If you've seen me play magic the gathering, you would have noticed the change in me. I've changed from a fast impatient player to a ponderous and more careful though still not very careful player. And this ponderous personality does reflect in my blogs. Those who know the topic today and are pedantic enough might notice the amount of posts it took me to eventually come to this post. And as you will see in this post, the number of paragraphs that i take to eventually come to the point.
Jessica, my poly project supervisor, once said of me, "You're still that happy go lucky person". She said i was a man of the present. Indeed appearances are deceiving, for i am more of a man of the past. Did i ever mention my story of a little blue bird? You might have heard me talk about it at some point of time in my friendster account.
The story goes like this; A little blue bird came to me, and granted me a wish. She said to me, "If you're given a chance to change something in the past, be it good or bad, be it for better or worse, what would it be?" And my reply was, "If i would be given the chance to change the past, i would change none of it. For i am today what my past made." "You're a foolish man.", the little blue bird replied.
Many months later, i still stand steadfast to my words, albeit at times i do regret them. But such is the past, you merely reflect upon it, not change it.
Yesterday (i am saying yesterday even though it is only just now, bcoz i know when i'll be online to post this) i had coffee with a couple of friends. If metaphors served anyone well, it has done me proud. And coffee that night, was just a little too sweet for my taste.
One of my friends, one whom i was once very close to, was talking about going to korea. Or maybe to new zealand, or bali. Whatever the destination may be, its significance was in the events to come.
I remember the unlikely beginings, the shaky journey, and i remember i once bought her a necklace. I asked of her, if she would stop wearing it, or throw away, or hide away, or even attempt to give it back to me if we went our separate ways. Yet another of the bandit's repertoire of hidden gems. The truth of the question was whether i would become a good memory or a bad experience. If i would become a good memory, then she wouldn't mind wearing it. If i was a bad experience, then any of the above actions would have come to pass.
One might argue that i knew we would eventually go our separate ways with that question. But i've covered this part in the tiny phrase "unlikely beginings" which i choose not to elaborate. But whether a good memory or bad experience, it shall never become known for the necklace is broken, i think. Broken, literally and metaphorically.
I am a poor man, that i've mentioned plenty of times. But i'm also a haunted man. My dreams are sleepless and my waking moments are haunted by the words of one of my cousins. She said of me, "...maybe its because you're unable to let go..." "Impossible", i replied. Innocent words and profound irony, i now know we live in a magical world.
Perhaps its not about letting go, perhaps it is about envy. Envy of her moving on while i hold on to the emptiness left behind. And perhaps it is not envy, but realisation. Realisation of that which will never be, and perhaps never even was.
I would have cried. But i did that when i was in gippy, together with stressful deadlines and bouts of despair. Now, what i do not leak in tears, i spout in words. I speak so as to open a hole to my soul. A hole not so much for readers to peek, but for me to bleed away the emotional pain. For it is with hope that careful thoughts and confrontation would make it go away eventually.
As the night grew weary, and the coffee passed around, everyone seemed to be asking everyone else whether he/she is going to the wedding. My reply was but a stammer and stutter, neccessarily inarticulate. Hearing one whom i was once so close to was going to korea only made it more difficult.
Where my voice shall fail, my writing will succeed. I am happy for you and i wish you happiness. I would like to go, but i cannot, for it would be too difficult for me. And i weigh my words, not in dough but in gold. (If anyone is wondering what the last sentence mean, read my post of 'the value of words'. It means i've given this post alot of thought and did my best to make sure that it is not harmful to anyone in anyway.)
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
People who know me would know that news don't travel to me that easily. Aside from the occasional reading of newspaper headlines, my other avenue of news is from hearsay where people read newspapers and tell me about the current affairs of the world. This is especially true when i was still back in gippy. In the tiny honours room lab, with three and a half computers (yes three and a half, if the monitors weren't flickering, pcs not afflicted with spyware and printers not printing garbage, i would say we had processing power of four computers) and where the only users are kumar and me we usually talk about politics, religion and anything under the sky except our work :p I had to depend on him to keep me up to date with current news.
Eventually i made my way to asia one's web site to start reading sg news myself. And i was intrigued by a tiny link on the pages to a site called 1 match 1. Intresting in that sometimes i get to look at pictures of good looking gals. As i always say, if i'm gonna look at anything, why not look at something pleasant. So i became a frequent visitor (no i don't have an account with it) to 1 match 1. Kumar would probably know what i want to show him when i say "Kumar, look at this, brown eyes!!"
Eventually i did observe some kind of a trend in 1 match 1. Some of the gals (Um... i only look at gal pictures, don't know about guys) uploaded pictures that looked squeezed. As in the scaling factor is reduced on x axis but maintained on y axis. I then wonder if these people ever look at their own profile and give any thoughts at all to their profile. It is obvious that such trend is influenced by a lack of confidence in one's own body. If the person thought that by squeezing the picture, onlookers would think that she is thin, then i think the person needs to work on her psychological skills.
And since i was already there, i thought i might as well look through the whole profile instead of just the picture. Usually you can get some idea of the person by looking at her profile. If the girl says she likes trance or that kind of music, then you know she probably chiongs at the pub or disco. And if she says she likes trance and the like but is a non-drinker, she's highly likely to be lying. People who chiong are usually light/social drinkers.
Then there are the fields which states their likes and dislikes. If the gal states wealth, then i think she is frank and honest. If they state contradicting likes and dislikes, Eg. dislike public shows of affection and likes...,
then i think the gal is clueless.
Then there is religion. You can tell alot by looking at religion. If the religion states budhist and diet states vegetarian, or if religion states christian (by christian i'm classifying all religions with a bible that has jesus in it. don't need to be too specific about the versions for me), then i'll classify these people as close-minded. That is, most of them are usually unable to make objective discussions without involving their own religion(please read emphasis before sending me violent hate mail), Eg. when i talk about horoscope, i'm starting a conversation, not asking to recieve a preachy sermon about what is superstition.
