Al Fath, 26-28
When those who disbelieve had set up in their hearts zealotry, the zealotry of the Age of Ignorance, then Allah sent down His peace of reassurance upon His messenger and upon the believers and imposed on them the word of self-restraint, for they were worthy of it and meet for it. And Allah is Aware of all things. (26) Allah hath fulfilled the vision for His messenger in very truth. Ye shall indeed enter the Inviolable Place of Worship, if Allah will, secure, (having your hair) shaven and cut, not fearing. But He knoweth that which ye know not, and hath given you a near victory beforehand. (27) He it is Who hath sent His messenger with the guidance and the religion of truth, that He may cause it to prevail over all religion. And Allah sufficeth as a Witness. (28)
Check it out at http://quranexplorer.com (awesome site)
Meanwhile the Arabs continue to bicker:
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/01/14/gaza.diplomacy/index.html
Showing posts with label General. Show all posts
Showing posts with label General. Show all posts
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Happy New Year...
If you can really mean it that is... the world is a pretty messed up place isn't it? Makes me think if human lives are really that cheap? But the truth of that answer is that: it always has been... hasn't it?
We've been killing each other for ages and likely we'll be killing each other for ages more - all because the people who have not want something of those who do have it... whatever it is: land, power, money it usually thins down to any one of those three. Sometimes all three.
As I write over 900 people have been killed since Israel launched its offensive on the Gaza strip, a large portion of those are children, maybe 30 percent or so. I suppose they call it collateral damage. Let's call it murder. I'd go a step further and call it genocide. It's ironic how a land that was created after the holocaust could now go and create all new ones for brand new reasons - then justify it in the name of peace or self defense. Everyone knows its crap, no one does anything about it and frankly no one can.
Israel is not an illegal state. I've received several notices and emails proclaiming this, but it is not entirely true. The warring Arabs and the foreign nations after the great wars had more to do in allowing the Zionists to settle there than the Zionist themselves. Had history taken it's original route the Zionists would have settled in Argentina and not Palestine. It was America and Great Britain who finally settled on the so called "jewish lands" in the middle east, thereby creating the problem we see today - but that would not had happened if it wasn't for the Arabs of the time allowing it to happen.
The problem with the middle east is also an Arab and Islamic problem. Namely the question of who's land is it really? Does it belong to the Arabs or the Zionists? How far back in history do we have to go to prove the point - all the way to the holy books? There is no question now that in order for peace to happen, there need to be a land for both nations - neither party can discard the other; any group that declares otherwise is piloting his own kamikaze airplane and we'll have war in perpetuity. Somehow, somewhere, the two are just going to learn to live with each other. It's really simple but why doesn't it happen?
Then there's the war between fundamental Islam and moderate Islam. Proponents of fundamental Islam disagree there is a feud denying the very existence of a moderate Islam. I've heard it before: "there is only one kind of Islam" and usually they mean the fundamental one. The war in Palestine is also about the war for modernization of an old belief. Shall we accept "western" ideals on human rights and freedom in exchange for greater participation or shall we insist on our own ideals and ways and expect to be accepted within the world? Both seems sides seem to present a fair argument. Can muslims really live in an Arab land neighbouring a jewish state? Shall we ignore modernity and embrace our faith, or shall we race towards the future side by side with the christian west? In every muslim majority state this same war is being fought, even back at home in Malaysia. It is fought as strongly in the street corners as it is in the mosques, from television to politics, we see the shadows of religious influence meandering and questioning, always trying to gain grounds.
It is the question of Hudud law and the question of gambling and alcohol sales. It is about how much the state should invest in monitoring the kissing habits of its citizens in public parks. I know where I stand in this fight, but it is interesting to note that just a decade ago I would be standing clearly on the other side. Alas the ample bosom of modernity has me firmly in its grasp, there really is no escape, not that I want to anyway.
So the fight continues - at stake the moral status of an entire generation. But here's a parting thought: the world is a much smaller place than it was 1500 years ago, and it's bound to get smaller, so let's keep those sharp knees and elbows curled and in place, less we poke our neighbours where we are not supposed to.
Happy 2009
We've been killing each other for ages and likely we'll be killing each other for ages more - all because the people who have not want something of those who do have it... whatever it is: land, power, money it usually thins down to any one of those three. Sometimes all three.
As I write over 900 people have been killed since Israel launched its offensive on the Gaza strip, a large portion of those are children, maybe 30 percent or so. I suppose they call it collateral damage. Let's call it murder. I'd go a step further and call it genocide. It's ironic how a land that was created after the holocaust could now go and create all new ones for brand new reasons - then justify it in the name of peace or self defense. Everyone knows its crap, no one does anything about it and frankly no one can.
Israel is not an illegal state. I've received several notices and emails proclaiming this, but it is not entirely true. The warring Arabs and the foreign nations after the great wars had more to do in allowing the Zionists to settle there than the Zionist themselves. Had history taken it's original route the Zionists would have settled in Argentina and not Palestine. It was America and Great Britain who finally settled on the so called "jewish lands" in the middle east, thereby creating the problem we see today - but that would not had happened if it wasn't for the Arabs of the time allowing it to happen.
