I know I have not made real updates in awhile. So let me do just that today.

The biggest update of all is the fact that I am now a werking adult. Even though I wanted a longer holiday, the time has come.

Goodbye, my younger self. It was fun, but you could have made it more so. If only you did not oversleep all the time, you could have found the energy to do more with your life. No, really.

I now find myself in a 9-6 (effectively 9-7) job dressed in collared shirts and wearing leather shoes. But Justin, all office employees dress that way! I know, but its an adjustment. I compensate by keeping my long-ish hair, and nobody in my office had made even a hint of negativity towards it. Hooray for me.

I came up with the word ‘werk’ years ago. I haven’t explained it to anyone, but nobody asked anyway. I meant to define ‘werk’ as work for the sake of work, or meaningless work. Or simply, said in spite of it.

Truth is, I dreaded office life for a long time. I didn’t want to spend my short youth in a cubicle, like I have told friends. But I’m no genius, I’m no revolutionary. I have to conform to the world’s norms, for the time being at least.

That’s why make sure that I spend my free time doing the things I like, rather than surfing the interwebs until I fall asleep. I will be participating in theatre act called “The Things We Have Lost”, premiering August. Theatre is one of my many interests, and If I don’t do what I love, I will die of boredom of working life.

If any of colleagues are reading this, let me assure you that my work integrity is not compromised, despite all I have stated in this post.

P/S: My first paycheck came on the very first day the MJ incident hit the media. Way to steal my thunder.

P/S/S: Don’t get me wrong, I am sad. Not because he is gone, but because he didn’t manage to do a comeback concert in time.

So I had no choice but the sit there and tough it out. As the movie started just before 10pm, I estimated that my bowels will go off at midnight. My own Angels and Demons adventure thus began.

Having already read the book, I knew roughly how it was going to end. This gave me a good reason to leave a little early to answer nature’s call. I chose the scene where the Camerlengo landed. I thought that might be where the best thrills ended so I gave my parting clue to a friend “See you outside”.

The exit led me to a hall; knowing not which way to go, I looked for symbols. I then found one which then led me to the parking lot of the mall, it was the only exit. Definitely no bathrooms here. I made my way to the elevators but I couldn’t afford to wait for it. So I took the stairs and ran down four flights to the shopping level. I was at the right floor, but I was at the wrong end. 

I marched forward desperately searching for the symbol I wanted. And lo and behold, the bathroom and arrow signs. I ran along the path that angels had laid, and along the way some guards spotted me. I figured instantly that anyone who was running in a deserted mall after business hours would look suspicious. I shouted “Bathroom! Bathroom!” to them to keep them at bay. Sure enough, did they not follow me.

I arrived at the light at the end of the path, and there it was: a device to expel my time bomb. It was the most relief I have felt all day. But my adventure did not end there. I had to reunite with my friends, hence I had to find my way back to the exit I took. But the problem is, I forgot which door I came out from as they are all unmarked. 

I was back at the parking lot, and I knew that one of those double doors leads back to the exact cinema hall and I can wait for them at the exit. So I went to the main entrance of the cineplex. and noted the direction of that cinema hall from there. I kept the direction in mind as I exited back to the parking  lot, and stood by the door at my best estimation. 

Sure enough, within a few minutes, a crowd started pouring out. It was all over. I rejoined my friends and described my adventure in detail. For a moment, I took a little pride in myself, having coincided with a movie with a similar plotline. It was time to go home, and I was already at the parking lot. Now, where did I park my car?

Today I will reveal my love for Futurama. *ahem*

I love Futurama.

I love it for its clever stories, witty lines, and science & pop culture references. My favorite episodes are The Luck of the Fryrish, Jurassic Bark, Parasites Lost, The Devil’s Hands Are Idle Playthings (the final episode of the TV run) and Bender’s Big Score, the first movie. I especially like Fry’s luckless attempts to win Leela’s heart, but *spoiler alert* came through in the final movie, Into the Wild Green Yonder.

