Is 3G Really Necessary?

Lately there has been a lot of hype about 2G and 3G handphones (mobile phones to some people). What the hype is, I really don't know. Suffice to say, other than you being able to use the phone as a phone, the added feature for 3G will be that you have a small little camera, usually located on the top right hand corner of your phone, and you can actually chat with your friend face to face, so to speak. He/she can see you, you can see him/her and vice versa.

Who have you actually seen using a 3G phone, chatting with their friends face to face? I don't think it's feasible and necessary. At the same time, I'm sure that there will be some kind of cost incurred to beam your mugshot all the way to your friend's phone, not forgetting that the connection is 2 way, I imagine it to be pretty costly! At the same time, with the network and infrastructure not completely in place yet, what is the connection speed like? Will there be some kind of lag time when viewing the party you're chatting with. They could be staying hello, and the next thing you see is them waving goodbye, with all the conversation in between lagged and cut off!

Is 3G really necessary? How important is it to look at someone when you're talking to them? I'm sure that Alexander Graham Bell didn't invent the telephone so that we could see who we are talking to! He invented the phone so that he could connect with people all over the world, without leaving the comfort of your location/position.

This generation is taking things 1 step further by allowing you to use 3G to see your friend. Perhaps in 10 years time, we will all be walking around with a holographic projector, so that it's projecting your friend(s) when you're chatting with them, either 1 to 1 or in a conference call, like you're in the same room/location with them.

When selecting a new handphone to buy, how important is it to have a 3G function? I've also noticed that reviewers tend to give a slightly more negative review or scoring if the phone doesn't have a 3G function, it's actually listed as a con and not a pro. Isn't it better not to have 3G function as compared to having 3G function?

I think that this 3G function in your phone is a marketing scam. It's an added feature, so you'll have to pay more for your phone, but you can't use it yet, so it's just this little white elephant feature on your phone that works on the same principle as a condom: I'd rather have one and not need it than need one and not have it.

Have these handphone making companies also factor in that more and more students are using handphones? Cost incurred will be higher than normal. Perhaps they're going to streamline 3G functions in a few years, so that it works the same way now as emailing. 10 years ago, nobody had emails, now, we use emails to communicated every minute of the day.

Of course, those who are not willing to change with history will be swept aside by it. But if you really think about it, practicality comes into play. I still do not see how a 3G phone will improve my life, as compared to a normal phone now, I will admit that the camera on the handphone has it's moments, but the 3G function, it's just a huge marketing scam to jack up their phone prices, or to show off that you have something that your friends does not have.

Paperless

Is a paperless system truly paperless? Everyone is slowly switching from a paper system to a paperless system. Which means all the conversion of data from paper into the computer system. Most of the time, it's for easy access and filing.

We all hate the idea of writing up forms, bills and other documents and then after completing them, file them away in some godforsaken cabinet you hope would disappear down a black hole and magically snap your fingers and reappear the moment you need the documents the most.

A few years down the road, this cabinet grows and spawns a few more cabinets of the same type, containing endless amounts of documents. Then someone will decide that you need a system to file all those documents, let's say alphabetically by year. After a sense of normalcy and order, a few more years down the road and these cabinets take up an entire room, and keep filling up the room with no end in sight. Then you decide that 1 room isn't enough and renovate your office to have a bigger space for filing documents. Eventually, enough's enough. You've completely run out of space, and the documents are still occupying a room or 2 or 3. Then the computer age sets in and everything seems to brighten up - light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. Wrong!

With technology advancing so quickly nowadays, you can get a cheap external or internal harddisk for a relatively cheap price. At the same time, the ability of these harddisk to hold data seems to grow exponentially. Soon, we'll advance to the point of using crystals for holding information like Kryptonians do (thanks Superman!). The latest, at time of writing, is 1 TB (no, not tuberculosis, terabyte). 1 TB is 1000 GB (gigabyte). It's almost like a bottomless pit for data. So, the entire harddisk that fits into the palm of your hand will store documents, data and information from those numerous filing cabinets occupying rooms. Look at that, it's been compacted! Everything is small now, like a microfilm dot.