The problem with the middle east is also an Arab and Islamic problem. Namely the question of who's land is it really? Does it belong to the Arabs or the Zionists? How far back in history do we have to go to prove the point - all the way to the holy books? There is no question now that in order for peace to happen, there need to be a land for both nations - neither party can discard the other; any group that declares otherwise is piloting his own kamikaze airplane and we'll have war in perpetuity. Somehow, somewhere, the two are just going to learn to live with each other. It's really simple but why doesn't it happen?
Then there's the war between fundamental Islam and moderate Islam. Proponents of fundamental Islam disagree there is a feud denying the very existence of a moderate Islam. I've heard it before: "there is only one kind of Islam" and usually they mean the fundamental one. The war in Palestine is also about the war for modernization of an old belief. Shall we accept "western" ideals on human rights and freedom in exchange for greater participation or shall we insist on our own ideals and ways and expect to be accepted within the world? Both seems sides seem to present a fair argument. Can muslims really live in an Arab land neighbouring a jewish state? Shall we ignore modernity and embrace our faith, or shall we race towards the future side by side with the christian west? In every muslim majority state this same war is being fought, even back at home in Malaysia. It is fought as strongly in the street corners as it is in the mosques, from television to politics, we see the shadows of religious influence meandering and questioning, always trying to gain grounds.
It is the question of Hudud law and the question of gambling and alcohol sales. It is about how much the state should invest in monitoring the kissing habits of its citizens in public parks. I know where I stand in this fight, but it is interesting to note that just a decade ago I would be standing clearly on the other side. Alas the ample bosom of modernity has me firmly in its grasp, there really is no escape, not that I want to anyway.
So the fight continues - at stake the moral status of an entire generation. But here's a parting thought: the world is a much smaller place than it was 1500 years ago, and it's bound to get smaller, so let's keep those sharp knees and elbows curled and in place, less we poke our neighbours where we are not supposed to.
Happy 2009
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Hello old friend...
The last few months must be the second longest time that I skipped blogging since I started some years ago. That doesn't mean the View from Above has had no views what so ever since July, it's just that I felt it was better I kept my views to myself.
Now the year's coming to an end, 2008 started out rather bad and seems to be ending in a worse note - talking about globally and generally not specifically about me. The wars that was on earlier in the year are still on, some new conflicts have erupted since then; piracy is getting worse and making my job a little bit more complicated; the economy is going downhill; and worse of all to me there has been little to no changes to the politics in Malaysia.
Isn't it wierd how polarized the world has become of late? We're either for the government or against it, we're 100% muslim robots or we're kafir/munafik, we're malays or we're chinese or indians or whatever you have... Someone writes something remotely challenging and everyone gets off their rocker. Most times without even properly reading the said offending pages or investigating both sides of the story - case in point the RPK issue or take any racial or religious issue that emerged in the last 3 months in Malaysia.
I had at least 3-4 notes to say about all of that - fortunately for everyone I have been keeping my anarchist-anti establishment thoughts to myself, of course where's the fun in that? I'm getting just so detached recently with all the crap happening or not happening that I think I need a little emotional motivation to continue - otherwise I would stop caring. And caring means sharing... So here they are in point form and in summary, my anarchist take on things:
1. The Malaysian government should all resign - they have failed to keep up with the state of the world and seem to only have time for politics and not work. There's only 24 hours in a day, at the rate the news and gossips on politics are going on one wonders when the work actually gets done. Forget the corruption charges how about start with negligence and work from there...
2. The Malaysian opposition should get a first warning letter and some should already resign for cases of idiocy and just plain moronic behavior. Look DAP/PKR/PAS are not even on the same platform at the core of it, it will be a miracle if Anwar holds them together until the next election. While we're on that topic, Malaysia will never accept non-racial politics - at least not in my lifetime I think. Come on, do you really think all these lovey dovey Rakyat Malaysia gatherings are spelling the end of non racial politics? At grassroots levels Malays want to be Malays, Chinese want to be Chinese et cetera et cetera. There might be a few exceptions, but not many. We're temporarily united against a common foe, UMNO and the threat of corruption and economic decay. We're not ready for true unity, that takes a heck of a long time. It took America 232 years to elect their first minority president, and he's still only half african american. When we're ready to let go of some cultural identity - and I think one of the first are segregated schools for different races - then we're making progress. You can learn language from any school - just stop segregating the races!
3. Islam is beautiful religion, but please leave it off politics. As a religion we have all we need to lead our lives, as a society do you not realise that the abuse of religious beliefs to stay in power have led to the destruction of muslim societies everywhere? Religion is not democratic, no one can question the word of God or the words of his holymen so why do we need it in politics? The "afterlife" is not a good enough a motivation to run a proper country. Besides who are we kidding, it's always religion on top but really its all about money, politics, power and land. I'm not saying that we should all support secularism - no I think secularism is another form of religious discrimination. But whatever it is leave religion out of governance - it has place in our lives not in how the government is run.
