Just to make a long matter short, there was a smash hit song called "Love Never Changes" by a local artist called Tik Shiro. In the late 80s and 90s, Tik Shiro has been one of the most popular singers in Thailand. He was known to be a great drummer, plays many musical instruments, a composer, a producers, a singer, and also a great dancer. However in the late 90s up the early 2000s, he pretty much disappeared from the music scene. Most of my peers, or people of the younger generation pretty much ridicule him as an ugly singer, with stupid songs, and who imitates Michael Jackson. That is pretty irksome especially when I go to the Karaoke and open some of his older songs.
Just a year back, he was back with a new album with Grammy Entertainment which was called "Boran (Ancient Man)" which seems to make fun of his past. Anyway, strangely enough, his song "Love Never Changes (Rak Mai Yom Paien Plang)" became one of the biggest hits of the year, and made him extremely popular with the newer generation of fans. Though I don't like the new album like some of his older vintage albums, it is still a solid offering, much of the old stuff, but with a better PR and marketing. Anyway, from all of that, the good thing is that I don't get ridicule anymore for playing his songs on the Karaoke Machine :P
Coming back to the subject mater about F Never Changes, I just happen to drop on a music video posted by a student from ABAC (Assumption University) where I teach, a video at a local online video sharing website. He has covered the song that I mentioned earlier with his (supposedly or real?) struggles with his studies which ended up with Fs. Anyway, at the end of the song, the message was simple - never give up.
Just one more short note from me. Never give up, but don't forget to learn from your mistakes also!
To view the video, follow the following link:
http://video.mthai.com/player.php?id=2M1176266554M268
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
A Notebook Reunion of the Past!
Yesterday I was just looking for a few interesting pictures to add to one of the presentation that I was supposed to speak at Silapakorn University. During the process I happen to pick up one old picture that still gives me a laugh. As there are classroom reunion, in this case, a collection of notebook computer from a number of guests that visited my home.
On a short note, if I actually placed all the desktops at my home, then it would also be even more interesting. Unfortunately, we were lazy to move the desktops because they were heavy, so this was all we could do with our limited resources.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
As being a lecturer by profession, there has been many discussions on the pros and cons of teaching with different media. One of the most controversial issues involve the use of PowerPoint as the main supporting media for the instructors. Though there is a huge push towards PowerPoint, there are certain issues that I don't agree. One quote on a discussion on this issue goes as follows:
"Speaking on behalf of math instructors, there's a reason we use chalkboards.
Pacing.
Writing out your points as you make them forces you to slow down your exposition. This makes it easier for your audience to digest what you're saying, and also gives them time to take notes. Using premade slides or a powerpoint slideshow lets the presenter run unchecked, and the audience tends to zone out rather quickly. I could cover three times the material in a lecture if I used premade slides, but my students would get so little out of it that I might as well have said nothing at all."
As noted, another issue to ponder on, and why there is never any absolute answer in this world!
"Speaking on behalf of math instructors, there's a reason we use chalkboards.
Pacing.
Writing out your points as you make them forces you to slow down your exposition. This makes it easier for your audience to digest what you're saying, and also gives them time to take notes. Using premade slides or a powerpoint slideshow lets the presenter run unchecked, and the audience tends to zone out rather quickly. I could cover three times the material in a lecture if I used premade slides, but my students would get so little out of it that I might as well have said nothing at all."
As noted, another issue to ponder on, and why there is never any absolute answer in this world!
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Memories
One issue that has been bothering me is about my short term memory. When talking about trivial things that of little importance, I have a tendency to forget about them easily. One of the things that I keep on misplacing is my mobile phone. The good point is that you could always phone into your own mobile to figure where it was. Anyway, one of the things that was bothering the last few days was that I've misplaced my key chain somewhere in my home and I can't find it!
Once I find my key chain, the next time, I won't lost it easily. I'll just fix my keychain to the mobile phone. That way I can find my key chain easily by phoning in. The only bad thing about it is that it would even look more odd. Anyway, who cares about fashion, as long as it is practical, it works :)
Once I find my key chain, the next time, I won't lost it easily. I'll just fix my keychain to the mobile phone. That way I can find my key chain easily by phoning in. The only bad thing about it is that it would even look more odd. Anyway, who cares about fashion, as long as it is practical, it works :)
Monday, March 26, 2007
Jamming Session
Just asked my friend to take a few snapshot of me in my jam session.
Lately I've been playing more of my EWI4000s, but I still think the saxophone generally sounds better, even though mines is a pretty cheap and low-end one. Anyway, the EWI does have its advantage. It is easier to play, has a whole load of transposing (which makes it easy to play with other instruments), and can play a whole load of octaves, opposed to the rather limited saxophone. Anyway, at the end of day, it seems that each instrument is better for different situations, and its just up to experience to figure which one to use.
