A Lot about Nothing - Pisal's Blog

Too much Tea can make you Sick

2009-01-07T20:06:00.002+07:00

When I was sick, I used to drink lots of hot tea. Tea is a good drink as it is soothing and hot. That combination really alleviates all the symptoms related with sickness.

Yesterday, I was somewhat sick. However after drinking litres of tea, I felt great, and even in the evening, I was strong and confident enough to get out of home and hit a few golf balls. However after that, I had trouble sleeping. Too much tea = too much caffeine - which in turn made it difficult for me to sleep. At the end, I didn't catch a wink, and got sick again in the morning.

Careful, and don't end up sick like me by trying to get to smart for his own good.

Which Tarot Card are you?

2009-01-04T20:18:00.000+07:00

Just did this for fun. You might enjoy it also!

You are The Chariot

Triumph, Victory, Overcoming Obstacles.

The chariot is one of the most complex cards to define. On its most basic level, it implies war, a struggle, and an eventual, hard-won victory. Either over enemies, obstacles, nature, the beasts inside you, or to just get what you want. But there is a great deal more to it. The charioteer wears emblems of the sun, yet the sign behind this card is the moon. The chariot is all about motion, and yet it is often shown as stationary. It is a union of opposites, like the black and white steeds. They pull in different directions, but must be (and can be!) made to go together in one direction. Control is required over opposing emotions, wants, needs, people, circumstances; bring them together and give them a single direction, your direction. Confidence is also needed and, most especially, motivation. The card can, in fact, indicate new motivation or inspiration, which gets a stagnant situation moving again.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Need to Get GTR-Evolution

2008-12-30T23:14:00.002+07:00

Just found out that in the new edition of GTR-Evolution, I'm actually one in the roster of drivers in the game :P

In the GP Club class, I'm in one of the teams. The details are as follows:

Car Model: Gillet Vertigo Streiff
Class: GT Club
Number: 101
Team: Sebastian Schillag & Pisal Setthawong
Sponsor: Ecurie Gillet

Now I just have to find a place that retails that game. Got to get to the licensed PC gameshop at Mahboonkrong. Hopefully they would have a copy of the game :P

Safe Internet on Public Terminals

2008-12-28T15:32:00.002+07:00

Using public computers is a risky endeavor, and there are certainly numerous ways that you can easily get hacked. That is especially risky if you are logging to accounts that deal with money (e.g. credit card transaction and etc), in which you can easily get into alot of trouble.

Due to that, I would like to write just a few short tips that might help keep you save if you are planning to use the Internet on Public Terminals. I'll try to keep the guidelines short and easy :P

1) Don't use public terminals when on the go!
If it isn't necessary don't use public terminals if possible. If you don't expose yourself, you won't get into trouble. However this isn't quite possible is it?

2) Access only low priority accounts
If you really need to access your accounts on public terminals, it is also a good idea to access low priority accounts. In other words, access emails that are not critical to you. Don't access your bank online from public terminals! That is certainly a really dangerous thing to do.

3) Logout and Delete all Cookies and Caches from Your Browser after Finishing Usage
This is one method that has been highly touted as a way to keep yourself especially safe when you are logging into a public termainal. Though this method can prevent most kinds of unauthorized access to your site, certain programs embedded in public computers by hackers such as keyboard loggers can easily figure your account and password easily. Due to this, there is another precaution that could help.

4) Copy and Paste Passwords Letter by Letter
Here is one under-utilized technique that can easily prevent keyboard loggers from finding your account and password. Try opening up a random website and copy letters from the webpage to fill up your account and password when you want to log into any of your account. This can prevent simple keyboard loggers from knowning your password as all it can see is a series of copy and pastes without the letters saved.

These techniques discussed here is just a simple rudimentary way to protecting yourself when using Internet on public terminals. It still can't prevent from advanced forms of hacking from the most dedicated hackers, but at least it is a quick guideline to keep yourself safe. On a short note, this doesn't cover the proces of selecting good passwords or segregating your accounts to limit damage when a hack has occured :P

Unexpected Hero

2008-12-05T19:47:00.003+07:00

Getting to my work place is quite a long transit. First of all I have to get from my home to the bus stop which is a 5 minute walk. The next step is to take a 20 Km trip accross the city on an express bus. This part of the journey is deceptionally fast, as going on the expressway literally on the opposite way of where must the traffic are, the trip takes usually only half an hour which is a short time compared to all the inner city traffic jam. After debarking from the bus, I have to cross the bridge, and walk another short transit to a shuttle bus (the red pickups) before I could reach my work place. This process usually takes me about an hour to complete a single trip.

In most of the cases, the trip here are usually uneventful. However a few days back, things weren't as simple as it turned out. As I got off the express bus, there were a few people that usually use the same route as I do. On this day, things were mostly the same, except that during my walk from the busstop to the shuttle bus - which was about 500 meters, I met this man that was dressed in short jeans, and a red shirt that didn't cover the waist. As seeing a somewhat odd fellow, my usual reaction is to take a long route around the person. As I was walking past him, he was muttering all sort of non-sense - in which I ignored, knowing that it is best to avoid these types of people. However as I walked past him, I heard a scream, and a young lady (probably a student in one of the schools close by) ran past me, and grabbed my hand, and told me that she was harassed. As I turned back, I could see that I was in between the crazy person I mentioned earlier and she was behind my back. As I looked at him and sized up, I could see he was mutting all sort of nonsense before turning sideways and shouting at a telephone booth. A few seconds later he walked back and shooted at a trashcan. As seeing he wasn't quite interest in us anymore, we decided to walk off.

As we briskly walked on, the young lady gave a call and quickly hopped on the cab while I continued my transit.

Afer all that has happened and as it sunk into me, I couldn't help by wonder how things could have been very very different. As in this case, I was lucky, as I was only confronted by a crazy person which in most cases were quite harmless. If the person was a stalker or a sick individual, I deduced that I might have been in serious trouble (e.g. been stabbed or stalked for helping another person out). The worst part about it is that in this case, I wasn't given the ability to choose whether to help or not. No matter the case, at the end of the day, I'm just glad everything turned out not too bad... At least I'm still around to tell this tale...

Blazing Red DS

2008-11-20T21:17:00.004+07:00

The Nintendo DS Lite is probably one of the least sturdy portable game machines in the market. I broke my DS a few months ago after too many violet gaming sessions. The hinges between the top and bottom part of the DS just broke into two.

After trying to play the DS for a while by supporting the hinges with one of my hand, I decided I should get it repaired. I just got it back today, and now my DS is blazing RED! Hopefully it is faster by 3 times :P

Classical Music Etiquette for Dummies

2008-11-18T23:29:00.004+07:00

As being in many classical music concerts, I somewhat get irritated when seeing a few members in the audience who haven't followed proper etiquette during the concert. Thinking about it, I thought it might be a good time to write a few things I've learnt over the years in simple words :P

1) Turn off your mobile phones (easy, but why can't people do it?)
2) Don't talk during the performance.
3) Don't applaud until the whole house does (so that you don't have to know the difference between movement and pieces)
4) Wear warm clothes (As most concert halls are cold this is recommended)
5) Don't make too much noise (e.g. eating)

Hmm.. well I hope I didn't forget to mention, enjoy the performance :P

Too Dedicated

2008-11-17T15:04:00.002+07:00

I have a slight problem that I think that I need to fix. I have this nasty habit of working extremely hard in binges. When the going gets tough, and things need to get done, I find it very gratifying to roll up the sleeves of my shirt and press through the project until it is done with little regard of things around me. The problem is after being so dedicated to work, it is easy to get burnt out. After finishing work under such circumstances, somehow I like to revert to sleeping binges - in other words sleeping too much, before trying to get myself entertained - in some times, gaming binges that aren't that good for the health. It isn't easy to find an equilibrium where things don't get too crazy on one aspect of life, but at least I know I have to try and start sometime.

Maybe I'll start by sleeping early today :P

Gambling for Fun

2008-11-10T18:52:00.003+07:00

A few days ago, I went to Vik's home for a party. Vikram and his extended family has just finished building their 8 story building that houses their family and relatives, and he wanted to invite a few close friends over to celebrate the occasion. Our group that went there were people who played sports together - namely we are on the same basketball league on Wednesday evenings.

During the party, we happen to meet up with Sumitr, Vik's elder brother who was a classmate of mines. What ended up was that we had a gambling game for laughs, each game was 10 baht which was a puny sum. After nearly 3 hours of playing, I ended up gaining nothing and losing nothing.

The point that I want to raise is that gambling isn't bad if you know how to control yourself. It is also pretty fun! For those who think they don't have the luck in these games, try to take classes on statistics. I will really help you out well here making you more aware of decisions you have to make. To be exact, I got much better in statistics when computing all the odds of popular games in the casino :P

Wired for Speech

2008-11-08T22:31:00.002+07:00

I've just borrowed a very interesting book a few days back called "Wired for Speech - How Voice Activates and Advances the Human-Computer Relationships" by Clifford Nass and Scott Brave. This book basically explores how people react to voices both real and virtual people in different social circumstances. Though the book touches mainly on human/computer interaction, it does raises alot of ingrained social prejudice that is prevalent amoung lots of humans.

One of the issues that it raised was that people are generally quite evident on racial characteristics. If you have a face like a eastern asian, and have a western voice, it makes people view you in confused manner - as the conflict between the expected accent based on the facial features and the accent to be completely different. This can invoke either a suspicious, curious, or a bewildered response based on typical human behavior. Talking about it, I've noticed I belong to this category. Kind of interesting, I have to agree.

Mobile Phones?

2008-11-05T13:06:00.004+07:00

I've just bought a new mobile phone a few weeks back. The reason for that was that my old phone, a 5 year old NGage was broken after all the years of abuse. The new phone I got was a lowend stupid mobile phone. After using the mobile phone for a while, I ended up using only the voice mail services and I can't figure a reason why I should spend more money on a gadget that I hardly use any specific features. Mobile Phones are awful platform for games. That is where a Sony PSP or a Nintendo DS come in. It is also awful for music and MP3 as there are many different MP3 players that can do the job way better. Internet browsing is kind of overated, as why would I want to browse the internet in such small resolution, and have trouble with the input (unless I really buy hi-end mobile phones).

It might sound very unfashionable, but I essentially downgraded my mobile phone. On an interesting scan, even market vendors have better mobile phones than I do :P

I'm not much into fashion, so I guess it isn't a big deal.