4. It's about poverty idiots. Eradication of poverty shouldn't be a priority, it's a necessity. In this day and age I can't believe there are still people out there with no roof over their heads, no food and no access to clean water - no I'm not talking about other countries but my own. And yes it gets worse elsewhere. Incidents of violence, racism, crime and what have you are higher in areas of extreme poverty - the lack of means to even support oneself can lead to various acts of desperation and even turning to extremist groups for support and protection. What can we all do about it? And I believe governments should do more.
5. And it's about education. It's a given. I'm appalled at the state of education which in so far seems to just exist to educate enough - to fill the brain with data and then leave out the important clue as to what to do with them. That "we're not taught to think" is a common phrase I hear in Malaysia and Singapore. Worse yet I think Malaysia's investment so far in education has been just plain ridiculous. Teaching is no longer a favored job, schools exist so that parents can get their kids out of the way for part of the day and the focus is still too much on examinations and getting grades. Don't get me wrong I love exams, think they're swell. But why is it I remember more from my 2 years in the US school system (standards 4 and 5) than I did my entire high school? I know American history better than 70% of Americans (according to an online test) - and still recall pages of books and projects I did when I was 10. But I cannot remember anything significant from my highschool days. Ad-maths - NOPE, Chemistry - close, but I had to look 95% of stuff up again, English - NO WAY, - BM - EVEN WORSE, - History - Some vague references to Adat and the history of Melaka but that's about it and that was from Form 3. Heck most of what I remember and know now are results from self learning and reading. So... what the F? Does the system work? No I don't think so...
Anyway, enough ranting already.
Now the year's coming to an end, 2008 started out rather bad and seems to be ending in a worse note - talking about globally and generally not specifically about me. The wars that was on earlier in the year are still on, some new conflicts have erupted since then; piracy is getting worse and making my job a little bit more complicated; the economy is going downhill; and worse of all to me there has been little to no changes to the politics in Malaysia.
Isn't it wierd how polarized the world has become of late? We're either for the government or against it, we're 100% muslim robots or we're kafir/munafik, we're malays or we're chinese or indians or whatever you have... Someone writes something remotely challenging and everyone gets off their rocker. Most times without even properly reading the said offending pages or investigating both sides of the story - case in point the RPK issue or take any racial or religious issue that emerged in the last 3 months in Malaysia.
I had at least 3-4 notes to say about all of that - fortunately for everyone I have been keeping my anarchist-anti establishment thoughts to myself, of course where's the fun in that? I'm getting just so detached recently with all the crap happening or not happening that I think I need a little emotional motivation to continue - otherwise I would stop caring. And caring means sharing... So here they are in point form and in summary, my anarchist take on things:
1. The Malaysian government should all resign - they have failed to keep up with the state of the world and seem to only have time for politics and not work. There's only 24 hours in a day, at the rate the news and gossips on politics are going on one wonders when the work actually gets done. Forget the corruption charges how about start with negligence and work from there...
2. The Malaysian opposition should get a first warning letter and some should already resign for cases of idiocy and just plain moronic behavior. Look DAP/PKR/PAS are not even on the same platform at the core of it, it will be a miracle if Anwar holds them together until the next election. While we're on that topic, Malaysia will never accept non-racial politics - at least not in my lifetime I think. Come on, do you really think all these lovey dovey Rakyat Malaysia gatherings are spelling the end of non racial politics? At grassroots levels Malays want to be Malays, Chinese want to be Chinese et cetera et cetera. There might be a few exceptions, but not many. We're temporarily united against a common foe, UMNO and the threat of corruption and economic decay. We're not ready for true unity, that takes a heck of a long time. It took America 232 years to elect their first minority president, and he's still only half african american. When we're ready to let go of some cultural identity - and I think one of the first are segregated schools for different races - then we're making progress. You can learn language from any school - just stop segregating the races!
3. Islam is beautiful religion, but please leave it off politics. As a religion we have all we need to lead our lives, as a society do you not realise that the abuse of religious beliefs to stay in power have led to the destruction of muslim societies everywhere? Religion is not democratic, no one can question the word of God or the words of his holymen so why do we need it in politics? The "afterlife" is not a good enough a motivation to run a proper country. Besides who are we kidding, it's always religion on top but really its all about money, politics, power and land. I'm not saying that we should all support secularism - no I think secularism is another form of religious discrimination. But whatever it is leave religion out of governance - it has place in our lives not in how the government is run.
4. It's about poverty idiots. Eradication of poverty shouldn't be a priority, it's a necessity. In this day and age I can't believe there are still people out there with no roof over their heads, no food and no access to clean water - no I'm not talking about other countries but my own. And yes it gets worse elsewhere. Incidents of violence, racism, crime and what have you are higher in areas of extreme poverty - the lack of means to even support oneself can lead to various acts of desperation and even turning to extremist groups for support and protection. What can we all do about it? And I believe governments should do more.
