Monday, November 24, 2008

Eunoia

A friend of mine came about and shared with me one interesting website, called Eunoia. This guy, Christian Bök, has written 5 chapters on Eunoia, namely Chapters A, E, I, O, U. In each chapter, only one vowel is used throughout the entire chapter. And, as you might have guessed it, Chapter A contains words with only one vowel, and that is "A", Chapter E with "E", and so on.

To find out more, click here!

Just to get it going, here is a small portion of Chapter A.

CHAPTER A
for Hans Arp

Awkward grammar appals a craftsman. A Dada bard as daft as Tzara damns stagnant art and scrawls an alpha (a slapdash arc and a backward zag) that mars all stanzas and jams all ballads (what a scandal). A madcap vandal crafts a small black ankh - a hand-stamp that can stamp a wax pad and at last plant a mark that sparks an ars magna (an abstract art that charts a phrasal anagram). A pagan skald chants a dark saga (a Mahabharata), as a papal cabal blackballs all annals and tracts, all dramas and psalms: Kant and Kafka, Marx and Marat. A law as harsh as a fatwa bans all paragraphs that lack an A as a standard hallmark...

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Tok Kok Furore

Mr Shxt What is indeed hopeless and beyond repair. Every word uttered is full of malice, lies, stupidity, self-centered, egoistic, and total nonsense. I mean, EVERY WORD. No word that exhibits care for the country and rakyat. I don't think patriotism is in any of his genes.

I am going to extract the whole MalaysiaKini news, and insert some texts for almost every crap Mr Sinister said.
___________________________________________________________________

Code of ethics for bloggers mooted
Andrew Ong | Nov 23, 08 6:47pm

Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar has suggested that a code of ethics be drawn up for bloggers in the country in order to safeguard the nation from racial or religious conflict.

Speaking at the Bloggers Buff 2008 in PWTC yesterday, Syed Hamid said the code was necessary as some blogs contained libelous and sensitive racial and religious materials.

“The Internet is bringing people into the world of written reporting who have had no training; have no one to learn from; no sense of responsibility; and no sense of their place in the reporting ecosystem.
[ No training - yes, no training is required to write something in the Internet. If server owner feels appropriate, they can remove questionable articles. Simple.
No one to learn from - Bloggers know how to use a PC to voice their opinions. Bloggers learn from what they feel.
No sense of responsibility - First ask yourself the same question.
No sense of their place in the reporting ecosystem - Blogs are not reports, duh... ]

“A code of ethics will serve as a guide. Even professional journalists are guided by their own professional code of conduct. I see no reason why citizen journalists should not want or need one,” he told a crowd of about 40 bloggers.
[ Professional journalists needs code of conduct. Freelance bloggers are not even a journalist. How can you equate bloggers as the so-called "citizen journalists"? Are you trying to confuse the Cyberspace users? ]

However, he said that he was not suggesting new laws adding that “this country has enough laws”.
[ Yes. So, scrap new ideas of laws. Scrap new drafts. To start with, why not scrap the DNA Identification Bill? ]

Syed Hamid’s role as a keynote speaker was a last-minute replacement for former prime minister-turned-popular blogger Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

‘10 years behind time’

On how blogs had an impact on politics, Syed Hamid said the Barisan Nasional coalition was “10 years behind time” when compared to the use of the Internet by its critics.
[ No, Barisan Nasional is not behind time. Proof: The Multimedia Super-Corridor was masterminded by your coalition, by Dr Mahathir, in the 90s. It is your coalition's wastage of resources and ignorance of the importance of Information Technology that make it appear as if you are the 'victim' of inadvancement in Cyberspace. It is your evil deeds of trying to bar truthful information from being transmitted to the public. People wants to see truth and 100% truth, not a biased 'truth'. Is it not an understatement that, in the early 90s, people already knew that information is the most powerful tool? People already knew that long time ago. Btw, I think you personally are behind time. ]