Anyway before I end it, I would like to say that the biggest reason for buying a cheap phone is that I'm kind of a heavy handed person. One of the huge worry is repair cost. In my case, I don't have to worry a single bit :P

Games I'm playing at the Moment

2008-11-05T00:04:00.002+07:00

Games that I'm playing at the moment are Starcraft and Company of Hero. Just got back to retro gaming with starcraft as a hobby in our company. The other game I play alot is Company of Hero, which I personally think is one of the interesting and new RTS in the market :) If you happen to stumble here and want to play a few games, poke here, and we can have a quick friendly match :P

Inspiration

2008-11-04T20:12:00.001+07:00

I wonder if there is can inspiration to eat. I'm seriously lacking it at this moment. I guess too much work is causing a drop in inspiration level. Must do something...

Daily Spending - March 25-26, 2008

2008-03-26T22:36:00.004+07:00

March 25, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 270 baht
- Fish Platter for Two (250 baht)
- Water (20 Baht)

Dinner - 82 baht
- Stew Pork on Rice (30 baht)
- Coke (14 baht)
- Ginger Ale (14 baht)
- Wafer (12 x 2 = 24 baht)

Traveling Fee - 7 baht
- Bus Fee (7 baht)

Total Spending: 359 baht

March 26, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 42 baht
- Assortment of food on rice (32 baht)
- Coke and Ice (10 Baht)

Dinner - 64 baht
- CheeseBurger (35 baht)
- Water (9 baht)
- Pocky (20 baht)

Other Expenses - 50 baht
- Coke (14 baht)
- Ice Tea (14 baht)
- Chocolate (22 baht)

Traveling Fee - 44 baht
- Taxi (25 baht)
- Bus (12 + 7 = 19 baht)

Total Spending: 200 baht

On Wednesday, I was at my workplace auditing my advisee's senior project. It turns out that they have done their project pretty well, and the committee members have recommended that I did a rather good job with them. After the event, I had a short discussion in the cafeteria with a few collegues. The group that we had lunch were the group that are working on their PhD studies. One of them is working on the final defense, another is working on their proposal, and for myself, I've just started out. Hmm... in a few years when I'll be back there should be a glut of overqualified people here :P

Daily Spending - March 23-24, 2008

2008-03-25T16:33:00.003+07:00

March 24, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 50 baht
- Mango and Rice (40 baht)
- Grape Juice (10 Baht)

Dinner - 142 baht
- Ate at Home

Other Expenses - 36 baht
- Coke (14 baht)
- Chocolate (22 baht)

Traveling Fee - 60 baht
- Tollway Fees (60 baht)

Total Spending: 288 baht

March 23, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 39 baht
- Pork Leg and Rice (30 baht)
- Coke and Ice (9 Baht)

Dinner - 142 baht
- Stuffed Pork Steak (87 baht)
- Curry Sausages (35 baht)
- Coke (20 baht)

Other Expenses - 36 baht
- Apple Juice (40 baht)
- Corn Flakes (32 x 3 = 96 baht)

Traveling Fee - 57 baht
- Taxi (50 baht)
- Bus (7 baht)

Total Spending: 253 baht

On Monday, my students went to receive a trophy from their winning entry at the National Software Contest. Otherwise, things are hectic, and I'll talk about it soon.

Daily Spending - March 22, 2008

2008-03-23T10:37:00.002+07:00

March 22, 2008

Breakfast - 14 baht
- Ice Tea (14 baht)

Lunch - 240 baht
- Chokchai Burger Set and etc (240 baht)

Dinner - 120 baht
- Club Sandwich (100 baht)
- Water (20 baht)

Snacks - 36 baht
- Chocolate (22 baht)
- Coke (14 baht)

Traveling Fee - 98.5 baht
- Van (25 baht)
- Taxi (20+25 baht)
- Bus (20 + 8.5 baht)

Total Spending: 508.5 baht

Today I went to Mark's house around the Rangsit area because I asked him to compose a few new tracks for the latest game I'm working on. In addition to that, I've brought Keang along because Mark was also interested in releasing a vocal album sometime in the future and in interested in finding vocals. Keang is in this group of indie artist called Lazy Monkey, in which they have a number of lyric composers and potentially could be a good match.

Things gone well, but it seems that all of us really had hectic schedules, and that was the bad point in the rather interesting day. Having to worry about other things unrelated with the day's proceeding is really a chore.

Daily Spending - March 20-21, 2008

2008-03-22T11:50:00.002+07:00

March 21, 2008

Breakfast - 35 baht
- Ice Tea (10 baht)
- Rad Na (25 baht)

Lunch - 76 baht
- Assortment of stuff

Dinner - 209 baht
- Pizza (170 baht)
- Drinks (13 x 3 = 39 baht)

Snacks - 31 baht
- Mars (22 baht)
- Water (9 baht)

Traveling Fee - 52 baht
- Bus (20 + 20 baht)
- Transit Bus (6 + 6 baht)

Other Expense (120 baht)
- Medical Checkup (120 baht)

Total Spending: 522 baht

March 20, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 40 baht
- Larp and Mama (30 baht)
- Coke (10 baht)

Dinner - 100 baht
- Spagetthi, Sausage Set (85 baht)
- Water (15 baht)

Traveling Fee - 62 baht
- Bus (20 + 20 + 10 baht)
- Transit Bus (6 + 6 baht)

Other Expense (500 baht)
- Registration Fees (500 baht)

Total Spending: 702 baht

I'm just got accept into the PhD program a day back. It was kind of a surreal experience since all of the deans and associate deans were at the interview session which was more like a research propopsal session. Things got out well.

Daily Spending - March 18, 2008

2008-03-19T23:39:00.001+07:00

March 18, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 300 Baht
- Ate Indian Food

Dinner - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Snacks - 14 baht
- Rootbear (14 baht)

Traveling Fee - 18 baht
- Bus (7 + 11 baht)

Total Spending: 332 baht

Ate an Indian food buffet today. Pretty interesting. I know that I like roti with any type of curry. That is basically all I ate :P

Daily Spending March 17, 2008

2008-03-17T17:31:00.005+07:00

March 17, 2008

Breakfast - 35 baht
- Grilled Meat (20 baht)
- Rice (5 baht)
- Ovaltine (15 baht)

Lunch - 0 Baht
- Was Treated

Dinner - 44 baht
- PadThai (30 baht)
- Coke (14 baht)

Snacks - 14 baht
- Rootbear (14 baht)

Traveling Fee - 330 baht
- Taxi (70 baht + 260 baht)

Total Spending: 423 baht

Had alot of traveling to do today. All I can say is that if you know the best route to a place, you'll save alot of time and money.

Daily Spending - March 15-16, 2008

2008-03-16T20:51:00.003+07:00

March 16, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 40 Baht
- Pork Leg and Rice (30 baht)
- Coke (10 baht)

Dinner - 120 baht
- Assortment of Dimsum and Drinks (120 baht)

Other Expense (64 baht)
- Gift (64 baht)

Traveling Fee - 50 baht
- Taxi Fee (30 + 20 baht)

Total Spending: 274 baht

March 15, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 50 Baht
- Noodles and Drinks

Dinner - 200 baht
- Buffet Dinner (200 baht)

Snacks - 66 baht
- Coke (30 baht)
- Pocky (20 baht)
- Crackers (16 baht)

Transportation Fee - 11 baht
- Bus (11 baht)

Total Spending: 327 baht

In Sunday's football match, I was moved from my usual GK position into an outfield player. I played left back all the game. During the first half, I had trouble in my clearance at times as I didn't play in field for years. Anyway, in the second half I did much better, and managed to cover the back area quite well, moving into the sweeper position at times. Our team won 5-0 at the end, and that was a pleasant surprise.

Random Thoughts

2008-03-14T22:23:00.003+07:00

It saddens me that many people will give up immediately after facing any obstacles.

Where did the will to fight suddenly gone?

Daily Spending - March 14, 2008

2008-03-13T23:51:00.004+07:00

March 14, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 0 Baht
- Ate at Home

Dinner - 234 baht
- Subway Footlong Sandwich (219 baht)
- Water (15 baht)

Total Spending: 234 baht

Went to the Furniture and HomePro fair at Impact Arena today. Pretty big furniture fair, and had a few great offers that I've got back home to ponder about.

I Close My Eyes - Peanut Whalum

2008-03-12T20:56:00.001+07:00

Beautiful tune from a legend that many people would have probably never heard of:

Daily Spending - March 12, 2008

2008-03-12T10:49:00.004+07:00

March 12, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 35 baht
- Chicken Rice (25 baht)
- Coke (10 baht)

Dinner - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Snacks - 14 baht
- Ice Tea (14 baht)

Transportation Fee - 218 baht
- Bus (18 baht)
- Sky Train Refill (200 baht)

Other Expenses - 11 baht
- Tape (11 baht)

Total Spending: 278 baht

Busy with work today. Lots of document work to finish. Hmm... not much to say as I'm dreadfully tired :P

Daily Spending - March 10, 2008

2008-03-10T19:40:00.004+07:00

March 10, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 70 baht
- Lots of Somtam and etc.

Dinner - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Snacks - 36 baht
- Coke (14 baht)
- Chocolate (22 baht)

Total Spending: 106 baht

I'm having trouble sleeping lately. I suspect the cause is due to irregular sleeping hours due to me trying to finish a few projects. I am deciding whether it is better to rush the project to finish it asap(I'm a few weeks before schedule), or should I take my time, and do it based on the timeline.

Daily Spending - March 9, 2008

2008-03-09T20:52:00.004+07:00

March 9, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 0 baht
- Was treated to Steak

Dinner - 200 baht
- Chinese Food (200 baht)

Snacks - 50 baht
- Coke x 2 (28 baht)
- Chocolate (22 baht)

Other Spending - 770 baht
- CD (770 baht)

Total Spending: 1020 baht

Today I've bought two CDs. The first one was The Best and More II - Masato Honda and the second was Hugh Peanuts Whalum. First of all, Masato Honda is my favorite EWI/Saxophone player, so I pretty much buy every of his record - which is quite rare here in Bangkok. The second CD is some pretty old school jazz legend. I took a listen and I just love the soft mellow sound of old school ballads. Add that with Kirk Whalum's saxophone, I think it is pretty worth the cost.