5. And it's about education. It's a given. I'm appalled at the state of education which in so far seems to just exist to educate enough - to fill the brain with data and then leave out the important clue as to what to do with them. That "we're not taught to think" is a common phrase I hear in Malaysia and Singapore. Worse yet I think Malaysia's investment so far in education has been just plain ridiculous. Teaching is no longer a favored job, schools exist so that parents can get their kids out of the way for part of the day and the focus is still too much on examinations and getting grades. Don't get me wrong I love exams, think they're swell. But why is it I remember more from my 2 years in the US school system (standards 4 and 5) than I did my entire high school? I know American history better than 70% of Americans (according to an online test) - and still recall pages of books and projects I did when I was 10. But I cannot remember anything significant from my highschool days. Ad-maths - NOPE, Chemistry - close, but I had to look 95% of stuff up again, English - NO WAY, - BM - EVEN WORSE, - History - Some vague references to Adat and the history of Melaka but that's about it and that was from Form 3. Heck most of what I remember and know now are results from self learning and reading. So... what the F? Does the system work? No I don't think so...
Anyway, enough ranting already.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Four on a Train
Once upon a time...
Pak Lah, Najib, Shahrizat and Anwar were sitting in a KTM train heading up to Penang for campaigning. Near Ipoh, the train goes through a tunnel and it gets completely dark.
Suddenly there is a kissing sound and then a slap!
The train comes out of the tunnel. Shahrizat and Pak Lah are sitting there looking perplexed.
Najib is bent over holding his face, which is red from an apparent slap.
All of them remain diplomatic and nobody says anything.
Pak Lah is thinking: "These guys are all crazy after Shahrizat. Najib must have tried to kiss her in the tunnel. Very proper that she slapped him."
Shahrizat is thinking: "Najib must have moved to kiss me, but kissed Pak Lah instead and got slapped."
Najib is thinking: "Damn it, Pak Lah must have tried to kiss Shahrizat, she thought it was me and slapped me instead."
Anwar is thinking: "If this train goes through another tunnel, I could make another kissing sound and slap Najib again."
Pak Lah, Najib, Shahrizat and Anwar were sitting in a KTM train heading up to Penang for campaigning. Near Ipoh, the train goes through a tunnel and it gets completely dark.
Suddenly there is a kissing sound and then a slap!
The train comes out of the tunnel. Shahrizat and Pak Lah are sitting there looking perplexed.
Najib is bent over holding his face, which is red from an apparent slap.
All of them remain diplomatic and nobody says anything.
Pak Lah is thinking: "These guys are all crazy after Shahrizat. Najib must have tried to kiss her in the tunnel. Very proper that she slapped him."
Shahrizat is thinking: "Najib must have moved to kiss me, but kissed Pak Lah instead and got slapped."
Najib is thinking: "Damn it, Pak Lah must have tried to kiss Shahrizat, she thought it was me and slapped me instead."
Anwar is thinking: "If this train goes through another tunnel, I could make another kissing sound and slap Najib again."
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
The 100th Post
There we are.. the 100th post, a milestone, a landmark event. What am I going to write about?
Wish I had my camera with me when I took off to Dubai. Finally managed to get in after about a 2.5 hour delay then another 4.5 hour wait for my hotel room. It felt like a long trip. However, since I was sans camera I can only describe the things I saw there and it really was a very beautiful city, quite clean and with heavy traffic typical of any metropolis.
The skyline of Dubai has been under construction for the past 15 years I guess and it still is. The changes have been staggering, they are accomplishing in 15 years what most cities took decades to pull off. Its amazing what money can do for you. The gem of the city was this enormous spire of the still-under-construction Burj Dubai Tower a massive skyscraper that seems to have been plucked straight out from the planet Coruscant (that's from Star Wars for you newbies). It's very sci fi...
The trip itself was a succession of meetings and conference papers one after another so nothing too interesting to write about. Several dinners and many hours of just talking. But I do think I'd like to go back to Dubai on holiday one of these days, it could be a very good vacation place although a bit expensive. The weather is very nice in December, as its winter temperatures stayed at about 20 degrees. But since it's also peak season, coming to Dubai in December mean 4 figure hotel rooms and traffic jams.
The last night of the trip a bunch of friends and I managed to sneak out to a local disco... the music sucked, but we were there just to look around anyway. Almost missed my flight since I was stuck in a bloody traffic jam outside of the airport for almost an hour, despite the flight being at 2.30 in the morning. Next time I fly SIA, at least theirs is during daylight hours.
Wish I had my camera with me when I took off to Dubai. Finally managed to get in after about a 2.5 hour delay then another 4.5 hour wait for my hotel room. It felt like a long trip. However, since I was sans camera I can only describe the things I saw there and it really was a very beautiful city, quite clean and with heavy traffic typical of any metropolis.
