eye of the storm

Faux pas

2008-01-24T20:41:00.000+08:00

Excerpt from a MSN conversation with 2 of my coworkers, following a meeting. We were discussing the marital status of a colleague from another ministry.

[A] says (5:59 PM):
is he married

[B] says (5:59 PM):
no wedding ringggg

[A] says (6:00 PM):
but no wedding ringgg also can be married

[B] says (6:00 PM):
yes. possible.
aiyah he so pretty mebbe married already la.

Bayboy says (6:00 PM):
usually no wedding ring + married applies only to old ppl right?

{The only response for a while is the sound of someone ([A]) sucking in her breath dramatically}
Bayboy says (6:01 PM):
i sense disagreement somewhere...

{[B], also across the aisle in the cubicle next to [A] is blissfully unaware of what is to come}
[B] says (6:01 PM):
ha?

[A] says (6:01 PM):
JASON BAY!
u die!
{At this point [A], who is married with children and - let it be recorded - young, storms over to my seat and raises her unadorned fingers in indignation}

Ooops... :P

Bloomberg.com: Opinion

2008-01-15T22:15:00.000+08:00

Bloomberg.com: Opinion

I'm reminded of an OBS game we played during pre-departure course about, oh, 7 years ago. Everyone forms up in a circle and makes as if to shoot the person opposite with "finger pistols". A hula hoop is placed in the middle of the circle so that it rests only on our index fingers.

The rules of the game are simple: (1) we have to keep our fingers in contact with the hoop at all times; (2) the objective of the game is to set the hula hoop on the ground. It's not so easy - the hoop would mysteriously rise above our heads despite our willing it down. Turns out that we collectively underestimate our own strength. Physics would dictate that in order to bring the hoop down, the upward force provided by our fingers has to be less than that of the pull of gravity on the rather light hoop - at at least one instant in time. Unfortunately, when you try to keep your fingers in contact with the hoop, there's almost always a slight excess of upward force exerted over and above that needed to negate the downward pull of gravity - which leads to a rising hoop.

In the same way, Pesek's article talks about how the Federal Reserve, the large corporate banks, and even the Chinese government all have a vested interest in financial stability and in sterilising the real economy from the instability that's churning the financial markets. Hence the Fed injects credit into the markets, the Chinese government bails out banks whose balance sheets are deeply in the red. It's ironic that by doing all this, the different players may actually be helping to couple the fate of disparate entities together - such that when one falls, the rest follow in domino fashion. As I learnt recently, this could be interpreted as an example of the emergent behaviour exhibited by complex systems - a behaviour that is not programmed into any of the entities in the system, but which nonetheless emerges from their complex interactions with one another. Despite the intentions of all the players in the financial system to the contrary, we may be inexorably drawing closer to a true catastrophe of unprecedented proportions.

The increasingly severe wildfires in California are another example of emergent behaviour. The National Park Service in the US has had much success in reducing the occurrence of wild fires. Smokey the Bear and road-side signs warning of "Extreme" fire danger have brought down fire risk on a day-to-day basis. However, it is now believed that by interfering with the natural pattern of wild fires, NPS is actually helping to promulgate conditions favouring a massive burnout when a fire does start, whether naturally or accidentally. It may actually be more helpful for controlled burns to be used in order to prevent dry tinder from building up in the forests - waiting for a spark to set off an inferno.

Quest Updates

2007-12-30T03:28:00.000+08:00

I guess I should update on my quests...

[30] Quit WoW
I really shouldn't have reactivated my World of Warcraft account. After a 2 month infatuation, I've managed to stay off for 3 months... Nevermind... easily reversed. The format of this post is a little nod to WoW though...
[Update: Have not logged on to WoW since, although my 13-yr old ~~cousin~~nephew managed to get me to play DotA with him a couple of times...]

[50] Pirates of the Caribbean: At Wit's End
This has been sitting on the backburner due to all the changes at work. Now that I think I've settled down in my job - somewhat la... realistically it'll probably take at least a year to get really dialed in - it's time to get started on this. If nothing else I'd do it just because of the title!
[Update: This didn't work out... I need 9 pirate lords!]

[60] Because it's there
Time to start planning for Rinjani and Kilimanjaro. Lack of funds is no longer an excuse for not getting down to it. May need to convince people to come along for Kilimanjaro though... And then there's fitness - which brings us to...
[Update: Nothing much here... S Africa was beautiful though. I'd want to go back to Africa for the beautiful expanse of land they have. Reminded me a lot of an old lit text, "Cry, the beloved country". Definitely steeled my resolve to climb Kili soon...]

