Don't fix what ain't broke.
One good example is reinstalling windows in your computer. Don't do it, unless it is really broke. I keep on forgetting this rule, and reinstaling windows is a huge grief for me :(
Monday, October 23, 2006
Lady's Day for Me?
Yesterday I received a letter from my credit card company. As usual, most mailings form my credit card company usually include only advertisement for services and new products. What irks me though is that yesterday, the latest package I've received was called - Lady's Day Special and it includes lots of products and services that might be interesting for the other gender. On a short note, would I be interested in them? Hmm... Talk about misguided marketing.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
A Story
Just a story I got in my mail dedicated to one broken hearted friend...
นานมาแล้วชั้นเคยถูกจับให้ไปเล่นเกมๆ นึงแบบที่ชั้นไม่เต็มใจ แต่พอเล่นไปแล้วก้อประทับใจมากเลยทีเดียว มันเป็นเกมเกี่ยวกับความรัก...
...มีคนตั้งขึ้นมาว่า จะมีสะพานไม้เล็กๆ อยู่ ให้เดินไปจนถึงโดยที่หลับตา ถ้าใครสามารถเดินไปถึงได้โดยไม่ตกลงมา คุณและคู่รักของคุณจะเป็นเนื้อคู่กันตลอดไป...
ทุกคนจึงพยายามเดินแล้วหลายรอบ แต่ก้อตกลงมาทุกที บางคนถึงกับคิดว่าชั้นคงไม่มีเนื้อคู่แล้วล่ะสิ
จนมีคนๆ นึงเดินไปถึง และไม่ตกลงมา ทุกคนก้อถามว่าเดินยังไงหละถึงไม่ตก..พอคนๆ นั้นตอบทุกคนก้อเงียบไปเลย
เค้าบอกว่า "ชั้นแอบลืมตาเดินไง"...
ลองคิดดูดิ
เพื่อความรัก ทุกคนยอมหลับตา.. และยอมปฏิเสธสิ่งต่างๆ ที่ทุกคนผ่านมัน โดยไม่มองอะไรเลย.. เค้าสั่งให้หลับตาเดินก้อยอม แล้วมันจะไปถึงได้อย่างไร.. ในเมื่อตาเรามองไม่เห็นทาง.. เวลามีความรักลองเปิดตามองให้ไกล.. อย่าปล่อยให้ความรักทำให้ตาบอด.. ถึงแม้ลืมตาเดินแล้วยังตกลงมาอีกก้อคงไม่เจ็บเท่าตกลงมาเพราะหลับตาเดิน.. เพราะเราจะรู้ว่าต้องตกท่าไหนจึงจะเจ็บน้อยที่สุด..........
Monday, September 25, 2006
Rain, Rain, Go Away!
Last week, I had a football match scheduled against an Indian football team. Just as I was ready and rearing to go along with the rest of my squad, we have received a short phone call that the Football match was cancelled because there was rain, and the pitch was too soft and wet for playing football.
That really took the wind out of our team, and we spent the remaining of the team excessively bored out of our minds before putting our misery to rest by going out to eat some japanese barbecue buffet. For our opponent, I heard that the night before the scheduled competition, our opponent were on a crazy mode trying to assemble a team to compete with our team that many in their team cancelled their planned vacation.
Anyway, for the next weekend, we were planning to reschedule our match. Hopefully it won't be rained out this time :P
On related news, I've finally got my DSLite. Thanks Bic for getting it for me from Japan :)
That really took the wind out of our team, and we spent the remaining of the team excessively bored out of our minds before putting our misery to rest by going out to eat some japanese barbecue buffet. For our opponent, I heard that the night before the scheduled competition, our opponent were on a crazy mode trying to assemble a team to compete with our team that many in their team cancelled their planned vacation.
Anyway, for the next weekend, we were planning to reschedule our match. Hopefully it won't be rained out this time :P
On related news, I've finally got my DSLite. Thanks Bic for getting it for me from Japan :)
Monday, September 18, 2006
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Reverse Engineering a Song
During my younger years, I remember that a number of musically talented friends have this uncanny ability to be able to transcribe music after hearing it a few times. Some of them were more proficient, being able to play sections of the music immediately after the first few listens. Some of them take some time to slowly extract note by note for the whole song. For myself since I'm lazy and not really confident of my ear, I usually use the internet to find MIDI songs and get the sheet music from there.
I used to have this joke that when we are trying to get the song back without the notes it becomes the process of reverse engineering. If you are in a computer program development field, you know that reverse engineering is the closest you can get to that process in Music - in which I don't know what it is called exactly. To me, I find using the computer is the easiest way :P
During the last month at my music class, my saxophone instructor told me that he wanted me to join one of the bands in the school and play a song at the annual "end of the year talent show". I was kind of relunctant to accept that considering that I started to play the saxophone just as a relaxing hobby and I didn't have time to schedule practice with other people considering my rather loaded workload.
Since my instructor said that there isn't any need to join a band, I decided it might be possible to play a simple piece. Initially I thought about finding a midi/music backing track, turn off the saxophone part and play over it. That would be simple as the notes are already there, so basically I had the sheet music of the song.
After taking some more to decide, I wanted to play a minimum piece in which had the fewest instruments on it. After deciding for a while, I got stuck on a piece called Forgotten Saga from the fusion jazz band called T-Square. A video is embedded below:
After a few listen, I wanted to play that piece. The bad news is that I don't have the sheet music. I decided then to start extracting the notes by ear. After a few hours of frustration, I managed to extract nearly the whole song (some slight mistakes there nad here), though I excluded the whole ending improvising session which I plan to end the piece before that part in my new simplified version.
If I ever happen to record the piece, I'll place it back here again.
I used to have this joke that when we are trying to get the song back without the notes it becomes the process of reverse engineering. If you are in a computer program development field, you know that reverse engineering is the closest you can get to that process in Music - in which I don't know what it is called exactly. To me, I find using the computer is the easiest way :P
During the last month at my music class, my saxophone instructor told me that he wanted me to join one of the bands in the school and play a song at the annual "end of the year talent show". I was kind of relunctant to accept that considering that I started to play the saxophone just as a relaxing hobby and I didn't have time to schedule practice with other people considering my rather loaded workload.
Since my instructor said that there isn't any need to join a band, I decided it might be possible to play a simple piece. Initially I thought about finding a midi/music backing track, turn off the saxophone part and play over it. That would be simple as the notes are already there, so basically I had the sheet music of the song.
After taking some more to decide, I wanted to play a minimum piece in which had the fewest instruments on it. After deciding for a while, I got stuck on a piece called Forgotten Saga from the fusion jazz band called T-Square. A video is embedded below:
After a few listen, I wanted to play that piece. The bad news is that I don't have the sheet music. I decided then to start extracting the notes by ear. After a few hours of frustration, I managed to extract nearly the whole song (some slight mistakes there nad here), though I excluded the whole ending improvising session which I plan to end the piece before that part in my new simplified version.
If I ever happen to record the piece, I'll place it back here again.
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Which do you prefer?
I was pondering on a few things the last few days and I can't seem to get it out of my head. I was wondering what would be better to do. If given the choice would you prefer to do as many job as possible (get the most money but have the least time), or simply just do nothing and enjoy the peace and free time?
Can't make a decision yet, but at the moment, I'm trying to load balance my schedules better.
Can't make a decision yet, but at the moment, I'm trying to load balance my schedules better.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
I want an EWI :P
One of the instruments I want to buy at the moment is called an EWI or Electronic Wind Instrument
Why do I want to buy one? Well you could check a few videos from the following link - awesomeness :P
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIceng7XaFs
Why do I want to buy one? Well you could check a few videos from the following link - awesomeness :P
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIceng7XaFs
Monday, August 28, 2006
Malta!?
When I was studying, one of my favorite hobbies was that me and a group of friends would go off for a drive to different parts around the vicinity of Bangkok to find interesting places to eat. One of the things you have to check out before hopping on any car for an extended period of time is to figure out the driver's musical taste. Luckily the designated driver is a jazz fan, and it turns out that most of us in the car are also jazz fans. During our drives, we managed to exchange a few albums and recommendations since Jazz didn't have that much airtime in the past.
Anyway, one of our favorite album was from a artist called Malta who plays fusion jazz with his saxophone. The only thing other than that was that we know he is Japanese, and that is probably it. In all of his albums that we had, (we had about 5 of them) a strange note is that there was never a picture of the artist nor anything explaining about the album. As most artists are quite vain, you would see their pictures adorned every possible place in the album. On a strange note, you won't see anything on Malta's album O_o
I thought about decoding that point, and our group tried to find more information with the use of the WWW. However, with such a typical name as Malta, googling didn't really turn up with anything useful also.