He said that since the 1998 Reformasi era, dissidents had been using the Internet to attack the government right up until the March 2008 election.
[ Why? Because all voices from the dissidents are being silenced. Because only certain voices are heard through mainstream media! That can be easily proven just by looking at today's newspaper - how many percent on Barisan Nasional, and how many percent on opposition. There is no check and balance, even when something has gone wrong! ]

“This was partly due to the liberal government policy towards the Internet. This was probably a fatal mistake of the government,” he said.
[ Liberal simply because Cyberspace belongs to everyone. The only fatal mistake that a government could make and as a result bring itself down is to not listen to the needs of the rakyat, and to have impatrotic leaders - leaders that always think of their own benefits before the needs of others. ]

Yet, Syed Hamid believes that the tide is beginning to change as more BN elected reps and leaders have taken up blogging which also allows them to solicit views from the public.
[ Good! It is never too late to start. However, are they really soliciting any views from the public? After soliciting them (if any), what are they going to do? Act on what the public needs, or shove them under the carpet? ]

“Interestingly, (now) cyberspace is no longer the private domain of the anti-establishment and cyber activists who sympathise with the opposition. Nor are they limited to opposition politicians.
[ Duh... it is never a private domain!!! It is called World Wide Web! Go and read some books about what www is all about before saying anything that belittles your extent of knowledge. ]

“Moreover, access to the Internet is no longer limited to the urban and sub-urban electorates, as was the case in the run-up to the 12th general election,” he added.
[ Everyone knows that the state capitals are most developed spots that have easy access to the Internet compared to rural areas. And, all constituencies that encapsulate state capitals are won by Pakatan Rakyat in March 8 election. Does this fact tell you something? ]

Internet news portals

In his speech, Syed Hamid also touched on the commercial viability of Internet news portals.

“The ones making money are not the socio-political bloggers but news portals that have emulated the likes of Malaysiakini. These portals include The Nut Graph, Malaysian Insider, Agenda Daily, and Malaysia Aktif.

“None of them needed a license from the Ministry of Home Affairs to operate. All they needed was, perhaps, an ordinary business license,” he said.

The minister noted that these news portals were self-financed through advertising and sponsors and were administered by former mainstream media journalists.

“To me, what is mainstream is no longer mainstream. They so-called alternative media is now the mainstream,” he said.

During the question-and-answer session, Syed Hamid was asked by a participant why the government banned popular website Malaysia Today despite the Multimedia Super Corridor Bill of Guarantee which includes a clause stating that the Internet would not be subject to censorship.

“I think everybody gets into an euphoria over the Bill of Guarantee. Under the bill, you have the right to do anything you want, so long as you don’t breach the law,” he replied.
[ I thought "the right to do anything as long as it is lawful" is applicable on ALL BILLS? Do you implicate that there are any exceptions, perhaps to some groups who think that they are beyond law and can even challenge the court's decision? ]

Friday, November 21, 2008

Rakyat In Trouble

You would know that the Bolehland rakyat are in deep trouble when:

1. The people voted by rakyat do not listen to the needs of the rakyat.

2. You need police's permission to talk. [here]

3. The federal government earns money not solely by federal tax payed by taxpayers (rakyat who earn above a certain bracket of amount per annum), but also by the net profits earned from the sales of (naturally-resourced) commodities to the rakyat. [here]

4. Bolehland rakyat start to consider traveling away from their own country, across Thai and Singapore border to get cheaper gas.

5. The Judiciary faction is being challenged by the Legislative/Executive factions, and that the supremacy of a judicial decision is being questioned by a mere minister. [here and here]

6. The Home Minister says he did not know anything about what police is planning to do or has already done.

7. The world except Bolehland is declaring recession.

8. In the midst of recession, the federal government encourages the rakyat to spend more for something that cost much less (see point 3 and 4), as well as to ignore soaring inflation rate by reducing EPF contribution by 3% (hence the rakyat has 3% extra to spend every month, a compounded 3% less for their retirement, and some additional 3% more to pay for federal government taxes). [read here for more rants]

9. History and live footage is being 'erased' and 'changed' by authorities. [here]
--> I guess one solution is to wire all inputs to video cameras to headquarters and back it up in a secret location, so that in the event the casette is tampered, the headquarters can still have at least an archive of the LIVE footage.

