I still get amused once in a while with videos like the following. They had this Optimus Prime dancing with the music. That really made my day, I hope you don’t think I’m nerdy or what.

And then I go back to work. Work and back to bed. Bed and back to work. A typical routine that troubled me the pass couple of weeks especially. It turns out that I’ve been slow. And stress didn’t really help. I seem to work slower with stress.

I stopped reading my books. I read a lot of nonsense, we’ll leave that to next time. I returned all my library books. I brought back a Python book by the way and once I read the first couple of chapters I realized this book is more of a productivity destroyer. I chunk the book back into the library it came from and returned to work.

You see what I mean by work here is basically work work, school work and friend work.

We all know what’s work work already – it’s basically work in return of monetary value.

Then we have school work which is basically work in return of knowledge. I value knowledge a lot. I love to learn. I don’t have the time.

And finally there is what I call friend work. It really isn’t the traditional type of work as in you work because you want something in return. In reality, ‘friend work’ – as I call – is merely the act of maintaining friends with people (which I admit I’m not at all great at). You basically get closer friends in return by doing friend work and in return we get unexpected pleasure. I use the word ‘unexpected’ because in my opinion, if you were to expect something to come out of dinners with friends or even just a phone call to a friend, it seems to be not much different from work work.

I really is pretty hard to maintain friends and provide for them unconditionally. I often think really hard about friendship, kinship and blahblahship. My friend once told me that there’re 2 types of friends – a mutual friend and a ‘liability’. Liabilities are people whom are seeking you as a friend, come to you when you trouble and periodically just disappear in your life till the next time they’re in trouble.

So I started to count liabilities. Who are my liabilities. Who actually come to me when in trouble and disappear somehow. And then I realized there’re like, erm, a lot of people actually. Then comes to the question if they’re worth helping the next time round.

I think about it. And I think really hard. Eventually I came to this decision that I will help, perhaps not to the extend like I would help my better friends. But I’ll still help. Helping in hopes of maybe one day – just one day – when in trouble, that person might just help you when you seek him or her. The only difference, may I excuse myself, between work work and this type of friend work is that in work work, you work in expectation of something in return. Well… And in this type of friend work, you sort of work in a hope – not an expectation – that somehow, someday, the appropriate someone would be there for you when you need some help.

Anyway, the above is just some thoughts I have and I am writing it down more as personal note.

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It would be cool to go out with a Tshirt that has the most complication diagram in your engineering class just ’cause no one understands. And these days with Giodarno coming out with quotations on shirts that are either nonsense or nonsense, it just makes your engineering diagram more and more acceptable. Geek culture you know.

Today, while it may still seem like a terrible conversation starter to talk about how Intel just came out with this new chip, or how Google had this new OpenSocial thingy, or how Hotmail’s going to improve (okay, probably not) – I think, I think we’re actually getting into something when we talk about all these.

We kinda get people excited – admittedly a rather small bunch of people. But one of these small bunch of people may just tell others, and words would just spread, things might just get hyped up too.

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They have things like:

• Java SE
• Java EE
• Java ME
• NetBeans IDE
• Web Services
• Java Software

The whole process is just so alien to me. I am just trying to find the latest Java compiler which is the 6.0 one. I saw their versioning system too. They had 1.2, 2.0, 5.0 and all the different updates. Seriously, it’s just too confusing.

I don’t think any non-Java developer actually know what’s going on. A bit of reading led me to figure that they separate stuff to Enterprise levels and so on. It took me a while to figure what I want is Java SE Development Kit 6 (JDK) which includes the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) and command-line development tools that are useful for developing applets and applications.

I am aware that Sun has NetBeans and I am just wondering if they’re making compiler downloads harder to encourage people to get NetBeans. The whole website is just horrible. Oh yeah, by the way, Sun Microsystem, your Java website suits the 800 x 600 crowd. Your website is just half the width of my screen. With more and more websites suiting 1024 width, well, consider doing that too.

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I blog for a mixture of reasons. But one of the main reason is satisfaction. I get thrilled to see visitors and it makes me happy that the article I posted actually helped them. I used to post more personal stuff but after a while I just realized that nobody’s really interested I guess. Eventually I switched to funny stuff that I see everyday that made me smile. And I want to remember the moments that I feel happy seeing a YouTube video, angry that the world isn’t fair, proud when people find my tutorials useful.

And thus I blog. It’s hard to describe the feeling. I just concluded to them that they should try it. Try blogging for a little while, get your friends to see your blog. It’s quite a good feeling for me and it may be for you too.

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• ZEN Vision W
• ZEN Vision
• ZEN Vision:M
• ZEN V Plus
• ZEN V
• ZEN Stone Plus
• ZEN Stone
• ZEN Wav
• ZEN Neeon 2
• ZEN Neeon 512MB/ 1GB/ 2GB
• ZEN Neeon 5GB/ 6GB
• ZEN MicroPhoto
• ZEN Nano Plus

Looking at all these names make me giddy, I don’t feel zen at all.

