Monday, March 31, 2008

A lightbulb the size of a Tic Tac that gives off as much light as a streetlight !! (video)

How cool is that? It has less heat, uses less energy, but gives out a much brighter light. Just imagine how much you can save if you install these 'tic-tacs' in your home?

I guess it is a big contender against the well known diode. :)


Check it out here!

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Mas Selamat: More than a month after his escape

One of the most repeated name on the island, Mas Selamat, is no where to be found. Despite efforts from the both the police, gurkhas, public, etc, the elusive man is still at large. So what has happened to him since we are not able to find him? Let's go through the possibilities.

1. He is still hiding in the country.
2. He is dead.
3. He has left the country.


He is still hiding in the country.

Already the public have made several calls to the police about his whereabouts. One of which was a caller who was jailed for making a false claim that Mas Selamat boarded his bus. And I remember reading somewhere, where someone who looked like him, had his house raided only to find that he was not Mas Selamat.

Basically, everyone is doing their part in keeping a lookout for this man. We have one of the most densely populated island in the world, and no one has seen him, despite the efforts from the authorities and public.

If he is still hiding, he has got to be much better at it than David Copperfield. Or probably a good facial artist, just like the Jackal, who has the ability to change his appearance.

So is he still hiding?


He is dead

This is a quite a far fetched possibility. But I am going to talk about it anyway. If the public is cooperative, then this man might have a problem on survival. He can't get food nor water that easily. Although, he might be able to steal or just walk to any public toilet to get water. He could still survive. But I remember seeing the police going through the jungle looking for him. Is it possible that he got himself injured in the jungle and couldn't call for help? Or maybe he was bitten by a poisonous reptile or insect? Or he was already dead before this even happened?


He has left the country

I did mention earlier in one of my earlier posts, regarding the possibility of him escaping from Singapore. I am restating this possibility because he is still not found here!


So what's your guess? Is it different from mine? Do you have other possibilities?

Friday, March 28, 2008

A phenomenon you won't see in sunny Singapore, multiple suns! (video and pics)












I got this email about a phenomenon in Russia. Although unique it is not uncommon over there. They called it the icebow. It looks pretty cool.


Wikipedia has a description of it:

"An icebow is phenomenon similar to a rainbow except that it is formed by the refraction of sunlight through cloud suspended ice crystals as opposed to raindrops or other liquid water suspended in the air. Generally the appearance is as arc sections as opposed to a full circle. Brighter sections usually occur above, below, and lateral to the center (where the sun is visible). These bright areas are referred to as "sun dogs," "parhelia" (plural), or mock suns because of their bright appearance and possible confusion with the actual location of the sun. Those icebows that are caused by very small ice crystals are one colour, because diffraction blurs the colours together. A 22 degree icebow has red on the inside and blue on the outside.

A diffraction disc or Airy disc has similar appearance, but is a disk, rather than a ring, and has a red border on the inside. Its size depends on the size of the ice or water particles that cause it. These are also known as coronas, but are not to be confused with the thin streaming luminous gas that makes up the sun's own corona."

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Back from the dentist chair


I haven't seen the dentist for a very long time. The last time I did was in the army and that was just consultation. So imagine the scaling I went through. When I sat down in the chair, I had to wear those big orange glasses and a little bib on my chest. The dentist had like 4 instruments in my mouth! I guess it was a surprise to me since I never had so many instruments in my mouth before. And I thought it was just a simple filling but after she took a look at my teeth she said she is going to clean up a bit. A bit huh? I sat there for 20 mins with all those instruments prodding in my mouth.

She had an assistant. She was responsible for putting those mini-vacuums in my mouth to suck out the fluids in my mouth so I won't have to spit it out often. There were 2 of those. One near the back of my mouth and the other around the area the dentist was cleaning. The dentist had those long, round mirror ends and some kind of pressurizing needle which blows out strong pressure. I have to admit, when she went to clear up the tartar of my teeth, it felt like someone scratching on the chalkboard. A lot of blood was flowing between my gums but she said it was normal and it should heal within the day. After the scaling, she suggested that I remove one of my wisdom tooth because it didn't look too good. So another appointment for that. :)

Overall, it wasn't that bad. The people there were friendly and happy to serve you, including the ladies at the registration desk. Even though I was still bleeding, my teeth felt a lot more cleaner especially between my teeth. My gums now looks more pink rather than red previously. I paid under $40 dollars for examination & diagnosis and complex scaling.