10. People regard ISA not as a way to protect the rakyat from communism and terrorism, but as a modern day Crucifixion of the righteous.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Permit To Not Breathe

I was actually too tied up with 'official stuff' to write any kind of interesting happenings on Bolehland (my, I missed so much). However, looking at the text below just made me feel funny and at the same time outraged. I have not much to say, just wanna rant...

The following are the excerpts of one of the MalaysiaKini news.
_________________________________________________________________

Last Sunday, some 200 individuals took part in a candlelight vigil at the Petaling Jaya civic centre in support of the dismantling of the Internal Security Act (ISA).

A police permit was issued to Petaling Jaya city councilor Richard Yeoh for the event and twelve conditions were imposed as part of the permit. A full list is reproduced below:

- Organisers are responsible for the safety of the participants.

- Permission to use the venue is the responsibility of the organiser.

- Crowd must not spill onto the road and cause traffic obstruction.

- No form of political or racial speeches allowed.

- No use of fireworks or explosives, unless explicitly allowed by the police.

- No use of dangerous weapons.

- Organiser must ensure that there is no burning of candles to protest the ISA.

- Organiser must ensure that participants do not wear clothes which call for the abolishment of the ISA.

- Organiser must not hold any activities which show support for ISA detainees.

- Banners and fliers calling for the abolition of the ISA are forbidden.

- The police are free to make audio and video recordings of the event.

_________________________________________________________________

I understand quite well that the first 6 points serve to maintain order, harmony, and peace during the gathering. No one would not accept it, particularly during a peaceful candlelight vigil. However, the next 4 points are simply stupid. What's wrong with wearing something against the ISA? What's wrong with the rakyat standing up against something that is threatening their freedom and rights?

Why not simply include the following clause in the permit?
- Organiser must not allow participants to breathe throughout the gathering.

Is it not the same as killing a person's freedom of expression? Where is Article 10?

If a person think just by distinguishing our candles would make us eventually give up, I can say that the person is so wrong. And, so much so that the Light of the world that has been there for 2000 years has never and will never be extinguished. The Light that is always with us and would keep burning till the end of age (Matthew 28:20).

Ahh... on the last point, if the police are free to make audio and video recordings, then I must say reporters can also the same. Well... it is basically an understatement that a reporter (who is my nature neutral) can make any kind of footage about what is happening in the world. Indeed, it is the job of a reporter - to report the truth. And that is particularly the reason why reporters can risk their lives to record live footage in the midst of a war, and every reporter who hails truth understands that it is his noble task to do so. So, what on earth is going on when you run amok at a person who caught you 'playing' with water cannons!?!?

Btw, I would say bloggers can do the same as well. :-P

Lastly, there is absolutely nothing wrong with me re-posting the following:



Friday, November 14, 2008

The Altera Bridge


The semiconductor company that I am working in - Altera Corporation - is soon to have her fourth building (labeled as Building 3 in Wikimapia as shown below) up and filled by end of this year.


The original Altera campus, sandwiched by Medan Bayan Lepas, Dynacraft, and Motorola, comprises of the main building (1 and 2), a multilevel car park, and an open air car park. With the expanding amount of employees hired, Altera definitely need another huge building, too huge that the original campus is not able to fit in. And so, the big bushy area across the road need to be 'transformed', as witnessed below.

"Autobots ALTERA, transform and rollout!!"


WW15 2008


WW16 2008 (April 14)


WW28 2008 (July 8)


WW43 2008 (Oct 20)

In order to keep all buildings connected to each other, an overhead bridge is required to connect the multilevel car park and the new building, across Medan Bayan Lepas. And so, the 'gateway' is being constructed!




The bridge construction pictures above were captured yesterday (WW46 2008, November 12). The construction is expected to complete by end of this year. With the completion, Altera will be the first company in Bayan Lepas Free Trade Zone to have an overhead bridge across a trunk road! Which makes me proud of being part of al-Terror! And, for heavy vehicles taller than 4.5-m, sorry la... no passing, please.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Kee Hsiao Part 2

Another round of kee-hsiao-ness... :-P

This time, it started with my own Facebook shoutout.