At this point i like to make an aside point. You might find throughout my posts that i am biased against religion, especially christianity. But i assure you that i am neither anti-religion nor anti-christian, i truly adhere to the singapore pledge "regardless of religion". You might ask why i am more biased against christianity than other religion. It is due to a couple incidents many years back. Some friends and also some strangers were trying to convert me and i would say their induction strategy had little respect for other religions and was outright offensive. It has left an ever-lasting impression and i've never viewed religion much the same anymore.
Well.. that's all for now.
Eventually i made my way to asia one's web site to start reading sg news myself. And i was intrigued by a tiny link on the pages to a site called 1 match 1. Intresting in that sometimes i get to look at pictures of good looking gals. As i always say, if i'm gonna look at anything, why not look at something pleasant. So i became a frequent visitor (no i don't have an account with it) to 1 match 1. Kumar would probably know what i want to show him when i say "Kumar, look at this, brown eyes!!"
Eventually i did observe some kind of a trend in 1 match 1. Some of the gals (Um... i only look at gal pictures, don't know about guys) uploaded pictures that looked squeezed. As in the scaling factor is reduced on x axis but maintained on y axis. I then wonder if these people ever look at their own profile and give any thoughts at all to their profile. It is obvious that such trend is influenced by a lack of confidence in one's own body. If the person thought that by squeezing the picture, onlookers would think that she is thin, then i think the person needs to work on her psychological skills.
And since i was already there, i thought i might as well look through the whole profile instead of just the picture. Usually you can get some idea of the person by looking at her profile. If the girl says she likes trance or that kind of music, then you know she probably chiongs at the pub or disco. And if she says she likes trance and the like but is a non-drinker, she's highly likely to be lying. People who chiong are usually light/social drinkers.
Then there are the fields which states their likes and dislikes. If the gal states wealth, then i think she is frank and honest. If they state contradicting likes and dislikes, Eg. dislike public shows of affection and likes...,
then i think the gal is clueless.
Then there is religion. You can tell alot by looking at religion. If the religion states budhist and diet states vegetarian, or if religion states christian (by christian i'm classifying all religions with a bible that has jesus in it. don't need to be too specific about the versions for me), then i'll classify these people as close-minded. That is, most of them are usually unable to make objective discussions without involving their own religion(please read emphasis before sending me violent hate mail), Eg. when i talk about horoscope, i'm starting a conversation, not asking to recieve a preachy sermon about what is superstition.
At this point i like to make an aside point. You might find throughout my posts that i am biased against religion, especially christianity. But i assure you that i am neither anti-religion nor anti-christian, i truly adhere to the singapore pledge "regardless of religion". You might ask why i am more biased against christianity than other religion. It is due to a couple incidents many years back. Some friends and also some strangers were trying to convert me and i would say their induction strategy had little respect for other religions and was outright offensive. It has left an ever-lasting impression and i've never viewed religion much the same anymore.
Well.. that's all for now.
Monday, August 23, 2004
A Fairytale Come True
Once upon a time, there was a little creature that flits, floats and flies around on tiny butterfly wings. Upon my dreams she came, spoke to me she did. "Travel afar ye shall, to the ends of the rainbow, ye shall find a pot of gold.".
I woke in a flurry, stepped onto a furry, yapped the little furry, "That's my tail you're stepping on, you hairy monkey". Threw on my dusty boots, and my tattered cape, lugged my trusty harp, and off i went, strumming to the lull of the long long road.
Upon i came, the end of the rainbow, right at the very ends of the world, at the end of the long long road. My boots a dusty, my cape a tattered, and my harp a weary. But at last when i was there, the pot of gold wasn't there, but find i did, water a puddle everywhere.
Home i went, singing and strumming, Been to the rainbow i did, and found, not a pot of gold, not treasures untold, but science unfold. Let this be a lesson to all, about the rainbow and pots of gold, and a fairytale come true.
Once upon a time, there was a little creature that flits, floats and flies around on tiny butterfly wings. Upon my dreams she came, spoke to me she did. "Travel afar ye shall, to the ends of the rainbow, ye shall find a pot of gold.".
I woke in a flurry, stepped onto a furry, yapped the little furry, "That's my tail you're stepping on, you hairy monkey". Threw on my dusty boots, and my tattered cape, lugged my trusty harp, and off i went, strumming to the lull of the long long road.
Upon i came, the end of the rainbow, right at the very ends of the world, at the end of the long long road. My boots a dusty, my cape a tattered, and my harp a weary. But at last when i was there, the pot of gold wasn't there, but find i did, water a puddle everywhere.
Home i went, singing and strumming, Been to the rainbow i did, and found, not a pot of gold, not treasures untold, but science unfold. Let this be a lesson to all, about the rainbow and pots of gold, and a fairytale come true.
I didn't know one could only borrow a maximum of four books from the national library. That's so little. How am i supposed to do anything with only four books. I guess gone are the days of borrowing 30 books for months on end.
Haoster PS: I've changed sim card with my mom. But turns out that i don't have your number. Um.. you can get my number from xinwei.
Haoster PS: I've changed sim card with my mom. But turns out that i don't have your number. Um.. you can get my number from xinwei.
Wednesday, August 18, 2004
The Value of Words.
How much dough do your words weigh? You've probably heard of the phrases "a penny for your thoughts" and "my two cents worth". You may have even used them yourself, but do you know what they really mean.
These days, two cents will buy you almost nothing, so two cents means something of little value. During a discussion, those with an opinion on the topic may offer their "two cents worth", that is, their humble contribution to the debate. This phrase is overused nowadays, and is often false humility. If what the person brings up is a good point, it makes him look humble, but if he slips up, he would have warned the others, that it was just his "two cents worth"!
