Our PM has asked the people a number of measures to help conserve energy. The first issue he raised was about closing lights for 5 minutes like on the first example 8:45 to 8:50 to conserve energy. Another issue placed was asking cars not to run faster than 90 kph. As noticed the measures were only placed after record deficits in the country's account caused by energy consumption, which makes the measures seem to be more of a knee-jerk reaction than actually a well thought out plan.
On a strange note, here is my recommendations to fix the problem which I came out years ago:
1) Discard the PM Airforce One Project and ask the PM to fly on commercial jets.
2) Ask MP and VIP to discard their huge fleet of escort when they travel around the city to conserve energy
3) Ask the mobile parliment session to be conducted in the open, with no aircon
4) Address the urgent need for people to use public transport
5) Ask people to carpool
6) Stop subsidizing diesel fuel
7) Increase fuel taxes to discourage spending
8) Make personal vehicles harder to obtain
9) Increase taxes on luxurious and unneccessary high CC vehicles
10) Ask people to sleep earlier and wake up earlier
Interesting isn't it? I mean some of the policies aren't that hard to implement, but strangely enough they aren't. Maybe its got to do with vested interest, or simple shortsightness?
Sunday, May 29, 2005
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Satire of Today's World Leaders
Anguished cries of "Never Again!" followed by inaction will never save the lives of innocent victims.
Satire of Today's World Leaders
Ponderings about Hotel Rwanda
Last week, I had the opportunity to watch Hotel Rwanda. For those who aren't familiar with Rwanda, I would like to point out that Rwanda is a small nation in the countinent of Africa, and is notoriously known all around the world after the genocide that transpire during 1994. During the course of 3 months of insanity and apathy by the world circle, approximately a million Rwanda were killed. This movie is a portrayal of one of a modern hero, Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager who converted his hotel into a sanctuary housing over a thousand Tutsis refugees during their struggle for survival against the rampaging Hutu militia in Rwanda. Hotel Rwanda is a movie that is similar to Paul's struggle during that dire time to keep him, his family, and all the refuges alive in the face of worldwide apathy.
After I finish watching this film and through this emotional rollercoaster portrayal of the ugliest and also the most beautiful of human endeavors, it made me want to review some of the key players in the time for more tilt on the semi-autobiographical film. For example, I do want to point that as on another similar film - Schindler's List, after going through historical records, there has been numerous suspicions that Schindler may have not been as clean as portrayed in the movie. Though Schindler may have been responsible for saving the lifes of a handful of Jews during the WWII period, questions were raised that was the motive profit more than humanity? Though he didn't share the passion of many of his Nazi colleagues that were savagely exterminating the Jews, it may be noted that he may have used Jews as labor, and when the invading Allies came, he switched his tale to portray him in good light in front of the war tribunal. Though it could be both ways, we can notice that the film has definitely casted Schindler in an angelic hue. Now in my own suspicion, I also wanted to know more about some of the characters portrayed in the film, such as Paul himself, Colonel Oliver who was the representative of the UN during the conflict, and also more about the conflict itself.
My first intial probing into the matter came in a vary famous exchange early in the film when a TV crewman were asking who were the people involved in the conflict. After a quick exchange of dialogue, he found that there were the Hutu and the Tutsi. In the film it claims that Belgium colonist created the seperation between the two. Tutsi were Africans with desirable european features whereas Hutu were the normal africans. The european gave the Tutsi power to run over the land, which didn't sit well the majority Hutu. Also by stamping ID cards with classification, it also allowed people to be easily classify who were who, much similar to people of different religions who hold different sacred artifacts. With the vacuum of power, and the long standing simmering tensions, genocide broke out. On a curious note, the comments posted on the film were rather untrue, as in reality Hutu and Tutsi already existed as separate tribes when Europeans first arrived. However the colonization powers by permanently seperating and IDing of the two tribes facilitated the later genocides.
Colonel Oliver who was portrayed as the UN commander who tried his best to stop the conflict is in reality is Lt.-Gen. (Ret.) Roméo Dallaire. Similar to the film this Canadian UN peacekeeper who was incharge of approximately a few hundred multinational UN peacekeepers in Rwanda during the eye of the storm and was seriously lacking in support, authority, and firepower which limited his ability in resolving the conflict. Though with a handful of UN peacekeepers, he managed to keep a small safe area around Kigali and allowed NGOs to help relieve the suffering of the people. He has also writen a reflection on his time there called Shake Hands with the Devil : The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda.
During the film, it shows some Hutu militia throwing the helmets of UN weapon inspector at Colonel Oliver. In the reality, 15 UN peace keepers were killed during the conflict. The events in the movie must been portrayed the period in which 10 Belgium paratroopers who was assigned to guard a Rwanda PM was overwhelmed and killed by Hutu militia and a precursor to the Belgium withdrawal of UN peacekeepers for the country.
Regarding the World apathy to the conflict, it is a good idea to look at the events worldwide. During that time, the US apathy could be accredited to two major conflicts elsewhere around the world where US forces faced huge setbacks. As in Somalia - in which events have been popularized in another movie Black Hawk Down, and in Kosovo (Former Yugoslavia), scores of US peacekeepers were killed prompting to then US president Bill Clinton relunctant to send any more peace keepers than to pacify the general US population and to prevent jeopordizing his re-election campaign. Though mostly of political reasons, there has been a number of events that the US has done that runs shameless against the face of humanity. First of all General Dallaire requested the US to play planes with jammers over Rwanda to limit proporganda radio that instigated the Hutu to slaughter the Tutsi. The request was turned down. Another event was that neighboring countries were planning to send in peacekeepers and requested the US to send in APC to help facilitate the transport of troops. The US demanded $15 million dollars for the APC, and refused to allow the cars to move from Germany until the demand was met. The APCs never arrived. The last part that was the most damning, was the US ignorance, or simply apathy to Rwanda. As the US persistently refused to acknowledge there was genocide in Rwanda, it downplay the urgency for the rest of the world to act in this tradegy. Some more interesting discussion could be found here. In the movie, none of the above were mentioned, but its a good idea to look beyond the film into hard hitting issues.
On an interesting sidenote, the casual mention of corruption here makes me want to laugh at how this ugly human behavior has reared it ugly head accross our world.
To end off this long ramble, I wanted to point one of the most memorable quotes from Paul Resesabagina - as in the movie version:
As you noticed, its rather upsetting to know many of the influential people would only do things that are right once they are shamed into doing so. Which talks about the CTX scandal - nothing is done until the media makes a big issue about it.
