O' Yee Of Good Faith

Bulid something for 2012 - Recipe holder

2012-02-15T15:45:00.001+08:00

Greetings,

Well I spent the weekend thinking of how I could execute a plan I had in my head on building a note / recipe holder that could double up as a sign or marker board (that I could clean easily). "Clean" being the key word here.

I've been toying around with the general idea and design in my head for a few weeks, and since I wasn't getting any work done just thinking of it, I thought lets just jump in and get this done.

Pictured are recipe's stuck on my new holder / marker board. Behind it is a doorway to hell. So uh, stay away

Generally I wanted to get rid of some spare scrap aluminum I had lying around. I really wish i had some more ferrous material instead so this little hack could have turned into something I could use magnets with as well. *shrug* next time I guess.

No use re-writing it, click on the link below to get sucked into a detailed run through:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Kitchen-recipe-holder-sign-board/

Enjoy!

Dav out

Skies are crying, I am watching
Catching teardrops in my hands
Only silence, as it's ending, like we never had a chance

A different kind of pop

2012-02-03T15:47:00.001+08:00

Greetings,

Recently I've been peppered by a different kind of pop, namely K-Pop. I blame MTV (MTV Asia to be precise) because they tend to lace their normal music video programms with K-Pop music videos.

From what I've seen so far Korean Pop (K-Pop) comprises of a special formula:

Male artist - androgynous
Female artist - as many as you can pack into a bus
Female artist - legs, as many as you can pack into a bus
Any artist - must be able to say these words in English - "Yeah. Oh baby. Yes. OK etc"
Not afraid of glitter and makeup

Seriously, some of these Korean bands have up to 13 members.

Thirteen.


Hi, can we just have the band in here please? Oh, you ARE* the band?*

Its not surprising that many of the female bands dress the way they do, its a multi million dollar (Won or Won, you pick) industry. Being sexy translates into more album sales, and more work.

For the Korean won before the North–South division, see Korean won.

I'm not going to throw around K Pop band names, that's what Google is there for. Super Junior, Wonder Girls, 4 Minutes by the way are just to name a few. Band shelf life goes from anywhere between 6 months to 10 years, depending on the Scoville scale of how hot you are.

One bit of news I found a little amazing while reading up on K Pop is that there have been plans by South Korea to weaponize it, just to annoy the hell out of North Korea. Just imagine playing Avicii - Levels, over and over again just because your idiot neighbor does home improvement work on a Sunday morning.

These aren't cute girls, they're actually Voltron in disguise.
You just need to know how to assemble them the right way

I think the boots market should be doing very well in Korea.

Dav out

Blur

2012-01-29T18:52:00.001+08:00

Greetings,

2012 has been a blur. Happy New Year. Happy Chinese New Year.

I can't seem to sort things out to make some breathing room, but I'm working on it. 2012 started out rough, its been a challenge but its not going to be too difficult to pull through.

Dav out

I can taste the tension like a cloud of smoke in the air
Now I'm breathing like I'm running cause you're taking me there
Don't you know...you spin me out of control

Excel - I do

2011-12-02T21:15:00.001+08:00

Greetings,

I use a LOT of Excel in my everyday life. I blame work (of course I blame a lot of things on work, but that's for another blog post).

Crazy, but not that crazy

Excel makes things..orderly. Order is good! Order is next to Godliness I hear. Anyway, I'm sidetracking.

I periodically (re: every Friday) send out an email to some of the guys at work with some weekend music, and after a while I was receiving requests for spesific songs and couldn't keep track of what I've sent out and what I had cued on for the following weeks.

Cue Excel!

So from a 3 column sheet, I progressed on to a 8 column Excel sheet, and more importantly, a drop down for song status where I could select 'Sent' or 'Not Sent'.

After a while (22 new rows) I was sorting each row by Status and I realised the way I was managing the 'Sent' status could be done in a more logical, automatic manner. So I fired up Google and looked up IF statements as well as Nested Statments.

Microsoft's Help page was not so much help because I was not looking for a complex macro. About.com's page on nested IF statements hit the nail on the head for me. This page had a simple to understand example, and got me thinking that I could just simplify an IF formula in Excel to do what I wanted.

My requirements were simple, if I put in a date in a column (Sent Date), I wanted the column (Sent Status) to change to "Sent". If there was no date value, I'd want the column to say "Not Sent".

Warning, formula below!

=IF([@Date]> 1,"Sent", "Not Sent")

Sample excel below FYI
http://www.mediafire.com/?ksktpp1aqraljxg

So I've nerded out this week. I am ashamed.

Dav out

I resolve to call her up a thousand times a day
Ask her if she'll marry me
in some old fashioned way
But my silent fears have gripped me
long before I reach the phone
And before my tongue has tricked me
Must I always be alone

Friday 11/11/11, 11:11:11

2011-11-11T11:23:00.001+08:00

Greetings,It's one of those dates that's really memorable. Pretty neat date / time, the next we'll have would be next year when its 12/12/12, 12:12:12. So we've almost maxed out the 12 hour count, lets enjoy it while we're able to. Another added advantage is that its a Friday, so TGIF.

Shown - cool date and time. Not shown - the crazy drinking planned for later

Stay safe people!Dav out

End of a pioneer

2011-10-30T11:43:00.000+08:00

Greetings,

I've been putting this off for a while, mainly because I didn't want to jump on the bandwagon. So, here it is. RIP Steve Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011).

There are so many photos out there of him, and some of them have been used on every site possible. Instead, I'm opting to have this photo, to remember him by. Taken in 1979 (wow, special year that eh?), you cant but help think that he's a natural born sales person. A pioneer even.

Steve Jobs poses with an Apple computer, September 1979. Photograph: Ralph Morse/Time & Life Pictures/Getty

His passing was pretty much a shock, mainly due to the fact that the new iPhone was launched not days before.

I've never really been a fan of Apple products, but my issues with Apple were mainly centered around the proprietary way Apple's products worked. iTunes nearly cost me my sanity once, so never again I promised myself. Did their products work? Yes. Did the products do things in a new, unique, human way? Yes. And that's where Jobs excelled. That's where I think Apple excelled. Pushing the envelope.

Let's see who picks up the mantle now.

Jobs - the man with a vision, the money to pull it off, and the insane mad drive to make things happen

Huge loss. Would love to read the full autobiography when it comes out. For now, there's a great review here.

Dav out

Oh my life is changing everyday
Every possible way
Though my dreams, it’s never quite as it seems
Never quite as it seems

Moving forward looking back

2011-09-20T12:43:00.002+08:00

Greetings,

Its a huge pet peeve for me, that in this time and age, we're still using pieces of glass and silver paint in vehicles that can cost up to $1 million. I'm talking about rear-view and wing mirrors.

Imagine that! We're placing our lives and very expensive automobiles in the hands of glass, that costs maybe say $5 (just the glass, the case etc might cost you more). The automotive industry has improved by leaps and bounds since the first Ford T, but we cant seem to get away from rear-view and wing mirrors.


If you sneezed just right I'll shatter

Its 2011! We should have like, laser rangefinders with video cameras and FLIR built into them!

Pictured - FLIR. Not pictured - deer he just ran over

I can see the issues related to having a bunch of video screens or cameras built into your car and dash, but they cant be any more distracting then having to look at 3 separate pieces of glass. With the technology available, we're able to build in proximity detectors, distance (rangefinder) measurements (great for parallel parking) and, if you're feeling really high tech, an Idiot Detector 7000™. Just maybe.

Me? On top of getting rid of those silly wing mirrors (how many times has someone smashed yours off?), I'd want to mount a machine gun on my car. Just for those special moments when you have someone cut you off or jump queue. Would be perfect.

What? Too much?

So yeah.

Maybe its just me.

Dav out

Hey, if we can't solve any problems
Then why do we lose so many tears?
Oh, so you go again
When the leading man appears
Always the same theme
Can't you see
We've got ev'rything going on and on and on

Noir drink

2011-09-05T19:17:00.000+08:00

Cold, the way I like it.

Mixing it up on the Strip

2011-09-02T12:24:00.001+08:00

Greetings,

Well, now that we've set the tone below (that I'm playing Fallout: New Vegas), I think its safe for me to come out with my very own New Vegas drinking game. I'm pretty sure someone's done this before (no, I haven't Googled it just yet) but here's my spin on things. We'll be using tequila shots to measure the potency of each item, ranging between 1 to 5 shots (at 5 shots, you're the winner, champ!). So get that bottle of José Cuervo (aged, none of that white clear stuff) and your shot glasses, because we're headed to New Vegas!

Note: Drink sensibly.
Note # 2: I just noticed the almost pun (really?), Mexico, tequila, Vegas... you feeling this?

1. Take a shot every time you shoot a coyote or scorpion (any type)

This might be a small problem, because at some point in time, you'll end up killing quite a few of these pesky critters (see Hidden Valley, huge spawn point).

Potency: 3 shots of tequila

2. Take a shot every time you run out of ammo (of any type - bullets or energy weapons)

VERY small chance. You might run out of ammo for ONE specific weapon you might have on you, but you're almost never dry in this game. Unless you're that guy that insists on carrying one weapon and it runs empty during a run in with a Deathclaw. Bye, it was nice knowing you.

Potency: 1 shot of tequila (and maybe some milk on the side)

3. Take a shot every time you hear a profanity

DANGER Will Robinson! This might put you over. I cant remember what the rating is on this game, but the colourful language will make it hard to stay sober. Or pick fights with your TV.

Potency: 4 shots of tequila (and a body shot)

4. Take a shot every time you hear an NPC say "Patrolling the Mojave almost makes you wish for a nuclear winter" (or something alike)

I'm sorry ma'am, your son died while playing a drinking game based on New Vegas. There's not much left of him, his body burst into flames when we tried to pry him out of the couch. He was just that flammable.

No, seriously.

They say these phrases ALL the time! Among others:
- When I got this assignment I was hoping there would be more gambling.
- We won't go quietly, the legion can count on that
- Ave. True to Caesar.

Since the longest gaming run I've had so far has been 6 hours, I've been tortured over and over again with these lines (I'm on the NCR end by the way). At one point, I saved the game, and then went all Apocalypse Now in an NCR encampment. That was satisfying.