[70] Running for life
I absolutely hate swimming. It triggers a mild allergic reaction and gives me a runny nose. To a lesser degree, I hate running - even though I used to be able to do a 2.4km in 9:28. Unfortunately these are the two activities which are most effective at building up cardio health; and let's not kid ourselves that tennis is going to do much for aerobic fitness, much less golf. So I've signed up for a bunch of runs leading up to half-marathon in Dec. Hopefully committing to a target will sustain the voluntary effort and get the dopamine flowing. Perhaps a full marathon next year, even...
[Update: 12km Sheares Bridge Run was a morale-booster and scenery was great! Definitely feel on track for a good time at StanChart.]
[Update: Between falling sick the week before the NB Real Run and going on a biz trip, I lost about a month's of training, but still bettered my average time over the half-marathon in Dec! I'm pumped... Training resumes in Jan!]

Legend:
[Quest difficulty level (1-70)] Quest title
Gives no xp (should be peanuts)
Gives little xp (easy aka imba)
Gives xp (appropriate for current skill/experience level)
Gives loads of xp (very difficult)

YouTube - Free Hugs Campaign. (music by Sick Puppies.net album out)

2007-08-27T22:52:00.000+08:00

YouTube - Free Hugs Campaign. (music by Sick Puppies.net album out)

So simple and elegant. I can't remember who first sent me the link - and I thought I might have blogged about it either here or on FB, but can't seem to find it... oh well.

Anyway, there's a Free Hug day coming up on 10 Sep (day before 9/11). FB event is at 367,636 guests and counting... Don't miss it...

Thoughts on NDR

2007-08-19T21:53:00.000+08:00

No bingo... a few near misses...

Malaysia	Ageing population	Goh Chok Tong	Reference to subprime mortgages	Kiasu
Singapore to look different in 10 years	4th generation of leaders / leadership renewal (sadly nothing on this)	Rosy future (4-6% yoy GDP!)	Whole-of-government / World.Singapore	Retirement
Sustainable development	Iskandar Development Region	Bar-top dancing	Annuity	Sail/boat metaphor for economic growth (yes! without fail this makes another appearance at NDR)
Charity (near miss - philanthropy)	Homosexuality	Social cohesion	ASEAN cooperation	Importance of family
CPF	Reverse mortgage (sort of viz. monetising of HDB lease less 30 years - another near miss)	Energy security	My father (LKY)	Entrepreneurship

Next year we should have bingo for people spotted on TV too... (I've decided to leave out politicians)

Spotted this year: Tan Kim Siew, Chiang Chie Foo, Peter Ho, Andrew Chew, Gerard Ee, Ho Ching, Su Chin!!! (2 bonus points for Malay language?!?!), Lim Pin, Insect floating behind PM Lee

This thing about legislating reemployment... Why can't employers let go of employees before 62? And what's with the hip (corny!) Home Improvement Programme? It sounds like a real gimmick to engineer a national programme dedicated to fixing broken doors, ceilings and toilets! Shouldn't we be spending that money on the real problems like ageing, or funding the $700m CPF rate increase... Speaking of which, the CPF deferment bonus payouts are also going to be huge... If it's going to be comparable to the interest rate increase for the soon-to-retire population, that means maybe $5,000 per worker? Say this affects 5 years with a cohort size of 30,000? That's $750m - on par with the cost of the interest rate hike! Good grief! These two measures alone could be ~3% of govt budget! Really makes the point that we need good economic growth to make all these things a reality...

NDR Bingo

2007-08-19T14:48:00.000+08:00

Alright. Just in time for the NDR tonight. If you're inclined to drink, then I'd suggest 1 per box, 2 for a 3 in a row, and a mug for bingo! Will try to update this as we go along :)

Malaysia	Ageing population	Goh Chok Tong	Reference to subprime mortgages	Kiasu
Singapore to look different in 10 years	4th generation of leaders / leadership renewal	Rosy future	Whole-of-government / World.Singapore	Retirement
Sustainable development	Iskandar Development Region	Bar-top dancing	Annuity	Sail/boat metaphor for economic growth
Charity	Homosexuality	Social cohesion	ASEAN cooperation	Importance of family
CPF	Reverse mortage	Energy security	My father (LKY)	Entrepreneurship

Closure at last

2007-08-17T22:30:00.000+08:00

Transacted my last bit of official business with MINDEF today (2 months after my actual last day) - collected my pink i/c, NS cert, attended a farewell gathering, and collected my plaque from our newly-minted one-star boss. Was great fun meeting my crazy colleagues, dredging up "war stories" and catching up on the latest goings-on. It'll be sad when my former colleagues move on - a process which unfortunately seems to be well underway already... We had a great team in our time, and really shared a lot of victories, tribulations, and frustrations...