Oh well, don't forget to continue shaming bad people you know and never people you know forget about it ;)
After I finish watching this film and through this emotional rollercoaster portrayal of the ugliest and also the most beautiful of human endeavors, it made me want to review some of the key players in the time for more tilt on the semi-autobiographical film. For example, I do want to point that as on another similar film - Schindler's List, after going through historical records, there has been numerous suspicions that Schindler may have not been as clean as portrayed in the movie. Though Schindler may have been responsible for saving the lifes of a handful of Jews during the WWII period, questions were raised that was the motive profit more than humanity? Though he didn't share the passion of many of his Nazi colleagues that were savagely exterminating the Jews, it may be noted that he may have used Jews as labor, and when the invading Allies came, he switched his tale to portray him in good light in front of the war tribunal. Though it could be both ways, we can notice that the film has definitely casted Schindler in an angelic hue. Now in my own suspicion, I also wanted to know more about some of the characters portrayed in the film, such as Paul himself, Colonel Oliver who was the representative of the UN during the conflict, and also more about the conflict itself.
My first intial probing into the matter came in a vary famous exchange early in the film when a TV crewman were asking who were the people involved in the conflict. After a quick exchange of dialogue, he found that there were the Hutu and the Tutsi. In the film it claims that Belgium colonist created the seperation between the two. Tutsi were Africans with desirable european features whereas Hutu were the normal africans. The european gave the Tutsi power to run over the land, which didn't sit well the majority Hutu. Also by stamping ID cards with classification, it also allowed people to be easily classify who were who, much similar to people of different religions who hold different sacred artifacts. With the vacuum of power, and the long standing simmering tensions, genocide broke out. On a curious note, the comments posted on the film were rather untrue, as in reality Hutu and Tutsi already existed as separate tribes when Europeans first arrived. However the colonization powers by permanently seperating and IDing of the two tribes facilitated the later genocides.
Colonel Oliver who was portrayed as the UN commander who tried his best to stop the conflict is in reality is Lt.-Gen. (Ret.) Roméo Dallaire. Similar to the film this Canadian UN peacekeeper who was incharge of approximately a few hundred multinational UN peacekeepers in Rwanda during the eye of the storm and was seriously lacking in support, authority, and firepower which limited his ability in resolving the conflict. Though with a handful of UN peacekeepers, he managed to keep a small safe area around Kigali and allowed NGOs to help relieve the suffering of the people. He has also writen a reflection on his time there called Shake Hands with the Devil : The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda.
According to the author, about 15 UN peacekeepers died--over 800,000 Rwandans died. The number 15 is not larger because Belgium, Canada, and the US explicitly stated that Rwanda was "irrelevant" in any sense of the word, and not worth the death of a single additional Western (mostly white) soldier.
Robert D. Steele
During the film, it shows some Hutu militia throwing the helmets of UN weapon inspector at Colonel Oliver. In the reality, 15 UN peace keepers were killed during the conflict. The events in the movie must been portrayed the period in which 10 Belgium paratroopers who was assigned to guard a Rwanda PM was overwhelmed and killed by Hutu militia and a precursor to the Belgium withdrawal of UN peacekeepers for the country.
Regarding the World apathy to the conflict, it is a good idea to look at the events worldwide. During that time, the US apathy could be accredited to two major conflicts elsewhere around the world where US forces faced huge setbacks. As in Somalia - in which events have been popularized in another movie Black Hawk Down, and in Kosovo (Former Yugoslavia), scores of US peacekeepers were killed prompting to then US president Bill Clinton relunctant to send any more peace keepers than to pacify the general US population and to prevent jeopordizing his re-election campaign. Though mostly of political reasons, there has been a number of events that the US has done that runs shameless against the face of humanity. First of all General Dallaire requested the US to play planes with jammers over Rwanda to limit proporganda radio that instigated the Hutu to slaughter the Tutsi. The request was turned down. Another event was that neighboring countries were planning to send in peacekeepers and requested the US to send in APC to help facilitate the transport of troops. The US demanded $15 million dollars for the APC, and refused to allow the cars to move from Germany until the demand was met. The APCs never arrived. The last part that was the most damning, was the US ignorance, or simply apathy to Rwanda. As the US persistently refused to acknowledge there was genocide in Rwanda, it downplay the urgency for the rest of the world to act in this tradegy. Some more interesting discussion could be found here. In the movie, none of the above were mentioned, but its a good idea to look beyond the film into hard hitting issues.
On an interesting sidenote, the casual mention of corruption here makes me want to laugh at how this ugly human behavior has reared it ugly head accross our world.
Dube: Aah, that is a fine cigar, sir!
Paul Rusesabagina: This is a Cohiba cigar. Each one is worth 10,000 francs.
Dube: 10,000 francs?
Paul Rusesabagina: Yes, yes. But it is worth more to me than 10,000 francs.
Dube: What do you mean, sir?
Paul Rusesabagina: If I give a businessman 10,000 francs, what does that matter to him? He is rich. But, if I give him a Cohiba cigar straight from Havana, Cuba. Hey, that is style, Dube.
Dube: [smiles] Style!
To end off this long ramble, I wanted to point one of the most memorable quotes from Paul Resesabagina - as in the movie version:
Paul Rusesabagina: There will be no rescue, no intervention for us. We can only save ourselves. Many of you know influential people abroad, you must call these people. You must tell them what will happen to us... say goodbye. But when you say goodbye, say it as if you are reaching through the phone and holding their hand. Let them know that if they let go of that hand, you will die. We must shame them into sending help.
As you noticed, its rather upsetting to know many of the influential people would only do things that are right once they are shamed into doing so. Which talks about the CTX scandal - nothing is done until the media makes a big issue about it.
Oh well, don't forget to continue shaming bad people you know and never people you know forget about it ;)
Friday, May 20, 2005
The Country of Hypocrites
With increasing consumer and household debts over the last few years, the PM stated that it is important to control credit card lending and proposed increased scrunity on credit card approval procedures. On a hindsight, quick cash loans from other services were not mentioned at all.
With increased debt and inflation partly due to rising oil prices, there has been mention about tightening our belts on spending, yet on a hindsight, just for a mobile cabinent meeting, a 2 million baht meeting room was created just for the sake of one single meeting, before being demolished.
A few days before that, a certain minister came out explaining that it is important that our country must conserve energy and sets up a target to lower energy consumption by 20%. Yet on the day the mobile cabinent meeting was setup, the temporarily meeting room required a power generator that could supply electricity to a 10 story apartment to aircon the whole facility.
The country started to talk about moral issues, including the development of a moral center, yet it is so ironic that certain vices such as gambling has been long practiced by our members - in which new forms of lottery have been immensely popular.
No matter how successful the lottery was, the strange hindsight is that the same old government is not going to create a casino based on moral ground.
Yet when we look back on moral grounds, it is funny to see certain TV shows such as BigBrother and the Miss Universe show being arranged straight in the backyards of that country. Isn't showing women in skimpy outfit unmoral?
Though this is a moral country, it is like a slap in the face to see local politicians taking money from the lottery funds to donate to charity, yet siphoning it off to other causes - in which there has been little backlash from the PM as they belong to the same party. An even worse offense, was when a relief fund was completely stolen by some diabolic parties who decided enriching themselves is better than helping the life of thousands of people.
Also when there is huge campaign against smoking, somehow its funny to note that one of the largest tobacco company is actually state owned.
