Sigh...

Tomorrow I'm going back to work after one week off. The thought makes me rather weak. Still, it's time to go back to real life. It's been quite a pleasant break. Not that I did much. But it's still good.

I didn't go out yesterday evening. For some reason, I was very tired. I did go for breakfast in the morning with Gette, Rin and Ivan. It was pretty cool. I haven't been to town that early on a Saturday morning since a long time ago. The city is very pleasant to be in during that time of the day. Not much traffic and not many people. The weather was quite nice too.

In the news, the fuel thing is still very hot news indeed. Rather than rant about it some more, I'm going to find ways to deal with it and prevent it from causing me to go bankrupt.

I've been modifying the way I drive and after some rather obsessive rpm watching I managed to squeeze an extra 10 clicks this week before I had to refuel again. Not bad. So that's one thing you could do, watch your gearing and don't over rev unless really necessary. For me, that means not going above 2000 plus rpm before shifting. Except for 1st gear where the limit would be 3000rpm.

My car hits 80km\h at slightly above 2200rpm if I remember correctly. That's just nice for me. I also coast a bit more going downhill and before braking for traffic lights. Obviously, all this driving techniques only work for manual transmission.

Talking about fuel consumption, my car's got a rep for not being very economical. It's probably due to the exhaust tip. The exhaust tip on the Saga LMST is quite big actually. For me, it's hasn't been a guzzler. But then again, when I change my engine oil I refuse to use cheap ass mineral oil. I use synthetics instead.

They cost more but in the long run it's good for the car. My car is almost 6 years old and it's still ticking away like clockwork. The engine runs perfectly and I still have no problems cold starting early in the morning. I don't do anything to the engine so I'm quite sure the smoothness can be maintained by using a high grade oil. Plus, high grade oils reduce noise and engine drag and therefore good for fuel consumption.

So the next time your car is due for service think about using semi or full synthetic oil if you can afford it. Your overall fuel cost will go down and your car will appreciate it too.

It won't be cheap though. I did mine on Friday and it cost 128 bucks for oil, fuel filter, labour charge and those two little bulbs that illuminate the rear plates. I did it at a Shell station and they have some kind of promotion where they give you a voucher for 13 bucks of gas. That was pretty cool.

Right now, I'm reading up on things like engine treatment and those gadgets that claim to reduce fuel consumption. I wonder if they really work...

Another thing is weight. Extra weight is bad. I changed my rims from 14" steel to one of those lightweight alloy 15" ones and they do make a bit of difference. I also don't keep junk in the car. I suppose this helps too.

Why am I not using the bus to go out?

I live in Matang. That should be a good enough explanation. I don't fancy buying fuel but I fancy sitting on my ass for two hours waiting for the damn bus even less. Wasting up to two hours of my life waiting for a bus isn't going to cut it with me. Especially when I need to go to work.

The bus service in Matang sucks. Until they fix the public transportation issue here I won't rely on it. Plus the last bus is way too early for my taste. A rail transit system is much better than the bus but it costs a lot to develop and no way is it going to appear here in Kuching.

Not for another 50 years probably.

Crush Depth

Well, it finally happened.

I haven't checked what the other bloggers are writing about. Haven't got the time. I'm sure lots of people have lots of opinions and feelings about this.

What am I feeling? To be honest, I'm a bit numb right now. Also a bit anxious. Especially about crime rates going up and profiteering. These two things will definitely happened. The powers that be won't be able to stop it. It's up to us to look after ourselves.

I was also a bit upset last night because I was caught in the panic-buying induced traffic jam when I wanted to go meet some colleagues. As a result we started late and I had to cancel another engagement. I understand why it happened (the panic buying) but I don't know, it all seems so pointless to waste the entire evening and lots of fuel just to go and buy even more fuel.

I'm also worried and feel sympathy. These new fuel price increases will cause some people to fall through the cracks and become hardcore poor. The government will say this won't happen but come on think about it. Some people I know are already making zero profit from their tiny wages. Add 40% extra fuel cost and we get a deficit.

Cue desperate people trying all kinds of things to make ends meet. Including crime.

So lock up your houses and valuables, keep your eyes open and maybe buy a dog or two. Or a geese. Geese are good guards too. I fully expect crime to shoot up. Some may say the cops will deal with this but seriously, you think they can do anything? It's up to us again to look after ourselves.

In the meantime, I'm going to have to think of some way to increase my own income. I'm not making enough as it is and I'm far from living a luxurious life.

I just hope my RM625 rebate won't get lost in the mail.

One last thing, I heard rumours that the 625 thing is a one shot payment. I guess whoever said this was really pissed off. It's ok to be pissed off. It's not ok to spread rumours. The rebates and
discounts are annual.

Well, there you go. I hope everyone will be ok and find a way to survive. Our lives are about to change again.

PS: The title of this post is based on a phenomenon detailed here. In my analogy, we are the submarines.

On Call

It's Gawai week. Lots of people are having fun. I am...



...at work. Well, sort of.

I'm on call this week. The entire factory is shut down and there is noone here. Still, somebody needs to come by every now and then to run backups and stuff and to make sure everything is ticking. And it is this morning. I'll get off at 8-ish after everything is done and come back later in the evening at 6.

Everyone else is celebrating. I'm not too bummed on not being able to do that though. Somehow I'm not as eager about it. However, Gawai is the harvest festival and it's the time for thanksgiving for what blessings we may have had over the last year.

I do have one or two things to be grateful for. The peace and quiet this week would be one of it. Not being miserable and depressed anymore is the other. It's been a year since I first when to see a psychiatrist if I'm not mistaken. Since then, life has been very, very different.

My memories of life before that are beginning to fade. I can barely remember what it was like to be in that much pain. That is how different it is. I do want to keep some of those memories though as a reminder of how awful it was.

Anyway, I must go now. My backups are done and I need to check on a few more things before I go.

Have a blessed Gawai and may the coming year bring peace and prosperity to all of us.

Converted!

One more reason to like Drew Carey! Excellent interview with David Letterman.



Drew talking about football.

In a related bit of news, two more teams join the MLS. Seattle Sounders FC next season and a team from Philly the year after that. They haven't named it yet but Philadelphia Athletic has a nice ring to it.

And closer to home, our own football team is in a shambles at the moment what with the match rigging scandal and lack of money. I just hope our new partnership with Hartlepool will bring good things.

Ahh Indy...

I watched the new Indy movie on Sunday night. It was great.

Indy. He's getting old. He's not as fast as he used to be. But damn he stills kicks ass. Fans of Indy with like this. I know I did. It's like a trip down memory lane.

It's great to see a new Indy movie after all these years.

Unlike some other people who saw this movie, I actually liked Shia Lebeouf in this one. Will he be the next Indy? I'm not sure how that would work. There is actually talk of another Indy movie sometime soon with Shia in the lead and Harrison Ford supporting him. I'll watch that but I'm not sure if that's going to be a good idea if it does happen.

