation in the middle of a big project. In a lot of organizations, things really slow down around the holidays, so that might be a good time to get away.

2: Make sure your documentation is in order

An important IT task that is often neglected is documentation. Ideally, your network, procedures, and support contacts should be so well documented that if you were to be hit by a bus, your replacement would have no trouble picking up where you left off.

While good documentation is widely regarded as an IT best practice, it is also helpful when it comes time for a vacation. There is no reason for someone to call you with a question if the answer is clearly documented.

3: Don’t check your email while on vacation

Don’t make the mistake of checking your email while you are on vacation. If you respond to a message, it gives everyone the impression that you are available. One message leads to another and before you know it, you will have spent half your vacation tied to a computer.

4: Find a competent stand-in

You will need someone who can fill in for you while you are gone. Make sure that the person you pick is up to the job. Technical competency alone isn’t enough. Your stand-in needs to be aware of what is currently going on in the organization so that they can answer any questions that come up while you are away.

Once you have chosen a stand-in, make sure everyone knows that all questions should be directed to that person — not to you — while you’re away. Your stand-in should be the only person who can contact you, but only in the event of an emergency. Assuming that your stand-in has good technical skills, access to well written network documentation, and an awareness of everything that is going on in the company, there should be no reason for him or her to bother you while you are away.

5: Address any major issues before you leave

About a month before you go on vacation, talk to the powers that be and ask them what issues should ideally be addressed before your vacation. By taking care of any major outstanding issues early, there will be fewer reasons for anyone to call you while you are gone.

6: Get assignments done early — and leave time for review

Whenever you are going to be away for a while, it’s prudent to complete any projects or assignments before you go. However, if you wrap up a project or an assignment the night before you are supposed to be leaving, there’s a good chance someone will have questions about it while you are gone.

Although it’s not always possible, try to wrap up any projects at least a week before you leave. That way, there will be enough time for you to answer any questions before you go on vacation.

7: Be careful about giving out your contact information

If your goal is to avoid being disturbed while you are on vacation, be careful about what you put in your Out of Office message. If it says that you can be reached on your cell phone in the event of an emergency,n you can be sure that someone will call you. It is better to say that all inquiries should be directed toward whoever is filling in for you while you are gone.

8: Consider destinations that are conducive to privacy

Some destinations are more conducive to privacy than others. For example, I spent my last vacation in Antarctica. During that time, it was physically impossible to contact me. Antarctica is beyond the range of most of the communications satellites, and once I got past a certain point, there simply was no phone or Internet access.

On another occasion I spent my vacation in a non-English speaking country. Someone tried to call the hotel where I was staying, but the desk clerk who answered the phone didn’t speak English. Oh darn.

9: Lay down the law with your friends

Sometimes, it isn’t your co-workers you have to worry about, but rather, your friends. A few years ago, I was on a Panama Canal cruise with my wife and a few friends. One of my friends had brought his laptop. On the first afternoon of the cruise, he came up to me and said he wanted me to take a look at it because it just wasn’t performing as well as it did when it was new.

I don’t have a problem with helping a friend, but I go on vacation to relax, not to do more work. I had to tell my friend that I would look at his laptop when we got back home, but that I didn’t want to have to so much as touch a computer while I was on vacation.

10: Don’t tell others what you do for a living

Once you get to wherever you are going, try to avoid telling others what you do for a living. Last year, for example, I made the mistake of wearing a Microsoft shirt during a day of sightseeing in Rome. Someone else on the tour saw it and asked me what I do. I made the mistake of telling him — and he spent the rest of the tour picking my brain about an IT project he had coming up.

Article courtesy of Brien Posey, July 21, 2011, 11:37 AM PDT

I think the article doesn't just apply to IT, but to all other departments also!

Fun Updates

2011-07-24T17:39:00.000+08:00

Guinness Only Tastes Better In Ireland!

2011-04-03T03:08:00.005+08:00

The Irish Times - Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Serious Issue Settled As Scientists Reveal That Guinness In Ireland Tastes Best By Far

FRANK McNALLY

A SERIOUS science journal has dared to go where no science journal has gone before by tackling a question that has long vexed mankind (especially when sitting in a pub): does Guinness travel well outside Ireland?

The answer, tentatively, is no. But despite sampling 103 pints in 71 pubs and 14 countries, the researchers admitted further study is needed to back up their preliminary findings that, when ambience and other variables are discounted, Guinness really does taste better here.

The survey was conducted under the umbrella of the Institute of Food Technologists, an international not-for-profit organisation based in Chicago, and published in the latest issue of its monthly Journal of Food Science .

It comprised four researchers from countries with a long brewing tradition – Ireland, England, the Netherlands, and Germany – carrying out the fieldwork over an 11-month period in conjunction with their existing assignments and travel arrangements.

All used identical equipment: including a thermometer, a ruler (to measure head depth), a stopwatch (to measure pouring and drinking time) and a standardised checklist for rating various quality indicators.

But central to each test was a visual analogue scale, scoring the pint’s taste on a scale of 0 to 100. On the overall score, the average Irish pint rated 74. The average for all other countries was 57.

The researchers also considered a range of explanations for the discrepancy, including what they called the “conspiracy theory”, a popular suspicion that the brewery produces three different qualities of Guinness.

The study summed up the belief thus: “The finest quality is given to its own employees, the second best is sold to the people of Ireland, and the worst is exported”.

But the theory was undermined, the researchers said, by their experience that the stout served in the brewery was not the best they had in Dublin.

The four-man team did admit the possibility that the “craic” or “ambience” of the Irish drinking environment could influence quality judgments. They also found evidence for the “line” theory: that Guinness is best enjoyed in pubs where demand for it is high, so that it is never sitting in the pipelines for too long.

That the Journal of Food Science is a serious publication can be inferred from some of the other material in the March issue. One feature is headed: “Technological Optimization of Manufacture of Probiotic Whey Cheese Matrices”. A second reports: “Improved Sauerkraut Production with Probiotic Strain Lactobacillus plantarum L4 and Leuconostoc mesenteroides LMG 7954”.

And then there is the catchily titled “Discrimination of Alicyclobacillus Strains Using Nitrocellulose Membrane Filter and Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy”.

The journal also features a study on the development of food for Nasa space missions. Astronauts now enjoy a tastier and healthier diet than ever before, it concludes, but there are challenges still to be faced before they travel “to Mars and beyond”. There is no mention of the use of Guinness in the project.

Monday Blues

2011-02-07T23:10:00.001+08:00

10 Misconceptions Learnt In School

2010-12-27T22:08:00.002+08:00

10. Einstein got bad grades in school

Generations of children have been heartened by the thought that this Nobel Prize winner did badly at school, but they're sadly mistaken. In fact, he did very well at school, especially in science and maths (unsurprisingly).

9. Humans evolved from apes

Darwin didn't actually say this, but he's been misreported ever since. What he did say was that we, and apes, and chimpanzees for that matter, had a common ancestor, once, a long, long time ago.

8. Napoleon was short

He was actually around 5ft 7 (about 1.7m), completely average for the 18th and 19th century. So how did the myth come about? Perhaps it was because he was always surrounded by his imperial guards, who had to pass a height requirement.

7. Thomas Edison invented the light bulb

Edison invented a lot of things – in fact he's one of the most famous inventors of all time – but the light bulb wasn't one of them. What he did was develop a light bulb at the same time as the British man, Joseph Swan, who came up with it originally.

6. Columbus believed the earth was flat

He may not have known how big the world was, but he wasn't worrying about falling off the edge of it.

5. Different parts of the tongue detect different tastes

You do have different taste buds on your tongue and some are more sensitive than others. But they aren't divided into perfect, easy-to-teach sections.

4. Water flushes differently in different hemispheres

No it doesn't. Sorry!

3. Vikings had horns/helmets with horns

Vikings may have been buried with their helmets and with drinking horns. When they were dug up by the Victorians, they assumed that the helmets had horns.

2. Lemmings throw themselves over cliffs to commit suicide

The poor old things are sometimes so desperate for food that they do, according to the BBC "jump over high ground into water", but they aren't committing group suicide.

1. Cheese are the favorite food of mice

Mice enjoy food rich in sugar as well as peanut butter and breakfast cereals. So a Snickers bar would go down much better than a lump of cheddar.

Tron Legacy

2010-11-29T21:01:00.000+08:00

The 28 year wait for this sequel is almost over.
2 more weeks to go!
YAY!

Monday Blues

2010-11-22T13:48:00.005+08:00

Click to enlarge for a closer look!

Quirky Fridays!

2010-11-05T17:23:00.007+08:00

Click on the pictures to enlarge them!

Life Reflections

2010-08-09T16:06:00.001+08:00

Observing the supermarket over the years, I've determined that there are 3 common checkout strategies. My local supermarket may be like yours - it usually has 8 to 10 checkouts open. If you watch carefully, you'll see people adopting 1 of 3 strategies:

The 1st is to pick the shortest line and get in it. Stick with it, no matter what.

The 2nd is to pick the shortest line and switch lines once (at a maximum) if something holds up your line - like the dumbass person who halfway through forgot that he/she wanted to get something else and decides to hold up the line while he/she runs like a headless chicken to find her stuff. More often than not, it's a she!

The 3rd is to pick the shortest line and keep scanning the other lines. Switch lines if a shorter one appears. Continue this process until you leave the store.

The problem with the 3rd strategy is obvious. Every time you switch lines, you're starting over. In your search for a quick fix, you almost certainly waste time and you definitely waste energy jumping back and forth.

There are queues everywhere. Do you jump from one to another and every time you hit an obstacle, you switch to a new, easier better opportunity? While that might work, you're never going to get anywhere, because you can't make up your mind and you keep switching lines, never able to really run for it.

Similarly, with work, while starting up is thrilling, it's not until you get through a difficult period that your efforts pay off. The sad news is that when you start over, you get very little credit for how long you stood in line with your last great venture.

If it takes 10 impressions to make an impact, and you've delivered 8, that switch is going to cost you a lot of time and money.

So the moral of the story is, choose wisely, logically and with a huge amount of common sense, stick to it till the end and you will make it through to the end.

But if all else fails...cheat!

Lambe Alabakovski - Ljubovta Mi Treba

2010-06-20T01:22:00.003+08:00

Lambe Alabakovski is an amazing Macedonian singer,
his vocal power is WOW!
I love this song, it may be short,
but listen to the saxophone
and the beats, very R & B.
Pay attention to him, he's famous!

BTW, Ljubovta Mi Treba translated from Macedonia is I Need The Love.

Good News Bad News

2010-05-16T14:57:00.001+08:00

Over the course of the past year or so, the following TV series has kept me at the edge of my seat, well, maybe some more than others. It has come to the point where, some of them have excellent stories, and some of them are so bad, you even wonder how they managed to secure an entire season of crappiness!

Well, here at last are the updates on whether or not some the TV series will be picked up for yet another season and well, I am rather happy with the results...

TV Series Renewed For Another Season,
All good and worthwhile following!

TV Series That Has Been CANCELLED,
probably due to poor ratings or
terrible plots over the past year (YAY!!)

I was a little disappointed with FlashForward being cancelled, it showed premise, but then again, how long can a series featuring flash-forwards carry on? If Lost is wrapping up the series, then I don't see why TV needs another different version of Lost on the airwaves!

Heroes was long-expected to be cancelled, the ratings for this series has been plummetting since mid-way through season 3, after all the original heroes lost their powers. I was all for it to be cancelled by then, as the plots were full of holes and confusing, with all the jumping back and forth in the timelines, I got super headaches! I'm really not sorry that Heroes got cancelled, in fact, I'm rather delighted that it will be gone!

10 Popular Sleep Myths

2010-05-15T00:32:00.000+08:00

Here are some sleep myths that are used by parents to get you away from TV, movies, music, computer games etc etc etc...

Recognize them and avoid them, know what is fact and what is myth, even half-myths!

Everyone Needs Eight Hours Of Sleep A Night (Myth)
Some People Are Fine With Only a Few Hours of Sleep (Unclear)
People Need Less Sleep With Age (Myth)
Naps Can Help You Catch Up With Sleep (Fact)
If You Don't Sleep Enough You Can Catch Up by Sleeping Late on the Weekend (Fact)
Exercise Before Bed Can Help You Sleep (It Depends)
Sex Before Bed Will Keep You Awake (It Depends)
A Big Meal Before Bed Will Trigger Nightmares (Myth)
If You Wake Up in the Middle of the Night, Warm Milk Will Help You Go Back to Sleep (Possibly)
Bad Dreams Can Kill You in Your sleep by Causing a Heart Attack (Myth Based On A Fact)

Top Cities For Men

2010-04-24T01:14:00.000+08:00

Here's a list of cities for men to live in, there are 29 in all.
The poll ranks cities based on work and play, weather, and the ratio of men to women.