Corruption is a huge sin, which is practiced by new and inventive forms by the government, but it just pains to see many younger people so indifferent to this idea.
When people talk about privatization to improve performance of state enterprises, somehow it makes me wonder why not the unprofitable enterprises so that they can finally profitable, and not the profitable ones - unless the motive was for money?
When we talk about media openness in the country, somehow it is ironic to see so many shows - both radio, TV, and newspaper being pressured for being critical. We see foreign jounalists been deported from the country. Also to drive the final blow is that our community radios are being closed down - yet the PM goes on talking on his radio show about freedom.
In our country, talk is plenty, and it is cheap as usually little action proceeds from the talk. Pledges for disaters have only been pledges, and it ends there when the media attention is long gone.
Somehow its funny to think about all of this. Its a country of hypocrites, and somehow it just irks me to know that I'm closer to it than I can imagine.
With increased debt and inflation partly due to rising oil prices, there has been mention about tightening our belts on spending, yet on a hindsight, just for a mobile cabinent meeting, a 2 million baht meeting room was created just for the sake of one single meeting, before being demolished.
A few days before that, a certain minister came out explaining that it is important that our country must conserve energy and sets up a target to lower energy consumption by 20%. Yet on the day the mobile cabinent meeting was setup, the temporarily meeting room required a power generator that could supply electricity to a 10 story apartment to aircon the whole facility.
The country started to talk about moral issues, including the development of a moral center, yet it is so ironic that certain vices such as gambling has been long practiced by our members - in which new forms of lottery have been immensely popular.
No matter how successful the lottery was, the strange hindsight is that the same old government is not going to create a casino based on moral ground.
Yet when we look back on moral grounds, it is funny to see certain TV shows such as BigBrother and the Miss Universe show being arranged straight in the backyards of that country. Isn't showing women in skimpy outfit unmoral?
Though this is a moral country, it is like a slap in the face to see local politicians taking money from the lottery funds to donate to charity, yet siphoning it off to other causes - in which there has been little backlash from the PM as they belong to the same party. An even worse offense, was when a relief fund was completely stolen by some diabolic parties who decided enriching themselves is better than helping the life of thousands of people.
Also when there is huge campaign against smoking, somehow its funny to note that one of the largest tobacco company is actually state owned.
Corruption is a huge sin, which is practiced by new and inventive forms by the government, but it just pains to see many younger people so indifferent to this idea.
When people talk about privatization to improve performance of state enterprises, somehow it makes me wonder why not the unprofitable enterprises so that they can finally profitable, and not the profitable ones - unless the motive was for money?
When we talk about media openness in the country, somehow it is ironic to see so many shows - both radio, TV, and newspaper being pressured for being critical. We see foreign jounalists been deported from the country. Also to drive the final blow is that our community radios are being closed down - yet the PM goes on talking on his radio show about freedom.
In our country, talk is plenty, and it is cheap as usually little action proceeds from the talk. Pledges for disaters have only been pledges, and it ends there when the media attention is long gone.
Somehow its funny to think about all of this. Its a country of hypocrites, and somehow it just irks me to know that I'm closer to it than I can imagine.
Thursday, May 19, 2005
All Because of StarWars Ep III
With the release of StarWars episode III just a short while ago, its hard not to hear about all the PR and buzz about the final installment of the movie. On related note, sometimes you can see people who try to find all conjuctions between what is in trend with practically anything they can get their hands on, like the following article from WeeklyStandard.com.
The Case for the Empire
From the May 16, 2002 Daily Standard: Everything you think you know about Star Wars is wrong.
by Jonathan V. Last, online editor
12/26/2002 12:00:00 AM
STAR WARS RETURNS today with its fifth installment, "Attack of the Clones." There will be talk of the Force and the Dark Side and the epic morality of George Lucas's series. But the truth is that from the beginning, Lucas confused the good guys with the bad. The deep lesson of Star Wars is that the Empire is good.
It's a difficult leap to make--embracing Darth Vader and the Emperor over the plucky and attractive Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia--but a careful examination of the facts, sorted apart from Lucas's off-the-shelf moral cues, makes a quite convincing case.
First, an aside: For the sake of this discussion, I've considered only the history gleaned from the actual Star Wars films, not the Expanded Universe. If you know what the Expanded Universe is and want to argue that no discussion of Star Wars can be complete without considering material outside the canon, that's fine. However, it's always been my view that the comic books and novels largely serve to clean up Lucas's narrative and philosophical messes. Therefore, discussions of intrinsic intent must necessarily revolve around the movies alone. You may disagree, but please don't e-mail me about it.
If you don't know what the Expanded Universe is, well, uh, neither do I.
I. The Problems with the Galactic Republic
At the beginning of the Star Wars saga, the known universe is governed by the Galactic Republic. The Republic is controlled by a Senate, which is, in turn, run by an elected chancellor who's in charge of procedure, but
has little real power.
Scores of thousands of planets are represented in the Galactic Senate, and as we first encounter it, it is sclerotic and ineffectual. The Republic has grown over many millennia to the point where there are so many factions and disparate interests, that it is simply too big to be governable. Even the Republic's staunchest supporters recognize this failing: In "The Phantom Menace," Queen Amidala admits, "It is clear to me now that the Republic no longer functions." In "Attack of the Clones," young Anakin Skywalker observes that it simply "doesn't work."
The Senate moves so slowly that it is powerless to stop aggression between member states. In "The Phantom Menace" a supra-planetary alliance, the Trade Federation (think of it as OPEC to the Galactic Republic's United Nations), invades a planet and all the Senate can agree to do is call for an investigation.
Like the United Nations, the Republic has no armed forces of its own, but instead relies on a group of warriors, the Jedi knights, to "keep the peace." The Jedi, while autonomous, often work in tandem with the Senate, trying to smooth over quarrels and avoid conflicts. But the Jedi number only in the thousands--they cannot protect everyone.
What's more, it's not clear that they should be "protecting" anyone. The Jedi are Lucas's great heroes, full of Zen wisdom and righteous power. They encourage people to "use the Force"--the mystical energy which is the source of their power--but the truth, revealed in "The Phantom Menace," is that the Force isn't available to the rabble. The Force comes from midi-chlorians, tiny symbiotic organisms in people's blood, like mitochondria. The Force, it turns out, is an inherited, genetic trait. If you don't have the blood, you don't get the Force. Which makes the Jedi not a democratic militia, but a royalist Swiss guard.
And an arrogant royalist Swiss guard, at that. With one or two notable exceptions, the Jedi we meet in Star Wars are full of themselves. They ignore the counsel of others (often with terrible consequences), and seem honestly to believe that they are at the center of the universe. When the chief Jedi record-keeper is asked in "Attack of the Clones" about a planet she has never heard of, she replies that if it's not in the Jedi archives, it doesn't exist. (The planet in question does exist, again, with terrible consequences.)
