//beconfused

I haven’t been blogging as regularly. I was busy with a couple of projects, learning some Japanese and a horrible upcoming math exam.

My project is just hanging that, it’s not moving as fast as I thought it would. There are lots of mistakes I made and sometimes I wasted a lot of time implement stuff wrongly. I hope I don’t make the same mistake again… It’s so time-consuming.

On a happier note, I finally, finally finally, decided to take up some Japanese class and learning some あいうえおかきくけこ. It’s an interesting language and I bought a book to help me along. It’s just something I thought I’ll pick up during my free time as some sort of an educating leisure.

And yes math. I didn’t like math too much. I can score quite well for it strangely. It’s the subject I do best it. But somehow I just didn’t like it. I like knowing history, I sucked at history.

Finally a friend is leaving Singapore already. I have so many friend leaving Singapore these days. We’re doing some farewell thing for him. It’s great because I get to meet all the army guys again. We still don’t like the commanders so no commanders shall be invited.

I just watched the National Day Parade. It’s the retelecast, I sort of missed it because I somehow forgot. This year’s location seemed different from the previous year but it’s one of the better locations. I love the city area. Perhaps one of the better NDPs; wished I were there.

Did you know that SMS started in 1992 by Acision and today most of us can’t live without it. So happy birthday SMS!

15 Years of the SMS

The mobile phone industry is today celebrating the 15th birthday of the Short Message Service Centre (SMSC), the principal application behind text messaging first brought to market by Acision in 1992. The first ever SMSC was introduced as a product designed primarily to deal with the demands and improve reliability of a developing mobile industry, and in that year the first of many deals was signed with Telenor.

Despite the rapid evolution of the mobile market, SMS is still the most important value-added service for operators. For operators looking to provide subscribers with robust messaging services, today’s mix and match platform means they can specify SMS capacity to meet their requirements. It is this scalability that makes the SMSC cost effective and adaptable to both growing and mature markets. Even in the most developed markets, such as Western Europe where SMS service penetration has reached 90%, SMSCs are vital to operators seeking to differentiate themselves through high-quality enhanced messaging services.

Source: Cellular News

It’s his birthday today! He’s just next room actually, probably on the phone or something. Anyhow, have a great birthday! I asked him what he wanted today and he said he didn’t want anything. Has he not have ‘O’ Levels coming his way, he probably request some PC games or something.

Did you know I entered to national service on June 11, 2005, on his birthday? I recall I was feeling quite terrible that day, lots of uncertainty that time.

[Edit: Let's sticky this for a day, hahaa...]

Some history that you probably aren’t aware of.

5. Edison invented the electric light

Thomas Edison is known as the world’s greatest inventor. His record output - 1,093 patents - still amazes us, over a century later. Astonishing, except for one thing: he didn’t invent most of them. Most Edison inventions were the work of his unsung technicians - and his most famous invention, the electric light, didn’t even belong to his laboratory. Four decades before Edison was born, English scientist Sir Humphry Davy invented arc lighting (using a carbon filament). For many years, numerous innovators would improve on Davy’s model. The only problem: none could glow for more than twelve hours before the filament broke. The achievement of Edison’s lab was to find the right filament that would burn for days on end. A major achievement, but not the first.

2. Jesus was born on December 25

Christmas is meant to celebrate the birth of Jesus, but there is no evidence whatsoever, biblical or otherwise, that He was actually born on that day. Nor is there anything to suggest that He was born in a manger, or that there were three wise men (although, as any nativity play will remind you, three gifts were mentioned). There are differing views as to why December 25 was chosen as Christmas day, but one of the most interesting is that the day was already celebrated by followers of Mithras, the central god of a Hellenistic cult that developed in the Eastern Mediterranean around 100 BC. The followers of this faith believed that Mithras was born of a virgin on 25 December, and that his birth was attended by shepherds…

Which brings us to the number one historical myth - something that is drilled into the heads of nearly all American schoolchildren…