I just thought a few minutes ago that I was bored of work and needed something else to think about. After opening a few Malta songs from the Best of Malta Album I couldn't help wonder but figure that if after a few years, maybe I could find some more information. After a short googling session, I finally found it:
http://www.platinum.co.th/artistinfo.aspx?artistcode=AR00044&LocalID=2
Now I finally figured the 8 year old mystery :P
Anyway, one of our favorite album was from a artist called Malta who plays fusion jazz with his saxophone. The only thing other than that was that we know he is Japanese, and that is probably it. In all of his albums that we had, (we had about 5 of them) a strange note is that there was never a picture of the artist nor anything explaining about the album. As most artists are quite vain, you would see their pictures adorned every possible place in the album. On a strange note, you won't see anything on Malta's album O_o
I thought about decoding that point, and our group tried to find more information with the use of the WWW. However, with such a typical name as Malta, googling didn't really turn up with anything useful also.
I just thought a few minutes ago that I was bored of work and needed something else to think about. After opening a few Malta songs from the Best of Malta Album I couldn't help wonder but figure that if after a few years, maybe I could find some more information. After a short googling session, I finally found it:
http://www.platinum.co.th/artistinfo.aspx?artistcode=AR00044&LocalID=2
Now I finally figured the 8 year old mystery :P
Monday, August 21, 2006
Two Friends
I got this tale from one of my friends. I liked it alot and wanted to share it.
TWO FRIENDS
This is a story about two friends who were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other in the face.
The one who got slapped was hurt but, without saying anything, wrote in the sand:
TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE.
They kept on walking until they found an oasis where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him. After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone:
TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE.
The friend who slapped and saved his best friend asked him, "After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand, and now you write on a stone. Why?"
The other friend replied, "When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it."
LEARN TO WRITE YOUR HURTS IN THE SAND AND TO CARVE YOUR BENEFITS IN STONE.
They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate him/her, a day to love but then an entire life to forget him/her.
TWO FRIENDS
This is a story about two friends who were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other in the face.
The one who got slapped was hurt but, without saying anything, wrote in the sand:
TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE.
They kept on walking until they found an oasis where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him. After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone:
TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE.
The friend who slapped and saved his best friend asked him, "After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand, and now you write on a stone. Why?"
The other friend replied, "When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it."
LEARN TO WRITE YOUR HURTS IN THE SAND AND TO CARVE YOUR BENEFITS IN STONE.
They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate him/her, a day to love but then an entire life to forget him/her.
Monday, August 07, 2006
Cruising in the Office
During the last few days, I was completely bored out of my mind in my office working on my projects. Though my office is one of the most hip office in the campus, the major drawback is that it is rather isolated and far from most other people. At times it can get alittle lonely considering the lack of human interaction here, so I usually have a huge stack of CDs around my office just to make sure the days aren't too dreary.
It was just that I was extremely bored with the CD selection at my office, I just thought about listening to the Internet Radio, and I did a little googling. I found one site that suites my tastes well, which was FM98.5. Might want to take that station for a ride :)
It was just that I was extremely bored with the CD selection at my office, I just thought about listening to the Internet Radio, and I did a little googling. I found one site that suites my tastes well, which was FM98.5. Might want to take that station for a ride :)
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
7 Days of Work Per Work
During the next few months or so, I'm going to be in a 7 days a week work-cycle. That means working all day and night. As being a rather dedicated person, I just have to make some sacrifices to make the schedule fit. One of the first fixes I used was to stop playing video games. The next thing that dropped was TV. With a little more time management, things should turn out well :)
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Rules Kids Won't Learn in School
I liked the following quotes from the book Dumbing Down Our Kids: Why American Children Feel Good About Themselves But Can't Read, Write, Or Add. by
Charles J. Sykes which is somewhat oddly miscredited to various sources.
Rule No. 1: Life is not fair. Get used to it. The average teen-ager uses the phrase "It's not fair" 8.6 times a day. You got it from your parents, who said it so often you decided they must be the most idealistic generation ever. When they started hearing it from their own kids, they realized Rule No. 1.
Rule No. 2: The real world won't care as much about your self-esteem as much as your school does. It'll expect you to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself. This may come as a shock. Usually, when inflated self-esteem meets reality, kids complain that it's not fair. (See Rule No. 1)
Rule No. 3: Sorry, you won't make $40,000 a year right out of high school. And you won't be a vice president or have a car phone either. You may even have to wear a uniform that doesn't have a Gap label.
Rule No. 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait 'til you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure, so he tends to be a bit edgier. When you screw up, he's not going to ask you how you feel about it.
Rule No. 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping. They called it opportunity. They weren't embarrassed making minimum wage either. They would have been embarrassed to sit around talking about Kurt Cobain all weekend.
Rule No. 6: It's not your parents' fault. If you screw up, you are responsible. This is the flip side of "It's my life," and "You're not the boss of me," and other eloquent proclamations of your generation. When you turn 18, it's on your dime. Don't whine about it, or you'll sound like a baby boomer.
Rule No. 7: Before you were born your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way paying your bills, cleaning up your room and listening to you tell them how idealistic you are. And by the way, before you save the rain forest from the blood-sucking parasites of your parents' generation, try delousing the closet in your bedroom.
Rule No. 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers. Life hasn't. In some schools, they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. Failing grades have been abolished and class valedictorians scrapped, lest anyone's feelings be hurt. Effort is as important as results. This, of course, bears not the slightest resemblance to anything in real life. (See Rule No. 1, Rule No. 2 and Rule No. 4.)
Rule No. 9: Life is not divided into semesters, and you don't get summers off. Not even Easter break. They expect you to show up every day. For eight hours. And you don't get a new life every 10 weeks. It just goes on and on. While we're at it, very few jobs are interested in fostering your self-expression or helping you find yourself. Fewer still lead to self-realization. (See Rule No. 1 and Rule No. 2.)
Rule No. 10: Television is not real life. Your life is not a sitcom. Your problems will not all be solved in 30 minutes, minus time for commercials. In real life, people actually have to leave the coffee shop to go to jobs. Your friends will not be as perky or pliable as Jennifer Aniston.
Rule No. 11: Be nice to nerds. You may end up working for them. We all could.
Rule No. 12: Smoking does not make you look cool. It makes you look moronic. Next time you're out cruising, watch an 11-year-old with a butt in his mouth. That's what you look like to anyone over 20. Ditto for "expressing yourself" with purple hair and/or pierced body parts.
Rule No. 13: You are not immortal. (See Rule No. 12.) If you are under the impression that living fast, dying young and leaving a beautiful corpse is romantic, you obviously haven't seen one of your peers at room temperature lately.
Rule No. 14: Enjoy this while you can. Sure parents are a pain, school's a bother, and life is depressing. But someday you'll realize how wonderful it was to be a kid. Maybe you should start now. You're welcome.
Charles J. Sykes which is somewhat oddly miscredited to various sources.
Rule No. 1: Life is not fair. Get used to it. The average teen-ager uses the phrase "It's not fair" 8.6 times a day. You got it from your parents, who said it so often you decided they must be the most idealistic generation ever. When they started hearing it from their own kids, they realized Rule No. 1.
Rule No. 2: The real world won't care as much about your self-esteem as much as your school does. It'll expect you to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself. This may come as a shock. Usually, when inflated self-esteem meets reality, kids complain that it's not fair. (See Rule No. 1)
Rule No. 3: Sorry, you won't make $40,000 a year right out of high school. And you won't be a vice president or have a car phone either. You may even have to wear a uniform that doesn't have a Gap label.
Rule No. 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait 'til you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure, so he tends to be a bit edgier. When you screw up, he's not going to ask you how you feel about it.
Rule No. 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping. They called it opportunity. They weren't embarrassed making minimum wage either. They would have been embarrassed to sit around talking about Kurt Cobain all weekend.
Rule No. 6: It's not your parents' fault. If you screw up, you are responsible. This is the flip side of "It's my life," and "You're not the boss of me," and other eloquent proclamations of your generation. When you turn 18, it's on your dime. Don't whine about it, or you'll sound like a baby boomer.
Rule No. 7: Before you were born your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way paying your bills, cleaning up your room and listening to you tell them how idealistic you are. And by the way, before you save the rain forest from the blood-sucking parasites of your parents' generation, try delousing the closet in your bedroom.
Rule No. 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers. Life hasn't. In some schools, they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. Failing grades have been abolished and class valedictorians scrapped, lest anyone's feelings be hurt. Effort is as important as results. This, of course, bears not the slightest resemblance to anything in real life. (See Rule No. 1, Rule No. 2 and Rule No. 4.)
Rule No. 9: Life is not divided into semesters, and you don't get summers off. Not even Easter break. They expect you to show up every day. For eight hours. And you don't get a new life every 10 weeks. It just goes on and on. While we're at it, very few jobs are interested in fostering your self-expression or helping you find yourself. Fewer still lead to self-realization. (See Rule No. 1 and Rule No. 2.)
Rule No. 10: Television is not real life. Your life is not a sitcom. Your problems will not all be solved in 30 minutes, minus time for commercials. In real life, people actually have to leave the coffee shop to go to jobs. Your friends will not be as perky or pliable as Jennifer Aniston.