Potency: 5 shots of tequila and Charlie Sheen crazy eyes thrown into the mix. Good luck and god bless you my son.

So, now you're drunk, and you're crazy like Charlie Sheen. Congrats.

Me, I'm going to play me some more Fallout New Vegas!

Dav out

Nevermind
I’ll find someone like you
I wish nothing but the best
For you too
Don’t forget me
I beg
I’ll remember you said
Sometimes it lasts in love
But sometimes it hurts instead

New Vegas, how I love thee

2011-09-02T10:04:00.001+08:00

Greetings,

So I've been playing quite a bit of Fallout: New Vegas, and I must say, its a pretty polished game. Then again, this is in theory my first exposure to the Fallout world, so what's new and mind blowing to me, might be something old and stale for other people who've played the previous few Fallout games. By now, the developers would have had plenty of time to tweak and fix things that aren't working in terms of gameplay mechanics.

Oh. this gun here? I'm uh, just happy to see you, that's all.

As for the general storyline, I think the developers have managed to build up a very rich atmospheric post apocalyptic world. Interactions with the NPC's, random things to kill and the general world is pretty tight. Of course you cant escape the usual need to grind, but the game spawns plenty of things to shoot and kill, though after a while these chance encounters get a little more easier. I remember cursing the very gods that came up with a Giant Radscorpion, but these days the only things that really give me pause are the Deathclaws (I found me some armour piercing bullets!).

I'm just happy to see you, and want to give you a nice big hug. Just mind the claws there

I'm pretty sure I'm 70% through with the game, and because the game pits you against yourself in 'moral' / 'karma' based activity, I think there should be at least 2 - 3 more rounds of replayability left in the game.

Look out for more!

Dav out.

I can't see you . . . .

2011-08-16T22:28:00.005+08:00

Greetings,

I got held up in traffic the other day, mainly because there was a building fire close to where I live. What got to me was the new fire department uniforms. For some reason, it looks like we've roped in Andy Warhol (and maybe his weight in coke) to design these colour swatches.

You call that a colour pallet?

I can't understand what they were going for. Fire cameo? If it was me, and I was headed into a blazing inferno, I'd like to do it knowing that if I fell over or something, that my buddies would be able to find me in all that smoke and flames and stuff. That's why a lot of first responders and other jobs that require high visibility get issued clothing with luminescent strips. So that they are visible.

Lets look at a simple comparison here. I'd make a uniform that stands out in a fire. A fire where, the bulk of the basic colours you'll be seeing would be either red, orange, red AND orange, and thereabouts.

Bob, Bob! What are you DOING? I can clearly see the guy through all those flames! Jesus man, what have you been smoking?

So lets go with what we have instead:

Oh. My. God. Bob, that is PERFECT! Lets just add in a little more red and orange, and we can safely camouflage ourselves in that fire!

Well I'm pretty sure that will work out real well in practice.

Damn, I should have put on my smoking jacket instead

Dav out

I know the things you wanted
They're not what you have
With all the people talkin'
It's driving you mad

Networking me, networking you

2011-08-03T10:48:00.005+08:00

Greetings,

Something I shared internally, maybe also good if it went "external". I'm not the best person out there to approach someone and start a conversation, but I think this is one of those "do or die" kind of things in the world of business (or daily work, its not pleasure, so I'll not lump it in that category).

Most of the time its hard to make the first move. Coming from a technical / IT background, I had to think of steps, test said steps, review, update, and try again. Results of these trials are the holy grail to basic communication and networking with people below.

Q: I don’t know what to say, or how to start the conversation
A: No right or wrong way, but why don’t you start the convo the normal way, by introducing yourself, where / what you do and shaking the other person’s hand. An additional tip is to approach someone you feel comfortable with, is not engaged in any conversation with other people, and also looks lost like you.

Q: Ok, shook his / her hand, now what?
A: You can speak about anything, but since you don’t know the other person, it would be hard to guess a topic that would interest him / her. Stay neutral for now, and maybe talk about the weather. Then, move on to what the other person does / where they work etc.

Q: Check, now there’s an uncomfortable silence for the both of us. Help!
A: Ask them a simple question that’s bound to get them talking, IE: ask them about themselves. You’ve learn what they do from the earlier conversation, maybe try “So how’s business in these days?” or “I don’t come across many people in , is it a very niche / special market?”. Don’t forget to give the other person queues to show that you’re listening, like you agreeing, and maybe nodding.

Q: OMG ITS WORKING! What now?
A: Tell them what you do. Don’t just read from the company brochure

Q: Great, I told them what I do in 10 words. Now its quiet again :(
A: Be truthful. If the other person mentioned something / some feature / concept that you’re not sure of, ask them about it. EG: "You know, I've seen a lot of stuff on Business Intelligence (BI) lately, thing is, what REALLY is BI anyway?"

Q: Sweet! More talking
A: Yes

Q: And?
A: And, don’t forget, introduce people you know, to the person you’ve met. If you came to the function with a group of consultants for example, bring the new person over and introduce them to the party. This can also be based on the wingman concept.

Q: Lastly, what if the other person is BOOOOOOORING and stops talking?
A: Unless you’re attending a function with ONLY TWO PEOPLE, you can always excuse yourself, and go speak to other people. Remember, other people there are just like you, they are also hoping to speak to someone but haven’t had the chance to. The recommendation here is if you excuse yourself, and them bump into the same person later perhaps when you are leaving the function, is to greet the person and say something like “it was nice talking to you earlier, maybe we’ll bump into each other sometime soon”.

The above is not easy, it only comes with a lot of practice, and sometimes you end up in a very short 5 minute conversation. You have to keep working at it. Some people end up liking it so much that they go on to speak to people in non work environments. Or maybe even make a profit out of it.

Maybe I should turn this into a flow chart . . . . .

{Edit - In response to the ONE comment I've received from Hurk, I'd like to present to you a custom flowchart aimed at this blog post}

Click for bigger image

Dav out

We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it

China chomps down on fake apples

2011-07-26T10:21:00.002+08:00

Greetings,

Well its all over the news by now, but those fake Apple 'Stores' in China are being closed down as we speak. Oddly, they are being closed because some of them do not have a license to operate, and not because they are infringing on any rights of the principal company.

Is this a case of 'creative license' gone too far in terms of mimicking an Apple store, or is really more of "imitation is the best form Of flattery"?

Kudos to the original blogger that brought this to light, but I'm pretty sure this was already known by the locals though no one really bothered to act on it.

Strangely so, Apple has also been mum on this. As long as they are selling genuine products maybe?

*shrug* Welcome to the new world order.

Dav out

Astute statute

2011-07-20T10:06:00.003+08:00

Greetings,

The recent news on people brought up for wrong doing (during work at an ex company location) has me thinking, is there even a statute of limitations on what you've done, and if there is, how long back does it go?

Alcatel Lucent, NoW and other companies are feeling the brunt of these issues, but its the people working under the management that's being offered as sacrificial lambs. I'm not saying that these people DIDN'T know what they were doing, but in some cases its what you do on a day to day basis at work and never really think about it later.

No, I don't go around bribing people nor do I hack phones. Haxx0r!

Its just, how long back in time do the need to look before they find something incriminating? I don't want someone to go back 15 years in my past and say they found me drinking a can of Coke at my first job as a store boy just because someone dusted off a VHS of a security cam.

Its an interesting notion, but its something I'm trying not to dwell on.

Dav out

Overheard

2011-07-13T11:36:00.005+08:00

Greetings,

Overheard @ the restrooms of a hotel after a business meeting:

[A] Uh, this Thursday, besides the afternoon, when else are you free?
[B] Well, the morning I guess.
[A] That's no good. I'm meeting someone in the morning. What about later?
[B] Um, no, I'm not going to be in the office during the afternoon. You already know this.
[A] Ah, yeah. Hey, what about 2pm then? The client's available at 2pm.
[B] I'll text you, ok?

Now, let me be clear. I'm one of those people who think personal time at the restroom / urinals is just that, personal time. Don't encroach on it by striking up a conversation with me, even more so something related to work.

The thing is, guy [A] obliviously did not really grasp what 'afternoon' means. Or perhaps in their environment its something else all together.

For me, afternoon is anything after 12pm (or 1200 hours). Guy [B] must have had enough and couldn't concentrate on the job at hand, hence him agreeing to what came across as absurd to me.

*shrug* I'm just saying, you know?

Dav out

I remember how we used to talk
about the places we would go when we were off
and all that we were gonna find.
And I remember our seeds grow
and how you cried when you saw
the first leaves show.
The love was pouring from your eyes.

It's taking a while

2011-07-05T15:58:00.002+08:00

Greetings,

Recently I've been wading through some cruft and trying to sort out what works from the bits that don't.

It's been . . . . challenging.

Actually, no, that's not quite the right word. If I had some duct tape and was able to tape together challenging, painful, confusing, and downright insane, I'd be able to come up with the word I need here.

I'm going to ease off work for a bit.

Just a little bit.

Dav out

Yea right picture that with a kodak
And better yet, go to times square
Take a picture of me with a kodak
Took my life from negative to positive

CDN Win!

2011-07-04T10:03:00.002+08:00

Greetings,

Canada Day is celebrated on 1st July, the official independence day of Canada. The day commemorates the founding of the Canadian federal government by the British North America Act of 1 July, 1867.

That's for the rest of us who didn't know that it was Canada's birthday last week.

CDN Edit:
Rumor has it some other obscure country in that region will shortly be having its own annual celebration of itself. Have not been able to find anymore information about this. Stands to reason though.

Dav out

How not to have a grape.... great day

2011-05-21T10:19:00.002+08:00

Greetings,

Here's my very own personal steps on how not to have a ~~grape~~ great day:

Go to the store. See South African grapes on sale
Spend 10 minutes trying to figure out which sack of grapes have the least mushed up grapes on the vine, only to settle for a prepacked tray
Take grapes home
Set grapes (in tray and cling wrap) on counter top, ohh and ahhh at the thought of eating these in front of the telly
Peal off cling wrap
Have grapes fall down the counter top to the floor in a cascade of luscious, juicy globes of goodness
Dance away and backwards to avoid falling grapes, like they were globules of VX gas (See the movie 'The Rock' for vague reference)
Mash and squish 10 - 15 grapes with step # 7 above
Stop. Stare. Facepalm at mess
Spend the next 20 minutes cleaning juice splatter from floor, cupboards and every-god-damn-where else
Eat remaining 10 grapes
Rue buying grapes

Dav out

American effigies

2011-05-21T10:11:00.002+08:00

Greetings,

I don't really watch all that much TV, and god forbid if it was American Effigies (Idol, Latin!). The thing is, I was watching this documentary on TBM's and there was an advert for the American Idol finals.

