MK9 :: The MK Alternative

The end has come

2009-07-10T17:17:00.000+07:00

Well guys..

After almost more than 10 years of blogging, 10 name changes, 3 platform changes, a personal postcount of 3281 entries, many hiatus-es, lots of support and comments from my readers, I am sad to say that I am no longer able to maintain this blog and continue any further entries.

Due to the change of times, the cost of growing up, greater responsibilities, heavier workloads, multiple commitments to my work and other various activities that I am involved in, some things just have to go, and this blog is an unfortunate victim of my time-cuts. I am sorry to say that this blog will be closed down and abandoned indefinitely, it's been a pleasure and a real honor writing to entertain and please my readers and unwavering supporters and friends.

MK. 2009.

Taekwondo is still safe.

2009-07-06T23:47:00.001+07:00

The Singapore Taekwondo Federation is NOT INVOLVED in the unfortunate and serious incident reported in the local media.

The tournament was jointly organized by Greenville RC and Kg Ubi-Kembangan CSC and technically supported by the Singapore Taekwon-Do Gymnasium. None of the participating clubs including the Gymnasium is affiliated to the STF.

All affiliated clubs of the STF are aware of the premium placed by STF on the safety of its participants in all its activities. After all, the STF is cognizant that it is accountable for every participant’s safety. Therefore, it does not compromise on its safety standards.

Here are some of the measures taken by the STF to ensure the safety of its participants in the PA-STF Championships.

· All coaches and players must be conversant with the competition rules and regulations.

· For juniors and young juniors, head kicks are strictly not allowed.

· Players can only compete in their respective belt and weight categories.

· Sparing competition is only for Red, Poom and Black belts. There is no sparring for Blue belt and lower grades.

· Red belt holders are allowed to compete in the category for only two years.

· Players must declare if they have other martial arts qualifications.

· Safety equipment including head gear, body protector, mouth piece, groin guard, shin and forearm guards and gloves are mandatory.

· Sparring must be conducted on WTF-approved mats.

· All referees must be trained and qualified by the STF or the WTF.

· Qualified medical staff must be present throughout the competition.

· An ambulance must be on standby at all times.

All members of the STF should continue to observe the principles of sports safety to ensure safe and positive experience in the sport.

About ECMO

2009-06-12T07:37:00.001+07:00

Well, I am attempting to improving my medical knowledge, maybe one way is to post it up and share! Well this is a medical procedure! It's something like a kidney dialysis procedure, instead of taking out urea and other metabolic wastes, this procedure re-oxygenates the blood.

ECMO stands for Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation. ECMO is used in infants who are extremely ill due to breathing or heart problems. The ECMO machine circulates blood through an artificial lung back into the bloodstream. This provides adequate oxygen to the baby while allowing time for the lungs and heart to "rest" or heal.

Einstein

2009-06-11T10:12:00.000+07:00

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity. And I am not sure about the universe." - Einstein

Taking the helm

2009-06-09T20:42:00.001+07:00

I know why I feel lousy and disconnected from my comm already, well today after training we had our first official meeting between the 21st and the 22nd committees, and I felt jaded and rather unfulfilled at today's activities.

There were several reasons that I've identified, firstly, I am not improving myself, I have to skip this upcoming grading because I am so tied up with all the other stupid activities and I have no time to train for it. I am under-performing. Professionally, Academically, Personally.

What about my new committee? I am going to take the helm soon, yet well, slightly over a year ago, had I been chosen for the job, I would have been thrilled and elated to accept this prestigious position.

After all I have been in several demanding leadership positions before, all with notable achievements during my time in reign. But now? The requirements of spring and my demanding academic programme and doing poorly in two semesters have left me drained and unfulfilled.

Maybe I made the mistake of accepting the job, I am not the same as I used to be, I am starting to feel drained and unfulfilled from my actions and my leadership doesn't seem to have its intended effect as it once was.

When I was in OBS, I enjoyed every minute of the physical exertion, when I was the BME chairman, I felt fulfilled and enjoyed the achievements that me and my committee reaped, and I thought that it would be the same in here, but alas, it hasn't been so far.

Well current, my old type of leadership doesn't work here anymore, because feedback has informed me that it makes me bossy. Well, that means the 'ol, tried-and-tested leadership style that has worked before doesn't work anymore now. I have to just change my leadership style to suit this committee's attitude,

But fine, if that's what it takes to make things work, then that's what I'll do, I've done it before, and I can definitely do it again, this is just another challenge to me. I have this feeling whatever we talked about tonight is whatever yen jeong dislikes about me, it's not a big problem something i am already in the process of correcting to suit this committee's style. Well that's easy. I feel better already.

I can do it.

9999km travelled.

2009-06-07T11:06:00.000+07:00

9999km travelled.

Enermax Aurora Keyboard

2009-06-06T01:31:00.000+07:00

Got a all-silver brushed aluminium Enermax Aurora Keyboard, featuring two USB2.0 ports, laptop-style X-type keys and a completely brushed aluminium build.

Today I lost a good friend

2009-06-02T10:53:00.003+07:00

After training every one of us went rushing down to the airport to send Wong off at airport. Wong! He's leaving us today, having ended his 1-year exchange programme with us and will be returning home back to Netherlands. The parting was so teary and we each hugged him good-bye. My feelings probably weren't so drastic, but still it aches to know that he's leaving and I might never see him again.

I lost a good friend today. He's a great guy! Handsome, well-mannered, good-natured, skilful in TKD, and just fun and a great person to be around with in play and work, and he's leaving us today. Today the club lost a great person. Almost the whole club was there, 30+ of us present to see him off, and the atmosphere was sad yet cheerful for him.

I might never see him ever again, and the whole club was present in such strength to support him.

Our last few days together.

The three of us.

At T3.

We will miss you Wong!

A very unpleasant experience

2009-06-01T17:23:00.000+07:00

Today let's talk about a day on the local MRT system. What I want to write today is directly related to my pent-up frustration based on the local mass-rapid transit system. I have been tolerating the fact that the locals rush into the carriages as soon as the doors open without allowing the passengers inside to alight first, as a result there is a jostle and flaring of tempers as selfish insensitive Singaporeans push and force their way into the cabins without giving a thought to those trying to alight.

I never experienced such a scenario in Taiwan nor in Indonesia. The passengers are very disciplined and will wait for alighting passengers before attempting to board themselves. Okay, never mind about that, not only can't wait for passengers to alight. Let's talk about giving up seats.

I am in favor of giving up my seat to someone who needs it more than I do and I have given up my seat countless of times and have I am contentedly rewarded with a smile of gratitude.

TODAY. I was seated in the train, it wasn't very crowded but all the seats were occupied, and at one stop a middle-aged woman pushing a pram with a baby in it boarded the train at the opposite door slightly further away from where I am sitting. Now if someone needy of a seat were to stand in front of me, I would more than gladly give up my seat for him/her.

Now this woman wasn't pregnant, neither was she old nor carrying anything heavy, she was pushing a pram with her baby in it and she was more than 5-6 seats away from me. Okay, the train was now leaving the station, beginning to accelerate.

Now seeing no one giving up his/her seat (the carriage so happened to be filled with a majority of non-Chinese foreign workers), so I decided to give up my seat even though I was a distance away.

Seeing no one who would selfishly rush and plunk himself into my seat as soon as I stood up to give up my seat to someone else, (it has happened before). So I stood up and signaled to her, I asked, "Hi would you like to have a seat?"

She came over but made no effort to acknowledge me at all, it was like I was invisible and she had spotted an empty seat. Then she plunked herself on the seat with a "humph" and a huff of breath and ignored me completely! Not a single gesture of gratitude, no smile, no "thanks", no nod. Nothing, she then turned away at stared into the distance, completely avoiding my gaze. It's one thing to ignore me, it's another thing to "humph" me!

WTFFFFFFFF?? Bitch!

I've never experienced such a cold response to courtesy at all in my short life. Offering my seat is a sign of courtesy and generosity, but this woman, who thinks that giving up the seat is HER RIGHT. She behaved as if the seat BELONGED to her and she owns the RIGHT to sit on that seat, what the hell? Am I supposed to enthusiastically JUMP out of my seat as if I sat on a hot poker the moment she entered the train and offer her my seat with pom poms and cheerleaders??? "HERE HAVE MY SEAT PLEASEEE TAKE ITTTT"

I almost stared at her with absolute shock and disgust for a couple of seconds as she continued to ignore me.

WTF, I was so pissed I left the carriage for the next carriage instead. Damn stuck up Singaporean mum bitch. It's no wonder why the young generations in Singapore are losing all their manners, getting rude, stuck-up, demanding and impatient.

How the hell am I expected to reciprocate my generosity and courtesy when I am met with such hostility and cold rudeness today?

Yes, there are the good souls and genuinely courteous Singaporeans around, and I have met such nice souls before. Yet today's encounter absolutely stumped me into absolute disgust! I remember a couple of months ago, the straits times published an article n the life section where a reporter was tasked to look out for courteous and kind souls, where the reporter would then write about her experiences. Some tasks to test the courtesy and generosity of Singaporeans include asking for directions, hauling bulky items up an escalator or into a lift, or seeing who would hold a door for her on the way out of a store and even asking for spare change or to use their hand phone. But such souls are far and in between and extremely rare in the selfish materialistic Singaporean society.

In my previous entry, why am I lambasting Singaporeans? Travelling opened my eyes to the world. After my experience with security guards from two worlds, and my daily experience on the mass-rapid transit system from both worlds, my disdain for a local Singaporean has only been increasing with a vengeance.

Bitch...

Returning from Indonesia

2009-05-30T12:36:00.001+07:00

After my recent trip to Indonesia, I am thoroughly impressed with the locals and upon my return back to this miserable and materialistic country have seriously begun to despise Singaporeans more and more. Oh I don't hate this country at all, I thoroughly respect the leaders and the country, it's the local populace that I have a grouse with.

Let's start with an experience with the local security guards.

The Indonesians earn pittance compared to the salaries that Singaporeans earn, though their standard of living is lower than Singaporeans, their quality of life is much higher. They are happier and more contented, they take their jobs seriously and have a great sense of responsibility and pride in whatever line of work that they do. A typical security guard earns about 500,000 – 600,000 rupiah per month depending on rank and importance of the facility. That's a mere S$75 - $90 in Singapore!!! In contrast, a security guard here easily earns ten times that amount for a less demanding nature of their work.. Which is to park their lazy ass in a booth and grow fat paying close attention to their nails.