However, when a paperless system was introduced, it was hallelujah for everyone. Wow, let the computer handle the filing, cataloging and archiving, as long as I don't have to do it. Now, there's a great need for security protocols, standardisation, fault-finding, trouble-shooting and much more. An introduction to audit trails, training on the correct way to sign a document, time stamps, removing mistakes.

It looks like we're replacing 1 system for another, AND adding on much, much more irrelevant things to do. Now, computer printouts have to have signatures, auto-generated reports have to have time and date stamps on top of signatures of operators and people who review them to ensure quality and accuracy before adding their signature to the mix. So, eventually 1 document will have at least 3 signatures (which is a sin!). More effort than it's worth to print out.

Everything mechanical still needs the human touch. Retrieval of information is fast, I said fast, not accurate, if you have all the search parameters wrong, you still won't be able to find what you're looking for. Then we have to worry about power failures, no power, no computer, no work. What else? Viruses, worms, harddisk crashing, backups. The list is endless!

I can almost imagine that all the information will be held on the Internet virtually perhaps 10 years down the road. You don't even need those pesky harddisks that also take up space and run on electricity. Holding information virtually means that even if there's a power failure and you can't access it, the information is still there somehow, lost in cyberspace, but retrievable. We tend to enjoy keeping tons of stuff (aka junk) lying around and pretending it's not there.

Eventually it all boils down to the pros and cons of it all. Is a paperless system more advantageous than a paper one? Human factor plays the most important part in this. Computers haven't been given decision-making abilities to the point that they can make competent and correct ones. This still needs the human touch.

So if proper and logical protocols and methodologies are incorporated into a paperless system, it does become an enjoyable system to work with. Unfortunately, I have yet to see any company or office that has been able to balance these delicate properties, in order to ensure that the majority of all their employees work comfortably and happily - something they ought to work hard on getting right to ensure maximum efficiency!

South Africa Wins Rugby World Cup 2007

PARIS, 20 October - South Africa defeated England 15-6 in the world cup final at Stade de France on Saturday to add a second Webb Ellis Cup to the one they won as hosts in 1995.

Reigning champions England came into the match on the back of four impressive victories after a poor start to the tournament but were unable to find a way through a disciplined Springboks outfit who were miserly in defence, dominated the line-outs and kicked five penalties.

England fly half Jonny Wilkinson, the hero of their 2003 triumph in Sydney, was unable to turn on the magic this time, missing two drop goal attempts and given little chance to impose himself on the match.

South Africa led England 9-3 at the break after an even first half marked by tactical high kicking and little open play.

Both sides sought to flex their muscle and apply pressure with a series of up-and-unders, though to little avail.

Percy Montgomery opened the scoring with a three-pointer on seven minutes after centre Mathew Tait had slipped and become isolated in the ruck and England were penalised for failing to release.

Wilkinson squared the ledger on 13 minutes after South Africa wing Bryan Habana was called for lying on the tackled player, counterpart Paul Sackey.

Repelled on line

But Montgomery regained the advantage for South Africa three minutes later after team-mate Butch James was adjudged to have been impeded on a kick and chase.

Wilkinson tried a quick riposte but pushed his drop goal attempt wide.

South Africa twice attacked late in the half but were repelled on the line on both occasions.

However, they were awarded a penalty for the second drive and Montgomery kicked truly to push the margin out to six points.

England began the second half in sensational style as Tait cut a swathe through the middle of the South Africa defence with a series of steps and swerves to set Mark Cueto up for a try. But after a long deliberation by the TV match official, the wing was ruled to have been in touch when he crossed over in the corner.

A Wilkinson penalty kick for an infringement earlier in the movement was some consolation, though.

England's hopes were hit on 48 minutes when full back Jason Robinson, playing his last match before retirement, left the field with a shoulder injury.

Montogmery squeezed home his fourth penalty from as many kicks on 51 minutes to restore his side's six-point lead (12-6) after England conceded for handling in a ruck.