Imagine my surprise when I saw this guy's photo:

Hey ma, look at me!

I've never heard him sing, but the only thing that comes to my mind when I look at that photo is Alfred E. Neuman. If you don't know who that is, then you're way too young!

Come on, look at the similarities!

What? Me worry? Only if I don't win in American Idol

Its hilarious that they've made that 'Reality TV' show last this long. What is it at now, Season 11? I can't even remember all of the Idols.

Dav out

If you think you're getting away
I will prove you wrong
I'll take you all the way
Boy, just come along
hear me when I say
Hey

Camp America 3000

2011-05-17T20:46:00.003+08:00

Greetings,

Has anyone ever watched this movie? America 3000. It must be, and this comes from watching Flash Gordon many, many times, the most camp-est (is that a real word?) movie ever!

I watched it, and of course I overanalyzed it by wondering what the females did if they had a male child (toss him out I guess?), how the male's reproduced (from tossed aside male children?) and if the females were hell bent on killing the males in wars, then why not fix the problem at the root, stop tossing out male kids maybe?

UNLESS! Unless they knew it was some how related to perhaps a 'rule of diminishing returns' that if they started killing males and / or male children, they wouldn't have any more breeding stock?

Uh, sir, I think that' way too much analysis

All in all, I enjoyed the movie enough to want to hunt down a copy of Flash Gordon for a great movie weekend.

Now where did I save that torrent application again.....

Dav out

Kutcher replaces Sheen

2011-05-15T22:02:00.004+08:00

Greetings,

That's it, its official! Charlie Sheen's out, Ashton Kutcher is in.

.....

Its a break from the norm, I know, but its all over the news!

Ashton Kutcher has like, a bajilion Twitter fans. I think the big thing producers from the Two and a Half Men sitcom are aiming for would be for him to be able draw in his large younger following to the series. Not to say its a great idea, but just how are they going to write him in?

I've never been a fan of the series, in fact I've only watched it on and off as it is. I never quite found it funny, then again I'm not a die hard Sheen fan as most of the hardcore viewers are (or were?).

What I'm sure of is that Charlie Sheen wouldn't be too happy to hear this. Ashton you've just made a new enemy, one with tiger blood and Adonis DNA.

Would be pretty good to see what goes on now online.

Dav out

Can you meet me halfway, right at the borderline
That's where I'm gonna wait, for you
I'll be lookin' out, night n'day
Took my heart to the limit, and this is where I'll stay

Naked . . . wrists

2011-05-10T09:45:00.003+08:00

Greetings,

I frequently laze around the house sans watch. I've enough references to the current time as it is (wall clock, 2 phones with huge time displays, the TV, set-top box etc) that I rarely feel the need to wear a watch at home.

The thing is, sometimes I head off to lunch (this is mostly over the weekends) or off to something or another, and I realize that I've gone off without my watch.

For some odd reason, I find it weird not having a watch on but only when I'm out. Its a somewhat . . . . naked feeling. At the same time, when you're out somewhere, and you make that very natural wrist tilt to look at your watch, and then realize its not there. That's ok, till you catch a glimpse of a few people wondering what you're up to.

I think I'm starting to see a wrist watch as something to keep my wrist occupied.

Lets not talk about people with wrist watches that do EVERYTHING and also brew coffee.

Dav out

Baristas have it rough

2011-05-09T17:29:00.003+08:00

Greetings,

Have you ever taken time off to think about how rough your local coffee Barista has it?

He (or she) has to put up with line after line of pompous, pretentious coffee and tea guzzling drones, each with a unique but not almost on the menu order. I've always wondered how they cost and calculate revenue for a normal Chai latte when someone comes up to the counter and asks for half half cream with two pumps of Chai, one shot of expresso and a twist of lemon.

Is that even tea anymore?

But I digress!

A recent study has shown that sex and coffee may 'trigger a stroke'.

. . . . . . . .

I'll let that sink in for a while.

Your local Barista's life has just become a little more darker and colder now after seeing that in the BBC news. Of course, blowing your nose might even do you in, but lets not worry about that shall we? ;)

Dav out

Ja ja jaded
You got yo mama's style
But you're yesterday's child to me
So jaded
You think that's where it's at but is that where it's supposed to be

Of men and goats

2011-04-27T09:35:00.005+08:00

Greetings,

I caught a movie the other night on TV, interestingly titled 'Men who stare at goats'. And what really closed the deal for me was the synopsis on TV that read:

A reporter gets more than he bargains for when he meets a special forces agent who reveals the existence of a secret, psychic military unit.

At the end of the movie, I was a little confused.

Don't shoot! I'm confused as it is!

Just WHAT was the movie about anyway? Was it a feel good military movie? A hippy life finding tour of a down and out journalist who finds camaraderie with a off beat ex military guy?

Or just how the Govt is really doing weird mind games with everyone?

A worry was cloud bursting, damn, what if he hit a plane? I already hate flying . . . . .

Dav out

Boire du vin - Wine drinking

2011-04-22T16:29:00.003+08:00

Greetings,

Wine drinking, or "Boire du vin" in French! Part two of the last post on buying wine in bulk.

So the first wine bottle I bought was something I tasted, twice in fact!

Hey, it was free, and there wasn't anyone there, ok?

Its a Grand Sud Merlot (2009) produced by Grands Chais de France (red - Merlot, duh). I've not had all that many French wines lately, as its been Chillien or Aussie wines for a long time during dinners, and I must say, I was very, very impressed with this wine.

I'm going to try my best to explain the wine in my own words, pardon the wine-lingo.

The wine was dark red, close to purple, but I could not really say much more (legs etc) as it was served in a small sample cup. I found the wine sweet (but not cloyingly so) and in terms of taste, it was a medium body wine that stayed in the mouth for a while. The after taste would linger (but not for long, perhaps medium?) and over all it was fruity to me. Did I mention that it was sweet? I think (after the second go) it was a dry wine. Hey, I've not opened my bottle, so until I do so, we're sticking with dry!

I think the bottle looks pretty much what a wine bottle should look like, label is clear, though figuring out who makes the wine took a little work and unlike Aussie wines, there wasn't really a logo or an image on it.

Also, its a corked bottle. I'm pretty 50/50 on bottles with cork's or caps, though cap's make it much easier to just pick a bottle up and open. *shrug* The cork industry in Portugal needs the work I guess.

1 bottle down, 3 to go!

Dav out

Oh, it's the best thing that you've ever had
The best thing that you've ever, ever had
It's the best thing that you've ever had
The best thing you've had has gone away

Vinio here I come

2011-04-10T20:40:00.002+08:00

Greetings,

A friend invited me over to a wine sale in a local shopping mall over the weekend, and needless to say, I could not say no to the offer.

What I had in my head was an interesting afternoon, sampling wines and cheeses while acting all hoity-toity to the miscellaneous rabble along the shopping mall concourse. I eagerly brushed up on my wine lingo, ready to ever impress:

Palette
Roof
Bouquet
Body
Aroma
Legs
Breathing the wine

With my bag of word-tricks, I was off, credit card in hand, to meet my destiny.

Little did I know, things would change that day.....

[more coming soon]

Trolling

2011-03-30T09:58:00.005+08:00

Greetings,

Just felt like trolling around today. And since I haven't gotten off my Inception kick yet, I present you with the below!

Dav out

The humanity!

2011-03-29T09:53:00.006+08:00

Greetings,

It feels like every time I start the damn thing up, there's an update. I'm talking about the PS3 here. Sure, 'Sorney' wants to make sure their system and software is updated and there are those pesky hackers running around trying to crack the consol, but why, dear lord WHY are there so many updates?

Pirates? Oh come on!
New features? Oh come ON!

Anyway, long story short, not having a bigger bandwidth sucks, its like trying to suck quick drying cement through a crazy straw.

Lucky for me, I found out (OK so I'm slow, sue me)that you're able to download the update to a USB stick and then run the update off that instead of directly downloading the update via the PS3. EVERYONE must already know of this, but here's a link to the Sony PS3 site anyway.

I'm cooking with gas now!

Dav out

Make mine...Quantum

2011-03-23T11:03:00.002+08:00

Greetings,

Oh. My. God.

It is here, Quantum computing.

One of the most complex efforts toward a quantum computer has been shown off at the American Physical Society meeting in Dallas in the US.

It uses the strange "quantum states" of matter to perform calculations in a way that, if scaled up, could vastly outperform conventional computers.

The 6cm-by-6cm chip holds nine quantum devices, among them four "quantum bits" that do the calculations.

The team said further scaling up to 10 qubits should be possible this year.

Rather than the ones and zeroes of digital computing, quantum computers deal in what are known as superpositions - states of matter that can be thought of as both one and zero at once.

I'm already drooling.Imagine the technological push this will give us, cancer research, gaming, etc.

Dav out

I think today is a good day

2011-03-12T11:42:00.000+08:00

Greetings,

Its shaping up to be a pretty good day. So far its just been a lazy morning, a slow breakfast and now a margarita with a random book I bought at a sale (Chaos Space - Marianne de Pierres).

Think I'll continue to take it easy, the month owes me that much at least.

Dav out.

Most Awesomeness

2011-03-10T21:38:00.002+08:00

Windowz Live 2011

2011-02-23T09:46:00.000+08:00

Greetings,

Microsoft has found yet another way to annoy me! Now, with Windows Live Messenger 2011 (or the Windows Live suit) you not only get an updated version of MSN Messenger, but its now more tightly integrated with all sorts of services that you never wanted.

First major issue, advertising. Windows Live Messenger sees fit to inject an advertisement right smack on your chat box, taking up space and distracting you till you KILL it with a click of the (x) button. Problem is, that sucker comes right on back if you close the chat window (which I do, REGULARLY!).