In "Attack of the Clones," a mysterious figure, Count Dooku, leads a separatist movement of planets that want to secede from the Republic. Dooku promises these confederates smaller government, unlimited free trade, and an "absolute commitment to capitalism." Dooku's motives are suspect--it's not clear whether or not he believes in these causes. However, there's no reason to doubt the motives of the other separatists--they seem genuinely to want to make a fresh start with a government that isn't bloated and dysfunctional.
The Republic, of course, is eager to quash these separatists, but they never make a compelling case--or any case, for that matter--as to why, if they are such a freedom-loving regime, these planets should not be allowed to check out of the Republic and take control of their own destinies.
II. The Empire
We do not yet know the exact how's and why's, but we do know this: At some point between the end of Episode II and the beginning of
Episode IV, the Republic is replaced by an Empire. The first hint comes in "Attack of the Clones," when the Senate's Chancellor Palpatine is granted emergency powers to deal with the separatists. It spoils very little to tell you that Palpatine eventually becomes the Emperor. For a time, he keeps the Senate in place, functioning as a rubber-stamp, much like the Roman imperial senate, but a few minutes into Episode IV, we are informed that the he has dissolved the Senate, and that "the last remnants of the Old Republic have been swept away."
Lucas wants the Empire to stand for evil, so he tells us that the Emperor and Darth Vader have gone over to the Dark Side and dresses them in black.
But look closer. When Palpatine is still a senator, he says, "The Republic is not what it once was. The Senate is full of greedy, squabbling delegates. There is no interest in the common good." At one point he laments that "the bureaucrats are in charge now."
Palpatine believes that the political order must be manipulated to produce peace and stability. When he mutters, "There is no civility, there is only politics," we see that at heart, he's an esoteric Straussian.
Make no mistake, as emperor, Palpatine is a dictator--but a relatively benign one, like Pinochet. It's a dictatorship people can do business with. They collect taxes and patrol the skies. They try to stop organized crime (in the form of the smuggling rings run by the Hutts). The Empire has virtually no effect on the daily life of the average, law-abiding citizen.
Also, unlike the divine-right Jedi, the Empire is a meritocracy. The Empire runs academies throughout the galaxy (Han Solo begins his career at an Imperial academy), and those who show promise are promoted, often rapidly. In "The Empire Strikes Back" Captain Piett is quickly promoted to admiral when his predecessor "falls down on the job."
And while it's a small point, the Empire's manners and decorum speak well of it. When Darth Vader is forced to employ bounty hunters to track down Han Solo, he refuses to address them by name. Even Boba Fett, the greatest of all trackers, is referred to icily as "bounty hunter." And yet Fett understands the protocol. When he captures Solo, he calls him "Captain Solo." (Whether this is in deference to Han's former rank in the Imperial starfleet, or simply because Han owns and pilots his own ship, we don't know. I suspect it's the former.)
But the most compelling evidence that the Empire isn't evil comes in "The Empire Strikes Back" when Darth Vader is battling Luke Skywalker. After an exhausting fight, Vader is poised to finish Luke off, but he stays his hand. He tries to convert Luke to the Dark Side with this simple plea: "There is no escape. Don't make me destroy you. . . . Join me, and I will complete your training. With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy." It is here we find the real controlling impulse for the Dark Side and the Empire. The Empire doesn't want slaves or destruction or "evil." It wants order.
None of which is to say that the Empire isn't sometimes brutal. In Episode IV, Imperial stormtroopers kill Luke's aunt and uncle and Grand Moff Tarkin orders the destruction of an entire planet, Alderaan. But viewed in context, these acts are less brutal than they initially appear. Poor Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen reach a grisly end, but only after they aid the rebellion by hiding Luke and harboring two fugitive droids. They aren't given due process, but they are traitors.
The destruction of Alderaan is often cited as ipso facto proof of the Empire's "evilness" because it seems like mass murder--planeticide, even. As Tarkin prepares to fire the Death Star, Princess Leia implores him to spare the planet, saying, "Alderaan is peaceful. We have no weapons." Her plea is important, if true.
But the audience has no reason to believe that Leia is telling the truth. In Episode IV, every bit of information she gives the Empire is willfully untrue. In the opening, she tells Darth Vader that she is on a diplomatic mission of mercy, when in fact she is on a spy mission, trying to deliver schematics of the Death Star to the Rebel Alliance. When asked where the Alliance is headquartered, she lies again.
Leia's lies are perfectly defensible--she thinks she's serving the greater good--but they make her wholly unreliable on the question of whether or not Alderaan really is peaceful and defenseless. If anything, since Leia is a high-ranking member of the rebellion and the princess of Alderaan, it would be reasonable to suspect that Alderaan is a front for Rebel activity or at least home to many more spies and insurgents like Leia.
Whatever the case, the important thing to recognize is that the Empire is not committing random acts of terror. It is engaged in a fight for the survival of its regime against a violent group of rebels who are committed to its destruction.
III. After the Rebellion
As we all know from the final Star Wars installment, "Return of the Jedi," the rebellion is eventually successful. The Emperor is assassinated, Darth Vader abdicates his post and dies, the central governing apparatus of the Empire is destroyed in a spectacular space battle, and the rebels rejoice with their small, annoying Ewok friends. But what happens next?
(There is a raft of literature on this point, but, as I said at the beginning, I'm going to ignore it because it doesn't speak to Lucas's original intent.)
In Episode IV, after Grand Moff Tarkin announces that the Imperial Senate has been abolished, he's asked how the Emperor can possibly hope to keep control of the galaxy. "The regional governors now have direct control over territories," he says. "Fear will keep the local systems in line."
So under Imperial rule, a large group of regional potentates, each with access to a sizable army and star destroyers, runs local affairs. These governors owe their fealty to the Emperor. And once the Emperor is dead, the galaxy will be plunged into chaos.
In all of the time we spend observing the Rebel Alliance, we never hear of their governing strategy or their plans for a post-Imperial universe. All we see are plots and fighting. Their victory over the Empire doesn't liberate the galaxy--it turns the galaxy into Somalia writ large: dominated by local warlords who are answerable to no one.
Which makes the rebels--Lucas's heroes--an unimpressive crew of anarchic royals who wreck the galaxy so that Princess Leia can have her tiara back.
I'll take the Empire.
Jonathan V. Last is online editor of The Weekly Standard.
Sunday, May 15, 2005
Recommended Jazz/New Age CDs
During the last few months, I've been in a Jazz/New Age buying spree, and I've bought myself a total of about a dozen or so CDs on this theme. I just thought about recommending a few of them:
Artist: Jaja
Album: Jaja
Genre: Fusion Jazz
Description: The first album of Jaja, this album is a simple example of smooth fusion jazz that is easy and simple to listen to, and quite melodic also. Many people said it reminds them of Kenny G during the earlier years before he became alittle too pop.
Artist: Jeanette Alexander
Album: Open Skies
Genre: New Age/Meditation Music
Description: A rather strange album due to its instrumental simplicity but profound meolody. I don't really know how to classify it, but it seems to be a crossover between new age, meditational, and spiritual music. A recommended buy for those who want to take some time off their hectic schedules.