The skyline of Dubai has been under construction for the past 15 years I guess and it still is. The changes have been staggering, they are accomplishing in 15 years what most cities took decades to pull off. Its amazing what money can do for you. The gem of the city was this enormous spire of the still-under-construction Burj Dubai Tower a massive skyscraper that seems to have been plucked straight out from the planet Coruscant (that's from Star Wars for you newbies). It's very sci fi...
The trip itself was a succession of meetings and conference papers one after another so nothing too interesting to write about. Several dinners and many hours of just talking. But I do think I'd like to go back to Dubai on holiday one of these days, it could be a very good vacation place although a bit expensive. The weather is very nice in December, as its winter temperatures stayed at about 20 degrees. But since it's also peak season, coming to Dubai in December mean 4 figure hotel rooms and traffic jams.
The last night of the trip a bunch of friends and I managed to sneak out to a local disco... the music sucked, but we were there just to look around anyway. Almost missed my flight since I was stuck in a bloody traffic jam outside of the airport for almost an hour, despite the flight being at 2.30 in the morning. Next time I fly SIA, at least theirs is during daylight hours.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Stuck in Changi
Well there's a first time for everything. The last time I was stuck in the middle of the night at Changi airport I was a student on the way to US to finish my degree. Now however I'm just taking off to go to Dubai and seems the flight has been "retimed" to about 2 hours later.
Now I could go back and maybe sleep an hour or so, or more likely play a few rounds of computer games. But that would mean about $15 bucks each way to the taxi driver. Not feeling particularly generous today so decided to try and find something to eat and zzzz at the airport. For the record it is now 1.37 AM. I am normally trying to sleep at this time.
Changi at night is quite different from the day. There's far less people even though the duty free shops are still open and a handful of restaurants. Clearly most of these poor souls wandering like zombies through the nearly empty airport halls have similarly delayed flights or are in somekind of cruel and unusual transit in the middle of the morning, the same kind that I was in nearly 13 years ago.
Most are just trying to pass the time, watching the many TVs here, having drinks or food. I looked at the 24 hour food mart and only 1 stall was open, unfortunately I wasn't particularly feeling like any Shanghai Noodles so I bought some really bad pastry at Jack's had 3 bites and threw it away, gluped down my really expensive bottle of mineral water and decided to go look for a place to sleep before getting myself distracted by the free internet PCs here. Clearly the airport is infinitely more fun to hangout in than our own back home.
I hope I have time to rest in a bit. So we'll continue this next time.
Now I could go back and maybe sleep an hour or so, or more likely play a few rounds of computer games. But that would mean about $15 bucks each way to the taxi driver. Not feeling particularly generous today so decided to try and find something to eat and zzzz at the airport. For the record it is now 1.37 AM. I am normally trying to sleep at this time.
Changi at night is quite different from the day. There's far less people even though the duty free shops are still open and a handful of restaurants. Clearly most of these poor souls wandering like zombies through the nearly empty airport halls have similarly delayed flights or are in somekind of cruel and unusual transit in the middle of the morning, the same kind that I was in nearly 13 years ago.
Most are just trying to pass the time, watching the many TVs here, having drinks or food. I looked at the 24 hour food mart and only 1 stall was open, unfortunately I wasn't particularly feeling like any Shanghai Noodles so I bought some really bad pastry at Jack's had 3 bites and threw it away, gluped down my really expensive bottle of mineral water and decided to go look for a place to sleep before getting myself distracted by the free internet PCs here. Clearly the airport is infinitely more fun to hangout in than our own back home.
I hope I have time to rest in a bit. So we'll continue this next time.
Thursday, December 06, 2007
DR in da house!
Ho ho ho! A buddy of mine recently graduated with a PHD in Computer Engineering recently from University of Queensland... here's a pic... it's definitely worth a mention in my auspicious blog! hahaha...
Congrats man
The teddy is from his aunt, no it didn't come as a going away present from the uni. The wierd looking hat is the dresscode for PHD holders known as a bonnet... heheh yeah the same kind babies used to wear.
He's looking for a job now. So if anyone is looking for a briliant PHD grad for some computer engineering work, with excellent teaching records and some industrial experience as well. Give em a buzz... just comment on this post.
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Updates
Sophia's website has been updated with a bunch of new pictures, not that much but they are quite recent. She has changed quite a bit but still looks like a boy. Apparently her mom also was like that when she was a baby, so we know where that came from...
Still have so much to do with that website, want to move it to another location because the godaddy server is just too slow with the update tools. Things to do include:
1. Edit her videos! We've got 2.5 hours of tape on her, but I haven't gotten around to editing it.
2. Move the website to someplace easier to access and faster too. Wish I know html/xml then at least easier to build the website.
But easier said than done since most of my free time has been in crysis. Those in the know, know what I mean. I've got to end the crysis before I can do anything else without getting distracted.
Anyway, recently I bought a kickass PC - it's an Intel Quad Core, 2 GB ram, 2 hard drives including a super fast Raptor and an 8800GT video card. Also got a 22 inch flatron monitor... muahaha. It's huge but amazingly quiet. But I made the mistake of running Windows Vista.