So how is this movie compared to the previous ones? I really can't say. The memory is a bit faded these days and I haven't watched the other three in a long time. But one thing for sure, it isn't "bad" in any sense of the word. The important thing is the movie stayed true to the spirit of the series and no attempt was made to "update" it. It's new but it felt like watching an old school action movie. I highly recommend you watch this. It's fun.

I watched this at the Riverside Cineplex and not at Star. There was a power outage when I got there to buy tickets. The entire building was blacked out but at lifts were working and the cineplex had power. Unfortunately, the backup generators didn't power the airconditioning so we decided to skip it. Good thing the friend I was with remembered there was another show at the Riverside so we went. There weren't too many people with was nice.

I pity those people who bought their Star Cineplex tickets early. They either had to forfeit or watch the show in a sweltering hall. The smell wasn't that nice... I'm thinking maybe the management should've given options to refund the tickets instead of going ahead with the show.

Afterwards, me and Esther (my company for the evening) went to look for some place to sit. We wanted to go to Khatulistiwa but apparently it's being renovated. So we went to the Waterfront instead.

I haven't gone to the Waterfront in years. It was quite nice. There were many people about and the place looked cleaner than I remember it.

We hung out for a while. It was very refreshing.

That got me thinking. I know a few women friends who are considerably younger than me and they are great but that night I thought how great it would be if I had another single woman around my own age for company (or more...).

It's not just the age. Someone who I could talk to and who enjoys conversations as much as I do. Someone who has gone through similar growing up and life experiences as me and who isn't afraid to share and compare notes.

Like me and Esther were saying that, a person fitting the above description is kind of rare these days. A lot of people behave more... stereotypically. I sound like an elitist like that but I don't know how else to say it. I can hang out with anyone really. As long as they speak up. I can't stand people who are too quiet. They're hard to fathom and that makes me nervous. I can carry a conversation well enough but that needs two or more people to work.

I don't like people who are too conservative either. Nor do I like people who are too secretive. Or too intense. Or incapable of empathy.

You'd think it's very easy to talk. But no, not many people can "talk" the way I mean it. It's hard to explain but I get bored really fast if I'm with someone who won't/can't have a conversation with me.

Hmm, this post is deviating.

In conclusion, I had a great evening and Esther and I will definitely be going to watch movies again this summer season.

Yum..

That is a pint of Kilkenny Irish Beer. It's very good. It's 20 bucks a glass so it's not cheap but it's so good. It's an entire pint so I say the price is worth it. We had a really good time at The Cottage on Thursday night drinking this stuff.

Also, they had a promo that night. Buy three pints get another pint free. So we had quite a lot of this stuff. It was great. The perfect compliment to go with a very heated conversation about politics. It was fun.

I've had a decent enough few days. I got a haircut and what a relief it was. It's not really comfortable to keep hair long during these very hot times.

Speaking of relief, it's been raining. It's... well, a relief.

I'm supposed to go and fix another PC. I'm feeling rather lazy at the moment. Maybe later.

Last night I had another good evening teaching a friend of mine how to get the most out of his new notebook. He managed to snag an Acer Aspire 4940 for literally half price! I'm no Acer fan but I can recognize a good deal when I see one. That thing isn't even 2 months old yet and he managed to get it for RM1400. Brand new it would be worth 3k at least.

Really good spec too except for the RAM being just 1Gb. Apart from that it was a good spec.

Anyway, I do enjoy showing people how to use their new PC/notebook. My friend is a total noob so there's lots for me to show him.

Apart from all this, things are the same as they've always been.

Later I'm going off again to teach my noob friend more things about his PC. I might even remember to take a picture of it.

Five Minutes

is what I have to post this.

I have to rush of for a seminar afterwards. Looking forward to that. I wish people would send me to more of the same. At least I can get out of the office. It can get claustrophobic here at times.

It's a cold morning. What a relief. Tomorrow I'm off work. A bigger relief.

I was checking my blog counter just now and yet again the name of an old friend came up in the keywords section. Can't say I'm surprised. She made quite an impression on a good number of people while we were in college.

I read many blogs and the sheer volume of photographs in some of those blogs amaze me. I must commend their authors for their patience and their diligence in putting them up.

I take many pictures myself but somehow I feel too lazy to post them. It's something about the posting of photos and arranging them in my posts that seem to bother me. Hence I don't do it much. I find it rather tedious. I don't like tedium.

Need to work on that. Some of the photos I've taken are worth an entire post all by themselves.

While driving to work this morning, again my mind wanders a bit. And again, I wonder why is it so hard for us to walk away from something that clearly isn't good for us. I guess that's a very human flaw indeed.

In the end, it's a choice. A hard choice but a choice nevertheless.

I could write a very long post about choices and the difficulty in making them. But not this morning.

How to Get Instant Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

With this. On Saturday night I played this at Rin's house on Ivan's 360. It was..... interesting. And quite addictive. One thing for sure, you need the guitar controller for this to work. I've tried this on a regular controller and it just doesn't feel the same.

Now if only the guitar controller was bigger and had a longer neck closer to that of a real guitar. Then maybe it wouldn't physically hurt to play it. Still, the game is so good you'll be in pain and continue to play anyway.

I wished they were more songs.

By the way, I finished the game on easy. Despite my sore wrist and fingers.

I'm quite sure this game will continue to feature in our gatherings. Hopefully they'll be more people around so we can face-off on medium or higher difficulties. That is going to be a lot more interesting...

I'm looking forward to playing this again.

Apart from this, there's not much else to write about. Life is still the same and things are still the same.

Oh yes, we had this weird brownout situation in my area last night. All our lights were on.... kinda. It was freaky. And inconvenient because I couldn't turn on my PC.

Look at that, the middle of May already. Almost half a year gone.

What's in my Head Right Now

I went to this nice place called Hijau the other night. It's quite nice. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures. The only thing I didn't like about it was the lack of parking spaces.

It's been very hot these last two days. I wish it would rain more during the day. It's a good thing I'm not at work these few days. It's hard to sleep when it's this hot.

Me talking about weather. A sure sign of me not knowing what to write about.

Actually, I do have some things to write about. But it's really hot right now. Can't think straight.

I've been invited to a birthday thingy later tonight. I'm not sure if I'm going. Maybe I'll drop by for a while. Not really up for socialising at the moment to be honest.

Maybe I'll go out and look for DVDs or something.

Oh look, my credit card statement has arrived...

Underdogs

I don't write much about football and I'm no fanatic but I do follow it with interest.

The 07/08 English premier league is done and Man Utd won it. Again. I can't say I'm too thrilled about that. No, I'm not a Chelsea fan. I just like a close fight in any sporting event and if the same team/person won it over and over again it gets boring.

We still have The Champions League Final coming and I hope Chelsea wins that. If they do, it will be their first time.

Most people won't care about this year's FA Cup but I'm hoping Cardiff can pull an upset and be the first lower division team in a very, very long time to win a major English trophy. It's also fine by me if Pompey won it too. As long as it isn't any one the usual big teams. What is the FA Cup with it's giant killing magic (think Barnsley FC)?

I'm so glad that Sunderland survived. I'm looking forward to seeing more Roy Keane next year. I'm also hoping Stoke City will do well and that Bristol City go up via the playoffs. It would be awesome. In season 06/07 they were in League 1 and now they are on the verge qualifying for the big show. That's almost unthinkable.