The profession of the security guards over there are held in high regard, and throughout my visit, I have only met with very competent and helpful security guards. They are great! Unlike that fat lazy security guards we have in Singapore only concerned with their coffee breaks, taking great interest in their nails, and only capable of bothering playful harmless children crossing their compounds under their guard, in fact security guards here have a constant black face as if the world owes them a living, they are rude, irritating, incompetent, obnoxious, impatient and downright annoying for perfectly legitimate activities by innocent staff or visitors to a compound.

I seriously doubt a security guard in Singapore is able to withstand a dedicated punch or a physical assault in the event of a real scenario or threat. They are definitely not competent in close-combat nor are they trained in martial arts or unarmed combat techniques.

I doubt they are fully trained to respond to a threat scenario, crowd control, fire or natural disaster situation amongst others. Do you truly think a security guard who spends the whole day sitting in a booth staring at his fingers will be able to respond to a threat when the situation arises accordingly? Hell they'll piss in their pants.

Do you have faith in a Singaporean security guard? Do you feel safer with a Singapore security guard? Are you confident in their competence to guard the facility? The recent article in a local university's Chronicle has highlighted the fact that security guards on the school campus are using their service walkie-talkies to chat with each other, listening to music and sleeping on duty!!! The more competent ones are fat, unfit and have trouble hauling their own weight, lumbering about like oversized balloons.

But over there it's a very respected and dignified job, they are highly trained, fully armed (yes some of the guards there are armed with .38 caliber Smith & Wesson revolvers), they look like fully armed policemen instead of security guards. They are constantly on their feet, ready with a metal detector, or a baton, or a mirror to inspect the underneath of a vehicle, or a signaling light-stick to guide traffic, and ever-ready with a whistle to stop traffic for a tourist to cross the road or to hail a taxi for a tourist.

The guards are no push-overs, not skinny nor scrawny, neither are they fat and obese. In fact they are trained for several months in a security guard academy before becoming fully fledged security guards and I believe they are trained in a variety of skills including close-combat, fire-arms and definitely courtesy and language courses in human communication.

They are burly, physically intimidating (look like bouncers in a club) yet courteous, despite the physical nature of their job, they don't put on a constant frown on their faces, their faces are stern and firm but they are always ready to help it is always done with a smile.

They don't sit on their ass-es in a booth, but are always patrolling the premises and standing on guard at the gates of the compounds that they are protecting. Even though they are serious in their line of work, they don't harass nor irritate passer-bys or tourists, and in fact extend a helping hand very willingly and unconditionally when the request is genuine. They can tell if you are there to make trouble, or genuinely asking for directions or wanting to cross the road.

Such situational awareness and courtesy is non-existent in Singaporean security guards. They assume that everyone is here to make trouble and harass or delay a perfectly legitimate request and giving trouble rather than preventing it. And the guards here have poor communication skills, can hardly speak English or communicate effectively at all.

I guess the Indonesians learnt their lesson after two bomb explosions in Bali perpetrated by terrorists. I am in awe and complete respect of the security forces back there, and utterly disgusted with the quality of the guards back in Singapore.

In the pursuit of Zen 2

2009-05-27T14:16:00.000+07:00

In the pursuit of personal achievement.

In the pursuit of Zen

2009-05-26T11:39:00.000+07:00

In the pursuit of Zen

Kampong Glam

2009-05-24T01:11:00.003+07:00

Sometimes in search of my heritage, I find myself in weird places that the locals seldom go to. And in the process discover many lost and forgotten about local wonders.

Garage sales

2009-05-22T12:09:00.001+07:00

I am selling off some old/used stuff that I've not used due to upgrading and are sitting around collecting dust. Most are still in good condition, and I will be describing the listed item description and some noted faults. Note that I will be listing the noted faults to the best of my knowledge.

Interested parties are free to post bids and I'll reserve the item for the highest bidder if there are no bids for the listed item after 24hours.

Please be reasonable with the bids too, not $1 for a monitor etc, and I will reserve the right to or not to sell the item to the person.

As these items have been used and are old, I will give a 3-day personal warranty. If I don't hear from the buyer after 3 days, I will take it that the item(s) are working fine and will not entertain refunds. If the buyer notes faults that are unacceptable within 3 days, I will fully refund the item.

Feel free to look through my garage sale forum in the link below.

Garage sales 2009

old/used Original unreal tournament 2004 game with manual and box

8-lamp flower-design ceiling lamp (all working and dismantled).

Old (unopened, new and unused) Sony Ericsson Bluetooth headset

Old/used Samsung SyncMaster 551s CRT monitor

Brand-new LG Ivory DVD-RW Faceplates.

Brand-new high-quality S-video cable.

LITON High-Quality RGB cables

Watercooling T-connectors

I've got 2 new NALGENE quality T-connectors for sale as well, they are clear and about 4mm internal diameter. Never used before, Lab-grade NALGENE quality, fits 3/8" tubing.

1/2" T-connectors for watercooling

I've got a few industrial black 1/2" T-connectors for sale! These connectors were gotten from an overseas hardwareshop specializing in tubing and cheap too! Brand-new.

Going for sale at $4 each. PM if you are interested! I've got 8 pieces for sale. Initially bought them for my w/c rig. But changed tubing, so not using 1/2" anymore. Fits 1/2" tubing very nicely.

About GPA Homogenization

2009-05-21T14:12:00.000+07:00

During exam period, I had lots of idle brain time to think about many issues that have cropped up in my mind. One of the stark issues that I have a grouse with is about something that I term GPA Homogenization. Is GPA homogenization far?

What is GPA homogenization? One might ask. Well GPA is a standard grade that is used to gauge the academic performance of all students in tertiary education. It is calculated in a simple manner as such.

Each module the student takes has an academic weightage. In NTU it's called AU or "Academic Units", for example a very taxing subject such as "Organic Chemistry" has a weightage of 4AU, a simpler elective module has a weightage of 3AU or a really simple module like a laboratory session has a mere weightage of 1AU, in contrast, a heavy industrial attachment easily has a weightage of 10AUs or more and a final year project (FYP) has a weightage of 20-30AUs. A general guideline is that the number of AUs a module has is the number of hours a week that the module entails lessons for. E.g 3AU module = 3 hrs per week, it could be 2hrs for lecture and 1hr for tutorials. So if a student has a 23AU semester, he spends no less than 23hrs a week in class based on time-table. This number doesn't include self-study, extra-lessons, reports, project time and etc etc.

The grade the student achieves for the subject has a value to it, for example an "A+" has a value of 5.0 (max), "A's" give 4.5, B's give 3.0-3.5, C's give 2.0-2.5, D's give 1.0-1.5 and a fail gets a 0 grade.

The GPA is calculated by (module AU x module grade) / total modules taken. Let's explore an example, let's say student X takes 4 modules, each with a weightage of 3AUs, so he's total AU taken for that semester is 4x3 = 12AUs. If he get's B's for all the subjects, that's [4 modules x (3AU x 3.0) ]/ 12 (total AUs taken) = 3.0GPA. Which is pretty straightforward so far.

Lets say the same student gets 2 A's and 2 B's, so

{ [2 x (3AU x 4.0) ] + [ 2 x (3AU x 3.0) ] } / 12 = 3.5 GPA.

Now what is GPA homogenization?

Lets take 2 students, one in engineering, taking very heavy academic subjects with over 21AUs per semester, (it can be up to 23-26AUs), with five or more core subjects of 4AU or more in weightage.

And let's take another student in business school, doing a mere 14-18 (16 on average) AU per semester with less weighty subjects of 3AUs each. (an example would be economics as compared to Applied Physics).

The student spends much less time studying for less subjects which in turn are less academically demanding and heavy and as a result, able to focus and concentrate on lesser subjects, which translates to a better academic performance per module. So lets say this student gets an A for all the subjects during his/her semester and gets a 4.0GPA.
What about the engineering student who works just as hard, if not harder? Engineering subjects are extremely time-consuming to understand and assignments and tutorials are very mentally taxing. Engineering modules in general require much more time to study and understand in depth as compared to a business module and not to mention the modules have a greater weightage, require more time and are very academically heavy. A student can study all day for his/her 23AUs and still not get A's for the subject due to the bell curve for the entire engineering cohort.

So lets say this engineering student studies 45 hours a week on top of class schedule of 23 hours, and gets B's for all his 5-6 heavy-weighted core subjects (which is actually rather good), he still only scores a 3.0GPA. As compared to a student from business school who say, studies 30 hours a week and scores a 4.0GPA

So the engineering student gets 3.0GPA and the business student gets 4.0GPA. Does this mean that the engineering student is LAZY? Or Stupid? Or Can't-be-bothered? Does that mean the business student is SMART-er? Clever-er? More hardworking?

On paper yes, but if you break down the individual components as I have, you would see that that's not true. The engineering student worked just as hard or harder but did not get the same recognition as the business student and this is the first level of judgment that the outside world has of any graduate.

So the engineering student got a 2nd-class honors and the business student got a 1st class, so that means the business student is smarter or more hardworking right? It might make sense and sound logical, but that would be a very myopic view of the academic system.

I am merely citing an example between an average/general business vs engineering student and not suggesting condescending remarks to either party both ways. If insulting insinuations can be inferred from my text written above, it is not meant to be. This is merely an example of what I term "GPA homogenization" and can be applied to any student from any school anywhere which uses GPA as an academic gauge.

GPA is a convenient way for academic authorities to gauge student performances, but it is NOT a fair way of judgment at all. I am sure for all the brains and PhDs in renown institutions all around the world, there can be a fairer way of academic judgment. But until then, GPA is still used as the academic gauge in institutions all around the world.

But then again, my thoughts could be flawed and myopic in itself if the system has been in place for so long without review or question by higher-authorities, and I am open to suggestions of improvement or critique to supplement my current understanding.

