//beconfused

I’m too late for wishing everybody happy christmas. I hope you guys enjoyed your christmases. I’ve been busy being happy during this christmasy season. Christmas eve’s been great too, had lots of food with lots of people.

This season the christmas trees look prettier, a couple of more unique ones, including this:

(Christmas tree in pink at The Cathay, Singapore.)

And lots of salvation army bell sounds which annoyed me more than anything. I know it’s for a great cause but I don’t like bells. I don’t like bells.

(Happy boxing day guys!)

Singapore is one of the commonwealth countries not celebrating Boxing Day. (Image source of boxing match is Wikipedia, Ricardo Dominguez (left) rallied late to win a decision over Oregon’s Rafael Ortiz in the night’s toughest fight.)

Tomorrow’s 27 December already, a lot of things to do already. I kinda spend too much time going out this season. It’s terrible, my work, both Widgeo.us and school are piling up. I don’t like bells.

Picture of iPhone in Sitex 2007:

(iPhone spotted at Sitex 2007.)

It’s got an intuitive interface and I see much value in owning one. Get yours before Sitex ends this evening!

Look what’s happen to my Facebook homepage. It looks ridiculous now, so many application invites:

Hate the vampires, the pirates, the werewolves and the ninjas. Facebook is additive though.

I was poking around Wikipedia and I spotted something hilarious, IP address 203.116.59.28 is placing all sorts of lies in Wikipedia!

In the Lee Kuan Yew article, he wrote:

• He is very old.

In the Lee Hsien Loong article, he wrote and replace an image:

• Notice how he bears the appearance of a horse with his long facial features, giving one the unpleasant feeling of being in a zoo
• (Also changed Lee Hsien Loong picture into a horse)

In the Singapore Dollar article, he wrote:

• You mean you do not like Sing dollar?

In the Li Hongyi article, he wrote this and this:

• Li is also found to be suffering from cerebral palsy, lunacy and syphilis.
• Li is known to be suffering from dyslexia.

He is also:

• interested in Odex
• likes changing Baby-G into Baby-G Spot
• quite a fan of Honour and Passion
• thinks Liang Po Po is a horror film
• prefers calling Bollywood ‘Boobywood’
• believes that Mortal Kombat’s Jarek is a 3SG in the RSAF

It is not uncommon to spot people adding chunks of nonsense in Wikipedia. It’s the most unplesant thing to do. Imagine you had to do a project and just take the information directly from Wikipedia. You’ll end up with chunks of shit. It’s unfortunate that there are always people trying to distort the free online encyclopedia. While the change is often reverted, it takes a couple of days. Some rarer defaced articles gone unnoticed.

And therefore, everytime you do research, never ever trust just one source. If Wikipedia says this, counter check it with Encarta or Britannica. Get the “facts” right. It’s a great community encyclopedia but don’t trust it completely.

On a side note, Wikipedia just got its 2 millionth article.

TOKYO (Reuters) - With her dyed-brown long hair and tight designer jeans, Shoko Tendo looks like any other stylish young Japanese woman — until she removes her shirt to reveal the vivid tattoos covering her back and most of her body.

The author of “Yakuza Moon,” a best-selling memoir just out in English, the 39-year-old Tendo says that police efforts to eradicate the gangsters have merely made them harder to track.

“The more the police push, the more the yakuza are simply going underground, making their activities harder to follow than they ever were before,” she told Reuters in a recent interview.

Police say full-fledged membership in yakuza groups fell to 41,500 last year, down from 43,000 in 2005, a decline they attribute to tighter laws against organized crime.

“They’re being forced into a corner, their humanity taken away,” she said. “All the things they used to do for a living have been made illegal, so life has become very hard.”

Being a gang member is not illegal in Japan, and until recently the gangs were known for openness. Their offices even posted signs with their names and membership lists inside.

Gangs cooperated with police, handing over suspects in return for police turning a blind eye to yakuza misdemeanors, but this broke down after organized crime laws were toughened in 1992.

Read more at Reuters article “Gangster daughter sheds light on Japan underworld” (Image from Reuters)

I always thought the Japanese Yakuza is kinda cool. Anyway Shoko Tendo’s book “Yakuza Moon” is in stores now.

The Wachowski brothers are no more. One of Wachowski went for a - ahem - gentle reassignment procedure, now lives as a lady - Lana.

(more…)

Okay, I know I mentioned I won’t get another Microsoft keyboard. Fact is that I really like the curving keyboard idea and I got so used to the typing. While paying a visit at Sim Lim and wrecking hard the keyboards there, I realized that I am used to the Microsoft keyboard and I just didn’t really feel like getting a different one.

But the wireless feature gave you hell - I hear you say. Yes it did, I hate the wireless thingy. Look I bought its fraternity twin. Below is a picture of both of them posing together.

(Yes, they’re smiling at my camera!)

I love the well-positioned buttons and it’s volume buttons. The volume buttons are well-placed and large enough for my fingers. The new keyboard looks blacker too which simply delights me. Best of all, it has no wireless! I got a fully wired Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000 keyboard. There should be no chance that my keyboard stop working.

I got a wireless on impulse. It did not work well on my table which is basically just glass and metal. I got myself a Razer Diamondback mouse too. I tried several mice and decide that it’s the most comfortable one to me. Got it at 69 bucks, a little expensive but well-spent nevertheless.

With a new set of keyboard and mouse, both wired of course, I’m all set to (finally) open up some files and do some work. Didn’t expect the purchase of computer peripherals to be that exciting, did you? I’m all wired now.