If not Bristol City then Hull making it through would be good as well.

What can I say, I like my underdogs. I like it when the big and powerful suffer and struggle and the small timers win things or survive against the odds ala Fulham and Wigan. I like the fact that a tiny Spanish Primera Liga team like Almeria can finish mid table and a huge team like Valencia can struggle.

Not only football. Other sports as well.

I love my underdogs. By the same token if someone or something becomes too dominant in anything I will gradually resent them. I don't know why I feel this way. That is why I could never see myself as Man Utd supporter. Or a Ferari fan.

I hate glory hunters.

And not only sports. In everything.

Perhaps I see myself in these underdogs. I can relate to them. I know what it's like to try your best fully knowing that your "best" isn't really good enough. I understand how it is to realize that you will never be able to compete with those bigger than you but you try anyway. I know the plight of the also-ran and the has-been and the guy who had so much potential but somehow never made it. Most of the time you lose and no one cares what happens to you. I know how that feels like too.

But every once and a while something special happens and you win despite all the odds. It doesn't happen a lot but when it does it's unforgettable. I also know how that feels like.

I raise a virtual glass to the underdogs of the world. Perhaps one fine day, we will have a shot at our own personal Cup Finals.

Engrish!

Hur hur hur...

Cooked asses? You betcha! Available at Ta Kiong supermarket! Get yours today!

What a Girl Wants: Guide for Clueless Men

I found an excellent thread in the lowyat Kopitiam forums...

What Girls really want in a man.

Guys should read this stuff. Girls should read this stuff too. Might be a useful insight to how things work between men and women.

Dell Vostro 1310

I've been waiting for this since it was announced last month. Two new Dell Vostro models are finally available in Malaysia, the 1310 and 1510.

Looks really sweet, especially the 1310. At last, a cheap and cheerful 13.3 inch notebook. Really good for those people who need something small but not too small.

Very cool and hopefully somebody I know will buy it so I can do a hands on test.

Idiots

I read the papers just like any other person and sometimes I come across stuff that I really can't understand.

Like the Malay Regiment having a detachment doing ceremonial duties at the Windsor Palace. I thought this was a good thing. An honour given to one of our most veteran units. I myself was thrilled about this. Unfortunately there are people in this country who miss the point entirely.

How is this prestigious assignment considered demeaning? Thankfully, there are people who do get it.

Yet another sign of people not understanding culture. That's what happens when you don't read any books at all. Ok I'm just speculating but seriously, it's hard not to notice the lack of cultural thought and intellect in many locals.

Another thing that many people don't get is why we need to beef up our military. Left wingers especially love complaining about this especially about the cost. Well, these people don't get how a strong military helps with international relations and strategic posturing. Especially important for Malaysia since we are involved in some very important territorial disputes.

Without a strong military presence how do we strengthen our position. Some people will say this type of tour de force is unnecessary and all we need is to negotiate. Sorry but people who believe that alone is enough are incredibly naive. Just like people who say that love is all you need in a marriage.

Anyways, I like our armed forces and it fills me with pride when I see RMAF fighter aircraft in the sky over Kuching. Whenever they are here anyway.

That's the problem with ideals. I was once quick an idealistic chap as well what with my ideas of justice, fairness and all that white knight in shining armour stuff. Sounds good on paper but later on I find that the world isn't an ideal place and being too idealistic is only going to disappoint you when you see that it doesn't work half the time.

I've learnt the hard way that one needs to be pragmatic as well as idealistic to live properly. The world is what it is with all the shit that goes on but we can live in it quite nicely. Provided we see it for what it is not for what we think it should be.

Hmm, I have noticed that this post and the last one is quite random, quite long and quite rambly. This is what happens when I get in the mood.

Anyway in other news, I'm so glad it rained this evening. The last few days it was so hot it was ridiculous. Not a good thing if you need to work at night and sleep during the day.

I'm off work tomorrow and I will definitely be writing again. I haven't finished rambling yet...

Hmm

"Your good intentions slowly turned to bitterness
Reoccurring episodes with each and every kiss

And I can tell you're going through the motions
I figured you were acting out your part
Once again we're playing off emotion
Which one of us will burn until the end?

Catalyst,
You insist to pull me down
You contradict the fact that you still want me around

And it's all downhill from here"

"All Downhill From Here" - New Found Glory, Catalyst

That song has been stuck in my head for the last half a day. I have no idea why. Maybe I was thinking about the "stories" I could tell as a continuation of my last post. The bolded part of the lyric is very appropriate to what I was thinking. Or more appropriate relative to the rest of the song. The song itself is quite appropriate to the things I'm currently thinking about.

I know some people who have quite a bit of relationship trouble this week.

Anyway one day earlier last month, my mom was asking about a friend of mine. There were quite surprised to learn that he was married. I in turn was quite surprised that they didn't know. I mean everyone knows. Everyone was supposed to know anyway.

And then suddenly out of the blue, she asked me whether I wanted to marry. No, I said. Well the real answer isn't exactly no, I just wanted to avoid a potentially awkward conversation. No luck there. She continued on about how I should seriously think about it and how it will help during old age and other why-being-married-is-a-good-thing points.

To be honest I can't really disagree with what she was saying. I didn't really say much else apart from saying that I don't have anybody in mind at the moment and even if I did I wouldn't do it anytime soon. These things cost money you know. Money which I don't have...

Recently, that friend we were talking about dropped by the house to check his PC when my mom mentioned the married story. She also made some jokes about me still being single and asked him to "help" me...

I want to say that I chuckled and felt unbothered, but the fact is I was bothered. It did make me think. And all the stuff mom and other people have said about it, not all of it is wrong. I should be doing something about it. Especially at my age. I can't really say it doesn't matter because it kinda does actually. Not exactly a life and death thing but it's not entirely frivolous either.

Should be no problems right? Pretty straightforward, I should just go and meet as many people as possible. The law of averages means that eventually I'll find somebody. Worse come to worse, I could just ask the parents to arrange it and settle down with whoever they pick, my own feelings be damned. I mean it works for other people right? It might even be a good idea, considering that I can't seem to do it right by myself.

The question here is "Do I want to do this or not?"

Things can change, but today's answer is no. If my mother didn't bring it up I wouldn't even be thinking about it. I may have become a little too jaded and defensive when it comes to how I feel.

I once wrote that young people shouldn't really be getting involved in serious relationships. I mean they lack experience and often, the blood is hot and makes one very impulsive. But all that may not be a bad thing.

I remember how easy it was to feel and give in to attraction. No need to think so much, you just follow it. When you are young, you haven't been burned yet and you aren't so defensive and not so cynical. You still believe in romantic ideals and the people you are with also still believe it. Unless you're totally clueless, falling in love is the easiest and the most natural thing in the world.

Some people are very lucky and it works out and it continues to work as they get older. For others, they might need one or two more tries. But it works out in the end.

When you are young, it's a good time to fall in love. It's a good time because you can do it so easily.