Transformers thumbdrive

2009-05-20T10:46:00.001+07:00

This is uber cool! Sure, you already have piles of flash drives scattered around your apocalyptic nightmare of an apartment,

This is a Transformer-- Ravage, AKA Tripredacus Agent. Ravage has outlived the age of cassette and is onto smaller, better things, and he can store up to 2GB of your most valuable data. He's going to run $42.99 when he's available in September, and can be pre-ordered now.

GL SPnight prototype!

2009-05-19T20:43:00.002+07:00

This NUEVE V Foc camp is going to be interesting, for SP night we're going to make a large heart-shaped balloon structure and us ACGLs spent the day today working on the prototype, and I must say we're quite pleased with the end result!

ACGLs lead the way!

Chiller reservoir

2009-05-18T20:03:00.001+07:00

Today we continued to work on the chiller reservoir. We made very good progress today with his new coolermaster Xeon copper heatsinks and finally decided which container to use as a reservoir. We'll be using my PolyPropylene container since it fits the heatsinks very nicely. The heatsinks look to be of very good quality but the fins are not skived but soldered on. Nevertheless shouldn't affect performance too much.

The whole assembly was mocked up and we got to fix on the high-power Minebea fan and look at it in operation. Very good progress today even though nothing was actually fabricated yet.

A single cooling tower with a copper heatsink base and 4-heatpipe HSF assembly.

Reservoir mock-up

Temperature sensor and display

Fitting the cooling towers into the PP reservoir

Testing the Minebea-fan cooling tower assembly.

It's a GL thing!

2009-05-15T10:40:00.000+07:00

All the ACGLs (assistant-chief GLs) and GLs of NUEVE V 2009 camp meet up today for a pre-camp cohesion and refresher. A very fruitful day.

GLs leading the way for the freshies of 2009!

Finished another rig

2009-05-14T10:24:00.001+07:00

Finally finished a rig for one of my clients. A medium-low end gaming rig. Did up cable-management and sound-proofing, then overclocked to 3.2ghz quite. Quite happy with the final outcome.

Sound-absorbant padding on the base.

Cable-management to the rear.

Cable management and sleeving can be a real pain.

Star Trek Movie

2009-05-10T16:00:00.001+07:00

Excellent show. A must-watch, even if you are not a trekkie.

MK - 4/5 stars.

Finally finished my rig

2009-05-09T01:28:00.002+07:00

Finally finished my rig, after the past 3 days of working on it. Re-cutting holes for wire-management, spray-painting, re-doing the entire cooling loop, re-lapping of blocks and re-application of thermal interface and fan-replacements and LED-soldering.

I am quite happy with my final outcome.

The Vitamin C rig

2009-05-08T00:48:00.002+07:00

This is an updated rig from the MK2008, the water cooling system changed to incorporate the use of a new coolant, and the loop changed to a closed one. Old Parts. Cleaner look. Newly named "Vitamin C" for it's coolant and theme colour.

Specs of the Vitamin C

-[ Components ]-

- Intel E6550 @ 3.2Ghz watercooled
- Asus P5KR Motherboard
- Nvidia 8800GT 512Mb overclocked (750Mhz :: 1020Mhz :: 1800Mhz)
- 4 Gb Crucial BallistiX DDR-2 High-performance Rams
- 2 x 500Gb Seagate HDDs :: 1 x 160Gb Seagate HDD
- 2 x 19" WXGA Widescreen monitors
- LG 20x DVD-RW
- Razer ProClick 1.6v Mouse :: Microsoft Reclusa Keyboard
- Coolermaster Centurion 534 Casing
- Coolermaster 650W Extreme PSU
- Maxtor OneTouch Pro4 1TB

-[ Cooling ]-

( Pump > CPU > GPU > Radiator > Reservoir ) Loop

- Thermaltake Bigwater 750i Pump
- Thermaltake CPU Hi-flow waterblock w/ Acrylic top
- Thermaltake 1x 120mm radiator
- DangerDen Maze4 GPU waterblock
- Tygon R-3603 Laboratory-grade 3/8" tubing
- 3/8" D-tek/EK barbs
- Swiftech MRES reservoir v1
- Xigmatek XLF-series exhaust fan (64cfm)
- Thermaltake variable exhaust fan (92cfm)
- DELTA 120mm AFB1212B series intake fan (110cfm)

National Geographic Store at Vivocity

2009-05-01T22:22:00.001+07:00

Today I happened to chance upon the National Geographic Store at Vivocity. It's really a different and refreshing change from the usual fashion boutiques at the shopping centre.

The store is packed with exorbitantly-priced items all the way into the range of the thousands and the products placed like exhibits like that in a museum, except that these exhibits actually have price-tags on them.

Store entrance

Actual fossils for sale

A definite eye-opener, go check it out, but don't bother buying anything unless you are earning no more than a 5-digit monthly salary or if you're just feeling rich enough to splurge..

Visit to the Peranakan Museum

2009-04-29T21:16:00.004+07:00

Haha, somehow or rather I consider myself 1/2-peranakan and have always wanted to view the museum, so here's some pictures that I took for your viewing pleasure.

You will find more details on their website here.

Peranakans are generally the descendants of foreign immigrants taking on local chinese wives in Singapore during the colonial period. Basically a foreign dad with a local chinese mum.

In both Malay and Indonesian, 'Peranakan' is defined as 'descendant' with no connotation of the ethnicity of decent unless followed by a subsequent qualifying noun, such as for example Cina (Chinese), Belanda (Dutch) or Jepang (Japanese). Peranakan has the implied connotation of referring to the ancestry of great-grandparents or more distant ancestors.

The word is a Javanese loan honorific word from Dutch Nona(grandma) meaning: foreign married Madam. The term for Straits-Chinese addressed as nyonya originated as Javanese at the time had a tendency to address all foreign women (and perhaps those who appeared foreign) as nyonya.

Straits-Chinese are defined as those born or living in the Straits Settlements- a British colonial construct of Penang, Meleka and Singapore constituted in 1826. Straits-Chinese were not considered Baba Nyonya unless they displayed certain Sino-Malay syncretic attributes.

The language of the Peranakans, Baba Malay (Bahasa Melayu Baba), is a dialect of the Malay language (Bahasa Melayu), which contains many Hokkien words. It is a dying language, and its contemporary use is mainly limited to members of the older generation. English has now replaced this as the main language spoken amongst the younger generation.

Entrance

Peranakan and Baba-Nyonya are the descendants of late 18th Century Chinese immigrants to the Nusantara region during the Colonial era, especially the British Straits Settlements of Malaya and the Dutch-controlled island of Java and other locations, who have adopted partially or in full Malay customs.

While the term Peranakan is most commonly used among the ethnic Chinese for those of Chinese descent also known as Straits Chinese, there are also other, comparatively small so-called Peranakan communities, such as Indian Hindu Peranakans (Chitty), Indian Muslim Peranakans (Jawi Pekan) (Pekan a colloquial contraction of Peranakan.) and Eurasian Peranakans (Kristang)

In peranakan culture, the ladies are referred to as "nyonyas" (also commonly misspelled nonya) and the males as "babas".

Marriage

It was not uncommon for early Chinese traders to take Malay women of Peninsular Malay or Sumatera as wives. Consequently the Baba Nyonya possessed a synergistic mix of Sino-Malay cultural traits.

Peranakan men usually took brides from within the local Peranakan community. Peranakan families occasionally imported brides from China and sent their daughters to China to find husbands.

Marriages within the community and of similar stature were the norm. Wealthy men prefigured to marry a chin choay: or matrilocal marriage where husband moved in with wife's family.

The headpieces and jewelry worn in peranakan weddings

Wedding gifts in peranakan culture

Head-pieces for the women

wedding gifts of jewelry and ang-baos

Traditional family hall in a peranakan home

Exquisite Chinese-culture inspired peranakan furniture.

A peranakan dressing table

A peranakan wedding-bed for newly-weds.

peranakan beaded-purse

peranakan baby clothing

hand-woven baby booties

Clothing

The Peranakan retained most of their ethnic and religious origins (such as ancestor worship), but assimilated the language and culture of the Malays. The Nyonya's clothing was identical to that of the native Malay's: baju panjang (long dress), batik sarung (batik wrap-around skirt) and kerongsang (brooch).

Beaded slippers called Kasut Manek were a hand-made made with much skill and patience: strung, beaded and sewn onto canvas with tiny faceted glass beads from Bohemia (present-day Czech Republic). In modern times, glass beads from Japan are preferred. Traditional kasut manek design often have European floral subjects, with colors influenced by Peranakan porcelain and batik sarongs. They were made onto flats or bedroom slippers. But from the 1930s, modern shapes became popular and heels were added.

peranakan chinese-culture textbooks

An ancestral altar

Religion

Baba Nyonya subscribed to Chinese beliefs: Taoism, Confucianism and Chinese Buddhism, celebrated the Lunar New Year and the Lantern Festival, while adopting the customs of the land they settled in, as well as those of their colonial rulers. There are traces of Portuguese, Dutch, British, Malay and Indonesian influences in Baba culture.

peranakan dining culture

Food

From the Malay influence a unique "Nyonya" cuisine has developed using typical Malay spices. Examples are Chicken Kapitan, a dry chicken curry, and Inchi Kabin, a Nyonya version of fried chicken.

Tan Tock Seng! A prominent peranakan

Exams are finally over!

2009-04-27T00:05:00.001+07:00

Exams are finally over!

New chinup bar at home

2009-04-14T21:49:00.001+07:00

Alright, installed a new chinup bar at home. It's very sturdy and made of good-quality steel, matte-black with rubber grips. One of the better chin-up bars I've bought in a long time. Installation was relatively pain-free and I am happy with my purchase.

communication?

2009-04-05T12:52:00.001+07:00

Well remember several years ago when I talked about sms degenerating human communication? Well Facebook is taking it to another level! Interpersonal relationships have deteriorated over the years.

From the good-old face to face human conversation, it degenerated to phonecalls (which still wasn't too bad), but it got worse with IRC and SMS, when sms-es were used to ask a hand in a relationship or even cancel a marriage! Then now with the advent of MSN and Facebook, things have all gone downhill for the entire world to see. This was mentioned in a newspaper article (today) about 1 week ago talking about how emails are used as the main form of communication in the workplace even when collegues were just desks apart, they can't WALK over to ask something, but have to send an email. The human touch has been lost as technology progressed. Who said technology is helping us? It's drifting us further apart. We make more bonds and more friends, but the bonds between the friends have gradually become weaker. More numerous, but increasingly weaker.