In a very nostalgic mood today, so I thought I would dredge up the last email I sent... not quite the same tone as the farewell email sent by the son of you-know-who, and it's probably got only half the reach and half the length. Reading through it again tonight really brought back happy memories - so thanks for the memories again!

Thoughts from an economist

2007-08-16T18:51:00.000+08:00

Pithy phrases from an economist who spoke on climate change recently:

"While a democratic US president will allow the US to take leadership and focus the national agenda on energy, the direction will be towards technology rather than emission control. This will be suboptimal. We do not have a system for future generations to vote to protect their interests."

"We should use solar energy to handle the desalination of water, otherwise you are solving one problem by creating another."

"Gas is too valuable to be used for electricity generation."

"The world is eating too much sugar. Sugar cane can be biomass for fuel! However, the shortage of food is a potential blindspot and is an under-researched question."

"We cannot afford not to pursue redundant research; but if superconductivity succeeds, it will kill off hydrogen power."

"Not everyone thinks climate change is bad. The Siberians would like to see a few more degrees (rise in average temperatures), which would allow them to become a major grain producing region. Norwegian agriculture yields have been increasing with the warming temperatures."

"God should send a hurricane into Washington DC or New York City. It's a pity I cannot say this in public, but it would sure set priorities right."

Not the most PC, but that would certainly be a good catalyst...

More flexi-laws

2007-08-14T17:17:00.001+08:00

This is a better summary...

If retrocausality is real, it might even explain why life exists in the universe - exactly why the universe is so "finely tuned" for human habitation. Some physicists search for deeper laws to explain this fine-tuning, while others say there are millions of universes, each with different laws, so one universe could quite easily have the right laws by chance and, of course, that's the one we're in.

Paul Davies, a theoretical physicist at the Australian Centre for Astrobiology at Macquarie University in Sydney, suggests another possibility: the universe might actually be able to fine-tune itself. If you assume the laws of physics do not reside outside the physical universe, but rather are part of it, they can only be as precise as can be calculated from the total information content of the universe. The universe's information content is limited by its size, so just after the big bang, while the universe was still infinitesimally small, there may have been wiggle room, or imprecision, in the laws of nature.

And room for retrocausality. If it exists, the presence of conscious observers later in history could exert an influence on those first moments, shaping the laws of physics to be favourable for life. This may seem circular: life exists to make the universe suitable for life. If causality works both forwards and backwards, however, consistency between the past and the future is all that matters. "It offends our common-sense view of the world, but there's nothing to prevent causal influences from going both ways in time," Davies says. "If the conditions necessary for life are somehow written into the universe at the big bang, there must be some sort of two-way link."
("What's done is done... or is it?", New Scientist, 28 Sep 06)

Our Lives, Controlled From Some Guy’s Couch - New York Times

2007-08-14T16:38:00.000+08:00

Our Lives, Controlled From Some Guy’s Couch - New York Times

This seems to have been a running theme this last week. First, before our inaugural project meeting, the great D (Donald/Dir) propels us into a discussion of reality vs perception, experience machines and The Matrix... Then I get into a series of quasi-religious conversations with different people on experience machines, hedonism and free will... and now this. This one takes the cake though - it takes some metaphysical ideas to their logical conclusions, and beyond.