Gah, I could have lived off a whole week if I didn't buy that record :P

Daily Spending - March 8, 2008

2008-03-09T16:37:00.004+07:00

March 8, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 34 baht
- Pork Leg and Rice (25 baht)
- Pepsi (9 baht)

Dinner - 0 baht
- Ate with parent

Snacks - 71 baht
- Orange Juice (35 baht)
- Coke (14 baht)
- Chocolate (22 baht)

Total Spending: 105 baht

Today was a pretty typical day. In the evening, I went out with my parents to eat at a shop call Manhattan Fish Market at Central World Plaza. I found out soon that I've eaten the franchise that was in Singapore already. Good point is that my parents like it, and I have to tell you that my mother is pretty difficult to please regarding food issues :P

Daily Spending - March 7, 2008

2008-03-07T23:09:00.002+07:00

March 7, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 60 baht
- Red Pork and Rice (30 baht)
- Pork Dumpling (20 baht)
- Pepsi (10 baht)

Dinner - 200 baht
- Pizza and etc (200 baht)

Snacks - 59 baht
- Icecream (22 baht)
- Ice Tea (14 baht)
- Orange Juice (11 baht)
- Biscuits (12 baht)

Total Spending: 319 baht

Got a spliting headache today. Other than that, had a business meeting this evening at my home and things went along well. Paid for dinner. The price was calculated and agreed on, and we just need to follow up on the details.

Daily Spending - March 6, 2008

2008-03-07T20:26:00.004+07:00

March 6, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 45 baht
- Noodles (25 baht)
- Pork Crepe (10 baht)
- Coke (10 portal)

Dinner - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Snacks - 39 baht
- Coke (14 baht)
- Water (9 baht)
- Orange Juice (11 baht)
- Biscuits (5 baht)

Total Spending: 84 baht

Been working at home today. Nothing much to say, but things are turning out well. I should have been a few weeks before schedule.

Daily Spending - March 5, 2008

2008-03-05T22:29:00.003+07:00

March 5, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 35 baht
- Chicken and Rice(25 baht)
- Coke (10 baht)

Dinner - 31 baht
- Assortment of Food on Rice (30 baht)
- Water (1 baht)

Transportation Fee - 34 baht
- Taxi (20 baht)
- Bus (14 baht)

Snacks - 33 baht
- Coke (14 baht)
- Water (9 baht)
- Juice (10 baht)

Total Spending: 133 baht

Nothing much today. Taxi is pretty cheap if you get many people to divide the cost. Otherwise, I'm trying to drink more water than soft drinks. It isn't easy for me considering I need sugar to get in the right state of mind, but I'm trying to.

Daily Spending - March 4, 2008

2008-03-05T13:09:00.002+07:00

March 4, 2008

Breakfast - 41 baht
- Chicken and Rice (30 baht)
- Ice tea (11 baht)

Lunch - 70 baht
- Pork Leg and Rice (25 baht)
- Pork Leg on Noodles (25 baht)
- Ice tea (10 baht)
- Water (10 baht)

Dinner - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Transportation Fee - 118 baht
- Taxi (100 baht)
- Bus (18 baht)

Snacks - 56 baht
- Coke x 2 (28 baht)
- Chocolate (6 baht)
- Mars Chocolate (22 baht)

Total Spending: 285 baht

This was a busy day. I had to go to a number of different banks to get my money in my different accounts shuffled around. My collegue telephoned to tell me today that our new contract would be signed next week, and we would be getting the first few parts of the contract very soon :)

Daily Spending - March 3, 2008

2008-03-03T21:04:00.002+07:00

March 3, 2008

Breakfast - 41 baht
- Chicken and Rice (30 baht)
- Ice tea (11 baht)

Lunch - 44 baht
- Roast Pork (30 baht)
- Coke (14 baht)

Dinner - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Transportation Fee - 119 baht
- Taxi (101 baht)
- Bus (18 baht)

Total Spending: 204 baht

Daily Spending - February 28-29, 2008

2008-02-29T18:28:00.003+07:00

February 28, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Dinner - 68 baht
- Pad Thai (30 baht)
- Pocky (10 baht)
- Ginger Ale (14 baht)
- Root Beer (14 baht)

Snacks - 35 baht
- Orange Juice - (35 baht)

Transportation Fee - 200 baht
- Train Refill (200 baht)

Total Spending: 303 baht

February 29, 2008

Breakfast - 41 baht
- Chicken on Rice (30 baht)
- Ice Tea (11 baht)

Lunch - 30 baht
- Roast Pork on Rice (30 baht)

Dinner - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Snacks - 11 baht
- Grape Juice (11 baht)

Transportation Fee - 118 baht
- Taxi (100 baht)
- Bus (18 baht)

Total Spending: 191 baht

Hmm... I have an interview to take tommorrow, but on a curious note, they posted it was delayed. Hmm... Now when would that be?

Daily Spending - February 27, 2008

2008-02-28T11:41:00.002+07:00

February 27, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Dinner - 0 baht
- Ate at Home

Snacks - 48 baht
- Noodles in Gravy Sauce(25 baht)
- Pepsi (17 baht)
- Chocolate (6 baht)

Total Spending: 48 baht

Was working at home all day long. Was a rather boring day. On a short note, BattleField Earth wasn't that bad...

Daily Spending - February 26, 2008

2008-02-27T17:11:00.003+07:00

February 26, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 154 baht
- Ginger Pork with Rice (59 baht)
- Mos Cheese Burger (69 baht)
- Water (16 baht)

Dinner - 0 baht
- Ate at Home

Traveling Expense - 0 baht

Snacks - 83 baht
- Ice Tea (14 baht)
- Coke (14 baht)
- Chocolate (10 baht)
- Icecream (45 baht)

Total Spending: 237 baht

I've noticed that my Train tickets have to be refilled soon. Now that should hit my expenses on the next cycle. Anyway, its nearly a month, and should be a good idea to look back and figure where to change a few things.

Daily Spending - February 24-25, 2008

2008-02-25T22:21:00.003+07:00

February 24, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 42 baht
- Pork Larb on Mama (30 Baht)
- Coke (12 baht)

Dinner - 0 baht
- Ate at Home

Traveling Expense - 52 baht
- Bus (40 baht)
- Transit Bus (12 baht)

Snacks - 24 baht
- Ice Tea (14 baht)
- Chocolate (10 baht)

Total Spending: 98 baht

February 25, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 75 baht
- Grill Chicken and Curry (65 baht)
- Ice Tea (10 baht)

Dinner - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Snack - 45 baht
- Icecream (45 baht)

Total Spending: 120 baht

Looking back at my expenses, seems that I've been spending too much on Softdrinks and snacks. I think it is a good idea to stop eating that!

Daily Spending - February 20-23, 2008

2008-02-24T16:01:00.006+07:00

February 20, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Dinner - 41 baht
- Chicken and Egg on rice (30 baht)
- Ice Tea and Ice (11 baht)

Traveling Expense - 25 baht
- Bus (25 baht)

Total Spending: 65 baht

February 21, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Dinner - 60 baht
- Pork Steak (20 baht)
- Chocolate (15 baht)
- Coke (14 baht)

Snack - 74 baht
- Grilled Pork (50 baht)
- Sticky Rice (10 baht)
- Coke (14 baht)

Total Spending: 134 baht

February 22, 2008

Breakfast - 74 baht
- Chicken and Rice (30 baht)
- Ice Tea (10 baht)
- Ham Cheese Sandwich (20 baht)
- Ice Tea Peach (14 baht)

Lunch - 50 baht
- Ice Tea (20 baht)
- Meat Stew on Rice (30 baht)

Dinner - 440 baht
- Buffet at Akiyoshi (440 baht)

Traveling Expense - 25 baht
- Bus (25 baht)

Other Expense - 590 baht
- Mobile Phone Bills (300 baht)
- Groceries (290 baht)

Total Spending: 1174 baht

February 23, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Dinner - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Total Spending: 0 baht

The easiest way to save money is to stay home. On the 23rd, I practically spent nothing! Now that is great :P

On related note, I've met up with Rut who just came up from Hat Yai to take his ATC license exam. Talking about examination, I'm between my examination for my PhD program. Things are turning out well. I'm ready for the next academic challenge :P

Daily Spending - February 18-19, 2008

2008-02-20T17:38:00.004+07:00

I couldn't log into Blogger for a few days. I have a reason to suspect the TRUE proxy service has ignited a false positive alarm for spamming. Oh well, as usual, here are the spendings:

February 18, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 85 baht
- SomTam and etc. (85 baht)

Dinner - 750 baht
- Went for Karaoke Party

Traveling Expense - 57 baht
- Bus (7 baht)
- Taxi(50 baht)

Total Spending: 892 baht

February 19, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 0 baht
- Was treated for lunch

Dinner - 25 baht
- Noodles in Gravy Sauce (Lad Na)

Traveling Expense - 23 baht
- Bus (23 baht)

Snacks - 48 baht
- Water (9 baht)
- Pepsi (17 baht)
- Chocolate (22 baht)

Total Spending: 96 baht

On monday, I had a double jackpot. During lunch, an old friend popped over to my working place, so we had a SomTam party. In the evening, I met up with Rut who just came back from HatYai to take his ATC license exam. Due to that reason, we decided to treat ourselves a real expensive meal. I have to admit it was pretty steep, but anyway, it is once in like a year? LOL

Oh well, the next day, I was back to my usual self though :P

Daily Spending February 15-17, 2008

2008-02-17T15:30:00.002+07:00

Here is the daily budget for today:

February 15, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 41 baht
- Grilled Chicken and Boiled Egg (30 baht)
- IceTea and Ice(11 baht)

Dinner - 440 baht
- Went for Karaoke Party

Snacks - 34 baht
- Chocolate (6 baht)
- Bread (14 baht)
- Sprite (14 baht)

Traveling Expense - 7 baht
- Bus (7 baht)

Total Spending: 522 baht

February 16, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 0 baht
- Ate at Home

Snack - 35 baht
- Salapao (15 baht)
- IceTea (14 baht)
- Chocolate (6 baht)

Dinner - 820 baht
- Hosted Fondue Party

Total Spending: 855 baht

February 17, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 36 baht
- Fried Chicken on Rice (25 baht)
- Coke and Ice (11 baht)

Snack - 36 baht
- Sprite (14 baht)
- Chocolate (22 baht)

Dinner - 0 baht
- Ate at Home

Total Spending: 72 baht

On Friday, I had a small party with a few of my co-workers. On Saturday, I've hosted a party at my home, and I had to buy alot of groceries for my own Fondue party. Most of it fell on cheese expenses :P On Sunday, I've decided to spend little to balance things out. Not much to report other than the fact that its been a pretty expensive weekend.

