Thailand. Professionals? More like school children...

That was a very amusing match to watch.

Let's see, the referee for the Singapore - Thailand match awarded Singapore a penalty under dubious circumstances.

In most places, the penalty would have been taken, and the post match conference would be pretty funny.

But, Thailand must make a show of it.

They wanted to walk out of the match, with merely 7 minutes to go and another 90 minutes back at home.

And I've seen better teams losing with more dignity and pride. How many times have we seen Chelsea/Liverpool/Man U/whatever lose due to a bad ref call? The managers blast the referee later, but, as with all professionals, they don't "walk out" of a game and delay the time.

This is exactly the behavior of children on a playground. If things don't go my way, I leave.

Totally unprofessional. These people play football as a career, and have worked hard to break into the national team. Not only did they make a fool of themselves, they disgraced their country, and the region altogether.

Who can forget Myanmar two years ago when they threw a water bottle at the ref, or at least, tried to and hit the defender instead? So far, this tournament was rather clean, as everyone looked to move away from that ugly past.

It's just unfortunate that the Thailand players have to show the world that the Asian side is still as rowdy and childish. It is no wonder none of the teams could really break into the Asian cup and beyond.

Start being professional, Thailand.

Grow up.

Working on the internet for free: Job Satisfaction, or something else?

Mmm, Digital Life talked about the internet "police" today.

And hell, it was a fairly good read.

While they are true that these people are good, since they do things for free, the question is, what exactly keeps them going?

Answer?

Self satisfaction.

While the guys who counter Nigerian Scams have lots of fun doing it, the others sometimes take on extremely stressful jobs. For one, being a Wikipedia administrator, or a moderator in a very famous forum, such as GameFAQs.com, is no easy task. As with the internet, the mentality of the people are, sometimes, divided by half.

However, it does bring one a pretty good sense of satisfaction when you know you are helping the community, and that you enjoy what you have done. This is exactly why people actually do things for fun, willing to go without pay.

After all, as with Economics, no one does anything for free. Especially since it would be a waste of time, if one gets nothing in return.

Then again, there's the famous internet ego level.

epenizor.

For some, becoming an administrator gives them great pride, as they can go around message boards "flexing their epenizor".

Still, whatever it may be, these people should be thanked. For without them, the internet would be a lot more fun.

Really. ;)

It's going to take more than your meddling to stop me.

*unsheathes Estreledge*.

Game on.

"Jean, I want to have Carnal Knowledge of you"

I was in Chinatown today, and was heading back home on my Dad's car. As usual, it was tuned to Class 95, my dad's favorite station.

At that time, it was Car Tunes, hosted by Jean Danker. As usual, she accepts calls and plays random music to help everyone ease through the usual peak hour jam.

She was talking about a very interesting telephone conversation she had with someone earlier.

It went something along the lines of...

==
Jean: Class 95. Hello.

Dude: Hello Jean. My name is Mr X. {Note: I forgot his name. Not that it's significant anyway}

Jean: Hello.

Dude: I want to exchange bodily fluids with you.

Jean: Excuse me?

Dude: I love you. I want to rock your world.

==

(Transcripter's note: change all the weird words to "the process where babies are created").

Well, at the first time, I smiled. It was, kinda, funny. It was followed up with a caller's reaction.

Then, after a few songs and advertisements, it was played.

Again.

>_>

Seriously, such conversations should not be aired in the first place. It's funny as hell, but, like what some callers said, what if there's some kid taking a ride home at that time?

This isn't a case of being "open" or "closed" to sexuality topics. This is a case of morals. There's a time to be open, and there's a time to be closed.

Isn't that why there are censors in effect?

Dirty jokes, may be funny on first telling. Unfortunately, after that, they, unlike wine, don't age well.

Never say it a second time, even if no one else has heard it. That's because people like me, will hear it twice, and won't really find it that funny, having some guy whispering that he wants to bed the DJ.

So please, class 95, even if it cannot be screened, don't replay it. Sex jokes on public radio don't go down too well.

---

As I said, I was in Chinatown today, wandering around, no idea why I was there, except for that my mom dragged me along.

So, I wandered to Chinatown Point.

Jackpot.