To all who are contemplating to buy a new PC, do NOT, and I repeat DO NOT buy Windows Vista, it is the most useless piece of crap that has ever been produced by Microsoft... ok it's not as bad as Windows ME... but still pretty useless. I went and bought the Ultimate version... sigh.. waste of money seriously because I'm actually seriously thinking about stepping back to XP.
If you think Vista will be better after Service Pack 1, well think again, Microdicks have just announced the extension of XP until I think 31 Jan 2008 and releasing SP 3 for XP. What's worse is that beta tests of the two show that XP with SP3 still kicks Vista's fat ass even with SP1, so there... Don't buy Vista... at least not yet... wait until end of next year, at least...
I bought Vista for DX10- thinking I'd see some major differences. But noooo.. nada, almost the same as DX9c. In fact I games run slower on Vista. Stoopid...
Otherwise things have been okay, been going back to KL almost every weekend. I think I missed 1 or 2 only. Plus this coming weekend I'm not heading back so that makes it 3 times only. Not a bad record... it's tiring, but it's hard not to go back when you've got this face...
Still have so much to do with that website, want to move it to another location because the godaddy server is just too slow with the update tools. Things to do include:
1. Edit her videos! We've got 2.5 hours of tape on her, but I haven't gotten around to editing it.
2. Move the website to someplace easier to access and faster too. Wish I know html/xml then at least easier to build the website.
But easier said than done since most of my free time has been in crysis. Those in the know, know what I mean. I've got to end the crysis before I can do anything else without getting distracted.
Anyway, recently I bought a kickass PC - it's an Intel Quad Core, 2 GB ram, 2 hard drives including a super fast Raptor and an 8800GT video card. Also got a 22 inch flatron monitor... muahaha. It's huge but amazingly quiet. But I made the mistake of running Windows Vista.
To all who are contemplating to buy a new PC, do NOT, and I repeat DO NOT buy Windows Vista, it is the most useless piece of crap that has ever been produced by Microsoft... ok it's not as bad as Windows ME... but still pretty useless. I went and bought the Ultimate version... sigh.. waste of money seriously because I'm actually seriously thinking about stepping back to XP.
If you think Vista will be better after Service Pack 1, well think again, Microdicks have just announced the extension of XP until I think 31 Jan 2008 and releasing SP 3 for XP. What's worse is that beta tests of the two show that XP with SP3 still kicks Vista's fat ass even with SP1, so there... Don't buy Vista... at least not yet... wait until end of next year, at least...
I bought Vista for DX10- thinking I'd see some major differences. But noooo.. nada, almost the same as DX9c. In fact I games run slower on Vista. Stoopid...
Otherwise things have been okay, been going back to KL almost every weekend. I think I missed 1 or 2 only. Plus this coming weekend I'm not heading back so that makes it 3 times only. Not a bad record... it's tiring, but it's hard not to go back when you've got this face...
Thursday, October 18, 2007
At the Crossroads
In case anyone missed this mini documentary, please take a look. It's important to know what's going on in the country from everyone's perspective.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9zmRMoDt58
I would embed the video, but the guys who posted it did not allow embedding.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9zmRMoDt58
I would embed the video, but the guys who posted it did not allow embedding.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Hari Raya
I should put up some pictures for Raya, they are coming soon, most of them are stuck on other websites or still on the PC, I'll pool some of my favourites when I have the time.
Raya was a 4 day affair, we reached Melaka just in time for Buka on Friday. Buka at grand ma's house was a quiet one, simply had the Raya food of Ketupat and the condiments. Ate a lot, but the thing is we'd be eating the same thing for the next 3 days anyway - no veggies or fruits intake for the entire weekend, it was ketupat, rendang and kari non stop.
So this week week, at least today anyway I've got a little stomach flu. Or indigestion or something, could be bad food from yesterday's dinner, but it's probably a good idea not to eat so much today. However I've got a lunch appo with a customer this afternoon... so much for resting the stomach.
Took lots of videos during the holidays, I'll probably only post them up when I get my PC and do some editing. It was nice to see Sophie with her moyang again, took some videos of that too, but no pictures this time.
So today I'm back to work, the market's gone a bit nutty over the Eid now have to ease myself back into place.
Raya was a 4 day affair, we reached Melaka just in time for Buka on Friday. Buka at grand ma's house was a quiet one, simply had the Raya food of Ketupat and the condiments. Ate a lot, but the thing is we'd be eating the same thing for the next 3 days anyway - no veggies or fruits intake for the entire weekend, it was ketupat, rendang and kari non stop.
So this week week, at least today anyway I've got a little stomach flu. Or indigestion or something, could be bad food from yesterday's dinner, but it's probably a good idea not to eat so much today. However I've got a lunch appo with a customer this afternoon... so much for resting the stomach.
Took lots of videos during the holidays, I'll probably only post them up when I get my PC and do some editing. It was nice to see Sophie with her moyang again, took some videos of that too, but no pictures this time.