“Dad I want a Zen.”

“Oh, is it the Vision W or the Vision or the Vision: M?”

Perhaps this branding confusion is due to Creative being unsure what sort of what products consumers really want. They throw out like 10 designs and just bet that one of them should be favorable among the consumers. Creative ZEN Whatever should be just Creative ZEN.

(Above is the Creative Zen, not Zen Whatever, just Zen this time. Good start for Creative.)

They can learn a lot from Apple. Apple tries to make their product line simple, they timed their releases properly so that essentially there’s 3 range of iPod to cater to different crowds. Creative have like 5 in the market each time and they throw out cryptic names. Apple’s iPod is just iPod Shuffle and the 2 other iPods using flash and hard disk. Apple manages to sell tons more than Creative. While it is generally true that Creative has worse design than Apple, Creative really should shake things up in their marketing and branding department a little. Get some guys fired, get new ones hired.

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Remember the time when you disappointed me with your ugly yellow interface, your resource hogging tools. You have the most confusing set of products, your Antivirus software is cross-bundled in numerous of your flagship titles. Now you micmic the Windows Live OneCare idea and offer everything in one simple suite you call Norton 360 and you’re calling their price ‘monopolistic’.

Symantec CEO: Microsoft security ware pricing ‘monopolistic’

Symantec Chairman and CEO John Thompson blamed Microsoft on Tuesday for the current pricing competition his company faces in the consumer security market, suggesting Microsoft’s pricing scheme for its first entry into the space is “monopolistic.”

Speaking at the offices of the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York, Thompson said Microsoft’s decision last year to offer Windows Live OneCare, a service that combines firewall, antivirus and backup capabilities, for $49.95 per year for three PCs “clearly recast prior expectations for consumer security technology.”

“I don’t want to say it was monopolistic, but it looked that way to some of us,” Thompson said.

Symantec released Norton 360, its competitor to Windows Live OneCare, last March, but the product — at $79.99 for three PCs — costs more than Windows Live OneCare but has the benefit of more features and Symantec’s experience in security going for it.

Using competitive pricing to try to get a leg up in a market where a company is weak is a common practice, and Symantec is no stranger to such pricing storms, Thompson said. “We have seen a continued focus on price competition in some markets and some channels,” he said.

Source: InfoWorld

I am using Windows Vista and many of the virus that is made prior to Windows Vista aren’t working too. Assuming that only 10% of the virus are still working, should I just be paying for 10% of the cost your anti-virus software? With Microsoft plugging Vista bugs and holes in an almost weekly basis, the need of an anti-virus software, in my opinion, has clearly depleted.

OneCare at US$50 per year is not cheap too. And from a consumer viewpoint, I’m all for lower prices. The funny thing is that Mr. Thompson said himself that ‘using competitive pricing to try to get a leg up in a market where a company is weak is a common practice’. If OneCare is really not good enough, it is only justifiable that they have to charge cheaper since the consumer is getting a more inferior product in Mr. Thompson’s point of view.

You know what? It’s really just because the competitor is Microsoft.

[Declaration: I am a OneCare perpectual beta tester and I have not try Norton 360.]

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Today, Web 2.0 can mean anything – video content, social networking, social news, social bookmarking, Ajax, Prototype libraries, JSON, accordion visual effects, mash-ups, Ruby on Rails, XML, and whatever.

It’s a marketing term for any webservice that is published after 2005. Google managed to revolutionize the way people understand ‘beta’. Today, some products is following some sort of a perpectual beta idea, meaning it’s just beta forever. That, once again, is pure marketing.

(Facebook has communities for Web 2.0, Web 3.0, Web 4.0, Web 5.0 and in case you haven’t noticed – Web �??.0.)

Has the web really changed that much? Sure it has, but it didn’t just come overnight. It came a long way and Web 2.0 describes the awakening – the awakening of ordinary people such as my mom and my elephant – and the reintroduction of these technologies. Magazines that cover whatever Web 2.0 ideas are selling like hotcakes and if you actually read a couple of them you’ll realize none is particularly clear of what Web 2.0 is.

Because it just is so many things! But ultimately, I think Web 2.0 is about you and me addicted to connecting and sharing information. It’s as if we allow ourselves to be part of a whole movement. Just thinking of that scares me, but the thought never fails to make me tingle with excitement.

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Open source does not mean it is free and freeware doesn’t mean it’s open source. Perhaps one day we may just have to pay for all the open source products which isn’t what most people wish for. Most people just want free software anyway, they don’t care if it’s open source, it’s just that open source sounded like it’s free.

The current situation of commercial close source products and the free open source seem to be in quite a balance. Free alternatives remain while the commercial sectors are still charging and all.

