|
[ March 2008 ] | |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
TCHS 4O 2000 [4o's nonsense] alvinny [2] - csq - edchong jenming - joseph - law meepok - mingqi - pea pengkian [2] - qwergopot - woof xinghao - zhengyu HCJC 01S60 [understated sixzero] andy - edwin - jack jiaqi - peter - rex serena SAF 21SA khenghui - jiaming - jinrui [2] ritchie - vicknesh - zhenhao Others Lwei [2] - shaowei - website links - Alien Loves Predator BloggerSG Cute Overload! Cyanide and Happiness Daily Bunny Hamleto Hattrick Magic: The Gathering The Onion The Order of the Stick Perry Bible Fellowship PvP Online Soccernet Sluggy Freelance The Students' Sketchpad Talk Rock Talking Cock.com Tom the Dancing Bug Wikipedia Wulffmorgenthaler       |
|
bert's blog v1.21 Powered by glolg Programmed with Perl 5.6.1 on Apache/1.3.27 (Red Hat Linux) best viewed at 1024 x 768 resolution on Internet Explorer 6.0+ or Mozilla Firefox 1.5+ today's page views: 272 (34 mobile) all-time page views: 3403301 most viewed entry: 18739 views most commented entry: 14 comments number of entries: 1228 page created Sun Jul 20, 2025 17:48:51 |
|
- tagcloud - academics [70] art [8] changelog [49] current events [36] cute stuff [12] gaming [11] music [8] outings [16] philosophy [10] poetry [4] programming [15] rants [5] reviews [8] sport [37] travel [19] work [3] miscellaneous [75] |
|
- category tags - academics art changelog current events cute stuff gaming miscellaneous music outings philosophy poetry programming rants reviews sport travel work tags in total: 386 |
| ||
|
Rather harried no thanks to bleeping connection issues with the university's mySQL server - I think the configurations have changed such that they don't accept calls from my local copy of SQLyog anymore, or there's something more esoteric going on behind the scenes. Either way it doesn't do anything for productivity. This calls for sad songs, and the active community over at Hattrick know quite a few: Objects in the rear view mirror may appear closer than they are [Meat Loaf] The Godfather Love Theme [Nino Rota] Shy [Sonata Arctica] (anyone knows if there's a term for a rhythm like this? Maybe got prize) Letter to Dana [Sonata Arctica] (the Dana from the previous song gets referenced) Charlotte Sometimes [The Cure] Lost Control [Anathema] (damn slow) Die With You [Blutengel] Mad World [Gary Jules] ("The dreams in which I'm dying... Are the best I've ever had") Drugs Don't Work [The Verve] Sadness [Stash] On the brighter side, I got assigned a Final Year Project. If only I hadn't two to chew on now. Then again between those and aggressive hamsters, I may be able to regrow fingertips soon. Props to another great comic strip I came upon by chance - just when one thinks nothing can top one's faves, along comes something that may be even better at times. Some picks: World History and the Pope - Crusading Inquisition Slavery Terrorism Pedophilia, can't beat that surely! Armed Force Asshattery - Example Story Safer Cigarettes - Actually, I had this idea a while back; If people will smoke, why not try to make it healthier (and maybe earn something on the side?) Reincarnation Outlawed - The Long Arm of Chinese Law (but they are way behind, supposedly the Catholic Church did the same in the fifth century A.D.) The Piece of Paper that did Nothing - Reference. Sometimes I think, why bother? I'll do the accounting for the Challenge a bit later. Missed out on yesterday's opportunities, but then I would probably have got only the United victory over Villa right. Didn't see Arsenal coming back from 2-0 down to Bolton. $70 on Tottenham to beat Newcastle (at 1.55) - Spurs regaining their form $20 on Liverpool (-1.5) vs Everton (3.05) - Merseyside derby it is, but Pool may take it by two clear goals. At three to one... $10 on zero goals in Liverpool vs Everton (8.50) - As you may have guessed, zero is one of my signature punts
Youtube is surely one of the big Internet innovations of recent years; Move aside static content, video for everyone is here! Here's the cream of the clips that I have enjoyed these couple of days: Discovery Mythbusters - The Phone Book Myth - You can try it too. Interleave the pages of two old phonebooks (or paperbacks) of roughly equal size such that page one of one book is between pages one and two of the other, page two is between pages two and three and so on (may take some time). Then try to pull them away from each other. You may be surprised. (Physics explanation forum) The Easter Bunny Hates You - Sort of an Easter tradition. I mean, the bunny is overworked delivering eggs one day a year, then gets put back in storage. I would be mad too. Apple iRack - The latest out-of-the-world cool product by those nice people over at Cupertino. With a twist. Guys doing pullups on top of a crane - Chanced across this, and I've got to say they were very brave and very stupid (not a rare combination of traits) if this was not edited. No safety equipment + didn't even look that good at doing pullups. Somehow brought up the memory of an early failed parachute design. Satire of the Week (not a vid) - from The Onion, we have the unmatched Black Guy Asks Nation For Change. Ate claypot last week, and we're baaccccckkkk (quote: Gmail chat) at $2622.75/$2600. Today we are reminded about the real significance of Easter, and that's due to it being the EPL's Super Sunday Smackdown day, when Man United face Liverpool and Chelsea take on Arsenal on the same day. Or at least that's what the guys who come up with the schedules thought. I'm inclined to agree. They're not the best of fixtures to stake anything on, but what the heck... $20 on Chelsea to beat Arsenal (at 2.15) - odds about right at Stamford Bridge $10 on Man Utd to beat Liverpool (at 1.90) - following the usual script $10 on zero goals in Chelsea vs Arsenal (8.00) - traditionally matches between big clubs are low scoring... $10 on zero goals in Man Utd vs Liverpool (8.50) - as above
Chong Ah... <anon> who the hell plays cm3  Sure, we all wake up feeling like Xan some days It's true lah. If you (you here used in the most general sense) think about it, the world can get along very well without you, thank you. Without Einstein, time and space would still go rolling along. Probably in another generation or two someone would have gone down the relativistic track anyhow. Oh sure, the world wouldn't be the same without you, but it doesn't need you. Irreplaceable leaders always get replaced. Unforgettable sacrifices always get forgotten. Such is the way of the world. In the big big Total Perspective Vortex macro sense, any single person is nothing. Humanity in its entirety is nothing. A sliver of eternity on the tiniest and oddest of mudballs this side of the universe. Then you get back an assignment in which you scored an A, or some cute chiobu smiles at you, and normal service is resumed. For myself, I have to make a decision rather soon on whether I should try for a PhD. Econphd.net was the only reasonably comprehensive source on PhDs that I found on short notice, and according to their guide Computer Science is up there with Mathematics and Physics as the absolute hardest PhD fields to enter (Economics is second). Bleah. At least I'll probably be self-funding if I take up this option (and get accepted), with NUS for example paying a $2000-$2500/month stipend. I mean, universities actually pay people to study! How could anyone pass that up? Then if by some chance I get an offer to a respectable US program - that's four years overseas. Kinda hard to wrap my brain about the concept. Closer to the present, I'll probably know in a couple of weeks what my Honours Year Project will be. It's really the last year. Ahhhhh! And I have to make significant progress in the MMORPG this weekend. Wah quite stressed. But would I have it any other way? Likely not. *Pokes hamster* That's better. Beyond the Fall of Night... Yes, Arthur C. Clarke's gone too. While he was not my absolute favourite science fiction writer, (Asimov probably takes that accolade), he was a darn good one nevertheless, from the Odyssey novels and the few short stories of his that I read. Take The Nine Billion Names of God for instance - though the ending was predictable especially knowing the backstory of the Tower of Hanoi. And I came across quite the tribute pic:  To Heaven... A better-than-usual Friday heralds the refreshingly uncommercialized Easter. And calls for a SgForums joke: It was time for Saint Peter's annual three-week vacation, and Jesus volunteered to fill in for him at the Pearly Gates. "It's no big deal," Saint Peter explained. "Just sit at the registration desk, and ask each person a little about his or her life. Then, send them to housekeeping to pick up their wings." On the third day, Jesus looked up to see a bewildered old man standing in front of him. He asked the old man to tell him something about himself. "I am a simple carpenter," said the old man. "And once I had a son." "He was born in a very special way, and was unlike anyone else in the world. He went through a great transformation even though he had holes in his hands and feet. He was taken from me a long time ago, but his spirit lives on forever." "Even today, all over the world, people tell of his story." By this time, Jesus was standing with his arms outstretched. There were tears in his eyes, as he embraced the old man. "Dad..." he cried, "it's been so long!" The old man squinted, removed his glasses, and stared blankly for a moment. He wiped his glasses, returned the glasses to his head, looked at Jesus again and said, "Pinocchio?"
