The adamant idiot

Sitting on the dentist chair with my mouth wide open and various weird implements stcuck to my teeth, I was treated to a "comedy" at the counter.

This person (note that I used no race, or age, or sex, or anything that might remotely identify the said pumpkin) wanted a receipt made for a dental appointment, but it has to be *special* as in it has to be made such that it does not appear as a 'purchase'.

The poor assistant was running in and out of the room to ask the dentist for confirmation and suggestions while I am sitting there like a fish out of water. Finally the dentist said that if that person wanted it, they do provide a full dental report for $50.

Guess what did the person ask for next?

"Can you change the NETS printout so that it prints out 'Consultation' instead of 'Purchase'?"
I wonder what kind of answer the NETS support people will give to such a question.

Evil telepath...

Instead of giving me time until I came back from my leave to close the project, the you know who made the deadline to be one day before I go on leave. On top of that, added the some extra duty, on top of the whortened deadline. Figures.

So, I shall share one of the nicest flash animation I have came across on the net so far.
This is the kind of thing that made me wish I could be motivated enough to get some animation skill. Catchy song, good timing, simple, yet smooth animation.

Here you go.

Click on "English" and then on "amalloc" at the top bar of the next page, then select "view" to see.
There are 2 finished animations: There she is! and Cake dance. It seems that he's working on the third one. Looking forward to it :D

I want to complain!... Oo.. look at those nice photos...

Initially I wanted to just make a small rant about how I spent $35 needlessly, but since that is pretty pointless, I'll talk about the nicest photographs I have seen in a while.

There is currently this photo exibition called Green Earth (I think, or was it Earth from Above) that is being held at Orchard road.
It showcases some very incredible arieal shots from all over the world. The photos are large, beautiful, and abstract even. And the most amazing thing is that, I did not see anybody even attempting to touch them (they are out in the open, no glass cover whatsoever)

To see it: Get out from Orchard MRT, walk towards Borders bookstore, and follow the road all the way to Orchard Parade hotel.

Bubble Bobble

This guy spent over 10 years playing with soap bubbles.

And now, he has managed to make them colored, and in the process may have discovered a whole new dye technology. (Not to mention a lot of money)

The story also shows some fundamental aspects of how to work an improvement research project once you have a goal in mind.

1. Find out as much as you can about the original item (soap bubbles in this case)
2. Try everything you can think of that might modify the item the way you want it to be (mixing up colors and stuff with soap and other stuff...)
3. Document your experiments (he did not do it initially, and lost at least one other potential invention)
5. Isolate what works, and improve. (Unwashable color - Washable color - Self dissapearing color)
4. Apply the invention for other use (He started with bubbles, and there will be others)
6. You need not be a scientist to invent things. However, do not be too proud to seek help from experts. (A chemist in this case)
9. Erase the word "impossible" from your dictionary.

I do have some ideas on my own, and this guy has shown me that if I pursue them long enough, they won't be just soap bubbles :D

Like they say in Martial Arts: Focus! Focus! Focus!

Random Quotes III

"Never underestimate the power of ignorance amongst humans."

By some random forum dude.

The ironic thing is that the guy was saying this while adopting the 'I am more knowledgeable' attitude, not realising that his argument is flawed, and hence having the statement applying moreso to himself.

Plus, some interesting tidbits about Walmart
This also shows that by American standard, I am getting poverty pay :P

Onwards!

The preparation for GAMECON1 is going smoothly.

Despite some bumps in the games selection department:

- Some games are not available
- Some games we do not have the distribution rights
- Some games are just too difficult for beginners

We finally have 15 games to demo, (of which 1-2 I am doubtful about) and I have practically 'mastered' 13 of them. What a number...

I even have some friends who are going up to KL just to attend the CON! (That did not sound right...) But well, pray for good tidings :D

Book ticket? *check*
Hotel? *check*

Now I only need to see if my HP works there so I can send SMS.

She could have been my idol...

If only she'd cut down on the vulgarities... ; ;

The new age of oldies are here :P

Idol competitions

I caught a glimpse of Channel 8's latest 'reality contest' show, and got thinking...

当明星好手 Good performer to be
脸皮要够厚 Thick skin aplenty need you
要是不够熟 If prepared not you are
就得排最後 Last in line are you

Yoda for the win!