1. George Washington was America’s first President

Everyone “knows” that Washington was the first of the (so far) 43 Presidents of the US. However, this isn’t strictly the case. During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress (or the ‘United States in Congress Assembled’) chose Peyton Randolph as the first President. Under Randolph, one of their first moves was to create the Continental Army (in defence against Britain), appointing General Washington as its commander. Randolph was succeeded in 1781 by John Hancock, who presided over independence from Great Britain (see myth #6). After Washington defeated the British at the Battle of Yorktown, Hancock sent him a note of congratulations. Washington’s reply was addressed to “The President of the United States”. Eight years later, as a revered war hero, Washington himself became America’s first popularly elected President - but strictly speaking, the FIFTEENTH President!

Here are 20 of the most common historical myths, which have misled and misinformed people for years, decades, or centuries.

read more | digg story

Okay, the above sounds lonely and wrong. It’s October 24, and it’s my birthday. I received a few messages from friends already. Today is also Hari Raya, an occasion that the Malays celebrate after fasting for some time.

Well, it’s Singapore’s birthday. It’s here at last but somehow I just don’t feel that it is here. I was looking around and I notice more and more flags and found one horrible banner hung on one of the blocks.

_(Happy birthday Singapore banner put up by the nice people from Bukit Batok Zone 10.)_

And not long ago, the Hungry Ghost Festival just begin. The Chinese believed that the hell gates are open and all the hungry ghosts are lurking around to find food to eat. The Chinese would then submit their offerings to the ghost in bid of them minding their own businesses, i.e. to be hungry and eat the food I presume, and not disturb anyone hopefully.

To welcome the hungry ghosts, the Chinese burn offerings, huge candles and wooden sticks along the streets. I don’t really know what’s with burning the candles and wooden sticks along streets frankly speaking. It’s probably an environmentally-friendly message from to the enthusiasts to keep off the grass. The burnt offerings are in the form of hell money. More money, more commodities the ghosts can buy in hell. People burnt millions of hell dollars and sent them to hell.

My grandmother believed that the higher the burnt hell notes fly, the further it would travel and would eventually reach the dead. While it never really was my hobby to watch her burnt the hell notes, I always burnt them with her and listen to her memories. Some people think that all those burning are just pollution and triggers the PSI (Pollution Standard Index) to increase by a couple of points. In a way, they’re right. But in Singapore, you can only respect their religions and try to stay away from people burning their offerings.

Every first day of seventh month in the Chinese calendar, some families would gather to burn offerings to their ancestors. The temple would organize activities too. There’ll be getai shows where Chinese getai performers would sing, dance and act in front of the public. It’s good entertainment and always a crowd-attracter. And there’ll be lots of banners with bright colors during the Hungry Ghost Festival. Strange. It looks just like the one picture in this post.

I just met a secondary school friend when having dinner. It feels really good to see old friends again. I saw her with her boyfriend. Both seemed friendly so we all talked for about 30 minutes while I’m feeding myself.

(Image of my secondary school with the uniform group members. Faces have undergone some sort of ‘bluration’ to ensure they aren’t recognizable.)

We talked about the times in our secondary school and also about some army stuff to her boyfriend. I realized that each guy I meet when I am wearing my green uniform would automatically drift into army talk. That is fine though, it’s quite interesting to know what the others are doing in another camp. It’s kinda a deja vu feeling since the last time I met Jaslyn and her boyfriend, her boyfriend and I had this army talk going too.

I realized that many people actually remembered me. People enquired about my wellbeing more than I thought. That really made me feel happy and blessed. Often I have the impression that my friends don’t remember me anyway. But perhaps all these impressions are a little er… overthought? [Okay, I think I just invented a word.]

Anyway they invited me to a birthday gathering. It’s really nice of them and I accepted it immediately. Then I thought for a while. Coming saturday, Jun Hong’s birthday. Next saturday, her birthday. I really need to shop for presents already.