New York
Melbourne
Tokyo
Madrid
London
Cape Town
Miami
Buenos Aires
Sydney
San Francisco
Paris
Los Angeles
Hong Kong
Tel Aviv
Barcelona
Sao Paulo
Berlin
Lisbon
Beirut
Istanbul
Shanghai
Montreal
Amsterdam
Chicago
Toronto
Kyoto
Bogota
Rome
Las Vegas

Which city would you like to live in?
OR
Which city have you lived in and would recommend?

Tron Legacy Trailer 2

2010-04-03T00:46:00.001+08:00

The new Tron Legacy Trailer,
gives a little more insight into the sequel.

Looks like something to look out for
towards the end of the year!

Predators!

2010-03-23T21:44:00.000+08:00

Look what's coming out this year in July!

Like Aliens, this movie is titled Predators,
plural for many, many Predators!
Hopefully that means we get to
see more than one or two Predators.

Starring Adrien Brody, Topher Grace,
Laurence Fishburne and Alice Braga

Looks promising...
Something worth looking out for!

Clash Of The Titans 2010

2010-03-14T22:48:00.000+08:00

Hopefully this remake will be much better than the original!

The Game Has Changed

2010-03-14T19:43:00.000+08:00

New poster for the upcoming Tron Legacy!

Technological Evolution

2010-03-11T23:58:00.001+08:00

An interesting way to look at things.
Stop watching the sports channel,
watch porn, at least with each orgasm,
you loose some calories!
hehehehehe...

We Are The World - 25 For Haiti

2010-02-26T22:27:00.002+08:00

One of the nicer remakes of the original Michael Jackson hit!
For more information on the line-up of music celebrities,
read this page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Are_the_World_25_for_Haiti

Ignore The Pope!

2010-02-19T02:54:00.005+08:00

The pope has no right to speak about British law, but even if he did: he's wrong.

By Ian Dunt

If aliens came down to earth to find that an 82-year-old male virgin in a dress is a world authority on matters of sexual morality they would probably turn round and go home, safe in the knowledge that there's nothing to learn here. But politics is rarely about the way the world should be, and usually about the way actually is, and so we must deal with the reality of the situation, no matter how preposterous it is.

The pope's comments yesterday prompted a battering ram of criticism, but before we get carried away it would useful to differentiate the two strands of the debate. One strand is on the validity of the equality bill itself and religious groups' duty to follow British law. The second is about his authority to speak his mind in such a forthright fashion.

On the bill itself, religious figures have spoken a great deal of nonsense about this generally well-conceived, thoughtful and decent-minded piece of law. It's not perfect but it's a good bit of law. No-one is trying to ban Christmas, as bishops said recently.

It does, however, cement the notion that employers cannot discriminate. And the Catholic church, quite plainly, is very keen on continuing to discriminate against homosexuals and women who want to be priests. It seems heavy handed to force them to adapt their traditions. But allowing religious groups an exemption, as is currently the case, sets an intolerable precedent.

If the Catholic church is exempt from equality laws, then what about spiritual healer Davender Ghai, a Hindu man who has been entrenched in a protracted legal fight to be cremated on a traditional funeral pyre? When he went to the Appeal Court last month, master of the rolls Lord Neuberger would only allow him the go-ahead if his demands "fall within the legislation". There were no exemptions simply because of his faith.

Do women in burkas get exemptions from passport photos or airport security checks? No. In Uganda, child sacrifice by witch doctors seeking to gain spiritual and material favour is still relatively common and, worryingly, on the rise. It is a monstrous abomination, but it is also a religious practise. Would a Ugandan witch doctor in London be granted the right to sacrifice children?

That sounds a churlish and extreme example, and it is. But legally and in terms of formulating a coherent political position, principle is what counts. The principle in this case must be that religions cannot be granted exemptions from the law merely on the basis that they are a religion. After all, no-one else is consistently offered exemption. Why should they? The mere fact religious groups have forsaken rationality should not grant them special favour.

On the second strand: many religious figures are irritated by suggestions - predominantly from secular and gay rights groups - that the pope has no right to comment on British matters. As the leader of an important faith, it seems quite obvious that he has the right to speak on this issue. After all, it affects those who follow him. His religious status does not bar him from having an opinion. That argument is entirely right and understandable.

But Pope Benedict XVI is not just the head of a church, he is also the head of a state. As it happens - and rather amusingly - he is currently the only absolute monarch in Europe. That changes everything. The French president isn't in the habit of condemning British legislation. We react pretty badly when he makes comments about our food, for heaven's sake. The pope needs to get out of our affairs, not for religious reasons, but for national reasons.

Supporters of the pope, and their brothers from other religions who recognise the need to team up against the ever-increasing secularism of Great Britain, will accuse me of further reducing the role of religion in British society and delegating it into the private sphere. And to that I would say: correct.

Comments: I found this article absolutely amusing and tend to agree with Ian. For someone who doesn't have much experience in that department, he should just shut up, because the more he talks, the stupider he sounds!

Article taken on 2 Feb 2010 from www.politics.co.uk

The Final Season - LOST

2010-02-01T17:23:00.000+08:00

At long last, the final season of LOST begins this week.
Said to having a lot of shocks and surprises,
I just can't wait to see if all the questions get answered.
It's been a long time coming!

Lies We Tell Ourselves!

2010-01-22T22:05:00.000+08:00

We all lie to ourselves. Why, I don’t know. I guess self-delusion is part of the human condition, whatever that means. I’m sure a relatively competent shrink can explain it, but who needs all that psychobabble, right?

What got me explaining 5 lies people tell themselves so they can buy stuff they can’t afford: I could have bought something more expensive so I’m actually saving money, it’s an investment, I deserve it because something good happened, I’m comforting myself because something bad happened, that sort of thing.

Now here’s the thing. Usually when we lie to ourselves we’re only hurting ourselves; worst case, our families. But with managers, it’s a whole different ballgame. When managers lie to themselves they can hurt a lot of people. The bigger the title, the more people they can hurt. CEOs can hurt shareholders, employees, and customers by the thousands. Hell, they can take down a whole company. Pffftt... I wish!

I’ve seen self-delusional executives destroy once-great companies lots of times. Sad but true.

But wait, managers are only human, right? They’re allowed to make mistakes. Sure. Mistakes are one thing. But saying things to comfort yourself and prop up your fragile ego so you don’t have to face the truth because it scares you or something is an entirely different thing.

10 Lies Managers Tell Themselves

I know what customers want. CEOs often think they know what customers want. Actually they don’t. They just know what they want, and they’re usually not even in the target demographic.
We have the best (fill in the blank). Technology, marketing, customer service, whatever. Typically self-delusional BS, boastfulness, or ego transference (if there is such a thing).
It’ll fix itself. When they don’t want to do something that’s a pain in the you-know-what.
Our customers love us. Usually a way to keep people from asking questions they don’t want to hear so they don’t have to learn the truth that they don’t want to know.
My employees love me. Same thing as with customers. Delusions of grandeur.
Out of sight, out of mind. AKA solving a problem by ignoring it, firing it, or otherwise making believe it doesn’t exist.
It’s probably for their own good. Also “they’ll land on their feet.” Usually when they demote or fire somebody, or during a layoff. A blessing in disguise with a silver lining attached.
The ends justify the means. Comforting themselves when they’ve done something terrible to others.
I know what the execs want. He probably doesn’t; he’s just afraid to ask or doesn’t want you to go over his head.
It’s my company. In small business, this is often true, but for CEOs of corporations, almost never. So why say it? I don’t know - is there such a thing as ego extension?

So, what’s the solution to the problem? You really need to ask? If you’re a manager, wake the fuck up! Grow a pair and face the truth, and admit that you're wrong, that's the first step to change! Board directors, beware of self-delusional executives.

Anyway, those are my 10 lies, but there must be hundreds. I know you’ve got a few so, come on, spill it.

Lie to me and share...

How To Deal With Morons!

2010-01-19T22:43:00.001+08:00

Here are a few phrases to deal with morons and idiots, be it at work or in your daily life:

I can please only one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow isn't looking good either.

I love datelines. I especially like the whooshing sound the make as they go flying by.

Am I getting smart with you? How would you konw?

I'd explain it to you, but your brain would explode.

Some day we'll look back on all this and plow into a parked car.

There are very few personal problems that cannot be solved through a suitable application of high explosives.

Tell me what you need, and I'll tell you how to get along without it.

Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue.

Needing someone is like needing a parachute. If he isn't there the first time you need him, chances are you won't be needing him again.

I don't have an attitude problem. You have a perception problem.

Last night I lay in bed loooking up at the stars and I thought to myself, "Where the heck is the ceiling?!"

My Reality Check bounced.

On the keyboard of life, always keep one finger on the escape key.

I don't suffer from stress. I'm a carrier.

You're slower than a herd of turtles stampeding through peanut butter.

Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.

Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level then beat you with experience.

Evolution?

2010-01-02T21:57:00.000+08:00

Evolution is the fundamental drive behind any species. Earth has reached a crisis point for evolution. We cannot evolve further because the planet has become overcrowded. At the same time, animal life and other species of plants can't evolve because of interference from Men. Should we actually save these living things from extinction or should we just let it die out and allow evolution to move on?

Let's assume for a second that Men does not exist in such vast numbers. Let's say, in this make-belief theory, we cut down the population of Man by half. Then we look at all the endangered species of animals, be it, the whales, pandas, birds etc Will they really be endangered or go extinct? What is causing the pandas to die out? Is it because their natural habitat has been destroyed? Is it because their species is just genetically weak at adapting to changes? Or is it because they're just shy and fussy to breed? In the case of whales, it will be less hunting of whales, will that mean that there will be more whales in the oceans? There will be less beaching of whales? Most of the time, it's because the natural habitat of these living things are being destroyed. Man cut down trees and clear the way for freeways, roads, cities, malls etc.

But if you look at it, evolution is also the ability to adapt to your new environment. If, for example, a species cannot adapt to the environment, it will die out completely because it cannot find food or shelter or something else that enables it to live on. Bats are abundant and live in the caves and in the dark. They have a particularly adaptive immune system that prevents them from suffering any ill effects of disease that they pick up. However, if we get bitten by a bat, they can transmit any of those nasty diseases they are holding back to us.

Men are surviving on this planet because of our vast numbers. But we are bleeding all the natural resources of this planet till there's nothing left. One day in the not too distant future, Earth will become an empty husk. Men do not replenish this fuel we use up. Soon there will be no more oil left. Oil is the lifeblood of this planet. We have based our entire transportation system on oil. We need to look towards more imaginative forms of fuel: Giant birds, beaming technology, catapults etc.

Men are an adaptable species, we will not die out because we are able to imagine ways to outwit extinction. We breed in vast numbers and live for long years, well, long enough in one generation to make a difference. The one major flaw for men is that we do not know how to make a self-contained system, in which everything can be recycled and reused. We are always dependable on something else for survival. I guess that's the fate on this planet, every single living thing depends on something else for their survival. Should we colonise the moon, we will still be dependent on Earth for most of the resources, because the moon has nothing to offer whatsoever. If we colonise another planet, say in a few hundreds years, let's hope that new world has new resources we can make use of to power us.

All this might sound science-fiction, but an active imagination allows survival. If we stop imagining, we will cease to become creative, that in turn prevents us from adapting to new circumstances and challenges, and that will eventually put us on the path to extinction.

Elementary, My Dear Watson!

2009-12-27T19:18:00.004+08:00

If you're a fan of director Guy Ritchie's older movies like Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, Revolver and RocknRolla, you're in for a treat. Sherlock Holmes has most of his signature moves and with added thrills. Throw in a mystery to be solved and you get quite a hit, literally.

Robert Downey Jr can't seem to shake off the image of being Tony Stark in Iron Man. He is every bit as witty and funny in this one, with a touch or quirky personality. It was enjoyable watching him with the violin, trying to piece together mysteries that he can't understand or solve.

Jude Law had onscreen presence that rivalled RDJ, which made him almost an equal when bringing out Dr Watson, or in some newspaper reviews, Dr Hot-son! Sherlock's ever trusty counterpart and some times faithful companion.

In a good movie, you never have to take off your clothes for the actors to portray their characters. With the exception of the boxing scenes of course! Slow motion moves to disable their opponents brought us back to producer Joel Silver trying to do bullet-time action scenes. It worked better here than in his other movies like Romeo Must Die, which was absolutely horrible. The mysterious man actually turned out to be Holmes arch-nemesis Professor Moriarty, of course, those of you who do not know who this diabolical rival is, I suggest you start reading all those Sherlock Holmes books soon, because it sets the stage for a sequel.