What is Excellence...

2009-04-01T22:38:00.000+07:00

What is Excellence...

A German once visited a temple under construction where he saw a
sculptor making an idol of God. Suddenly he noticed a similar idol lying
nearby. Surprised, he asked the sculptor, "Do you need two statues of
the same idol?" "No," said the sculptor without looking up, "We need
only one, but the first one got damaged at the last stage." The
gentleman examined the idol and found no apparent damage. "Where is the
damage?" he asked. "There is a scratch on the nose of the idol." said
the sculptor, still busy with his work. "Where are you going to install
the idol?"

The sculptor replied that it would be installed on a pillar twenty feet
high. "If the idol is that far, who is going to know that there is a
scratch on the nose?" the gentleman asked. The sculptor stopped his
work, looked up at the gentleman, smiled and said, "I will know it."

The desire to excel is exclusive of the fact whether someone else
appreciates it or not. "Excellence" is a drive from inside, not outside.
Excellence is not for someone else to notice but for your own
satisfaction and efficiency...

Hiatus

2009-03-28T16:44:00.002+07:00

I'll be taking a a month hiatus to prepare for my approaching inevitable examinations. Nothing to write, it's studies everyday anyway.

Dilbert - the knack

2009-03-25T20:03:00.001+07:00

I've got a seriously funny video to share! I have got the "knack".... I will never be able to lead a normal life ever again!

Countdown to the exams has started

2009-03-23T20:34:00.001+07:00

Countdown to the exams has started. It's in a mere 3 weeks time. Time to study.

Meanwhile, I've come up with one design for the Koryo T-shirt, unfortunately it's not suitable due to the multi-colour design that will spiral up costs. Never mind, it's an idea though! I'll think of another one soon.

Eviction process has started

2009-03-22T22:04:00.001+07:00

We have to move out of our halls by 30th April, so the eviction process has started and I am moving my stuff bit by bit out of my hall. It's sad...

Meanwhile, how about some Carbon-Fibre vinyled laptop? Sleeeekkk~!

Carbon fibre~~ Check that out man, a $899 laptop made to LOOK like a $4k gaming one.

Inspiring video

2009-03-20T16:51:00.004+07:00

Why are you complaining? When you have 4 limbs, a healthy body, friends, family and a home to go home to? Why am I complaining? What do I have to complain about? I have learnt quite a few things about humility from this guy. Here's very inspiring video to share to everyone.

So don't complain when you see someone else having something better than you have, rather look at what you have, remember what those who don't, and make the best out of it.

"There are some times in life when you fall down you feel that you don't have the strength to get back up. Do you think you have hope? Because I tell you, I'm down here, face down, and i have no arms no legs. It should be impossible for me to get back up, but it's not! You see, I will try 100 times to get up. If I fail 100 times, and if I fail and I give up, do you think I'm ever going to get up? No! But if i fail and i try again and again and again, I just want to tell you it's not the end. It matters how you are going to finish. Are you going to finish strong?"

Sometimes in life, things doesn't seem fair, sometimes you fall, but don't complain, all things in life, everything has a balance. When you fall, just pick yourself up and carry on. That's part of life.

I will be a better person.

You are not the best.

2009-03-18T00:33:00.001+07:00

It's a somber thought.

"You were chosen because there was no one else, not because you're the best."

Carbon-fibre external-harddrive

2009-03-16T16:48:00.000+07:00

How does a carbon-fibre external-harddrive look to you? =D

IT show 2009 horde

2009-03-15T01:07:00.000+07:00

This is a picture taken by a fellow forumer, it shows the CROWD at CITILINK (not even Suntec City), reminds me of the hordes of zombies in Left4dead or Resident Evil or 28 days later....

ITfair 2009

2009-03-14T11:02:00.003+07:00

Fought the crowd at the ITfair 2009 today. But managed to land all my targeted products in precision strikes.

Got a Canon Pixma MP198 all-in-one printer (scan,copy, print) for $99! (You get a free targus laptop bag and a trolley). Panasonic Lumix FX-48 for $549, (12.1 MP, 2 x 8Gb SD cards free, mini-tripod, lens cleaner free) plus it can record HD-video as well.

Some Carbon fibre vinyl and whole lotta ink cartridges for my printer.

What's the difference??

2009-03-13T10:50:00.000+07:00

Recently I've been getting a surge of IT-related questions on what-the-hell-is-the-difference on netbooks and stuff... After exasperatedly explaining to many people, I found this really idiot-proof flowchart and it's rather interesting.

So, what's the f**king difference between a Netbook and an ultrathin??

Alright, so you wanna get a small, cheap computer, but you don't know what to get. Darn near every computer maker has a very special model of miniature computer nowadays, be it ultra-portable, Netbookⓒ, sub-notebook, handheld, mini-notebook, ultrathin notebook, ULCPC - and the list goes on.

It's sort of confusing at first - but the important thing to remember is that each of these categories are completely different and you should feel extremely bad if you don't know the terminology.

Most Frequently Asked Miniature Computer Questions. Actually, it's just one question.

Q: WTF is the difference between an ultra-portable and an ultra-thin notebook?

The biggest hurdle to the layman is that most of these categories are new and sometimes not well defined. How big can a subnotebook be before it's considered an ultra-portable? Does an optical disk make a Netbookⓒ an ultrathin?

Knowing a computer's specs is nice — but that's job #2 next to categorization. Categorization separates us from the animals. And keep in mind: each computer maker insists on coming up with a new term for their machine for every minute change they make.

PC vendors certainly know the category is important. Witness Psion Teklogix and Intel suing each other over the name "netbook." Do you know one out of five people mislabel their small, cheap computer?

This simple flowchart will help.

And that settles it. No more arguments.

Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/13/miniature_computer_field_guide/

Galle Crater

2009-03-11T00:52:00.002+07:00

If you have watched WATCHMEN, I learnt that the last scene with the smiley face on Mars.

It's called the Galle Crater and IT'S REAL.

Galle is a crater on Mars. It is located on the eastern rim of the huge impact basin Argyre Planitia. It is named after the astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle.

Galle is often known as the "happy face crater" because the illusion of a smiley is created by a semicircular mountain range and two smaller craters within the main crater. The formation was first photographed by Viking Orbiter 1.

SMS-es

2009-03-06T23:06:00.000+07:00

I really hate it when people don’t bother replying their SMS-es.

You know, short of having the urgent need to contact you, since calling might be a little intrusive or distracting, I'd thought I'll show some courtesy by dropping a non-urgent sms but nevertheless still important that requires a simple and short reply.

The least you could do; anyone could do, would to reply a simple acknowledgement sms. Like "thanks", or "no, sorry I can't", or "okay sure". Is that so difficult?

The infuriating thing is that, you are one of those text-maniacs who would flip open their phone every 10 minutes to check if they have a message. You keep checking for messages, yet not reply to mine? Despite my repeated sms-es, I get no reply.

Which can only mean one thing.

You choose to ignore my messages. I must say that the knowledge of this fact is rather irritating, considering the importance of the content of my messages.

I can understand if people don't pick up the phone, but not replying? When you blast off messages faster than speaking the same sentence vocally?

The simplest of courtesies would be to reply to a message when it requires attention. That's really the least you could do. Otherwise, what's the point of you having your expensive multi-function, music-jukebox, touch-screen handphone..

Not bothering displays a can't-be-bothered-attitude, which inevitably reflects on your poor character eventually.

Future by Microsoft

2009-03-04T22:04:00.000+07:00

Imagine what the near future will be like? This video was presented by microsoft at TechFest. A pretty good try at envisioning the future by Microsoft. 3.5/5 stars for effort on concept. Low on ingenuity though. Interesting video nonetheless.

Inspiration

2009-03-03T11:27:00.000+07:00

I am very proud to show this photo. It shows one of my members doing an excellent maneuver to her opponent. It is a text-book execution and a perfect example on application.

She won a gold, and I am proud to say that. =)

NTU lecturer STABBED

2009-03-02T17:59:00.003+07:00

It just keep getting worse. This is insane, and to think I was having lessons a mere block away! Luckily there were no guns involved...

A Nanyang Technological University (NTU) spokesman had confirmed that a final year student from the School of Electrical and Electronics Engineering stabbed a professor today.

At 10.25am TODAY. The professor at the engineering faculty was in his office when the student stabbed him with a knife in the back. Prof Chan Kap Luk, a Singaporean in his 40s, is said to be the supervisor of the fourth year student in a project.

After stabbing the professor, the male student - who was in his 20s - slit his wrists and jumped down a building at the engineering block.

His body was found at the bottom of the building, which was about five storeys high. He died from his injuries.

Prof Chan received medical treatment for cuts and is in stable condition. He said the matter will be investigated thoroughly. The university has mobilised its counselling professionals to help.

Dr Su said: "The university is deeply shocked and saddened by what has happened... The university community will rally together at this difficult time and do our utmost to help the student's family, the professor and his family, and those traumatised by the incident."

- 938LIVE/CNA/yt

Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/412478/1/.html

Merlion got struck by lightning

2009-03-02T07:39:00.002+07:00

SINGAPORE'S iconic Merlion statue, was damaged by lightning on Saturday afternoon during a thunderstorm, causing parts of the statue to fall near a group of startled visitors.

The very symbol of Singapore got struck by lighting.

This could be a very bad omen for the even worse times to come. A very bad year for 2009.

Image courtesy of sei-ji rakugaki

TOC finals

2009-03-01T22:05:00.004+07:00

I lost to my opponent today. I ain't very pleased with the outcome because I know I could win, but he was fast, and my body wasn't conditioned to that speed. Lost 4-1.

My catagory is really tough, 3 national fighters to overcome. Even if I won this round, I would have lost the next. =( Sigh, next year I'll just focus on sparring. At least one gold medal was achieved. At least i didn't walk away from this tournament empty handed.

Sad....

Congrats to all those who won their hard-earned medals over these 3 days!