- Guest speaker for Beyond the hype of Facebook: Sustainable Applications and Approaches for Monetization, paraphrased A sad thing about guai guai attending lectures is that often not that much is learnt from it, for the outlay of time. Yes, it's true that almost always some knowledge is gained, but unfortunately a few minutes of wisdom often entails a couple of hours of waiting for that nugget. But that's college. Today's Geography lab presented a few differing views on global warming, always a good starting point when approaching any subject. Hot on the heels of Al Gore earning a Nobel, Bush has a go at environmental issues - ok, not exactly him, but... He did bring some web technologies that I hadn't been following to my consciousness, such as illumio, which trawls your hard disk drive to ascertain your areas of interest (hmm, Google Desktop Search?). Heard of yelp? Neither me. Too many spiffy new services to catch up with. Ending with the most ticklish bit of comic strip banter I've read in some time (from The Order of the Stick #539): *Belkar Bitterleaf, halfling ranger with a level of barbarian and all around tiny badass, stabs a harmless trader gnome* Haley Starshine, human rogue and nominal party leader: WHAT DID YOU DO??? Belkar: What? You said it yourself, this is war! There's now one less gnome for the Resistance to fight, right? Haley: The Resistance isn't at war with the gnome!!! Belkar: Well of course not, not anymore. He's dead. Belkar: Don't get so worked up. He was a pointless NPC (non-player character). He was just there to provide color to the scene. He probably didn't even have a name. Haley: He TOLD us his name! Belkar: Did he? I wasn't listening. Belkar: Look, I can't be the only one who appreciates the symmetry of the situation. He had a donkey, and we needed a donkey to pull the cart. Now we have a donkey, and he doesn't need anything anymore. Everybody wins! Quite compelling argumentative logic at second glance...
Survived the presentation for UROP, and now back to cobbling together a Facebook MMORPG. Will release it in a month or so, or I'm screwed for that module anyway. Got reminded that HYP registrations had opened by sel, otherwise I might have happily made it through the semester without bothering - don't know where I got the idea that my HYP was on an even semester. Nothing much to report, but just to remind the self that things are seldom as bad as they appear to be (except when they are), here's Tuchman's Law - "The fact of being reported multiplies the apparent extent of any deplorable development by five-to-tenfold." Here's to heavy-duty bug-free programming. United take on Derby in only about half and hour, and that should be a lifting experience. Can't say as much for the odds. Derby are at 17-to-one to win despite being the home team, which must be some sort of a record. United can't even get even money for winning by three goals. $50 on Man Utd (-2.5) vs Derby (at 1.95) - ... but I'll take it anyway $50 on Portsmouth to draw Aston Villa (3.15) - Pretty evenly matched, about time to splurge on a long shot anyhow
- + sim lim square - As it turns out, I only happened to be partially right when I deduced that it was the connection between the power supply unit and the motherboard that caused my computer power-up problems. Actually, the entire Power Supply Unit was on its last legs, and after some unproductive percussive maintenance and tinkering, I discovered that the only way to coax a few seconds of weak fan-whirring out of it was to pull the main power cord out and reinsert it. Don't ask why. This is the second time a generic PSU has burnt out on me, the first time somewhere in mid-2005. Then again, assuming an average of twenty hour days, which should be close to the reality if on the high side, one-and-a-hour years would come to about 10000 operating hours, in the region of what the generic PSUs endured. Can't ask for more, I suppose. The other sorta-branded PSU I got was given away with some of the rest of my old rig, so I wouldn't know how it has been faring. First to Google and then to Sim Lim, where I took some time to locate a CoolerMaster Real Power 450W model. Frustratingly encountered some of the same shenanigans with recent price lists (they were giving them out by the escalators just minutes ago) showing out-of-stock goods or underpriced goods, probably to lure bargain hunters before being quoted an "updated" price at the outlet.  