Rule No. 11: Be nice to nerds. You may end up working for them. We all could.
Rule No. 12: Smoking does not make you look cool. It makes you look moronic. Next time you're out cruising, watch an 11-year-old with a butt in his mouth. That's what you look like to anyone over 20. Ditto for "expressing yourself" with purple hair and/or pierced body parts.
Rule No. 13: You are not immortal. (See Rule No. 12.) If you are under the impression that living fast, dying young and leaving a beautiful corpse is romantic, you obviously haven't seen one of your peers at room temperature lately.
Rule No. 14: Enjoy this while you can. Sure parents are a pain, school's a bother, and life is depressing. But someday you'll realize how wonderful it was to be a kid. Maybe you should start now. You're welcome.
Attitude
After donating blood yesterday, I found myself to be feeling good about doing another good deed, but the lack of blood is kind of hindering me at the moment. It gives me this mood swings that usually end with a downcast aftertaste.
When thinking about this topic over and over again in this unproductive weekend, I happen to associate it that with two factors that can sway a country's mood.
1) Economy
2) Political Atmosphere
If the country's economy is strong and the political atmosphere is stable, that country is extremely happy. If the country has good economy but bad political atmosphere, at least people can spend and be happy. If the country is weak in economics but stable in politics, people will also be happy because they know that the economy can easily turn back up based on good goverance.
What makes a country ill is bad economy and political atmosphere. What worriese me at this moment is that our country is suffering from that.
Anyway, since I'm been diagnosed to have a rather high blood pressure at this moment, I think its a good time to just enjoy life and take it easy for another while.
When thinking about this topic over and over again in this unproductive weekend, I happen to associate it that with two factors that can sway a country's mood.
1) Economy
2) Political Atmosphere
If the country's economy is strong and the political atmosphere is stable, that country is extremely happy. If the country has good economy but bad political atmosphere, at least people can spend and be happy. If the country is weak in economics but stable in politics, people will also be happy because they know that the economy can easily turn back up based on good goverance.
What makes a country ill is bad economy and political atmosphere. What worriese me at this moment is that our country is suffering from that.
Anyway, since I'm been diagnosed to have a rather high blood pressure at this moment, I think its a good time to just enjoy life and take it easy for another while.
Monday, July 10, 2006
Post World Cup Reactions
During the last month, life has been pretty monotonous. The routine was simple. Watch football from 21:00 to 4:00. I'm not surprised when people like to say, the World Cup is one month disease where people come to work like a zombie. I have to admit that I would also be guilty of the same crime...
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Recommended Internet Text Based Game - Travian
I just thought about mentioning about a new game I'm playing right now. It is a simple text based game called Travian(http://www.travian.com). We basically build up a town, try to make it a triving town, and go out to conquer weaker towns in the vinicity.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Strange Story of a Rampage
I found a strange story about a person rampage through the town. If you read through the story, it provides mixed emotions. Try reading about it:
http://www.geocities.com/Northstarzone/BULLDOZER.html
http://forums.starkingdoms.com/viewtopic.php?t=38163&start=0
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Heemeyer
http://www.geocities.com/Northstarzone/BULLDOZER.html
http://forums.starkingdoms.com/viewtopic.php?t=38163&start=0
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Heemeyer
Monday, June 19, 2006
Fixed Glow Effect in my Game
After some more tinkering with my game, I've managed to finish the glow effect properly. After implementing with my game, the below picture should show it well:
If you noticed, the picture is still rather alittle two glowish, but based on the specification this is what we planned in the start, making the character alittle unreal by adding the aura. However I still find it to be alittle too excessive, so I might change some of the factors in the combination part to make this better.
Anyway for those who don't really know what the glow effect does, I'll show you another two screenshots from a testbed app, in which the first picture is the original picture, and the picture after that is when I implemented the glow system inside. Makes a pretty huge difference doesn't it?
If you noticed, the picture is still rather alittle two glowish, but based on the specification this is what we planned in the start, making the character alittle unreal by adding the aura. However I still find it to be alittle too excessive, so I might change some of the factors in the combination part to make this better.
Anyway for those who don't really know what the glow effect does, I'll show you another two screenshots from a testbed app, in which the first picture is the original picture, and the picture after that is when I implemented the glow system inside. Makes a pretty huge difference doesn't it?
Pictures from the Past
I was just purging my harddisk when I noticed I found a few misplaced pictures lying in a strange directory on my computer. Let me post it here:
In this picture, the Luigi Wonderer Football Club is spending some of their off-season time to visit Bobby's (Who is our CenterBack) new coffee shop. As noted we had a smashing time there :)
In this picture, the Luigi Wonderer Football Club is spending some of their off-season time to visit Bobby's (Who is our CenterBack) new coffee shop. As noted we had a smashing time there :)
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Rendering Engine Changes
During the last few days of this week, I was working on the new rendering engine extension to my game. The pictures below are samples of the original game before the rendering engine changes.
What I did was to add shader support. The first attempt went off bad, and what happened at the end was that I messed up the whole rendering part and instead of getting a glow effect, I had a a double mirror image that was completely wrong.
After some more programming, I ended up fixing the rendering part to be correct, though at the moment the image is completely saturated. Seems that I need some more time to fix it...
What I did was to add shader support. The first attempt went off bad, and what happened at the end was that I messed up the whole rendering part and instead of getting a glow effect, I had a a double mirror image that was completely wrong.
After some more programming, I ended up fixing the rendering part to be correct, though at the moment the image is completely saturated. Seems that I need some more time to fix it...
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Stupid Lawyers
An interesting read on how obnoxious some lawyers are:
http://money.cnn.com/2006/06/07/magazines/fortune/rps_fortune/
Judge orders lawyers to play game
Acrimonious attorneys told to settle dispute by playing a round of 'rock, paper, scissors.'
FORTUNE Magazine
By Roger Parloff, FORTUNE senior writer
June 7, 2006: 1:06 PM EDT
NEW YORK (FORTUNE) - Faced with the inability of two bickering attorneys to resolve even the most innocuous scheduling questions without his intervention, a Florida federal judge yesterday ordered the two to meet on the steps of the federal courthouse and resolve their latest quarrel by playing "one (1) game of 'rock, paper, scissors.' " (Read the ruling.)
Judge Gregory A. Presnell of Orlando ordered the unusual measure, which he characterized as "a new form of alternative dispute resolution," after the two Tampa attorneys had proven unable to agree upon where to hold a deposition, even though both of their offices are just four floors away in the very same building in Tampa.
Defense attorney D. Lee Craig, of Butler Pappas Weihmuller Katz Craig, proposed holding the deposition in his office, but plaintiffs' attorney David J. Pettinato of Merlin Law Group wanted it to take place at the court reporter's office down the street.
The Solomonic ruling comes in an insurance dispute filed last September by Avista Management against Wausau Underwriters Insurance Co.
Characterizing the disagreement as "the latest in a series of Gordian knots that the parties have been unable to untangle without enlisting the assistance of the federal courts," Judge Presnell ordered each attorney, "accompanied by one paralegal who shall act as an attendant and witness," to play the dispositive round of RPS on June 30.
"The winner of this engagement shall be entitled to select the location of the . . . deposition," he ruled, so long as it was within Hillsborough County.
In an interview, plaintiff's lawyer Pettinato says, "I'm going to comply with the court's order to the letter." Defense lawyer Craig did not respond to a phone message, while Judge Presnell, 63, who was appointed to the bench by President Bill Clinton in 2000, declined comment. Top of page
http://money.cnn.com/2006/06/07/magazines/fortune/rps_fortune/
Judge orders lawyers to play game
Acrimonious attorneys told to settle dispute by playing a round of 'rock, paper, scissors.'
FORTUNE Magazine
By Roger Parloff, FORTUNE senior writer
June 7, 2006: 1:06 PM EDT
NEW YORK (FORTUNE) - Faced with the inability of two bickering attorneys to resolve even the most innocuous scheduling questions without his intervention, a Florida federal judge yesterday ordered the two to meet on the steps of the federal courthouse and resolve their latest quarrel by playing "one (1) game of 'rock, paper, scissors.' " (Read the ruling.)
Judge Gregory A. Presnell of Orlando ordered the unusual measure, which he characterized as "a new form of alternative dispute resolution," after the two Tampa attorneys had proven unable to agree upon where to hold a deposition, even though both of their offices are just four floors away in the very same building in Tampa.
Defense attorney D. Lee Craig, of Butler Pappas Weihmuller Katz Craig, proposed holding the deposition in his office, but plaintiffs' attorney David J. Pettinato of Merlin Law Group wanted it to take place at the court reporter's office down the street.
The Solomonic ruling comes in an insurance dispute filed last September by Avista Management against Wausau Underwriters Insurance Co.