Through it all, this action-mystery does have its flaws. I for one do not remember Holmes having eidetic memory, in other words, I never knew he could photograph or remember scenes or events to piece together and solve a mystery, something Sir Arthur Conan Doyle never really revealed. Though it was interesting, it reminded me of watching Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon in The Da Vinci Code trying to piece together the riddle to open the cryptex in that movie. Or watching an episode of Psych trying to piece together pieces of the puzzle to get the whole picture, while pretending he's a psychic!

Oh and Holmes does NOT say the famous words, "Elementary, my dear Watson." in this movie at all - a bit of a disappointment there. Perhaps in the sequel, they will remember to add that in!

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and thought that, like some reviewers have said, it was a bold interpretation of one of the most famous fictional detectives in the UK and would highly recommend that you watch it too!

One of Guy Ritchie's better ones!

4 out of 5 stars

AVATAR - Movie Of The Year

2009-12-23T12:34:00.000+08:00

Avatar should be watched the way it was originally intended to be watched, in 3-dimension or 3D. This movie will probably win plenty of awards, I find that it's probably the best movie of this year.

The level of detail that went into creating and filming this movie was unsurpassed. I was totally taken in by the detail of every single thing, from the bioluminsence in the forest of Pandora to the HUD or Heads-Up Displays present in all the aircrafts and computer systems on the base. James Cameron has always been known to push the limits of movie-making, merging computer, technology and other forms of digital media and combining it into a blockbuster movie. At the same time, he always manages to combine all these elements into a beautifully woven and very human story.

His fantasy sci-fi terms are not bombastic, they're easy to remember and to relate to, so that you don't go out of your way to try to understand things in the movie and get side-tracked. Using an alien culture to tell a very human story isn't all that different from Star Trek or other sci-fi novels. It always takes something that you need to relate to, for you to actually understand how bad it actually is.

The plot of the movie, a more advanced alien culture sets up a beach-front in your native land. You are one in tune with the land, with tribes and clans still using bows and arrows but giving back to the land in a most spiritual way. This reminded me of native American culture, the red indians, who are in sync with their land and culture, and who had Americans chase them from their land.

However, having said all that, Avatar does have its minor flaws. James Cameron likes to make use of previous actors from his other movies, Sigourney Weaver for example. At the same time, the movie had a plot that was rather predictable, in that, whenever they mention something, 20 minutes later, it became reality, it's almost like foreshadowing events. But these flaws did not overshadow the technologically amazing movie.

Sam Worthington caught my attention in Terminator Salvation. He has reinforced my belief that he will be one of the great and rising actors of our time, on par with all the other Aussie actors like Hugh Jackman, Heath Ledger and Cate Blanchett.

Highly, highly recommended movie. If you haven't watched it in 3D yet, make it a point to do so, you won't regret it.

4.5 out of 5 stars

Changing Times Ahead?

2009-12-17T22:37:00.005+08:00

A few weeks ago, the people of Switzerland voted to end Muslimisation of their country.

Swiss voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional ban on minarets, barring construction of the mosque towers in a strong vote that put Switzerland at the forefront of a European backlash against a growing Muslim population.

It is extremely painful for me to watch the continent become a province of Islam. This news from Switzerland, a nation that hosts so many wealthy sons of Allah, is a prime example of the bold moves that are necessary to protect each country, to preserve its history and keep its rich culture intact.

Finally the citizens of Europe are realising the destructive growth and take-over of Muslims and their “culture.” I always knew that Europe would wake up; I was just disappointed and still am disappointed that it actually took them this long. Thankfully this awakening has led to legal changes against the Islamic infiltration in many countries. In France and Germany they have banned the wearing or use of burqas in schools. As well, mosques and minaret construction projects in Sweden, France, Italy, Austria, Greece, Germany and Slovenia have been met by protesters who stand firm in protecting their country’s identity.

The citizens of Switzerland have spoken out and they do not want the Islamic barbarians coming in and erasing the distinctiveness of their country anymore. The government and politicians consistently employ their self-serving political correctness at the expense of their people. Government leaders across the globe are acting as mere puppets singing whatever tune the Middle-Eastern countries want them to—simply for oil gains and election wins. But the general public no longer wants to play these games.

I am proud of Switzerland for telling its government and the world that this Islamic invasion must stop. European citizens cannot sit by and watch while Muslim extremists tear down ancient Christian churches to build mosques, bulldozing freedoms to impose their intolerance and corrupting democracy to place Islamic followers above any law and suspicion that they deserve.

Europeans use the word Muslimisation to describe the immigration and fast breeding of Middle-Eastern citizens in their countries. This infestation has led many Europeans to refer to their continent as Eurabia. There is no question why this moniker is used.

In Marseilles, Muslims have immigrated in like a destructive plague to take up over a quarter of the population and they are steadily encroaching on the majority line. A city formerly known for its stunning architecture and thriving culture now boasts a predominate landscape of the intolerant worship grounds of mosques.

Yet in Islamic countries, there is no allowance to build even the tiniest of churches. All non-Muslim countries should forbid the building of mosques until all Muslim countries allow churches and synagogues to be built. Why should we continue to be tolerant to their bullying intolerance? A popular French joke is, "Marseilles is the first Muslim Republic of France.” Well if you stop and think it’s not that funny because statistically in just thirty-nine years France will actually become an Islamic Republic.

Soon Europe as we know it will cease to exist. The next generation will never experience the great and vast cultures of the continent.

The Muslim population in Europe is continuing to rapidly grow at a speed incomparable to the Christian, Jewish and Buddhist populations COMBINED. They are gloriously multiplying with the purpose of overpowering and taking over the population.

The thirty-one countries of the European Union only have a fertility rate of 1.38, meaning that statistically EU couples are only producing 1.38 children together. This cannot sustain the population with the extremely high rate of Islamic immigration and repopulation. In France the fertility rate is 1.8 children per family and the Muslim fertility rate there is a staggering 8.1 children per family.

Germany is the first country to address this alarming fact. The government has stated, “The fall in the [German] population can no longer be stopped. Its downward spiral is no longer reversible…It will be a Muslim state by the year 2050.”

Devastatingly, Europe will be left with only the Islamic “culture.” I use the word culture loosely because where Islam was once a rich culture filled with astronomy, mathematics, art and history, all that is being brought to western countries now are their minarets, the abuse of social security, barbarism, intolerance, forced marriages, polygamy, wife beatings, burqas, gay bashings, female genital mutilations, honour killings and terrorism.

We have created a civilisation that is the opposite of the Islamic society. We went through centuries to create our world. We persevered through the Age of Enlightenment, the Renaissance, through women’s rights, civil rights, and countless liberations. We went through all of this and we cannot let Muslim society drag us back to the medieval era by means of terror, immigration and fighting us with our own system of democracy. I am not claiming our society is perfect but it is drastically different that the brutal inhumanity of Islam.

Europeans want their Europe back. But is it too late? Is Europe to suffer the fate of Christian Lebanon? Before the 1970’s the country was called the Riviera of the Middle East…and then it was Muslimised. The demographics changed and churches were turned into mosques and the once crowded beaches now sit empty. There were tourists coming from around the world to the welcoming nation and now there are none, thanks to the millions of Muslims that settled in invaded Lebanon. The country is now the war-torn nation of Hezbollah.

With Switzerland’s ban on minarets, I am sure that we will soon see hundreds of thousands of Muslims taking to the streets burning cars and destroying anything that they can get their hands on, as they did in the French riots of 2005 and the riots that occurred all over Europe when the Dutch published cartoons that satirised Islamic prophet Mohammad.

But with this ban the turning-point has begun. Europe must hold strong against the forceful Islamic take-over. Not just Europe, each and every country must preserve the uniqueness of their culture, architecture, values and humanity. I am optimistic; it’s just a question of time.

I have nothing against the Muslim community or Islam, in fact, I admired what Islam used to be, but extremists have twisted religion into blind, fanatical devotion, filled with terrorism that scare even their own people, which does not speak for the rest of their religion.

And that to me, is complete heresy!

The Five Greatest Warriors

2009-11-23T19:31:00.001+08:00

It was a Matthew Reilly (MR) novel. Those of you who have read MR's novels will understand the kind of action it packs. His novels mirror that of an Indiana Jones adventure story, mixed with Michael Bay's action movies, wanton destruction, multiply that by 10 fold.

The Five Greatest Warrior carried on exactly where The Six Sacred Stones ended, with Jack West Jr falling down the abyss at the second vertex. I never expected him to die, because, most of the time in MR novels, the villains always die a gruesome and horrifying death, whereas the hero always makes it to safety. In this case, a military equipment for all MR's fictional marines carry, help to save Jack from falling into oblivion.

MR has managed to cut down on all the descriptive sounds,and explosions in this novel to a bare minimum. I think it had become really annoying to see all those italic texts describing action sounds like you see in comic books, for example, Shhwwang, which can be used for sound close swinging knife edge, so on and so forth.

This novel was a page-turner, there was no way I could put it down, but I had to, I was seriously losing a good night's sleep in order to continue with the plot. It is a mostly descriptive novel, with intrigue, puzzles, betrayal, bravery, chivalry etc. In other words, it read like an action movie. You didn't really have to think too much, like when reading one of Agatha Christie's murder mysteries.

I would say that this novel did move along nicely. And I have no wish to change anything in the novel. However, I sincerely hope that MR can start writing novels that do not have such predictable scenarios. If you've read his earlier novels, dealing with another of his character, Scarcrow, the hero is always backed into a corner, and always finds a way to escape, even when one or more of his teammates have betrayed him, trapping him in something inescapable. On one hand, it does show innovation to think of a scenario like that where eventually the hero escapes, but on the other hand, it's just recycled ingredients used from a previous novel.

I think being a techno-phile (I love technology), the warblers that MR mentioned inside his novel were something I really enjoyed reading about. It works almost like a personal body shield that confuses and deflects any fast moving metal like bullets, confuses electronics like those present in missiles. However, practicality tells me that it may eventually be developed only if the electromagnetic waves were not so powerful when used as a personal shield, I think all the soldiers who used them would eventually become sterile!

All in all, a fun and entertaining page-turning read. Highly, highly recommended to anyone who doesn't want to read moderate soap like a Jodi Picoult novel, or think to hard on who killed who like an Agatha Christie novel. This will be worth the read, even if you're in-flight or in transit at an airport in some forsaken land. A novel that opens windows into places you've never been, and it's 85% fact mixed with 15% fiction!

5 out of 5 stars

Round The Corner

2009-11-17T22:21:00.000+08:00

Click on the posters to get a larger and nicer view!
Two new movies to look out for.
One of them sooner than you think.
A few more days till New Moon.

The Most Annoying Words

2009-11-16T16:17:00.000+08:00

"Anyway, you know, whatever - it is what it is, at the end of the day." This is the most irritating sentence in the English language, according to a poll in the United States last month.

"Whatever" or as it is more commonly said, "Whatevvv-urrhhh" or "what-eva" - proved to be the most grating of the five phrases that were thrown up. While I completely agree that these words and phrases all deserve to be eradicated from everyday speech, I must say, I found the poll a bit wanting.

If I had to give a prize to one for (dis)honour of being the most annoying, it would go to the word "anything". Don't get me wrong, it is a perfectly acceptable word when the person who uses it really means "anything". Like, for instance, when I say "I don't have anything to put on".

The word "anything" is more commonly used as a trap that indecisive people actually frivolously use, to lure you into a false sense of agree-ability, and then they slowly kill you with frustration.

For example, here's a conversation I had with a friend of mine - you know who you are. It alternates between me and my friend, starting with me, sentences in italics are my thoughts:

"What would you like to eat for dinner?" Somewhere classy, a restaurant perhaps.

"Anything."

"..." "Okay...how about Thai food, I haven't had Thai food for ages." Please say yes.

"Uhh... I don't really like Thai." Dang it woman, make up your freaking mind!

"Then how about French food?" A nice red wine with a beef steak, is that too much to ask?

"No way, I hate anything French!" Sacre-bleu!

"Japanese sushi?" You love sushi, that's your favourite food! What was I thinking?

"I had Japanese for lunch, something else perhaps?" Do you have Japanese for all 3 meals a day?

"What then?" God created women to annoy men! No wonder men always die first!

"Anything, up to you." Where the F*&k is my stiletto knife I keep hidden near my ankle? Need... to... stab... someone... to... death!!! UGH...