Daily Spending February 14, 2008

2008-02-14T22:26:00.001+07:00

Here is the daily budget for today:

February 14, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 57 baht
- Fried Chicken on Rice (25 baht)
- Coke (10 baht)
- Chocolate (22 baht)

Dinner - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Snacks - 18 baht
- Chocolate (6 baht)
- Water (7 baht)
- Jelly (5 baht)

Total Spending: 75 baht

Today is Valentine. If you do some deduction, you will know the reason why the amount of spending today is rather low :P

Daily Spending February 13, 2008

2008-02-13T22:44:00.001+07:00

Here is the daily budget for today:

February 13, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 75 baht
- Curry on Grilled Chicken (65 baht)
- Coke (10 baht)

Dinner - 31 baht
- Assorted of food on rice (30 baht)
- Water (1 baht)

Travel Expense - 14 baht
- Bus (14 baht)

Snacks - 61 baht
- Chocolate (7 baht)
- Orange Juice (15 baht)
- Bread (14 baht)
- MSport (10 baht)
- Egg Roti (15 baht)

Total Spending: 181 baht

Nothing much to report except that the snack spendings has increased. This is due to the long day of work and sports!

Daily Spending February 12, 2008

2008-02-12T22:58:00.000+07:00

Here is the daily budget for today:

February 12, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 65 baht
- Assortment of food on rice (30 baht)
- Lime on Soda (15 baht)
- Grilled Banana (20 baht)

Dinner - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Travel Expense - 107 baht
- Taxi (100 baht)
- Bus (7 baht)

Snacks - 14 baht
- Sprite(14 baht)

Total Spending: 186 baht

Regarding today's spending, since I woke up late, I had to go to work on Taxi. If you look at the figure, that was the majority of my spending today! p.s. The moral of the story is that if you want to save, go on public transportation :P

Daily Spending February 11, 2008

2008-02-11T20:58:00.000+07:00

Here is the daily budget for today:

February 11, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 46 baht
- Roast Pork and Fried Eggs (35 baht)
- Water (11 baht)

Dinner - 40 baht
- Fried Chicken and Eggs on rice
- Ice Tea (10 baht)

Travel Expense - 21 baht
- Bus (21 baht)

Snacks - 35 baht
- Ice Tea (14 baht)
- Chocolate (6 baht)
- Salapao (15 baht)

Additional Expense - 858 baht
- Football (2 x 429)

Total Spending: 1000 baht

Today's spending is inflated because I had to buy a few footballs for the weekend football matches. We lost 3 balls the last week. If we are going to lose more footballs, then I'm going to be sure to charge those people who punt the ball for it in addition to the weekly fees we usually charge.

Daily Spending February 9-10, 2008

2008-02-10T21:34:00.000+07:00

February 9, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 170 baht
- Steak and Ribs (140 baht)
- Coke (10 baht)
- Traditional Thai Snack (20 baht)

Dinner - 80 baht
- Fried Rice
- Fried Eggs
- Fish Maw in Gravy Sauce

Travel Expense - 52 baht
- Van (25 baht)
- Bus (27 baht)

Additional Expense - 40 baht
- Coke (34 baht)
- Ice (6 baht)

Total Spending: 342 baht

February 10, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 35 baht
- Fried Chicken and Rice (25 baht)
- Coke (10 baht)

Dinner - 220 baht
- Daidomon Buffet and etc.

Snack - 20 baht
- Coke

Travel Expense - 75 baht
- Taxi (75 baht)

Total Spending: 330 baht

Here is one thing I can tell. The more you stay home, the more you save. If only I can stay home more often :P

Daily Spending February 8, 2008

2008-02-08T13:10:00.001+07:00

Here is the daily budget for today:

February 8, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 65 baht
- Chicken and Rice (40 baht)
- Coke (10 baht)
- Fried Chicken and Sticky Rice (25 baht)

Dinner - 79 baht
- Grilled Chicken Burger Set

Travel Expense - 16 baht
- Bus (16 baht)

Additional Expense - 180 baht
- Bluetooth Dongle

Total Spending: 340 baht

One note that I learnt today is when a good bargain comes along, take it. The bluetooth dongle that I bought today could have been bought for like 100 baht, if I bought it in a IT sale a few weeks ago. Now I've have to spend like 80 baht more because I didn't buy it then!

Daily Spendings - February 7, 2008

2008-02-08T07:50:00.000+07:00

Here is the daily budget for today:

February 7, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 60 baht
- Pork Dumpling (20 baht)
- Coke (10 baht)
- Rice with Red Pork (30 baht)

Snack - 10 baht
- Fried Banana (10 baht)

Dinner - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Travel Expense - 207 baht
- BTS top-up (200 baht)
- Bus (7 baht)

Groceries - 178 baht

Total Spending: 455 baht

The spending today is somewhat inflated because of groceries and the top up account for the BTS train. I wonder how the next day would be different from here.

Daily Spendings - February 6, 2008

2008-02-07T16:05:00.000+07:00

Here is the daily budget for today:

February 6, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Snack - 52 baht
- Water (9 baht)
- Bread (14 baht)
- Chocolate (19 baht)
- MSport (10 baht)

Dinner - 60 baht
- Noodles in Gravy Sauce (50 baht)
- Coke (10 baht)

Travel Expense - 55 baht
- Bus (25 baht)
- Taxi (30 baht)

Total Spending: 167 baht

One odd fact today is that my snack expense is certainly getting quite close to how much I spend for dinner. Talking about it, most of my expenses for snack ends up with either icecream or chocolate. If I happen to buy more fruits, I could save a more. Just as a reference, a watermelon is approximately 5 baht a kilo atm!

Daily Spendings - February 5, 2008

2008-02-05T22:05:00.000+07:00

Daily Budget - February 5, 2008

Here is the daily budget for today:

February 5, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 75 baht
- Katsu Curry (65 baht)
- Ice Tea (10 baht)

Snack - 10 baht
- Icecream (10 baht)

Dinner - 65 baht
- Pork Steak (55 baht)
- Coke (10 baht)

Travel Expense - 25 baht
- Bus (25 baht)

Etc 42 baht
- Groceries (42 baht)

Total Spending: 217 baht

Nothing much to discuss today as everything is routine. Could have spent a shade less on lunch and dinner. Thinking about it, I am starting to wonder if it was feasible to actually pack my lunch to work? Hmm... The possibility is low as I don't think I have enough time to make it :P

Daily Spendings - Feb 4, 2008

2008-02-04T17:24:00.000+07:00

Daily Budget - February 4, 2008

Here is the daily budget for today:

February 4, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 40 baht
- Kao Man Kai (30 baht)
- Water (10 baht)

Snack - 7 baht
- Waffle (7 baht)

Dinner - 40 baht
- Meat Curry, Chinese Sausage, and Stir-fried Vegetables on Rice (30 baht)
- Ice Tea (10 baht)

Travel Expense - 35 baht
- Bus (30 baht)
- Transit Bus (5 baht)

Etc 300 baht
- Mobile Phone Bill (300 baht)

Total Spending: 412 baht

Other than the telphone bill, today's spending is on the light side. The problem is that I can't cut my phone bills because most of the phone was work related! The only way to cut spending is to change promotions. Hmm... I'm starting to wonder if I should get one of those Hutch Phones with a buffet promotion? I think I should consider the options soon.

Spendings - Jan 31 - Feb 3, 2008

2008-02-04T16:58:00.000+07:00

Daily Spending - January 31, 2008

Photographs - 600 baht
- Postcard size (100 x 6 baht) given to student as part of their NSC Booth

Travel Expense - 50 baht
- Transit Bus (20 baht)
- Parking Fee (30 baht)

Lunch - 70 baht
- Khao Man Kai and Drinks (2 x 35 baht)

Dinner - 700 baht
- Pizza at Big Mama (700 baht) Treated students to Dinner to congratulating them for reaching the final round of the NSC contest

Total Spending: 1320 baht

Daily Spending - February 1, 2008

Lunch - 243 baht
- Subway Sandwich Set (168 baht)
- Milkshake (50 baht)
- Cherry Pie (25 baht)

Snacks - 147 baht
- Water (8 baht)
- Ice Tea (2 x 14 baht)
- Icecream (59 baht)
- Gin Tonic (3 x 14 baht)
- Snack (10 baht)

Dinner - 178 baht

Total Spending: - 568 baht

Daily Spending - February 2, 2008

Lunch - 108 baht
- Subway Sandwich Set (108 baht)

Snacks - 26 baht
- Water (8 baht)
- Ice Tea (2 x 14 baht)

Dinner (600 baht)
- Due to miscalculation the dividend, my dinner cost was inflated.

Total Spending: - 734 baht

Daily Spending - February 3, 2008

Lunch - 460 baht
- Lunch Set at Tokyo Grill (460 baht)

Snacks - 117 baht
- Green Tea (3 x 15 baht)
- Ice Tea Peach 6 - Pack (72 baht)

Dinner - 3317 baht
- Dinner Buffet at Agehan (6 x 553 baht) Treated students for winning the first prize at the NSC competition

Total Spending: - 3894 baht

From January 31 to February 3, my advisees Sisada and Wantanee happen to reach the final round of the NSC (National Software Competition). Due to that reason, I've decided to accompany them to the NSC competition to provide support and make sure things are in order. As the NSC final round took place during February 1-3, 2008, my budget was completely wiped out in the crazy weekend. Nothing to complain about it considering that the students won the first prize :)

Daily Budget - January 30, 2008

2008-01-30T21:26:00.000+07:00

Here is the daily budget for today:

January 30, 2008

Breakfast - 0 baht
- Ate at home

Lunch - 35 baht
- LardNa and Coke

Snack - 51 baht
- Coke (15 baht)
- Ice Tea (14 baht)
- Mars (22 baht)

Dinner - 179 baht
- Honey-Glazed Pork Chop/Southwest Chicken (119 baht)
- Water (10 baht)
- Icecream (59 baht)

Travel Expense - 167 baht
- Bus (34 baht)
- Transit Bus (12 baht)
- Van (36 baht)
- Taxi (85 baht)

Clothing Expense - 270 baht
- Trousers (270 baht)

Total Spending: 702 baht

Today was a bad day. Other than having to travel all over Bangkok due to numerous errands to run, it seems that bad luck follows my every single turn. To cap things off, the zipper of my trousers broke off, requiring me to get a replacement.