TOC 2009 Day 1

2009-02-27T22:27:00.002+07:00

TOC 2009 Day 1 - Poomse Category Competition

We have secured 4 golds, 1 silver and 1 bronze. The results are as follows,

1) Ee Jang Team 1 - Gold
2) Ee Jang Team 2 - Silver
3) Sa Jang Team - Bronze
4) O Jang Team - Gold
5) Chil Jang Team - Gold
6) Koryo Team – Gold

This is a good start for day 1. This essentially makes us the overall pattern champions. I'm glad that the pattern teams' sweat and efforts have paid off handsomely.

With this hard earned advantage secured by the pattern teams for us, it is now up to us fighters to walk the rest of our journey to the top. We will show everyone what we have been training for. It starts tomorrow and we'll make our opponents hearts shiver once again together as NTU Taekwondo.

Team SPAREX 2009 - medallist haul

NTU TKD Day 1 medallists

The KORYO Team, Black-Belt Gold Medallists! With outstanding score of 7.500 (1st) and Finals 7.200 (1st).

NTU TOC 2009

2009-02-26T14:18:00.002+07:00

NTU TOC 2009 is organised by NTU Taekwondo Club, with many help from Singapore Taekwondo Federation. This 3-days highly anticipated taekwondo event is divided into 2 main highlights: pattern and sparring tournaments.

This year, the organisers have opened up more categories to encourage more fellow taekwondo practisers to participate. Up to 10 institutions from Junior Colleges, ITEs, Polytechnics and Universities will be pitting their skills against each other under a set of rules and regulations as formulated by the TOC committee, following closely the guidelines from STF.

With some newly imposed regulations, expect breathtaking kicks and punches in the sparring arena. Also, booths will be set up in the sports halls selling taekwondo equipment and TOC 2009 souvenirs at alarming discounted rates.

You are invited to make your way down to TOC 2009 from 27th Feb to 1st March to catch this exhilarating event and cheer on for every fighter.

Visit: http://sites.google.com/site/ntutkdopen

break from solace

2009-02-22T00:31:00.000+07:00

I have a thousand things on my mind to write about, my school work, my commitments, my many million things weighing on my mind. But I have no desire nor motivation to write them down here.

I took a break in solace to break away from my hustle and bustle and watched a few youtube clips, and this one melted my heart completely. This video is definitely worth sharing.

Little Connie.
HEART MELTZ

Technological progress

2009-02-02T22:25:00.000+07:00

Whilst 2009 has started off as a bleak year with more than 90,000 recorded jobs being lost from the MNC big boys.

Still technological progress hasnt taken a back seat.

Samsung's 4Gb chip promises 32GB DDR3 RAMs.

Big boy Samsung has new 4GB chips, two things here: 1) the new chips consume 40% less power than previous DD3 memory modules, and 2) the chips pave the way for 32GB (Byte, not bit) DIMM modules. The first modules will come in capacities of 16GB and 8GB. (3 x 8GB of memory should suffice for Vista or Windows7!)

Solid state drives aren't going anywhere just yet. Western Digital's 2TB (Yes TWO TERABYTES) Caviar Green harddrive is out. Hmm how about 8 x 2TB drives in RAID.

Really funny batman gets pwned

2009-01-27T01:09:00.000+07:00

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

2009-01-25T11:30:00.003+07:00

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Have a blessed and prosperous year of the Ox ahead!

寄一份真情的问候, 字字句句都是幸福快乐, 送一串深深的祝福,分分秒秒都是平安吉祥,传一份浓浓的心意，点点滴滴都是万事如意, 祝您新春愉快!身体像牛那般壮;运势如牛气冲天.

May this New Year bring you and your family, a year filled with Serenity and an ABUNDANCE of Blessings, Good Fortune & Happiness!

Chinese Zodiac - Year of the Ox

The Ox or Bull

People born in the Year of the Ox are patient, speak little, and inspire confidence in others. They tend, however, to be eccentric, and bigoted, and they anger easily. They have fierce tempers and although they speak little, when they do they are quite eloquent. Ox people are mentally and physically alert. Generally easy-going, they can be remarkably stubborn, and they hate to fail or be opposed. They are most compatible with Snake, Rooster, and Rat people.

You are a born leader.
You inspire confidence.
You are demanding.
You are methodical and good with your hands.
You will make a good surgeon, general or hairdresser.

Source: http://www.paulnoll.com/China/Zodiac/zodiac-ox-pic.html

Unfavourable TKD

2009-01-20T13:20:00.001+07:00

At TKD I heard that I will most likely be fighting Jason Ong, a national fighter. I've seen him fight before. His skill surpasses me by leaps and bounds. I will really need to go all out to take him on.

Sian. This IVP is looking very unfavourable for me. After all that training, yet with the possiblity of losing.

Really useless.

2009-01-18T13:07:00.001+07:00

I have fallen sick, yet I still went for training in school. I wonder why. My pattern is undoubtedly the worst. I will probably be kicked out of the team and put as a reserve when it finally comes down to the crunch to choose the 3 to actually perform. I want to be on the team!

Actually ever since I've joined the club, I don't feel very in tune with people in there, it isn't just the black belt Koryo pattern team, but rather the whole club on a whole. I feel that I am the weakest link on the Koryo team, during sparring sessions, I am not impressing shi fu, nor the pres nor the seniors.

I feel really useless at my current skill level.

World's smallest working fuel cell

2009-01-15T16:48:00.002+07:00

World's smallest working fuel cell has high potential, low voltage

University of Illinois researchers have developed what they claim is the world's smallest working fuel cell, and it's certainly a good bit tinier than anything we've seen. The tiny battery measures 3 mm x 3 mm x 1 mm and is comprised of just four layers: a water reservoir, a thin membrane, a chamber of metal hydride, and an assembly of electrodes.

It can produce 0.7 volts and a 0.1 mA for about 30 hours, with a newer model being able to produce 0.7V and 1mA! That's not gonna juice your BlackBerry anytime soon, but scientists suggest it could be used for simple electronics and microbots.

Finally battery technology is getting some improvement.

Think your thumbdrive capacity is big?

2009-01-11T21:32:00.000+07:00

Think your thumbdrive capacity is big? How about 32Gb?

The new MSN sucks shit.

2009-01-09T10:16:00.000+07:00

The new MSN sucks shit.

I just want a stable, doesn't crash, concise, self-customizable, chatable chat program without all the stupid pictures and shitty emoticon crap. They keep shoving all this aesthetic graphic features in new programs and you wonder why we don't have enough processing power despite all the hardware advances we have today.

I miss mIRC. That was the best chat program I've ever used.

SLOW

2009-01-07T22:54:00.000+07:00

NTU’s internet connectivity is so frustratingly slow.... ARGGH

last day before the war

2009-01-04T16:13:00.001+07:00

Today is the last day before the war begins all over again. This time the fight is going to get tougher. MUCH tougher....

Marina Barrage Recce

2009-01-03T00:22:00.001+07:00

Today the all the Nueve ACGLs went over to the Barrage for our Night Recce and discussion on the flow-plan. It was a nice place with a great scenery and view. Some nice pics taken during the recce for sharing... It's too bad my venerable lumix camera can't capture the splendor of the lighting effectively at all. (Need a DSLR!) But the view is very refreshing.

Great view over the Marina bay and flyer...

ACGLs all ready for fright night...

Bleak year ahead

2008-12-29T12:55:00.001+07:00

It's going to be a bleak and dark year ahead in 2009, with the effects of recession starting to be felt. I have to tighten my pockets, limit my spending. But that's not all, it will be gloomy and tough. 2009 will be one of the toughest years I'll be facing yet with so much at stake. I have to perform in TKD IVP and win to keep me staying in hall. And my studies will be the roughest ever yet as I struggle with first year subjects.

On the academic I've never done so badly in my life before.

Over the past few days, I've been rushing to separate events with the intention of giving my support to my guys for canvassing events. Since I only had so few members going, I thought I'd rush over to show my support as the ACGL and help them out. That was when I sensed something had changed. No wonder I felt recently that something was wrong. Now I realized why. And she didn't bother to tell me about it. I had to sense it myself.

I didn't think I would be affected. But now I realized that I am affected. But what she said is right. It all makes sense now. She had waited, and I couldn't be there. I am always preoccupied with my work. It's has always been true then. In history and now. I feel rather saddened slightly. Now I've lost the only close support that I have in that OG, is the 2009 really going to be that bleak for me? I feel so lonely. I seem to have totally lost Hushnom.

I have so many commitments, yet none of them yield any form of emotional gain or support. My strength and effort is being stretched too far and wide and my limits will be pushed beyond my boundaries in the coming year.

2009 will be my watershed year. The make or break period to prove my mettle and I will be tested on all fronts. Academics, TKD, SCBE, relationships, Spring and the Student Union.

It's really lonely at the top.

Water-cooling stuff

2008-12-25T12:44:00.000+07:00

Well before I tighten my pocket in preparation for a tight financial year in 2009, here's my last batch of water-cooling items I got to stock up for my next rig revision... Some high-flow fans, fittings, sound-dampening material, barbs and UV-reactive coolant from Feser.

Glowing nicely under UV-light.

Thermo-sensitive spoons

2008-12-24T13:12:00.000+07:00

I got a very nice present that I love very much! I've been searching high and low all over the internet for this set of thermo-sensitive spoons. They're once a novelty that died out some time ago.

These are baby-spoons, once made by several natal/baby-product companies, but most of their products have been discontinued. Brands such as Munchkin.

Well, this technology is not new, but it's so cool to have one that I can have in hall that no other student has. A spoon that changes colour when put into a hot/warm liquid. It's called thermo-chromatic properties and there are two types of dyes, the thermo-chromatic crystals that are present in novelty "mood-rings", or "mood-sensitive" toys that changes colour when you touch them. These dyes are also present in "thermal-strips" that changes colour due to temperature changes and can be found in aquarium temperature strips and some medical temperature strips.

Those crystals change colour due to heat, unfortunately, that type of thermo-chromatic crystals present in shirts/toys/mood-rings/"mood"-clothing/temperature strips are toxic. They do not have a large temperature range or tolerance either and have a characteristic green/blue/yellowish hue on a dark background.

This spoon uses another form of thermochromatic dye properties, it is non-toxic, polymerizable in plastic and has a higher heat and mechanical tolerance/tensile properties.