"My two cents worth" actually evolved from the phrase "put my two cents in" which originates from the older "put my two bits in". "put my two bits in" has its origin in the game of poker. When playing poker you have to make a small bet, ante, before the cards are dealt to begin play in that hand. The phrase "my two cents worth" draws an analogy to poker ante (two bits or 25 cents, which was alot back then). Thus putting two cents in gains your entry into the conversation.
Unfortunately, the origin of the phrase "a penny for your thoughts" is a little more obscure. The earliest known citation of the phrase is in a book titled, "A dialogue conteinying the nomber in effect of all the proverbes in the Englishe tongue", by John Heywood in 1546. You might be able to find a latter reprint called "The Proverbs of John Heywood". However, do note that the proverbs in the book are not coined by John Heywood. John Heywood was just cataloging the ones he had heard.
These phrases are often used in written form in sg, and hardly heard of in verbal form. But if you're dishing out dough for thoughts, you'll go broke quickly even if it costs only one penny per session. So instead of paying a penny for thoughts, you pay for them with attention. Please do note that the valuation of these trades do not include sessions with professional consultants :p
"A penny for your thoughts" and "My two cents worth" do generate alot of interest from various communities. The main question usually is, "If i gave you a penny for your thoughts and you gave me your two cents worth, where did the other penny go?". There are many good and creative answers, but know that the other penny was definitely not gobbled up by the exchange rate. 100 pennies make a pound, and a cent is 0.01 of any of certain money standards. Therefore a penny is a cent and a cent can be a penny.
So where did the other penny go? Rather than questioning the missing penny, we should concentrate on the other parts of the phrases "a penny for your thoughts" and "my two cents worth". If everyone is valuing their thoughts at two cents, why then is everybody paying only a penny? It is here that we must now draw a line between thoughts and opinions. Thoughts are worth atleast a penny, opinions have no value.
Thoughts involve analysing the matter at hand. Giving the matter at hand some thoughts means you think about and analyse it based on facts and evidence. Opinions are biased, and do not require facts or evidence. Thoughts generates perspectives. A perspective can generate more thoughts, and thus more perspectives. Therefore you can have many thoughts and perspectives for the matter at hand. From a perspective, an opinion is formed. Once an opinion is formed, the perspective is maintained and the opinion is claimed as yours. Encountering different perspectives do not neccessarily change your opinion.
Valuing opinions at two cents and others' thoughts at a penny would then be correct, because opinions are self-biased. Valuing opinions high doesn't mean opinions are valuable. Because opinions have no thoughts, opinions are not valuable. However, one must beware of opinions even if it has no value. Opinions have been known to break the strongest bond of friendships and marriages. Opinions can cost people their careers and even life.
People often say "That's just my opinion" when they really mean "Those are just some of my thoughts". When you present your thoughts, you're putting it up for critique and evaluation, hoping to generate a thoughtful discussion. When you present your opinion, you're imposing it onto the other person. However, it is very common for people to feel very strongly about their own opinions and the need to express it when there's a conflicting opinion.
So if your boss asks you "What is your opinion on this matter?" over a golf game. I have no idea what golf has to do with businesses. But my friends says golf is becoming cheaper, um... golfing at the driving range that is. But i've always thought that the driving range is just a practice kind of thing, where you practice your driving... hmm.. doesn't sound rite.. where you practice your putting... doesn't sound rite either... oh heck, i don't know much about golf anyway, or what's a tee, or what's a fore. But i guess if you're driving on the range and someone shouts "Tee fore drivers" you get a drink or something like that :D
As i was saying, if your boss asks you "What is your opinion on this matter?" over a golf game, don't sweat too much on it. Coz opinions have no value, your boss ain't going to give a hoot to what you say, since he probably has his own opinion. He is asking for a conversation, not a meeting. If instead he asks "What are your thoughts on this matter?" Then you better give your best, coz in this case, your thoughts are worth more than a penny. Unless your salary is only a penny, then you might consider giving your job some thoughts rather than giving him any thoughts :)
These are just a penny of my thoughts (or opinion if it is your opinion that this is an opinion :p ). Till then, always ask yourself this, "How much dough do your words weigh?"
How much dough do your words weigh? You've probably heard of the phrases "a penny for your thoughts" and "my two cents worth". You may have even used them yourself, but do you know what they really mean.
These days, two cents will buy you almost nothing, so two cents means something of little value. During a discussion, those with an opinion on the topic may offer their "two cents worth", that is, their humble contribution to the debate. This phrase is overused nowadays, and is often false humility. If what the person brings up is a good point, it makes him look humble, but if he slips up, he would have warned the others, that it was just his "two cents worth"!
"My two cents worth" actually evolved from the phrase "put my two cents in" which originates from the older "put my two bits in". "put my two bits in" has its origin in the game of poker. When playing poker you have to make a small bet, ante, before the cards are dealt to begin play in that hand. The phrase "my two cents worth" draws an analogy to poker ante (two bits or 25 cents, which was alot back then). Thus putting two cents in gains your entry into the conversation.
Unfortunately, the origin of the phrase "a penny for your thoughts" is a little more obscure. The earliest known citation of the phrase is in a book titled, "A dialogue conteinying the nomber in effect of all the proverbes in the Englishe tongue", by John Heywood in 1546. You might be able to find a latter reprint called "The Proverbs of John Heywood". However, do note that the proverbs in the book are not coined by John Heywood. John Heywood was just cataloging the ones he had heard.
These phrases are often used in written form in sg, and hardly heard of in verbal form. But if you're dishing out dough for thoughts, you'll go broke quickly even if it costs only one penny per session. So instead of paying a penny for thoughts, you pay for them with attention. Please do note that the valuation of these trades do not include sessions with professional consultants :p
"A penny for your thoughts" and "My two cents worth" do generate alot of interest from various communities. The main question usually is, "If i gave you a penny for your thoughts and you gave me your two cents worth, where did the other penny go?". There are many good and creative answers, but know that the other penny was definitely not gobbled up by the exchange rate. 100 pennies make a pound, and a cent is 0.01 of any of certain money standards. Therefore a penny is a cent and a cent can be a penny.