Characterizing the disagreement as "the latest in a series of Gordian knots that the parties have been unable to untangle without enlisting the assistance of the federal courts," Judge Presnell ordered each attorney, "accompanied by one paralegal who shall act as an attendant and witness," to play the dispositive round of RPS on June 30.
"The winner of this engagement shall be entitled to select the location of the . . . deposition," he ruled, so long as it was within Hillsborough County.
In an interview, plaintiff's lawyer Pettinato says, "I'm going to comply with the court's order to the letter." Defense lawyer Craig did not respond to a phone message, while Judge Presnell, 63, who was appointed to the bench by President Bill Clinton in 2000, declined comment. Top of page
MSOffice Clone Online
I've just found a great website in which you can create MSOffice compatible documents online. In addition to that you can also create PDFs, DOC files from the internet, and also share your file for free with other people in the Internet.
The site is http://www.thinkfree.com and I highly recommend for those who regularly have to do document work :)
The site is http://www.thinkfree.com and I highly recommend for those who regularly have to do document work :)
Monday, June 05, 2006
Busy with Work
During the last few weeks, I have been extremely busy with work. When thinking about it, sometimes its easy to forget the time and the effort I've spend on getting things done that at the end of the day when another task is done, its satisfying to admire the tremendous amount of work done. On a hindsight, I wonder how could I remember things that I did. Talking about this topic, it reminded of a picture I received from a chain letter quite a while back. Quite a good way to explain how life is like these days :P
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Two New Books for Me!
I just visited the bookstore to find something new to read. One of my favorite sections was the history section where I usually like browsing through biographies of personalities that shaped the world as they are today. Another section that I liked alot are the Classics section. As opposed to modern books that are rather expensive, the great part about Classic books is that they are considerably cheaper. During my foray there, I got two new books. The first book I got myself was On War by Carl von Clausewitz. That book is considered to be one of the most important book in the warfare literature that is utilized by many modern military men of this era. Another book that I picked up was Rights of Man which was written by Thomas Paine who many considered as one of the important thinkers that provided the model for the current social welfare programs that are used today. Though I don't believe in the actual benefits of many of the programs suggested by his ground breaking transcript, I do have to point I agree with many of his idealistic ideals on a number of different topics. Talking about that book, the following quote outlines one of my current concern today:
Many things in the English Government appear to me the reverse of what they ought to be and what they are said to be. The Parliament, imperfectly and capriciously elected as it is, is nevertheless supposed to hold the national purse in trust for the nation; but in the manner in which an English Parliament is constructed it is like a man being both the mortgager and mortgagee, and in the case of misapplication of trust it is the criminal sitting in the judgement himself.
- From Rights of Man by Thomas Paine
Many things in the English Government appear to me the reverse of what they ought to be and what they are said to be. The Parliament, imperfectly and capriciously elected as it is, is nevertheless supposed to hold the national purse in trust for the nation; but in the manner in which an English Parliament is constructed it is like a man being both the mortgager and mortgagee, and in the case of misapplication of trust it is the criminal sitting in the judgement himself.
- From Rights of Man by Thomas Paine
Saturday, May 20, 2006
Screenshots from My Dev Team
I remember I used to say that I started development on a new game. Attached are some screenshots on the current progress of the project which is going along rather on schedule. We are working on making maps of Hell, and below are some of the screenshots of the game.
The picture above shows a first person viewpoint of the a certain scene in the game showing the hot lava and copper pots were sinners are boiled in.
Just a scenic viewpoint and the character rendered in 3rd person. As noted my game has actually 6 types of custom cameras in addition to the 2 systems that are already included. As you know, I like to tinker with things :P
In this picture I was just showing some strange color particles, nothing much more than that.
Oh well that sums up part of what has been a very busy last forthnight.
The picture above shows a first person viewpoint of the a certain scene in the game showing the hot lava and copper pots were sinners are boiled in.
Just a scenic viewpoint and the character rendered in 3rd person. As noted my game has actually 6 types of custom cameras in addition to the 2 systems that are already included. As you know, I like to tinker with things :P
In this picture I was just showing some strange color particles, nothing much more than that.
Oh well that sums up part of what has been a very busy last forthnight.
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Jamming Session
During the last week one of my old friend Saj popped over from England for a visit and we just had a short jamming session. If you looked at the photo, you can notice its a pretty strange session :P
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Winning the Virtual World Cup
One of my favorite sports is Football. However playing football in the real world is pretty hard considering many factors like finding at least 11 football players in our team, finding an opponent to play against, finding a football field, and figuring how to get everyone there. Due to all those issues, we found that playing virtual football as a team is certainly a easier thing to do. A few days ago, our football team assembled at my home, and we played Winning Eleven which is our favorite football game on the PS2.
In Winning Elevenwe usually compete in the World Cup(International Cup) and all of us would be playing in the same team. As being in the same football team, most of us have good knowledge on positioning issues. In this time around, we decided to create our players in Saudi Arabia and create arab sounding variations of our nicks. The last time we played this game, we were in Japan, and we made some seriously strange variations of our names. One example was like my little bro who was called Dan, and his character was called Danimaru.
After a number of matches we won the tournament and looking back at it I have to admit that stuff is something only homies would be proud of :P
The picture above is our team just strutting around before the award ceremony.
The captain of the team, Dan Shirani waiting to lift the trophy.
Lifting the trophy.
Starting the celebration. My character is just left of the captain. My largest contribution in the team was in the finals were after falling behind my 1 goal and 1 assist we managed to win the tournament :)
Who let the monkeys out?
Going for a lap of honor...
before partying throughout the night :P
In Winning Elevenwe usually compete in the World Cup(International Cup) and all of us would be playing in the same team. As being in the same football team, most of us have good knowledge on positioning issues. In this time around, we decided to create our players in Saudi Arabia and create arab sounding variations of our nicks. The last time we played this game, we were in Japan, and we made some seriously strange variations of our names. One example was like my little bro who was called Dan, and his character was called Danimaru.
After a number of matches we won the tournament and looking back at it I have to admit that stuff is something only homies would be proud of :P
The picture above is our team just strutting around before the award ceremony.
The captain of the team, Dan Shirani waiting to lift the trophy.
Lifting the trophy.
Starting the celebration. My character is just left of the captain. My largest contribution in the team was in the finals were after falling behind my 1 goal and 1 assist we managed to win the tournament :)
Who let the monkeys out?
Going for a lap of honor...
before partying throughout the night :P
Monday, May 08, 2006
Recommended Site: AweZoom - Flash and Music
During my younger years when I was composing music, I happen to like to listen to lesser known musicians from all around the world. One of the music scene that I was intrigued by was this MOD format. For those who don't know, the MOD format is the Amiga format for music. Amiga is one of the world's most popular computers during its days, and is known for its high quality audio and video production software. One of the formats used in music was called the MOD format or module format. What the MOD format was in essence was that in the MOD file, it contains samples of the music and also how it is played similar to the MIDI file. What the MOD file was famous for was the ability to provide high quality music (by using the in file sample) at a small size. It provides higher quality music than the MIDI format (as the sample in the file is usually higher quality than the synthesized sound of the MIDI soundcard), and is a fraction of the size of an actual sampled recording. As the MOD format being a fringe format, the format was never popularized in the PC users, and later with soundcards such as the SoundBlaster Live! having programmable wave tables (SoundFonts), the MOD file were of less relevance.
Many earlier online and computer musicians used this format, and I've managed to hear many great songs from many different artists who have been sharing their work through the Internet through this format. One of the artist that I remembered his music well was a DJ (or trackers) named Awesome (or Awezoom), in which I had the pleasure to happen to find one of his gems - For a New World, which is one of my favorite musical pieces up to this day.
Anyway, a few days ago, I decided to take a look around to see if any of these trackers I've listened to earlier had any web presence. During my searches, I found the website of the tracker Awesome at http://www.awezoom.com/. Do take some time to visit his site, it is pretty interesting :)
Many earlier online and computer musicians used this format, and I've managed to hear many great songs from many different artists who have been sharing their work through the Internet through this format. One of the artist that I remembered his music well was a DJ (or trackers) named Awesome (or Awezoom), in which I had the pleasure to happen to find one of his gems - For a New World, which is one of my favorite musical pieces up to this day.
Anyway, a few days ago, I decided to take a look around to see if any of these trackers I've listened to earlier had any web presence. During my searches, I found the website of the tracker Awesome at http://www.awezoom.com/. Do take some time to visit his site, it is pretty interesting :)
A Tribute to the Thai Postal System
I just wanted to dedicate this blog about how great our Thai Postal System is. During the last few years, I have usually ordered books that cannot be bought in Thailand. During the last few years and with over a dozen orders, I wanted to point out that the postal service between countries isn't as bad as many people suspect or usually assume it to be.