Then there are words that are particularly annoying when used wrongly and utterly frivolously, here are some of them: "Without much further ado..."; "Really?"; "Literally..."; "Basically..." "Moving forward..."; "Whereby..."

Whenever I complain to friends that they're not using the words correctly, they make it worse by saying, "Relax...Chill, these words a new-age!" New-age my proverbial ass, music can be new-aged, but English is English! Even if their words made sense, it would be completely ungrammatical.

Internet chatroom and text messages have shorten the English language to a variety of lingo and acronyms. Some can be useful when writing text messages to friends, but those that aren't useful are those that nobody seems to know, new creations by friends who try to make their acronyms and lingo new-aged.

I suspect that in time, people won't even bother to type anything at all. They'll just send an empty text message to signify consent and hope that you will be psychic enough to figure out what the blank message means. Then again, if that ever happens, I suppose I have the perfect response already:

WHAT-EVA!

Vacation?

2009-10-27T22:30:00.000+08:00

This graph neatly and hilariously summarises
your vacation time, versus your stress level and time!

I loved the graph where you try to resist the urge to
check email when you're enjoying yourself
on vacation in another country,
it has happened oh too often for me!

The Plan

2009-10-19T17:19:00.000+08:00

The long-awaited tele-movie from Battlestar Galactica - The Plan has finally been released. Ever since the TV series ended in March 2009, I've been getting withdrawal symptoms. The finale was not overly bad, it was actually rather emotional and sad. However, still too many unanswered questions lingered. With The Plan, some of the unanswered questions have finally been answered.

The Plan actually started from 2 weeks before the Fall of Caprica to just around Season 2 of the TV series and not till the finale. I won't spoil it too much, but you do see more of the Cylons, their plottings and plannings that went completely unnoticed throughout the fleet. It was more like they formed a tiny little cult amongst themselves, held meetings within a makeshift chapel, possibly on Galactica and then plotted. Only the No.1, 4, 5, 6 and 8 (Sharon Valerii) were plotting.

The entire Plan tele-movie was John or No.1 driven. He's the leader, leading the rest of his race to destroy the humans. However, his brother model No.1, Brother Cavil, sees things from a different point of view, which he doesn't accept. His vendetta against humanity must be absolute and unquestionably followed, even if resistance among his own model seems forthcoming, he will squash it all the same and proceed with his master plan. The disappearance of Shelly Godfrey was explained, it was rather sad what happened actually, but interesting to watch the banter.

I won't spoil anymore, but let's just say that through humanity's drive to survive and live on, Brother Cavil saw a possibility for peace between humans and Cylons and acted on it with the rest of the Cylons on Caprica. However, John refused to acknowledge peace, he insisted to teach the Final Five a lesson and hope they would come crawling back to him to tell him that he was correct. And so their plan was destroyed, leading to the rest of the season.

I was rather disappointed that Lucy Lawless didn't make an appearance in this series, because she was the driving force behind Season 3, and she had screen presence and could stand up to the No.1s. They did show her in a short snippet here and there, probably taken from Season 3, but otherwise, she had no air time. Dean Stockwell was excellent as No.1, conveying menace and vengeance throughout the entire movie. I will never again see him as Scott Bakula's personal computer from Quantum Leap!

It was also interesting to note that when the Basestars attacked the Twelve Colonies, they turn their top and bottom Y-shaped sections to fit a symmetrical configuration before launching their nukes. Something that was never shown again in the course of the TV series!

Highly recommended to all who followed the entire re-imagined series, and are still suffering from BSG withdrawal symptoms, like me! :P

4 out of 5 stars

Inspiring Paintings

2009-10-14T11:50:00.008+08:00

These beautiful paintings inspired me with their color, tone and mood.
I have personally seen the top painting when I was
in Glasgow, it is my favorite!
I actually contemplated purchasing it
and getting it shipped back home!

Top: Sunset on 7th, Madjid
Middle Left: Wang Yehan WS256
Middle Right: Wang Yehan WS524
Bottom: Wang Yehan WS532

Inglouriously Delicious!

2009-10-01T23:26:00.004+08:00

Another Quentin Tarantino movie I definitely had to watch. The stars were from all over the globe. A movie involving Nazi-occupied France. Violence. Killing. What more could you really ask for.

I think the more Tarantino makes movies, the more he's able to shift his genre from the violent to the most prolific and sophisticated. It's like an art, making movies, and Tarantino has all the right ingredients when making a brilliant movie.

Without giving too much away - yes, this time no spoilers my friends, you all have to watch it yourselves - I would say that the movie started off rather slowly, but then again it is Tarantino's new way, to have a decent conversation, building up the characters, the suspense, then making you feel at ease with the entire conversation. But by that time it's too late, you are already in the trap, you lie, you cheat, you pretend to wriggle out of it, but you're already ensnared by it and then you're caught in it utterly with no escape. This is when he creates an opening in the trap, in which he gives you a choice of cooperating to live or defying to the bitter end and get your entire family murdered, it's your choice.

The verbal banter is amazingly candid and humorous at the same time. Most of the entire movie is in either French, German, a little Italian and English. I think only about 15 minutes of the movie is in English, the rest are in their native tongue, it is France after all, so you have to be content with reading subtitles. However, the nuances, the punctuation, the curses, all fitted into the movie perfectly. I was laughing at all throughout!

Christoph Waltz who played Colonel Hans Landa gave the best performance I've ever seen. He switched from French to English to German with such ease, it was difficult to catch up. His character was filled with such sincerity that the menace behind it was hidden so well.

Diane Kruger looks excellent in period movies and fitted in perfectly with her role. She looks better with Brad Pitt standing next to her than she did in National Treasure with Nicolas Cage!

I don't want to spoil any more than I should, but the rest of the cast were just stellar.

However, the movie did move at a pace slower than I expected, and I suspect that several more scenes did not make the final cut, because there was quite a lot of unexplained stuff. It will probably be featured in the DVD director's uncut edit or something, which will be available in the next half of the year.

Highly, highly recommended!

4 out of 5 stars!

Rock Scissors Paper

2009-09-13T18:18:00.001+08:00

When we were kids, we used to play this game.

I had the same problem understanding it because of the

~~stupid~~ ~~dumb~~ hilarious concept of paper defeating rock.

Thankfully, someone learned to use that to their advantage in

this little poster for making your own rules.

Now I will teach my kids the correct way to play

Rock, Scissors and Paper!

You all should do the same too!

The Ultimate Prayer

2009-09-07T17:01:00.000+08:00

Simple.

Plain.

Vindictive.

Evil.

Powerful.

Ultimate!

Life In Technicolor II

2009-09-01T01:36:00.001+08:00

One of the best music videos I've seen in a really long time! Check out these funnies at the following time indexes:

1) 1.36 and 2.25, the stagehand has his pants hanging off his ass showing butt-cleavage, like in real-life!

2) 3.29 The videocam man mouthing the words "Fucking A" when the 2 motorcycles leap past each other.

3) 2.57 The first time the pyrotechnics go off, people duck and things get broken, but the children are all unfazed.

4) The brunette lady having that "Whoa" and "WTF" look on her face everyone the camera pans to her!

And Coldplay's exit is really, really cool too!

Enjoy!

Computer Expert

2009-08-25T01:14:00.000+08:00

Follow this flowchart and you can never go wrong,
especially when it comes to solving simple computer problems,
no matter how duh you really are!

Wait, let's just forget the duh part,
cos there are always people out there who are
even more duh than duh!

Oh you know who you are!

New Movies

2009-08-13T00:13:00.001+08:00

Some new movies to look forward to! Yay!

TRON Legacy

2009-07-28T00:31:00.000+08:00

Tron Legacy is a 3D high-tech adventure set in a digital world that's unlike anything ever captured on the big screen. Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund), the tech-savvy 27-year-old son of Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), looks into his father's disappearance and finds himself pulled into the same world of fierce programs and gladiatorial games where his father has been living for 25 years. Along with Kevin's loyal confidant (Olivia Wilde), father and son embark on a life-and-death journey across a visually-stunning cyber universe that has become far more advanced and exceedingly dangerous.

This movie sequel is 27 years in the making! With all the advances in CGI, blue and green screens, I'm sure this will be a hit with not just the older TRON generation, but also with the younger generation of kids and teens.

Something to look forward to in 2010, after some 27 years of waiting!

Harry Potter & The Half-Past Six Film

2009-07-23T02:47:00.001+08:00

Maybe my expectations were a tad too high, but then again it's a Harry Potter movie, how can your expectations not be high for such a wonderful series? Although the tone, the gathering darkness and maturity of the movie was good, it was too disjointed, too many scenes were cut out from the original novel to begin with, leaving everything a mess.

I was particularly disappointed that the film didn't unfold itself in the usual way like the previous movies, where they slowly reveal the mysteries and answer them at the end of the movie. There was no mystery in this movie, only a lot of empty space and blanks left empty to be filled in. They just led us by the nose and we all followed them.

I had several friends who never read the book, and said that they didn't know exactly what was going on, but the gathered the story from bits and pieces here and there throughout the movie. I read the novel, I thoroughly enjoyed the novel, the development of the characters and how they matured and banded together through the darkness to fight Voldemort and his Death-eaters.

The movie lacked everything, it was almost like a hide and seek game, played in the form of guerilla-tactics. Death-eaters attacked, Order of the Phoenix fight back, Death-eaters retreat, Order of the Phoenix are too disillusioned with their losses they don't even want to talk about it.

Scenes that were missing or lacking or something:

1) Fenrir Greyback, he was just muscle, menacing and opened shirt to show his hairy chest. In actual fact, he was the werewolf who bit Remus Lupin.

2) Ollivanders, the wand maker, getting kidnapped in the beginning of the movie, yes, he was the guy whom the Death-eaters captured in Diagon Alley, the hooded fella. If you didn't gather the details by now.

3) The in-joke of the entire movie was the Millennium Bridge, aka the Wobbly Bridge. A friend of mine from the UK told me about it. When the bridge was completed and opened, and when people walked across it, the entire bridge wobbled and swayed, due to unexpected lateral vibration (resonant structural response). They had to close the bridge down 2 days after it opened and repair it. It reopened again later, but not before they got an entire platoon of military men to march across it, to make sure it didn't wobble and shake again. If any of you have been to London, the Millennium bridge is located near St Paul's Cathedral in the direction of the Thames. Crossing it will bring you to the Tate Modern and the Globe theatre nearby. It was called the Millennium bridge because it was supposed to have been opened in time for 2000, but because of the defect, it was closed and reopened later in 2002. The bridge was not in the novel.

4) I don't remember Bellatrix Lestrange taking on such a huge role in HP6, but Helena Bonham Carter is one fine actress, she did an amazing job of portraying wickedness and evilness throughout the movie.

5) The Battle Of The Astronomy Tower, where all the students were involved in one way or another to hinder the Death-eaters from escaping after killing Dumbledore, didn't happen. That was the ultimate let down in the entire move. Compared to HP5, which had a rather huge duel between Voldemort and Dumbledore, HP6 paled in comparison to having absolutely no duelling at all. Even the Quiddich match was a let down.

6) Felix felicis was not used by Harry to get lucky and get Professor Slughorn's memory, it was used during the Battle of the Astronomy Tower, to protect the students from the Death-eaters.

7) Ginny Weasley romancing Harry wasn't till book 7.

8) Dumbledore had no funeral in the book 6 chapter titled The White Tomb.

9) Bill and Fleur were not present.

10) The backstory on the Gaunt's or Tom Riddle's ancestors was cut out entirely! This made it very difficult to understand exactly why Tom was the heir to Slytherin.

11) The inferi in the lake look like Gollum, the only thing missing was them all saying "My precious" at the same time!

12) The Burrow was burnt and destroyed, probably to garner sympathy for the Weasleys.

God I could go on with this list, but I'll have to stop here.

If you were me, you would go back and read book 6 and enjoy it more thoroughly than I did with this movie. I hope that by doing a 2 parter film to book 7, they would cover all the destruction of the Horcruxes and leave nothing of the original storyline out.

Recommended only for the special effects and fans of the novel.

2 out of 5 stars

The Myth of Leadership

2009-07-15T09:11:00.001+08:00

Leadership's a big myth really. That of the heroic leader. One who speaks charismatically, forcefully, drives change, sets the direction, pace, goals. Aren't you wowed by this type of person? If you are not, society is.

But behind the heroism, charms, persuasions, coercions and intellect of this type of leadership, do not be fooled. It's all about the ego! To be sure, all such leaders have noble goals and have achieved much for their flock, but it all boils down to their ego, and personal interests and hidden wantss.