This particular CoolerMaster PSU isn't exactly the newest around (debuted late 2004 I think), but who am I to argue with a functionally quite useless but glowing blue Human-Computer Interface (HCI) Analog Wattage Meter? Once I verified that I had an empty 3.5-inch floppy bay sitting around, I just had to get something to fill it up. The PSU reviews weren't that bad either. And remember, the PSU fan also glows blue. My grandpa somehow acquired a couple of slighly-used PSUs in double-quick time after hearing of my need, but they were of the old 20-pin motherboard connector variety (i.e. hopelessly obsolete). Generic-type PSUs are probably going to be a stop-gap measure anyway, judging from past experience. If the 100000 hour mean-time to failure estimate of the CoolerMaster is accurate, then generic PSUs should cost around S$10, which indeed is roughly what they go for. I guess one does generally get what one pays for. Hint: Top-drawer PSUs should generally be heavier due to the better components used - at least until some crooked manufacturer gets wind of it and lumps scrap metal into the box... Closing with a feat of hamgineering by my uncle, who had the foresight to forestall a Prison Break from the hammies: 
- + epl tales -  A response to those who don't think the breakaway goal was mostly Rooney's fault - yes, he's not a defender by trade (though it's hard to tell with the amount of time he spends at leftback anyway, a testament to his workrate), and yes, the other guys were a bit slow in returning (but then Rio and Vidic being up for corners is nothing new). The problem is that even after not being able to head away the loose ball, the situation was a two-on-two, hardly fatal with support arriving, as all the two had to do was to somehow delay the attackers, or force them into a chancy shot that the goalie would be favourite to save, or might be off target in the first place. The strange thing is that Rooney abandons Baros in the middle to get at Kranjcar on the flank, which is wrong on so many levels. It was not like Anderson was particularly in need of help, as he's quite fast and a recent sub to boot; It was not like Baros snuck in on the blind side either, as Rooney raced in from the wrong side of Baros to the correct side (so far so good)... and continued steaming on directly away from him, which really isn't a spur of the moment decision; And Kranjcar's no Maradona (and probably no Rooney either), but then since when was a Maradona on the outside with two men on him a prefarable situation to an average pro forward with a one-on-one with a keeper?  Then again, the Belgians may beg to differ (Source) Unless he had eyes behind his back that (wrongly) saw a defender coming back, or Rio joked that he had gained teleportation powers, I simply cannot imagine how an international player could make (or be easily forgiven for) a defensive error of such magnitude... Well there's a difference between losing due to a large dose of bad luck, and just rolling over and giving up (or just being far from good enough), and I think I know which category this match falls into.
- + hamsters - I'll save a lot of stuff for future posts, since the FA Cup match is swiftly approaching, but here's something for those of you who might want a change of pace:  ...or paint dry? I can't decide! Got reminded of the long, peaceful army nights spent over a cup of instant noodles when Alvinny opted for that instead of Subway after basketball recently, which set off a craving for tasting them again. Therefore... 
The smell of old times And the hamsters (yes, both alive and kicking) petitioned successfully for their first comic outing:  Pulling clear once more in the virtual $100 Challenge, at $2622.75/$2500 at this point. Incredibly United are at only 1.25 to the win against Portsmouth in the cup, which strikes me as being rather off the mark especially when one considers that Chelsea were set the same odds against Barnsley. Even the win by two or more clear goals is at a lousy 1.75, given Pompey are comfortably a top-half side. Value punt of the day has to be for Liverpool to throttle Newcastle United, given their symmetric forms - one pretty good, the other extremely bad. So... $50 on Liverpool (-1.5) vs Newcastle (at 2.00) - as above $50 on Blackburn (-1.5) vs Fulham (at 2.50) - Fulham are about a second Derby, and though they are a bit tighter at the back on their travels, two from Blackburn is a very possible proposition
- current events - - Worldly-wise physical geography professor offering some perspective, and a possible warning My computer has taken to requiring a lie-down before booting up these days, something like what I have been feeling (though with a couple of projects/midterms/deadlines over, things are looking up). Finally troubleshot the problem - the internal power connection between the power box and the motherboard was loose. 