And I’m tired of all the ‘Lite’, ‘Express’ or non-Pro versions that remained free. If only every big software company can make one of their non-flagship products free, kinda like giving back to the society and at the same time create more competition and drive advancements in software.

On a side note – this looks a little strange to me.

Microsoft and opensource? Hmmmp…

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You knoiw – one of the reasons Singapore broadband prices aren’t really cheap is because Singaporeans love to go to the other countries websites. The data has to travel half the globe to reach you! In contrast, countries like Korea, Japan, China, United States, United Kingdom and – erm, United States – have most of their citizens visiting their own country’s website.

Is this because they make better websites than us? Is this because they are more loyal and prefer localized content? Is it because they have cheaper broadband?

Actually the answers for the above questions are all ‘yes’ in my opinion. Our favorite websites are probably YouTube and Friendster. I for one can testify to it, I love United States websites. I do not visit local websites for example (with the exception of ChannelNewsAsia.com and blogs, I love local blogs).

Is there any local websites that you know of? Any top-secret plan to start one? I love to hear what people has to say about this.

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I don’t trust SAF (Singapore armed forces) enough.

Okay, end of essay. Thank you for reading.

This is entirely my own opinion, I believed that National Dental Center (NDC) would do a better job. SAF wants to give 14 days of medical leave and NDC would only give me 8 days for a similar job done. I pick the one that says I’ll be fine in 8 days.

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A lot of students (once, me inclusive) think of a blog as a personal space that you can write anything you want. It’s your opinion and it’s your freedom to write what you want. Of course, I know there would be bound to have some restrictions but today, it would only seem that blogging is much more restricted than what Singaporeans would think.

It’s funny. Numerous people who publishes posts on their blogs don’t want anyone to be viewing their blog. It kinda go against the very reason to own an online blog actually. An online blog isn’t what they want, they want instead a journal from Microsoft Outlook or something. Unless you manage to lock up your diary with some password or something, your blog can still be found! So stop perceiving privacy.

Sometimes, they would give the links of their blog to their close friends. The close friend links up the blog to his or hers and – tadah – there goes your privacy. You may be bitching about the girl who wore g-strings to school and may be writing all things offensive about her character. Then one day, she just check out a friend’s blog and link and link and link to your blog!

Schools act against students for ‘flaming’ teachers on blogs

The message has been sent out loud and clear, with five junior college students being punished for posting offensive remarks about two teachers and a vice-principal online.

The students, all girls, were made to remove the remarks from their Internet diaries, or blogs, and suspended for three days last month.

One such remark referred to a secondary school teacher as a “prude”: for disciplining a student for wearing a too-short skirt. “Frustrated old spinster. Can’t stand to see attractive girls,” the blog read.

Source: The Straits Times, published on Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Yes! You can get sued even. Recently 2 guys just got sued as they are writing racist comments I think. I didn’t really follow up on that news. Blogging is not as safe as you think. The girls are just trying to express their displeasure. Unfortunately, publishing something in the world wide web is the wrong method. I can assure you there are lots of people who has blogged about their teachers saying they are gay or pairing them up with another teacher. I’ve seen insults of their friends and many more.

I now sit in front of my computer feeling a little afraid. My blog can be a victim too. I don’t want to be sued. If I blogged about something that is against the law, do tell me about it, I’ll do something about it.

I hope you guys be more careful too. I am trying not to blog about my friends nowadays for the same reason, I am gradually stopping just gossipping since a year ago. But I can’t help but to write some stuff about my friends as this is a personal blog.

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Question is: Which one will you choose?

A group of children were playing near two railway tracks, one still in use while the other disused. Only one child played on the disused track, the rest on the operational track. The train came, and you were just beside the track interchange. You could make the train change its course to the disused track and saved most of the kids.

However, that would also mean the lone child playing by the disused track would be sacrificed. Or would you rather let the train go its way?

Let’s take a pause to think what kind of decision we could make.

Most people might choose to divert the course of the train, and sacrifice only one child. You might think the same way, I guess.

Exactly, I thought the same way initially because to save most of the children at the expense of only one child was rational decision most people would make, morally and emotionally.

But, have you ever thought that the child choosing to play on the disused track had in fact made the right decision to play at a safe place?

Nevertheless, he had to be sacrificed because of his ignorant friends who chose to play where the danger was.

This kind of dilemma happens around us everyday. In the office, community,in politics and especially in a democratic society, the minority is often sacrificed for the interest of the majority, no matter how foolish or ignorant the majority are, and how farsighted and knowledgeable the minority are.

The child who chose not to play with the rest on the operational track was sidelined. And in the case he was sacrificed, no one would shed a tear for him, because he plays on the track.

Personally, I’ll choose to save the child at the right track. But that’s because I am a defient person. hmmmp.. Whatcha think?

Edit: This is embarassing, I highlighted the word “defient” which I mispelt! Right spelling is “defiant”, and to think I even highlighted it. duh..

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