And, while chatting with BK, he mentioned the "pizza dissection". And so, it went on... Quite a disgusting conversation though. LOL!



Thursday, November 6, 2008

Kee Hsiao

It means gone crazy.

It all started with Wilson's Facebook shoutout:



Then, having stuck at work, I simply replied as above. As if the response was not fast enough, I used al-Terror's in-house messaging system to ask. And, somehow, our conversation went haywire.



A tiring day at work indeed. Sigh... I pray it'll be over soon.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

WRK

I just came back from a free lunch :-), and after parking the car, I walked past one of my colleague's car with registration number WRK xxxx. Three thoughts popped up in my mind:

1. There are so many demands for KL car. Wonder if the demand is still the same amid the coming recession.

2. When will it reach WYY? And, what happened to the next KL car after WYY 9999? WAAA 1, or perhaps WAA 1 A?

3. Cit!!! Buy car also must think of work... even the number plate also consists of WoRK... Haihz...

[ No offense to my colleague... :-P ]

Still, I would prefer buying KL car compared to Penang car. Less depreciation, and less volatile (I am not a Penang local... see my number plate... wakakakakak!!!)

Offering - Youtube Videos and Lyrics

OFFERING
Words and Music by Paul Baloche
© 2003 Integrity's Hosanna! Music


YouTube video here and here.
Youtube video (Christmas version) here.

(Christmas Verse)
Over the skies of Bethlehem appeared a star
While angels sang to lowly shepherds
Three wise men seeking truth traveled from afar
Hoping to find a child from Heaven
Falling on their knees
They bowed before the humble Prince of Peace

CHORUS
I bring an offering of worship to my King
No one on earth deserves the praises that I sing
Jesus may You receive the honor that You're due
O Lord I bring an offering to You
I bring an offering to You

(Normal Verse)
The sun cannot compare to the glory of Your love
There is no shadow in Your Presence
No mortal man would dare to stand before Your throne
Before the Holy One of heaven
It's only by Your Blood and it's only through Your mercy
Lord I come
____________________________________

Bring an offering and come before him; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness. - 1 Chronicles 16:29 NIV

Surrender - Lyrics

SURRENDER
Words and Music by Jaye Liubinskas
© 2007 Paradise Worship administered by Word Publishing Australia

Verse 1
Everything that was
Is in Your hands
And all that is to come
I give to You
Take control

Verse 2
This life belongs to You
Forgive me Lord
For walking my own road
Take control
Jesus take control

Tag
Your kingdom come
Your will be done
Now and forever

CHORUS
And I surrender
Oh I surrender
Oh I surrender
To You
To You

Bridge
That I may hear Your voice
That I may know Your heart
That I would see Your world
Through the eyes of hope
This my prayer oh God
This my prayer

P.S. Hyperlink to the album Only By Grace is here.

Creed - GodTube Videos and Lyrics

Having problems remembering the Nicene Creed? No problem, we have the Apostle's Creed.

What? Having problems remembering the Apostle's Creed??? NO PROBLEM!!! The late Rich Mullins can help you. No... it's not talking to the dead. It's through his song!!!
__________________________________________________

CREED
Rich Mullins, David (Beaker) Strasser
© 1993 BMG Songs, Inc. (ASCAP) / Kid Brothers of St. Frank Publishing (ASCAP)


[ GodTube video here. ]

Verse 1
I believe in God the Father Almighty
Maker of Heaven and Maker of Earth
And in Jesus Christ
His only begotten Son, our Lord
He was conceived by the Holy Spirit
Born of the Virgin Mary
Suffered under Pontius Pilate
He was crucified and dead and buried

CHORUS
And I believe what I believe
Is what makes me what I am
I did not make it, no it is making me
It is the very truth of God
And not the invention of any man

Verse 2
I believe that He who suffered
Was crucified, buried, and dead
He descended into hell
And on the third day, rose again
He ascended into Heaven
Where He sits at God's mighty right hand
I believe that He's returning
To judge the quick and the dead
Of the sons of men