Acting is a tough line that I can't hack. All the memorizing, emotional expressions (or lack of), etc.
I hope I got all my Chinese characters right :P

If you're obese... are you rich or poor?

I got into an interesting small discussion today with my colleague, when she commented that her previous employer often talked about her precious 2000 pounds clothing - which she can't wear in Singapore, beause it is a winter coat!

This somehow led to the topic about Indian saris that her previous housemate had her put on before, and how she initially thought that the people were wearing it wrong as their bellies were showing. (Bulging out :P) I had to explain to her that in a way, that is one of the beauty of saris. They are one size fits all, and that for Indians (traditionally anyway, not sure about the modern outlook), the girth of one's body shows one's affluence. The rounder you are, the richer you are, and people looked favorably on you. (This mindset seems to be going in the way of the dinosaurs though...)

In the western world however, at least in the modern aspect, it is usually the poorer people that are fat. Food are cheap, and the 'unhealthy' ones are even cheaper. In an ironical reversal, it is the rich there that can keep their sclupted body (i.e. non-obese looking) through the utilization of nutritionists, personal trainers, higher priced organic food, and cosmetic surgeons.

Now, from the US of A, we have the "Fat acceptance movement". People are pushing their responsibility for getting fat due to excessive food intake and lack of exercise to nature, the food industry, and whatnot. I agree that there are some people out there that are naturally chubby and genes do play a part, but it really does not help if said person eats 500g steaks every meal and then have a tub of ice-cream for dessert. I think that being slightly fat (overweight) is not too bad while being obese, is not. Here's a BMI calculator, and do note that it has limitations.

Examples:

"I am fat because my genes made me so!"
"I am fat, because the restaurant neglected to inform me how much calories are in the food they serve!"
"I am fat because these junk food are all I can afford!" (Without mentioning the regular purchase and consumption of 3 burgers per meal)
"I am not fat, and I blame the diet/fashion industry for making me look so!"
"I can't exercise because I have no energy!" (despite all the calories they consume? *DOH*)

These people should just go to live in India... (Before the westernization of India changes the mindset over there. Or, I guess it might already be too late.)

Dating tips from a game designer

Not really sure how it would be relevant in Asia, and seeing that I am currently totally horribly clueless when it comes to dating, it does make some sense.

10 Dating Scenarios

This is actually quite an old article, I wondered why I did not remember reading it.
However, whenever a pretty good looking gal seems to be showing any interest in me, she's usually either an Insurance agent, a Financial adviser, or an MLM member. I am pretty sure that he has never had to deal with this kind of thing. まいったな。。。

Talk about complicating matters...

Kame... hame...

On the positive side...

You Are A: Turtle!

These reptiles, famous for their hard outer shells, spent their days roaming for food and relaxing in the water. As a turtle you are not very speedy, nor are you soft and cuddly. You tend to hide in your shell and you aren't much of a sprinter, however you are as cute as you are fascinating.

You were almost a: Groundhog or a Frog
You are least like a: Puppy or a DuckCute Animal Quiz!

Drawling evening...

As the door opened, I expected the traditional greeting of: "いっらしゃいませ！" (Irrasyaimase!)... and there were none. I should have known then that something is not right...

I took the seat opposite of my Japanese teacher and then waited for the rest of her students to find the restaurant. When they arrived, everybody got busy ordering as we were quite hungry by that time. There were 2 people that I already knew, and three others. It turned out that one of the guy (from China) had just gotten married recently, and he brought his wife along. It took quite a while before he explained to us that his wife does not speak Japanese. So I tried to make some small talk in English. She looked at me blankly. Then the guy said that she does not speak English. Fine, I apologized to her in Chinese, and asked the some question (like where are you from?). There was no response. (No, she's not mute. She spoke only to her husband in the whole evening, in Chinese!) It's not only the lack of response that pissed me off. She gave me the kind of look that said: "you're beneath my notice." %&##@%@wtfomgbbq!!!!111oneone.