Hello, I'm here to bother you till you curl up in a cave and die

So I Googled around and it seemed for a while that you could only get rid of the advertising by either downloading a 3rd party patch or haxing your b0x (editing some registry so your machine doesn't 'see' the advertising URL / feed).

But you can breathe a sigh of relief, because apparently this site details exactly how you can disable said advertising without any patches and registry edits (its actually a checkbox within Live).

All your base are belong to us, and we can switch off adverts too now

Other issues are mainly how you're not really able to just save your email login info without your password (its now email AND password together) which makes it harder to stop someone from logging into your account if you leave your machine without locking it. Oh and the Social integration. Why? Why do I want to go down that slippery road?

Bleah.

Dav out

Such a thing as too much of news

2011-02-11T12:46:00.003+08:00

Greetings,

I had an extended weekend due to a string of holidays, and exhausting my game library (I finished KillZone 2!), I thought I'd try watching some news on either CNN or BBC. What with all the stuff going on in Egypt and the rest of the world, I was a little worried that I was becoming a hermit. Or that something you find under an upturned rotting log.

I digress.

So I switch on to CNN and I see this:

Kate Middleton's Royal-Blue Dress Sold Out
Blue Dresses - Kate Middleton's style
Stylish blue dress picked by Kate
Kate's Fashion Sense - Blue is the new Black!
Issa London dress the princess-to-be
Issa London cuts Kate Middleton a figure
Issa London's blue dress sold out thanks to Kate Middleton
Blue dress by Issa London - Sold out royally
Royal dress sold out
Egypt's Mubarak refuses to quit protestors

Guess we know where our priorities lie.

Dav out

Always with the downloads!

2011-02-07T09:42:00.000+08:00

Its like there's a download waiting every time I boot the damn thing on.

Chinese New Year....salad?

2011-02-01T09:57:00.004+08:00

Greetings,

Rolled with the gang and had Yee Sang again the other day, and had a second helping of it during a company lunch as well. That's TWO salad's I've had this year so far and counting.

*TWO*

Think I'm maxing out my quota for salads in 2011 real quick.

So anyway:

Yee sang or yuu sahng (simplified Chinese: 鱼生; pinyin: yúshēng), also known as lo hei (Cantonese for 撈起 or 捞起) is a Teochew-style raw fish salad. It usually consists of strips of raw fish (most commonly salmon), mixed with shredded vegetables and a variety of sauces and condiments, among other ingredients. Yusheng literally means "raw fish" but since "fish (鱼)" is commonly conflated with its homophone "abundance (余)", Yúshēng (鱼生) is interpreted as a homophone for Yúshēng (余升) meaning an increase in abundance. Therefore, yusheng is considered a symbol of abundance, prosperity and vigor.

Wiki that 'yo!

So Happy Chinese New Year to all.

Dav out

If you only knew what the future holds
After a hurricane comes a rainbow

Season of the Witch - I'm counting!

2011-01-31T23:07:00.004+08:00

Greetings,

So over the weekend I watched Season of the Witch at the cinema. Any movie with Nicolas Cage, Ron Perlman (Hellboy, Mutant Chronicles and soon Conan the Barbarian) as Crusaders with the Black Plague thrown in is a movie I'd want to watch for sure!

First thing's first, yes, Cage still has weird hair.

Check, weird hair.

(Maybe I should just set fire to my hair and be done with it)

Ron Perlman on the other hand, looks pretty much the same.

(I am a man. No, a man's MAN!)

When both of them fist came on screen at the same time (wasn't too bad of a battle), first thing that came to mind was "Wow, these guys are tall!". Nick Cage is 6' (1.83 m) and Ron is 6' 1" (1.85 m) (I Googled, so sue me!). Which is nice to know, since I'm in the same height range *win!*

Though not 10 minutes into the movie, and I started wondering, wait, where are the witches?

Highlight over for spoilers:

THERE ARE NO WITCHES! Well, ONE witch, maybe. I'm not sure.

Hey, you pay good money to watch witches, and I wana watch witches!

So yeah. That was pretty much my major beef with the movie. The scenes were ok, some of them paced well. Can't say I have a favorite scene though, besides the initial battle.

Go watch it, and then start counting witches.

Dav out

Katy Perry and Brand - Katy Brand?

2011-01-31T22:24:00.004+08:00

Greetings,

Really unrelated to anything I've posted before, but I was reading about tigers and the wild, and then I found a post about a tigress eating her cub. Wiki-crack (yes, its a word!) and I found Ranthambhore (its a tiger sanctuary!) and then I came across the fun fact that Katy Perry and British comedian Russell Brand were married there (October 23, 2010).

Then, via the amazing powers of Google, I came across the picture above. Look at them. Hell, look at HIM.

So, why's the universe askew now?

Dav out

To be a joke and look, another line without a hook
I held you close as we both shook for the last time take a good hard look!

I may be burning bridges with this one . . .

2011-01-24T13:56:00.003+08:00

Greetings,

I'm a geek. I love technology as much as the next guy (or girl!). I own a Windows Mob 6.5 phone as well as the cheapest possible Blackberry on the market (mostly for work). Yes, the windows mobile phone OS is getting on, Win Mob 7 isn't quite there yet, and I think Android is the next best thing since sliced bread.

Home made sliced bread. Thickly sliced.

But Apple, wow. Now I can't get my head around Apple and its products.

Yes, they make amazing hardware, and amazing software to go with said products. But at those prices, and at those feature-functions? Damn, costs a bit much no?

Always good for laughs, Oatmeal's take on all of this.

Dav out

Who made you...

2011-01-21T14:07:00.001+08:00

Cop out

Christmas cop out

2010-12-24T15:17:00.001+08:00

This is a Christmas cop out. I haven't had the time to really post anything much, so enjoy a neat Xmas tree on me.

Happy holidays people!

Dav out

Chorus of awesome

2010-11-30T22:02:00.001+08:00

Greetings,

I think the chorus to this song is just amazing. I have no idea why, but it touches me. Like, jumps up, and touches me.

Linkin Park - Waiting for the End

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qF_qbaWt3Q

Damn you sappy feelings!

Dav out

When less is better

2010-11-16T15:51:00.002+08:00

Greetings,

Whilest browsing teh Interwebs, I came across a comic that I usually read, but this time, it was one that really made sense.

lesser horsemen of the apocalypse

Lets just say the third panel hath happenth before.

Dav out

Buying a microwave

2010-11-13T08:57:00.000+08:00

Greetings,

¤gasp¤ Buying a what? Yes, a microwave. I have a microwave that's pretty cool. Its able to grill, bake, dual convection cook and well, microwave (duh).

So the first few things that the store guy will tell you is how large the unit's capacity is, what it does and how much power it uses. Don't get me wrong, these are all important bits of info.

What YOU need to make sure is that the buttons and dials are easy to read. Mine is sort of stainless steel with an LCD panel for time and other info.

MAKE sure to get one with back lit buttons or something. In low light, I can't make out my buttons. The things you learn 2 years down the road.

Oh well.

Dav out

Blackberry madness

2010-11-11T22:33:00.003+08:00

Greetings,

The Blackberry is LOADED with stuff. Just uh, loaded. Recently I found an icon on my home screen that was too small to view. It looked like a green triangle, or even a house.

After 2 days of trying to figure it out (Google and borrowing people's glasses hoping I could magnify the icon) I was on the edge of going to the phone store and choking the life out of the guy there.

The Blackberry alert icons usually show up with a small star, and if you're not sure what the alert star is for, it usually shows up when you start to browse the applications within your phone. The alert star will be shown clearly over the application in question (usually a new update, or new version of the application is now available etc).

That icon was no where to be seen. I LITERALLY went through every, single, application, possible on the phone.

Now, 2 more hours of intensive Goggling and I've found the answer!
The icon is from BBM Groups. Go into Blackberry Messenger, then under the Blackberry Groups section you should see the updates. In my case, it was a new Blackberry group chat.

So now you know.

And knowing is half the battle. The other half is hiding from technology.

Dav out

Mouse found loafing around in bread factory

2010-09-28T14:27:00.004+08:00

Greetings,

Thought I'd try a funny pun to the title. It is of course, in reference to this issue. Imagine finding that in your morning breakfast toast, or your evening munchies sammich!

What I find odd is that the interview has him saying he took extra care to check the slices of bread... AFTER he found that there was a mouse at the bottom of the loaf?

Also, who buy's bread online? Am I the only guy that finds that a little weird?

*shrug*

Our furry friend taking a long nap

Dav out

How watermelons will take over the world

2010-09-09T10:20:00.000+08:00

Greetings,

A clear indication that watermelons will soon start their uprising to take over our world.

Thanks of course, to Molases

Dav out

Cynical, me?

2010-08-30T15:10:00.002+08:00

Greetings,

I've noticed that my posts tend to be leaning towards the cynical when I have long days at work. I never have bad day's at work, only uh, long, long days. Some days usually run into long weeks, or even a long month.

The PS3 tends to help, but honestly, some days of intensive gaming (OK, more like an hour or so) leaves me more keyed up and tired. Can you imagine that? Playing a game makes me tired? Go figure.

The cynic in me lives strong. I'm giving up trying to make any sense in this post. It started out well, sort of didn't make it to the climax, and now dies.

As I would say to Sukovich, Kek!

Dav out

LMGTFY - help people to help you

2010-07-20T11:35:00.002+08:00

Greetings,

As usual, most of my convo's with Mossy bring to light the latest and best items off the interwebs. Today's nugget of info is a site called "Let me Google that for you" (http://lmgtfy.com/). Its a great site if you're constantly being asked for info (like me) that can and should be looked up on Google. I'm not saying lets go Google how to take out your appendix, but yeah, for most questions, Google is your friend.

Dav out

Vuvuzela explained

2010-07-15T18:32:00.001+08:00

Greetings,

Vuvuzela explained, and apparently its been an issue from way back then!

Dav out

BBC - news to me

2010-07-07T11:23:00.003+08:00

Greetings,

I'm browsing my BBC news feed and I come across a few RSS feeds that instantly made me want to read the news articles.

Instantly!

Actress Lindsay Lohan jailed for probation violation
US actress and model Lindsay Lohan has been sentenced to 90 days in prison for violating her probation in a 2007 drug case.
Link to news here

Oh come ON. You know what got my attention in that bit of news? US actress and model. Model! I never knew she modeled. Maybe for the "Build your own meth lab" adverts I guess.