So where did the other penny go? Rather than questioning the missing penny, we should concentrate on the other parts of the phrases "a penny for your thoughts" and "my two cents worth". If everyone is valuing their thoughts at two cents, why then is everybody paying only a penny? It is here that we must now draw a line between thoughts and opinions. Thoughts are worth atleast a penny, opinions have no value.
Thoughts involve analysing the matter at hand. Giving the matter at hand some thoughts means you think about and analyse it based on facts and evidence. Opinions are biased, and do not require facts or evidence. Thoughts generates perspectives. A perspective can generate more thoughts, and thus more perspectives. Therefore you can have many thoughts and perspectives for the matter at hand. From a perspective, an opinion is formed. Once an opinion is formed, the perspective is maintained and the opinion is claimed as yours. Encountering different perspectives do not neccessarily change your opinion.
Valuing opinions at two cents and others' thoughts at a penny would then be correct, because opinions are self-biased. Valuing opinions high doesn't mean opinions are valuable. Because opinions have no thoughts, opinions are not valuable. However, one must beware of opinions even if it has no value. Opinions have been known to break the strongest bond of friendships and marriages. Opinions can cost people their careers and even life.
People often say "That's just my opinion" when they really mean "Those are just some of my thoughts". When you present your thoughts, you're putting it up for critique and evaluation, hoping to generate a thoughtful discussion. When you present your opinion, you're imposing it onto the other person. However, it is very common for people to feel very strongly about their own opinions and the need to express it when there's a conflicting opinion.
So if your boss asks you "What is your opinion on this matter?" over a golf game. I have no idea what golf has to do with businesses. But my friends says golf is becoming cheaper, um... golfing at the driving range that is. But i've always thought that the driving range is just a practice kind of thing, where you practice your driving... hmm.. doesn't sound rite.. where you practice your putting... doesn't sound rite either... oh heck, i don't know much about golf anyway, or what's a tee, or what's a fore. But i guess if you're driving on the range and someone shouts "Tee fore drivers" you get a drink or something like that :D
As i was saying, if your boss asks you "What is your opinion on this matter?" over a golf game, don't sweat too much on it. Coz opinions have no value, your boss ain't going to give a hoot to what you say, since he probably has his own opinion. He is asking for a conversation, not a meeting. If instead he asks "What are your thoughts on this matter?" Then you better give your best, coz in this case, your thoughts are worth more than a penny. Unless your salary is only a penny, then you might consider giving your job some thoughts rather than giving him any thoughts :)
These are just a penny of my thoughts (or opinion if it is your opinion that this is an opinion :p ). Till then, always ask yourself this, "How much dough do your words weigh?"
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
RPG, Role-Playing Games
A tiny breeze whistled across the barren plains. At the horizon, a lone figure approaches. The man wore a piece of steel armour. Ancient runes and demonic carvings were etched onto the armour, emnating a glow a soft pale blue. On his waist belt dangled the demonic blade, Soul Stealer. Soul Stealer bades to the man, urging him to draw the demonic sword and unleash horrors to the world once more. But the man's footsteps were heavy, heavy not with the weight of the armor but the weight of his thoughts. Suddenly a dark shadow looms over the man.
[Edit: Boring interaction with monster] Unable to subdue the monster, the man reached for the spark within. Bringing the mystical energy to his finger tips, he unleashed a streak of lightning inferno at the monster. The energy thundered towards the monster, consuming everything in its path.
Ok, the above would fit the description of my kind of characters in RPG that i would like to have. Lone warriors in armour, capable of magic, and beset by some dark power. However, in many RPGs that i've come across, they introduce a distinctive classification of warrior and wizard. You're either a warrior or a wizard. wanna swing a sword, put on some armour, wanna cast a spell, take of armor. Well, that would work in point and click systems in computer games, but for RPGs with reality check, it takes awfully long to suit up or suit down a full plated armour.
Some would say it's forgivable that RPGs are so inflexible, the makers were trying to strike a balance in the game mechanics by avoiding all powerful characters. But i can hardly imagine why i would want to play the role of an incapable wimpy. Hadn't i been through that in life :D There are other RPGs which allow the making of the hybrid character i desire, but why should i be penalised for being who i am?
Being unable to play my favourite kind character, i always chose one that most fit my lbandit nick, which could be rogue/thief/bandit/assassin etc. Yes, i use the lbandit nick in games. Do a google on the keyword lbandit and see. The first few links are not mine. One of them, called World of Laughter is my old, deprecated, not updated, retired website. One link, called Alhazin Invasion (a MUD game), has my nick in it's hall of um.. players list. And of course, all links related to magic the gathering with the nick lbandit is me saying something in the forums.
Often the best skills these classes have is backstab. some MMORPG or RPG call it sneak attack or something like that. I love backstabbing. Of course, that's only RPG, i'm really not a backstabber. With the number of people starting off on the wrong foot with me, backstabbing is not a requirement for me to make enemies.
Anyway, as i was saying, i love backstabbing in games. It is opportunistic, and it tries to deal as much damage as possible on that first strike. Being opportunistic and heavy damage dealing, it lets you take out opponents which are far stronger than you, if the backstab skill was coded correctly in the first place that is.
[Off Topic] Here's a tiny gem of wisdom from the bandit to save you from embarassing moments. It happened a while back, while i was still in gippy, but it popped into my mind this morning. If you live in a house with two housemates who are girls, and they try to break the ice by buying you a pair of red boxer shorts, please know this, "boxer shorts are underwear!!", unless you don't mind two li'l girls (li'l girl indeed, one of them is older than me...) having laughs for the rest of the day. With that said, i don't think i really need to tell you what happened.
I guess that's all for this post, till then, watch your backs ya?