I seriously suggest all of you to get your teeth checked. It really feels good after the scaling. Maybe if I have I time, I'd ask for polishing. :)

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Singapore beats Lebanon: 2:0 (World Cup Qualifier)

Possibly one of the best games I have ever seen Singapore play. No doubt there were misses and controversial decisions by the referee but hey, which game doesn't have their fair share of that? Quite frankly, I underestimated Singapore's flair and resilience in the game. I thought that it would just be a draw, but after seeing how Singapore played a few minutes ago, I think we have a pretty good chance at the top 2. Quite far fetched it seems but if they progress further and sharpen their weakness in the game, I seriously think we can make it.

Singapore is definitely the underdogs in the group. First time in the world cup qualifiers, our hopes for the World Cup 2010 seems to be near. We lost to Saudia Arabia in the previous game but we did beat Iraq (Asian Cup winners) to qualify. If I am not mistaken, we were the only one who beat them. And their new nike jerseys looks pretty good. Nike sponsored some more! But no names on their jerseys yet :P. Nevertheless, for the next games their play is more important.

Uzbekistan isn't an easy team to beat. Their european style of play is hard to beat but definitely penetrable. Already beating Saudia Arabia, Singapore coach, Radojkov Avramovic, has to do some serious strategy making. I think first of all, we need to keep our momentum and maintain our composure. It's no use getting all too excited only to be over-confident in the game. Counter attacks is essential just like how we saw in today's game. Power and accuracy is a must, and unnecessary misses shouldn't be tolerated, Singapore should sharpen in that aspect. And of course, teamwork!

No one was selfish tonight, I am glad of that. And each shot takers took it only if it was necessary and on target, so not many wasted shots there. Long shots on goal were fantastic, powerful and accurate, eventhough we didn't score with that kind of shots, but it surely got the goal keeper on his toes. With varying shots on goal, upcoming teams will need to be on their guard.

Defence wise, Singapore held up well. Although at the last 15 mins or so, they seem to let up a little. Either there were too tired or out played by the forwards. Either way, I hope they can read the opposing players and position themselves better. But overall, the defence were strong and good.

It was great to see midfielders come up and come down to support the forwards and defenders. Especially in their courage to take shots on goal and defending well to disappoint the opposing team.

Next week against Uzbekistan is going to be an interesting match. I hope Channel 5 plays it LIVE. Today's win was a real boost in the morale of the team and Singapore also. I am truly hoping Singapore qualify. Congratulations Singapore for winning against Lebanon.

I won $500 from Police and Thief sms contest!


Yup! I won last weeks sms contest! But no cheque yet, the lady said it would take a month of processing. Sianz.. hahaa but no worries. At least I know I won! Wo hoo!

Try your luck at it. Who knows you might just get the prize!

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

My touch on the Ipod Touch

Sorry about the video tilt. I did manage to rectify the angle of the video with a video editing software but the final output didn't appear clear. Anywayz, here is my first touch on the Ipod Touch.

When I first tried it out, I was wondering if the Ipod touch itself is even better than Iphone. When I showed an aunt of mine about how this Ipod works the same as the Iphone, she kinda felt that she should have waited for the Iphone instead of getting the current one she has (I am not goona say the brand name of her phone, but it's not from Apple.)

Anyways, I am sure you have watched and read loads of reviews about Apple's Ipod touch and Iphone. Frankly, to me, the touch screen technology is really cool. My fingers are not that thin but when I tried typing on it later on, it was pretty easy. Most of the time, the right letter pops up when I tap on the touch screen keyboard. But even if I see that I am goona type the wrong letter, (without lifting my finger off the screen) I just have to move my finger to the right letter and let go, and the right letter is typed into the screen.

Leave it to Apple to make things simpler for you. Now they have incorporated that technology to their new Macbooks. I am just wondering if they will do a tablet version of a MacBook with just using touch screen.

I have tried the Iphone previously(thanks to TheYoungBusinessMan), and in comparison in weight with the Ipod Touch, the Ipod touch is much lighter and slimmer. But of course the Iphone has more features, like for example the built in camera. Apart from playing video, music, saving contacts etc, they actually have YouTube in it. So you can connect online and watch YouTube videos. For me that is great since I love watching videos from YouTube.




Here is their latest ad, I like the ending "Everybody Touch", it's like they are saying everyone should have one. :)

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Cousin Adan's Birthday (videos)

I have finally manage to upload all the videos into YouTube. YouTube seems to be having problems with multi-upload. It gets 'stuck' in between loading. Kinda irritating. I hope YouTube's uploading functions improve.