'Big budget' porn film shot in London hospital
A "big budget" pornographic film was shot in a London hospital when it hired out one of its wards to a film company.
Link to news here

Now, THAT sir, is a hospital I will gladly visit.

Who says the news has to be dry?

Dav out

Dimenhydrinate, my friend

2010-05-30T22:45:00.003+08:00

Greetings,

This isn't me getting sick, this is me getting upset that I'm 20,000 feet in the air.

Yes, Dimenhydrinate, you sir, are my friend. I need to stock up on this asap.

21 000 feet, as you may already know, is 6 400.8 meters. IMO, that's 6 390 meters too high up in the damn sky. I'm ok with jet engines, just not turbo props, and not small hulled planes like the Dash 7.

Dav out

Inability to blog, music takes over

2010-05-30T10:12:00.002+08:00

Greetings,

Its a cop out, I'm being lazy (not true, just busy).

Dav out

Katy Perry makes me melty

2010-04-28T10:04:00.002+08:00

Greetings,

I'm still sort of taking a break from blogging as well as photo blogging. I've got some projects running full speed ahead and I cant seem to find the time to blog as much as I used to (or as I'd like to).

On to other things.

Katy Perry.

I think she's an amazing musician, and at the same time, she's very easy on the eyes. I'm a little behind the times, but the music video she did on Timbaland's song (I've always thought it was spelled as 'Timberland'. Eh, my bad) "If We Ever Meet Again" is just so amazing.

Here's the video from YouTube.

I mean, LOOK AT HER!

Dav out

New ideas

2010-03-02T15:44:00.005+08:00

Greetings,

It just amazes me that everyday, out there, someone is coming up with cool and amazing ideas. You'd think that in 2010, that there are no longer any 'new' ideas. Everything is a re-hash of something old.

But that's not the case, there are so many ideas out there that you'll have to hire a PA and manage these ideas for you, just to keep track of them.

Just a few samples:

That's just the tip of the iceberg! What else would be come up with in 2011?

By the way, I'd kill for one of these mugs.

Dav out

Don't tell anyone or you'll be just another regret
(Just another regret, hope that you can keep it)
My dirty little secret

2010 Success!

2010-03-01T09:40:00.004+08:00

Greetings,

I've made it through 2 months of not posting any blog posts! Yay for me.

Many of you would be asking me, how did you do it? Well dear reader, let me tell you how, you too can be absent from the blogosphere for months on end!

Get a job! This is the best way, since it will soon suck the very life essence out of you, and you will be left with no time at all to blog.
Become a zombie.
Get a job being a zombie. This isn't the same as the bullet above, that was just being a zombie in general. Getting a job being a zombie means you have KPI's and meetings to attend. My guess would be meetings on brains and why are we not getting enough braiiiiiins?
Kill the interwebs. I left this one to the last. Its common knowledge that you can easily kill the interwebs if you typed Google into Google. Go on, try it. Ok, fine, don't try it!

High on my list right now would be a few days worth of sleep.

Dav out

We went so wrong and what you did but I still feel this way.
And I can't believe it, or forget it, what I saw today.

Avatar deux

2009-12-22T11:15:00.003+08:00

Greetings,

Over the weekend, I caught a movie that I've been aching (really, aching) to watch, Avatar. Not to be confused with some air bending cartoon, this was the big release by James Cameron, a movie that took a long time to make and bring to the big screens.

Sure, there were financial issues, as well as technology ones as well. James Cameron being James Cameron, he just built new crazy hardware and came up with software to go with his vision (stereoscopic 3D and God only knows what else).

There's even a video game (for the PC, consol and maybe even the iPhone) but since I don't own either one of those (no gaming PC, sadly) lets not go there.

The movie was an amazing feat for the eyes. Seriously. Even if you're not a Sci Fi fan, this movie looks pretty as hell.

This is from the game, instead of the movie, but you get the idea.

On to plot and nit-picking!

The movie reminded me so much of the wild west. Cowboys ride into the new frontier, find gold, silver, diamonds what have you, and start to mine the hell out of the local geography. Just so happens that you've got a bunch of semi-peaceful, tree hugging religious indigenous people on the same plot of land. So what do you do? Pretty much blow them out of the sky.

Hey, come back here, we just want to be friends.

(I love the tech and weapon arsenal in the movie by the way, just love it!)

At one point, the humans even decide to use a space shuttle to act as a bomber. Why? Why?
If you asked anyone to commit to using a vehicle that's specially designed to get off the planet safely, and probably costed a bajilion dollars as a simple bomber, you'd get laughed out of the military academy! Just stay back, and lob missiles in over and over, job done. Don't go in with ground troops, you don't want anything left alive, shot the jungle up first! Jebus, if I had to take over one more godforsaken jungle country . . . .

The only grainy screenshot from the actual movie, ha ha!

Minor gripe, if you log off your Avatar, and it goes 'dead' like that, how does it stay alive? What keeps the Avatar unit biologics going? Sure, Autonomic nervous systems can keep it breathing, but what about nourishment etc? Huh? Riddle me that Mr Science Space guys!

Edit:
Found a good gameplay video on YouTube, just thought it would be great to share it out.

But I jest. The movie was great. A little long, but an amazing movie nevertheless.

Six thumbs up (watch the movie, some animals have 6 legs).

Dav out

The Internet is for ....[not available in your country]

2009-12-22T11:07:00.005+08:00

Greetings,

The Internet is such that you should be able to find anything (well literally anything)on it. The powers of Google knows no bounds!

So imagine my surprise when I tried to load a link to a YouTube video that someone sent me, and was told that I could not view it, since its not available in my country.

Wait, we're on the Internet, but we're still being restricted by countries?

No, seriously, I'm on the Interwebs, whats this country stuff about then?

We're supposed to come together as a global village, one mankind and all that, but someone thinks its better to sort and group us by our physical location.

Proxy server's to the rescue!

Dav out

Lists

2009-12-13T16:46:00.003+08:00

Greetings,

Updated my lists of things to accomplish. Best accomplishment so far, has got to be Paintball. I've been yearning for a game of paintball ever since I saw an advert for it over here, but I never had the chance (or the funds) since all the places that had them charged an arm and a leg.

We had a company sponsored game of paintball, and I must say, this game just looks easy. Cardio. Seriously, do some cardio or something a few weeks before you even get into the paintball field. Oh, and it does hurt up close. Not as much at the start, and then it starts to bruise and hurt some more. I got hit on the knuckles and the back of my hand, and it actually drew blood. I'm not trying to scare you, but this is an extreme sport for a reason.

Did someone order a big can of pain?

Back to the list. Sorted the one's I've completed down, and left 'Take over the world' as the last item. I'm pacing myself here.

Dav out

Surrogates envy

2009-12-13T16:12:00.006+08:00

Greetings,

I took the evening off on my busy hectic weekend to catch the latest flick from Bruce Willis, Surrogates.

This sir, is a movie poster.

The movie is basically about how science comes up with a way for humans to remotely control robots remotely. The technology then advances; I'm sure with some suited guy in a corporate office the size of a basketball court, into technology that lets everyone strap themselves into a control couch and instead let their surrogate robot body go out and live life. Living life via a robot. Life. Robot. I digress.

Am I the only one who thinks that technology that allows humans to remotely control, sense, feel and manage a humanoid robot has gone to waste, just because we have the crazy need to play a real life version of the Sims?

I can come up with at least a ~~hindered~~ hundred uses of the Surrogate technology, of which only 1 is showcased in the movie. Surrogates in the military, brilliant, that was my first choice.

But what about space exploration? It makes so much sense! Having people here on Earth remotely controlling a robot on the Moon, building our first real off-world habitat.

Get lost bub, this is a job for us robots, see?

Why stop at the Moon? Heck, lets aim for Mars. Strap the largest, fastest rocket you can build on and watch that baby burn its way to Mars. We wont have to factor in issues on G-Forces or anything, these are robots for god's sake! Heck, we can even toss out O2 tanks, and a whole load of logistic issues, both on the way to Mars, and when the robots get there.

Sure, there might be a lag issue (I don't see any in the Earth versions!) but I'm sure we'll be able to iron out the kinks.

Hi, I'm a robot. I've been here toiling for years to build you a condo on Mars.

Seriously.

Oh, the movie? Eh, was not the best movie from Bruce (I get to call him Bruce, we're just that close) but it wasn't all bad. Very thought provoking in regards to humans loosing their humanity when technology that should have been used to further progress our lives gets used for an awesome MMORPG instead.

I personally couldn't live in a world where everyone looked perfect. Who would we make fun of then?

Dav out

Going back to basics

2009-12-07T10:54:00.001+08:00

Greetings,

Unbeknownst to me (I'm pretty sure its a real word) Google / Blogger secretly changed my blog posting tool to a 'new and enhanced' version.

I'm all for new stuff. I'm in IT.

But dear LORD, posting images and trying to get things to square up is pure hell.

I searched about, and voila, found the setting to go back to the much easier (IMO) to use editor. A quick guide on how to go back to basics, below.

Jump into your Dashboard. Don't click, don't browse, just jump.
Go to 'Settings' and then 'Basic'.
Scroll all the way down (or almost) and then locate the area called 'Global Settings'.
Select the 'Old Editor' as your post editor.
Life is good again as we know it!

Note: Apparently the setting is global, so every other blog you have will inherit the same settings. Eh, no big deal to me.

Dav out

I have issues with my shoes

2009-12-04T09:38:00.008+08:00

Greetings,

No, I did not just sign up for the Dr Seuss Class for Rhymes, I really have issues with my shoes. I can never get anything I like in my size.

I'm a UK 11. Depending on the cut of the shoes, its sometimes a UK 12. I have 2 pairs of leather shoes I wear for work, but even those were from the UK.

I need a pair of canvas of loafers. Woes me, none of the local stores seem to carry any sizes above 10 UK over here.

Sure, there are some 11 and 12 UK sized shoes, but most of them are sneakers (Nike / Rebook etc) for basketball.

Call me crazy, but I don't want to be chilling out in shorts with a pair of basketball shoes on. You just cant do that man, its against the very fabric of space and time.