For millennia, we've admired the likes of Alexander the Great, Qin Shi Huang, Genghis Khan, Julius Ceasar and many contemporary more impressive leaders. After all, the military admires the myth of the heroic leader, and rewards those who show it. The answer was provided by Lao Tzu in this definition inscripted on the banner:

"The leader is best, when people are hardly aware of his existence, not so good when people praise his government, less good when people stand in fear, worst, when people are contemptuous. Fail to honor people, and they will fail to honor you. But of a good leader, who speaks little, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, the people say, we did it ourselves."

What's true 3000 years ago is still true today. In an article of the latest Harvard Business Review of "Managing in the New World", an author contends that leadership today, should really be communityship.

That's right. It's communityship. Not your damn ego, masqueraded as service to the community.

That being said, only 4 people in history qualified. Jesus, Buddha, Allah, Krishna. They were Enlightened leaders.

The rest were all pretenders to the throne!

Torchwood - Children Of Earth

2009-07-12T02:49:00.001+08:00

The third season of Torchwood happened over 5 days. I must say that watching the entire season of Torchwood in 5 days was a real treat! It was like watching a DVD collection for all their previous season's 12 or 13 episodes. They should do this for every season!

Let's get to the likes and dislikes I had for this season, and I'm trying NOT to reveal too much because I don't want to spoil it for my friends in other countries who have yet to watch it, although spoiler information is already freely available on many websites.

Anyhow, it started off with the usual intrigue. Children playing and then suddenly coming to a standstill, then they start chanting in a monotonous voice that "We Are Coming". A former group of aliens called the 456, for the frequency they communicate on, broadcast their return to earth through all the children of earth. Because of the frequency in which they broadcast, the children literally stop what they're doing and are words are communicated through them.

A government conspiracy to cover up what they did the last time the 456s were on earth. They demanded a gift of 12 children and the children were given to them, in exchange for an antidote for Indonesian Flu. In order for the present not to know, those previously involved were executed. Jack Harkness was one of them and well, they wanted to kill a man who cannot ever be killed. They also blew up the Hub, which was Torchwood central in Cardiff.

The thing I like is the realism in Torchwood. Emotions are felt, actors actually have tears flowing, or show distinct disgust. No holds bar, they're not afraid to kill of characters, yes, another member of Torchwood bites the dust and I must say, I was disappointed that they got rid of this person. It was rather sad, because although it was not pointless, it appeared so. The writers were not going to give you the Star Trek ending in which time reset and everything went back to the way it was. No, that was not what they wanted, because in real television, if you want impact, you have to either kill someone off or you have to have characters make tough decisions that affect someone else, sometimes even resulting in their death. It's almost like watching Lost, but without the draggy flash-backs or flash-forwards. Morality was tossed back and forth, but when the time came, they didn't have a choice, so sacrifices had to be made, regardless of the final decisions. Kill the one to save the billions.

Also, not to forget, after watching Day 1 of Children of Earth, you would think that Captain Jack Harkness would try to rebuild Torchwood, after losing 2 members in season 2. There were Torchwood potentials like Dr Rupesh Pantajali, Lois Habiba and even Agent Johnson. But by Day 4, I realise that reforming Torchwood will not be happening. It was just too painful to watch the events on how Day 4 ended.

However, through it all, we were strung along through the suspense of having a group of aliens calling themselves the 456 only appear in the 3rd episode onwards. Most of the time, they appeared in their toxic smokey environment, so we never really got a good glimpse of them. I was hoping they came up with something more original, spend less on the number of people recruited for the series and more on the special effects or customes for the alien. And come on, a better name than 456 would have been more appropriate, or maybe because they're drug dealers, they didn't want their species name to be revealed, for fear of the Shadow Proclamation (only the true Doctor Who fans know what I'm talking about)!

Plenty of unanswered questions to go around. Did they just get rid of one of the 456 aliens or the entire species? Where did they come from? How did the aliens arrive, by transmat or by spacecraft, if so, were they destroyed in their spacecraft, or will they come back again? Will we see Captain Jack Harkness again? Will there be a 4th season of Torchwood or is this their last? I couldn't help thinking that they had a low budget and couldn't do too many special effects. Most of the actors were new, fresh faces, but did good debuts, so probably low-budget again. Not too many recurring roles, cos they would be expensive, on top of all the children they had to recruit to say those words, or scream in unison!

We shall have to see what the next season (if there will be) of Torchwood will bring...

3.5 out of 5 stars

Revenge Of The Slapsticks

2009-06-30T01:42:00.001+08:00

What can I say? It was action-packed. It was entertaining. There were laughs, some were really hilarious, some were plain stupid. The plot was lacking, it really made me wonder why on earth the Decepticons don't invade in force. The Decepticons were not one who were subtle in the cartoon, but in the movie, they didn't want to reveal themselves to the people of earth till the second movie? On the eve of activating the weapon to destroy the earth?

Some Spoilers Below, Read At Your Own Risk!

You wonder why the running trend of Hollywood: To create prequels within the sequel itself, to fill in the missing backstory, so that the sequel can flow forward. It turns out, much of the Allspark had the history of the Transformers within, which was left with shards. No idea how that last shard got attached to Sam's sweater, clearly Optimus Prime took it out of Megatron's remains in the first movie. Strange that the Transformers themselves didn't know their own history, and how to activate and use the Allspark, other than Bumblebee miniaturising it in the first movie.

If a Transformer is killed, it seems, even with a shard of the Allspark, it will bring him back to life, regardless of how dead he seems. No memory lost, nothing, Megatron awakes hellbent on revenge, almost like he was in cryostasis.

Although Devastator's transformations were spectacular, the robot in itself was kind of a disappointment. The cartoon Devastator was a green robot, more like Megatron's muscle. In this movie, he was this clumsy hulk of a robot, that had the ability to suck stuff through his mouth and eventually break it down and out his back. He did nothing more than to tear the top of the pyramids apart, to reveal the Sun Harvester - how convenient! That and well, watch out for his metal balls, literally gives new meaning to the term bang balls!

The Decepticons are growing hatchlings? Whatever for, it wasn't explained in the movie, all that was mentioned was that without a new source of energon, they will continue to hatch and then die. Are the Decepticons reproducing? Their little hatchery reminded me of Count Dracula's spawn in the movie Van Helsing!

The Fallen, they look more elaborate than having the ability to transform. If the Fallen was the first Decepticon, he was a sad case. Was their base located near Saturn in the solar system itself? Why can't they just mobilize everything and attack earth?

I must say, there was good film editing done, because when Sam and Makaela was running towards the camp, they ran from Petra at Jordan, to the pyramids in Egypt, running through the pillars at Luxor and then trying to make their way to the marine encampment to bring the Matrix of Leadership to revive Optimus Prime! The movie made everyone believe that Jordan and Egypt are in the same garden, just a stone's throw away from each other.

All the transformers, especially the Decepticons, looked much to elaborate. So much so, that I couldn't tell which was Starscream, or whether or not Megatron was hit during the attack. All Decepticons seem to be able to fly, whereas Autobots confine their disguise to cars, trucks, lorrys, pickups and motorbikes! The only Decepticon enjoyable to watch was Soundwaver, he was a satellite and he did all the work!

The twin transformers, they were like that Star Wars character Jar Jar Binks! I couldn't believe they had to provide that sort of slapstick entertainment in the movie. What's more, they made them bling-bling, and did I see correctly, one of the twins had gold teeth. The strange thing is that my colleague who was watching the movie with me, also wondered where they disappeared to. After their Devastator tango, they vanished and were not part of the ending. Something got edited out perhaps, or they finally realized how stupid they were and deleted them!

Overall, fun-filled action-packed, great for the family, good laughs, and oh, almost forgot to mentioned the G-string jockstrap worn by Agent Simmons, that almost blinded me when I saw his ass!

Highly recommended only for entertainment value and tons of kick-ass explosions, and for kids 10 years or older.

3 out of 5 stars

Terminate The Critics, For They Know NOT What They Review!

2009-06-16T23:32:00.000+08:00

The critics panned this movie as having only action in the first 1 hours and thereafter, a muddled plot and going nowhere. They gave it a lower than usual rating, some 1 out of 5 stars, or 2 out of 5 stars.

After watching it this past weekend, let me correct their impression of this movie. Do NOT listen to the critics! They either don't understand what they're watching, or have no sense of imagination for the Terminator franchise! Go and watch this movie yourself and do you own review!

Beware of spoilers below if you read on, you've been warned!

I'm so glad that McG and his creative team had some imagination. Believe it or not, all the 3 Terminator movies had these ingredients in their storyline:

Arrival from the future, kill, kill, kill... mainly to get clothes;
Chase down suspects one by one, kill, kill, kill... to eliminate people who put Skynet at risk and to find John Connor, wanton destruction ensues;
Terminator finds Sarah/John Connor, kill, kill, kill... chase scene ensures, more killing, more chasing, more wanton destruction;
Hero arrives to save the day, someone gets hurt, they go into hiding;
A sudden epiphany on what they should do to escape termination;
More chasing, more killing, more wanton destruction! (If there's glass, they have to break it!)
Hero always dies, terminator gets terminated, tear-jerker moment, uncertain future - there's no future but what we make...

God, wake up people, just because T2 had incredible and ground-breaking special effects doesn't make it good! What McG did was to make me wake up and take notice of the movie. He created new Terminators, instead of the pathetic "I'll be back" Arnold drone T-800 Cyberdyne systems model 101. The Hydrobot, the Hunter-killer, the prison ship with hunter-killer, the giant robots, the tank terminator T-1, the motorcycle terminator. All these added to the intrigue and mystery and showed the limits of Skynet's power and vulnerability.

The future is not all that bleak if there are so many pockets of resistance! The resistance HQ, which was an underwater submarine was innovative, but how long can they really last? They obviously had to make way for John Connor to be resistance leader supreme!

Throw in human nature into the works and create the bridging gap between the T-600 and T-800, Marcus Wright - the prototype! And this essentially throws a monkey wrench into John Connor's world. He went back to the tapes to see if his mom left any info on a prototype Terminator with a human heart and finds nothing, he gets desperate, he doesn't really know what to do! So far, his mom's tapes have been helping him out!

Remember to throw in rain, dry, rain, dry, rain, dry, rain scenes - if you could only count the number of times Marcus gets wet and dries off, it's a wonder he doesn't get pneumonia during filming! Sam Worthington did a great job playing John's nemesis in the movie. At least James Cameron got something right when he recommended the actor to McG, instead of some wooden actor who can't act to save himself!

Anton Yelchin, fresh from Star Trek as Chekov, did an amazing job portraying teenager Kyle Reese. So much envy for John Connor that he desperately wants to be part of the resistance to follow in his footsteps. However, if you follow Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles on TV, you'll notice that his elder brother Derek Reese is nowhere to be found - missing continuity or an alternate reality I guess!

Arnie does makes a CGI appearance, well no, the Governor didn't have time to film anything! And although Christian Bale could have spoken a little clearer than in his raspy Bruce Wayne/Batman voice, I believe that he did amazingly well in this movie as John Connor, as compared to Nick Stahl's wimpy version in T3.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Terminator Salvation and highly recommend it to anyone daring enough NOT to take the words of those critics. I'm really looking forward to see the future direction that McG and his creative team can move the franchise towards.

Viva la resistance!

4 out of 5 stars

Interactive Youtube With Corey Vidal

2009-05-10T16:32:00.000+08:00

Corey Vidal is the dude who did the Star Wars Acapella on Youtube.com that came to everyone's attention. He even did some dance moves instructional videos for everyone to learn how to dance. On top of that, he did his own dance moves to the song 4 Minutes by Madonna and Justin Timberlake, which eventually got taken down due to copyright reasons, but got put up again.

Corey is exceptionally talented, he can sing, beat-box, dance, and that's just scratching the tip of the iceberg.

And now, he's introduced a whole new genre into Youtube.com - Interactive Video. I find this most fascinating and intriguing as he's one of the first to actually film it out!

Check out the video above to blend your own adventure, and then watch Corey drink the blendings to interesting effects!

12 Things

2009-04-20T18:48:00.000+08:00

Of course, being happy at work depends mostly on how much you like your job and the people who work with you. But there are also smaller steps that can boost your own personal happiness, as well -- partly by boosting your physical comfort and your productivity.

Some of these steps are VERY small, but the fact that you’re taking steps to improve your situation itself boosts happiness.

1. Check for eyestrain by putting your hand to your forehead in a salute. If your eyes feel relieved, your work space is too bright.