Anyways, enjoy the vids. There's about 13 videos in here.


Birthday Song and attempts to light the candles




Cigarette offer on his 18th Birthday, and family photo




Photo taking of birthday boy with his cousins




Photo taking with aunties and uncles




Cake cutting and water splashing




Aftermath of water splashing




Food and more food



BBQ food




Cake distribution




Sparklers (night video)




More Sparklers




Some more sparklers




Moon so bright


Saturday, March 22, 2008

Cousin Adan's Birthday (pics)

It was my cousin's birthday yesterday. We had it at the East Coast with BBQ, food, drinks and also the birthday cake.

Here's some of the photos, I am still uploading the videos though so you will get to watch it tomorrow.

Friday, March 21, 2008

Videos of outing at Pulau Ubin

Here's some videos of our day at Pulau Ubin. Most of the videos were taken while I was cycling and on the boat, so its a bit bumpy and the sounds a bit windy.

You can see, Ubin is still full of greenery. It is a nice place for a getaway. The air is fresh and the people there are friendly. Although I do not recommend you to ride around at night because I do not see many lamp posts around. So ride at your own risk.

The waters are clear and we can see people fishing in some areas. There is still much to explore around Ubin, we only covered mostly the West and Northern part of the island. Maybe next time we will drop by the west side of it. Till then enjoy the video. :)











Thursday, March 20, 2008

My Day at Pulau Ubin (photos)

I woke up with a good sleep today. Yesterday's cycling adventure was really fun and tiring! So many road and hills to climb. I forgot how hilly Ubin was. The last time I went there was so long ago. And it was more rustic and old then. Now it looks a little more modern with new architecture around.

The weather was cloudy and a little sunny in the afternoon before it started to drizzle and rain when we got back. Overall it was a fun! Now I looked a little tan with all that sun blazing on my body. I got a little abrasion on one of my toes though. Haha!

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

MacDonalds Rewards Programme ends at 31 May 2008

For those of you who uses the MacDonalds Rewards Programme, you have until the 31st of May to redeem your points. And you can only earn the Rewards points till 11th April 2008. After that you have to redeem it.

Click here to read more.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Kiera Nadine's Birthday 2008 (my cousin's birthday)



It was my cousin's 1st birthday, she is the little girl wearing the pink dress. Her cousin was there also celebrating together with her on the left. They were also singing the birthday song to her dad also who's birth date falls on the same month as hers.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Protest in front of Parliament (Video)



Quite an uncommon sight to see this, but heck, it is also uncommon for a man to escape a Detention Center. Anyway, someone posted this video up in YouTube, you can see commotion that is created right at the near end of the clip.

I think I would like to know is, was this protest/demonstration allowed/legal? I did read their cause for the protest, and I think they are just voicing hidden sentiments Singaporeans have with their leaders and the country. I didn't know about this until today from a few bloggers who posted it online.

In the midst of this, I was looking across the causeway (the news over there I mean), of how elections(people power!) can change the country. I guess over there people are fed up with the rising costs and discrimination that are plaguing their lives. And they want change.

Over in USA, they seem to voice the same sentiment, they want change. But in a different sense. People there I think are also fed up with their leaders, with people losing jobs and their love ones in wars, and their country, some say are already in recession.

Now when I look in Singapore, I wonder if people want change. Or are we not brave enough to make that change? Or do we just leave it with the government? Sometimes it is frustrating to just sit there and let live. I wonder if our leaders really do hear the people or are we just money makers for them. Yes money makers, we are still a resource aren't we? But I guess our status has been lowered(probably diminished) since our jobs are easily taken up by 'foreign talent'. Who are also contributing to the country.

And now we have a wanted man on the loose. Yes, wanted not MISSING! No one is missing him, we just want him caught. When I saw the poster of him in the MRT Station, and the headlines is MISSING, I just find it incorrect. Why not put WANTED! Then at least it is more attractive. It would be nice to add a bounty for his head or something. I mean Singaporeans, ehem!, people love money. Wouldn't it be a nice incentive?

So what do we have here in Singapore.

1) Job Security?

No pension, jobs can be easily taken up by foreigners. And we have to keep on working till we are old. Don't forget we won't be able to withdraw our CPF till we are much much older :)


2) Personal Safety/Security?

We have a dangerous man on the loose. Are we safe? Ironically, in this case, the name Selamat doesn't sound selamat to me. :P


Well this I leave it up to you to decide. Elections coming up in a few years time, meanwhile keep a look out for the elusive limping man.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Microsoft confirms Windows 7 in 2010


A new version of Windows is coming up. A successor to Windows Vista (yeah as ta lavista! Vista!) Slated to be ready in 2010, I can't help feel that it might delay its official launch just like Vista.