There've been recent articles in New Scientist that suggest (and I'm paraphrasing in a very layman sort of way) that the behaviours of certain particles, and even the laws of physics, at the quantum level get refined only when we are observing them, and that in a weird way, the quantum universe decides to manifest or decide upon certain properties in a sort of "just-in-time" fashion, i.e. just in time so that you can observe them, and that both the future and PAST trajectories of whatever you are observing can be altered to fit the observation! The physicists call is "quantum delayed-choice/post-selection" or retrocausality... Essentially, both the past and future of the universe are constantly being reconfigured to maintain consistency with the present. This is particularly controversial because it flies in the face of the more mainstream anthropomorphic principle, which suggests that we are here to observe the universe and make metaphysical conjectures only because the conditions are right for us (just as the porridge was just right for Goldilocks). Here we're saying that by our existence, we are reshaping the history of the universe, i.e. the universe is as much a product of our existence as we are a product of the universe's existence. Am totally floored, and struggling to put this into words, but here are the exact quotes:

This aspect of quantum weirdness may appear startling, but it has been tested by experiments and found to be correct. In such experiments the quantum reach into the past is only a few nanoseconds, but in principle it could be extended to billions of years. And when it comes to quantum cosmology, it can penetrate right back to the big bang itself...

Wheeler's idea was more radical. He claimed that the existence of life and observers in the universe today can help bring about the very circumstances needed for life to emerge by reaching back to the past through acts of quantum observation. It is an attempt to explain the Goldilocks factor by appealing to cosmic self-consistency: the bio-friendly universe explains life even as life explains the bio-friendly universe.
("The flexi-laws of physics", New Scientist, 30 Jun 07 - sorry, subscription required for full article)

Coming back to the NYT article, I'm thinking that if I were to programme such a simulation, I would design it exactly like that, to selectively simulate events only when they are relevant to the current context, and only to the requisite level of detail, and to modify both past and future to be internally consistent with the present. In much the same way, Google Earth only downloads the detailed images of whatever is showing on your screen and rough images of everything else; rather than waste computing power and network bandwidth downloading Keyhole-resolution images of the whole world.

Coming back to experience machines, the question is no longer just, "would you want to live your life in an experience machine, if the entire experience could be customised to your preference?" There are all kinds of refutations, such as why would there be so much pain and suffering in an experience machine (if we are indeed in the midst of one), how does free will work, where's the "uncle" switch, etc. The question for me seems to be, "what is there in my current daily existence that is incompatible with my being in a grand simulation?" As I'm sitting here typing this post out, sipping a cup of Ya-Kun teh, running my fingers through my hair and squinting at the computer screen, I'm drawing a blank. And that's a really really scary thought. Now, I'm wondering whether I should try to make my life more interesting to increase my chances of being reloaded into the next version of the simulation?

On a somewhat futurist-related thread... check out The Singularity Summit. It's this whole idea that somewhere in the future is a technology (possibly AI or cybernetics) which will totally revolutionise the way we think - allowing us to ponder the hitherto imponderable. This will be profoundly game-changing. Basically the premise is that all modern technology is a product of intelligence, and therefore cannot (or rather should not) be able to surpass the intelligence that created it, just as a car-assembly robot cannot create a copy of itself. However, IF technology could enhance the intelligence which spawned it in the first place, then there would be a feedback loop reinforcing the original intelligence, resulting in a bifurcation in the trajectory of both technology and human intelligence. Both would accelerate - potentially exponentially. We cannot even begin to imagine the implications of such a world. It is like having an orang-utan ponder the meaning of life and the trend of ageing populations... It's such a different paradigm...

Quest Log

2007-08-12T21:41:00.000+08:00

[30] Quit WoW
I really shouldn't have reactivated my World of Warcraft account. After a 2 month infatuation, I've managed to stay off for 3 months... Nevermind... easily reversed. The format of this post is a little nod to WoW though...

[50] Pirates of the Caribbean: At Wit's End
This has been sitting on the backburner due to all the changes at work. Now that I think I've settled down in my job - somewhat la... realistically it'll probably take at least a year to get really dialed in - it's time to get started on this. If nothing else I'd do it just because of the title!

[60] Because it's there
Time to start planning for Rinjani and Kilimanjaro. Lack of funds is no longer an excuse for not getting down to it. May need to convince people to come along for Kilimanjaro though... And then there's fitness - which brings us to...

[70] Running for life
I absolutely hate swimming. It triggers a mild allergic reaction and gives me a runny nose. To a lesser degree, I hate running - even though I used to be able to do a 2.4km in 9:28. Unfortunately these are the two activities which are most effective at building up cardio health; and let's not kid ourselves that tennis is going to do much for aerobic fitness, much less golf. So I've signed up for a bunch of runs leading up to half-marathon in Dec. Hopefully committing to a target will sustain the voluntary effort and get the dopamine flowing. Perhaps a full marathon next year, even...
[Update: 12km Sheares Bridge Run was a morale-booster and scenery was great! Definitely feel on track for a good time at StanChart.]