The downside is that it's thermo-chromatic property is only discolouration. (upon heat-exitation, it loses it's dye-colouring), it doesn't have a range of colours to depict temperature changes. Just an "on/off" state. But it serves it's purpose by telling you if the food/liquid is too hot for consumption!

And it may just be a spoon but I find them cool enough! You may ask me for more information if you are interested.

Yeah, I am happy with simple presents like this.

Comes in many colours!

Original colour

Dipping into hot water

Discolouration to white.

Whole spoon made out of that plastic!

Handle changes colour as well.

Normal colour returning

Original colour returned.

McSpicy Double burger

2008-12-22T23:59:00.002+07:00

I remember a long time ago, there was this McDonald's burger called the McSpicy Double. I liked it very much, it was worth it, filling, and wasn't too bad tasing, plus it came with double patties.

Then some time along the way, they removed one patty, sold it at the same price and called it McSpicy itself.

Now, they add the 2nd patty back, and call it MEGA McSpicy whilst charging almost $2 more for that one extra single patty!!!

Talk about inflation.

Designs

2008-12-20T15:27:00.002+07:00

Recently I've been working on some designs for my Student Union UOC 2009 next year. Just some designs to share =)

2 short movie reviews

2008-12-17T10:56:00.003+07:00

I've come to understand that no one really reads my entire lengthy reviews and entries, so I'll keep this two movies that I've recently had the opportunity to watch very short and sweet.

The movie is adapted from the life story of Ip Man, the grand master of the Wing Chun style of Kung Fu and Sifu (master) of legendary Kung Fu superstar Bruce Lee.

Ip Man - martial arts unyielding follower, whole-heartedly devotee to the free learning of Wushu. This movie is the first important record of the masters life. Ips persistent devotion to Wing Chun is a classic example of the love and respect for Wushu and the freedom and spirit it represents.

Excellent movie, touching, inspiring, moving. 4/5. MK's reccomended Must-Watch.

"The Day the Earth Stood Still" is 20th Century Fox's contemporary reinvention of its 1951 classic. Keanu Reeves portrays Klaatu, an alien whose arrival on our planet triggers a global upheaval. As governments and scientists race to unravel the mystery behind the visitor's appearance, a woman and her young stepson get caught up in his mission and come to understand the ramifications of his being a self-described "friend to the Earth."

Dumb movie, stupid plot, stupid acting, stupid scenes 1/5. Don't watch. Period.

Reviews short enough? =)

NUEVE 2009 photoshoot

2008-12-16T00:31:00.003+07:00

Today the main-committee had a formal photoshoot for the year book for next year's camp. There were 3 main shots taken, but whilst waiting for our turn, we ACGLs of next year took a shot ourselves in our old uniform (we didn't take alot of pictures ourselves).

Here's a pic of next year's NUEVE 2009 Assistant-Chief GLs, the 6 ACGLs of NUEVE 2009.

Christmas Carol for 2008

2008-12-15T08:20:00.000+07:00

You'd better watch out
You'd better not cry
You'd better keep cash
I'm telling you why:
Recession is coming to town.

It's hitting you once,
It's hitting you twice
It doesn't care if you've been careful and wise
Recession is coming to town
It's worthless if you've got shares
It's worthless if you've got bonds
It's safe when you've got cash in hand So keep cash for goodness sake, HEY

You'd better watch out
You'd better not cry
You'd better keep cash
I ' m telling you why:
Recession is coming to town!

Finance products are confusing
Finance products are so vague
The banks make you bear the cost of risk so keep out for goodness sake, OH

You'd better watch out
You'd better not cry
You'd better keep cash
I'm telling you why:
Recession is coming to town.

A nice song!

2008-12-13T00:12:00.001+07:00

This song has captured my attention with the meaning it has embedded in the lyrics that relates very accurately to my life recently... It's really a nice song!

A prayer

2008-12-12T12:23:00.000+07:00

"Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance.

We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done.

We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values.
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
We have killed our unborn and called it choice.
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem.
We have abused power and called it politics.
We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition.
We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.
We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, Oh, God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free.

Amen!"

Back

2008-12-11T22:26:00.000+07:00

Taiwan was really boring. Next time I go there will be by myself or with friends. And doing SHOPPING. Not sight-seeing...

Off to Taiwan again

2008-12-02T22:34:00.000+07:00

Hooray, exams are over! I am flying off to Taiwan for a quick getaway trip tomorrow Morning. Will be back on the 11th. Have fun guys...

Taiwan is the place to go!

Simple Temperature Probe 3-min project

2008-12-01T21:45:00.000+07:00

I know this is not new, but after a year of sticking my generic probe into my reservoir, I noticed that readings have been rather high even when it is obviously not so.

That's a problem with generic resistance-based thermistors. After a while the sensor's performance degrades due to thermal degradation. Unlike Temp-to-voltage Resistance Temperature Detectors (RTDs) which are among the most precise temperature sensors commercially used. They are based on the positive temperature coefficient of electrical resistance.

RTDs are expensive though precise, and generally I believe most of the commercial temperature probes in PC temperature devices are thermistors, (due to small size, compact and inexpensive package and 2-wire probes, indicating thermistor-types), RTDs require 3-wire probes and a control circuit.

So with my generic temperature probe, I spent 3-minutes on this "project", cutting out the old probe, soldering a new female connector. And voila! I now have a probe that I can attach various after-market thermistor-based temperature probes and they all work fine! (Thermistors have no polarity).

My finished product

A Scythe kamameter/kazemaster temperature probe

The connecting ends

Together with a Bitspower G1/4" temperature probe and the Kazemaster probe.

All of these aftermarket probes work just fine! Within a +/- 0.3deg tolerance

Well, just a quick post, I hope you find this interesting and go out to make your own temperature-readout with various probes available out there to suit your own purposes.

Time spent: 3minutes
Total Cost: $0

One more hurdle

2008-11-27T18:28:00.002+07:00

Damn, it's hard to concentrate when all the rooms around me have increased their noise levels exponentially.

Sounds of Mahjong, laughter, movie-playing, music-blasting all joined with the crickets and Chicadas in an orchestral cacophony...

Seems that everyone has finished their exams! And I still have one more to go tomorrow. Dammit, One last hurdle. I WILL DO IT. One last paper tomorrow

EXAMS =

2008-11-26T21:04:00.000+07:00

EXAMS =

Chemistry all screwed up

2008-11-24T19:31:00.002+07:00

I had a chemistry exam today. Normally I am quite comfortable with chemistry, however all that I studied didn’t come out and all that came out I’ve never seen before! What the hell? Is this how university exams are like? Apparently it seems that the notes, textbooks and doing tutorials and past-year papers are no longer sufficient. I think I wrote nonsense for half the paper just hoping to get "method" marks.

SOBS.

Because of that I went back depressed again, I needed this damn subject to pull up my math grade and overall GPA, looks like it's all GONE GONE GONE.

Dejected I went back to hall and came across this cute video of this kid acting as Optimus Prime and his dad taking a video! I WILL DO THAT NEXT TIME WHEN I BECOME A DAD!

Crazy!

2008-11-20T17:19:00.001+07:00

Just for the hell of it, I spray-painted my trusty SHARP EL-546L scientific calculator because I think I am going crazy from studying.

Minority Report-style interface

2008-11-16T19:57:00.001+07:00

If you've been waiting for that Minority Report-style interface to really come to fruition, you can finally exhale. One of the science advisors from the Steven Spielberg film -- along with a team of other zany visionaries -has created an honest-to-goodness, real-world implementation of the computer systems seen in the movie. Dubbed g-speak, the mind bending OS combines "gestural i/o, recombinant networking, and real-world pixels," to deliver what the creators call "the first major step in [a] computer interface since 1984." There are some things that need to seen to be understood, so watch the video after the break, and prepare to have your mind thoroughly blown to bits.

g-speak overview 1828121108 from john underkoffler on Vimeo.

Very cool 360-effects

2008-11-14T11:50:00.001+07:00

I chanced upon this video, this is Toshiba's Timesculpture Advert using their new HD cameras. Rather cool if you ask me.

1 paper down, 5 more to go.

2008-11-12T11:51:00.000+07:00

1 paper down, 5 more to go.

Flattened Bulb

2008-11-10T01:02:00.003+07:00

Seriously, I have no idea what application is this used for,but YES, there is such a product. And it's quite cool if you ask me. A novelty item. iWant!

via Designboom.com & slsing.com

flagrant audacity!

2008-11-06T13:33:00.000+07:00

I happened to chance upon this site:

http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=2141226

[ Warning some images are gory and grotesque. ]

As I innocuously viewed through the thread, viewing lamentably over the counterfeit goods that they are producing, then it got to the videos on animal cruelty and that got my blood pressure rising, then over to the lead-tainted toys and melamine-contaminated milk, but what got me really pissed me off was the repeated snatch-theft attempts and no one helped!!! WTF?! I wanna go up and bash that guy up!!! Despicably outrageous! Atrocious, barbaric, nefarious display of flagrant audacity!

Especially now after the melamine scandal, all those innocent children and unwitting consumers, goddamn bastards.. Shrewd bastards! Then as I continued down the thread, I see LIFE skinning of animals?! Worker exploitation, outrageous robbery attempts, contaminated water sources.. And the list goes on...

My blood is boiling.

Performing for Charity

2008-11-02T23:09:00.003+07:00

Dear guys,

I'll be performing in a charity event this coming Saturday evening (8th November 2008)

It's a Taekwondo demostration for a charitable cause at The Arts House @ The old parliament building this Saturday evening. I am leading a group of demostrators to perform stunts for this arts event, (TKD is a Martial ART after all), there are other forms of arts performances as well.

Well, TKD is not just about violence, we can put it to practical and useful purposes, as such a scenario, Charity. I am heading this group and offered to do it because it's for a good cause. Now this is where your individual skill really matters, not just putting a few coins into a flagday-can. You never know where your money will go to: (i.e gold taps...)

If you happen to be free on that day, you could come down and take a look at the art pieces =)

Keane's Route
11am - 8pm, 9 November - 16 November 2008

Keane’s Route
Check out the fine art and graphic works by aspiring nine-year-old budding artist Keane Chua Wei Yi. Charitable proceeds will be donated to The Little Arts Academy. Nov 8-16. Print Gallery, The Arts House, 1 Old Parliament Lane, 6332-6900. Free.