CHORUS

I believe it, I believe it
I believe it
I believe it, I believe it

Verse 3
I believe in God the Father Almighty
Maker of Heaven and Maker of Earth
And in Jesus Christ
His only begotten Son, our Lord
I believe in the Holy Spirit
One Holy Church, the communion of Saints
The forgiveness of sin
I believe in the resurrection
I believe in a life that never ends

CHORUS

I believe it, I believe
I believe it, I believe
I believe it, I believe it

The Last Message (天才与白痴)

I cannot tahan how funny this classic Cantonese song is (released in 1975), until I have to create a blog post for it. A big salute to Samuel Hui for his talent in blending his sense of humor into his own creativity. Yes... this song is 33 years old!!!

[ WARNING: The YouTube video might be cartoonish but it consists of uncensored images. View at your own risk!! ]
_____________________________________________________

天才与白痴
作曲: 许冠杰
作词: 许冠杰/黎彼得


[ Youtube video here. ]

呢个世界上
有精仔 有懵仔 有叻仔 散仔 赌仔 重有戆居仔
有衰仔 有好仔 反骨仔 癫仔 蠢仔 重弊过败家仔
细蚊仔 臭飞仔 招积仔 靓仔 打仔 乱咁出刀仔
问你点敢乱生仔

边个係天才 (天才)
边个係白痴 (白痴)
扮懵定蠢材
冇咁易会知 阿茂至知
天才与白痴 你痴定我痴
天才与白痴 冇咁易会知
天才与白……痴

呢个世界上
有冤鬼 有哗鬼 有奸鬼 赌鬼 盏鬼 重有咸湿鬼
有衰鬼 有烟鬼 摄青鬼 生鬼 撞鬼 撞着个冒失鬼
醉酒鬼 吊靴鬼 丑死鬼 假鬼 真鬼 乱咁鬼打鬼
问你究竟搞乜鬼

乜鬼係天才 (天才)
乜鬼係白痴 (白痴)
扮懵定蠢材
冇咁易会知 阿茂至知
天才与白痴 你痴定我痴
天才与白痴 冇咁易会知
天才与白……痴

呢个世界上
有坚嘢 有流嘢 有精嘢 喎嘢 喳嘢 重有大镬嘢
有衰嘢 有好嘢 有顺嘢 贵嘢 贱嘢 最划忌就瀨嘢
醒胃嘢 林婶嘢 正斗嘢 靓嘢 杰嘢 最爽就捞粗嘢
确係认真唔少嘢

乜嘢係天才 (天才)
乜嘢係白痴 (白痴)
扮懵定蠢材
冇咁易会知 阿茂至知
天才与白痴 你痴定我痴
天才与白痴 冇咁易会知
天才与白痴 天才与白痴 天才与白痴
_____________________________________________________

[SPOILER]

The English title for the movie of the same Chinese title (literally means "The Genius and The Idiot") is so named because of the Morse-code message that was embedded in the brain signal of a person who's already dead, hence the last message. Yes, it IS a spoiler, yet you're forewarned. Who ask you to read? :-P

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

A Day Out With The Form 3's

After 1.5-month long preparation and a week of Lower Secondary Evaluation (Penilaian Menengah Rendah, PMR) exam, it was over (on Friday, October 17, 2008). For us the tutors (Andre, Sharon, Aaron, and I), we have promised to bring the PMR teens (consisting of Adrian Oyog, Ashleigh Dibble, Benjamin Han, John Stanley, Joshua Joseph, Nicholas Chin, Nicholas Choong, Jaslyn DeWitt, Li Ann Tan, and Rachel Lim) for a day out for picnic on the Sunday after their end of exam (October 19). And, so be it!

All of us attended Mass either on Saturday evening or Sunday 7am, so that we could leave early for the picnic. We met in church at around 9:30am. As I arrived, I was shocked to see the amount of food they brought. Each of the teens brought food worth for 10 people. Yes.... sandwiches, lots of sandwiches, plus fried chicken, fried rice, and I-dunno-what-else...