A tiny breeze whistled across the barren plains. At the horizon, a lone figure approaches. The man wore a piece of steel armour. Ancient runes and demonic carvings were etched onto the armour, emnating a glow a soft pale blue. On his waist belt dangled the demonic blade, Soul Stealer. Soul Stealer bades to the man, urging him to draw the demonic sword and unleash horrors to the world once more. But the man's footsteps were heavy, heavy not with the weight of the armor but the weight of his thoughts. Suddenly a dark shadow looms over the man.
[Edit: Boring interaction with monster] Unable to subdue the monster, the man reached for the spark within. Bringing the mystical energy to his finger tips, he unleashed a streak of lightning inferno at the monster. The energy thundered towards the monster, consuming everything in its path.
Ok, the above would fit the description of my kind of characters in RPG that i would like to have. Lone warriors in armour, capable of magic, and beset by some dark power. However, in many RPGs that i've come across, they introduce a distinctive classification of warrior and wizard. You're either a warrior or a wizard. wanna swing a sword, put on some armour, wanna cast a spell, take of armor. Well, that would work in point and click systems in computer games, but for RPGs with reality check, it takes awfully long to suit up or suit down a full plated armour.
Some would say it's forgivable that RPGs are so inflexible, the makers were trying to strike a balance in the game mechanics by avoiding all powerful characters. But i can hardly imagine why i would want to play the role of an incapable wimpy. Hadn't i been through that in life :D There are other RPGs which allow the making of the hybrid character i desire, but why should i be penalised for being who i am?
Being unable to play my favourite kind character, i always chose one that most fit my lbandit nick, which could be rogue/thief/bandit/assassin etc. Yes, i use the lbandit nick in games. Do a google on the keyword lbandit and see. The first few links are not mine. One of them, called World of Laughter is my old, deprecated, not updated, retired website. One link, called Alhazin Invasion (a MUD game), has my nick in it's hall of um.. players list. And of course, all links related to magic the gathering with the nick lbandit is me saying something in the forums.
Often the best skills these classes have is backstab. some MMORPG or RPG call it sneak attack or something like that. I love backstabbing. Of course, that's only RPG, i'm really not a backstabber. With the number of people starting off on the wrong foot with me, backstabbing is not a requirement for me to make enemies.
Anyway, as i was saying, i love backstabbing in games. It is opportunistic, and it tries to deal as much damage as possible on that first strike. Being opportunistic and heavy damage dealing, it lets you take out opponents which are far stronger than you, if the backstab skill was coded correctly in the first place that is.
[Off Topic] Here's a tiny gem of wisdom from the bandit to save you from embarassing moments. It happened a while back, while i was still in gippy, but it popped into my mind this morning. If you live in a house with two housemates who are girls, and they try to break the ice by buying you a pair of red boxer shorts, please know this, "boxer shorts are underwear!!", unless you don't mind two li'l girls (li'l girl indeed, one of them is older than me...) having laughs for the rest of the day. With that said, i don't think i really need to tell you what happened.
I guess that's all for this post, till then, watch your backs ya?
You might have heard of GNU GPL. it is a license. It is a very interesting license, which i like better than EULA, End User Licensing Agreement. GPL stands for General Public License. You probably couldn't guess what GNU stands for. i know i couldn't.
GNU is a self referencing acronym. it actually stands for GNU is Not Unix. haha, sounds funny to me, self referencing acronyms. My own nick could be a self-referencing acronym. Maybe lbandit could stand for Lbandit, Brainy Achiever N Intelligent Teen. No? How about Lbandit Bravely Accepts Nookie Draped In Towel?
GNU is a self referencing acronym. it actually stands for GNU is Not Unix. haha, sounds funny to me, self referencing acronyms. My own nick could be a self-referencing acronym. Maybe lbandit could stand for Lbandit, Brainy Achiever N Intelligent Teen. No? How about Lbandit Bravely Accepts Nookie Draped In Towel?
Sunday, August 15, 2004
My blogs are boring. How i'd know? coz i read 'em myself. probably half the counter hits are my own. Anyway, i made a mug (please say mug when it's a mug, and cup when it's a cup) of three in one coffee today, with an extra teaspoon of milk powder for the extra creaminess. I emptied the contents of the thermoflask into my mug and produced only half a mug of coffee.
If you go to those good chinese restaurants, with well trained waitresses, not those young pretty ones (If you're a young and pretty AND well trained waitress, go ahead, slap me... you did say you were young and pretty right?), you'll find that they keep refilling your cup of tea or glass (yes glass, not mug or cup) of water (Crap restaurants don't refill your drinks in an attempt to make you make way for more paying customers) (that's not to say restaurants that keep refilling your drinks wanna keep you, they make you wanna leave for the washroom sooner) (but of course a different strategy is employed if the restaurant offers it's own washroom or the customers are not drinking the refills. but i really shouldn't go on and on with these brackets, coz this post is really just about half a mug of coffee).
Now where was i? ... there's a reason, not just quenching your thirst, for the constant refills. you see, water, in 'feng shui', is akin to gold/money. so flowing water means flowing money, which is good for business (did i ever tell you not to touch suntec's water fountain's water? anyway, that's out of point). Constant refill means customer's cup/glass/mug is constantly full/'man', which means lots of gold/money for the customer, which is good, for the customer. Customer lots of gold/money, can afford to spend in restaurant, restaurant refill drink, cycle complete, business is good, customer return for more refills (My religious friends 'd probably tell me that it is superstition, and blah blah, and i usually should but didn't mention that religions are also a kind of superstition) (the least they could do was to check the dictionary before trying to fool the bandit rite?). Which ties in with today's topic, me having half a mug of coffee.
So if a full mug means lots of gold/money, then i'm a poor man. I can't pay for my own phone bill (which explains the lack of one), i can't pay for my internet bill (which explains the need to go to my auntie's house to access internet even though i have a dial up account), i can't pay for my shoes (which explains my broken pair of suede), i can't pay for my meals (which doesn't explain why i still eat out sometimes) and i can't pay for my for my transport (which explains why i walk instead of taking bus or mrt most of the time). So it's kind of apposite that i had half a mug of coffee.