Also, I'm going for the sock-less look for 2010.

Wish me luck with my shoe hunt!

Dav out

PS: Do NOT like the new way Blogger pushes images into the blog, sure, there's left / right / center etc but its hell trying to format the post.

Water for you and me

2009-11-02T17:35:00.001+08:00

Greetings,

I checked out PUR Water a while back, and boy was I sure impressed by that bit of technology.

Calle has now shown me another amazing product that does the same thing, and is designed in Sweden!

Called SOLVATTEN (that's Sun Water if I got it right), it uses the sun to make water clean to drink.

A bit from the site:

What is SOLVATTEN?
SOLVATTEN makes unsafe water drinkable by using solar energy. The portable 10 liter container is a patented and scientifically approved Swedish invention. Put SOLVATTEN in a sunny place, give it 3-4 hours and the water will be drinkable! An indicator will show when it is safe to drink.

I like the concept, though the 3 - 4 hours is a bit long to wait. However, you don't need to keep buying stuff to add to your water, and that is a huge bonus.

Viva Sweden!

More info here

Dav out

2009-10-19T14:16:00.002+08:00

Greetings,

I looked for and found the other website I used before to auto generate a graph, pretty cool site here.

Same data, number of blog posts throughout the years.

Dav out

If you are far from the enemy, make him believe you are near.

Charts are fun

2009-10-14T17:39:00.003+08:00

Greetings,

I woke up with this brilliant idea. I would look at the number of posts I've made throughout the year, and then put that data into a cool looking chart. Amazing! Fabulous!

Getting the data was one nightmare, lets not go there. Suffice to say, my l337 skillz (that's with a 'z' to make it hardcore) finally kicked in and I got the data into Excel.

What followed next, was a horror-show of cell selection and updates. A simple bar chart you say? Nay sir! It is a complex group of data tightly packed and presented to users in an easy to interpret and read manner.

I give you, blog posts throughout the years!

Dav out

Meet me half way there

2009-10-14T17:00:00.001+08:00

Greetings,

For some reason, this song has lodged itself in my brain for the past 3 - 4 days. Oddly, I'm not a super huge fan of the Black Eyed Peas. I like some of their music, but not all, some of it is just way out there for me.

For this song, I found the music pretty catchy, but when I watched the video, I was blown out of my mind. I love sci-fi, this video reminded me of sci-fi books I've read (stop asking me why and stuff!)

Black Eyed Peas - Meet me half way

Its just nice to hear someone else besides that Will I Am guy, you know?

This video had a very Avatar feel to it. Avatar, being this movie.

Dav out.

Cakes of moon origin

2009-10-13T15:41:00.000+08:00

Greetings,

Recently Dell (the company, not the guy) sent the sales team some Mooncakes, and I managed to get my hands on one. It was blue.

Who in his right mind would not want a mooncake that's blue in colour?

It was filled with (I think) cheese with a blueberry inner layer and a dash of Amaretto liqueur. Suffice to say, it was deli-yummy-cious.

Dav out

Quad damage at Quattro

2009-09-17T14:59:00.000+08:00

Greetings,

We recently visited a new place called Quattro that boasted the cheapest beer's in town (and a great view honestly) and it was a lot of fun. We, as in people from work.

The concept was pretty cool, and I'd guess its something of the norm in other European restaurants, where there's a bar / waiting area for you to have a couple of drinks before moving into the actual restaurant for dinner and then off to the club for some music.

The area that we visited was 'Spring', since as the name suggests, there are 4 restaurant / pubs in one area, named after each season (Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter). I was looking forward to stepping into the Winter restaurant pub, but did not have the chance.

One neat (OK, gimmick!) feature was the rain corridor, which would simulate 'rain' every hour. They even had umbrellas on each side of the corridor for people to walk in and out of the summer shower.

View along the bar and the outside, it faces the city scape.

Pretty much the same shot, deal with it.

A shot of the pillar and ceiling. Note the design.

Zoomed in tight on the Chinese calligraphy used, Jason says it means 'Spring'.

A blurred shot of the rain corridor and some poor shmuck getting caught in the rain. (sorry blame the beer)

I also noticed that the building had super huge lift doors. These are the kind you see in Resident Evil, or even Doom (or Return to Castle Wolfenstein)

Seriously, look at them doors!

What are they trying to move? You could fit a whole car through that!

http://www.clubquattro.com/mainpage.html

All in all, a good time to be had, cheap beer (see promotion link here), not too bad finger food, good people.

Enjoy!

Dav out

R.I.P. Patrick Swayze

2009-09-15T21:18:00.002+08:00

Greetings,

Patrick Swayze has passed on at the age of 57.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8256033.stm

A huge actor, and a huge loss.

RIP.

Dav out

Movies I'd like to watch

2009-08-19T12:21:00.002+08:00

Greetings,

Its been a slow couple of weeks for me, so I was browsing YouTube and came across 2 movies that caught my attention.

The first, is Gamer.
Now, I just watched RocknRolla the other day, so to me, it seems like Gerard Butler is everywhere these days (mostly because a few weeks ago the movie "P.S. I Love You" also played on the telly).

Seems like a fun twist on movies based on video games. Why don't we make a movie based on a video game used in a movie! Or.... something.

Some fast paced action as per the YouTube link, lots of interesting choices of rifles so it should be good just for the action sequences.

Next up is ZombieLand.

Wait.

ZOMBIELAND!
There, much better.

It has Woody Harrelson, who's usually good in these off beat kind of comedy movies.

One thing I did notice was the break from the norm in that the zombies don't just shuffle around, they POUNCE. Take that you zombies!

Its only apt that I end the post with a classic video from the awesome guys of RvB

Dav out

Slim PlayStation 3 coming soon

2009-08-19T10:01:00.005+08:00

Greetings,

The latest news is that the PlayStation 3 will now come out in a slimmer, sexier footprint.

From whats being thrown out on the Interwebs, seems that the new slim PS3 will also be a little cheaper when compared to the older PlayStation 3.

More comparison pictures of the PlayStation 3 slim and a few other game units here.

Though I'd wonder on what they had to toss out to make the unit so much more slimmer then the original PlayStation 3. A quote from one of the websites:

The PS3 Slim is powered by a new 45nm version of the Cell processor, which runs at the same speed as the 60nm processor in the "old" PS3 but is smaller and more energy efficient. According to company reps, power consumption for the Slim has also been cut to two-thirds, "helping to reduce fan noise," which is important.

Something I've seen (mostly with computers) is that a smaller footprint always leads to heat issues or issues with upgrade.

The one feature missing from the Slim is the ability to install another operating system (i.e., Linux)--Sony is doing away with that feature.

Woah, hold up, you cant mod / install Linux or anything else on it? Well that might be a huge issue with it comes to some gamers. I've seen the videos of having Linux on the PlayStation 3, and I must admit, it looks pretty neat. Much like having a different OS on the XBOX 360.

Wonder if I'll get one.

Reference Sites:

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009/08/18/playstation-3-now-299-slimmer-version-coming-september-1st/

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10312144-1.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_on_the_PlayStation_3

Dav out

Waking Up In Vegas with Katy Perry

2009-08-13T10:42:00.002+08:00

Greetings,

Katy Perry confuses me. Her original stuff, IMO, was so-kay. Just OK.

Then she comes out with new stuff, and yeah, some of it is catchy, and if you look back in the blog, I did say somewhere that she sounded like Alanis Morissette. Alanis Nadine Morissette. Not everyone agrees, but yeah, that's the internet for you.

All of a sudden, this song (Waking Up In Vegas YouTube link) seems to be all over the air waves, and I'm smitten. I'm into the song. Its uh, on, like Donkey Kong for me.

The music video is pretty funny and related (I love related music videos, random ones annoy me) and the song's lyrics are funny but still not all that bad.

Bit of an odd choice for the lead male though.

So viva Katy Perry, and here's hoping you wake up in Vegas with someone that looks like her, eh?

Dav out

Semi Pro bow chicka wow wow

2009-08-12T17:52:00.003+08:00

Greetings,

The usual funk set in with work and stuff, so I fired up the old movie USB drive (my DVD player lets you plug in a USB drive and plays practically everything - go LG!) and watched Semi Pro.

Before I go on with the general movie review, read this for a reference to 'bow chicka wow wow' if you're not really a RvB fan.

I'll give you a good 10 minutes to wrap your head around that bit of urban knowledge.

Back to Semi Pro (IMDB link here). Its funny that I used the word 'funk' earlier, because this 2008 movie is set way back when the funk was really funk, 1976. Sure, its over the top, but what do you expect when you have Will Ferrell in it? His portrayal of Jackie Moon is pretty crazy, but the entire movie just didn't hit the mark for me.

Gasp! Teh HORROR! A Will Ferrell that didn't quite deliver?

Yes. When you compare Semi Pro against Step Brothers, you'll see what I mean. Semi Pro just seems pretty cliché in which you have a down and out sports team, you bring in a loner who wants to play for all the wrong reasons but cant, and in the end, they all come together to win something.

Sure, there are some Ferrell moments, and yes, this movie is still worth watching, don't get me wrong.

I'd say this movie sits in that grey area that Blades of Glory is in, its good, its funny-ish, but not quite up to the mark.

Just don't say that to Will Ferrell. Have you seen the man? 6' 3½" tall, able to bear hug people to death. Damn, that's not someone I'd want to mess with.

Dav out

Mona Lisa mugged

2009-08-12T11:46:00.000+08:00

Greetings,

Ok so I tend to skew the blog title post a little. Sue me. Wait, don't sue me.
I was reading the BBC as I usually do and came across this interesting article.

It seems that a lady (see: Deranged in the dictionary) chucked a mug at the Mona Lisa painting. A direct cut and paste from the BBC article:

Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece was completely unscathed, as the ceramic mug smashed on bullet-proof glass surrounding the painting.

Bullet proof glass, ftw!

I guess it was a smart move putting in the glass, seeing as how this isn't the first time someone's tried to tag the painting.

Is acid etching still considered tagging?

Dav out

My achilles' heel is my Achilles' heel

2009-08-12T09:22:00.003+08:00

Greetings,

Original Blog post: [20/07/09]

I've been having issues with my Achilles heel recently. I don't know if its due to the heavy driving that I've been doing (its my right foot / leg) or if I've hurt it in someway.