Any last woofs? (Source) Ed: <Wenhoo> WHAT HAPPEN / WHY LIDAT What better way to draw attention to the US occupation of Iraq, than to have a Marine happily flinging a cute black-and-white puppy off a cliff (see video)? Predictably the soldier involved got all but lynched online (just visit any site discussing this which allows comments), with the Marine Corps understandably unhappy about being tainted with the "puppy-killer" tag. The alleged culprit, David Motari, explained his actions thus: "...What, you expect me to carry a stray sick dog from patrol 10+ miles back to camp with me. Did you know that we're not supposed to have dogs? Did you know that there isn't medicine available for animals out there? So what the f**k do you want me to do with it. It was going to die a slow and horrible death. Sorry you guys saw that, but it wasn't supposed to ever been shown. Usually what happens is we shoot them. I was being 'creative' that day and decided to throw the dog instead. If i could take it back, I would. Either way, I did the dog a favor. Sorry if you can't understand that..." (screenshot) If that's a true account, scratch the "already dead puppy" (though it would probably still be in bad taste) and "faked-up vid" (I had my initial doubts, especially with the sound) hypotheses. However, while Motari's supposed deed may not be acceptable, let us put it into some context with a few questions:
Baby accidentally caught in car blast? Ho-hum. Family unwittingly becomes collateral damage in "smart" bomb meant for insurgents? Nothing new. Iraqi kid suffering from psychological trauma? Wouldn't get a column anywhere. Marine kills cute puppy? 
Bad News, Motari - *Everybody* likes puppies! It's true, it has boiled over to his family already, with their address, contact details etc being spread. And what exactly do they have to do with it? Welcome to mob mentality land. Then again, everyone can be a hero on the Internet, that's part of the beauty of the thing. Clichéd (as pointed out by tpk) joke that naturally popped into my mind... President Bush was briefing a crowd on the progress in Iraq so far. "Casualties are reported at about 500000 Iraqis (conservative estimate), and a puppy." he said. A few people in the crowd immediately asked, "Why the puppy?" Bush grinned and turned back to Cheney. "See? I knew no one cared about the Iraqis!" ... Trivia - animal-tossing was a popular sport "especially as an activity for mixed couples" in some European courts just a few centuries ago. Gary Gygax has also failed his saving throw, with the co-creator of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons having ascended to one of the Outer Planes (wonder about his alignment). Many may not have heard of him, but his influence on whole genres of computer games, and by extension the wider world, can hardly be understated. Rich Burlew's tribute in The Order of the Stick is probably the most apropos: "Wherever he is, I hope he rolls good stats on his next incarnation." 
(Source)
No leaping on that once-in-four-years opportunity itself as basketball got postponed to today, but the more important point is that I've done somewhat less than I had hoped for during the midterm break (reminder: half the semester is gone!). Desperation coding skills soon to be uncovered again, I suppose. Some interesting bits of news: Limping terrorist Mas Selamat Kastari escapes from local detention center using a visit to the loo as cover. Come on, everyone knows that toilet grilles are prime getaway territory. It should be interesting to know the exact details if and when they are released, might make a good movie. Anyway, just in case you have somehow been able to avoid seeing his mug, which is currently plastered all around Singapore, here's a look. Normal run-of-the-mill face here, which just goes to show how little looks matter: 
Your friendly neighbourhood uncle Some good news on the home front too, with the successful Youth Olympics bid followed by the announcement of a budget surplus of over $6 billion (as compared to a projected slight deficit). Interestingly "...GST collection arising from the 2 percentage point hike in July is estimated at about $1.4 billion in total, which now just matches the size of the GST Offset Package and Workfare Income Supplement tranches that were distributed in FY2007." (from the official budget website). So the whole raise actually didn't have that much of an impact after all. Was quite surprised that the local papers splashed huge images of the unfortunate Eduardo's foot being broken by a terrible Martin Taylor tackle. Really it quite hurt to look at them, and though I can't profess much liking for Arsenal that's the sort of injury that shouldn't be wished upon any footballer. Human fascination for train wrecks and all that contributed to the decision to print the pictures, probably. I won't be posting them, but they're just a Google Image Search away. Last weekend was a good one for soccer results, as it saw me rebuild my virtual buffer to $2504.75/$2400. More of the same hopefully... $25 on Man Utd (-1.5) vs Fulham (at 2.00) - Fulham have been something of a bogey team for United, but they are second-last and don't look like surviving $25 on Middlesbrough to beat Reading (at 1.70) - No away wins and five defeats in a row for the Royals $25 on Sunderland to beat Derby (at 2.15) - True, Sunderland haven't won away, but then Derby have won just the one out of thirteen home games they have played this season. At over evens it's probably worth a try $25 on Blackburn to beat Newcastle (at 2.72) - Yes, 2.72 for a straight win against the rather woeful Magpies. I'm in
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Copyright © 2006-2025 GLYS. All Rights Reserved. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