We left church at about 10-ish. Since we went with different cars, all of us reached Miami Beach at around 11am. Helena and Adeline joined us as well.

The boys were extremely excited. After about 10 minutes of loitering they were in the water!


Next were the girls... dunking each other at around 11:30am.


I guess they enjoyed getting wet so much that they gathered in a circle... hmm... perhaps having some secret discussion.


Well... with the teens in the water and adults by the beach, at once you would have guessed what would have happened next. Helena became the first victim! She got carried by the teens, and into to the water she was thrown!!


With captions...


Next, they tried the trick on Andre, but it was proven that 10 of them would not be able to lift Andre by an inch. Wait... they did! As a result, (I think) Andre lost some armpit hair... Hahaha!!!


I was then not in a proper attire - was wearing khakis shorts that time. And, I did not like the idea of getting wet with such an uncomfortable attire. So, I changed into my swimming shorts. And, as I was spotted then, I was approached by the teens. So, being sporting, instead of fighting back, I carried Adrian back into the water!!! Hahahah!!! Yeah, I finally got myself wet with the not-so-clean Miami Beach seawater!


We spotted a couple of sea otters resting on a rock about 100 feet from the shore. So, Aaron and I took a couple of shots. Since Aaron's camera is a SLR, of course his picture quality is far much better la. So, here is the photo of the sea otters with Aaron's camera.


We also managed to 'bury' Benjamin and Jaslyn.




After the 'burial' and lunch, Benjamin, Adrian, Choong and I swam towards the rock. Upon arriving at the rock, there was a great stench of fishy smell (I guess from either dead fish or the sea otter itself). And, on the rock, we spotted a pile of droppings. So, the sea otters were not simply sunbathing after all. The rock was filled with dead corals which made the rock surface quite rough. We all were cut while holding on to the rock. Nevertheless, Benjamin and Adrian managed to get onto the dry part of the rock and posed for some pictures!!


There were much fun by the seaside despite the dirty waters.

Next, we went to Tropical Spice Garden, where the teens were invited by UnoQuest lady boss Christine Ho (Chin's mom) for some teamwork-based games. They were "Code Silence", "Nine Inch Nails", "10 Grams", and "Handcuff". The explanation is as follows (I hope I won't get condemned by UnoQuest for leaking their games - they were pretty basic games anyway).

Code Silence - Each member of a group is required to line up. The person at the end of the line must pass a code comprised of a series of numbers by drawing/tapping on the back of the person in front of him. After the last in line completed the passing of message, the next person need to continue the step towards the person in front of him, and this goes on till the first in line returns the correct message to the facilitator.

Nine Inch Nails - An set comprised of 9 pieces of nails and a styrofoam base (with a nail hole) was given to each team. The team needs to balance 8 nails on the 9th nail which is to be affixed on the styrofoam base.

10 Grams - A set of 2D geometric cards (of different shapes and sizes) is given to each team. Each team has to use ALL the cards to form specific complex shapes provided by the facilitator.

Handcuff - Team members need to arrange themselves in a circle, and each member is handcuffed by tying a piece of string around both wrists. The string of each member needs to be intertwined with the string of the persons next to him. The task - unlock themselves from the intertwined strings. The cuffs must not leave the wrists.

The fun was to watch them struggle while trying to accomplish all tasks and solve problems given to them. It is indeed great to see them work as a team. Although they were having though and frustrating 2 hours to finish all the tasks, they were having a lot of fun and enjoyment from the teamwork activities.

And lastly, the debriefing by Christine...

During our time in Tropical Spice Garden, we met the lovey-dovey couple - Benignus and Patrice. They were there to help out the teambuilding with UnoQuest customer earlier that day.


At about 5pm, we left Tropical Spice Garden, and at the exit gate, we managed to snap a group photo (Helena left early, even before the teambuilding, so she was not there).


We had an early dinner at KFC, before we headed for Batu Feringghi night market for DVD, games, and clothes shopping. It was indeed a tiring day (can see from some faces in the following picture), but it was also a great gettogether activity amongst the teens - far much better than spending the day on the Internet, or worse, in the Internet cafe.



Some of the fun photos captured.