Oh well, all I can say tommorrow should be a better day :)

Daily Budget - January 29, 2008

2008-01-29T21:01:00.000+07:00

Here is the daily budget for today:

January 29, 2008

Breakfast - 37 baht
- Bread (14 baht)
- Salapao (15 baht)
- Chocolate (8 baht)

Lunch - 75 Baht
- Katsu Curry Rice

Dinner - 0 Baht
- Dinner (At home so free!!!)
Total Spending: 112 baht

Nothing too significant, but based on the figures, I haven't been spending too much which is good.

Daily Budget

2008-01-28T20:07:00.000+07:00

How much money do I spend each day? I had this nagging feeling that I've been spending too much, so I've decided to post my spending for the unforseen future and evaluate my spending patterns.

January 28, 2008

Breakfast - 36 baht
- Bread (14 baht)
- Water (14 baht)
- Chocolate (8 baht)

Lunch - 70 Baht

Dinner - 100 Baht
- Icecream (100 baht)
- Dinner (Free!!!)

Total Spending : 206 Baht

Seems like I've overspent on desert today. Due to that reason, I've decided that I'm m not going to eat ice-cream for the next forthnight :P

DeathNote Character Quiz

2008-01-15T12:58:00.000+07:00

Oh well, just a quiz I did for fun. Amusing...!

What Death Note Character Are You?

Hosted by theOtaku.com: Anime. Done right.

500 posts and a New Resolution

2008-01-13T22:53:00.000+07:00

I've just noticed I've reached 500 rambling and random posts.

For this post, I've decided to post to remind myself that I've got to slim down. I'm getting heavier, and my usual exercise schedule isn't doing that well. Maybe I should either get more active (In which I think I'm already pretty active), or either eat less. Hmm... I guess I've got to go with the second choice at this moment :(

As they say, eating is a joy. Too bad I've got to keep a lid on that.

Entrance Exam Blues

2008-01-07T11:30:00.000+07:00

How is it like to take an exam? I've forgotten the feeling already. Now that is a big problem considering I have to take another entrance exam for my Ph.D studies. Hmm... I hope I haven't grown rusty from all the years of giving exams, not taking one :P

New Year's Resolutions

2008-01-01T23:02:00.000+07:00

I remember distinctively that I usually come up with a number of New Year's Resolution before every change of the year. I found out that usually after a few days or weeks, I forget what I have promised myself to do. So to make a change, I've decided I should remind myself by posting my resolutions in my incredibly dull blog just to remind myself.

Here are my resolutions in no order of precedence:
1) Follow my resolutions from the first to the last steps.
2) Read and finish up the cooking textbook I've bought ages ago.
3) Get enrolled for my third degree.
4) Sleep in more regular hours (avoid early morning sleeping sessions).
5) Get myself in a more positive frame of mind.
6) Read more books (even though I read ferociously already).
7) Be more aware of people around me.

From the looks of it, it sounds as a pretty vague resolution. Could either be very easy to accomplish or not depending on my own perspective. In a year's time, I'll figure out how much I did accomplish.

Live Music?

2007-12-10T23:01:00.000+07:00

You can tell if a music band is good if the music they play live is better than the studio album. That is why I like music festivals, in which you listen to many bands and at the end you can decide what musicians are worth supporting :)

Peaceful Kinoko-World

2007-12-07T11:06:00.000+07:00

A few days ago, I watched one of my favorite saxophone player Sadao Watanabe in concert in Bangkok. One thing I liked about Sadao is that he is extremely versatile jazz musician. Though I don't like his Brazilian offerings that much, I absolutely love how he incorporates elements of African influence his music.

Anyway, during my music browsing through YouTube, I've happen to stumble on a strange recording below:

If I'm not mistaken, it was the remix track of a theme from Mario that was rearranged by the artist I mentioned above. Strange! Now there is also game music :P

December Blues

2007-12-07T09:48:00.000+07:00

For most people December should be a great month. First of all, there are numerous holidays on December. We have the King's Birthday, Constitution Day, Christmas (for some of us), and New Year. In addition to all of that, it seems that many of the weddings are arranged in this month also - considering it is one of the most auspicious months as defined by fortune tellers. Now that is where the trouble lies. If you have a number of friends and collegues that have weddings on the same date, and you have to go to a wedding for nearly everyday for a week, then that is where December can be very aggreviating. Maybe it is just me, but I keep on wondering why those fortune tellers don't spread out the auspicious dates into other months?

GK Glut

2007-12-02T23:30:00.000+07:00

Every Sunday, I usually go to play football at a local field that I rent with a group of friends. One of the funny things that has happened in the field is that our group of players that has been assembled from various sources and teams (or we could call team fragments), we suddenly have a glut of Goalkeepers.

In Thailand in most amateur leagues and teams, it is difficult to find a decent goalkeeper to stand between the posts. This could easily be found in public football fields that you can rent. You will notice that many of the teams do not have a dedicated goalkeeper which is evident by the lack of goalkeeper attaire and equipment (e.g. gloves). Usually the weakest player is punished by letting them stand in that postition.

Strangely enough in our Sunday games, we now have like 5 decent goalkeepers including one of them that was in the under-17 national squad. Now we are having a dilemna on who to place in goal. At the moment, all I'm planning to do is to play one half as a GK and the other half as an out field player. That should be fun :)

Selecting a Browser Over a Decade Ago...

2007-11-21T11:17:00.000+07:00

I started browsing the Internet around 1996, and my first few browsers I've tried was Netscape Navigator, Internet Explorer Lynx, and an lynx. For those who don't know, lynx was a text based browser. At that time then, Navigator was the best browser overall, but it was slow as a turtle. IE was lacking in features. What I ended up using the most at that time was lynx. It was a text browser, but it was blazing fast considering that I had a crummy connection back then. As I didn't care much about eye-candy, lynx was the browser of choice.

Talking about it, it was strange to recall this story. Makes me sound old and like an old dinosaur :P

Motivation

2007-11-21T08:14:00.000+07:00

During the last few days, I'm finding that it is high ironic that seeking revenge is certainly one of the best form of motivation. What I need to do now is only to make sure that the drive doesn't consume me.

Strangely enough it sounds like StarWars doesn't it?

Test Recordings

2007-10-30T10:19:00.000+07:00

In a few days, I have to present a paper at a research conference about a Computer Vision to aid myself playing the EWI. In my paper, I've used a number of image processing techniques to find where I am relative on the stage and then make real-time on the fly changes to the software mixer. A number of extensions to help me play the EWI such as using multiple cameras (to define surround sound position), and other natural input devices such as Using the WiiMote were discussed on the paper.

As I was preparing my paper presentation, I've noticed that the demos and music recorded in the paper presentation was rather sparse. I have one piece showing me playing the C Major Scale (which is absolutely boring), a short Glide, and a short piece. In other words, I only had very few recordings of myself playing the instrument! Just to fix things, I've decided to cover a few quick songs, just to make sure the audience knows that at least I can play the EWI :P

You can take a few listen to it at the following url: http://168.120.1.247/dump/ewi/

Buring Work

2007-10-15T22:46:00.000+07:00

It is common knowledge that in most workplace situations especially in the land of Thailand, many people here have this easy go happy attitude in which they take things easy until the deadline approaches, they turn into a crazed mode, trying to get the project submitted before the final deadline - hench in our own dialect, we say people are burning their work. As being teaching over half a decade, one of my own personal observation is that it doesn't matter if you assign a project over a few months or a period of a week. Most students would work on it only a day or two before the deadline.

On a short note, I haven't been doing any burning work for years. During the last 10 days, I've precisely done that. It happened in a upandcoming national level event, there was a competition for seed money. Initially I did not plan to submit the work there as there was a project in the pipeline, but after serious consultation with my partner over the direction of the studio, we have decided to u-turn and submit an entirely new work in the competition that I've been designing during the discussion. I had a game design that was simple enough so that we didn't need to hire any artists, and yet interesting enough that it would be a fun game. After 10 days of sleepless and over-worked nights, we've finally finished the working prototype. Though some of the features proposed were lacking, it was polished graphically, and on the requirement, we only had to show a working prototype. So what is a better way than to test all the latest tricks in graphical programming here?

Just by the time I've finished writing this blog, the copies of the proposal and demo are finished and ready to be submitted. More details of me in this competition should follow soon, after the presentation during the middle of next month :)

Great Comedy

2007-10-07T00:14:00.000+07:00

Talking about Comedy, I found it somewhat irritating that many of the current crop of comedic movies in the market are pretty much not funny. To sum it up, many of the movies try to play the obscene card as they think it is funny to the point that it gets repulsive. Good examples of obscene acts that are over done are like excessive vomitting, public urinating, and over miscreant behaviors. In many of these movies they spice it up with a little of sex, and they think it would sell well to the young adolesence market. As I myself am out of touch with the trends of today, yesterday, and I believe to the future, I can't really mention much more than that.

On a short note, what makes a good comedy to me? The last really good comedic movie I saw was a witty German movie called "Say Goodbye to Lenin". I don't think it would be easy to find, but the premise was tad intelligent, and was excecuted well. To get a quick idea of what type of comedies that I really like, take a look at the following video clip:

As noted, I like that skit. If you thought it was about APPLE products, think again very careful! It isn't about Apple, but its about a hidden topic, and that is why I find this parody to be extra ordinary funny and witty without all of the obscene nonsense.

If you don't get the message, try reading out the names of all the products out loud, and you will find the hidden and underlining meaning of the whole thing :P

...Bored...

2007-10-06T18:41:00.000+07:00

Just a short note that I'm excessively bored of the late. Hard to get out of the emotional funk at the moment. Maybe I should finally resort to alcohol :P

Who would be happier?

2007-09-27T00:14:00.000+07:00

Who would be happier?

Interesting read, sorry if it is only in Thai.

New Mobile Phone?

2007-09-22T01:12:00.000+07:00

Just a few days ago, during one of my proctoring sessions, one of my co-worker's phone broke down for no apparent reason. After trying to resurrect it for a while without any luck, we concluded that the phone was dead and my friend needed to buy a new phone. As he was a Indian lecturer, I took him to a mobile phone store and took the time to help him browse through the list. As noted, if you don't speak the Thai here, you're pretty much clueless of what is offered. After much consideration, my friend picked up a rather nice multimedia phone for about 7k baht - which had loads of features such as photograph, MP3 player, radio, blue tooth, and a whole load of other goodies.