Francois Steyn took over the kicking duties on 62 minutes when England were penalised for obstruction and the impressive young centre didn't let his side down, piercing the uprights from 46 metres.

Taken from www.rugbyworldcup.com

CONGRATULATIONS SPRINGBOKS!!!

There was no doubt that the Springboks would win this competition after the upset in the earlier rounds, where the New Zealand and Australia teams were knocked out of the competition.

Forgive my comments, but this is one that's been said to be going around my office at present time, and I tend to agree that there's some truth in it:

The French rugby team should just stick to their underwear modelling after their complete and utter failure to defeat the Argentinian rugby team! hehehe...

Prediction Vs Actual Score

It's the Rugby World Cup's semi-finals this weekend, with England vs France and South Africa Vs Argentina.

Here're my predictions, optimistic scores at best!

England 32 - 28 France

South Africa 48 - 32 Argentina

Well, I'll wake up to good news or bad tomorrow, but let's hope it won't be an upset. Sorry to all the French, but I don't want them to win. I want the Spring Boks to win, and they're the contenders for this year's world cup, unless there's a huge upset.

We shall see, more updates tomorrow morning...

Update 1

FRANCE IS OUT!!! HOORAY!! England beat France 14 - 9, with Jonny Wilkinson delivering a goal-kick on 75 minutes and a drop goal on 78 minutes to clinch the victory! Congratulations England! Now, we have to get rid of Argentina.

Update 2

Argentina is out, as predicted. The Springboks beat them 37 - 13. Far from my expected predictions. My friends tell me this isn't like basketball where the scores are so varied. Rugby depends on the kicks and the drop goals earned, thus the strange scoring system.

Anyhow, the stage is set for the Rugby World Cup Finals between England and South Africa!

I want South Africa to win!

Resident Evil: Extinction

It's been quite awhile, no, correction, a bloody long time since I watched a damn good movie. Of course, it goes without saying that I've watched several horrible ones. However, some of the horrible ones were horrible because the plot was lame and the acting was, well, horrible!

I've been so busy at work, either an action thriller, or a comedy to laugh my heart out would have done wonders to my morale. So, I chose action thriller and what better action thriller than watching Milla Jovovich kill zombies, shoot up bad guys and maybe blow up a few things along the way, in other words, kick @$$!!!

Yes, Milla, she's the newest action-babe on the block. Forget Bruce Willis, Tom Cruise, and (God forbid me to go back so far) Charleton Heston! The 2000 era has ushered in female action heroes. It all started with computer gaming character Lara Croft, the scantily clad archaeologist with C cups, in search of the most mystified treasures on Earth.

>>Warning Some Spoilers Below<<

Anyhow, I won't say that Resident Evil: Extinction was good or bad. I had my own reasons to watch it, more of a de-stress movie for me. I loved the way Milla kicked @$$ and still look pretty! Yes, can you believe it, in all that dry, desert air, fighting zombies and killing black zombie crows and all that shit, her complexion was still beautiful, skin was so supple and moisturised, with lipstick! Wow, if only everyone could look that good in real-life. Perhaps it's her L'Oreal or Mabeline make-up doing the trick - She's [definitely] worth it!

The plot centred around Alice, it wasn't explained what she was doing riding around the desert in her bike saving lives. There was a small convoy of humans who were uninfected by the T-virus trying to find a safe haven free from zombies. Somewhere in the middle, Alice finds them being attacked by zombie crows and uses her new psychic powers to safe them, thus reuniting with Carlos Olivera (Oded Fehr) from the second movie. They then journey to Las Vegas, which has been reclaimed by the desert for the past 5 years. Of course, Dr Isaacs (Iain Glen) lays a trap for everyone, to get a sample of Alice's blood, which has bonded with the T-virus and can cure the world of all T-virus mutations. Dr Isaacs get bitten one of his mutant zombies and gets infected, turning into the Tyrant, another new breed of zombies, but gets killed in the end with the help from an Alice clone. The movie ends with room for what will happen next when all the Alice clones awaken, and the original Alice's warning to go after The Umbrella Corporation in Japan.