Let me begin by talking about some of the bad points. I had a few bad experiences with Amazon.com by using the default free shipping. The first case that I had a problem was about a broken CD along with one of the textbook I bought. In this case, since the book was a soft-cover, it was broken during the shipping as the box that was delivered had inadequate padding. In this case, I could easily reclaim the CD. On another bad case I had, the box just simply collapsed during the shipping, and practically destroyed the whole binding of another hardcover book. In this case, I asked for another copy, but since they ran out of copies in stock, Amazon actually gave us the book for free - which was an example of great customer service! My comments for people using Amazon.com is to go for the better shipping service. Though it is more expensive, I do want to point that it is certainly worth the time, trouble, and grief, though I comment that their customer service is good for an online service :)
Anyway, about other services, I don't really have to much to comment except for the last book I bought. The last book I bought, I extremely careless during the part I had to fill the mailing address that I actually forgot to fill in a few very important fields. Let me illustrate.
Suppose my home address(notice the addy is imaginary) was:
512 Clover Street Soi 51
I was so careless I dropped out the house number and the addy turned out to be
Clover Street Soi 51
By the time I managed to contact the customer service, they already had shipped the item. At that time I knew that I was probably about a few thousand baht poorer, but somehow beyond my wildest expectations, the Thai Postal dude managed to actually deliver the book directly to my door address. Now that is why I must dedicate this post to the Thai Postal System. Though many people had bad impressions about them, I do want to point that I could never been happier :)
What I figured was the default Amazon.com shipping isn't really that good due to packaging reasons. I found that Amazon.com usually tries to package books in the same box, and since some of them may be different sizes, some of the boxes
Let me begin by talking about some of the bad points. I had a few bad experiences with Amazon.com by using the default free shipping. The first case that I had a problem was about a broken CD along with one of the textbook I bought. In this case, since the book was a soft-cover, it was broken during the shipping as the box that was delivered had inadequate padding. In this case, I could easily reclaim the CD. On another bad case I had, the box just simply collapsed during the shipping, and practically destroyed the whole binding of another hardcover book. In this case, I asked for another copy, but since they ran out of copies in stock, Amazon actually gave us the book for free - which was an example of great customer service! My comments for people using Amazon.com is to go for the better shipping service. Though it is more expensive, I do want to point that it is certainly worth the time, trouble, and grief, though I comment that their customer service is good for an online service :)
Anyway, about other services, I don't really have to much to comment except for the last book I bought. The last book I bought, I extremely careless during the part I had to fill the mailing address that I actually forgot to fill in a few very important fields. Let me illustrate.
Suppose my home address(notice the addy is imaginary) was:
512 Clover Street Soi 51
I was so careless I dropped out the house number and the addy turned out to be
Clover Street Soi 51
By the time I managed to contact the customer service, they already had shipped the item. At that time I knew that I was probably about a few thousand baht poorer, but somehow beyond my wildest expectations, the Thai Postal dude managed to actually deliver the book directly to my door address. Now that is why I must dedicate this post to the Thai Postal System. Though many people had bad impressions about them, I do want to point that I could never been happier :)
What I figured was the default Amazon.com shipping isn't really that good due to packaging reasons. I found that Amazon.com usually tries to package books in the same box, and since some of them may be different sizes, some of the boxes
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Snapshot
Here is a random snapshot of what I'm feeling today.
Mood: Hungry, Hot, and Indifferent
Wants: Delicious Food!
Needs: To get back in the mood.
Biggest Happiness: Home sweet home!
Biggest Concern: The crazy weather (insanely hot)
Health Concerns: Slightly Injured Finger from Jarring my finger at a basketball
Learning: Cg Programming
Vices: Playing Computer Games
Productivity: 2/10
Happy: 5/10
Plans: Get back to working mood soon, and clear some of the back logs. Go to the bank and transfer some money between my different accts. Go eat some really good food.
Mood: Hungry, Hot, and Indifferent
Wants: Delicious Food!
Needs: To get back in the mood.
Biggest Happiness: Home sweet home!
Biggest Concern: The crazy weather (insanely hot)
Health Concerns: Slightly Injured Finger from Jarring my finger at a basketball
Learning: Cg Programming
Vices: Playing Computer Games
Productivity: 2/10
Happy: 5/10
Plans: Get back to working mood soon, and clear some of the back logs. Go to the bank and transfer some money between my different accts. Go eat some really good food.
Messing around with Mambo
Two weeks ago I was asked to come up with the website of the Faculty of Science and Technology Alumni Party (TelnetSci 2006). One of the requirements I was asked to work on was to make a registration page so that alumnis can register if they wanted to join the party and one of the staff would contact back. Since I was a little lazy to create the site completely from stratch, I've decided to work with modContent Management Systems (CMS). Some of the requirements I had to fulfill was that the registration system must be relatively flexbile as the fields for every user was not fixed yet. Another important info is that the site must be able to list all the registered members sorted by the ID. The last part is that it should relatively easy for the administrator to change or edit the site.
What I used was Mambo and the Community Builder modification. I kind of liked the Mambo CMS because of its simplicity and ease of design. Initially I had some minor difficulties to set up Mambo on my test server, but as usual the subtle difference between MySQL 4.0 and MySQL5.0 does cause some strange errors from place to place so its alittle irritating on the first go. Anyway, the site is nearly up, just waiting for final approval on the workflow and later on to mod the template just a little bit more.
Anyway, haven't been doing websites for a long time. Its such a long time, I have to admit that its easy to be rusty without constant practice :)
What I used was Mambo and the Community Builder modification. I kind of liked the Mambo CMS because of its simplicity and ease of design. Initially I had some minor difficulties to set up Mambo on my test server, but as usual the subtle difference between MySQL 4.0 and MySQL5.0 does cause some strange errors from place to place so its alittle irritating on the first go. Anyway, the site is nearly up, just waiting for final approval on the workflow and later on to mod the template just a little bit more.
Anyway, haven't been doing websites for a long time. Its such a long time, I have to admit that its easy to be rusty without constant practice :)
Friday, April 28, 2006
Dictionary of Programming Languages
I just found an intereating site called Dictionary of Programming Languages while browsing the net. This site lists the major programming languages and a short description that includes the language origins and also some coding sample. If you are a computer science student, I'm sure you'll appreciate it :)
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Rant about Lords of the Ring - Battle for Middle-Earth II
I just bought myself a new game. The game I got was Lords of the Ring - Battle for Middle-Earth II. That game was an awesome RTS game (graphical-wise). On the hindsight, I finished all the single player campaign in about a day and the game kept on crashing. Now I wonder why should they rush the game out if it proves to be so unstable I have to save at every 20 minute interval so that I don't have to replay the stage over again.
In a hindsight it does remind me that the autosave feature is one feature that is indeed very useful and a great fallback to have.
In a hindsight it does remind me that the autosave feature is one feature that is indeed very useful and a great fallback to have.
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Fashion Statement at the Local Election
During election time, I usually come back with a few strange observations from the voting booth. In today's Senate election, I found one of the volunteers with a strange T-Shirt which seem to have some white tape covering a huge part of the shirt. Initially I thought it was some sort of new and weird fashion, but after a short deliberation, I finally figured that the shirt actually had a number on it, and election committees are not supposed to suggest any candidates directly or indirectly. In other words, the shirt she wore was illegal technically, so the tape was there just to cover up the shirt.
On a strange note, I was wearing a sports shorts to the election, and my pants had a number on it. Is this violating any election laws? Thinking about it, I did. Now that is one fashion that I'm not planning to wear the next time to the elections.
On a strange note, I was wearing a sports shorts to the election, and my pants had a number on it. Is this violating any election laws? Thinking about it, I did. Now that is one fashion that I'm not planning to wear the next time to the elections.
Saturday, April 08, 2006
RGB Loading Screen
Try looking at the following flash animation. This reminds me of the games played on some old computers/consoles. During the loading time, we would see a random RGB animation much like the flash piece linked below. If you wonder how long it took, a single game takes between 2-5 minutes to load in those ancient computers! Talking about it, that was such a long time ago LOL
http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/rgb.php
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Top's Car Basketball Team Report
For the last few months or so, I've been playing basketball at my old highschool, EIS (Ekamai International School), with a group of old friends and alumni members during Monday nights. After many months of casual basketball playing, many of the members wanted to have a competition between the 4 major groups in the court, which is divided into the Jek team (consisting mostly of old EIS school basketball team members who happen to be all of Chinese origin), Top's Car (our team, with an assortment of people from all backgrounds, including the only team that has a crippled player), Proflex (incidentally their team leaders are excellent sportsmen who happen to sell the muscle building supplement - proflex), and the Sundae team (a group of Thai Sikh players). After the division, we had a quick laugh that this was similarly to the old International School Alumni Basketball tournament :P
In the course of the last 6 weeks, our team finished a respectable 2nd place, giving the champs a run for their money. Not that the finishing position is important, but the most important thing was that we had a fun time, and it was a great excuse for us to socialize.
The photograph above is the picture of the team I'm in. We call ourselves the Top's Car team, in a short tribute for Top who happens to drive the majority of the members to court. From the top row, me, Bob, Eak, and Top. The bottom rows, Joke, Pong, Nek.