Only real exercise I get would be walking but that's about it.

Just in case you're wondering, I'm not talking about this:

Its more along the lines of this:

Looking up some physiotherapy I can do at home to make the pain go away. The pain isn't something major, but its there and it tends to wear me down after a while.

Someone needs to do something about all this squishy gooey human bits and replace it with some simple to service medical grade steel.

Dav out

Edit:
I received in total one (1) complaint about the original Achilles photo. Replaced the image with an edited one (sorry, way too lazy to find a program to pixelate it and make it look like a professional job)

Link to original uploaded image here.

This post takes the blog to all sorts of new PC heights!

Dav out... again

Surfer, Dude. Like, dude.

2009-08-05T12:06:00.003+08:00

Greetings,

I caught Surfer, Dude (the movie) the other day. It started off fine. I'm one of those people that are ashamed to say that I kind of like Matthew McConaughey. His white teeth does seem a little freaky, even more so in this movie since he's pretty tan and everything.

I am sad to inform you dear reader, NOT TO WATCH this movie. I come across as a doomsayer when I say that. But no, really, this movie was pretty bad. Really bad.

I had no idea what the producer's had in mind when they made the movie. I was half expecting some form of surf-off between McConaughey and his rivals or something cool like that, but there wasn't any. Maybe the producers were worried they might accidentally rip off Surf's Up or something, I don't know.

Half a surfboard out of 5 surfboards for this movie, bro.

Dav out

Union, and not the SQL kind!

2009-08-03T10:51:00.004+08:00

Greetings,

Another gold nugget from Mossy (Green Molasses Dragon).

Apparently, unions have such a control over things over there in the US of A. When a company wanted to accommodate waterless urinals (I'm shocked there really is such a thing!)to receive some green sticker or another, they were blocked by the Plumber's Union since waterless urinal's would mean less work for the union.

No, really. Plumbers.
Making sure they had work to do.

http://philadelphia.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/stories/2006/04/03/daily32.html

Of course, this discussion came in regards to the blog post I made earlier, Ecorn-No-Micks - :)

More info on how a Waterless Urinal works here --> http://www.zeroflush.com/how_it_works.php.

Dav out.

Tron 2 is coming to town

2009-08-03T10:36:00.004+08:00

Greetings,

Many of you might not even know of a little movie called Tron. It was way back when computers were new and exciting (1982)and fun!

I'm pretty sure Walt Disney studio's got a little burnt on that one, but Mossy just told me that they are coming out with Tron 2. How awesome is that guys?!

.... Guys? Hello?

:(

Tron 2 trailer link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wk8_P9nCUT8

Dav out

Ecorn-no-micks

2009-08-03T10:23:00.002+08:00

Greetings,

Economics, on a smaller scale.

The President of the United States notices that his brick wall has broken down next to the White House. Being the proactive POTUS (thats Secret Service talk right there) that he is, he calls in 3 contractors. One from Russia, one from China and another from India.

All 3 contractors look at the wall, and the Russian contractor gets out some measuring tape, takes some figures in his notepad, makes a few calls to his suppliers for material costs and says to the Prez, "For you, USD$1000!". So the Prez replies "How did you come to that price?"

The Russian says "Simple. USD$700 for material. USD$100 for labour and USD$200 for me."

The Prez nods, and mentions for the Chinese contractor to give it a go. The Chinese contractor pulls out a tape measure, takes some notes, and right away has an estimate, "USD$700. USD$500 for material, USD$50 for labour, and rest, for me."

Impressed, the Prez now looks at the Indian contractor, and motions for a quote. The Indian contractor looks at the wall, and then at the other 2 contractors and says, "USD$2700."

Shocked at such a high sum, the Prez says "Wow, how did you come up with that? You didn't even measure or check with your suppliers? It's way over the other 2 guy's quotes!"

The Indian contractor beckons the Prez over and whisper's "Simple. USD$1000 for me. USD$1000 for you, and we hire the Chinese guy to do it for us."

[Note: Found it in an email]

Dav out

Ember burns bright

2009-07-29T09:22:00.005+08:00

Greetings,

Original Post Date: July 20, 2009

I caught the movie "City of Ember" a few weeks back and I totally forgot to blog about it!

IMO, it was an amazing movie. The look and feel of a city built underground for hundreds of years and slowly slipping into decay was captured quite well.

Acting was good too, and the fact that Murray played a role that left him low key, but still entertaining.

If anything, I felt that the movie was a little too short for my taste. For people that have read the book, I'd like to hear from you on what were the major differences between the movie and the book, as I'm sure someone has taken 'a creative free hand' in making the movie.

I've never read the book, but the movie sure does make me want to read it!
Book URL here.

IMDB Link here --> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0970411/

4 light bulbs out of 5!

Dav out

Sidetracked

2009-07-25T19:11:00.003+08:00

Greetings,

A good friend of mine is moving in to his new condo apartment, so I thought I'll get him a nice housewarming gift. He had no beer glasses / mugs, and IKEA does some really nice ones, so off I went to IKEA, beer glasses in mind.

Half way there, a cousin calls me up, fair enough, lets have a beer while I'm at it eh?

I get to IKEA, 20 minutes to spare, and I get myself a trolley, because everyone knows those plastic sacks IKEA offers as a carry bag is a trick for you to drop your glass ware and pay for it.

Found these cool looking glasses, at a great bargain.

I see something else that catches my eye (ohhh shiny!) and I leave my trolley for ONE MINUTE. I get back, start to push the trolley through the maze that is IKEA. Honestly, the guys that designed the shop floor are geniuses. You are FORCED to go through every area of the store before you can get to the checkout. Took me about 10 minutes just to navigate through. Just as I'm about to reach the check out counter, I look into my trolley to make sure the glasses are ok.

But oh NOES readers! ITS NOT MY TROLLEY! 2 pillows, a wok, and some plates. I've been foiled! Somehow or another, I picked up someone else' trolley by mistake.

Long story short, I had to rush back to get the glasses, this time I hugged them to my chest and ran through to the check out counter.

Of course, after that, I needed a beer. German beer restaurant to the rescue!

The Bavarian Bierhaus made a good stop over and the beer always tastes great.

Washed down a farmer's Schnitzel, perfection on a plate. And in a glass!

Dav out

Your search for Koi is over

2009-07-21T23:42:00.006+08:00

Greetings,

I lost some code when I updated the photo blog's template, so I've had to add the Google Analytics code back to the blog. Today when I fire up Analytics, its working fine, but I've only had one hit for it. Looking at the search page and term, seems like someone was looking for "amazing koi".

I couldn't help myself but to Google the term "amazing koi" myself, and wow, up comes the photo blog at ranking # 1. Sweet monkeys on a stick!.

That's enough to drive traffic over and soon, on to ruling the Interwebs!

[insert maniacal laughter here]

Dav out

RIP FF and MJ

2009-06-26T09:23:00.001+08:00

Greetings,

Well, we all know by now that Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson are no longer with us.

RIP.

This blog is seeing a number of RIP's this past couple of years.

There's already a number of jokes in regards to both people passing. I'm fine with that. Lets remember them for the positive influences on the world.

Dav out

Largest restaurant

2009-05-24T22:22:00.000+08:00

Greetings,

I caught a program on tv(Discovery!) called World's Largest Chinese Restaurant. I'm not all that squirmish, but when they had a chef cook-off, and they made 2 dishes, I was pretty put off.

The first was a snake dish, which was something that looked like simple chopped snake with soy sauce. What got to me was the fact the snake parts were still squirming around on the plate. The second dish was a fish dish, which was prepared in something like 53 seconds. The fish was fried, but in such a way, that the fish head wasn't fried, and was still 'alive'. The fish gills and mouth were gaping for air, even after being fried.

Come on, that's got to be insane stuff.

Dav out

PuR-fect water

2009-05-24T21:29:00.003+08:00

Greetings,

I came across this in the local paper, and I was completely blown away. Its a packet of chemicals that helps treat water so that its safe to drink

One packet, and you get drinkable, clean water. That is just insane stuff. What shocked me further was the cost and how cheap it was to get out into nations that needed it.

This video shows you how cool this stuff is --> Video of PUR in action.

This is indeed, an amazing invention, and the scientists working on it should be awarded some kind of prize. A car. No, a BOAT! Well a brick BBQ at least.

Dav out

Airports updated deux

2009-05-03T18:25:00.003+08:00

Greetings,

I missed the 'Post' button on the last rant on Airports, but with the amazing prowess of the interweb, I'm able to call attention back to it.

Airports, how I hate thee

I spent, in total, 2 hours looking for a power point in the airport. Two, effing, hours.

Number of power points found: 5
Number of working power points: 0
Number of weird power point locations: 5

I had to squat next to a bathroom entrance, a fast food dumpster area, and in a long walk way, with people rolling over my feet with their trolley / pull bags.

Giving up, I walked 15 minutes to the food court, only to find a BAJILION power points littered around the area. No, really, that many. Plugging into a power point, my hot mocha in hand, I try to browse available Wi-Fi points, and there aren't any. So its either, you have power, or you have the internet, but not both.

Who designs these places? Whom. Whoooooo?

Sad day for the interweb road warrior.

Dav out

Resident Evil here I come

2009-04-28T13:16:00.004+08:00

Greetings,

What do you do when you fire up your BBC RSS and you see that as a headline?

" 'Too late' to contain swine flu "

I'll tell you what to do. Log on to Twitter and go "zomgs we all dai soon k thx". I'm seeing that happen as we speak! Yes, the H1N1 (its what WHO wants us to call it!) flu is an issue but I think we need to look at it as a medical issue and not panic.

Panic =

Either that, or sign up for a new job.
Say hello to our new masters:

Dav out

Style vs melting point

2009-04-19T17:29:00.002+08:00

Greetings,

I find it so weird that we in Asia have adopted the clothing style and in some way, requirements of the corporate world.

Long sleeve shirts and ties. In some cases, suits / coats.

Am I missing something here? I'm pretty sure there's some guy in Europe etc laughing himself silly watching Asians dress for corporate work in these clothes when the temperature outside regularly goes up to 33° - 35°. That's the melting point right there.

If it was me, we'd be doing business in t-shirts and shorts. Nice, presentable shorts of course.