More was to come. The person who took our order, did it with a classical 'Ah Lian' "What do you want?!" kind of attitude. Not a single smile, and she looked like we're keeping her from talking with her boyfriend or something. On top of that, everything that I ordered either: came late, did not come even after 2-3 reminders, or came as a totally different order. I would understand if the servers are flustered due to the dinner crowd, but as for her? Nooooo... she was cool, and sour like a pickle!

My Japanese teacher had to remark: "Singaporeans really do not expect to receive good service do they?", and to my horror, 2 of them at the table agreed. The food was only so so (with really horrible ramen), and for the price I pay ($32 per pax), I could have had a much better dinner elsewhere.

To make things worse, the people there was not responding to attempts for communication. I really was feeling redundant there.

When we left the place, the usually hearty "ありがとうございました！" (Arigatou Gozaimashita!) was also missing. I will never, ever return to this restaurant again. This is NOT a Japanese restaurant. The 10% service charge just adds insult to injury. And may Il never ever meet with this bunch of people again (with the exception of my teacher)

I did not even bother remembering the name. It is near Tanjong Pagar MRT.

Politics... Bollitics...

Recently, politics are there to be seen everywhere I poked my nose into. (Even in the game forums.) Now, I am largely apathetic towards politics, and the dogmatism of its many proponents served to alienate me even further.

What is it exactly anyway? I don't see nothing but a bunch of people who are trying to impose their will onto other people. Some (the very minority) go about doing it honestly, while the rest...
It has also been said that politics is a game for the powerful rich, where influence serves as commodity. There are exceptions though, Mahatma Ghandi is a politician in his own way, and one of the honest ones to boot. Unfortunately, as it is now, even someone like him would have been ineffectual had he been in the current political circle of some countries.

On top of that, there is one pervasive attitude that is inherent in every political structure: "Do as I say, and not as I do." (Even in a communism, this still apply as there are people who are 'more equal' than other people.)

People demand for good politicians, while on the other hand, they are not so keen on lending active support. There are over 6 billion people on earth, whose life is in the hands of a handful of people who were appointed by a largely apathetic crowd. A sobering thought.

Then there are office politics, and if there is any in my office, I would say that I am blissfully unaware of it. Having said that, I guess I should still attempt (lazy as I am) to gather some commodity for future use. It is like burning hell money - you'll never know if you're going to need it in the afterlife, but hey, it is good to be prepared.

Commentor!

I find it a lot easier to write comments rather than write my own entries. Even in the forums that I frequent, I have never started new threads.

Interesting...

Maybe that's why I am a translator and not a writer.

Noodly pasta

Little things that cross one's mind.

"Ipoh Hor Fun" and "Penang Fried Kway Teow" use similar kind of noodles, (can I even call it noodle?) and the vietnamese "Pho" should be a close cousin.

Might be interesting to trace the origin of this 'rice noodle' family of food.

"Chee Cheong Fun" anyone?

Intelligently designed countries.

Me and some friends had a small talk last week, where the intelligence of 'my country' was mentioned. This friend remarked that the country is pretty intelligent, seeing what the people who runs the country can get away with. I was on the opposing side, remarking that if they are that intelligent, they could have gotten a lot more.

After muling over the discussion for a while, some questions arose in my mind.
While keeping in mind that a country's intelligence is limited only by the collective intelligence of the people running the country, and that the weakest link would be the intelligence of the person that currently holds the most influence:

What are truly intelligent decisions?
Does the level of intelligence also depends on perspective?
If something was done 'intelligently' in the past, but turned out to be a farce the distant future (most likely doe to the refusal to change), is it still an intelligent decision?

I can't really answer the questions, and here are what I think should be the requirements for a country to be 'intelligent'.

1. The ability to make most of its citizens feel proud to be a part of it, without coercion.
2. The ability to recognize external exploitation of its resources, and acting to mitigate it intelligently.
3. The ability to propagate people that are capable of, and willing to sustain as well as improve the govermental intelligence level.
4. The ability to attract and integrate valuable human resource from other countries, without having to bend over backwards to accomodate them. (I.e. they come in as equals, not superiors, and because they want to be there.)

Plus I am sure a lot more. But these I believe should be the minimum, and 3 of them share a common criteria - people.

I may be splitting hairs, but I'd rather call 'my country' cunning rather than intelligent as a lot of the people in charge could not (or even not willing to) plan for long term gains.

Some people just have too much money...