Artist: Jaja
Album: Jaja
Genre: Fusion Jazz
Description: The first album of Jaja, this album is a simple example of smooth fusion jazz that is easy and simple to listen to, and quite melodic also. Many people said it reminds them of Kenny G during the earlier years before he became alittle too pop.
Artist: Jeanette Alexander
Album: Open Skies
Genre: New Age/Meditation Music
Description: A rather strange album due to its instrumental simplicity but profound meolody. I don't really know how to classify it, but it seems to be a crossover between new age, meditational, and spiritual music. A recommended buy for those who want to take some time off their hectic schedules.
Thursday, May 12, 2005
PacMan Turns 25
Its strange. After browsing through CNN.COM I've noticed a very interesting article that brought me back memory lane. No its not a thing about a place or a tradition or someone that I know well, but its about a game that I've been playing rather often in my earlier years - a simple game of PacMan.
Its an interesting sidenote on how the designer who came up with the idea of PacMan after eating part of his pizza and made it a worldwide phenomenon as one of the most loved arcade games of history. I've just heard PacMan turned 25 today, and somehow it just felt like yesterday. How time does flies doesn't it?
Tribute to Pacman at CNN.COM
Planning for a VISA to the US?
If you are in BKK Thailand, and planning to apply for a VISA to the US, it might be interesting to read about one of my friend's struggle to get one, and what you should know if you go there:
http://xtercy.blogspot.com/2005/05/apply-for-visa-to-us.html
http://xtercy.blogspot.com/2005/05/apply-for-visa-to-us.html
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Why Do We Drive in the Left Side of the Road but Walk on the Right?
Why Do We Drive in the Left Side of the Road but Walk on the Right?
Have you ever noticed that we drive on the left side of the road, but when you go up the elevated walkway, they ask people to stay to the right? Notice the disrepency? What do you think the reason why it is so? Take a few minutes, think about it. Once you are done, feel free to scroll down and compare your answers with mines.
Here are the list of possible theories:
1) When people go up the stairs, it is likely that most people especially older people who need to grabble the stairs. Since most people are right handed, it is likely why we walk up the elevated walkway on the right side.
2) It is noted that it is safer if a person on the footpath on the opposite direction that the car is traveling. This is safer as it allows you to avoid cars in cases of accidents when it veers out of direction into the footpath. That extends to the elevated walkway theory.
Any more theories? Free free to comment!
Have you ever noticed that we drive on the left side of the road, but when you go up the elevated walkway, they ask people to stay to the right? Notice the disrepency? What do you think the reason why it is so? Take a few minutes, think about it. Once you are done, feel free to scroll down and compare your answers with mines.
Here are the list of possible theories:
1) When people go up the stairs, it is likely that most people especially older people who need to grabble the stairs. Since most people are right handed, it is likely why we walk up the elevated walkway on the right side.
2) It is noted that it is safer if a person on the footpath on the opposite direction that the car is traveling. This is safer as it allows you to avoid cars in cases of accidents when it veers out of direction into the footpath. That extends to the elevated walkway theory.
Any more theories? Free free to comment!
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Fingers Crossed on Simulator
I used to remember writing fractal programs when I was younger and practicing programming. If you don't know what fractal graphics are, let me just show you some pictures of fractal graphics (note - pictures were taken from http://www.cosmiclight.com/)
Basically Fractal graphics is a complex mathematical formula in which can be used to generate intricate, interesting, and repeating fashions. It is often used as a programming exercise to practice programming, and also to test your hardware. As fractal graphics do take excessive amounts of computation most people usually write the program and leave it to render the whole night, and see the results the next day.
Now when doing this process, there are a number of problems that can occur. The major problem that could happen is that the program was coded wrong, and the results turn out to be rubbage. Another common problem that could occur is that the computer could simply hang on you and you waste the whole day's work.
Talking about it, I'm running a few intense simulators that I wrote, and I just have to keep my fingers crossed that my 24 hours of rendering won't go to waste :P
Basically Fractal graphics is a complex mathematical formula in which can be used to generate intricate, interesting, and repeating fashions. It is often used as a programming exercise to practice programming, and also to test your hardware. As fractal graphics do take excessive amounts of computation most people usually write the program and leave it to render the whole night, and see the results the next day.
Now when doing this process, there are a number of problems that can occur. The major problem that could happen is that the program was coded wrong, and the results turn out to be rubbage. Another common problem that could occur is that the computer could simply hang on you and you waste the whole day's work.
Talking about it, I'm running a few intense simulators that I wrote, and I just have to keep my fingers crossed that my 24 hours of rendering won't go to waste :P
Monday, May 02, 2005
MEEEEELLLLLLLLTTTTTTIIIIINNNNG
Today's rant is simple. I'm MEEEEELLLLLLLLTTTTTTIIIIINNNNG. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The weather is simply just too hot, I feel that I'm in a sauna every single day. Now how can one person find an ounce of creativity in a time like this?
Thinking about it, having some time off, like going to meet old friends is a good idea, and that is what we just did at the Nasty Gang Reunion at Pond's House. Since a picture tells a thousand words, I guess I'll let the picture do the talking and I can safely smirk from my own duty of doing so :P
The weather is simply just too hot, I feel that I'm in a sauna every single day. Now how can one person find an ounce of creativity in a time like this?
Thinking about it, having some time off, like going to meet old friends is a good idea, and that is what we just did at the Nasty Gang Reunion at Pond's House. Since a picture tells a thousand words, I guess I'll let the picture do the talking and I can safely smirk from my own duty of doing so :P
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Oishi Not!
Today's rambling would be a rambling based on my not so experience from dining at a well known group of japanese restaurant called Oishi.
Oishi is a popular group of japanese restaurant which has marketed itself into a number of different brands as follows:
Oishi - The main flagbearer is a japanese food buffet restaurant offering a wide variety of food
Oishi Express - A scaled down version of Oishi, this brand is cheaper as it offers fewer buffet items, moderately priced for your everyday family
Oishi Sabushi - In this brand, customers eat a buffet variation of the popular sabu sabu (similar to the Thai style sukiyaki) and has some scaled down side dishes.
Oishi Ramen - A fastfood outlet for selling ramen dishes at a economic price.
If you looked at the list above, you can notice that Oishi has done a great job in marketing their products by segmenting the market between different income groups in a distinct way allowing many different franchises to be created with reasonable success. During the early days of the Oishi franchise, everyone was inviting me to eat at their restaurant, and that is where I would like to start today's rambling.
The first time I stepped into an Oishi restaurant was when I was forced by a group of my friends to join them off for dinner. Though reluctant to spend a hefty sum on a japanese buffet as I don't eat sushi, I agreed to follow my friends along just for old times sake. During my time there, I just wanted to say I was rather unimpressed by the lineup of food. Most of the food is typical or bland tasting. The variety may be huge, but I was rather taken back by the horrible table manners of some of the other patrons. All in all, I just wanted to say the buffet was adequate, though I didn't enjoyed it that much.