But for those who didn't get any joy, it gets harder over time until eventually they harden. Eventually, it becomes harder to open up and remain hopeful.

I think I may be at that level now. It's just not so simple anymore.

So what am I trying to say? What I'm saying is that I want to be in a relationship again but at the same time, I don't want to suffer all the pain that it could bring. Again. I've had enough of that and it upsets me enough just to watch other people in bad situations. I can only imagine how I would feel if it were me.

Maybe that's why I can't do it anymore. Maybe I'm too afraid. Or too cynical to even bother anymore.

Poor mom, I guess her grandchildren will have to come from her other kids...

Edit: This post contains a slight error. Apparently, I never said that younger people shouldn't be in relationships, I said younger people shouldn't get married so soon. Very sorry, memory isn't so sharp these days.

Stories

Only 9 posts in April. That's not enough posts for my liking. I actually have plenty to write about. I'm not sure why I didn't write more. The mood just wasn't there.

Anyway, the theme for today's post is "stories".

If I could just dictate my posts for these last 2 weeks instead of typing them out I would have many stories to tell. Good stories.

Talking about good stories, I watched one on Saturday night.


No need for any long winded description or review or comment or whatever. Ironman is so good words aren't necessary to describe it. Just go and watch it. It's excellent. You WILL like it.

And still talking about good stories, over the weekend I played a game I just got recently. It's not often that I feel driven to keep playing a computer all the way to the end more for the story than for lush graphics or gameplay. I think the last game that did this for me was Baldur's Gate 2 Shadows of Amn.

Nothing came close since then story wise. These days many games rely more on flashy graphics and presentation instead of a compelling story.
Assassin's Creed isn't one of those games. I mean yeah, it's got all the bells and whistles of a contemporary computer game. It's got amazing graphics. It's got good movie style sound effects. It's well animated and many times while I was playing it, it didn't feel like a computer game.

In addition to that, it had a good and well scripted story.

I won't be talking much about the story. It involves things like cellular memory and old legends and religion and climbing tall buildings and lots of very, very awesome sword/knife fighting. The story itself is quite long and there's nice twist at the end.

Oh yes, it's also screaming out for a sequel which I eagerly await.

I don't want to spoil it for anyone. It's enough for me to say that the game's plot is the main thing that drives the game forward. Not the flashy parts.

I wish more game developers would devote more effort to tell a good story with the technology they have at their disposal. I'm not alone when I say that. I've read articles that say the same thing.

If more games told stories the way Assassin's Creed did maybe then people will finally recognize the medium as a legitimate art form.

I look forward to the day.

Another game that is sure to have an engaging plot would be GTA 4. Too bad I don't have a PS\3 yet. However, I know someone with an Xbox 360... I'm contemplating splitting the cost of the original game among ourselves.

In other news, I have other stories to tell. I've had many interesting conversations this week. About life and people and the kind of trouble one could get into without realising it. I've also had quite a good deal of reminiscing, only this time it's from a different, older perspective.

But those stories are for other days...

PSA: Protect Yourself!

Last week I had this problem with spyware on my laptop. Even with my excessively cautious internet surfing habits I still get infected. Thankfully, there's free, legit stuff you can find on net that will make being online a lot safer.

My PC at home has no such problems with spyware and that is because I have an excellent free spyware scanning utility at home.


I use the excellent PC Tools Spyware Doctor, courtesy of GooglePack. It's legit and totally free if you get it from Google. Unlike some other anti spyware tools, this one includes the all important real time protection that will intercept known malware as it tries to attack your PC. I installed it on the laptop and now the spyware infection is gone.

So do yourself a favour and download GooglePack today. Not only does GooglePack allow you to have a good, free antispyware suite, it also provides other cool stuff such as StarOffice, Skype and Picasa. Always free and always legit. Get it now!

Another bit of free software related good news concerns AVG. AVG8.0 Free is now available. It's been updated from version 7.5 (which I use and highly recommend) and now includes antispyware and linkscanner components. I'm testing it now on the laptop and it looks ok. I'm not sure how good the antispyware part of it is though and I must say that I prefer the interface from 7.5. But that's probably because I'm not used to the new look yet.

Having an antivirus is absolutely required these days and you won't go wrong with AVG Free. Again, it's free and legit and gets updated everyday.

For those people who want other alternatives for their PC protection needs, I know of some other free stuff as well.

For antispyware, there is Spyblaster. It's free and it works quite well, according to what I've read. For antivirus software, Avast! is also quite good. I have that one installed in my dad's PC. Also free and legit and also has antispyware and antirootkit built in.

While I'm at it I might as well plug other freeware that I use.

Like Irfanview. It's an image viewer and has some simple but highly useful editing functions. Very small download and very light on resources. Highly recommended.

For video/audio playback, make sure you get yourself the KLite Codec pack. Having this installed in your PC will ensure that you will be able to watch and listen to almost every video and sound file. Also comes with Media Player Classic.

And finally Flashget. The best download manager I've ever used. Very, very good. And free. Perfect for the serial downloader. Works with Rapidshare and Megaupload premium accounts.

In other news, my 250Gb Maxtor hard disk is definitely getting full. I suppose I could just housekeep my PC and burn stuff on DVDs. Unfortunately, even after that there won't be much free space still due to all the games and apps I like to keep installed.

I'm waiting for some money available (which is soon actually) so that I can get me a 320Gb or 500Gb hard disk. We'll see how that works out.

I'm also still deciding whether to clone my old hard disk over or do a fresh Windows XP installation.

I'm off tomorrow and looking forward to watching Ironman over the weekend.

Damn Good Movie

I've had no mood to blog recently. Don't really know why, there's nothing wrong. I just didn't feel like it. I have a bunch of photos in my phone that I could blog about but somehow the muse wasn't there.

Anyway, last night I watched 30 Days of Night. How good is this movie? One horror movie website called it "one of the most insanely violent, scary and suspenseful horror films in years". I agree with much enthusiasm.

The movie is set in Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost town in the US where the sun don't shine for 30 days during the depths of winter. During one such winter, vampires decide to cut the town off from civilisation and proceed to feed on it.

Rallied by the town sheriff, a few survivors of the initial vampire attack attempt to hide and wait out the winter darkness. What follows is a gut wrenching game of hide and seek as the vampires try to find and lure them out. Real edge of the seat stuff. The pacing was just right without any draggy bits. Plenty of tension and it never lets up until the last minute.

The vampires are visceral, almost animal like, merciless, extremely violent and sadistically evil with absolutely none of the mysterious sexual charm you might find in other movie vampires. They may look human but they are clearly not. I think this is what makes them all the more terrifying.

This is what constitutes most of this movie's brownie points in my opinion.

This movie is damn good, the best vampire movie I've watched in years and years. It's right up there with From Dusk Till Dawn. Extremely highly recommended for horror fans who will love the ball busting, no bullshit nature of this movie. Trust me, you won't regret it.

A word of warning though. This is not for the squeamish or the weak hearted. There are scenes that will make your stomach churn.

Suddenly, I got this urge to go watch From Dusk Till Dawn again. Anybody got a DVD or VCD I could borrow or copy?