Notice how i say "half a mug of coffee" and not "half full mug" or "half empty mug". There's alot of bulldrek going about the last two phrases, about how they can determine if a person is optimistic or pessimistic. Surely you don't belive that kind of crap, i mean me!!? OpTiMiStIc!?? when all i had was half a mug of coffee?!!
Anyways, you might notice that the pragraphs in this post all end with the phrase "half a mug of coffee"
Also there's two new links. One of them is to Yvonne's webpage. An another to the blog of a girl/lady/woman whom i do not know and whom i'm not known to (think her name is wendy). i linked to her anyway since her blog was mentioned in the newspaper (she had an online interview) (and yes, also because her pic in sunday times is so drooling), and she gets 2000 hits per day, compared to my measly 2000 hits per lifetime which is coupled with half a mug of coffee...
Anyway, in an attempt to make you read my previous posts i'll quote myself, "Wanna have some coffee?" and yes, a full mug, not half a mug of coffee.
If you go to those good chinese restaurants, with well trained waitresses, not those young pretty ones (If you're a young and pretty AND well trained waitress, go ahead, slap me... you did say you were young and pretty right?), you'll find that they keep refilling your cup of tea or glass (yes glass, not mug or cup) of water (Crap restaurants don't refill your drinks in an attempt to make you make way for more paying customers) (that's not to say restaurants that keep refilling your drinks wanna keep you, they make you wanna leave for the washroom sooner) (but of course a different strategy is employed if the restaurant offers it's own washroom or the customers are not drinking the refills. but i really shouldn't go on and on with these brackets, coz this post is really just about half a mug of coffee).
Now where was i? ... there's a reason, not just quenching your thirst, for the constant refills. you see, water, in 'feng shui', is akin to gold/money. so flowing water means flowing money, which is good for business (did i ever tell you not to touch suntec's water fountain's water? anyway, that's out of point). Constant refill means customer's cup/glass/mug is constantly full/'man', which means lots of gold/money for the customer, which is good, for the customer. Customer lots of gold/money, can afford to spend in restaurant, restaurant refill drink, cycle complete, business is good, customer return for more refills (My religious friends 'd probably tell me that it is superstition, and blah blah, and i usually should but didn't mention that religions are also a kind of superstition) (the least they could do was to check the dictionary before trying to fool the bandit rite?). Which ties in with today's topic, me having half a mug of coffee.
So if a full mug means lots of gold/money, then i'm a poor man. I can't pay for my own phone bill (which explains the lack of one), i can't pay for my internet bill (which explains the need to go to my auntie's house to access internet even though i have a dial up account), i can't pay for my shoes (which explains my broken pair of suede), i can't pay for my meals (which doesn't explain why i still eat out sometimes) and i can't pay for my for my transport (which explains why i walk instead of taking bus or mrt most of the time). So it's kind of apposite that i had half a mug of coffee.
Notice how i say "half a mug of coffee" and not "half full mug" or "half empty mug". There's alot of bulldrek going about the last two phrases, about how they can determine if a person is optimistic or pessimistic. Surely you don't belive that kind of crap, i mean me!!? OpTiMiStIc!?? when all i had was half a mug of coffee?!!
Anyways, you might notice that the pragraphs in this post all end with the phrase "half a mug of coffee"
Also there's two new links. One of them is to Yvonne's webpage. An another to the blog of a girl/lady/woman whom i do not know and whom i'm not known to (think her name is wendy). i linked to her anyway since her blog was mentioned in the newspaper (she had an online interview) (and yes, also because her pic in sunday times is so drooling), and she gets 2000 hits per day, compared to my measly 2000 hits per lifetime which is coupled with half a mug of coffee...
Anyway, in an attempt to make you read my previous posts i'll quote myself, "Wanna have some coffee?" and yes, a full mug, not half a mug of coffee.
Saturday, August 14, 2004
Note to those interested.
Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon
5 Dec 2004
$35 if register before 31 Aug.
$48 if register in Sep.
Categories available:
42km, 20km, 10km.
More info at www.singaporemarathon.com
Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon
5 Dec 2004
$35 if register before 31 Aug.
$48 if register in Sep.
Categories available:
42km, 20km, 10km.
More info at www.singaporemarathon.com
Wednesday, August 11, 2004
Monday, August 9, 2004
Did i ever tell you that i love mornings. Early mornings, when the sky is still dark, not the late ones. I woke up one morning, my father's alarm clock was ringing, thought there was some sort of a fire drill. Anyways, i couldn't get back to sleep after that.
Unable to sleep, i went for a jog. Considering my last 2.4km jog took me out with injuries for two days, it wasn't the wisest thing to do.
Yesterday's singapore idol is a complete floop, in my personal opinion. Trust singapore to do something and overdo it. five judges was hardly neccessary. All the other idol shows i've seen used only three, and three was good enough.
No doubt that william hung's fame has inspired, and many went for the auditions in a bid to enter the entertainment/stardom industry following hung's footsteps. But hung did not enter stardom (stardom?) by being unoriginal. Telling the national audience, "I was hoping to become the singapore version of william hung" doesn't buy you instant fame. As the saying goes, followers of the fool is a greater fool.
I am in no way saying william hung is a fool. he is a genius. i believe he knew where he was going when he stepped up for the american idol auditions. music, idol shows, they are just another money making business. hung was intelligent enough to recognise the profits on the other end of the "common idol" spectrum.
For the guys in sg who fall into the shadow of william hung, how controversial did they think asian society can be? did they truly think that the producers were going to burn a cd for them for bad music and bad dancing, when the first idol hadn't been found yet? or would they think that the william hung version.sg is not gonna be competitive enough against the oringinal hung? *sigh* make money not dream about it, duh.
Singapore idol is just another show in the bandit's hall of shame.
Unable to sleep, i went for a jog. Considering my last 2.4km jog took me out with injuries for two days, it wasn't the wisest thing to do.