2. Sit up straight with your shoulders down — every time I adjust my sitting position, I instantly feel more energetic and cheerier.

3. Get a phone headset. I resisted for a long time, because it looks so preposterous, but it’s really much more comfortable. Also, it lets me pace while I talk on the phone, which also looks preposterous, but is energizing.

4. Don’t keep candy on your desk. Studies show that people are much more likely to snack when a treat is within easy reach, and a handful of M&Ms each day could mean a weight gain of five pounds by year’s end. Unfortunately, in a lab where you work, you can't have food lying around, it's pretty unhygienic!

5. Never say “yes” on the phone; instead, say, “I’ll get back to you.” When you’re actually speaking to someone, the desire to be accommodating is very strong, and can lead you to say “yes” without enough consideration. Along the same lines…

6. When deciding whether to say “yes,” imagine that you’re accepting a job that you’ll have to do next week. Don’t agree to something just because it seems so far off that it doesn’t seem onerous.

7. Don’t let yourself get too hungry. Take a break, get a drink, get something to munch on. Lesson: eat regularly.

8. Take care of difficult calls, tasks, or emails as quickly as possible. Procrastinating makes them harder; getting them done gives a big boost of relieved energy.

9. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, think hard about how you spend your time. Be honest. How much time do you spend surfing the internet, looking for things you’ve misplaced, or doing a task that’s really someone else’s job? Also…

10. Let yourself stay ignorant of things you don’t need to know. What you don't know won't hurt you! Well, that's not always true, but it does get your mind off too much office politics and gossip.

11. Go outside at least once a day, and if possible, take a walk. The sunlight and activity is good for your focus, mood, and retention of information. Don't stay in the office or lab, bogged down by work for the entire day!

12. Say “Good morning” to everyone. Social contact is cheering, and if you feel that you’re on good terms with all the people in your office, you’ll be happier each day. Also, it’s polite. It doesn't mean that you'll get a good morning in return, but it helps start the day and make it brighter, before it becomes to dark to really even bother.

Coming Soon Next Month

2009-04-15T00:56:00.001+08:00

New movies all opening next month...
Can hardly wait...!

Belkin n52te Tournament Edition SpeedPad

2009-04-08T21:27:00.000+08:00

This is a little old, as it first came out in October 2007, but I saw it in a computer store last weekend and was so tempted to buy it! I'm a huge fan of FPS (First-person Shooter) gaming and thought it would come in really handy. So far, still in the research stage to see if it's worth-while to get and if there is anything better. I know, by the time I do decide to get it, something new would have come out already!

Belkin International, Inc., announces its new n52te, a hybrid gaming keyboard built to dominate in FPS, MMORPG (massive multiplayer online role-playing games), and RTS (real-time strategy) computer games. An improvement over its predecessor, the critically acclaimed n52, the n52te is enhanced by Razer’s killer performance software, which boasts a competitive advantage with portable player profiles, robust customization tools, and cool blue backlighting.

-- Backlit keypad and scroll wheel for total control in dark conditions
-- Enhanced tactile feedback and button responsiveness for rapid key presses
-- 15 fully programmable keys built for speed
-- Adjustable soft-touch wrist pad for maximum comfort and endurance
-- Programmable 8-way thumb pad with removable joystick
-- Nonslip rubber pads grip in place for aggressive fragging
-- Easily toggle between 3 keymap states
-- Razer software provides:
-- Personalization of multiple player profiles
-- Razer Synapse™ onboard memory enables plug-and-play versatility with no additional software installation
-- Unparalleled customization tools for intuitive setup and performance

I'll think I'll put it up on a wish-list and hope that someone gets it for me! :P

The Tudors Season 3

2009-04-03T01:42:00.000+08:00

This Showtime TV series has good acting,
and interesting plots, though fact and fiction are well-mixed,
and has some kind of love scene depicted in almost every single episode!

Most interestingly,
you get to see Henry VIII (Jonathan Rhys-Meyer on the right)
going through marriage after marriage,
going against the church at every divorce.
I wonder how the people of England felt like then.

Drama with intrigue!

Coming Soon!

New Movies

2009-03-30T16:56:00.000+08:00

Here are some new movies to look out for.
This dry spell during the later winter/early spring period is driving me insane!
I wonder if I would be able to live without movies at all.
I guess, it's always something to look forward to,
like hope, after a horrible and hectic week!

Anyone Else...?!?!

2009-03-29T23:25:00.000+08:00

One day, a man was hiking in the open jungle. It started to rain and he decided to find shelter. While running in the heavy rain, he tripped, slipped and fell off a cliff. Strangely enough, in order to break his fall, he desperately clung onto the roots of the tree that protruded from the side of the cliff.

Seeing that the end was nigh, he started shouting at the top of his voice,"Help! Help! Can anyone hear me? Is anyone out there? Please help me!"

The next thing you know it, the clouds parted, the rain stopped and a bright light shown down from the heavens.

A calm, soothing and omnipresent voice tspoke to him,"I have heard your call for help. I can help you. I can help you if you let go."

Totally exasperated and clinging on to the last bit of root of the tree, he started shouting at the top of his voice again.

"Is there anyone else out there who can help me???!!!"

heh heh heh...

History - How Many Can You Find?

2009-02-16T23:53:00.000+08:00

How many figures of history can you find in this comic?
You may have to click on the comic to enlarge it!
This is almost like doing a body-count in Braveheart, well, almost! :P
Have fun!!

Valentine's Day - A Crime Against Common Sense

2009-02-13T23:33:00.000+08:00

It's Valentine's Day again! Good gosh, I can't even type the words without throwing up a little in my mouth.

It's not that I hate Valentine's day, I just hate what it stands for, where stupid couples who dress in stupid colour-coordinated outfits with their stupid stuffed toys and their stupid public displays of affection.

Love is often viewed through the eyes of the insane. Okay, that's not entirely true. Love is also sometimes viewed through the eyes of the really dumb. Of course, love isn't always portrayed as idiotic. In Hollywood, it's usually superficial, and the guy always get the girl of his choice, which is never the case in reality.

I'm not a love Scrooge with a heart that's already turned to stone, or perhaps I am. Far from it, really. I'm most definitely a romantic at heart. Perhaps that's the main reason why I resent such superficial and horrendous displays of affection. You can do that all the time, at your own time, in a motel room, in the basement car park, in the lift, in the subway etc. why do you have to wait for Valentine's Day to do it even more? I just don't understand it.

What I also really don't appreciate is the continuous and utterly long stream of love songs on the airwaves, played over and over and over again and again like a broken record. Grow up people!

February 14 is the culmination of every asinine idea of what love is supposed to be. From the little turqoise box from Tiffany & Co., to the bed of roses, a fancy dinner, happily ever-after, the kiss in the rain. None of this actually has anything to do with love - it has everything to do with being in love with the idea of being in love.

I'm not delusional. I know we'll never be rid of the cash cow that is Valentine's Day (suppressing gag reflex!). So with everything else in life that we can't change, I've learned to take a more constructive view of the situation, roll my eyes and move on.

Valentine's Day is a wonderful way to sieve out the people you shouldn't date. And last but not least, love is really, really grand. Genetics, however, is everything!

And oh, let's not forget the sex...I wonder what will happen if everyone has an orgasm at the exact same moment, will the Earth will be swallowed up by a black hole?

Hmmm...

Wolverine Origins

2009-01-20T23:11:00.001+08:00

Wolverine Origins is a movie featuring how Wolverine came about.
Something to look out for soon!

Featuring from left to right:
Ryan Reynolds, Taylor Kitsch, Hugh Jackman and Liev Schreiber,
haven't figured out who the lady is yet!

Bad Morning?

2009-01-17T23:58:00.001+08:00

Having a bad start to your day?
For all my friends who are freezing their asses off
in sub-zero temperatures in the Midwest of USA,
laugh this one off, I'm sure it happened to you at one point or another! :P

Do Less, Achieve More

2009-01-06T23:29:00.000+08:00

Save your blood, sweat and tears. Corporate go-getters often flame out before going anywhere, but experts say sensible slackers can waltz to the top. Here's how to ditch the worker-bee rules and adopt a stress-free, healthy and productive lifestyle.

Old Rule: Hustle Hard
New Rule: Underpromise, Overdeliver
If you can do a job in 3 days, say you'll do it in 5 - and then take time to add special finishing touches before turning it in "early". It's an easy way to impress, because research shows that people are much happier about unexpected positive results than they are about predictable ones.

Old Rule: Be Perfect
New Rule: Be Perfect Only When It Matters
Perfectionists who obsess over little details can sometimes miss the things that count the most, for example, missed deadlines. So be smarter. Identify tasks you can do without fine-tuning , and spend most of your time on everything else. When you realise your less-than-perfect work is just fine, your agony will abate.

Old Rule: Juggle Like A Circus Clown, Baby!
New Rule: Multitasking Stalls Your System
Even though brain activity rises when you focus on multiple tasks, your performance suffers. Avoiding distractions isn't always possible, so you need to learn how to rapidly refocus. Develop a system to jog your memory, such as jotting down new tasks, putting them aside, and staying focused on your current work.

Old Rule: Be There
New Rule: Play Hard To Get
Sure, email is efficient, but researchers have found that people take an average of 25 minutes to get back to business after a distraction. Total damage: Up to 2.1 wasted hours a day. Be disciplined, allow chunks of time uninterrupted by email. Attend to the inbox during low-energy points, saving high-energy times for more important jobs. If the boss really needs you, he or she will call.

Old Rule: Quitters Never Win
New Rule: Losers Quit; Winners Cut Their Losses
Perseverance isn't helpful if you're digging a hole. When inventors are advised to give up on a hopeless project, 29% continue to invest money, and 51% continue to invest time. You have to continuously reevaluate your projects to see if they're worth the effort - or if the end goal is even possible. Understand sunk cost, don't get caught up in the investment you've already paid.

Your brain's like a computer: Do too much at once and it stalls!

This is as interesting a New Year's Resolution as any, to change your style of working, ie, work smart, not work hard!

My Top 10 Epiphanies For the Year 2008

2008-12-29T00:20:00.000+08:00

What is an epiphany you might ask? An epiphany is the sudden realization or comprehension of the (larger) essence or meaning of something.

Here are my Top 10 Epiphanies For This Year!

1) When someone tells you to do something, or warns you off doing something, they probably have your best interest at heart. It might not seem so at that very moment, but in time, it will be revealed that it was good intentions. However, at that point in time where you have an encounter, you will never know which way the situation will swing. Most likely, you might interpret it as a sign of hostility or some other sign, which might not be the best to accept. But eventually, it will lead you to a better situation.

2) There are no such things as stupid questions, only very stupid people asking them. And strangely enough, they are positioned in very high places, you start to wonder why you're not in their place earning the big bucks acting stupid and they in yours.

3) Woman drivers still only drive at 1 speed, probably only +/- 2km/h at the speed limit, and are always in the overtaking lane when they don't need to be, driving at the speed of snails, oblivious to the long line of cars behind them. They should be banned from driving in the overtaking lane, and anywhere else that they don't know how to move over!

4) Selective hearing, when trained properly, can be a very useful tool for what the boss says.

5) You are only working as hard as the person next to you.

6) Working too hard and fast does not guarantee rewards, it only guarantees that you finish faster and are forced to help others who are perpetually or purposely working slow - that's your reward!

7) Friends are always there till the situation turns sour, then they utterly betray you to the wolves, if they can throw a few back-stabs to wound you first before that, they probably will.

8) You have to break the rules in order to conform to it.

9) Your boss never has your best interest at heart. Completely different and reverse to what was written in 1).

10) In order to work smart, you have to achieve the enlightened state of indifference!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2009!

2008-12-25T03:10:00.000+08:00

From the wonderfully creative minds of my friends, all Microbiologists, I bring you Christmas decorations using only bacteria grown on chromogenic agar!

Joyeux Noël et bonne année 2009!

Prince Of Persia - The Sands Of Time Movie

2008-12-12T18:15:00.000+08:00

Can you guess who is acting as the Prince of Persia in this movie adaptation of the famous PC game of the same name?

Jake Gyllenhaal is the Prince of Persia!

Something to look forward to in 2009!

Movies - Showing Now & Coming Soon

2008-12-11T16:30:00.000+08:00

Opens Tomorrow! Looking forward to this...

Stephenie Meyer's vampire series has already opened!

Alan Moore's Watchmen, a movie adapted from his award winning graphic novel. Let's hope it turns out right, otherwise Alan Moore will flip, as he always does with all the "moronic" (quoted from Alan's words) movie adaptations!