Quoted for Truth

This is true you know. There were many reasons why I stopped playing World of Warcraft. This was one of it. Sometimes I feel that many online communities like forums, online games and MMORPGs are very elitist and very, very unfriendly to new comers (or n00bs as they are called).

There was an article on Kotaku discussing the potential financial impact of newbies quiting online gaming due to mistreatment by more experienced gamers. The impact can be quite serious. I can't find the article at the moment but it's on there somewhere.

Usually people are behave well enough in real life. I sometimes think that being online brings out the worst in people. Sometimes I think that this actually reflects what people really are if it weren't for social norms that govern behaviour.

Anonymity does that. Anonymity protects people from the consequences of their actions and if people can get away with whatever it is that they are doing or saying, they will.

Such is human nature.

Anyway, I wasn't really planning on writing about this just now actually. It's one of those days when I feel like posting.

I'm still in recovery mode from last week's flu attack. When I'm recovering from illness I often get nostalgic.

I believe that our memories of past experiences impact our present experiences in a really big way. Like right now in my case. I may not enjoy getting ill but recovery from illness always brings a surge of memories and emotions I haven't felt in a long time.

Those memories are good. When I was a kid and through my time in secondary school, a lot of good stuff happened during recovery from illnesses. I'm not sure if I'm just imagining the whole thing or if it's a case of messed up hormones or sheer mad coincidences but I remember a lot of happy times coinciding with being sick.

Me remembering happy times. Now that is rare. Suddenly I wish I could go through those times again. Good times they were. Only I would do a few things differently. Maybe then I would be left with a little more than just fleeting memories...

Anyway, I hadn't really planned on writing about this either. It's one of those days.

What I was planning to write about was me contemplating buying a new and bigger hard disk. My current 250Gb hard disk is getting full.

500Gb. Should I?

Colours

At Colours right now. The place isn't bad at all. I remembered last time some of my friends didn't really like it here.

So far so good. Free wi-fi, nice ambience, the menu is ok too.


Feeling much better now. On Thursday I took some flu medication at work. The pills caused drowsiness, making for a rather... "challenging" day at work. At least it worked as advertised.

I was at Zack's house last night to reconfigure his wifi router. Ended up staying until 2 in the morning. There was vodka. And general merrymaking and jokes galore. And many notebooks waiting for the wifi be set up.

Tomorrow I have another computer related errand at the church.

Yep, these days aren't as dull as some other days.

Playing C&C3: Kane's Wrath at the moment. A lot harder than the original C&C3...

Under The Weather

... is what I'm feeling at the moment. Having a bit of a sore throat at the moment. Fortunately, I went to deal with it before it flared up into a full blown flu/fever like it normally does. It's a good thing I'll be taking a day off this week.

Hopefully today will pass by quickly and quietly.

I got C&C 3: Kane's Wrath. I like it. I particularly like the Global Conquest game mode. It's like a C&C game of Risk where you have you bases around the world and build armies and move them around the map to fight the other factions. After setting up the game this mode was the first thing I tried.

The expansion also features many new units which are very cool, like walkers and attack helicopters. There's a lot of other stuff too. I like the new stuff. Unfortunately, the computer likes all the new stuff too. Last night I was playing a battle in Global Conquest and I got creamed by a new Nod faction with all their new toys... That's the other thing, did I suddenly suck more at single player or did the AI get upgraded?

Still, should be a very entertaining diversion while I try to recover from my under-the-weatherness.

There isn't much else going on at the moment apart from this. Oh yes, Dell is finally releasing an affordable 13.3 inch notebook in May, the Dell Vostro 1310. Should be very cool to see.

I Must Blog!

It's been 5 days since my last blog post. A very long time with no new post. I must blog about something.

It's 4 in the morning and now is one of those times I wish this notebook had a back lit keyboard. Rather tricky to be hunting for keys in the dark.

I've been very busy the last few days. Fortunately I've been working day shifts so I'm feeling quite good actually. As busy as it is during the day, I must say I'd rather be busy than be bored. Working at night is very boring and not good for the spirit. At least my spirit anyway. Another colleague prefers to work at night...

On Monday, I went to set up a wifi network and to activate Streamyx at St. Paul's church in Siol Kandis. It was good fun. I enjoyed it, from looking for and buying the stuff to teaching new users
how to use and control the wifi network. How many churches in Kuching have wifi? I should drive around town, park near a church, use my wifi catcher and make a list.

I would have been happy enough to charge for parts only and not charge for labour as some kind of community service but my dad insisted that I charge for service as well so I made a tidy sum from it. It was a good day and I feel pretty good about helping the church. Now if only I could get off my lazy ass on Sundays and actually attend a service every now and then.

Talking about making some money, I've sold my Playstation 2 to a friend of mine. I really didn't want to but the thing was sitting out in the open collecting dust. I thought I better pass it on before the thing spoils due to neglect. I do kinda miss it but I didn't really play it as much as I thought I would. I still miss Gran Turismo 4 though... It's still the best racing sim I've ever played. Too bad it's not available for PC.

I'm also contemplating getting a Playstation 3 in the future, as crazy expensive and heavy as it is. There are two very, very good reasons for it.

First, Gran Turismo 5. Have you seen the screenshots for this beast of a racing game? Mindblowing. Also, 900 cars. Including Ferraris...

Second, Grand Theft Auto IV. It's the closest thing you can get to starring in your own interactive movie.

I'm sure that there will be many very, very good game for PS3 coming out. Things like God of War 3...

Finally before I go back to bed to get some extra sleep, here are some links I discovered recently.

Overheard in Athens, proof that some college students... don't really belong there. Hilarious...

TruTV.com. Streaming reality TV clips. Very interesting. Good for boring nights at work.

Like I said in an earlier post, I'll be going for a bit of a holiday trip in November. Very cheap. You can plan your very own cheap holiday package at AirAsia GoHoliday.

That's it for today. I have to go to work in a few hours and I'm going back to bed.

Pink Your 'Putor..??

Hey, check this out...



There's an entire range of this stuff!




Here's the keyboard to go with your Hello Kitty mouse.




There was also a bunch of Hell Kitty speakers last week . No pics because... there are sold out (!).
Now all we need is a pink Hello Kitty LCD monitor and a pink Hello Kitty casing.

Live Free or Die Hard

Better than the last one. I enjoyed that one too but this one edges it just a little bit.

Meanwhile, am at work and kinda busy. Nothing important to talk about this week.

There's stuff to do next week. Need to set up wireless network for someone so I'll be out getting quotes for the necessary equipment. This is a good thing. Extra money will be helpful.

I'm playing Tiberium Wars again. In full detail this time. Looks gorgeous with graphics settings set to max and anti aliasing on. My investment in a new graphics card in December is really paying off big time!

I also discovered that my Inspiron 1420 can also play some games I thought it wouldn't be able to handle. Like Tiberium Wars, although I need to dial down the graphics settings a bit. Still nice enough to play though so that's fine. I didn't buy the notebook for gaming anyway...

The Pikom PC fair is this week. Unfortunately, I can't go because of work.. No big deal I guess, I have enough computer stuff at the moment and I honestly don't know what else to buy.