On a short note, I was also planning to buy a new mobile phone soon. If I do have to replace my mobile phone, on a strange note, I was planning to go to an old retro version. A mobile phone that is only a mobile phone. Cheap and effective. That is all I need. To be exact, though it is good to be excited with all the new features, at the end of the day, I figured that it was more important to have a working phone during crunch time than to burn my batteries with all the unnecessary tasks such as listening to music or playing video games.

Talk about how different the philosophies are LOL

Alone Again Naturally.

2007-09-21T14:08:00.000+07:00

Just a short note that my little bro got married this year. The next year, my big brother plans to marry. Hmm... It seems that I'm going to be alone again, naturally :P

Is that necessarily good or bad? No idea LOL

Hello Headache!?

2007-09-17T15:46:00.000+07:00

One of the things that I hate the most is having a headache. In most cases if you feel sick, having a headache is typical. The problem is that if you are feeling pretty normal, but you have a headache. What to do in that scenario?

I would like to work, but my headaches and its pretty difficult to keep focused on the matter at hand. I also don't feel that bad that I have to go on sick leave :( Hmm... What to do? What to do?

Zen of Python - Recommended Read for Programmers

2007-09-15T15:13:00.000+07:00

Being a programmer, I found the following easter egg in Python a very interesting read. You might be surprised, but programmers should be considered as writers also :)

The Zen of Python, by Tim Peters

Beautiful is better than ugly.
Explicit is better than implicit.
Simple is better than complex.
Complex is better than complicated.
Flat is better than nested.
Sparse is better than dense.
Readability counts.
Special cases aren't special enough to break the rules.
Although practicality beats purity.
Errors should never pass silently.
Unless explicitly silenced.
In the face of ambiguity, refuse the temptation to guess.
There should be one-- and preferably only one --obvious way to do it.
Although that way may not be obvious at first unless you're Dutch.
Now is better than never.
Although never is often better than *right* now.
If the implementation is hard to explain, it's a bad idea.
If the implementation is easy to explain, it may be a good idea.
Namespaces are one honking great idea -- let's do more of those!

Profile of Singapore People

2007-09-10T22:21:00.000+07:00

During the last week, I went on a business trip to Singapore. During my discussions with the numerous people I've met there, there was this observation I've made about Singaporean people due to their mixed heritage. They have the industry of the Chinese, the merchant skills of the Indian, and have the regal qualities of the British. Hmm... quite a quick way to summarize a typical Singaporean? Not quite sure, but it does sound like a good compliment!

DM of the Ring

2007-09-02T21:11:00.000+07:00

If you like AD&D RPG and/or Lords of the Ring, you might like the following online-comic:

http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=612

When both worlds collide, it does create a very curious combination :)

Mini HighSchool Reunion

2007-08-27T23:26:00.000+07:00

During Monday evening, I play basketball with a group of friends at EIS. Today, we had quite a number of new people appearing, in which we took the time time to discuss with them about playing rules and regulation. After a short discussion, the more we ask, it seems that we are getting a wider range of old alumnis coming over to play here. Talk about it, 20 basketball players which most graduated from the same school but from different academic years. That was quite a far cry from the early days in which we were split quite down the middle between old alumnis and people from other schools.

How to Judge the Quality of a Japanese Restaurant

2007-08-26T23:01:00.001+07:00

For those who don't know (you might find it odd), but if you want to find which Japanese restaurant are really good and authentic, you should count the number of Japanese patrons in the shop. The rationale is easy. Japanese people like to eat Japanese food and are extremely picky. Try that when you plan to eat at your next restaurant the next time and avoid Fuji and Oishi.

Feature in Thai Post edition 23/08/2007

2007-08-25T10:16:00.000+07:00

I just noticed that the Thai Computer Game Museum was featured in one of the pages in ThaiPost of edition 23/08/2007. Now I'm even surprised considering its only on beta-phase O_o Oh well, I've just got to find a copy. Where can I find it?

What in the World is This Blog?

2007-08-22T00:23:00.000+07:00

There had been a few people who visited this blog and emailed me asking what type of blog is this? They were expecting more of a blog about exciting game development projects I've been up to. What they found was that the blog was long, wordy, lacks pictures (My little brother took my digital camera), and seems to completely lack focus, especially there is hardly anything about game development which is so unlike many of my colleagues in this field who would update their sites regularly with their latest developments.

Is it wrong? Hmm... I guess not. I've just figured that I've done too much about those stuff in my free time, I think I want to keep this blog just a little more personal, and a little more about things that just happened to cross my mind. Its nothing significant. Consider it like graffiti. People do graffiti as an excuse to express themselves. In my own example, I'm doing it the same way, except I don't make much of a nuisance to people in this world :P

Pisal's Secret Parma Ham Pizza

2007-08-22T00:19:00.000+07:00

You might find it odd, but I usually cook in my free time, usually on weekends. One of my favorite dishes that I regularly make is pizza in which I make my own dough. After experimenting for a few years, I've finally honed into my favorite pizza that I usually make to impress my first time guests at my home.

The pizza that I make right now is my own dough which is made into extremely thin crust (which I usually do after some flying pizza tricks :P). The topping that I like the most currently is Parma ham. As noted Parma Ham idoesn't come cheap, but its delicious and gives a rather fine salty taste. To cover up the excessive saltiness, there are two things I've used. First is a layer of tomato sauce (could be made but tomato quality here is too low to make good sauce). The second is the layer of mascapone cheese (the one you use in tiramasu) is used below the parma ham to give a smooth cheesy taste after biting.The whole thing is covered up with some classic mozzarella cheese which is standard in any pizza. If you noticed the topics, this pizza isn't cheap, but its great for any home party :)

The only thing at the present that I can think that can help my pizza is a better oven. I fancy a coal driven pizza oven, but that is pretty too expensive, and won't fit a home kitchen that well doesn't it?

Thai Computer Game Museum

2007-08-21T22:48:00.000+07:00

Just thought you might be interested in a few things I've been up to. I've just finished the first edition of Thai Computer Game Museum, and you can view it at this address http://museum.thaigamedevx.com

My Own Custom Music Program

2007-08-19T23:52:00.000+07:00

I was asked to submit a research paper to a conference by my future PhD advisor. Due to the lack of time, I've decided to pick up a topic closely related with one of my hobbies. As noted, I'm studying music, and have been playing with a number of instruments including the saxophone and the EWI (Electronic Wind Instrument). One of the things that I figured that might be interesting for me is to actually work on a type of application that could be useful when I play with the instruments. As the EWI is an electronic instrument, I selected it as a topic to work on.

If you noticed the following random pictures below, it is actually part of the application I've worked on. If you looked carefully, you can notice the picture are basically extracting information from me playing with the EWI finding which part of the frame in the camera feed I was in. This information is then relayed to the software mixer that could change parameters such as the panning effects.

The application worked out pretty well, and it allowed me as the musician to change panning without having to be at the mixer which could be useful in certain situations. One example would be creating sound effects that uses lots of panning. That is one area that I could save alot of time.

Anyway, after much work on the topic, a a few ideas struck me. If I used two cameras, I could actually plot my position in 3D, which wasn't that difficult to do. Another brilliant idea that popped up my head was using motion sensor tools (e.g. Nintendo WII remote anyone?) to help in music playing.

The lesson I've learnt in the drafting of the paper was quite fun. To be exact, playing musical instruments is fun, and making programs to add to that doubles the fun! You might want to try something like that if you have the time ;)

The Root Cause of a Bad Computer

2007-08-14T14:48:00.000+07:00

After struggling with my new computer for a year or so, I've finally found the root cause of the problem that causes unscheduled rebooting on occasional basis and lots of artifacts when playing hi-end games. After fudging around, I removed my Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum sound card (with a front panel) out, and it turned that all the games worked perfectly without the artifacts and the computer stopped rebooting at random intervals.

I believed the problem has to do with the inadequate power supply that came with the case. I reasoned that the power wasn't simply enough to power all the electronic devices installed in the computer. Though I'm not completely sure on the conclusion, it does sound plausible enough.

Thinking about all of it, this is both the joy and the angst of having a PC. You just have to have a little knowledge or that PC is going to make you completely frustrated.

New ID Card

2007-07-20T23:37:00.000+07:00

I just got my new ID card from the district. In Thailand, there are two types of ID cards. The first type utilizes a simple magnetic strip. The newer type that was supposed to replace the first was a Smart Card version. I got the old version during my update because the new Smart Card type was not shipped to districts due to a myriad of reasons.

No matter what, I'm happy with my old ID. Let me explain you why. First of all, the Smart Card ID (which was implemented a few years back) is more expensive. Also the implementation of the Smart Card had a number of flaws, as reported by a number of developers, which would make it easy to have your confidential data compromised.

As noted, I'm not always for new technological advancements, especially when they offer nothing better than the original system.

Day Plan on my Birthday

2007-07-18T21:49:00.002+07:00

Tommorrow is my birthday. Here is the log of activities that I plan to do tommorrow.

1) Wake up
2) Eat Breakfast
3) Go to the district to get my expired ID card renewed
4) Go to the Bank and deposit my fixed monthly account
5) Get home to cook lunch
6) Take a short nap
7) Wake up
8) Continue reading one of the many books on my backlog
9) Eat Dinner
10) Watch TV
11) Browse the Internet and answer emails
12) Continue reading one of the many books on my backlog
13) Sleep

That doesn't look like a special day at all does it? Hmm... I need to do something with my life LOL

The Not So Forensic Science of Computing Habits

2007-07-16T23:53:00.000+07:00

As teaching computer programming, one of my duties is to proctor my own programming exam. To make things as fair as possible, I have a routine that before every exam, I have to clear and purge the files from all the computers in the room.

During my purges, I have to admit that at times I am surprised at the amount of junk I find in the computers. In most cases, you would see that a number of students would be installing games, especially in the far off ends of the lab. Some of the students browse the Internet in class - both for academic and leisure. One of the programs that I hate are instant messaging clients such as MSN which is regularly used to submit answers to each other.

One of the things that I find amusing is at times some of the people setup their messaging client to automatically log in, which is extremely dangerous in a public lab. Another interesting topic that could be picked up is the log of received files in the lab. Most of the files transfered are assignment files and in some cases other trivial stuff. Once going through hundreds of computers, I can say its easy to see a pattern emerging from observing all the excessive files, logs, and mis-configurations of people previously using the lab. Try doing the same thing. You'll be surprised at some of the things you might learn from that.