Tom Cruise in Valkyrie, directed by Superman Returns and X-Men director Bryan Singer. I'm sure this will be a nice one, with dark tones as with all his other movies! Based on the actual WW2 Operation: Valkyrie.

Last but not least, Terminator Salvation's latest poster. Christian Bale seems to be in the limelight with The Dark Knight and Terminator. I think he'll make an excellent John Connor. I wonder what other movies are installed for him.

Logan aka Wolverine

2008-11-29T02:26:00.000+08:00

Opening 1 May 2009, watch out for it!

Solace Of Quantum

2008-11-09T12:26:00.001+08:00

The latest Bond movie Quantum of Solace (QOS) just hit the screens here this week and I took time off to watch it with a friend after work. Perhaps it was the long day at work, or just fighting to find parking space, I really didn't enjoy this Bond movie at all. Here is a short review and analysis of the movie.

>>> Tons Of Spoilers Below, Read At Your Own Risk! <<<

The film continues from Casino Royale (CR) with Bond driving from Lake Como to Siena, Italy with the captured Mr White stuffed into the trunk of his Aston Martin. After evading his pursuers, Bond and M, interrogate White regarding his organisation, Quantum. M's trusted bodyguard Craig Mitchell turns traitor – allowing White to escape – Bond chases Mitchell across Siena and kills him. I have to say that his fight sequence with Mitchell was amazing, and had me at the edge of my seat!

Bond ends up in Haiti to find Mitchell's contact, Edmund Slate and kills him. Bond's doing too much killing in this movie! He then poses as him, learning Slate was sent to kill Camille (the perpetual PMS-looking new Bond girl) at the behest of her partner, Dominic Greene, the ruthless chairman of Greene Planet and a member of Quantum. I have to say that although ruthless, his character didn't feel diabolical at all in this movie, making him the weakest villain ever in Bond history.

Greene is helping General Medrano – who murdered Camille's family – to stage a coup in Bolivia, that's a country in South America, and not Europe, like I thought the name sounded, in exchange for a seemingly barren piece of desert land.

Bond follows Greene, to a performance of Puccini's Tosca at Lake Constance in Austria. This is a clandestine way for members of Quantum to plan the coup, with each member communicating through special earpieces concealed in gift bags. Bond himself obtains an earpiece and disrupts the meeting. He then uses his Sony Ericsson mobile phone (I don't know which model, but I wish I had such a powerful phone that can take photos from so far away!) to take photos of various Quantum members and sends it back to MI6.

Bond and Camille drive to the location of Greene's intended land acquisition, surveying the area in a Douglas DC-3 propeller plane. They are intercepted by a chopper and a fighter plane sent by General Medrano and subsequently shot down. Before crashing, both Bond and Camille jump from the crippled plane and then freefall/parachute into a sink hole. There, the duo discover Greene is not interested in oil, but has been blockading supplies of fresh water, hidden in underground rivers.

Bond meets his CIA ally Felix Leiter at a local bar, who informs Bond of where Greene is set to complete his deal with Medrano. Bond and Camille go to an eco-hotel, located in the Bolivian desert, where Greene is finalising the coup. As the various parties depart, Bond attacks and kills the departing Colonel of Police for betraying Mathis and sets off a chain of explosions when a hydrogen fuel tank is destroyed. Camille kills Medrano and Bond captures Greene. After interrogating him, he leaves Greene stranded in the middle of the desert with only a can of oil.

Bond goes then goes to Kazan, Russia, where he confronts Vesper Lynd's former boyfriend, Yusef. Yusef is a Quantum henchman who specialises in seducing high-ranking women to get them to give up government assets as he stages his own kidnappings, and is doing the same with Canadian agent Corinne Veneau.

M reveals that Leiter has been promoted at the CIA, and Greene was found in the desert shot dead with motor oil in his stomach.

This Bond movie lacked the character, as a whole, that Casino Royale had with a stellar cast, especially the most beautiful and enchanting Bond Girl, Eva Green. I can't help but saying that, for the record, they destroyed yet another beautiful Aston Martin again! The Aston Martin car this time was a DBS V12. The latest Bond girl, Olga Kurylenko, looked like she was in perpetual PMS, although she had a good figure and great legs, that didn't make up the fact that she was hell-bent on revenge, there was no other side to her, not even a tender side, even her kiss with Bond looked rehearsed. She had a wall up around her that even Bond couldn't get through.

I think the only saving grace of the movie was the excellent car/boat/airplane chases, stunts and action scenes. Otherwise, the movie suffers from a fantastically weak plot and very shallow characters, leaving viewers wracking their brains as to what the organisation Quantum really was. I would think that it is another SPECTRE! Perhaps they will reveal more in the next Bond movie, will it be part of a trilogy?

I only recommend this movie to Bond lovers, otherwise, it's not worth watching at all. I was sorely disappointed, despite the good and positive reviews that I read, praising it as another good movie.

Shall I end with a Bond cliche - this movie left me unshaken, and unstirred!

3 out of 10 stars

Fringe Science

2008-10-26T23:41:00.001+08:00

Fringe follows the exploits of FBI Special Agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv), scientist Walter Bishop (John Noble), and his son Peter (Joshua Jackson) as they investigate aspects of fringe science (telepathy, levitation, invisibility, reanimation, etc).

All over the world, a series of apparent experiments collectively referred to as 'the Pattern' ( e.g., a newborn baby who rapidly ages and dies in one day, a bus full of passengers trapped in a strange substance like mosquitoes in amber) are occurring for reasons unknown. Olivia, Peter, and Walter are in charge of investigating these strange events to determine their source.

Connected to the Pattern is a company called Massive Dynamic, which is a leading global research company that holds the patents for a number of new and important technologies.

This new series by director J.J Abrams of Alias and Lost fame, resembles The X-Files, but with more science, terrorism and Homeland Security involved, and has a lack of (for the moment) the love tension between the male and female lead characters.

Already 6 episodes have aired, and it got better and better. It carries all of J.J Abrams's cliffhanger signatures, however, each episode has moderate character development and it is self-contained with a resolution, albeit a satisfactory one.

So far, 22 episodes have been ordered. We shall see how this season unfolds and if it is worthy of carrying on.

A Short Tribute To Michael Layne Turner

2008-10-13T18:18:00.000+08:00

While I was away on vacation, I found out that one of my comic book artist heroes, Michael Turner, tragically passed away on 27 June 2008 at approximately 10:42 pm in Santa Monica, Ca. Turner had been dealing with recent health complications arisen from bone cancer.

In March 2000, Turner was diagnosed with chondrosarcoma, a form of cancer, in the right pelvis. He was treated at UCLA Medical Center with surgery in which he lost a hip, 40% of his pelvis, and three pounds of bone. The surgery was followed by nine months of radiation therapy. After that, he continued the battle with cancer for 8 long years.

He was and artist - penciller, editor and writer for many comic books series, up to and including Witchblade, Fathom, Soulfire and many, many more titles.

I will always remember picking up the first issue of Witchblade and admiring the art and how Japanese-looking the characters were and how flowing the textures and inking was. When Fathom came along, his art had evolved to take on a greater texture, and one of the most difficult to draw - water! I was amazed at how he managed to make the ocean in those comic pages jump out of the pages and make it look so easy to create.

I'm sure that I won't be the only person to miss all his beautiful and wonderful artwork.

Rest in peace, forever.

Mimetic Polyalloy

2008-09-10T00:54:00.000+08:00

The wait took forever, but finally, season 2 of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles finally aired last night, continuing what was a cliff-hanger from last season's 9 episodes.

>>>>>SPOILERS AHEAD!!<<<<<

The first episode of season 2 started with a bang, literally! And offered a lovely surprise. The title of this thread hints at the suggestion of a new terminator, and no, Robert Patrick is not reprising his role as the T-1000, instead a new female T-1000 has been sent back in time to ensure that Skynet is built at all cost! Here are some spoiler screen caps.

I'm sure that they could have thought of a more original way for Catherine Weaver to murder Mr Tuck, like let him continue peeing into the urinal and bite his dick off or something! After all, she was hiding as the urinal itself, snooping in the men's room indeed! I guess the traditional metallic toothpick seemed to do the trick, and it was certainly neat and easy!

To all my friends, beware, your boss might be disguised as the urinal and lurking in the men's room toilet to snoop on what you talk about behind her back! hahaha...

Enjoy!

My Favourite Things

2008-09-08T21:34:00.000+08:00

It certainly looks like all the TV series are starting. It started with Prison Break Season 4. Starting a few days ago was Dexter Season 3, Entourage Season 5 and tonight, it's Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Season 2.

The next few months will seem less boring since Battlestar Galactica's last 10 episodes won't air till January 2009, the withdrawal symptoms were just beginning to set in, thank goodness I've something to keep me busy again!

Prison Break Season 4

2008-09-03T10:40:00.000+08:00

I might be a little slow writing this now as I've been super busy with work, but 2 episodes have already been aired.

The biggest anticipation this season is that Sara Tancredi is alive and well. Everything is crazy as hell, new assassin, new plots, new key cards to get hold of, six to be exact, on different people and James Whistler is murdered in episode 1.

There's nothing to spoil as the episodes have already been showed, if you haven't tuned in yet, now's the best time to start. This season began with a bang and I'm anticipating a roller coaster ride!

Mosquitoes: The Bane Of Humanity

2008-08-24T00:53:00.000+08:00

A few months back, I attended a World Vaccine Congress which talked about creating vaccines to combat Malaria, Dengue and other diseases. The best thing I remembered throughout the congress was that every single researcher was spending millions upon millions of dollars to find ways in which to deliver the vaccine into the body, how to fight the body's immune system and to overcome rejection or immunity against the vaccine itself, because a vaccine is considered a foreign body and when it is introduced into the body, the body's defences will attack it and destroy it.

The main topic was how to combat Dengue and Malaria. It then went on to expand on this idea and work towards combatting all mosquito-borne diseases, which included Yellow-fever, Japanese encephalitis, West Nile and Chikungunya. Now, the thing that I couldn't understand was why these scientists/researchers were trying to strike at the disease instead of at the carriers, ie the mosquitoes. I may sound mean, but will it be such a bad idea to eradicate all species of mosquitoes on the planet? Or if not all, just the female mosquitoes?

The idea was so simplistic, it was just baffling to me why millions and millions of dollars were spent to prevent it when we could simply destroy it, saving millions of lives.

Here's a short overview on the main and most important 5 mosquito-borne diseases:

Dengue Fever
Do not confuse Dengue with Malaria. Unlike Malaria, which is caused by a parasite, Dengue is a disease caused by a 4 closely related virus serotypes of the genus Flavivirus, family Flaviviridae. Dengue is transmitted by the Aedes mosquitoes, specially the Aedes aegypti mosquito, that feeds during the day.

With Dengue fever, a vicious cycle occurs when a mosquito bites an infected person, then becomes infected, and bites others. Dengue fever is typically characterised by symptoms like severe headaches, fever, nausea and vomitting and pains in the joints or bones. Some may mistake Dengue fever for a bad case of the flu.

The treatment similarly is lots of rest and increase fluid intake to prevent dehydration. In some cases, your doctor may prescribe drugs to bring your fever down. Usually patients recover within 2 weeks. However, if a person who has had Dengue is reinfected again with another serotype of Dengue, hemorrhagic fever can set in and it might become incurable, leading to death.

Malaria
Malaria is a well known mosquito-borne illness caused mainly by the Plasmodium parasites, consisting of the following species, Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium ovalae, Plasmodium malariae. These parasites are transmitted by female Anopheles mosquitoes. The parasites multiply inside red blood cells

Symptoms include fever, chills, muscle aches, fatigue, nausea and vomiting. Patients with malaria may also mistake their symptoms for flu symptoms. Unfortunately if not treated, malaria can lead to other illnesses including anemia and jaundice.

Once bitten it may take several weeks before a patient begins exhibiting symptoms, thus this is one mosquito born illness that is difficult to diagnose. Malaria is most often associated with travelling to foreign countries with large populations of Aedes mosquitoes. Fortunately, there are many treatment choices for patients with malaria. There are also preventive treatments a patient can take. These include:

Chloroquine - Travellers should consider taking this pill starting two weeks prior to travel and for four weeks after travel if going to malaria infested areas.
Doxycycline - This treatment starts two days before departure and may be continued for up to 4 weeks upon return home.

Unfortunately malaria is a very severe and insidious disease. Even after recovering some patients may find that their symptoms return several months or years after treatment.

Interestingly Malaria was discovered by Sir Ronald Ross, who was working in Secunderabad in the early 19th century, and is one of the oldest recorded disease in the world in the 18th century. Italians associated it with "Bad Air" (Mal aria).