My favorite scene is in Anthology of Interest I. It depicts a what-if scenario in which Leela is impulsive and ends up massacering the entire crew one by one. But when it came to Fry, she slept with him instead. After that, the conversation on the bed went like this:

Leela: So, how do you like the impulsive, new me?
Fry: I like it.
Leela: Oh yeah? Wait till you see this (Turns off light with menacing grin)
Fry: AAAARRRRGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
Fry: I really like it. 

Due to complications with the producers and studios, the last movie currently stands as the series finale. That means no more Futurama ever! However, the Matt Groening, the creator, expressed his interest in continuing the series, though nothing is certain yet. But one thing is for sure: sales will affect the decision. So guys, if you like Futurama, buy their DVDs! And hopefully this great animated show will live on.

Dr. Manjustin!

Yes, I liked the movie.

The quote of choice: ‘Healthy discontent is the prelude to progress” by Gandhi.

I started by drawing a straight line across the wall, from door to door. I arranged several chairs in a straight line so I could easily walk from end to end.

Having the line exactly parallel to the ceiling was a bit tricky; I only have a small triangular ruler.

Then I printed the outlined letters on regular paper, which I then cut into shape.

Next, I pasted the letters on the wall with cheap glue, the spacing of which is done as precisely as I can.

The painting begins! I covered the sides and edges with cellophane tape so the adjacent walls and ceiling are kept from the blue paint. I started with the words first: painting from the inside out.

Then I proceeded with the rest of the wall, starting with the left corner.

Finished! I then began removing the paper.

This is actually quite tricky, as I used too much glue on some of the letters. I had scrape off the paper from the wall with a paper blade. The pencil marks had to be erased, too.

The finished product. Looks alright, as long as you don’t look too close.

On a side note, I spraypainted my computer black. If you look closely, you’ll notice that I didn’t do a good job. But it still looks black and shiny (read: awesome) from where I sit.

Before I reveal the secret, I want to make sure we have the basics down first. You have to open up the port for your torrent client and enable UPnP. If you have already done that, then move on to the next paragraph. You will want to open up a port if you are behind a router; access the router and port forward the same exact number as configured in your torrent client’s settings. As for UPnP, just look for the word somewhere in your modem or router and make sure its enabled.

Now for the secret method. You may not like it, you may already know it, but here it is.

Turn on your computer before office hours.

I woke up at 6:30am today (I was super tired early last night) and went on my computer to do business as usual, then i noticed this.

At first I thought “Oh, cool. 20K/sec. That’s pretty cool”. Then I looked closely and screamed “OMGWTFBBQ 20MB/sec!!!”

I have been getting bad speeds (read: less than 10KB/sec) during the day and before midnight. I have a feeling that it is because there are less people eating bandwidth in the wee hours in the morning, and the torrent seeders (who are on the other side of the world) are active then, too.

Just in case the same thing does not work for you, let me give you some info on my internet connection. I use Streamyx and live in Bandar Utama. I do not use any special DNS settings. I do not subscribe to Streamyx’s faster broadband plan, just the normal one. I have an Aztech modem router (which I do not recommend, buy a Linksys instead). I did not set any special configurations on my computer, I just opened the port.

I cannot promise that you will get speeds like I did. Also, the seeders for the specific torrents I used may be particularly faster than others. Maybe my torrent client has a bug that shows you insane numbers, but I swear to you I did not forge this picture. Nonetheless, I can tell you for certain that your downloads will be faster than the rest of the day, even if by a little bit.

Now share with us, good internet people of Kuala Lumpur, if this method works for you.

P/S: While I was typing this post, my speeds gradually increased. It is now up to 44MB/sec, 38 for upload.

Edit: Sorry to keep your hopes up, but I can confirm that the numbers are indeed due to a bug on Transmission. I restarted the application and it does not go to megabytes anymore. However, I am still getting better speeds than normal. So try it anyway and tell us if it works for you.