Yes, I do not really like Vista. I know some defend this software, but when I first had it pre-installed on my laptop, the loading takes forever. Even when I shut it down, it didn't shut down till minutes later! I don't know about you, but the squiggly loading thing really gets on my nerve! Anyway, I got my friend to downgrade it to XP.

I hope Microsoft gets it right this time.

Click here to read more.

Friday, March 14, 2008

Something NEW with LIVE Messenger


A new design obviously. I think it is a refreshing change and look a lot better than the previous one. It looks more organised and neat. It loads pretty fast too. :)

Try it out when you sign in with ur LIVE messenger. I hope the next version of LIVE messenger is more 'light' and doesn't use so much of my memory.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

My touch on the MacBook Air



Yes, I did went to the IT show just like all the thousands of people who thronged over to Suntec City to check out the best bargains. Apart from buying some products over there, I did went around and took some pictures and a couple of videos. There were a number of new products over there but I guess, nothing grabs my attention like Apple does. I went over to their booth and manage to get my hands on the MacBook Air.

I'd have to say it really is thin. I guess you all know that. It is, of course, light weight. Feels almost like carrying a thin folder. Frankly, I felt like spinning the thing on my fingers but they had those cables tied it and anyway, I don't think those guys at the booth would like to see me do that.

This is just a short video of it. Nothing special. With the internet already have loads of videos and reviews of it, I am not bothering with a review on it. All I have to say is, it is about time someone made a laptop like that. Carrying around a 2+kg laptop in my bag while moving around, is a big sore on the shoulders. My guess on this product is that it might have a CD/DVD drive in the future. If people are still buying, more features and peripherals will be added on the MacBook Air.

Raining Cats and Dogs


Years back when I was in secondary school, I took up a workshop organised by my school. It was an English language workshop. It was something to prep ourselves for the 'O' Levels. The lecturer was this white man. He is a pretty good speaker, and very motivational. He pointed out the facts and fiction of using certain words in a sentence. I should say, his lecturer is much more fun and informative than my usual English lessons in school.

Anyway, I remembered when he was talking about the weather and how one can express in words about certain weathers in a country. He further explained the types of weather, you know like, autumn, winter, spring, summer.. and then he said that Singapore has 4 types of weathers. I was there thinking, "Huh?" and I think everyone had that kind of look on their faces. And he continued saying, "Yeah we do. It is either hot or hotter here or wet or wetter." Everyone laughed in agreement.

Haven't really seen a clear blue sky for a while. And I hope the clouds clear up soon. Would really like to see the sun shine. :)

Monday, March 10, 2008

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare


I don't think I talk much about games in this blog. But today I decided to write about this intense shooter game. If you have watched those movies like Black Hawk Down, Saving Private Ryan, and have always wanted to see how you can manage a squad/team into combat missions, this game is for you.

If you have tried the Demo version of this game, I am sure you have been surprised by the clarity and realism of the game. Apart from the so real-life surroundings and body movements, you actually feel like you are in a real combat. I played this game by blasting my speakers and I'd have to say this is has to be as real as it gets. The fact that you are playing in almost realistic environments (and not on some fictional alien planet) really puts you in a stressful condition. I have to admit, the first time I played the demo, I just couldn't stop looking at the surroundings. It is so real! Of course, it distracted me a bit so I got hit many times and had to start over. :P

Apart from the amazing graphic detail and clear surround sounds, the game is not repetitive. Repetitive meaning, if you actually got killed and start over, the gameplay doesn't appear the same. Enemies will appear randomly, so you still have to check your corners every time you start over. They won't usually appear at the same corner you'd think they are. In worst case scenarios, you'd actually get a whole lot more enemies just waiting to barrage you with gun fire.

Anyway, I bought the game and completed the missions through the weekend. Even though I have completed it, it didn't bore me to try it again and again. That's just how action packed it is. And if you think this missions is just about shooting your enemies you are wrong. Although, I do enjoy the shooting, there will be missions where you have to be covert and infiltrate enemy areas. This takes a lot of patience and good hand control. Also, there will be areas where you have to make decisions that will effect the outcome of the game. So make sure you know where you are headed, because some rooms are much more intense than the others.