If there is any doubt that virtual items carry cold, hard cash value, you may now put your doubts at rest.


Someone just paid $100000 for bytes in cyberspace.

Translations... Shmarlations... (made that up)

I just received a package from Japan, containing the winning entries from the Translation Competition that I took last year. I already knew that I lost, and after skimming through the work of the winners, I can see why. Seriously though, with work this good, how could these people still be 'amateurs'? (The content was meant for people who are amateurs in the field of Literature translation, not technical.)

The competition consists of picking 1 of each type to translate from a list of 6 articles; 3 Commentaries and 3 Stories. Obviously does not help that all three winners chose the same Commentary, and two picked the same Story to translate as I did. On the other hand, it is good as I get to compare my work with the 'Master's'.

What I noticed so far is that, aside from losing out in the style class, I did at least manage to get 90% of the content right. Their presentations are just waaay better than mine. So good that I suspect that they could be writers, or just were trained as one. I have always wanted to improve my writing, and this package was enough to drive the 'want' to a 'need'. Unfortunately, the 'hows' still elude me.

The only thing I can do now is analyze and compare my work and theirs. And join the next competition!

Info tidbit:
There is no direct translation of the phrase "For fun" into Japanese...

Random Quotes II

Winning is often intuitive and doesn't always require forethought.
On the other hand, thinking about how to not lose demands that we formulate a plan

By Stephen Menedian

Overload - Gamers meetup 01 Nov 2005

Whew. The place was packed yesterday. I had to wait for quite a while for a space to clear up to order my dinner.

Anyway, aside from a full game of Saint Petersburg - of which I only managed a dismal showing of 3rd after falling for Mr. C's machinations, most of my time this session was taken up by preparatation for the GAMECON1 event. Hence I speed-played a total of 8 different games! That might be a little too much to describe at one go.

Villa Paletti-
Kind of a reverse Jenga, where players takes turn to put down towers on the playing surface, putting a 'floor' once all the towers are in place, and then pulling out the towers from beneath the 'floor' to place it on that 'floor'. Pretty tough game. I have not seen anyone who managed to build beyond the 3rd 'floor' the whole night.

Halli Galli-
This is a fast paced card game where each player aims to gain control of the largest amount of cards. First, a bell is placed in the middle of a table, and each player gets the same amount of cards. Players then take turns to randomly reveal one card at a time. Whenever there is *exactly* 5 fruits of one type revealed on the table, the player than hits the bell first gets to collect all the cards on the table. If the player had hit the bell by mistake, he/she is penalized to give one card to each other players. When there are only 2 players left, them game enters a sudden death ending.

Coloretto-
A game of collecting chameleons cards. Multiple copies of the same color scores higher, but only your 3 highest scoring colores are positive, the rest are negative. A simple game that is very easy to pick up, yet has some depth. I find it more fun to play the 'face up' version.

Cartagena-
In this game, each player is racing to aid their pirates (6 of them) to reach the boat at the end of the route to escape. One of the speed-played games that we managed to play 'properly', and I managed to win :P. another simple to play game that has good depth, and fun.

Gulo gulo-
A dexterity game that has players chasing a purple 'Gulo gulo'. Each player has to navigate a colored tile course by removing wooden eggs of the appropriate color from the center wooden bowl, that has a free-weighted stick stuck in it. If the stick drops as a player removes an egg, that player drops one tile back to the color of the egg he/she was trying to remove, and forfeits the turn. fun party game.

King's Breakfast-
The king has invited you for breakfast. "Eat" as much as you can, but watch that you don't eat more than the king! To add to the complexity, the king has a pet mini-dragon that steals from the king's spread of gourment food.

Loco!-
Pick the right chips, prod your competitors to commit to the wrong color, and play mind games. That is what Loco! is all about. Players gather chips that will have a value that is equal to the corresponding card of its color that was played last. Cards range from value 0 to 5. Drive your competitors Loco!

Pic Picknick-
Players masquerade as poultries, going after bird seeds with different pointages, at 6 different locations. If two birds end up in the same feeding ground, they will have to start discussing a 'fair' division, or fight it out. Winner takes all! Be careful though, some of the birds might be a wolf in disguise.

Welp, that's it for now ^^.