Lately I've been playing more of my EWI4000s, but I still think the saxophone generally sounds better, even though mines is a pretty cheap and low-end one. Anyway, the EWI does have its advantage. It is easier to play, has a whole load of transposing (which makes it easy to play with other instruments), and can play a whole load of octaves, opposed to the rather limited saxophone. Anyway, at the end of day, it seems that each instrument is better for different situations, and its just up to experience to figure which one to use.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Freedom?
During a discussion on the War in Iraq in a forum with a majority of users from the States, there was a discussion whether Iraqi Freedom really made Iraq a better country. There was a huge heated debate. In one of the issues that was raised was about the civilian deaths after Iraqi Freedom. The figure was significantly higher (in orders of magnitude) compared with the civilian deaths during Saddam's reign. Not to defend him, but simply the figures and statistics indicate that, and no one seems to find a good and clear argument against that fact. At the end of the day, there was one statement that really hit me.
After thinking about that statement over and over, I do agree that after all the figures, the statistics, and all the logical argument, at the end, it ends up with something that seems so impractical, but at the same time so profound. It is this freedom that caused many defining moments in human history.
When coming back to the topic, is it this freedom that the Iraqis want? As being an outsider, I do not know, and I do not dare speculate on things that I have no way of figuring out. However it does raise new issues. It does sum up everything nicely about human rationale, except if you value your life or stability more than freedom
"You can't a price on Freedom"
After thinking about that statement over and over, I do agree that after all the figures, the statistics, and all the logical argument, at the end, it ends up with something that seems so impractical, but at the same time so profound. It is this freedom that caused many defining moments in human history.
When coming back to the topic, is it this freedom that the Iraqis want? As being an outsider, I do not know, and I do not dare speculate on things that I have no way of figuring out. However it does raise new issues. It does sum up everything nicely about human rationale, except if you value your life or stability more than freedom
Thursday, March 15, 2007
I couldn't resist the urge
I couldn't resist the urge... If you noticed, that is a superhero impersonation :P
Start of the Holidays which is Basically Nearly the Same Thing as Before
Starting this week, I'm on an extended holiday until June. As being a lecturer, one of the major perks is that we are allowed an extended summer vacation until the next semester starts. How each lecturer spends the break depends on them. A number of lecturers would teach right through the summer. A number of them would be engaged in contract/external work. Some of them would be doing research. A number of them would go on extended holiday. To round up, a number of lecturers prepare for the next semester's course.
On my side of the story, during the summer semester, I am planning to spend most of my time brushing up my programming skills in the computer graphics field. Though many people complement me as being leading developer, I do find that complement rings hallow, and I have much to learn. So far I've been working on extending a game engine that I've used to include shader graphics. Right now, its looking quite good having adding a bloom filter, a flexible image filter system, and additional water based effects. What I usually like to say about it is that I managed to make a $150 dollar game engine look comparable with a $100k game engine LOL. Anyway, I've finished the first step of the project and I'm giving this core to my collegue to use it to create new games.
After that, I plan to take a dabbling on Physical Based Rendering systems which is an area of computer graphics. At this moment, I am quite intriqued by that concept, and I plan to spend most of the holidays to review and going deeper in that concept. Though Physical Based Rendering is usually ill-suited for game development due to its excessive calculation and slow speed, I am intriqued about exploring various optimization techniques that in hope in the future it might be feasible for real-time graphics. I don't think it would be a reality some time soon, but it is indeed a topic of challenge. As I'm planning to start my PhD somewhere the next semester, I reckon that if I had a head start on developing a core area for my future thesis it certainly would be beneficial.
Coupled with 3 other conferences to join during this period, I have to reckon that it is quite certain that this summer break would be busy just like any other typical day in my life :P
On my side of the story, during the summer semester, I am planning to spend most of my time brushing up my programming skills in the computer graphics field. Though many people complement me as being leading developer, I do find that complement rings hallow, and I have much to learn. So far I've been working on extending a game engine that I've used to include shader graphics. Right now, its looking quite good having adding a bloom filter, a flexible image filter system, and additional water based effects. What I usually like to say about it is that I managed to make a $150 dollar game engine look comparable with a $100k game engine LOL. Anyway, I've finished the first step of the project and I'm giving this core to my collegue to use it to create new games.
After that, I plan to take a dabbling on Physical Based Rendering systems which is an area of computer graphics. At this moment, I am quite intriqued by that concept, and I plan to spend most of the holidays to review and going deeper in that concept. Though Physical Based Rendering is usually ill-suited for game development due to its excessive calculation and slow speed, I am intriqued about exploring various optimization techniques that in hope in the future it might be feasible for real-time graphics. I don't think it would be a reality some time soon, but it is indeed a topic of challenge. As I'm planning to start my PhD somewhere the next semester, I reckon that if I had a head start on developing a core area for my future thesis it certainly would be beneficial.