There's a stall called Hyper Media, on the 2nd floor. It imports animes from Taiwan (DVDs, not the crappy VCDs we get here), and sells them here.

It also has quite a lot of posters. Don't bother with the figurines though. Pretty badly painted. >_>

However, here's the catch: The pricing is very steep.

A full set of AIR would cost around $120 (Roughly $20 a disc stall-wide).

Still... I guess it breathes life into this almost dying anime scene where everyone download fansubs. LoL.

If I had the cash, I would have brought the AIR dvd set ._.

The day I understand girls...

...will be the day the world ends.

I think

>_>

<_<

Saturday suddenly didn't look so bright.

1 million to make a robot.

1 million is a lot.

But not enough to make a robot which can use lifts and climb the stairs.

Especially when-

1) You need your own sponsors.

2) It must be autonomous.

3) The chance of failure is insanely high.

Seriously, I think creating such an advanced robot would earn much much more in other countries. Especially in rights and stuff. We're talking of something along the lines of a Gundam here.

So....

>_>

And 3, makes a crowd

Congrats, lan jie. ;)

Driving.

Congrats, Joanne. :) Driving is really fun. XD

Not to mention, convenient.

Singnet Grumble Grumble.

Recently, Singnet launched its 5mbit plan.

At the same price as my existing 3.5mbit plan.

<_<

And I still got one more year on my contract.

A different ISP, Starhub, gives free upgrades. Hence, if I had stuck to my 6.5mbit plan, it would be 12mbit now.

So here I am, 1/4 of the speeds of what I should have obtained. And maybe even a Xbox360 as well.

Singnet sure doesn't like keeping customers. Just by looking at Hardwarezone.com's forums, the flames of Singnet are close to intolerable.

Oh well. Going cheap has its price.

But still, with a 24 month contract bond, I would expect some kind of a quality service, especially after the broken Taiwan cable incident, where Starhub's service resumed a few days later, while Singnet is, again, left in the dust.

Then again, price price price.

Economics. <_<

Shaming people in public.

Yesterday, an editor wrote that shaming people in the public should be stopped, using a recent article (Sunday, I think) which had people sending in photographs of those who are inconsiderate when on public transport as a reference.

But the problem is, why has it been almost "common" in our society to shame others?

Actually, from young, we have learned that shaming, as long as it does not involve one self, is almost perfectly acceptable.

Remember the times back in Primary/Secondary school? Public canings are something which, unfortunately, we as students look forward to. I recall saying "There's a show to watch this morning. Hehe." whenever I see that chair.

In class, students who do not do their homework, or talk in class, are asked to stand, or leave the classroom.

In fact, I recall the Secondary School installing cameras to "observe" how we eat, so as to shame our behavior even further.

Of course, there's no doubt, from my parent's account, this public shaming isn't exactly new in our generation.

With technology, pictures can be shared much much easily. No longer will you have to tell a story about some guy who did something which you frown on, but you actually have pictures of them doing it on your cellphone. Moreover, with Stomp (The Straits Times Interactive Portal), people feel obliged to send their prize, so that others can "discuss" them.

Oh sure, there are discussions, and then, there are discussions.

What I mean is further ridicule on these people. It isn't exactly fine to heap scorn on those doing things which have been unofficially defined as "immoral".

But the worst ones are those who ridicule those they just find different.

Just google "Arguing on the internet is like running in the special Olympics.", and you will know what I mean. Technology has allowed people to go all out to shame people.

Just as long as it isn't them, it is perfectly fine to shame.

Still, I find it interesting that the editor wants us to stop shaming others.

Interesting, because I think it is near impossible.

As I've mentioned, it is part of our upbringing, hence, to stop people from shaming, you have to start from young.

No more public caning in school. No more punishment in school.

...?

I doubt it will happen. After all, shaming does work as a deterrent, although some people wear their "Cane marks" like badges of honour.

Hence, it is just unfortunate that shaming, which actually does some good, has been degraded these days to "showing the world about the things I dislike". Yet, as bad as it is, it can't be stopped. The simple reason being they are doing things which are considered unacceptable by society. Sure, they are part of society too, but even they should know what is considered "unacceptable" by society.