In conclusion, life is still like that. I'm just going through routine stuff at the moment.

To be honest, I actually felt like writing one of my highly entertaining (or is that highly exasperating?) introspective posts about myself but for the life of me...

... I couldn't think of anything.

Very sorry folks, Riding the Mellow is rather dull these days with its complete lack of drama.

*Sigh*

Not much to talk about except I just found out that I might be very busy with work again...

Not much cause for enthusiasm there. The whole story is a bit longer than that but I don't really want to get into that now.

I just hope the extra money will be worth all the extra work.

It better be. I need to save up for a little trip in November...

Not Very Well

Imagine if you will. You're in bed sleeping quite nicely when suddenly The Muscle Cramp From Hell assails your left leg...

That's what happened to me on Thursday morning.

Normally I wouldn't write about something this mundane. Cramps are normal after all.

Not this one though. It's worse random muscle cramp I've ever had. It hurt like hell. It caused enough muscle damage to make me limp until this evening. It's so bad, I'm feeling kinda feverish right now because of it...

I hope this doesn't mean anything serious. Can't really afford to get sick right now. It really did hurt like hell...

Anyway, next week I'm going to have quite a long break away from work so I'm looking forward to that. My schedule should become more normal after we release our newly arrived and trained colleague "into the wild". Finally, I can get decent amounts of rest again.

I'm listening to SkyFM's 80s' station via my Vista radio gadget and it's awesome (the station I mean). 80s music, ain't nothing like it, before or since. Maybe it's just me and the fact that I spent my formative years in the 80s and 90s, but 80s vintage music has a certain innocence to it somehow. Anyone else feel like that?

I still can't quite comprehend the idea that I will be 35 this year. Honestly, whenever I think about this coming July I almost wish that it won't happen.

So many things I haven't done. So many things that were supposed to happen, hasn't happened yet. So much time wasted over being clinically depressed.

Life certainly turned put like nothing I expected...

Well, time to go back to my non-stop 80s music then...

Check Your Roadtax!

I was out yesterday until late. I did not notice my road tax had expired! Happily enough, there were no road blocks.

So this morning I took by brother's car and went to do pay insurance and road tax.

I'm broke now. The whole thing cost RM650/- plus....

Good thing there were only a few people at the post office.

The post office... Now that's a place I haven't gone to in a long, long time....

In other news, I went to that new Boulevard IT shop in Wisma Saberkas to check out notebook bag packs. I found a nice Belkin one costing around RM150/-. If I wasn't broke, I would've bought it.

Something strange happened while I was there. I found a whole range of pink Hello Kitty stuff. They have a variety Hello Kitty mice and I even found a hot pink Hello Kitty keyboard! There's even a whole shelf of other pink Hello Kitty computing stuff.

I took pictures. And here was the strange thing. All the pictures I took in the shop turned out blank. No image. Just a black square...

It was very strange. For a minute, I thought there might be an anti photography force field in the shop....

I will go back next week and try to take pictures again.

By the way, thumb drives are so damn cheap now. Kingston DataTraveller 2Gb for RM31, 4Gb for RM52 and 8gb for RM105.

Damn...

Windows Live Writer Test

Hello world testing 123. Is this visible?

 

Image insert test...

 

PS. Ok test successful.

Last Night...

... I went to First Family Cafe here in Tabuan to have dinner with my colleague and ended up....


..celebrating someone's birthday. Haha...

See these nice women? I don't know who they are... They were nice though and they really enjoyed themselves. Somehow, I neglected to ask their names...

I don't have any pictures of the birthday girl.

I had a surprisingly good time.

No, we didn't gatecrash. My colleague is a prominent member of a local forum and a lot of his friends showed up. One of the friends dragged us over to the birthday thing. We stayed until nearly midnight. We would have stayed longer if I wasn't working today....

My brother was there too. Obviously he stayed longer.

Anyway, First Family Cafe is quite good. The food was great and the prices are ok. I especially like the local food like pansoh and the bbq meat done in the way people usually do it at home. It's great. It's not halal though as can be expected of a place serving Iban food.

So if anyone is in the area, drop by and check it out. Highly recommended, especially on weekends.

Desktop Gadgetry!

When Windows Vista came out, I scoffed at the Windows Sidebar thingamajig that came with it. I thought it was a completely superfluous waste of space.

I was wrong...

The default gadgets that come at aren't that cool. By default, you get a clock, a picture viewer, CPU/RAM meter (ok, this one is quite nice..) and other stuff like that.

I explored a bit and found some other gadgets that came with Vista. The notes gadget and the calendar gadget aren't so useless to be fair. But nothing too special either.

And then I discovered the Windows Sidebar gallery!

Some of the gadgets available are simply brilliant.

On the left you can see what I have on my Sidebar at the moment.

From the top, I put a battery meter, WiFi meter, the Ministry of Sound internet radio gadget, a dressed up CPU/RAM meter, another internet radio gadget and a digital clock (with date). Ok the clock/date thing isn't very necessary considering that I already have a clock in the task bar.

But it's pretty...

Anyway, the gadgets are very useful and not at all superfluous. I have others that I downloaded but didn't add like the Wiki search and app launcher gadgets.

I haven't finished exploring all the gadgets yet. I'm sure there are other cool ones.

Another interesting thing I found on my new notebook is the MediaDirect feature. It's cool. When you want to do things like watch DVDs or listen to MP3s or make a presentation using Powerpoint or check your contact list you can do so without booting up to Vista. It's a lot quicker to use MediaDirect.

I've configured mine now and it's quite nice. Push the MediaDirect button and the computer will boot up quickly to the MediaDirect screen. From there, you will see a list of things you can do.

Very convenient.

We were playing around with it yesterday and my colleague remarked that the Inspiron really is a notebook especially made for media and entertainment.

He's not wrong.

The next things I want to test are the webcam features like motion activated recording and video chat. I've never done the video chat thing but I hear it's quite interesting...

Yes, I'm pleased with my new toy. So people, if you are hunting for a good value and fun notebook computer, I recommend you consider an Inspiron.

It's very nice...

Inspiron 1420: First Impressions

My new toy finally arrived on Monday afternoon. I'm using it at this very moment.














So how is it? It's excellent. Everything I expected. And more.






I took the brown colour kit considering that it seems to be the least popular option, apparently. You go and try to look for images of the espresso brown Inspiron and you will know what I mean.

Anyways, let me describe what is included in the box. You get the notebook of course, all the drivers, the OS reinstall CD (Vista Home Basic 32 bit), MS Works (which I uninstalled ), Roxio disc burning suite, power adapter, Targus wireless mouse, Creative ear buds (nice!) and owner's manual.

No bag. No problem though, I already have a decent notebook backpack I got as a gift from my employers last year.

The notebook numbers look like the following:

Intel Core 2 Duo T5450 1.66Ghz proc
MS Vista Home Basic
14.1" Truelife display (1280x800)
Espresso Brown colour kit with 2Mp webcam
2Gb RAM
160Gb hard disk
Dual layer DVD writer
Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi catcher
6 cell battery
8-in-1 card reader

The notebook's weight is ok. Slightly heavier than an Acer maybe but not by much. The chassis is magnesium alloy which was news to me because previously Inspirons were usually made of plastic. The one I got is a new redesigned model with rounder edges and slimmer profile. Very nice.