Coupled with 3 other conferences to join during this period, I have to reckon that it is quite certain that this summer break would be busy just like any other typical day in my life :P
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
My Random Review and Thoughts on the WII
I've just got myself a Nintendo Wii a few days back. If you don't know what it is, the Wii is the newest game console from Nintendo, which features this revolutionary control system called the Wii Remote which is basically similar to a TV remote and the primary input is the act of swinging the remote around as opposed to the typical input system that consists of a direction pad and multiple buttons.
As a game player over the last 2 decades, I have to admit that I'm quite intrigued by the new design, as I have dampened my enthusiasm for games of the late. As many of the newer games in the market lack the innovation and the new factor due to many of them being rehashes of existing games, I'm finding it less and less fun to play the existing crop of games, and that is why I decided to buy the Wii.
Though I've bought a few games, I'll just keep my discussion short on one of the games that made most of the impression. The first game that really demonstrated the capability of the Wii was this game called Wii Sports. Wii Sports is a package of Tennis, Boxing, Golf, Baseball, and Bowling. Contrary to most other sports games on the market, all of the games were virtually simplify to the point of its essence. A good example would be like tennis. Instead of controlling the player avatar directly, the computer now moves the player avatar, and you as the player is only responsible for hitting the balls. In golf, they took out the 14 club bag, and left with it with 4. Though surprising at first, it all made sense when I've started to use the Wii remote to play those sports games. Tennis is extremely simple, as you basically have to swing your remote like a virtual racket. Timing, angle, and direction of the remote will ultimately decide where the ball would end up. Without having to control the player, the game play was simple but extremely effective. It ended up being a great design decision as making games simple will allow people who typically not play games find games less of a challenge. People who never played video games who came to my home found games like bowling and tennis fun. Easy to pick up, and immediately playable, it turns out the Wii really shines when it becomes the center of a community based entertainment center.
When having guests over at my home, if of different disposition, at the first the movies is the most suitable form of entertainment. Now, it seems that the Wii is going to give the TV and the DVD player a run for its money.
In simple, I call the Wii a console for the masses. It won't win over many of the power players due to its limited processing power, but the idea behind it would probably win over lots of other players, most of them who I assume never considered playing games before.
As a game player over the last 2 decades, I have to admit that I'm quite intrigued by the new design, as I have dampened my enthusiasm for games of the late. As many of the newer games in the market lack the innovation and the new factor due to many of them being rehashes of existing games, I'm finding it less and less fun to play the existing crop of games, and that is why I decided to buy the Wii.
Though I've bought a few games, I'll just keep my discussion short on one of the games that made most of the impression. The first game that really demonstrated the capability of the Wii was this game called Wii Sports. Wii Sports is a package of Tennis, Boxing, Golf, Baseball, and Bowling. Contrary to most other sports games on the market, all of the games were virtually simplify to the point of its essence. A good example would be like tennis. Instead of controlling the player avatar directly, the computer now moves the player avatar, and you as the player is only responsible for hitting the balls. In golf, they took out the 14 club bag, and left with it with 4. Though surprising at first, it all made sense when I've started to use the Wii remote to play those sports games. Tennis is extremely simple, as you basically have to swing your remote like a virtual racket. Timing, angle, and direction of the remote will ultimately decide where the ball would end up. Without having to control the player, the game play was simple but extremely effective. It ended up being a great design decision as making games simple will allow people who typically not play games find games less of a challenge. People who never played video games who came to my home found games like bowling and tennis fun. Easy to pick up, and immediately playable, it turns out the Wii really shines when it becomes the center of a community based entertainment center.
When having guests over at my home, if of different disposition, at the first the movies is the most suitable form of entertainment. Now, it seems that the Wii is going to give the TV and the DVD player a run for its money.
In simple, I call the Wii a console for the masses. It won't win over many of the power players due to its limited processing power, but the idea behind it would probably win over lots of other players, most of them who I assume never considered playing games before.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Busy Busy Busy
Been busy for the last few months with work work and work. One of the strange things is that work keeps you occupied. Once you run out of it, there is this feeling that something is missing in life. Strange...
I can't really pick up what is missing, but anyway, I know I've deserted this blog way too long. Anyway, just for a short starter, one of my latest project is now featured in the Menu Magazine Edition 63. You can find my game in the cover. The bad part is that since it is an animation magazine, there is nothing about me in the magazine. Its not that bad considering that the team leader, me and my assistant aren't in the picture either. As you know, that is quite a huge number of people missing during the interview LOL
I can't really pick up what is missing, but anyway, I know I've deserted this blog way too long. Anyway, just for a short starter, one of my latest project is now featured in the Menu Magazine Edition 63. You can find my game in the cover. The bad part is that since it is an animation magazine, there is nothing about me in the magazine. Its not that bad considering that the team leader, me and my assistant aren't in the picture either. As you know, that is quite a huge number of people missing during the interview LOL
Monday, October 23, 2006
Lesson #1
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 :(
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 :(
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
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