A few weeks later, one of my other friend who went to Oishi came to vent his frustration with me. He claimed that he saw a hidden camera at the food counter in Oishi. Though I haven't got the chance to go back to double check it, the thought that high paying patrons should be subjected to eavesdropping just because they are afraid of us packing food back home is a big big let down. Without much thought I promised never to step in another Oishi again.
I kept my promise for a number of months, until I was cornered again at a local department store. After huge deliberation, our group of friends decided to try Oishi Sabushi. Though relunctant to eat at Oishi, I noticed that the price range here is alot cheaper than the Oishi restaurant which allowed tempted me to allow Oishi another try. I didn't particularly find anything interesting in Sabushi, though the pricing is rather adequate. It was only at the end of the buffet when I ordered my favorite snack - Zenzai(?) red beans with mochi - that is when my woes with Oishi return. What I got was essentially red bean soup (hardly any red beans) and a number rock hard piece of grilled rice. That bowl of zenzai was a complete let down, and after finishing that dish, I coined the term - Spirit of the Red Bean for the dish as I gave the dish a wai. I promised again, never to step in another Oishi.
Forward another year, I was stuck in a department store with my little bro and a friend, and it was raining pretty hard in the afternoon. All of the people in our clique agreed Oishi was crab, but since we had nothing to do for hours, we decided to go to the only buffet in the department store - which was Oishi Express. Since it was priced less than the Oishi which we didn't liked to much, we still were willing to give it a try. Just a weeks ago before this day, there was a story about an aide of an MP that got badly burnt in an Oishi Express shop, so naturally our curiousity only served as incentive to try out Oishi Express to see how in the world can someone burnt themselves badly by eating a sabu sabu. During the first half hour of the buffet, things were nice in Oishi Express. The problem started when we started to eat our main dishes. Most of the main dishes were bland or either awful.
The highlight of our evening to forget was highlighted by the Sabu sabu dish. We were planning to get a sabu sabu dish (the same dish that got the aide of the MP burnt), and we proceeded to the counter to get the dish. However when we were about to pick the pot, the staff informed us that we cannot operate this dish by ourselves, and they were going to serve us the dish and asked us to select what we want in the sabu sabu. After some deliberation, we pointed at a number of meat dishes and vegatables and went back to our table. After a brief wait, the waitress got us the sabu sabu dish and then left promptly. To our surprise, we saw all the meat and vegetables were dumped in the pot - and to compound things, the water wasn't even boiling. If you have cooked food before, you will know that if raw meat is dropped in unboiled water, it lets off a strange aftertaste. To make mattters worse, the only thing that was heating the dish was this alcohol based candle burning underneath the pot. We were waiting for 10 minutes, and then the fire went out before the water was boiling. Wonderful, now we had to ask them to replace the candle and wait for it to boil again. So after waiting half an hour for a stupid sabu sabu, the taste verdict of all the three tasters were damning - 2 thumbs down - awful!
To cap things off, we decided to have our zenzai again. Once again, I made another wai at the Spirit of the Red Bean. To sum it all up, it was another awful dining experience except the side dishes.
If you have been reading this rambling to this moment, yes, you would not be surprised to hear that I promised myself not to eat at another Oishi restaurant again. I kept my promise for another year, and until I was forced to make a choice between two restaurants when I was supposed to treat my nephew. The first was a spagetthi shop and the second was Oishi Ramen. It turned out that my choice, the spagetthi shop was closed, and I was forced to go to another Oishi shop - this time the last in the franchise called Oishi Ramen. In this sitting, I was adamant that the food will suck as the price is priced in the low range. I wasn't disappointed. It really sucked. Let me talk about two dishes. The first dish that I ordered was curry ramen. When I got my dish, I just have to say I was completely aghasted at the taste and appearance. If you have eaten real curry ramen, you would know that the curry must be normal curry sauce, but diluted so that it could eaten as a soup. In Oishi ramen, what they did was to make ramen from their old brooth, and pour some curry on top, thinking about it - at least they could have stirred the curry and the soup together. The taste was rather bad. What I noticed is that the curry in Oishi Ramen seems to be rather artificial. After tasting the carrots and the potatoes, the vegetables seem rather flaky, which is a attribute of preprocessed food. This flaky taste also extended to the pork - which doubles my hunch that food in Oishi Ramen - like curry was preprocessed by a food factory and not made in the shop.
The second dish that I got was a Yakisoba dish. Though intially it was adequate in taste(better than Sky Lark), after reaching the bottom of the dish, I found that the yakisoba was completely drenched in oil! Its a basic cooking knowledge that it is vital to drain excess oil from dishes. Somehow the shop didn't do that, and added to my doubt about the quality of food.
To conclude things off, after tasting food at every Oishi Franchise,here is my verdict for Oishi. Oishi is excellent in Marketing, but horrible in Food Quality. Its just perflexing to see that so many people partronize Oishi on a daily basis, but I guess at times its another excellent case study of how marketing is more important than product. Sad indeed!
Oishi is a popular group of japanese restaurant which has marketed itself into a number of different brands as follows:
Oishi - The main flagbearer is a japanese food buffet restaurant offering a wide variety of food
Oishi Express - A scaled down version of Oishi, this brand is cheaper as it offers fewer buffet items, moderately priced for your everyday family
Oishi Sabushi - In this brand, customers eat a buffet variation of the popular sabu sabu (similar to the Thai style sukiyaki) and has some scaled down side dishes.
Oishi Ramen - A fastfood outlet for selling ramen dishes at a economic price.
If you looked at the list above, you can notice that Oishi has done a great job in marketing their products by segmenting the market between different income groups in a distinct way allowing many different franchises to be created with reasonable success. During the early days of the Oishi franchise, everyone was inviting me to eat at their restaurant, and that is where I would like to start today's rambling.
The first time I stepped into an Oishi restaurant was when I was forced by a group of my friends to join them off for dinner. Though reluctant to spend a hefty sum on a japanese buffet as I don't eat sushi, I agreed to follow my friends along just for old times sake. During my time there, I just wanted to say I was rather unimpressed by the lineup of food. Most of the food is typical or bland tasting. The variety may be huge, but I was rather taken back by the horrible table manners of some of the other patrons. All in all, I just wanted to say the buffet was adequate, though I didn't enjoyed it that much.
A few weeks later, one of my other friend who went to Oishi came to vent his frustration with me. He claimed that he saw a hidden camera at the food counter in Oishi. Though I haven't got the chance to go back to double check it, the thought that high paying patrons should be subjected to eavesdropping just because they are afraid of us packing food back home is a big big let down. Without much thought I promised never to step in another Oishi again.