Yesterday's singapore idol is a complete floop, in my personal opinion. Trust singapore to do something and overdo it. five judges was hardly neccessary. All the other idol shows i've seen used only three, and three was good enough.
No doubt that william hung's fame has inspired, and many went for the auditions in a bid to enter the entertainment/stardom industry following hung's footsteps. But hung did not enter stardom (stardom?) by being unoriginal. Telling the national audience, "I was hoping to become the singapore version of william hung" doesn't buy you instant fame. As the saying goes, followers of the fool is a greater fool.
I am in no way saying william hung is a fool. he is a genius. i believe he knew where he was going when he stepped up for the american idol auditions. music, idol shows, they are just another money making business. hung was intelligent enough to recognise the profits on the other end of the "common idol" spectrum.
For the guys in sg who fall into the shadow of william hung, how controversial did they think asian society can be? did they truly think that the producers were going to burn a cd for them for bad music and bad dancing, when the first idol hadn't been found yet? or would they think that the william hung version.sg is not gonna be competitive enough against the oringinal hung? *sigh* make money not dream about it, duh.
Singapore idol is just another show in the bandit's hall of shame.
Thursday, August 5, 2004
Bubble Tea
What is bubble tea?
Bubble tea is a beverage consisting of milk/non-milk red/green tea with over-sized not-so-soft sago called pearls. The mix is shaken, not stirred.
Rise of bubble tea
I remember my first bubble tea. It was in a tea-house turned restaurant in Ang Mo Kio Jubilee Complex. I ordered red tea with milk and pearls. What pique my curiosity was the huge wine glasses used to serve the tea and the huge straws, which was needed to suck up the over-sized sago. And i think it was also the first time i drank 'tea-beng', iced tea.
I think that tea-house turned restaurant was one of the pioneer of bubble tea. Bubble tea market grew quickly with the advent of take away bubble tea machines. Bubble tea began popping up all over singapore, and i suspect other countries too. The market barriers were low and price wars erupted. Pearls dropped from 50c to free and drinks from $2 to two for $1. You know something is not quite right when the sugar cane uncle at the hawker center starts tapping into the bubble tea market by selling his own bubble tea.
Sonn there were loads of variety. From fanciful names like "snow bubble tea" to ice-blended fruit flavors to pearls of varied colors, shape and aloe vera. At a consumption rate of one drink per day, it would take months to finish the menu.
Fall of bubble tea
My initial reaction to bubble tea mania (supplier mania, not consumer mania. I don't think there ever was a consumer mania for bubble tea) was "Hey, i could join the fun and tap into the market!", but everyone was selling bubble tea. The quality of bubble tea degraded rapidly. At one point, one would wonder whether he was ordering bubble tea or bubble water. Bubble water, literally. The beverages, except for a couple in the menu, were no longer made from tea, but plain water!
My name is Bond, no? But there is a definite difference between shaking and stirring. The procedure degenerated into half-hearted shakes. If the seller were to give such weak shakes, would it not be better to stir it in the cup? Atleast that would save the cost on washing the shaker. Which the sellers in a way did. The mix was added to the cup and sealed. The cup itself was then shaken.
The explosive growth bubble tea reached a saturation point where there was not enough demand to meet the supply. Some businesses didn't make good profits and closed. The bubble tea mania started to dwindle and closed even more businesses.
Rise of the dough
Recently, bread shops are popping up everywhere. The interesting difference is that both setup costs and operating costs of selling bread is much higher than bubble tea. Bubble tea was a one man job with the cup sealing machine. Bread requires an oven, a much more expensive machine, and usually more than one baker.
How well would this bread shops fare, we'll have to wait and see. But my guess is it's falling into the bubble tea trend.
What is bubble tea?
Bubble tea is a beverage consisting of milk/non-milk red/green tea with over-sized not-so-soft sago called pearls. The mix is shaken, not stirred.
Rise of bubble tea
I remember my first bubble tea. It was in a tea-house turned restaurant in Ang Mo Kio Jubilee Complex. I ordered red tea with milk and pearls. What pique my curiosity was the huge wine glasses used to serve the tea and the huge straws, which was needed to suck up the over-sized sago. And i think it was also the first time i drank 'tea-beng', iced tea.
I think that tea-house turned restaurant was one of the pioneer of bubble tea. Bubble tea market grew quickly with the advent of take away bubble tea machines. Bubble tea began popping up all over singapore, and i suspect other countries too. The market barriers were low and price wars erupted. Pearls dropped from 50c to free and drinks from $2 to two for $1. You know something is not quite right when the sugar cane uncle at the hawker center starts tapping into the bubble tea market by selling his own bubble tea.
Sonn there were loads of variety. From fanciful names like "snow bubble tea" to ice-blended fruit flavors to pearls of varied colors, shape and aloe vera. At a consumption rate of one drink per day, it would take months to finish the menu.
Fall of bubble tea
My initial reaction to bubble tea mania (supplier mania, not consumer mania. I don't think there ever was a consumer mania for bubble tea) was "Hey, i could join the fun and tap into the market!", but everyone was selling bubble tea. The quality of bubble tea degraded rapidly. At one point, one would wonder whether he was ordering bubble tea or bubble water. Bubble water, literally. The beverages, except for a couple in the menu, were no longer made from tea, but plain water!
My name is Bond, no? But there is a definite difference between shaking and stirring. The procedure degenerated into half-hearted shakes. If the seller were to give such weak shakes, would it not be better to stir it in the cup? Atleast that would save the cost on washing the shaker. Which the sellers in a way did. The mix was added to the cup and sealed. The cup itself was then shaken.
The explosive growth bubble tea reached a saturation point where there was not enough demand to meet the supply. Some businesses didn't make good profits and closed. The bubble tea mania started to dwindle and closed even more businesses.
Rise of the dough
Recently, bread shops are popping up everywhere. The interesting difference is that both setup costs and operating costs of selling bread is much higher than bubble tea. Bubble tea was a one man job with the cup sealing machine. Bread requires an oven, a much more expensive machine, and usually more than one baker.