I have one minor annoyance with screen. It's a Truelife shiny screen so it glares and reflects like a SOB in well lit places. Could be a problem with some situations. Having said that, the display viewing angle is quite good so the glare can be dealt with by tilting the screen.

The notebook's performance has been excellent so far. It boots up quick and shuts down quick. It launches everything very quickly as well courtesy of a good, fast CPU and more than enough RAM.

Talking about that, I really don't get why many notebook makers still put MS Vista on machines with only 512Mb of RAM. Vista is a resource beast and will slow to a crawl if you don't have enough RAM. 1Gb is the absolute minimum,

I have 160Gb which is plenty of space. For now...

The thing that really caught me by surprise was the battery life. The notebook comes with a 6-cell battery and on the "Balanced" power management setting it lasts slightly more 3 hours! Yesterday I went to Telang Usan to meet up with someone and I watched videos and played mp3s on it and it lasted over 2 hours before needing to recharge.

It's great. I'm most impressed with this.

I've tested the webcam and it's decent enough I guess. I have no experience using video cameras with computers so I can't really say so much. The camera apparently has motion sensor so it can be used as a motion activated camera. Might be useful.

The card reader works well and so does the Bluetooth module although it seems a little bit slow to me. There are two headphone jacks on the front of the notebook. I like this.

To summarise, the Inspiron 1420 is an excellent product. Good build quality and great value which is quite typical of Dell. I heartily recommend this.

All in all, RM2599 was a really, really good deal for what I got.

For more images of the notebook, please click here.

I'm Bored and Sleepy so...

47 words

Speed test

How fast are you?

Soon....

Soon....

Striking The Hot Iron...

I posted a comment somewhere about how now is the right time for East Malaysians to demand more attention from the Federal government. Sabah and Sarawak BN now form a significant portion of the Parliament.

I fully expected demands for such to surface quickly. I was not wrong.

Here is an article from The Star reproduced in full.

More posts for two states?

By MERGAWATI ZULFAKAR

merga@thestar.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: Sabah and Sarawak, which delivered the bulk of parliamentary seats for a simple majority for Barisan Nasional, may be rewarded with a higher number of ministers in the Cabinet.

A proposal to see a bigger representation from the two states was made at the Umno supreme council here on Monday and agreed by some of the council members.

Sarawak single-handedly delivered the highest number of seats for Barisan, winning 30 out of the 31 parliamentary seats while Sabah won 24 out of the 25 seats.

Umno sources said the council felt that the two states had performed well and there was a suggestion at the meeting that four MPs from each state should be made ministers.

Sabah had three Cabinet members in the last Cabinet, Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili and Tan Sri Bernard Dompok who served as Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department and Datuk Shafie Apdal who was the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister.

Sarawak only had two representatives. They are Datuk Seri Effendi Norwawi who served as Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department and Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui.

Johor, which won the second highest number of parliamentary seats, 25, had seven ministers in the last Cabinet.

Sources said that the Cabinet to be formed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi would probably be smaller.

At present there are 32 Cabinet members including the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister.

“In 2004 we had 199 MPs and now we have only 140. It is not necessary to have a bigger Cabinet.

“If the Cabinet size remains the same, then we are going to have even fewer backbenchers in Parliament,” said a council member.

Will this be good for the whole state or only good for certain people? If PBB and co know what's good for them, they need to do the right thing. The time is now.

I want more from the Federal government and I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way.

Here's another article in the Borneo Post about the same thing.

Annoyed...

Comment I left at Kennysia.

"Zam is a bitch and he deserved to be thrown in the gutter.

I'm pleased for this result. Let this be a warning to all the BN survivors especially our home MPs.

Now let me get something off my chest.

I'm sick & tired of listening to leftists noobs and wannabes calling Sarawakian and Sabahan voters stupid lah, blind lah, naive lah... Stop it la. This kind of crap only reinforces my feeling that orang Malaya don't have any idea what our political scenario is like...

Firstly, if people want us to vote for opposition insulting us isn't going to help. Funny isn't it, many opposition supporters feel insulted when government called them names and yet here they are doing exactly the same thing and calling BN voters names...

The average Sarawakian voter for the most part have no reason to vote their SPDP/PRS/PBB/SUPP MP out. To them, their MPs have done well enough at the Federal level.

The issues that riled up so many voters in Semenanjung don't have the same kind of effect here. To your average Joe Sarawakian, Hindraf, Bersih, racial tensions, all those things are Semenanjung problem. All alien. It sounds wrong but that's the truth. You go to places like Serian and Lundu and Sri Aman etc and you go ask what people feel.

Not that they don't care but for most part our own MPs aren't directly involved in these screw ups. The effects aren't felt here at all to be honest.

Another reason is the near total lack of a coherent opposition except for DAP in urban areas. PKR here is mostly seen as an outsider trying to force itself on Sarawakians. What they need is strong local leadership who bring up issues that affect Sarawakians and not some generic thing about change like what they did here in Petra Jaya. That's not good enough to swing voters.What we need is strong, home grown opposition.

Sarawakian political scenario is different. The average Sarawakian voter is different. The opposition needs to tackle us in a different way.

Our issues are different, mostly land issues and things like nepotism and lack of transparency as well as national issues like prices of goods and fuel. These are mainly state government issues. The time and place to vent isn't now. Let's wait for the State elections for that.

The main culprits at Federal level are MCA/MIC/UMNO. None of these parties contest here so no swinging angry backlash. Therefore BN wins, except in Kuching which is cool. Congrats to Chong, DAP Sarawak and supporters. KUTGW.

Let me say something else. When the results started coming, I smiled. I smell opportunity for Sarawak in Parliament. Sarawak BN now have 30 MPs coming. BN has 130+ seats. Sarawak BN now make up a quarter of that. Plus MPs from Sabah East Malaysia suddenly has half the hall to ourselves.

You know what that means? That means that we can be more demanding of the central government. We can ask for more and they will be less UMNO members around telling our MPs to wait and wait and wait... Now Sarawak has more power at Federal level. What will happen? Wait and see...

I'm going to meet with my PRS friend and make some recommendations. Maybe we can turn the current situation to our advantage and squeeze the Malaya BN.

So friends, strangers, I know this is quite a euphoric time for many of us. But please, the next time you feel like accusing Sarawakians of being blind and stupid, think first and ask WHY we did what we did..."

To all opposition supporters, I'm pleased for you all and the election results. But let me give you a tip. If you want Sarawakians to join the band wagon, please refrain from calling us stupid for returning BN to power. We have our own reasons for that. More accurately, we didn't have any real reason to vote our BN MPs out.

Continue to call us stupid and rest assured, we will continue NOT to support you in the next elections.

PS: The post was about the blogger hating, stuttering (former) Minister of PropagandaDisinformation Information losing . This result was the second best thing about the elections behind our favourite Indian dinosour Semi Value losing in Sg. Siput.