Keane's War Maze Map

This is a maze in the middle of the war. You must reach the end and kill as many soldiers as possible. If you want to get weapons, you must steal it from the enemy’s weapons rack. If you run out of bullets, you have to steal as many bullets as possible from the ammunition dump in HQ. You can also steal bombs from the HQ. If you are tired, you can also steal the enemy’s helicopter and use it! In the helicopter, you can use the missile that is available! Now enjoy the game" - Keane Chua, on his painting

Keane Chua has been drawing since he was 2years old. Having been exposed to art at such a young age, Keane’s works are expressive and full of imagination, which has won him many awards such as the Highly Commended Award in Singapore UOB Painting of the Year 2006 & 2007 and the Best Prize in an Annual International Art Exchange in Korea.

All charitable proceeds from Keane's Route will be donated to The Little Arts Academy, which is initiated by The Arts House.

More informati

http://www.theartshouse.com.sg/event_details_2008.php?id=866

http://is-magazine.com/feature/art-13

http://baf.sg/fundraisingevents.php?id=33

Exam fever

2008-11-01T15:55:00.000+07:00

Sigh, studying all the way = stay in room = order in = online shopping to curb boredom = spending money = little satisfaction = still feeling sian = still have to study

Anyway, I came across this unbelievable deal on eBay and just ordered it on impulse.

100 Ultraviolet (UV) 5mm Leds for US$9.99!!! The package arrived today.

UV-led goodness..

Maybe I can make a anti-vampire killing led flashlight or something, or buy a cheap led-flashlight and mod all the leds to UV...

Market prices of UV-leds are almost a dollar apiece...

Well impulse-buy, never know when you gonna need it...

Plus some water-cooling stuff... Bought online, delivered, ready for installation into my next rig...

Tygon laboratory-grade tubing, fancontroller, some PET-sleeves...

Sigh, back to study...

decrepitude

2008-10-30T07:43:00.000+07:00

I am suffering from decrepitude.

I wake up tired, go through the motions of the day, barely registering mentally the ever mounting backlog of work, return to my room exhausted, and the cycle repeats itself all over again.

Missing you guys

2008-10-26T21:46:00.000+07:00

Really missing you guys... =(

Even though my schedule is packed, my days are filled and my time is spent completely.

My heart is empty.

Miss my loved ones, miss my friends in this self-imposed exile towards the countdown of the examinations....

I go to class seeing the same people everyday in tutorial, at lectures, at training sessions.

But I don't miss them.

I miss u guys...

Really miserable...

Lonely

2008-10-22T00:53:00.002+07:00

When they said it's lonely at the top, it's true.

I felt really lonely today. As the Assistant Chief GL for next year's camp, preparations are already underway.

Though the group that i spoke to were my friends, they were all from my group and school, but when I went into to room, I felt no connections, no pleasantries.

I felt that there was this barrier setup between me and them. Though I may be their superior in this particular situation/camp. But they're still my friends isn't it? However when I went into the room, it was like I wasn't a friend to them anymore.

I went in, delivered my instructions and expectations, answered their questions. And that was that. No more friends. They left. I left.

Whilst we all started out together, in a same group. Now I am their leader, and I am no longer felt as one of "them".

It's really a lonely feeling...

Feeling empty

2008-10-21T00:53:00.000+07:00

I feel really empty inside after rejecting the minor offer.

It's like I picked up a $100-bill and decided to throw it away.

Minor Withdrawal

2008-10-20T19:11:00.000+07:00

20
Sigh, after a long interview session that I thought was a goner, I actually was awarded the much-sought after minor programme! That came as a surprise, I personally felt that the selection and interview process didn’t go well at all and here I end up getting selected.

Anyways, with much disappointment, I have decided to scrap the minor due to unforeseen academic commitments, I am most likely unable to commit for this minor during the stipulated period of December 2008 and looking at my calendar, looks like I am forced to withdraw.

I must be crazy, with an already insane workload of 23AUs this semester, I actually applied for a minor to be overloaded over the short 1 month holidays? It comprises of 16AUs though, it would have really be nice if I could go for this really popular program, and I must have been very lucky to have been selected. Am I pushing my luck too far to withdraw now?

My first wallflip

2008-10-15T07:57:00.001+07:00

My first wallflip, need i say more?

SKILLZ that Pay the Bills

2008-10-10T21:41:00.000+07:00

I have an interesting video to share:

To all you soccer fans out there! Watch this video and you'll be amazed. These moves are REAL, and they're done by a relatively well-known martial arts group in the community, team Ryouko in California. Hired by EA (Yes! Electronic Arts Games) for their new upcoming game FIFA Street 3.

http://www.teamryouko.com/
http://www.Fifastreet3.fr

Soccer Skills That Pay The Bills - FIFA Street 3

FIFA street 3 Behind the scenes game development

FIFA Street 3 - Team Ryouko Interviews

Wtf dumb things that people can really do

2008-10-08T17:57:00.002+07:00

Then I had a meeting for canvassing for a camp next year.

It was rather irritating, the head Bizmag didn't seem to be know what he was doing and wasn't confident of himself at all, and his 2nd- in charge was a little 19-girl with a motor-mouth. Between both of them, it was all talk and nothing done, and it was very irritating. Not to mention the unprofessional way they were demanding things to be done.

I can tolerate with the way he was doing things until he declared that he had sent out the MAIN COMM's contact office-bearer list to survey companies for canvassing.

WTF???

That list is confidential! You don't just send it out because you're desperate. WTF? Now my group will be harassed in fear by companies who harvest contact information. I was very very irritated, that was an extremely immoral and unprofessional way of doing things, sending out the list and then informing us later is really a very stupid thing to do.

You are supposed to keep it confidential for your own reference and persual as you are the chief.

You don't just send out your company's EXCO contact list to others if you are the CEO right?

Since you can send out our confidential information with ease I will put your stupid dumbshit name on my blog Mr Siew Ye Wee.

Stupid dumbshit...

F1 Fever

2008-10-06T17:44:00.001+07:00

So now that the F1 fever is over, we can sit back and relax a little bit thinking over the events that zoomed by right at F1 speed. Well, we can start with F. Massa's suay-ness, he's just really unlucky that's all. From a very good first position and leading pace, the screw up at the pits pushed him all the way to the last.

It's really all because of the person gave the green go light. But Massa is really a commendable sportsman, he was calm, and didn't curse and swear or blame anyone at all, whereas Lewis would have blown his top.

You could see the Ferrari crew being all professional, completing the tyre changes in seconds, but they were stressed because Kimi Raikkonen was right behind Massa in the pits waiting to be attended to, because of this, the crew probably rushed through the procedure and screwed up as the 2nd group was waiting to attend to Kimi. The team manager should have called Raikkonen to go one more lap, what a screwed up planning that was, or else those precious seconds wouldn't have been wasted.

Kimi Raikkonen is another one, he crashed out 5 laps from the finish at 5th position to DNF. What a lousy race for the Ferrari team. For all the talk and glory, Lewis only finished 3rd, apparently the tight curves and turns of Singapore's circuit proved challenging for Lewis, whose personal style is hard-paced high-speed straight-road driving, not hairpin turns in Singapore's circuit.

Actually after Michael Schumacher, all the other F1 drivers seemed rather boring, no more reckless overtaking and skilful hair-pin turns. Even though Alonso won first, he's style was steadiness and slowly overtaking other cars at each opportunity, no reckless or aggressive driving like Hamilton.

F1 machines are just incredible, with all that money poured into it, each F1 engine is only 2 litres (down from 2.4L), naturally-aspirated with no Turbo! Yet this simple engine churns out almost a thousand horsepower with a top speed of up to 360km/h! The stress on the engine is evident though, for all it's titanium parts, each engine can only last 2 races.

Singapore still has the right to host another 4 more races over the next four years! With the completion of the IR, and new roads being reviewed, the future races are going to be just as interesting.

View the accident videos here! :

F. Massa pitstop accident

Raikkonen crash

Some amazing skills people have

2008-10-04T17:24:00.002+07:00

I came across some amazing videos of some amazing skills people have. Take this guy for instance, just using photoshop, he painted all these pictures from scratch, and they look photo-realistic! Take your time to view them, each photo each definitely over an hour's worth of work. All compressed into that several minutes.

If only I had this kind of photoshop skill!

MASTER CHIEF - SpeedPainting by Nico di Mattia

IRONMAN - speedpainting by Nico di Mattia

THE DARK KNIGHT - Speed Painting by Nico Di Mattia

LOST - John Locke - Speed Painting by Nico Di Mattia

Spiderman - Speed Painting by Nico Di Mattia

Major CA papers

2008-10-03T18:37:00.002+07:00

Today is the day of the dreaded two high-weightage CAs. Hmm, I think I did quite okay I think for the bio paper though, I remember most of the important points only to realize that my best friend Mr. Carelessness had paid a visit again. I made a simple careless mistake, but that should be okay for now, it's much better than the maths test disaster.

Okay, so the bio paper is over, and I didn't make a mess out of it, but at least the physics test wasn't as hard as the trial quiz we had. This was easier, and I could actually do most of the questions.

However overall I think I performed below the general average, there are so many clever people in my course, and if the results follow the damn bell curve, then I am performing below average on the population standard deviation. All the scholars in my course seem to get results effortlessly!

Here I am working my butt off yet reaping results inconsistent to my efforts.

I am outclassed... But never mind...

Back to study..

One day before the 2 tests

2008-10-02T15:05:00.000+07:00

Alot of people didn't turn up for lessons today because of the Bio and physics tests tomorrow! It's the last lap, tomorrow is the BIO and Physics tests.

I feel that I haven't studied or prepared enough, I am just so tired...

A change in food. For a change.

2008-09-30T22:28:00.000+07:00

Today I had nice dinner withat Delifrance, and they had a new menu to offer. The food was similar to what Swensen's offering, but it's a nice change from campus food daily though.

This innocent looking cupcake is filled with creamy chocolatey goodness once you break open it's contents...

A-b-s-o-l-u-t-e-l-y s-c-r-u-m-p-t-o-u-s...