How well would this bread shops fare, we'll have to wait and see. But my guess is it's falling into the bubble tea trend.
Tuesday, August 3, 2004
I've reformatted my laptop for the... i dunno how many times, just alot... time and now i've got 6Gb of windows 98 as operating system. Where did the other 14Gb go? i left them unpartitioned, to install linux later :p Managed to get my singnet dial up working now. Took two calls to the technical help desk, two calls to services help desk to get it done. Talk abt efficiency :(
Evolution
Is evolution a hoax? For many years there have been two sides, creation theory and evolution theory. One of the contest between the theories was that in creation theory, god created man in seven days (or one day in one of the seven days bleh). In evolution theory, it took millions of years for humans to evolve. Such contrasting thoughts generated lots of unrest in the early years of evolution theory.
But it is sad that supporters of the evolution theory has themselves evolved and taken a stand not dissimilar to the supporters of creation theory. 1981, Dr. Patterson, a senior paleontologist at the British Museum, and a respected evolutionary scientist of many years lashed out at fellow evolution theory supporters, "Can you tell me anything you know about evolution, any one thing that is true?" He followed up with multiple cases of evolution predictions being falsified.
[quote] "Evolutionists all agree that evolution is a fact; the only disagreement is on how evolution occurred." How absurd. If evolution is to be taken seriously as a scientific theory, then it must be an explanatory statement regarding how changes occur over time. The means or mechanism of change is what a scientific theory must be all about. [end quote, Ref: Institute of Creation Research]
It seems that evolution supporters are hanging onto evolution as a fact, 'There is evolution and everything else falls in line', which is similar to creationist theory 'There is god and everything else falls in line'. So is evolution just another religion (i'm sorry if this sounds dismissive to the religious people) ? Can supporters of evolution theory break out of their own enforced paradigm?
Evolution is criticised as not observable, not testable and not repeatable. Perhaps there still is hope. And this hope i (yes the bandit) would believe resides in the common fruit fly. Perhaps can be made observable by experimenting on fruit flies. Why the fruit fly The common fruit fly is highly prized by biologists investigating genetics and developmental biology. The reason for this is that fruit flies grows fast (compared to mice), are cheap (compared to mice), and requires smaller storage (compared to mice). Perhaps evolution can be forced onto fruit flies for observable effects. Would that not serve as an indication that evolution is science and does exist?
PS: If you've got strong violent opinions about this post, please keep them to yourself.
PS: If you sympathize the flies... please, they are only flies.
obtw, here's an interesting fly experiment.
Beckman Research Institute in Los Angeles
"The male flies displayed clear heterosexual activities when temperatures were at 19 degrees, but above 30 degrees their behavior changed within minutes," the December issue of the German science magazine GEO reports.
"The male flies ignored the female partners at that point and chased after their male counterparts. As soon as the temperature was reduced again (to about 19 degrees), they returned to their original (heterosexual) behavior."
The common fruit fly is highly prized by biologists investigating genetics and developmental biology for the simplicity of its anatomy and its ancient roots in the insect family.
No inferences were drawn in the article linking the observed phenomenon with same-sex attraction in mammals.
So much for now, ciao.
Evolution
Is evolution a hoax? For many years there have been two sides, creation theory and evolution theory. One of the contest between the theories was that in creation theory, god created man in seven days (or one day in one of the seven days bleh). In evolution theory, it took millions of years for humans to evolve. Such contrasting thoughts generated lots of unrest in the early years of evolution theory.
But it is sad that supporters of the evolution theory has themselves evolved and taken a stand not dissimilar to the supporters of creation theory. 1981, Dr. Patterson, a senior paleontologist at the British Museum, and a respected evolutionary scientist of many years lashed out at fellow evolution theory supporters, "Can you tell me anything you know about evolution, any one thing that is true?" He followed up with multiple cases of evolution predictions being falsified.
[quote] "Evolutionists all agree that evolution is a fact; the only disagreement is on how evolution occurred." How absurd. If evolution is to be taken seriously as a scientific theory, then it must be an explanatory statement regarding how changes occur over time. The means or mechanism of change is what a scientific theory must be all about. [end quote, Ref: Institute of Creation Research]
It seems that evolution supporters are hanging onto evolution as a fact, 'There is evolution and everything else falls in line', which is similar to creationist theory 'There is god and everything else falls in line'. So is evolution just another religion (i'm sorry if this sounds dismissive to the religious people) ? Can supporters of evolution theory break out of their own enforced paradigm?
Evolution is criticised as not observable, not testable and not repeatable. Perhaps there still is hope. And this hope i (yes the bandit) would believe resides in the common fruit fly. Perhaps can be made observable by experimenting on fruit flies. Why the fruit fly The common fruit fly is highly prized by biologists investigating genetics and developmental biology. The reason for this is that fruit flies grows fast (compared to mice), are cheap (compared to mice), and requires smaller storage (compared to mice). Perhaps evolution can be forced onto fruit flies for observable effects. Would that not serve as an indication that evolution is science and does exist?
PS: If you've got strong violent opinions about this post, please keep them to yourself.
PS: If you sympathize the flies... please, they are only flies.
obtw, here's an interesting fly experiment.
Beckman Research Institute in Los Angeles
"The male flies displayed clear heterosexual activities when temperatures were at 19 degrees, but above 30 degrees their behavior changed within minutes," the December issue of the German science magazine GEO reports.
"The male flies ignored the female partners at that point and chased after their male counterparts. As soon as the temperature was reduced again (to about 19 degrees), they returned to their original (heterosexual) behavior."
The common fruit fly is highly prized by biologists investigating genetics and developmental biology for the simplicity of its anatomy and its ancient roots in the insect family.
No inferences were drawn in the article linking the observed phenomenon with same-sex attraction in mammals.
So much for now, ciao.
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