Crowd of None Facebook Page

You can become a fan if you like. At the moment I only have one track available, but I will come up with more in time. Stay tuned.

My ride knocked on my door. The gentleman kind enough to drive me to the airport was the very first American I have met when I first arrived on these shores in January 2007. Though we did not hang out at a regular basis, Philip Hoyle was the first and last person in my adventure in the United States.

I have said all my goodbyes, and my bags were full to the brim. I still had to leave many a thing behind as I could not accommodate them, having my guitar as my second check-in luggage. I would have to go home with less than I came with. After days of ensuring that my large suitcase does not exceed the weight limit (in which case I would have to pay $150), I was relieved when the gauge at the airport read exactly 50lbs.

My 10-pound Playstation 3 were to follow me home like a good pet. However, putting it on my carry-on luggage proved to be a bad idea. I had to remove it everytime I go through airport security, just as we had to isolate our laptops when going through the scanner. Unfortunately, the lesson I learned is useless as I would not transport a gaming console overseas again.

After a five-hour wait at JFK, I was on my way to Korea to transfer to a flight to Kuala Lumpur. However, the transit at Incheon International airport lasted 11 hours. I dreaded this at first, but the fact that Incheon is an incredibly clean, posh, and comfortable airport helped a lot (That being said, JFK and BWI suck. I have to pay to use trolleys? Really?). Also, my Paypal debit card actually worked restaurant there; I don’t have to break my precious USD that I will live off in KL to prevent starvation. Plus, I love the fact that there are bathrooms every few hundred yards. Resting here was much welcome after sitting in a plane for 14 hours. If only the sleeping black dude next to me would stay on his side of the seats.

The free WiFi at Incheon allowed me to update my Facebook status, contact my folks, and wrote a large portion of this post. After a long bout of boredom, I finally boarded my final flight home. It was during that flight when I swore with every breath of my body that I will never bring my baby on a plane, ever.

And here I sit finishing up this post at the international arrivals hall of KLIA, awaiting my ride home. I had a total of 39 hours of flights and transits to think about my old life in America, and the new adventures I will embark on. I could not believe that two years had gone by just like that. Nonetheless, I did not regret it one bit.

Well, goodbye America. It has been awesome.

View Larger Map

Behold: this is my apartment as seen from Google Maps Street view. Go ahead, navigate around the area for you are virtually there. Click anywhere in the window and drag your mouse to look around. Click on the arrows to ‘follow’ the road. From here, the left arrow leads to Towson University. Enjoy.

Delicious
I use this to, of course, bookmark stuff on the internet. I don’t bother saving a softcopy of something on my computer or keep a printed copy if its all preserved online. Its a good habit.

Deviantart
I love eyecandy, therefore I love deviantart. You will find on my profile the collections of deviations I like, and realize that my taste in design is better than yours and lose your self esteem.

Digg
There was a time when I was inspired to be a Power Digger so I can move up the ranks, but I realize its a waste of my finger muscles.

Facebook
If I do not know you, I will ignore your friend requests. I have spoken.

Flickr
I was happy with Flickr until I hit the 200 mark. I use Picasa now. Relationships can be hard.

Mybloglog
I don’t know why I bother

Myspace
Its actually my music profile, not personal. Active but stagnant, for I have other plans in mind.

Picasa
My new love. It can recognize my face and remember where I went.

Stumbleupon
Definition: the procrastination button.

Technorati
I forgot how its supposed to my blog.

Youtube
Now here’s a destination. The videos I upload are far from groundbreaking, but I put a lot of effort to make them better than all the crap out there. No, seriously. There. Is. So. Much. Crap. On. Youtube. Speaking of crap, the videos I favorite are the good shit, so check it out.

Oh yeah, I have a LinkedIn profile too. So if you know me and I know you, look me up. Not that I’m gonna offer you a job or anything.