So today I'm back to work, the market's gone a bit nutty over the Eid now have to ease myself back into place.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Back in Brussels
Seems like I was just here right? Well actually it was June and there was just a big gap in between posts. I just got into Brussels today via a long train ride from Amsterdam, remind me to fly in next time. It was relatively easy getting through passport and customs today. A colleague on his first trip here commented that it was too easy, but a little scary. They just seemed like they wanted to hold you back, then decided to let you go.
Will be back next week in KL again. Baby's doing fine and I'm in the process of building her a webpage so there's a place for updates and pictures without me having to upload them here. Then at least anything Sophia related will be centralised. Her website and URL have already been selected, I'm in the process of choosing where the blog will be hosted.
Hehe... it's probably too early to give your daughter a website and own URL address, but she'll probably appreciate it when she's older. I predict domain names and online real estate will be tight by the time she grows up so it'll be good to book early. For instance, you can also get to this site by heading to http://www.rizalrepin.com/
Meanwhile, here are some latest pictures:
Will be back next week in KL again. Baby's doing fine and I'm in the process of building her a webpage so there's a place for updates and pictures without me having to upload them here. Then at least anything Sophia related will be centralised. Her website and URL have already been selected, I'm in the process of choosing where the blog will be hosted.
Hehe... it's probably too early to give your daughter a website and own URL address, but she'll probably appreciate it when she's older. I predict domain names and online real estate will be tight by the time she grows up so it'll be good to book early. For instance, you can also get to this site by heading to http://www.rizalrepin.com/
Meanwhile, here are some latest pictures:
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Stillness
Sometimes I like to be still. There is something comforting in the quietness of things and the silence of an empty room. Moments like these are few and far between. Perhaps a few stolen minutes in the early morning hours, where I float between waking and sleeping. Perhaps during those moments when I am left alone, those few seconds or minutes when everyone has left the room and everything suddenly falls silent.
It is then that I really fall into place with myself. The little moments of quiet contemplation or meditation does a lot to assuage any pain or anguish I may be harboring.
I'm afraid of being alone - but I like to be left alone. Does it make sense? It's not about being alone, but about being lonely. I suppose my greatest fear is to live life and die unremembered.
So I try to be still. There is comfort in the quietness of things. It reminds me that my fears are still alive that it is there in that empty room with me, waiting to steal a few more moments of my short existence. Fear robs us of our ability to move forward and our ability to live our lives.
In much the same vein, love does the same thing. Love freezes us from moving forward and only when we learn to let it go - little by little - we begin to learn to live again. It is with our parents, our first loves, our husbands and wives.
Yeah you may disagree. The purists will say love is always there and it evolves, changes as the relationship develops. But is not the evolution of love also is its dissolution? Don't we feel like it's easier to love less the longer the love lasts? If we did not let go of love, won't we all still be tied to our parents bosom - unable and unwilling to let go and move on? Maybe we don't want to admit it but as our relationship progresses, we become more comfortable to let go of love.
Maybe love is meant to be temporary and falls out as soon as we stop needing it? Maybe I'm wrong.
It is then that I really fall into place with myself. The little moments of quiet contemplation or meditation does a lot to assuage any pain or anguish I may be harboring.
I'm afraid of being alone - but I like to be left alone. Does it make sense? It's not about being alone, but about being lonely. I suppose my greatest fear is to live life and die unremembered.
So I try to be still. There is comfort in the quietness of things. It reminds me that my fears are still alive that it is there in that empty room with me, waiting to steal a few more moments of my short existence. Fear robs us of our ability to move forward and our ability to live our lives.
In much the same vein, love does the same thing. Love freezes us from moving forward and only when we learn to let it go - little by little - we begin to learn to live again. It is with our parents, our first loves, our husbands and wives.
Yeah you may disagree. The purists will say love is always there and it evolves, changes as the relationship develops. But is not the evolution of love also is its dissolution? Don't we feel like it's easier to love less the longer the love lasts? If we did not let go of love, won't we all still be tied to our parents bosom - unable and unwilling to let go and move on? Maybe we don't want to admit it but as our relationship progresses, we become more comfortable to let go of love.
Maybe love is meant to be temporary and falls out as soon as we stop needing it? Maybe I'm wrong.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
News Alert
US FDA reports that there are several brands of pet food being banned and recalled. They apparently were found to be contaminated with Melamine, a fertiliser based plastic - same stuff your plastic plates are made of. It's toxic and was found to be contained in wheat-gluten and rice protein laced with melamine.
You can download the full list from HERE .
FDA reports 16 related pet deaths, due to kidney failure, but organisations say the numbers are already into the thousands. Symptoms are lethargy, loss of appetite or vomiting.
You can download the full list from HERE .
FDA reports 16 related pet deaths, due to kidney failure, but organisations say the numbers are already into the thousands. Symptoms are lethargy, loss of appetite or vomiting.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Friday, February 09, 2007
Baby Contract
Reading too many contracts and getting my head clogged up with jargons. This happens to us here a lot and we begin automatically replacing jargons for normal words. Here's a gag... what would a baby contract look like?