In the course of the last 6 weeks, our team finished a respectable 2nd place, giving the champs a run for their money. Not that the finishing position is important, but the most important thing was that we had a fun time, and it was a great excuse for us to socialize.
The photograph above is the picture of the team I'm in. We call ourselves the Top's Car team, in a short tribute for Top who happens to drive the majority of the members to court. From the top row, me, Bob, Eak, and Top. The bottom rows, Joke, Pong, Nek.
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
True or False?
Do you think the following conversions are true or false?
You might be surprised, but all the conversions are true.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Customer: "I've been ringing 0700 2300 for two days and can't get through to
enquiries, can you help?".
Operator: "Where did you get that number from, sir?".
Customer: "It was on the door to the Travel Centre".
Operator: "Sir, they are our opening hours".
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Samsung Electronics
Caller: "Can you give me the telephone number for Jack?"
Operator: "I'm sorry, sir, I don't understand who you are talking about".
Caller: "On page 1, section 5, of the user guide it clearly states that I
need to unplug the fax machine from the AC wall socket and telephone Jack
before cleaning. Now, can you give me the number for Jack?"
Operator: "I think you mean the telephone point on the wall".
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Tech Support: "I need you to right-click on the Open Desktop".
Customer: "OK".
Tech Support: "Did you get a pop-up menu?".
Customer: "No".
Tech Support: "OK. Right-Click again. Do you see a pop-up menu?"
Customer: "No".
Tech Support: "OK, sir. Can you tell me what you have done up until his
point?"
Customer: "Sure. You told me to write 'click' and I wrote 'click'".
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Caller: "I deleted a file from my PC last week and I have just realised that
I need it. If I turn my system clock back two weeks will I have my file back
again?".
----------------------------------------------------------------------
This has got to be one of the funniest. I think this guy should have been
promoted, not fired. This is a true story from the Word Perfect Helpline,
which was transcribed from a recording monitoring the customer care
department.
Operator: "Ridge Hall, computer assistance; May I help you?"
Caller: "Yes, well, I'm having trouble with WordPerfect."
Operator: "What sort of trouble??"
Caller: "Well, I was just typing along, and all of a sudden the words went
away."
Operator: "Went away?"
Caller: "They disappeared."
Operator: "Hmm. So what does your screen look like now?"
Caller: "Nothing."
Operator: "Nothing??"
Caller: "It's blank; it won't accept anything when I type."
Operator: "Are you still in WordPerfect, or did you get out??"
Caller: "How do I tell?"
Operator: "Can you see the C: prompt on the screen??"
Caller: "What's a sea-prompt?"
Operator: "Never mind, can you move your cursor around the screen?"
Caller: "There isn't any cursor: I told you, it won't accept anything I
type."
Operator: "Does your monitor have a power indicator??"
Caller: "What's a monitor?"
Operator: "It's the thing with the screen on it that looks like a TV.
Does it have a little light that tells you when it's on??"
Caller: "I don't know."
Operator: "Well, then look on the back of the monitor and find where the
power cord goes into it. Can you see that??"
Caller: "Yes, I think so."
Operator: "Great. Follow the cord to the plug, and tell me if it's plugged
into the wall.
Caller: "Yes, it is."
Operator: "When you were behind the monitor, did you notice that there were
two cables plugged into the back of it, not just one??"
Caller: "No."
Operator: "Well, there are. I need you to look back there again and find the
other cable."
Caller: "Okay, here it is."
Operator: "Follow it for me, and tell me if it's plugged securely into the
back of your computer."
Caller: "I can't reach."
Operator: "Uh huh. Well, can you see if it is??"
Caller: "No."
Operator: "Even if you maybe put your knee on something and lean way over??"
Caller: "Oh, it's not because I don't have the right angle - it's because
it's dark."
Operator: "Dark??"
Caller : "Yes - the office light is off, and the only light I have is coming
in from the window."
Operator: "Well, turn on the office light then."
Caller: "I can't."
Operator: "No? Why not??"
Caller: "Because there's a power failure."
Operator : "A power...................................... A power failure?
Aha, Okay, we've got it licked now. Do you still have the boxes and anuals
and packing stuff your computer came in??"
Caller: "Well, yes, I keep them in the closet."
Operator: "Good. Go get them, and unplug your system and pack it up just
like it was when you got it. Then take it back to the store you bought it
from."
Caller: "Really? Is it that bad?"
Operator: "Yes, I'm afraid it is."
Caller: "Well, all right then, I suppose. What do I tell them??"
Operator: "Tell them you're too stupid to own a computer".
You might be surprised, but all the conversions are true.
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Plans for Today
- Go to the Elections wearing all black to protest at the current state of Thai Democracy.
- Bring along a pen and vote my usual No-Vote category in the parlimentary election that I've done in every occasion for nearly the last decade.
On a side note, during the last month, I've been completely irked by the state of democracy in Thailand. There are a few major points that I want to highlight:
1) You MUST VOTE in the Election - the quote before here is what is being played on the radio. I find that vote to be extremely ignorant. In a democratic society, you SHOULD NOT BE FORCED TO VOTE, though I find it ironic that many people choose not to go to vote, when they can. If people can't stand politicians like I do, then the best way in a democratic society is not to abstain but to vote for no-one. This gives a clear message that you don't trust politicians enough with our tax money.
2) Buses opening the radio in extremely high volume - As we know, the BMTA has received a huge handout from the PM. Due to that reason, it seems most of the BMTA is pro-Thaksin. What I hate the most about them is that lately they have resorted to turning up the radio (especially the pro PM FM94) in the bus to an abnormally high volume. The reason is that they wanted to shove the rants of many of the Pro-PM DJs there. Though I admit there are a number of interesting points, I had the urge to junk the Radio when I heard the following phrase:
Hmm... No point arguing with stupid people because they will drag you down to their level and they will beat you with their experience in stupidity.
3) Business Books - Here is a few things I learnt from most business books in a bullet point:
1) Business is the art of maximizing profit (at the expense of others)
2) Increase shareholder value (at the expense of others)
3) Reengineering is a good way to turn the company around (and an excuse to fire workers to increase shareholder value)
4) Workers are just resources (does this ring of slavery?)
5) Managers should keep raises low (so that they can get a high raise by minizing cost)
My opinion? Read the Dilbert's Principle by Scott Adams. This book summarizes what business books are teaching today without all the water.
4) Democracy is Overrated - Democracy is just a system of governing. Its way overated especially when you have a country that is uneducated, uninterested, and divided through key issues. In these cases, Dictatorship might be a better option isn't it? Though in most cases Dictatorship are corrupt, at least we can save money from not having to arrange elections and also don't have to live with the irony of a dictator in the guise of a democratic elected leader.
5) Freedom of Speech is Simply a Mirage - The freedom of speech is stupid. Let me just say it straight that Freedom of Speech is desirable if you aren't on the receiving end of it. What I would suggest we should use is called Decency of Speech. Instead of warranting full freedom of speech, we should put in a fine-letter explaining the limits of what is allowed. Let me point out that there is no real freedom of speech. If I was to say if I was the moderator, I would point out that there is no Freedom of Speech, and as the moderator, I dictate what is the limit of the discussion. End of Story.
6) Who is the Villian in causing the Mob mentality? - Today, there are numerous discussions on who is the major cause of political impassie in Thailand. Many of the people blame Thaksin. Many on the other side blame Sondhi and Chamlong. Me? I blame all politicians, and I want to especially point out Chamlong as the huge curlpit. Why do I say that? Let me just say that Chamlong started the mob mentality. He did that in 1992. After that a while, he got Thaksin into politics. Thaksin is related with Sondhi as they were business associates back. Sudarat is one of Chamlong's protege, and she taught Thaksin about the art of appearing good in public without the requirement of substance. Later Chamlong revived his forte in mobilizing the mob by joining up with Sondhi. Soon afterwards Thaksin, Chamlong's heir, used the same art to mobilize his mob.
7) How to Solve the Political Situation in Thailand? - I would suggest creating a military dictatorship, declare martial law, and crush both the Pro-Thaksin and Anti-Thaksin factions. This blickering has gone far enough and also is extremely dementrial to our country. I do not believe we can no longer trust politicans to do good for the country. I do not believe that Thai people in general know what is best for their country. Democracy and Freedom of speech is overated. All we need is a strong, ethical, and morally sound leader to turn things around, and based on my rambling rant today, you know that I'm planning to arrange a coup and take over the country.
Regarding the above post, I'll let you decide if I was serious, or not :P
- Bring along a pen and vote my usual No-Vote category in the parlimentary election that I've done in every occasion for nearly the last decade.
On a side note, during the last month, I've been completely irked by the state of democracy in Thailand. There are a few major points that I want to highlight:
1) You MUST VOTE in the Election - the quote before here is what is being played on the radio. I find that vote to be extremely ignorant. In a democratic society, you SHOULD NOT BE FORCED TO VOTE, though I find it ironic that many people choose not to go to vote, when they can. If people can't stand politicians like I do, then the best way in a democratic society is not to abstain but to vote for no-one. This gives a clear message that you don't trust politicians enough with our tax money.