In most parts, there is more than enough blood and violence to keep your heart elevated. But you have to make a number of split second decisions if you and your team are to survive. There is one mission where you have to take point and lead your men out into the LZ (landing zone) within a few minutes. There will be different routes to reach the destination but each route is surrounded with hordes of enemies. So running quickly and calling for air support is crucial in this mission.

This game has been awarded over 40 E3 Awards including Best of Show, Best Action Game, Best Shooter and Best Graphics. It is also a multiple Game of the Year winner. The designers of this game has done well, not just in visual and sound but also in storyline and production. The game hasn't bored me just yet as I am still replaying some missions.

And if you think you can't play this game on your pc or laptop, I think you can. In fact I am playing this game on my laptop. Mine is a 2Ghz Dual Core processor, 2GB of RAM and ATI Radeon X2300. Bear in mind this isn't a gaming laptop, but I got a 2GB Ram because it was a free upgrade. :) The game doesn't get choppy for me, still plays ok. At times it gets a little difficult to aim when you have a barrage of enemies coming towards you. Maybe because I got too excited and do not know who to shoot and the worst part is you get 'hit indicators' which tells you which direction you are hit but sometimes you can't see where the bloody enemy is shooting from because they keep hiding behind walls, etc.

The specs isn't that high end unlike other shooter games.


Minimum Requirements

CPU: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 2.4 GHz or AMD(R) Athlon(TM) 64 2800+ processor or any 1.8Ghz Dual Core Processor or better supported
RAM: 512MB RAM (768MB for Windows Vista)
Hard Drive: 8GB of free space
Video card: NVIDIA(R) Geforce(TM) 6600 or better or ATI(R) Radeon(R) 9800 Pro or better

Recommended Specs

CPU: 2.4 GHz dual core or better
RAM: 1G for XP; 2G for Vista
Hard Drive: 8GB of free space
Video card: 3.0 Shader Support recommended. Nvidia Geforce 7800 or better or ATI Radeon X1800 or better


So try out the demo and play it. Heck, I bought COD 4 the next day after playing the demo, you might just do the same. :)

Call of Duty 4 website

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Murderer suspect shot by police at Outram Park MRT Station (NEL Line)

I just came back from the IT show and when I reached my stop, one of the MRT personnel was announcing about an incident at the NEL line but not much information was given other than informing the public to acquire a different form of transport if they wish to use the NEL line.

I reached home and switched on the TV, to realise that someone was shot at Outram Park NEL line. The news headlines went something about a man who murdered someone earlier by stabbing the victim. A policeman shot him at the Outram Park MRT NEL station when he tried to attack him.

I guess investigation is on the way and surely the relevant authorities are taking this seriously. It would be nice to see it happen on video though, and hopefully we can see what happened through the eyes of the cameras.

You can read more about this news here.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

How do kids learn to swear? (video compilation)




If you think this is just a one time incident, you should see the other kids do it!





Funny isn't it? Well, laugh together with these kids!













Sunday, March 2, 2008

THE NEWEST IRON MAN TRAILER

Latest as in 28th Feb 2008. I'd have to say, the trailer is still cool as always as the previous trailers. But this is one long trailer and more clues of how the movie is going to turn out becomes a lot more clearer.

Watch out! Possible spoilers ahead!

It looks like there is going to be two Iron men in this movie and one of them is the bad guy. And he looks much bigger and badder than Iron Man himself! Looks like a 'David and Goliath' kind of fight. Big bad dude versus the small strong hero.

And the 'bad' Iron Man was actually designed by Tony Stark himself, whose design was, I think, taken or found when he escaped imprisonment from his captives. So I guess the captives got hold of his initial Iron Man design and decided to make it himself.

So where do these bad guys/terrorist get the resources to build such a suit? Well, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. It looks like a competitor/partner of Tony Stark has funded them to built the suit. This is just speculation but there is a scene where the terrorist was meeting with a well-dressed white man showing him the suit design. I am guessing, it must be one of Tony Stark's nemesis, who might be as wealthy as Tony Stark himself but probably due to jealousy and thirst for power, he funded the terrorist to build such a suit.

You will also see some of his friends in the movie. There is this black man in the movie played by Terrence Howard and in the cartoon I remember it is his partner/friend who usually wear a black colored Iron Man suit. Possible Iron Man 2?


This is one movie that I am anticipating. I wonder if they can beat Spiderman's movie. The suit for Iron Man is just so cool. Its like wearing your favourite car all over your body but way cooler and sleeker than the car itself. It can fly, it shines, it shoots missiles, heck I think even Mr Bond would swap his car with this suit.