Buyer : Rizal And Pauline Inc. (Pauline and Rizal Co.)
Seller : God aka "higher being"
Duration : Evergreen with automatic renewal conditions
Product : Baby (gender undertermined) - CAS 600 600 644 644
Quantity : One
Quality : To be determined
Price : Oh you're so gonna pay
Payment : In advance
Delivery : Naturally, CFR
Shipment : ETA July 2007
Felt: Tired and hungry
Read: The Khairy Chronicles
Heard: El Grand Combo, Me Libere
Buyer : Rizal And Pauline Inc. (Pauline and Rizal Co.)
Seller : God aka "higher being"
Duration : Evergreen with automatic renewal conditions
Product : Baby (gender undertermined) - CAS 600 600 644 644
Quantity : One
Quality : To be determined
Price : Oh you're so gonna pay
Payment : In advance
Delivery : Naturally, CFR
Shipment : ETA July 2007
Felt: Tired and hungry
Read: The Khairy Chronicles
Heard: El Grand Combo, Me Libere
Thursday, February 08, 2007
New Blog, New Baby
I wanted to start a new blog, got bored with this one. Seems it's not heading the way its supposed to head. My fault really, it is my blog, but its not ending up having the kind of content I originally wanted it to have. Maybe my writing is just crap. Or what I'm writing about is just crap.
Anyway, fiddled with blogger but can't really get it to change much without suffering through too much work. The templates are useful, but all these additional widgets are so damn confusing to install and never seem to work right. A redesign won't be too bad either.
If you've been following the wife's blog then the news has been out for a while. We're expecting a baby. Well I say WE, but really she's doing all the work. I just have to worry for both of us. When I tell people about the baby, the typical response would be,
"First one?"
Nod
Look for utter surprise and joy, "Wow, that's so great! Congratulations!"
Nod Nod Smile
"So when is she due?"
....
"Oh you must be so excited!"
"Yes?"
Its been a blur actually. Or rather I've been blur. I usually think what's the appropriate response to some of these comments and I haven't come with anything that I think describes the actual feeling. "Nice, great, excited" doesn't really cut it. Although the phrase "heavy with anticipation" comes rather close. Or rather the simpler "overwhelmed".
So yes, WE will be a having a baby.
Anyway, fiddled with blogger but can't really get it to change much without suffering through too much work. The templates are useful, but all these additional widgets are so damn confusing to install and never seem to work right. A redesign won't be too bad either.
If you've been following the wife's blog then the news has been out for a while. We're expecting a baby. Well I say WE, but really she's doing all the work. I just have to worry for both of us. When I tell people about the baby, the typical response would be,
"First one?"
Nod
Look for utter surprise and joy, "Wow, that's so great! Congratulations!"
Nod Nod Smile
"So when is she due?"
....
"Oh you must be so excited!"
"Yes?"
Its been a blur actually. Or rather I've been blur. I usually think what's the appropriate response to some of these comments and I haven't come with anything that I think describes the actual feeling. "Nice, great, excited" doesn't really cut it. Although the phrase "heavy with anticipation" comes rather close. Or rather the simpler "overwhelmed".
So yes, WE will be a having a baby.
Monday, February 27, 2006
Tagged
Current time: 7:16pm
What am I wearing:
Dark blue/grey shirt, blue tie with yellow key links, black pants, and I don't remember what underwear I am wearing.
Something out of ordinary on my desk:
A baseball, box of junk, Tongkat Ali energy drink, and too many stacks of paper that I can hardly see my desk.
Current fav song:
Baby one more time.. not the Britney version, but the other more alternative one. Can't help it, its stuck in my head.
Last phone call received:
From a trader regarding an LOI for a Q3 tender from Oman.
Current annoyance:
1) My wife who said I was whiny when I was down. I don't whine.
2) My boss for making my life miserable with this Oman tender. Ruining my life.
Plans for the evening:
1) Get this tender out of the way and tidy up the LOI tomorrow. Its not procedure but heck it, I cannot follow procedures every damn day.
2) Check out what's happening in the wonderful world of Lampe Berger.
3) Find some food in between that.
What am I wearing:
Dark blue/grey shirt, blue tie with yellow key links, black pants, and I don't remember what underwear I am wearing.
Something out of ordinary on my desk:
A baseball, box of junk, Tongkat Ali energy drink, and too many stacks of paper that I can hardly see my desk.
Current fav song:
Baby one more time.. not the Britney version, but the other more alternative one. Can't help it, its stuck in my head.
Last phone call received:
From a trader regarding an LOI for a Q3 tender from Oman.
Current annoyance:
1) My wife who said I was whiny when I was down. I don't whine.
2) My boss for making my life miserable with this Oman tender. Ruining my life.
Plans for the evening:
1) Get this tender out of the way and tidy up the LOI tomorrow. Its not procedure but heck it, I cannot follow procedures every damn day.
2) Check out what's happening in the wonderful world of Lampe Berger.
3) Find some food in between that.
Monday, November 28, 2005
Nice quote!
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
- Mark Twain
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