2) Buses opening the radio in extremely high volume - As we know, the BMTA has received a huge handout from the PM. Due to that reason, it seems most of the BMTA is pro-Thaksin. What I hate the most about them is that lately they have resorted to turning up the radio (especially the pro PM FM94) in the bus to an abnormally high volume. The reason is that they wanted to shove the rants of many of the Pro-PM DJs there. Though I admit there are a number of interesting points, I had the urge to junk the Radio when I heard the following phrase:
"The academia are hopeless people. They are people in the Ivory coast and they want to force their ideals on the people. They say Thaksin is bad and poor people stupid. Now I want to tell us that these academia are ridiculing us, and they don't know what is best for the country. They don't know what the people want, like what we people want. What is wrong with Thaksin? I'm not closing my ears to the academia, but these people are so aloof, that they can't even explain me what Thaksin did wrong with the Temasak deal in a way normal people can understand, then I will not change my stance."
Hmm... No point arguing with stupid people because they will drag you down to their level and they will beat you with their experience in stupidity.
3) Business Books - Here is a few things I learnt from most business books in a bullet point:
1) Business is the art of maximizing profit (at the expense of others)
2) Increase shareholder value (at the expense of others)
3) Reengineering is a good way to turn the company around (and an excuse to fire workers to increase shareholder value)
4) Workers are just resources (does this ring of slavery?)
5) Managers should keep raises low (so that they can get a high raise by minizing cost)
My opinion? Read the Dilbert's Principle by Scott Adams. This book summarizes what business books are teaching today without all the water.
4) Democracy is Overrated - Democracy is just a system of governing. Its way overated especially when you have a country that is uneducated, uninterested, and divided through key issues. In these cases, Dictatorship might be a better option isn't it? Though in most cases Dictatorship are corrupt, at least we can save money from not having to arrange elections and also don't have to live with the irony of a dictator in the guise of a democratic elected leader.
5) Freedom of Speech is Simply a Mirage - The freedom of speech is stupid. Let me just say it straight that Freedom of Speech is desirable if you aren't on the receiving end of it. What I would suggest we should use is called Decency of Speech. Instead of warranting full freedom of speech, we should put in a fine-letter explaining the limits of what is allowed. Let me point out that there is no real freedom of speech. If I was to say if I was the moderator, I would point out that there is no Freedom of Speech, and as the moderator, I dictate what is the limit of the discussion. End of Story.
6) Who is the Villian in causing the Mob mentality? - Today, there are numerous discussions on who is the major cause of political impassie in Thailand. Many of the people blame Thaksin. Many on the other side blame Sondhi and Chamlong. Me? I blame all politicians, and I want to especially point out Chamlong as the huge curlpit. Why do I say that? Let me just say that Chamlong started the mob mentality. He did that in 1992. After that a while, he got Thaksin into politics. Thaksin is related with Sondhi as they were business associates back. Sudarat is one of Chamlong's protege, and she taught Thaksin about the art of appearing good in public without the requirement of substance. Later Chamlong revived his forte in mobilizing the mob by joining up with Sondhi. Soon afterwards Thaksin, Chamlong's heir, used the same art to mobilize his mob.
7) How to Solve the Political Situation in Thailand? - I would suggest creating a military dictatorship, declare martial law, and crush both the Pro-Thaksin and Anti-Thaksin factions. This blickering has gone far enough and also is extremely dementrial to our country. I do not believe we can no longer trust politicans to do good for the country. I do not believe that Thai people in general know what is best for their country. Democracy and Freedom of speech is overated. All we need is a strong, ethical, and morally sound leader to turn things around, and based on my rambling rant today, you know that I'm planning to arrange a coup and take over the country.
Regarding the above post, I'll let you decide if I was serious, or not :P
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Experiment at the MRTA Subway System
A few days ago, I happen to stumble into the MRTA subway without planning to. To be exact, around Fortune Town at the Rama 9 station, I was planning just to cross over to the other side of the street through the subway walkway. However due to my natural instincts, I happen to enter into the subway station instead of just crossing it.
Due to that reason, I had an experiment with the subway system. It seems that if you exit the same station as the one you entered, you will lose the same amount of money as going to the closest station.
The lesson learnt is that if you happen to enter the subway by mistake, its best to call a staff to assist you and hopefully you'll get your refund back.
Due to that reason, I had an experiment with the subway system. It seems that if you exit the same station as the one you entered, you will lose the same amount of money as going to the closest station.
The lesson learnt is that if you happen to enter the subway by mistake, its best to call a staff to assist you and hopefully you'll get your refund back.
Monday, March 06, 2006
Notice Great Teacher Pisal!
If you happen to be a fan of GTO (Great Teacher Onizuka), you can notice that Onizuka likes to make a long face when things go wrong. Oh well, check the following Luigi's Newsletter and spot GTP!
Friday, March 03, 2006
Fork!
I'm in an extremely bad mood today. All I can say is that I can't stand incompetent, irresponsible, and inept ******ers.
Just Extremely Bored...
..... Can't figure what to do, so decided to waste my time doing something...
1. What time is it?
10:43
2. Name? The name which appear on ID card?
Pisal Setthawong
3. Nickname?
Chang
4. Piercing?
None
5. What is the most recent movie you have seen at the theater?
...
6. Eye color?
Black
7.Place of birth?
Bangkok
8. Favorite new food?
...
9. Ever been to Africa?
No
10. Ever been toilet papering (rolling)?
?
11. Love someone so much it made you cry?
...
12. Been in a car accident?
Yes
13. Croutons or bacon bits?
Bacon Bits
14. Favorite day of the week?
Friday
15. Favorite Restaurants?
Many Places
16. Favorite flower?
Anything that blooms is fine.
17. Favorite sport to watch?
Football
18. Favorite drink?
IceTea Peach Flavor
19. Favorite ice-cream?
Strawberry
20. Disney or Warner Bros.?
No preference
21. Favorite fast food restaurant?
Arby's
22. What color is your bedroom carpet?
No carpet
23. How many times you failed your driver's test?
3
24. Before this one, from whom did you get your last email?
MSN Notification
25. Which store would you choose to Max out your credit card?
Never maxed my credit card
26. What do you do most often when you are bored?
Zzz...
27. Bedtime?
When I feel like it.
28. Who will respond to this email the quickest?
...
29. Who's the person you sent this to that is least likely to respond?
...
30. Who are you the most curious about their responses to this questionnaire?
...
31. Favorite TV shows?
Dr. House
32. Last person you went to dinner with?
Work Related
33. Ford or Chevy?
None.
34. What are you listening to right now?
BGM From a game
35. What is your favorite color?
Gray
36. How many tattoos do you have?
None
37. How many pets do you have?
None
38. Which came first the chicken or the egg?
Waste of time to answer
1. What time is it?
10:43
2. Name? The name which appear on ID card?
Pisal Setthawong
3. Nickname?
Chang
4. Piercing?
None
5. What is the most recent movie you have seen at the theater?
...
6. Eye color?
Black
7.Place of birth?
Bangkok
8. Favorite new food?
...
9. Ever been to Africa?
No
10. Ever been toilet papering (rolling)?
?
11. Love someone so much it made you cry?
...
12. Been in a car accident?
Yes
13. Croutons or bacon bits?
Bacon Bits
14. Favorite day of the week?
Friday
15. Favorite Restaurants?
Many Places
16. Favorite flower?
Anything that blooms is fine.
17. Favorite sport to watch?
Football
18. Favorite drink?
IceTea Peach Flavor
19. Favorite ice-cream?
Strawberry
20. Disney or Warner Bros.?
No preference
21. Favorite fast food restaurant?
Arby's
22. What color is your bedroom carpet?
No carpet
23. How many times you failed your driver's test?
3
24. Before this one, from whom did you get your last email?
MSN Notification
25. Which store would you choose to Max out your credit card?
Never maxed my credit card
26. What do you do most often when you are bored?
Zzz...
27. Bedtime?
When I feel like it.
28. Who will respond to this email the quickest?
...
29. Who's the person you sent this to that is least likely to respond?
...
30. Who are you the most curious about their responses to this questionnaire?
...
31. Favorite TV shows?
Dr. House
32. Last person you went to dinner with?
Work Related
33. Ford or Chevy?
None.
34. What are you listening to right now?
BGM From a game
35. What is your favorite color?
Gray
36. How many tattoos do you have?
None
37. How many pets do you have?
None
38. Which came first the chicken or the egg?
Waste of time to answer
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Scott Adams is a Genius!
It sometimes strange to hear that life imitates art. The strange and uncanny fact is at times many things that Scott Adams' crazy comic strip Dilbert manages to do is to poke fun on what really has happened in the real world.