Dav out

Drainned

2009-04-19T17:23:00.002+08:00

Greetings,

I'm not dead. Not quite at least. The past 2 months have been amazingly draining on me, with work and then getting a viral fever that put me out for almost 6 days.

It thought me something. What that is, I don't know. But I'm sure there's a lesson in there somewhere for me.

Dav out.

Katy Perry sounds like Alanis Morissette

2009-03-13T10:44:00.002+08:00

Greetings,

I was listening to the radio today and came across a song by Katy Perry called "Thinking of You". At first when the song played, I was thinking to myself "Woah, Alanis Morissette! Ftw!" but when the song ended the radio DJ said it was Katy Perry.

Le Gasp!

What's going on here? Was her break up with Gym Class Heroes front man Travis McCoy that traumatic that she swallowed a jagged little pill?

Do we even care?

Enjoy the moosik!

Dav out

It can happen to you . . .

2009-03-10T15:33:00.003+08:00

Greetings,

There's been a rise in cases of Kangaroo's attacking people recently in Australia. I'm sure someone will point out the correlation between humans trespassing on wildlife habitats and the other way around.

It got us (as in we, the people at work) to thinking of a news article where a man managed to fend off a kangaroo (I have no idea why I spelt the earlier kangaroo with a capital "K") by punching it in the family jewels.

The only true local animal we have to boast that's not available in any other country (well, not in a bottle, a pill or powder for health) would be the Malaysian Tapir. All phear the tapir!

[Edit: Too many people asked me what a Tapir was, so I've included a wiki link! Pwn!]

Now imagine junk-punching a tapir.

Dav out

Fake monday

2009-03-10T14:29:00.002+08:00

Greetings,

It was a public holiday yesterday, so today is Tuesday and its the first week of work. Well, some people might say the first day of the week is Sunday, and I agree with them, which is why I said 'first day of work'.

Since Monday missed its chance to cause havoc and destruction, its taken over Tuesday. So today is Tuesday pretending to be Monday. Or Monday, in a Tuesday suit.

I haven't slept much.

Dav out

Movies to watch

2009-02-24T09:39:00.003+08:00

Greetings,

2009 seems to be a good year for movies. At least the kind of movies I'd watch.

We're talking about GI Joe, Wolverine, Transformers 2, Eden Log, The Watchmen and a few others that I might have missed.

Killer trailers here:
GI Joe
http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/gijoeriseofcobra/large.html
Eden Log
http://www.apple.com/trailers/magnolia/edenlog/
Push
http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/push/large.html

What I WOULD NOT WATCH would be Dragonball. Come on guys, work with me here.

Looking forward to what Tobey Maguire does with Robotech though.

Dav out.

What?

2009-02-18T09:39:00.002+08:00

Greetings,

Item	Status
Short term memory	Shot
Attention span	Shot
Focus	Shot
Determination	Shot
Mental health	Shot
Physical health	Shot

Dav out

Airports, how I hate thee

2009-02-09T11:49:00.001+08:00

Greetings,

I'm not a fan of airports. Not at all. In fact, I'm no fan of planes either. But I grit my teeth and go along, cause, well, you can't really drive to some of the places you visit.

This time around, I had it worse then usual.

I read the flight time wrongly. Of course, I read it forward, so I wasn't late or anything. Just early. Very early. 4 and a half hours early. I usually add on 2 hours to my flight time. My flight was around 6pm, so I added it up to 4pm. The day I was going to fly, something made me think my flight time was at 4pm, so I added another 2 hours to that, and made it to the airport at 2pm. I got to the airport, and waited for my gate to open, took another look at my e-ticket, and realised my mistake. Early, no biggy. Much better then being late eh?

So, baggage in hand, laptop ready, I went off to look for a spot to sit down and get on-line.

Did I ever get on line? This rant is too long as it is, Part 2 to come

Who bothers with CS anymore?

2009-02-01T20:55:00.002+08:00

Greetings,

Well, over the weekend, I thought it would be a good idea to fire up my copy of Counter Strike 1.6 (CS).

Why?

Was I drunk? No, I just thought it would be a good game I'd reminisce about. That is, until I was forced to wait hours while server's dumped ton's of files that I didn't need.

Worst. Wait. Ever!

I don't understand why people create custom mods, mp3's and wad files for their server's. I don't. At all. Really.

Brb, going to go wait for that screen to finish loading.

Dav out

Red dot of doom

2009-01-14T12:15:00.003+08:00

Greetings,

Has anyone out there (besides me, of course) ever used that little mouse / touchpad replacement on an IBM laptop that looks like a red dot, feels like a bit of eraser on the top of your pencil?

How did they come up with this? This thing must have been designed by the Devil HIMSELF.

Its true. I had a loaned laptop, and it was an IBM. Being away from my normal desk, I didn't have a mouse. No problem I thought, lets just use the touch pad. WHERE, pray tell, is the touch pad? *gasp*

No touch pad.

Just the left and right mouse / laptop buttons.

I used it for 20 minutes. 20, amazingly long, finger numbing minutes. I think I have a permanent finger cramp now. Or even some form of obscure CRT.

I hate you Red Dot ™

Dav out

"I came across a saying in Arad Doman. 'The more women there are about, the softer a wise man steps.' "

My list can beat your list!

2009-01-07T16:35:00.005+08:00

Greetings,

I've had to explain in brief a few items on my list to a friend, namely:

Learn more VB or basic programming.
~~Build a killer robot.~~
Build a normal robot.
Attend social gatherings (but not too many, cant have the case of family-itits)

Learn more VB or basic programming
He's told me off on my choice of programming language. Well in my defence I did say "VB or some basic programming" which would include (but not something I'd want to look at seriously) .Net, ASP and maybe PHP.
Aless is recommending that I take a look at Python and Ruby. Now, usually, I'll stay away from hippy non-windows stuff, but Python does run on Windows, so I'll take a look at it when I have the time.

~~Build a killer robot.~~
Build a normal robot.
Aless has a wonderful idea on how I can incorporate both robot ideas! As you can see above, I've had to strike out the killer robot plan. But now, thanks to Aless, I can accomplish both.

In his words: (Or as close as I can remember them)

You need to build both robots. Then you'll have a robot that kills, and the second robot made as a perfect replica of the killed person, to replace the person.

One word. PERFECT!

All I'll have to do is pick a target, and then build a robot, and make it look like my target. Then, build a killer robot (should be easy), send the killer robot on its way, and when the job's done, send the masquerading robot to take his / her place.

Attend social gatherings
I'm an IT Geek, as so he's kindly pointed out. We don't like going out and dealing with people. But I like food and I like some good drinks and all that warmth that comes with a good night out with people you feel at home with.
To sum it up:

X "hey lets go to that party"
D "will there be people there?"
X "well, sure, its a party remember?"
D "will there be food and drink there? Free?"
X "um, sure?"
D "I'm SO there!"

I hope, that my list can now beat your list Mr. Aless.
Never mind the fact that he's a lazy person and never updates his blog any more!

Dav out

Survival of the fittest

2009-01-05T14:03:00.003+08:00

Greetings,

I've just half way recuperated from a murder attempt involving a sore throat, the sniffles and one A/C unit set to ~~stun~~ 16° Celsius. If this was Cluedo, it would be in the hall, with the A/C, by the butler.

It strikes me that if you know someone well enough, you could come up with at least 5 ways to kill them. 10 ways if you use them twice!

Stay with me on this one.

Lets say you know someone has an allergy to almonds, you could maybe try:

Buy some almond extract, and make some Almond Cookies. Serve. Wait. Dead!
Buy some hand wash or shampoo that contains almond extract. Wash. Wait. Dead!
Make a gun that shoots almonds. Shoot. Dead!
Trick said person into eating almonds. "What, these? Nah these aren't almonds, these are.... Prunus dulcis!" Serve. Eat. Dead!
Get bitter almonds, process its oils, take out the old chemistry set, and WHAMMO bitter almonds may yield from 4–9mg of hydrogen cyanide per almond. Buy. Mix. Insert weird chemical process here. Serve. Wait. Dead!

Of course, this is just if you were trying to go out and um, fix someone for leaving the A/C on till you developed pneumonia like symptoms.

Dav out

The skilful employer of men will employ the wise man, the brave man, the covetous man, and the stupid man.

2009 list-a-thon

2009-01-03T11:57:00.002+08:00

Greetings,

I've taken steps to post my 2009 list because that 0.2% of extra effort requires I do so!

Said list:

Learn more VB or basic programing.
Breed Koi / Japanese carp.
Take a few road trips.
Swim. Swim more then I do now.
Work out more. This would be in tandem with the 'swim' above.
Make use of that microwave. Hot water and instant noodles don't count.
Weed, fertilize and spruce up garden.
~~Build a killer robot.~~
Build a normal robot.
Go fishing.
More woodworking and electronics at home.
Try my hand at welding.
Work with metal.
Build a portable metal charcoal BBQ (you should have seen this one coming!)
Maybe, just maybe, build that gaming PC.
Attend social gatherings (but not too many, cant have the case of family-itits)
Fix that leak in the wet kitchen roof / wall.
Bake more.
Cook more.
~~Bake more.~~
Hug people.
Sample more foreign beers.
Get my hands on some real brewing yeast.
Learn to brew beer / liquor.
~~Brew mead.~~ Been there, done that. Need real yeast.
Take more picturesque photos.
Paintball. Got to have paint ball in 2009.
Learn to paint with oils.
Take over the world

So far, that's about all I can come up with. Its late, I've only slept for 4 hours in the past two days. Time to crash. But maybe a few pages of that book before bed!

Dav out

2008 revisited

2009-01-02T11:52:00.000+08:00

Greetings,

In comparison to 2007, the year 2008 was a wicked, wicked year.

And not that kind of wicked either. The bad kind.

People passed away. Friends moved on. Funds dried up. The list goes on and on.

I aim to make 2009 a much better year. How, pray tell, will I make it a better year?

Well, with plenty of good cheer, health and family. That translates into: "Plenty of booze". I don't believe in New Year resolutions, mainly because I know I'll break them 2 hours later. What I do believe in is making a list of items you'd like to work on, and applying 0.2% more effort to them.

I've got my list, where's yours?

Dav out