Bizzare Abbreviations

2007-07-16T08:48:00.000+07:00

It is known that many people like to give abbreviations to long names and subjects to make life easier for them. In most cases, these abbreviations make perfect sense ang logic, but in other cases, these abbreviations will sound extremely bizzare. Let me show some of them.

Macroeconomics -> Macro
Makro the wholesaler?

Business Law -> Bus Law
We need to learn the laws of riding a bus?

Game Design/Game Development/Game Programming -> Game
For students not studying in a game development major, it is typical that they abbreviate the different subjects as the same one.

Information Technology -> IT
Sounds like a cheap C grade horror movie :-/

Computer Architecture -> Come Arc
Sounds like Com are belong to us !? Bad grammar isn't it?

Analytical Chemistry -> Anal Chem
Hmm...

Elevator Tale

2007-07-13T21:37:00.000+07:00

During my ride down the an elevator to the ground floor from one of my office, my ride was interrupted on the 2nd floor. A student peered inside the elevator and asked timidly as the elevator was going up or down.

I looked at her and replied that it would certainly be a better choice to walk down the stairs. She looked surprised before deciding to stepped in the elevator seeing that the elevator was going down. It was a few awkward moment before the elevator reached the ground floor, and we gone out with our own different ways.

Hmm... Did I do anything wrong? I certainly think I was rude, unabashed, but I do believe it was an extremely small but worthful gift for this world.

New Weapon to My Home Studio

2007-07-06T23:46:00.000+07:00

My little home studio just had a new weapon yesterday. I was a little upset with my old midi keyboard. I had an old Creative MP3 Blaster keyboard that I bought with my Sound Blaster Live! Platinum version on my older computer. It was quite useful for simple midi input, but the keyboard lacked many features and doesn't work well with other devices other than the original SoundBlaster Live soundcard. What I found out a few days ago was that since having a new computer I decided to try to link the Blaster keyboard to my new computer. I had a creative Audigy 2 soundcard Platinum on it, so I thought I would be able to play. However I found that the MP3 Blaster keyboard requires a joystick input (which was obsolete) to supply power to it. Without the port, there was no way to get the keyboard to work as there were no other ports to supply it power, not even a AC port :(

It took me a while, but I've finally figured that I must be more careful with buying decisions. If I am going to get any new electronic device, I had to make sure that it would work well far into the future. As the old Midi keyboard is practically a deadweight, I decided to go find a new Midi Controller. After much deliberation, I decided to pick the following Midi Controller:

Basically what I just got was a Korg K61P. Instead of a simple Midi Controller, this keyboard has an internal sound module that could output audio directly to a connected speaker. I decided to pay a little extra for this because a midi controller requires the computer to be on all the time. Its not quite a good thing considering that to practice, you just can't do it at the spur of the moment. Another bad point is that it takes time to setup the computer, and it isn't that fun to do when you just want a quick jam session.

Oh well, since I haven't really used it that much yet I can't really say much more about it, except that I'm happy to replace my other midi controller.

Saxophone Influences

2007-07-01T16:17:00.000+07:00

After doing some browsing yesterday, I've somehow stumbled into a few websites of musical artists that I like way back. The first few albums of jazz that I listen to were from two artists - T-Square and Malta. If you have been listening to jazz in the far east, you might know more about these two artists. T-Square is a modern fusion jazz band, and this band introduced me alot of fusion jazz, synthesizers, and a big influence in getting myself an EWI (Electronic Wind Instrument). Malta is another modern jazz player that I stumbled upon and liked tremendously. Malta is a saxophone player and he usually composes and play smooth and upbeat jazz numbers that fit well especially if you are in a long car drive. As I usually spent most of my weekends going to different provinces with my friends (during my studying years), Malta was our favorite artist during the rides.

In Thailand, T-Square information is easy to find. As there is an easy to access website and many other fan sites, you can find lots of information on the WWW. Also with a large number of listeners here, there are regularly many albums that end up being sold in the market here also. However in the case of Malta, you'll be hard pressed to find an album or any information in the WWW due to having a name similar to a popular tourist resort. Strangely enough, as being in a extremely bored mood, I decided to browse around, and due to luck, I've managed somehow to stumble into the website of that artist:
http://www.malta-jazzclub.com/

Might be worth a look as there are many song samples that are available for download.

My Life Sucks

2007-06-30T20:13:00.000+07:00

To my own opinion, the fine threshold between being a perfectly happy person and a totally rotten and downcast person is so small that I keep wondering if I'm happy or unhappy with my life. I don't really think anything is seriously wrong with my life. I've made some decisions, some of them turned out well, some of them turned out badly, but at the end of the day, I'm still around, I'm still alive, and I'm doing pretty well compared to many other people.

The issue that bugs me however is that in normal circumstances, I would be perfectly happy person. I have no problems keeping a positive attitude when the world seems to turn against me. However during the last weeks I think I've been severely tested - in which my life seems to be completely rotten. I'll chronologically list out all the events that happened the last week.

Day 1: Got caught in the thundershower after trying to rush to the weekly basketball meet. Found out during my travel that it was cancelled.

Day 2: After cleaning up my room, my recently bought computer didn't work. After a long diagnostic, I found out the display adapter was broken and I needed to claim it

Day 3: Went to work, found out that the connection to my webserver was broken, and I had trouble getting the material to my classroom. The cause was a broken router in the building.

Later went to claim my display adapter, which will take me two weeks to complete the process. Thought about either buying a new display adapter or computer. Decided to be cheap and get back home to retrieve my old notebook to use. Found out that the harddisk was broken after a few hours of usage. Guarantee was over, so I had to install an older harddisk and reinstall the whole system

Day 4: Found out that my keyboard Midi Control (Creative BlasterMp3 Keyboard) will not work without a Sound Blaster Live! card. The only computer that could use it was in my office, not at home. I brought the keyboard home because I wanted to practice at home.

Lost a few documents, and had to look around all over the office for ages before I found it.

Day 5: Went to go eat at a great japanese restaurant. Found the shop was closed. Later was pinned between the subway doors. Later played video games at home. Did extremely badly.

Telephoned the shop where I ordered a case for my musical instrument. The person in charge was not in the shop, so I never figured out if it was finished or not.

Day 6: Needed a file from my computer that I didn't have the display adapter. Since I don't have any spare PCI-Express cards lying around, I couldn't get it. I didn't feel like opening and removing the Harddisk so I had to live without it.

Day 7: As having a bad week with little positives, I decided to stay home so that hopefully I won't get into another streak of bad luck.

As being home alone, decided to order delivery dinner. Found out the shop I planned to order does not allow delivery any longer. Since I didn't want to eat Pizza again, I decided to go outside to eat. Tried a new shop. It sucks...

Honestly with all the bad luck happening, somehow I wonder if My Life Sucks...

Don't know. Hopefully things would be in the upturn soon. Hope it does :)

Why Not Fiction!

2007-06-22T00:22:00.000+07:00

When I started to appreciate reading, quite earlier on my life, most of the books I've read were fictional stories, mostly about Fantasy (e.g. Lords of the Ring, Narnia, Conan), and Sci-Fi (e.g. Isaac Asimov, Dune). After growing up and maturing, I've found that my taste has changed dramatically.

A quick glance through my current list of reading shows a huge slant towards biographies and non-fiction. What I've figured out that the reason why I read much more non-fiction these days is because I found that Life is indeed much stranger than fiction...

A paradox indeed!

Thinking Retrospective About Pranks

2007-06-20T23:51:00.000+07:00

There was a matter that happened during my high school years. During high school, all students were required to pay a monthly activities fee. I didn't particularly like paying the fees especially when you are constantly reminded by a picky treasurer who wasn't the most friendly person in the world. After having many arguments (I had cashflow problems), I decided on the fee payment period to change all my monthly fee into coins. It was fun to see the expression on her face when I placed all the money in front of her.

Thinking back on that little prank I pulled out, it kind of gives me the shiver when I read the following story:

Back in the day, we had a pissed off taxpayer and his wife bring in several thousand dollars in pennies. At the time, we had real teller functions in most cities and they took their money-handling chores seriously and by-the-book. All cash payments were *required* (no exceptions) to be counted out twice in the presence of the person paying.

The manager saw the situation, got approval to put a teller on overtime, and started counting. They stressed to the taxpayers that they *must* remain present during the count. This was fairly early in the morning. After a few hours, some things began to change. Everytime the taxpayer needed to go to the bathroom, the count had to stop and everyone left the room. No lunch. No breaks.

Asshole taxpayer got bored. Then he got tired and cranky. Then he and his wife got into it. A screaming match ensued with the wife berating her husband for his stupid idea. "Yeah, you really showed them, didn't you?!" By that evening, she ripped the car keys out of his hand and left, telling him he could get a cab home. This was in a large, non-compact city with poor public transport and, at the time, only a shell of a taxi system. Telling him to catch a cab home was the equivalent of telling him to burn in hell.

Around midnight, the count finished. The jerk was shellshocked. He called a cab and proceeded to go stand out by the highway and wait for it. I don't know if it ever came.

I feel certain, however, that Mr. Idiot never tried another stunt like that.

On a short note, it seems that I was lucky that I didn't end up like the Idiot as in the story :P

Kicking the Habit?

2007-06-20T15:35:00.000+07:00

Have you ever felt you have an addiction you want to quit, but somehow could never? I heard people had trouble to quit smoking or drinking alcohol. In my case, I'm addicted to softdrinks like coke, and I just can't seem to get rid of it. I nearly quit a year back, but after living a rather active lifestyle with more work and sporting activities, the need of sugar just simply got me back drinking sugary drinks as the body needs more energy. Been thinking on and off this issue, but can't seem to figure whether I should go one way or the other.

Hmm... I wonder if that this trivial matter, should be a huge issue, or simply something that I should just put as the least of my concerns?

A Parallel Story about Web Censorship in Thailand

2007-06-17T10:23:00.000+07:00

One issue that I find rather funny is about the state of Web Censorship in Thailand. Just to rewind, about 6-7 years ago in the university I teach in, there was a web censorship program set up, in which numerous websites were blocked. Topics that were blocked included Pornography, Games, Diversions and Hobbies, and Audio/Video streaming. As being in a private university, policies like these could be dictated and implemented without consultation and consensus. I myself was rather caught by surprise by the implementation when a number of sites related with computer games that I usually read are no longer assessible. I usually like to prowl around a few local game development sites and an international site called gamaustra, which was the world's best site providing news about the game industry.