I kept my promise for a number of months, until I was cornered again at a local department store. After huge deliberation, our group of friends decided to try Oishi Sabushi. Though relunctant to eat at Oishi, I noticed that the price range here is alot cheaper than the Oishi restaurant which allowed tempted me to allow Oishi another try. I didn't particularly find anything interesting in Sabushi, though the pricing is rather adequate. It was only at the end of the buffet when I ordered my favorite snack - Zenzai(?) red beans with mochi - that is when my woes with Oishi return. What I got was essentially red bean soup (hardly any red beans) and a number rock hard piece of grilled rice. That bowl of zenzai was a complete let down, and after finishing that dish, I coined the term - Spirit of the Red Bean for the dish as I gave the dish a wai. I promised again, never to step in another Oishi.
Forward another year, I was stuck in a department store with my little bro and a friend, and it was raining pretty hard in the afternoon. All of the people in our clique agreed Oishi was crab, but since we had nothing to do for hours, we decided to go to the only buffet in the department store - which was Oishi Express. Since it was priced less than the Oishi which we didn't liked to much, we still were willing to give it a try. Just a weeks ago before this day, there was a story about an aide of an MP that got badly burnt in an Oishi Express shop, so naturally our curiousity only served as incentive to try out Oishi Express to see how in the world can someone burnt themselves badly by eating a sabu sabu. During the first half hour of the buffet, things were nice in Oishi Express. The problem started when we started to eat our main dishes. Most of the main dishes were bland or either awful.
The highlight of our evening to forget was highlighted by the Sabu sabu dish. We were planning to get a sabu sabu dish (the same dish that got the aide of the MP burnt), and we proceeded to the counter to get the dish. However when we were about to pick the pot, the staff informed us that we cannot operate this dish by ourselves, and they were going to serve us the dish and asked us to select what we want in the sabu sabu. After some deliberation, we pointed at a number of meat dishes and vegatables and went back to our table. After a brief wait, the waitress got us the sabu sabu dish and then left promptly. To our surprise, we saw all the meat and vegetables were dumped in the pot - and to compound things, the water wasn't even boiling. If you have cooked food before, you will know that if raw meat is dropped in unboiled water, it lets off a strange aftertaste. To make mattters worse, the only thing that was heating the dish was this alcohol based candle burning underneath the pot. We were waiting for 10 minutes, and then the fire went out before the water was boiling. Wonderful, now we had to ask them to replace the candle and wait for it to boil again. So after waiting half an hour for a stupid sabu sabu, the taste verdict of all the three tasters were damning - 2 thumbs down - awful!
To cap things off, we decided to have our zenzai again. Once again, I made another wai at the Spirit of the Red Bean. To sum it all up, it was another awful dining experience except the side dishes.
If you have been reading this rambling to this moment, yes, you would not be surprised to hear that I promised myself not to eat at another Oishi restaurant again. I kept my promise for another year, and until I was forced to make a choice between two restaurants when I was supposed to treat my nephew. The first was a spagetthi shop and the second was Oishi Ramen. It turned out that my choice, the spagetthi shop was closed, and I was forced to go to another Oishi shop - this time the last in the franchise called Oishi Ramen. In this sitting, I was adamant that the food will suck as the price is priced in the low range. I wasn't disappointed. It really sucked. Let me talk about two dishes. The first dish that I ordered was curry ramen. When I got my dish, I just have to say I was completely aghasted at the taste and appearance. If you have eaten real curry ramen, you would know that the curry must be normal curry sauce, but diluted so that it could eaten as a soup. In Oishi ramen, what they did was to make ramen from their old brooth, and pour some curry on top, thinking about it - at least they could have stirred the curry and the soup together. The taste was rather bad. What I noticed is that the curry in Oishi Ramen seems to be rather artificial. After tasting the carrots and the potatoes, the vegetables seem rather flaky, which is a attribute of preprocessed food. This flaky taste also extended to the pork - which doubles my hunch that food in Oishi Ramen - like curry was preprocessed by a food factory and not made in the shop.
The second dish that I got was a Yakisoba dish. Though intially it was adequate in taste(better than Sky Lark), after reaching the bottom of the dish, I found that the yakisoba was completely drenched in oil! Its a basic cooking knowledge that it is vital to drain excess oil from dishes. Somehow the shop didn't do that, and added to my doubt about the quality of food.
To conclude things off, after tasting food at every Oishi Franchise,here is my verdict for Oishi. Oishi is excellent in Marketing, but horrible in Food Quality. Its just perflexing to see that so many people partronize Oishi on a daily basis, but I guess at times its another excellent case study of how marketing is more important than product. Sad indeed!
Sunday, April 24, 2005
Argh!!!
During the last week or so, Blogger has been acting a little strange, and my posts keep on disappearing. I read through the logs in Blogger and it seems there were some major problems with the system which causes posts to disappear. So much about it. Imagine writing up a huge long rambling, and the whole post disappears. THAT IS A BAD FEELING!
If I draw a modern analogy, it would be similar to writing a report in M$Word and the app just crashed when you reached the tenth page of the report. Now in most cases, alot of people in my field would usually laugh it off and just say that you simply saved it on regular intervals, the agony would have never happened. Thinking about the previous lesson, it makes me think whether I should copy the posts everytime I post in Blogger into a notepad before I press the Publish button. Oh well, considering my upbringing, it seems that I'm getting a new habit. Its always better to be safe than sorry.
Oh well, that is all to today's rant. Once I get in a better mood, maybe I'll get to tell another tale.
If I draw a modern analogy, it would be similar to writing a report in M$Word and the app just crashed when you reached the tenth page of the report. Now in most cases, alot of people in my field would usually laugh it off and just say that you simply saved it on regular intervals, the agony would have never happened. Thinking about the previous lesson, it makes me think whether I should copy the posts everytime I post in Blogger into a notepad before I press the Publish button. Oh well, considering my upbringing, it seems that I'm getting a new habit. Its always better to be safe than sorry.
Oh well, that is all to today's rant. Once I get in a better mood, maybe I'll get to tell another tale.
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Songkhran on a Hindsight
As I'm writing this blog technically on the first Day of our Thai New Year - Songkhran, I've decided that I want to reflect on a few issues and remind our readers on a few things before they think about going all out and enjoy themselves.
First of all, this year's drought has been the worst in decades. As a result of that, the lives of numerous farming families have severely been affected. Due to that, before going out splashing excessive amounts of water just for enjoyment, I do want to remind all of us about the farmers and their plight and conserve water if possible.
The second issue that has been troubling me is the massive exodus of holiday seekers going to exotic destinations or simply back home at this period. I was wondering how much energy could be saved if people actually had the choice actually travel during other periods of the year? As the massive exodus from Bangkok starts, we can notice that the huge traffic jam that accumulates from choke points from the main highways resulting to huge lost of money on fuel and transportation cost due to ineffiency usage.
The last issue that really troubles me is the amount of alcohol consumed by this country. To compound that, it just makes me wonder the lack of restraints from the drinkers especially when it comes with drunk driving. It seems alot of drivers show little restraint, and many of the designated drivers actually grab many a drink especially during the holidays. This adds significantly to the carnage and the excessive amount of road accidents during this period.