So, if you want shaming to stop, stop these acts first, and the shaming will eventually come to an end.

Baldr Force EXE Resolution ;o

Sometimes, the best animes are those DVD-only OVAs. Understandably, it is one of the easiest ways to make money, and to milk as much as possible from a successful series.

Then again, they take somewhere along the lines of months/years for each episode to be released. -_-

However, while there are some mess ups (GITS:SSS >_>), most OVAs are very enjoyable to watch, if they aren't simple recaps.

Baldr Force EXE resolution definitely got me hooked.

2 more episodes to go.

2 more months to go.

Song of (whatever) changed to Face of Fact, by KOTOKO, the opening theme of Baldr force EXE RESOLUTION. I have a strong liking for I'VE sound these days, and this song shows. Unlike some crap like GIZA, I'VE sound actually produces brilliant singers with wonderful voices, and there hasn't been one song which I frowned upon yet.

Hell, even Mai Nakahara sang pretty well in Season of Love.

Let's see if I can change a DSLAM exchange.

I realised that my speeds are just sucking, and upon checking the modem, I've realised that I'm probably too far away from my exchange.

Now, let's see if I can change it.

If only the damned lines aren't always engaged. -_-

Innocent unless proven guilty....?

As the teacher says,

"You must not be guilty to be proven guilty, but you are not guilty unless proven guilty."

Yesterday, there was this guy who was brutally hacked to death in JB. I thought that it would be yet another one of those stories, with the media covering the investigations for the next few days and maybe the dangers of JB or something.

Today, they are saying that the guy who was murdered, is a suspected murderer himself.

By saying that he has a new identity, and that his family does not know what he is doing, is rather insulting for a guy who was just murdered in cold blood.

The papers have already somewhat painted him as a criminal, using words such as "Secret Society" and so on.

Even though he is the prime suspect, he has yet to have been proven guilty in a court of law. And, that means, that he's not guilty, as far as the legal system goes.

Could the press have at least waited till the funeral is over or something? If I were the family of the man, I would find these articles extremely insulting the his memory. Instead of saying how the JB police is handling this (although I know police don't comment on anything that's still under investigation), they go on about his background.

Seriously, should the press do anything just to get the ratings and sales? In Death Note 2, the producers in the show are willing to allow people to continue dying to get the ratings. What happened to morality and ethics?

Then again, with oil companies being some of the world's richest companies, what morality and ethics? -_-

Welcome to the real world too....

Happy New Year

With the start of the new year, something of the old, must go.

And this year, I chose my fansub team.

To be honest, it is one of the most amazing experience I've had. Very fun and enjoyable when everything is done correctly.

However, as with fansubbing, not everything is done perfectly. There are times when the whole thing which mess up, and the whole thing blows up in your face.

And there's also a major problem.

Time.

It takes easily 6 hours to work on an episode, if not more. Simply time I do not have.

So, good bye, Fansubbing.

And Happy New Year.

New Year's Resolution:

-To break as many ridiculous New Year resolutions which I'll come up with sooner or later.

---

One thing I, or at least my brother is, annoyed with, is Creative's way of working.

Or, the lack of it.

During our vacation in Hong Kong, my laptop (which I brought for some unknown reason) is the only way to charge the MP3s and my phone. Apple and my Motorola phone charged easily, while the PSP had it's own charger.

The problem arose when we attempted to charge the Zen Micro.

Firstly, despite the fact that it could charge BOTH my Ipod and handphone at the same time, it simply refuse to charge the Zen.

That's not the issue here.

The issue here, is that when my brother wanted to get some songs out of his Zen before the thing dies, and into his PSP to listen, he found absolutely no way to access his songs on his Zen.

Reason?

There was no way to download the Creative Mediasource center which was critical in management of the Zen micro. The official site merely stated it as "found on the installation CD".

So, if I have no installation CD, and I just happen to have a Zen, I'm quite screwed.

Oh, of course, we can talk about hacked firmware here, but with things like MP3 players, I don't like taking my chances.

Still, it is absolutely ridiculous. Ipod's iTunes can be downloaded more easily than frying an egg, and Creative's one only comes in a CD.

There's a reason why I'm using an iPod now.