Viva le unemployed-female-bloggers-who-are-agents-of-Jews/US/Israel-who-apparently-earn- 100k-a-month.

Will You Listen Now?

The verdict is out. The people have spoken. They will no longer tolerate bullshit. You can no longer push them around.

So now will you change? Will you still tell people to shut up when they complain? Will you still accuse people of disloyalty when they disagree with you?

When people ask you why will you tell them now instead of telling them not to ask?

Will you finally respect when respect is due? Do you get it that intimidation and veiled threats no longer work?

Will you still treat us like idiots? Do you still think we're deaf, blind and dumb?

BN has paid the price for arrogance and over confidence. I say they deserve it.

So how about here at home. I know many people in BN. Most of them are sincere and hardworking. Some... are not.

Let this be a sign. A warning if you will. Tread carefully else the same thing will happen here.

Are you listening?

Notebook

Anyone who's been hanging out with me for the last few months would know that I've been talking incessantly about getting a new notebook for myself.

Well, guess what. I finally went and did it this evening.

I got me a Dell Inspiron 1420.

I've been stalking notebooks almost daily for the last 2 weeks in view of buying one. The stack of pamphlets and quotes in my room will attest to that.

I checked out everything I could find. Acer, Lenovo, HP Compaq, Fujitsu, Asus, NEC, BenQ, everything.

I almost, almost bought a HP Compaq V3000 series notebook just a few days ago. Very competitive spec. AMD Turion X2 CPU, 1Gb RAM, 250gb hard disk, RM2599. I very nearly got it. In fact the only thing that stopped me was the short installment period. I didn't feel like paying 200 plus a month. Of course, I could just charge it to my card but something didn't feel right... So I left the shop with just some quotes and brochures.

Just as well, because I show up for work on Thursday evening and what do I see? A new HP Compaq V3000 series notebook...

Don't know about everyone else but I don't fancy owning something I have at work.

The chances of getting a good deal on a notebook were looking rather slim. I didn't fancy anything else because the specs weren't very hot and the prices were a little too high for most part.

Even from Dell. Dell's been rather poor the last few weeks. Every day I visit Dell.com.my and nothing really good. None at all.

Until this evening.

I was talking to my colleague about the elections when he idly punched up the Dell website. What we both saw was so compelling I went ahead and ordered one.

Here's what I'll be getting for RM2599.

Intel Core 2 Duo T5450 1.66Ghz proc
MS Vista Home Basic
14.1" Truelife display (1280x800)
Espresso Brown colour kit with 2Mp webcam (no extra charge)
2Gb RAM (free upgrade from 1Gb)
160Gb hard disk (free upgrade from 120Gb)
Dual layer DVD writer (free upgrade from DVD\CD-RW combo drive)
Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi catcher
6 cell battery
8-in-1 card reader
Targus wireless mouse (free!)
Earbuds (free!)
Free delivery

I wanted to get one in red but Gette has a red 1420 already... Yellow and white are nice too but yellow looks like Asus and white looks like MacBook. Pink? Too feminine... Ditto for apple green. Blue was kinda blah. And black is also blah plus it's a finger print magnet.

So brown I went.

Notice the amount of free stuff? This notebook is easily worth RM2800++ if I had to pay for all the extras. Ok to be honest I don't care so much for the mouse and earbuds but the RAM and hard disk upgrade alone is worth a boatload of cash.

So there it is. Pending payment confirmation and assembly I expect to have this by the later half of next week. Expect pics and review.

What do you think? Sweet deal eh. Want one too? Better hurry.

Offer expires on Monday...

Cross Posting

Wow. I never knew you could cross post between Blogger and Multiply. And the import from Blogger function needs a select/deselect all button...

Yeah, I just imported a blogger entry.

I think the cross posting feature is very cool....

*Unfortunately, I've discovered that I can't import post labels.... Boo hoo..

No Internets Makes Me a Sad Panda....

... and long cable is looooong. And broken in the middle. That my viewers is the source of my internet woes the last few days. Apparently, my dad discovered the break this morning. There's this long telephone cable running into the house from the outside and that cable was broken. So no internet.

I was at Starbucks last night but there was no internet there either. The airport Starbucks got extended. It's quite nice.

I need to post this home because later this evening I'll be playing instructor at work with the new boy. So no time to blog probably.

Tis the election season and this time around, I'm actually a registered voter. Unfortunately I won't be able to go and cast on the day because of work. No big lost though, in my area (Petra Jaya) I got no complaints against our PBB reps and PKR has next to nothing going for them. My other friends are quite busy the last week helping out with campaigning activities.

If I were to vote I would in all likelihood vote for Fadillah. Why not? He's done nothing wrong and everything is running in my area. He hasn't said anything racist or sexist. He doesn't strike me as being a bigoted moron. So no problem.

I don't agree with what the government say. I DO look at the candidate. I WILL NOT support a moron or a bigot or a religious extremist or a racist regardless of what party they represent. If people remember what happened this last few years there are a LOT of those types in government.

PKR? I feel sorry for them but there you go. Anyway, it's always been my opinion that people in rural and semi rural constituencies need to vote for BN. They need to. BN has the money and plans for development. There's still too many people struggling to make a living outside of our towns and cities. They need help.

As usual the battles will be in the urban areas. I hope DAP will be able to at least maintain their presence. I don't trust DAP fully but I do sympathise with some of their views and as far as I'm concerned they are the only viable opposition party in the country. The others? Not so much.

The BN government will probably win again but I hope their majorities will be reduced. Like it or not, they need to see that they did mess up a lot of times the last term and they need to see that they have to improve.

For one thing, I find some of the things going on during this campaigning period very annoying as usual. Like personal attacks. And how some voter concerns are apparently "petty" and "unimportant". No sirs, no such thing as petty concerns when you talk to voters.

Are my concerns petty? Am I being "disloyal" and "ungrateful" when I laugh at and get pissed off that some of the things our MPs say and do?

I want more transparency. I want reps who won't act like morons. I want more liberal policies for media and culture. I want something to be done about the Arabisation that's slowly creeping into our way of life (thankfully this phenomenon isn't very prevalent here in Sarawak. Yet.) I want less of the immature sniping and trash talking between politicians. I want the PSD to STOP using quotas when hiring people. If there are little napoleons who get in the way of the selection process and still hire people based on their race/religion, I want these people sacked. Not transfered. I want the government to not just ask people not be pissed off with them but actually go down and find out WHY they are upset and do something about it. I want a more efficient and better educated Police Service.

Petty?

My final comment is about opposition's claims about lowering prices of fuel and goods. Gimme a break eh? It's impossible to go against market forces. Not without wasting anymore tax money on subsidies. So no, I don't think they can pull it off if they form the government.

That's all I got to say about politics at the moment.

Finally to make up for the long delay between posts and to lighten this one, I bring you a video review of the amazing Polystation 3!!!



Have a nice day.

Candy..

I miss them...

I'm happy to note that they didn't really break up after all...




Hopefully they come back soon. Rumour has it that they have new material...



If this is part of that new material, I'll pay money for it.