Malaria remains the world's most devastating human infection, with 300-500 million clinical cases and 3 million deaths every year.

Paul Muller received a Nobel prize for the discovery of Malaria in 1939.

West Nile Virus
West Nile is a viral disease of the family Flaviviridae. It mainly infects birds, but is known to infect humans, horses, dogs, cats, and many other mammals. The main route of human infection is through the bite of an infected mosquitoes.

A 2004 paper in Science found that Culex pipiens mosquitoes existed in two populations in Europe, one which bites birds and one which bites humans. In North America 40% of Culex pipiens were found to be hybrids of the two types which bite both birds and humans, providing a vector for West Nile virus. This is thought to provide an explanation of why the West Nile disease has spread more quickly in North America than Europe.

West Nile Virus has recently invaded the shores of the United States. The symptoms are also flu-like and may include muscle and joint aches and pains, headaches, rashes and fevers. At this time there is no cure for West Nile disease, though patients usually recover in one to several weeks. Some people are not affected as badly as others.

West Nile is particularly risky for those with compromised immune symptoms. Severe reactions to the disease may include paralysis and encephalitis.

Japanese Encephalitis

Japanese encephalitis virus is a virus from the family Flaviviridae. Domestic pigs and wild birds are reservoirs of the virus; transmission to humans may cause severe symptoms. It is associated with inflammation of the brain and hence termed encephalitis. This severe and potentially life-threatening disease and is the leading cause of viral encephalitis in Asia with 30-50,000 cases reported annually.

The virus is prevalent in many countries in Asia with epidemics breaking out every few years. The disease is very widespread in China, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Nepal, Indonesia & other countries in Southeast Asia.

One of the most important vectors of this disease is the mosquito Culex tritaeniorhynchus. This disease is most prevalent in Southeast Asia and the Far East.

The illness occurs in two forms - a primary form and a secondary form. The primary form of the disease is more serious, while the secondary form is more common. But because of the milder nature of secondary encephalitis, more cases of primary encephalitis are seen.

Chikungunya
Chikungunya virus is an insect-borne virus of the family Alphavirus, that is transmitted to humans by virus-carrying Aedes mosquitoes. It is usually a usually self-limiting condition due to a virus.

Chikungunya is a relatively rare viral fever that is caused by the bite of a common mosquito. Outbreaks have taken place in many tropical countries. Recently it has resurfaced in many parts of South India and Southeast Asia.

It causes high fever with joint pain and rashes on the body. Most of the symptoms of Chikungunya mimic Dengue fever and can sometimes be mistaken for Dengue if further blood tests are not performed to exclude Dengue first, before diagnosing it. At the same time, the pain associated with Chikungunya infection of the joints persists for weeks or months.

Protecting Yourself From Mosquito-Borne Diseases
While most of this information sounds pretty terrible (that's because it is) the good news is you can largely protect yourself from mosquito bites. While you may not be able to prevent every bite, you can reduce the risk for contracting a mosquito born illness.

Common preventive measures include:

Using chemical repellants or insecticides to keep mosquitoes in your yard at bay.
Use of a mosquito repellant containing DEET. There are family formulas that contain less DEET that are safe to use on young children.
Wearing long pants and sleeves when out in mosquito infested areas. Mosquitoes are also more common at dusk, thus it is a good idea to wear long sleeved items and spray your clothes when out in this environment.
Use of citronella candles and other natural insect repellants.
Keep grass trimmed short to deter mosquitoes.
Avoid allowing any water to stand for more than a day in your yard or around your house, as mosquitoes tend to breed in standing water.

You'll probably find a combination of these strategies works best to keep mosquitoes from harming you and your family.

After listing down the diseases caused by mosquitoes, the kind of problems they cause and the millions and billions of money spent to research either a treatment or a prevention, wouldn't it be easier and cheaper, to just eradicate mosquitoes off the face of this Earth?

What do you think?

Coming Soon!

2008-08-01T01:35:00.000+08:00

Two new movies to look forward to:

Terminator: Salvation (left)
I read that this is going to be a departure from the machine travelling
back into the past to save John Connor storyline.
And better yet, Christian Bale is starring as John Connor. It's going to be a hit, I'm sure!

Quantum of Solace (right)
Whoever said that David Craig was horrible as James Bond need to be shot!
I think he redefined the namesake for James Bond, not just as a spy,
but as a thinking-smart, action-packed MI6 double-O agent!

TR2N Trailer

2008-07-28T23:34:00.001+08:00

The Tron 2 movie trailer that was a real surprise, screened at Comic Con 2008.
Featuring Jeff Bridges, who played the role Kevin Flynn in the first original
Tron movie, and will reprise his role (an older version of course).
We catch a glimpse of him overlooking a digitized battlefield in this trailer.

I can't wait for it to be released!

Something to look forward to...

Engineering Anarchy

2008-07-21T02:05:00.001+08:00

I just returned from the late night screening of The Dark Knight. I have to say this, throw out all the reviews of all those critics you read about in the newspapers, especially the bad ones, I don't know what they were watching, or what they were thinking when they were watching the movie, because this Batman was not only one of the best, it was one of the darkest! Kudos to director Christopher Nolan for doing it right!

Batman is considered a superhero, but one without super powers. He's just incredibly rich and spends all his money and time fighting criminals and injustice in Gotham City. If you follow the comic books, he's part of the Justice League of America or JLA which comprises of Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash and several other characters who band together and fight injustice. But Batman on his own, well, he's just dark, brooding and most of the time holed up in his Batcave.

What this generation of writers have done is to write Batman as a force to be reckon with. They have somehow humanised his character, not always letting the good side win, but at the same time given him the power to deal with his group of freakish criminals in Gotham City. Unlike how Spiderman always swings to the rescue and spins the criminals up in a web, Batman doesn't use a gun, he takes things up close and personal with the criminals using hand to hand combat.

A few spoilers below, read at your own risk!

Heath Ledger's portrayal of The Joker blew Jack Nicholson's out of the water hands down! This Joker was not only insane, he was unpredictable, diabolical and menacing all at the same time. His plans were plans within plans within plans. Nobody knew or could have guessed the outcome of his plans. The way he flicked his tongue when talking reminded me of the way David Tennant flicked his tongue when he portrayed Barty Crouch Jr in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. He turned all the heroes to look in on themselves. People don't like what they see in themselves and will never admit their darkest secrets. This Joker lived up to his name as Batman's true nemesis. It was possibly an Oscar-winning performance on Heath's part, may he rest in peace.

Christian Bale did his usual good stuff in reprising his role as Batman/Bruce Wayne. It is so nice to see a hero falling, unlike those who would dodge bullets and escape unhurt, and how gravity could not affect them. This Batman could be hurt, not just with bullets, but when those closest to him get hurt. But as Bruce Wayne, it's always so nice to arrive fashionable late for fundraisers in a helicopter, with 2 or 3 beauties in each arm!

Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes over Katie Holmes' original portrayal. Although it does seem that a different actress did make the character older and harder, I still think that the casting was all wrong. I would have thought Charlize Theron could have played a better Rachel Dawes, but that role would have been too small for her as Charlize is lead actress material, not supporting. So, in a way, I was also glad that they got rid of her (oops spoilers!).

Gary Oldman as Lieutenant Gordon/Commissioner Gordon. Wow, he certainly added more depth to his character and had a larger role than in the first movie. He did a magnificent job of supporting actor. Gary Oldman is a very seasoned actor, I've loved his deep and character driven acting ever since Immortal Beloved, and Bram Stoker's Dracula.

Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent/Two Face. Another wow, his portrayal added a lot of charisma to first, Gotham City's suave district attorney and then later as Two Face himself. The other half of his face that got burnt, you have to see it for yourself, the effects are downright scary! "You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain."

If you haven't already watched this movie, go quickly to catch it at a cinema near you. Because telling yourself that you will buy the DVD or Blu-Ray to watch it is just not the same as watching it in the cinemas!

I highly, highly recommend this to all adults and lovers of Batman, as this movie is filled with mature themes and brings Batman to a whole new level of superheroes, along the same lines as Superman, Spiderman and Iron Man. The movie is a little too dark for kids, but I'm sure they'll understand sooner or later.

9.5 out of 10 stars

Jon McLaughlin - Live In Concert

2008-06-22T22:51:00.000+08:00

Ever since his album came out May 2007, I've been a great fan of Jon McLaughlin's music. Do not be confused with John McLaughlin, the other guitarist. This Jon plays the electric piano (keyboard), and he gives new meaning to the piano-rock genre of music. The great thing this time is that I got to see him LIVE and to meet him in person at a small concert he held for the Indiana Colts down over in Indianapolis at the American Legion Mall.

It was great to see him perform, and you all out there will agree with me but it is always different when you watch a Live concert and compare it to listening to a studio recording. Musicians tend to improvise music in the Live concerts such that they get their fans to join in the fun. It was the same here. From his lop-sided smile/grin, to his energetic and charismatic strumming of the keyboard, it was an amazing concert right here in his home state of Indiana. He was also not as tall as the photos picture him to be!

I was most impressed with his piano skills, and beautiful and inspirational music. Jon played 4 new songs from his upcoming new album, to be released in August 2008. At the same time, he played some old ones from his Indiana album, including the beautiful piano ballad Indiana, and I got it all on camera and recorded down. The only disappointing thing was that he didn't sing the song from the Disney movie Enchanted, titled So Close, but still, it was great that he performed so many songs at a free and Live concert!

For a little concert that night on the 20 June 2008 at the American Legion Mall, many fans and high school graduates turned up. Jon also played them all a nice new song about high school and that it didn't matter at all, but I didn't get the name of the song. They brought out powerful loudspeakers, when the bass rocked, you can feel it throughout your body, gives me goosebums and temporary deafness when standing next to it!

So, for the time being, an update for June 2008, one of my favourite and newest inspirational artiste out there. I will put up more on him soon.

The recording of him performing the song Indiana Live is huge, over 470MB, and in AVI format, so if anyone out there has suggestions on how to convert that into WMV or some other format where it is smaller and I can post it up here, do feel free to drop me tips in the comments section.

Allons-y

Blame!

2008-05-22T00:55:00.000+08:00

Blame, what exactly is blame? The dictionary defines blame as the following:

To hold another person or group responsible for perceived faults real, imagined, or merely invented for pejorative purposes.

Blame is an act of censure, reproach, and often outright condemnation.

Blame is used to place responsibility and accountability for faults on the blamed person or group.

However, I have my own personal definition: blame is the displaced fears of one person projected onto another person in order to alleviate a sense of personal well-being. Thus, I blame you for something I did wrong, so that I don't have to look in the mirror every morning and realise that I made the mistake. It's basic psychology. However, I'm no psychologist, and this is deduced through basic observation of the number of people blaming one another throughout the world.

Let's start small, I blame my brother for misplacing a book I was reading when in actual fact, I'm a scatterbrain, I left the book lying on the table in the bedroom upstairs when I thought it was placed on the coffee table by the television.

At work, when you don't get your projects done on time and correctly, you'll be blamed for its failure. Accountability and ability are 2 completely different things. You may have the ability to complete the project, but are you really accountable for every single thing that goes wrong with it? Is it in essence, your fault that something failed, or when something goes wrong every single time? There are certain things that are well beyond our control. However, nobody seems to believe that fact, so we blame God for it, an imaginary being who is not there - another form of displaced blame!

Governments blame other governments for something that was wrong in their country, so that they don't have to deal with the problem, at the same time, it makes it look like they're actually doing something about it, which they're not. They might be doing something about it, but it's nicer to blame somebody else for their own mistakes and shortcomings.

Most people who enjoy blaming others usually have some kind of inferiority complex, but most of the time, they're just bald - trying to outdo their opponent is a very taxing process indeed! Strangely enough, blame is like a genetic trait that flies around the world like the wind. It is very contagious because when I see someone else blaming someone else, I believe that I can do it too. Blame can mostly be found in developing to developed countries. The more educated you are, the more you know about something, the more blame will reside inside you to release its full potential. Underdeveloped countries tend to have a lesser percentage of the blame "gene", although it is still ever-present in its latent state.

How do we overcome blame? No amount of help or counselling will reduce the blaming that we all carry. Anything that rubs you the wrong way, you will definitely blame somebody else for your bad day.

Blame, we have to learn to live with it. Perhaps blaming is another way the soul copes with stress and in a way, it does relief stress to a certain extent, until reality comes back and slaps you in the face all over again and suddenly you do realise that it is, after all, nobody else's fault but your own!

The secret to success is knowing who to blame for your failures!