One of my favorite example is a strip in which the VP of the company declares that since the company was too centralized, they needed to decentralize to improve efficiency. After a year or two, the same VP comes back and informs that the company needs to centralize to synergize activity. To many people, they call that a management genius.
On a strange note, you could notice in Thailand, we have also seen that, within a 5 year period, they have expended the Science Ministry into many different Ministries and departments, but now are considering to merge them again. Management genius! - if you notice, there is a hint of sacarsm.
Regarding the topic of terrorism, why more that the following absurb column?
And to cap it off, what more than the next surreal piece?
One of my favorite example is a strip in which the VP of the company declares that since the company was too centralized, they needed to decentralize to improve efficiency. After a year or two, the same VP comes back and informs that the company needs to centralize to synergize activity. To many people, they call that a management genius.
On a strange note, you could notice in Thailand, we have also seen that, within a 5 year period, they have expended the Science Ministry into many different Ministries and departments, but now are considering to merge them again. Management genius! - if you notice, there is a hint of sacarsm.
Regarding the topic of terrorism, why more that the following absurb column?
Scott Adams wrote:
Let me begin by saying there are lots of good reasons for conserving energy. It saves money, it’s good for the planet, and that’s good enough for me. I drive a small car.
But I keep hearing the argument that we can combat terrorism by using less energy. I can’t quite grasp how that chain of logic works. I suppose I can understand how there would be less terrorism if the entire world used no oil at all. Then the bad guys would have bigger problems to deal with, such as cannibalism. But how does reducing oil consumption by say 20% (a gigantic leap) in developed countries make a difference to the war on terror? Especially since China and other developing countries will quickly make up the difference.
If someone is fanatical enough to fund terrorism, do you think THAT’S the part of his budget he cuts first? What part of “living in caves in the mountains of Pakistan” is compatible with “we’ll only do this as long as the money comes easily”?
And how expensive is terrorism anyway? Their last attack could have been accomplished with Bonus Miles and a few box cutters. Is there somewhere a would-be terrorist on a tight budget who is thinking “As soon as I save enough money for a box of nails, I will complete my exploding belt”?
And to cap it off, what more than the next surreal piece?
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Bangkok International Film Festival 2006
As I written earlier in my blog, I'm currently a volunteer of the International Game Developer Association - Bangkok Chapter and I'm currently the coordinator of a booth that showcases a number of game developed in Thailand that is shown in the Bangkok Film Market(BFM) at the Bangkok International Film Festival 2006(BIFF2006). As the game and movie industry are related industries, it is a good idea to be present to raise the profile of local game developers by showcasing the development projects from a number of different developers in the international setting of the BIFF2006. Since we are being non-partisan, we had a number of volunteers contact nearly all the development companies and indie projects in Thailand regarding submitting video demos of their latest products in a fixed format that would be combined to the ThaiGame Reel to showcase the latest games developed in Thailand. Since IGDA is a non-profit developer association, we do not endorse any companies, products, and tools, and we serve mostly more as an informal information center - any contacts would be forwarded directly to the associated companies.
Below are just a few pictures from in front of the Bangkok Film Market.
Since we have been invited by TAMMA (Thailand Animation and Multimedia Association) we have shared our booth with them. As noted below are some pictures from the booth which is highlighted by Ramayana an epic animation in the pre-production stages.
In this fair I would like to thank you Phot, A, Un, Dear, Rut, and Tuang for helping manage the booth with me.
Below here is just a small list of games and some screenshots that are shown in the fair which are listed by contribution in alphabetical order:
AIM
MMOG called GigOnline.
CloverSoft
A number of mobile phone games including Puzzle Warrrior.
Flying Pig Studio
Just for laughs!
GameSquare
Two mobile phone games - HellZone and CardWarrior
Imagimax
A collage of CG works from AAA titles such as Ninja Gaiden (XBOX) and etc. combined with video clips or an assorted of video games.
Iyara
PanPan3D a 3D action game for kids.
Look-kid
A collage of animation and video capture of their latest 3D Fighting PC game - Yuth which is adapted from a popular local manga.
MFEC
The latest technical demo of a PC - 3D engine under development.
PicSoft
A video showcasing how to play DiscDevil - a PC game that uses a camera system for player input.
Pinnacle
The demo shows TaiOnline their latest 3D MMOG game on the PC platform.
Polygon Devices
An example of GeoBuilder, a generic 3D world editor/level design tool and Tarot Reader - a future prediction software.
PromptNow
A demo of their dancing rhythm-based PC game is shown.
Sanuk Software
A collection of past projects done with many clients from a various number of companies.
StudioGu
A screenshot from the Interactive Novel game Angel's Tale that is on the PC platform.
Below are just a few pictures from in front of the Bangkok Film Market.
Since we have been invited by TAMMA (Thailand Animation and Multimedia Association) we have shared our booth with them. As noted below are some pictures from the booth which is highlighted by Ramayana an epic animation in the pre-production stages.
In this fair I would like to thank you Phot, A, Un, Dear, Rut, and Tuang for helping manage the booth with me.
Below here is just a small list of games and some screenshots that are shown in the fair which are listed by contribution in alphabetical order:
AIM
MMOG called GigOnline.
CloverSoft
A number of mobile phone games including Puzzle Warrrior.
Flying Pig Studio
Just for laughs!
GameSquare
Two mobile phone games - HellZone and CardWarrior
Imagimax
A collage of CG works from AAA titles such as Ninja Gaiden (XBOX) and etc. combined with video clips or an assorted of video games.
Iyara
PanPan3D a 3D action game for kids.
Look-kid
A collage of animation and video capture of their latest 3D Fighting PC game - Yuth which is adapted from a popular local manga.
MFEC
The latest technical demo of a PC - 3D engine under development.
PicSoft
A video showcasing how to play DiscDevil - a PC game that uses a camera system for player input.
Pinnacle
The demo shows TaiOnline their latest 3D MMOG game on the PC platform.
Polygon Devices
An example of GeoBuilder, a generic 3D world editor/level design tool and Tarot Reader - a future prediction software.
PromptNow
A demo of their dancing rhythm-based PC game is shown.
Sanuk Software
A collection of past projects done with many clients from a various number of companies.
StudioGu
A screenshot from the Interactive Novel game Angel's Tale that is on the PC platform.
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Silly Rule #0 - I can't teach you anything!
During the last few weeks, I was seriously pondering about learning how to play the saxophone. To be exact, I'm a huge fan of Jazz, and I do think it might be a good idea to try playing some instrument for a change instead of composing it with my computer. Anyway, while I was just browsing through the Internet looking for resources on saxophones, I stumbled upon one very interesting site that teaches new people how to play the saxohpone. In one of the sections posted there, I liked the article posted, and just wanted to highlight it.
To be exact, its pretty much the same thing I'm telling in my computer programming class :P
http://www.ryanfraser.com/lessons/rules.html
To be exact, its pretty much the same thing I'm telling in my computer programming class :P
http://www.ryanfraser.com/lessons/rules.html
Rule #0: I can't teach you anything! Neither can anybody else!
Oh no! Why is there a rule number zero? Call it my tribute to Issac Asimov. (If you haven't a clue as to why, go read Asimov. Lots and lots of Asimov.) More importantly, rule number zero is the most important rule of all. And, probably the wierdest.
You see, my theory is that all that your teacher can do is give you all of the right tools to learn. It's up to you to try and make use of them. You must become your own teacher. We can give you the resources, but it is totally up to you to make the most of them. Besides, if all your teacher does is spoon-feed you information, you won't ever become better than they are. And then the quality of saxophone playing in the world will never, ever improve. Good teachers will start off by giving you lots of information, and expect and demand you to put it to use. Eventually, every teacher's responsibility should be to become completely irrelevant to your life. Your teacher should become just one more resource for you to use to become a better person, or a better player. Even a better teacher. If you can't teach yourself, you can't help anybody else, can you?!
Friday, February 24, 2006
Democracy in Thailand in an Candid Way
In light of today's dissolving of the parliment, it reminds me to a candid discussion in which I and my colleague came up with this conclusion about Democracy in Thailand:
Democracy is for the educated. Thailand is not an educated country.
Monday, February 20, 2006
Pisal @ Economic Times (india)
I've just noticed that during one of my earlier exchanges with Shuchi Vyas, a reporter at the Economic Times from India, I was mentioned in his article though I figured that it seems my rank is a lot higher than it should - I'm not a professor :P
p.s. on a hindsight is a professor mentioned as a lecturer in other parts of the world? I'm not very sure on that O_o
http://www1.economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1354546,prtpage-1.cms
Munnabhai is eying on gamesutra!
SHUCHI VYAS
TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ MONDAY, JANUARY 02, 2006 12:01:18 AM]
p.s. on a hindsight is a professor mentioned as a lecturer in other parts of the world? I'm not very sure on that O_o
http://www1.economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1354546,prtpage-1.cms
Munnabhai is eying on gamesutra!
SHUCHI VYAS
[ MONDAY, JANUARY 02, 2006 12:01:18 AM]
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