Oh well, after all of this, I just want to wish all of us a Happy Songkhran holiday :P
First of all, this year's drought has been the worst in decades. As a result of that, the lives of numerous farming families have severely been affected. Due to that, before going out splashing excessive amounts of water just for enjoyment, I do want to remind all of us about the farmers and their plight and conserve water if possible.
The second issue that has been troubling me is the massive exodus of holiday seekers going to exotic destinations or simply back home at this period. I was wondering how much energy could be saved if people actually had the choice actually travel during other periods of the year? As the massive exodus from Bangkok starts, we can notice that the huge traffic jam that accumulates from choke points from the main highways resulting to huge lost of money on fuel and transportation cost due to ineffiency usage.
The last issue that really troubles me is the amount of alcohol consumed by this country. To compound that, it just makes me wonder the lack of restraints from the drinkers especially when it comes with drunk driving. It seems alot of drivers show little restraint, and many of the designated drivers actually grab many a drink especially during the holidays. This adds significantly to the carnage and the excessive amount of road accidents during this period.
Oh well, after all of this, I just want to wish all of us a Happy Songkhran holiday :P
Saturday, April 09, 2005
Food Woes
On April 8, 2005, I was invited to speak at Rajamangala University of Technology by one of my collegues who was teaching the subject Seminars on Technology there. He told me he wanted me to talk for 3 hours on the topic Computer Game Development Technology, Trends, and the Industry. If you happen to follow along my random blog, during the last few months, I've been invited to a number of different campuses to talk about this area, and having another university to visit is indeed a fun experience.
On a strange note, I've always wondered why food on campus is hardly edible? Though its easy to argue that the quality of food depends on the cost, there are notable exceptions such as the army canteen that serves good food at really dirt cheap price. Hmm...
On a strange note, I've always wondered why food on campus is hardly edible? Though its easy to argue that the quality of food depends on the cost, there are notable exceptions such as the army canteen that serves good food at really dirt cheap price. Hmm...
PS2 On PC
I just can't stop laughing at this rather stupid joke:
PS2 On PC
เนื่องจากเห็นเพื่อนๆ ถามกันเข้ามามากว่าจะเล่นเกมPS2บนPCได้อย่างไรจึงนำวิธีง่ายๆมาบอกต่อๆกันนะครับ (ผมลองแล้วworkมั่กๆ)
1.เตรียมคอม หาคอมสเปกไม่ต้องสูงมากนัก พิมเวิร์ดได้ เล่นเนตได้จะได้เล่นออนไลน์ได้
2.ไปสะพานเหล็ก หาเครื่องPS2สภาพดีๆสักเครื่อง อาจดูร้านเฮียตี๋ก็ได้ แล้วซื้อกลับมาบ้าน
3.นำPS2มาวางบนคอม ขั้นตอนนี้สำคัญมาก หากวางไม่ดีอาจพังทั้งคู่ได้ ถ้าคอมเป็นแบบdesktopให้วางทับเลย ถ้าเป็นแบบtowerให้จับนอนก่อน
4.เสียบสายให้ครบแล้วเล่นเลย ไม่ต้องกลัวคอมแฮงค์ สามารถเล่นเกมPS2พร้อมทำงานไปด้วยได้เลยไม่ต้องกังวล เล่นออนไลน์ก็ได้สบายมาก เล่นเว็บ,MSN,pirch ก็ได้สบายมาก
หวังว่าคงมีประโยชน์กับเพื่อนๆนะครับ
Monday, April 04, 2005
Behind Every Great Fortune...
I just thought this makes perfect sense, so I decided to post this quote here.
Behind every great fortune is a crime.
Honore De Balzac
Friday, April 01, 2005
Shopping Spree at Book Fair
Once or twice every year or so, I usually go off in a happy shopping spree when a Book Fair comes to town. In Thailand, where the majority of peeps hardly read any books, its nice to know that so many people are actually interested in visiting a book fair, though I suspect a huge majority of them go buy Mangas. I don't blame them though. To be exact, I'm also a really heavy manga reader myself, and this fair has the best discounts in town.
Yesterday I just had the chance to visit the book fair, and I just went on another typical shopping spree. As usual the first target are the manga stalls, and I got a sizeable number of manga to add to my collection. This year, I haven't got anything really significant. It was a far cry from the last year when I and my bro practically got a huge collection of Doraemon, Arale, Slam Dunk, and an assortment of other mangas from the fair.
After that usual stop at the manga publishers, the next stops are in the International Book Section. I usually have a strange taste for books. I like reading detailed history, and it just kind of irks me that there aren't many books on that topic in the fair. To be exact, this fair is geared more for casual readers, and the majority of books on display are usually novels and graphic books. Anyway, after rummaging through the fair, I've got myself a few good books on steep discounts, up to 70% on books (even new Books on good coding practice and design documentation seems to be low in Thai buyer's mind) that I used to want to buy, but procastinated until the fair.
Though my life has been pretty down in the dumps, all I can say, a good book does help keep a peace of mind :)
Yesterday I just had the chance to visit the book fair, and I just went on another typical shopping spree. As usual the first target are the manga stalls, and I got a sizeable number of manga to add to my collection. This year, I haven't got anything really significant. It was a far cry from the last year when I and my bro practically got a huge collection of Doraemon, Arale, Slam Dunk, and an assortment of other mangas from the fair.
After that usual stop at the manga publishers, the next stops are in the International Book Section. I usually have a strange taste for books. I like reading detailed history, and it just kind of irks me that there aren't many books on that topic in the fair. To be exact, this fair is geared more for casual readers, and the majority of books on display are usually novels and graphic books. Anyway, after rummaging through the fair, I've got myself a few good books on steep discounts, up to 70% on books (even new Books on good coding practice and design documentation seems to be low in Thai buyer's mind) that I used to want to buy, but procastinated until the fair.
Though my life has been pretty down in the dumps, all I can say, a good book does help keep a peace of mind :)
Thursday, March 31, 2005
Ultimate Ownage
I just can't help but laugh at the following blog about how a student got cheated by a person who happens to help her plagarize works from the internet:
http://www.aweekofkindness.com/blog/archives/2005/03/laura_k_pahl_is.html
On a hindsight, I do think the author should have taken her name out.
http://www.aweekofkindness.com/blog/archives/2005/03/laura_k_pahl_is.html
On a hindsight, I do think the author should have taken her name out.
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
TSA Lied About Protecting Passenger Data
I just noticed a very interesting blog that in a nutshell are as follows:
TSA Lied About Protecting Passenger Data
The Transportation Security Administration (aftermath of 9/11) misled the public about its role in obtaining personal information about 12 million airline passengers to test a new computerized system that screens for terrorists, according to a government investigation.
The report, released Friday by Homeland Security Department Acting Inspector General Richard Skinner, said the agency misinformed individuals, the press and Congress in 2003 and 2004. It stopped short of saying TSA lied.
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