Anti-thesis

2008-09-26T20:56:00.001+07:00

The afternoon was taken up yet again for another meeting. I had anticipated another waste-of-time meeting, but managed to contribute some fairly interesting ideas. I gave suggestions, and they were received with incredulity, and even commented that I am in the wrong course...

I gave business suggestions for them to get sponsorships, like having Liang Seng to come down and set up a booth during the Sparex, that kind of ideas. Well, I still have no confidence in the chairperson, who seems to have lost her initial enthusiasm and spontaneity, now she seems unsure of what to do in my presence with that slight apprehension when approaching me.

Maybe because I can be a no-nonsense person when the situation demands it.

Still the meeting had achieved several objectives despite it starting late with members absent, it's a start in the right direction and it didn't waste too much of my time.

However, I was pleasantly surprised when my good friends in tkd turned up! Training won't be so boring and lonely after all.

Well, throughout the whole night Jx was exasperating me with his anti-thesis about everything, he was trying to convince me something that may actually seem logically correct, but in reality it's quite different.

Okay, based on what he was saying and the way he believed what he was saying, I can understand the way he thinks even further, his mind has already shut off to external influences and he believes that his decision and choice is the optimal and right one without considering the bigger picture and other more optimal alternatives.

Well it's not wrong, neither is it right, his argument is base on situation and opportunity and past videos that he has witnessed, I can't blame him for that, so I'll just let him think his way.

Well, what I am trying to say is that if you are the type who doesn't accept ideas other than your own, you are really shutting yourself off to external opportunities because of a restricted and constrictive viewpoint of everything.

This is really a no-brainer question.

Between a gun and a knife, which one would you choose?

There's no in-between the lines meaning, no psychological implications, no philosophical meanings behind this question, nothing about ammunition, or length of blade, or quality. Just a simple straight-forward question based on your instinct and the first answer that comes to your mind.

Between a gun and a knife, which one would you choose?

Duh?

Melamine Scandal

2008-09-23T22:17:00.002+07:00

I guess as someone who follows current affairs very closely, I think I should comment on the recent melamine scandal that has rocked the F&B industry. Singapore authorities have given the assurance that the risk of melamine poisoning to Singaporeans is low. There have been growing concerns after three China-made products in Singapore were found to be laced with the industrial product.

Authorities said the tainted products will have to be consumed over a prolonged period of time before one gets really sick. That's because the body can safely take in and purge some amount of melamine.

The Tolerable Daily Intake (TDI) of melamine as established by the US Food and Drug Administration is 0.63 mg/kg body weight. This means that an adult weighing 60 kg or a child weighing 30 kg can ingest 37.8 mg of melamine and 18.9 mg of melamine respectively, everyday, over a lifetime without any appreciable health risk.

37.8 mg is about the size of a grain of rice. The Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) cited an example of drinking about 80ml of liquid everyday for an entire lifetime, before the ill effects of melamine take root.

The Ministry of Health also cited an example of an adult weighing about 60kg who ate 47 pieces of the white rabbit candy everyday over a lifetime and the health risk for this adult will still be very low.

For a child who weighs 30 kg, that's about 400 ml of the Dutch Lady Strawberry Flavoured milk daily over a lifetime. And so there's very little chance that a child will be affected unless his sole source of food is tainted milk. Currently there is no cause of alarm as the amount of melamine found in the products sold in Singapore is too low to cause kidney stones.

Although only three China-made products have been found tainted in Singapore, the AVA said it cannot rule out more of tainted products, as it continues its battery of tests. As to why melamine was not detected earlier, Dr Chua said 300 chemical compounds come into the market every year. So it needs to take a pragmatic approach to its tests. He added that no agency in the world conducts food tests for melamine.

He said: "It is a very abnormal occurrence. It is because someone cheated and intentionally added this into the product to beat the system and nobody could dream of that."

- Source, Channel Newsasia

Well, there you go, to play safe, it's OK if you've already consumed some. Just STOP now. Don’t consume these processed products for the time being.

Those people who threw in Melamine into the consumable products will eventually GO TO HELL for these crimes that they've done. It’s not a small thing, it’s definitely a large vat of melamine to have caused such a global disturbance.

About the iPhone

2008-09-21T14:17:00.000+07:00

About the Iphone

I have been using the iphone for about a month now, and I guess it's time for my take on the iPhone. The MK's review.

For a smart-phone, the iPhone is quite dumb by today's standards. It doesn't allow you to copy-and-paste text, forward sms-es, search through emails, record video, no digital zoom, you can't share files via Bluetooth, send MMS-es, edit office documents and the list goes on.

It has no hardware keyboard, no removable battery, no support for flash files and only a two-megapixel camera.
Some of these deficiencies are startling and enough reason to keep some users away from an iPhone completely But why would thousands of others queue up at SingTel's ComCentre on the midnight of August 22nd, waiting for hours to get their hands on an iPhone?

It's all about style.

There's no other phone on the market generates the same level of attention or recognition from others when you whip it out for use in public.

People will go "omg, that's an iphone..." with instant recognition and that instantly elevates your status.

There is no lack of reviews on the iPhone everywhere. Most of them, however, tend to focus on what the iPhone can or cannot do. But just like the iPods, the iPhone really is about doing things with style. Style is after all the reason why iPods are the best-selling portable mp3 players around despite costing more and doing less than it's competitors.

In the case of the iPhone, style is defined largely by an intuitive and consistent interface: intuitive because you navigate with your thumbs and fingers on virtual buttons sized comfortably for use: consistent because the same swiping, pinching and tapping finger gestures work throughout the entire iPhone operating system and it's third-party applications.

The phone is designed so simply. It's only got one button. Everything else is either automatically detected by the myriad of sensors, or done with the same swiping action of your finger. The iphone has a proximity sensor that turns off the screen when you put the phone to your ear, it has a light sensor to automatically adjust the screen backlight according to the brightness of the background environment, and of course it's accelerometer that makes the iphone so unique.

Style is not about looks and feel: it is really about how things are done. Examining the oft-dubbed “iPhone-killers” for instance, the Samsung Omnia and the HTC Touch Diamond – reveals there are no shortage of eye candies.

Although both phones have attempted to emulate the iPhone by allowing users to scroll through their custom interfaces with the swipe of a finger, such behavior is not consistent throughout the entire phone.

The problem arises when users are thrown out of these custom interfaces, which are no more than application launchers, into native Windows Mobile applications. At which point, finger swiping no longer works and buttons return to their standard miniature sizes that are more suited for pin-point precision of a stylus than for use with fingertips or thumbs.

In contrast, because the iPhone was designed from the start to be used entirely with fingers and thumbs, every aspect of it's interface works well and naturally without the need for additional input devices (the Diamond includes a stylus and the Omnia has an optical mouse.)

It's about what you do.

Web surfing is probably the greatest strength of the iPhone. Several of it's features make surfing on it feasible and enjoyable. First, the large bright and high-resolution screen displays text clearly and crisply; second, the swiping of the pinching finger gestures allow for quick and natural navigation of the web pages; and third, the built-in mobile Safari brower displays web pages accurately and quickly.

The caveats are that the iPhone's browser cannot handle Flash (which locks you out of most web videos, as with the Omnia and the Diamond), and Java (used mainly for internet banking and some payment services).

But for just about everything else, the iPhone surfs the web well as a computer. You can access most of the NTU's web services, such as StudentLink , Edventure and webmail. Outside campus, having the internet available at your fingertips everywhere can save you the agony of wasting money on a lousy movie.

The Keyboard.

The iPhone's keyboard is easy to love and use. I make mistakes on it all the time, but the auto-correction technology works so well that I can blast messages off using both thumbs now. Ironically, for the amount of aversion the BlackBerry-maker has towards the iPhone's keyboard, I found the lack of a real plastic keyboard a blessing in disguise. Because there's no real buttons to press, typing requires minimal effort and results in no sore thumbs after typing a long email.

Finding your way around the built-in Google maps application with the scrolling, pinching and double tapping gestures beats flipping the street directory any day. And when you do make a wrong turn somewhere and find yourself lost, the built-in GPS of the iPhone 3G can locate you on the map most of the time in a matter of seconds, from which you can have the iPhone plan a route to your destination. Surprisingly Google maps can locate precisely whatever address you throw at it, as long as a block number and street name is included. It has a very useful function that allows you to map the place you want to go to, then it guides you there step-by-step.

If the GPS can't detect a signal, it will attempt to identify local hotspots DNS addresses and can then place you within the vicinity of a building.

The iPhone, 3G or not, is far from perfect. Features-wise, the new iPhone continues to suffer from some serious omission of features, some of 'them so basic in hand phones today that the question is inevitably raised of why a state-of-the-art phone can be so primitive in some areas.

Performance-wise, the new iPhone 2.0 software no longer runs as smoothly and stably as its older counterpart. Some parts of the phone now feel sluggish, particularly when searching through contacts. Some applications crash every now and then, and the phone itself hangs or restarts randomly once in a while (mine hung once and, restarted twice in the three weeks of extensive use).
The iPhone 2.1 update released last week promises to fix all these, but until more testing is done, it remains to be seen if all the problems will be fully addressed. For a smart phone that does a lot more, I have highlighted only, three functions that the iPhone does exceptionally well in. These alone, along with the phone (features of course, would have justified the price of the iPhone for me.

The iphone has a whole lot of other features and 3rd-party programs that you can install at your fancy. The entertainment value is endless because of it's built in accelerometer. This nifty sensor is what sets the iphone apart from it's counterparts as well. You can turn your phone into a speedometer, a dice (for board games), a G-force sensor, a labyrinth tilttable game, a leveling bubble, a ruler, graphic calculator, a guitar, a currency converter, and the list goes on for ever.

But for others, it could have been the iPod within-which I also use and like but did not write about in this article-having YouTube on the go, or the many third-party applications that are available to install right on the iPhone. The iPhone is great for people who are literally addicted to the internet, want to get work done on the go and .appreciate good style. For me, the two-and-a-half hours of travelling time daily can now be spent replying mails, or just surfing the web-that and listening to music. Even queuing for food in canteen A becomes bearable. But if you're one of those who are even considering not taking up a data plan with your iPhone, you are better off spending your money elsewhere-the iPhone is about having the internet with you everywhere.

MK-recommended if you can live with the short-comings.