There you have it, an average hacker, slasher, action-thriller sequel with a little bit of plot. I won't recommend it for hardcore movie-goers who go for all that serious drama. But once in awhile, you need to watch these movies to just entertain oneself from work and boredom.

6.5 out of 10 stars (mostly for all the jumps, suspense, action and zombies!)

A Map Of Humanity

I saw this somewhere and thought, what an interesting idea if the world were rearranged this way!
(You might have to click to enlarge to see the big picture.)

Spear Britney & The Death Of MTV

I really don't know about you all, but I think that MTV has had brain cancer for quite some time now. It's been going on for years actually, and every so often it goes through some sort of chemotherapy and other kinds of hopeless ways to try and save itself and prolong the agonising death-throes. Strangely enough, the annual Video Music Awards have always seemed to help boost the terminally ill channel somewhat, but it's plain to see that there's just no cure for this type of cancer.

The entire Britney Spears comeback on VMA was a total, complete and utter joke. Britney isn't Britney anymore, you can see it in her eyes, the drive and focus is gone, the youth and sweetness (if there ever was) is gone. She seemed to be out of place, confused even, on stage. She couldn't even lip-sync correctly, her hair looked like a hurricane-hit mess. Her overall performance was completely and sadly lame and worse of all, she's fat (at least too fat for her outfit). On top of that, it seems like its a whole bunch of college interns running MTV let alone the VMA's.

Five minutes into the show and they had technical difficulties. Sarah Silverman isn't funny and it was clear the audience didn't like her, she's a dingbat and a complete moron! And the whole Vegas party idea for the show is plain dumb. It's suppose to be an Awards show - not a hotel-room party. You can't advertise "performances by so and so" and only show clips of the performances because they're taking place in some hotel suite upstairs, and not in the main show hall.

They cut to commercials in the middle of a Maroon 5 performance like it was some Tonight Show Band, I was really pissed over that! MTV really shouldn't be on the air anymore. The only MTV series I actually loved was Celebrity Death-match. Those plasticine models were simply hilarious, throw in a murderous celebrity, a cat-fight, and the death match really takes off! I wish they would get those out on DVD soon, I would love to buy those for keepsake.

MTV hasn't been branching out, they've been concentrating a lot (and I mean a lot) to promote hip-hop artistes. Hip-hop isn't the only music in the world, or perhaps that's the way MTV wants to picture themselves. No wonder they're stuck in a cesspool.

Yes, people are allowed to make mistakes, but when you're already sick beyond help or hope, you really can't afford to do anything to help them. It's time for MTV to turn over and die. Perhaps they would consider euthanasia as a more discreet method of killing off.

Somewhere, Kevin Federline is rolling on the floor and laughing his @$$ off...

Dengue Cases Dropping...Why?

Just a few moments ago, my friend and I finally deduced why dengue cases dropped, or rather, she deduced it, I merely told her I'll write it on my blog.

OK, let's backtrack a little bit. For this entire year, the number of dengue cases have been on the rise. I can't remember the last time I walked by a wet area and someone will whisper the word "dengue", almost like they saw a ghost, when pointing to some pond or body of water.

At the same time, today is the last day of the Hungry Ghost Festival and you know what? Before all those ancestors of ours decide to rush back through the gates of hell before they close, us mortals decided to increase the rate and number of times we need to burn joss paper aka hell notes aka money for the dead! A bunch of superstitious people, we think that the more we burn, the luckier we will get, the more money we will strike through some lottery and make us all rich.

The only good that came out of all this is the amount of smoke that is generated in every estate. Smoke, as you all know, drives out insects and most important of all, mosquitoes! So the more we burn joss paper and incense, the less number of mozzies flying around biting us and spreading dengue.

What a simple and efficient solution! Of course, for those of us who hate smoke, be smoke generated by burning something, or cigarette smoke, it becomes smoke inhalation. So, in the other words, whether there's smoke or mozzies, or either, or neither, it's a lose-lose situation for us! If not, then perhaps global warming will get us.

We're doomed!