Initially I was rather somewhat annoyed, but life goes on as usual. After a few more weeks, more website were banned, including anti religious, political, and the most surprising of all was sourceforge which was the place you have to go for open-source software. That was the last straw. I found the censorship implemented to be over the top, and I've decided to start my own subversive activities. To be exact, going around internet censorship is easy if you know how. Anyone with intermediate computer knowledge will know that the use of proxy servers is the simplest form of getting around the censorship. To be exact, all you have to do is to set your browser to retrieve information that is banned from another server (proxy). So without much more thought, all my browsing in the local university net has been done with a proxy.

However after a few weeks, there were rumblings from a number of other staff and lecturers which were complaining about the sites they want to visit where censored. After comparing their list, there were many valid reasons to complain. One good example would be the banning of the CNN video/audio streaming which was completely banned. Another example would be certain programming tutorial websites. After much consultation, I decided to act by contacting the University Administrator to discuss about how the Internet Censorship in the Internet was completely out of hand. After much discussion, the administrator still refused to take down the voluntary censorship, but mentioned that he would be willing to allow reporting of websites that should not be censored. I also mentioned that the censorship was useless as it was easy to go around the system with proxies. Unabashed, the adminstrator said he can't stop the computer elite to get around it, but he said it is worth it to cut access to the majority of illiterate that are browsing websites that are inappropriate. The initial talk was unsatifactory, though I managed to get consessions that websites that are are useful could be unblocked by reporting them to the administrator. As I've already talked with numerous other sources, I had in my own hand a few pages of sites that should be unblocked along with its reason.

The system worked well for a while, however after a week, things were revered again. It seems that the adminstrators updated the list of blocked sites by keyword, and due to this reason, all the sites that were sent to unblocked, were blocked again. As the follow up discussion with the administrators was unsatisfactory (they refuse to update the list we submit them every week), so I reverted to slowly educating how to get around the censorship. After a few more months, the system was no longer in place, and all sites were available for view.

The reason why that was stopped because implementing Internet Censorship is expensive (especially if you set up a rather large amount of sites), easily subverted (with proxies), can usually end up being counter productive (censoring sites that are useful), and usually provides a negative vibe (especially in the user's view against the system).

What is strange is that the Ministry of Information Technology (MICT) in Thailand has actually started a implementation of the censorship much like what my university did many years ago. The system that the MICT used was the usage of a large number of computer personnel to browse around and individually add websites to censor which is extremely expensive to maintain. The sites that were blocked initially were immoral websites, which is later extended to counter revolutionary websites. When looking at this situation, it seems that it closely parallels what has happened in the case of my university. How long the system would be maintained would either depend on the people's persistence in demanding the system to be scrapped, or either the maintainer's organization finding that the cost is expensive and decides to scrap it.

New Changes to Blog, but Much the Same Old Stuff

2007-06-06T20:44:00.001+07:00

The last few minutes, I've just decided to go over blogger and see some of the features in Blogger, mainly in the templates setting. Been a huge while since I've last changed the template, and I was pretty surprised in a good way on the new changes with the template system which is certainly much more helpful than the previous template system which requires extensive HTML and CSS knowledge. Not that I don't know about those technology, but as blogging just a diversion, I do think on a personal opinion that I shouldn't waste too much time on blogging. Due to that attitude, I do have to agree that it isn't surprising that this blog is a sparsely visited with very few visitors :P

Anyway, the new changes are, quite underwhelming I reckon. I prefer bland websites, which is rather like my rather spartan life-style which is quite devoid of eye-candies and things other than bare necessities, and maybe too much luxury on my books. After all of that, I've just found one picture that fits the template quite well, which was a cactus flower picture I took a few years back which was interesting. Haven't been doing much photography of late due to the lack of going into trips. I don't like taking photo of people, and without going to trips, there isn't much chance to take many. The other problem is that since having a film camera (instead of a digital one), it makes me rather too cost conscious, and partly makes me rather reluctant on taking photographs of common things.

Just to leave things off, my little brother got married, so I think I'll just post a few pictures of the wedding (p.s. as being the usher, I didn't have the chance to take a single picture).

Before the wedding ceremony

The Bride and Groom with the MCs

A view of the banquet room

Cutting the cake

A portrait of some of the relatives on our side of the family with the bride and groom

Interesting Job Description

2007-05-10T21:50:00.000+07:00

Since my little bro was getting married, I was kind of amused when I got one email from one of my old friends. As the world becomes increasing commercialized, it seems that a lot of things are influenced by it. Take this job description for example. Utterly crazy in a funny kind of way :P

MOM - JOB DESCRIPTION

POSITION TITLE:
Mother, Mom, Mum, Mama, Mommy, Ma, Mater

JOB DESCRIPTION :
Long term, team players needed, for challenging permanent work in an often chaotic environment. Candidates must possess excellent communication and organizational skills and be willing to work variable hours, which will include evenings and weekends and frequent 24 hour shifts on call. Some overnight travel required, including trips to primitive camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments in far away cities. Travel expenses not reimbursed. Extensive courier duties also required.

RESPONSIBILITIES :
The rest of your life. Must be willing to be hated, at least temporarily, until someone needs money. Must be willing to bite tongue repeatedly. Also, must possess the physical stamina of a pack mule and be able to go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds flat in case, this time, the screams from the backyard are not someone just crying wolf. Must be willing to face stimulating technical challenges, such as small gadget repair, mysteriously sluggish toilets and stuck zippers. Must screen phone calls, maintain calendars and coordinate production of multiple homework projects. Must have ability to plan and organize social gatherings for clients of all ages and mental outlooks. Must be willing to be indispensable one minute, an embarrassment the next. Must handle assembly and product safety testing of a half million cheap, plastic toys, and battery operated devices. Must always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst. Must assume final, complete accountability for the quality of the end product. Responsibilities also include floor maintenance and janitorial work throughout the facility.

POSSIBILITY FOR ADVANCEMENT &PROMOTION :
Virtually none. Your job is to remain in the same position for years, without complaining, constantly retraining and updating your skills, so that those in your charge can ultimately surpass you

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE :
None required unfortunately. On-the-job training offered on a continually exhausting basis.

WAGES AND COMPENSATION :
Get this! You pay them! Offering frequent raises and bonuses. A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 because of the assumption that college will help them become financially independent. When you die, you give them whatever is left. The oddest thing about this reverse-salary scheme is that you actually enjoy it and wish you could only do more.

BENEFITS:
While no health or dental insurance, no pension, no tuition reimbursement, no paid holidays and no stock options are offered; this job supplies limitless opportunities for personal growth and free hugs for life if you play your cards right.

Forward this on to all the Moms you know, in appreciation for everything they do on a daily basis, and let them know they are appreciated!

On Reading

2007-05-08T16:59:00.000+07:00

Being an avid reader, here is one addition caution that should be added:

"The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them."
-Mark Twain

As Fate Takes You...

2007-05-02T19:54:00.000+07:00

Its been quite a while since my childhood years. One of the things that I've remembered well then was about wild dreams of a future there to be conquered. Some of those things dreamt where plain silly. Some of them were plan audacious. However after every passing year since childhood and as adulthood approaches, it seems that the window of opportunity seems to close little by little as reality sets in. What grandiose dreams were then changed, deemed too unrealistic to be true. Though the goals has been set from the sky down to just a jumping height, somehow it is quite funny to look back today and figure that all that most of my immediate goals were accomplished.

This is the problem of aiming too realistically and maybe in a sense too low. Once you do that, somehow when you reach the goal, it makes you kind of less fulfilled. In the hindsight if I did aim too high, the sense of anxiety from not being able to fulfill your potential is another bad feeling that is hard to get rid of.

So what does the future hold? Hard to say. At times it sounds like a good idea and just take a short step backwards to think and reflect on all that is done, reevaluate goals and just keep walking forwards to whereever fate takes me. It will be a fun and exciting road this year it things go as it is. Once more things are finalized, I will promise to write a little more about myself - though as you notice I hardly do that - being as emotionally detached at times as I usually am.

F Never Changes

2007-04-12T18:36:00.000+07:00

Just to make a long matter short, there was a smash hit song called "Love Never Changes" by a local artist called Tik Shiro. In the late 80s and 90s, Tik Shiro has been one of the most popular singers in Thailand. He was known to be a great drummer, plays many musical instruments, a composer, a producers, a singer, and also a great dancer. However in the late 90s up the early 2000s, he pretty much disappeared from the music scene. Most of my peers, or people of the younger generation pretty much ridicule him as an ugly singer, with stupid songs, and who imitates Michael Jackson. That is pretty irksome especially when I go to the Karaoke and open some of his older songs.

Just a year back, he was back with a new album with Grammy Entertainment which was called "Boran (Ancient Man)" which seems to make fun of his past. Anyway, strangely enough, his song "Love Never Changes (Rak Mai Yom Paien Plang)" became one of the biggest hits of the year, and made him extremely popular with the newer generation of fans. Though I don't like the new album like some of his older vintage albums, it is still a solid offering, much of the old stuff, but with a better PR and marketing. Anyway, from all of that, the good thing is that I don't get ridicule anymore for playing his songs on the Karaoke Machine :P

Coming back to the subject mater about F Never Changes, I just happen to drop on a music video posted by a student from ABAC (Assumption University) where I teach, a video at a local online video sharing website. He has covered the song that I mentioned earlier with his (supposedly or real?) struggles with his studies which ended up with Fs. Anyway, at the end of the song, the message was simple - never give up.

Just one more short note from me. Never give up, but don't forget to learn from your mistakes also!

To view the video, follow the following link:
http://video.mthai.com/player.php?id=2M1176266554M268

A Notebook Reunion of the Past!

2007-04-10T23:20:00.000+07:00

Yesterday I was just looking for a few interesting pictures to add to one of the presentation that I was supposed to speak at Silapakorn University. During the process I happen to pick up one old picture that still gives me a laugh. As there are classroom reunion, in this case, a collection of notebook computer from a number of guests that visited my home.

On a short note, if I actually placed all the desktops at my home, then it would also be even more interesting. Unfortunately, we were lazy to move the desktops because they were heavy, so this was all we could do with our limited resources.