Legend:
[Quest difficulty level (1-70)] Quest title
Gives no xp (should be peanuts)
Gives little xp (easy aka imba)
Gives xp (appropriate for current skill/experience level)
Gives loads of xp (very difficult)

The day I saved my best friend's children

2007-08-12T19:12:00.000+08:00

110807 - a day to remember... So my best friend* was playing floorball yesterday, and in defending his goal, blocked a wound-up shot at close range - right on the family jewels, which swelled up immediately and caused great discomfort. He sits out the period, but through some adrenaline rush is able to play in the next period and see out the game. Now here's the stumper: after the game, he goes home and tries to ice it (this couldn't have been easy...), there's internal bleeding (hematoma), and he's experiencing nausea, but it doesn't occur to him to see a doctor (this must be proof that some parts of a guy's brain are kept between the legs...)!! Took a little firm persuasion, some research, a call to my cousin who is a doctor and an offer to ferry him to the A&E on my part before I could convince him to see the doctor - if only to exclude the possibility of a serious injury.

3 hours, $460.10 (it was heckuva expensive to recall an urology specialist to perform the diagnosis) and an ultrasound (yes, it appears that the invention of ultrasound benefits the other half of the population too) later, we establish that there no permanent damage has been done, and our brave floorball player receives antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs, and an MC to help reduce any complications while the hematoma subsides. And as for me, in return for burning a whole evening waiting around, I guess I have one heck of a story to tell our future children... :)
*Name omitted for obvious reasons ...

I just killed a mosquito which was buzzing around a little too close for it's own safety. From the red stain, the mosquito had obviously already drawn blood - probably mine. On closer inspection, I realised that the mosquito had white striped feet and a striped abdomen. Crap. It's a small relief that NEA doesn't show any dengue hotspots in the vicinity of my house. So hopefully nothing will happen...

The Book of Shadow: The Casino Royale Game

2007-08-10T00:24:00.000+08:00

The Book of Shadow: The Casino Royale Game

Oh neat! Now if only I knew which member of One in the House this belonged to... Are we ready for another Game? Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov... 4 months is pretty good head-start considering we planned Casino Royale in 2.5...

NDP

2007-08-09T22:13:00.000+08:00

Got reminded of my blog recently. It's been more than a month, and I still haven't transcribed 30 pages of travel logs into my blog. It sure ain't looking like it's going to happen... and while I have another post in the works, I don't think stuffing another pig after the first is going to get us past the pig-in-the-python problem... So I may as well do a quick post...

Watching the NDP tonight, I'm reminded of an interview question I had heard of - what is the value of having an NDP, and why is NDP run by the military rather than by a civilian organisation? Shaped by my NS experience, and from an almost cold-hearted pragmatic view, I know the answer to be deterrence.The clockwork precision and scale of the event, like the way the SAF executed Ops Flying Eagle in Dec-Jan 04, serves as an annual reminder to our neighbours of the coordination and professionalism of our military, and here I guess I'm manifesting the siege mentality that permeates our bureaucracy... sigh.

Cold-hearted pragmatism aside, NDP gives us all that occasion to feel that we belong to Singapore. This reminds me of a recent essay by Simon Tay that I had read. Essentially, Simon's thesis is that the concept of "home" is rooted more in the communities we circulate in, and the places we frequent or return to every day, rather than in the amorphous concept of "Singapore", whether as a city-state or nation-state, which we revisit only once a year on average - during national day festivities. It is a pity therefore that in the process of urban redevelopment, we tend to uproot people from their concepts of "home". Simon cites his own experience, where he is being resettled from his long-time house in Seletar Airbase in the name of redeveloping Seletar into a commercial aviation hub.

One of the theme songs for this year's NDP is "Will you". There's a line in there that goes "Will you take this country, and turn it from a place to a home..." Ok, so all NDP songs have this element... but I think it's timely given all the tensions in citizenship and our ability to assimilate (frankly the meaning of 'assimilate' is rather vague) foreigners into society. It's a good question to ask - but as a counter-point, I think we need to be careful in developing Singapore to make sure that we leave enough to which people can still tether their notions of "home" to, both in terms of the physical infrastructure, as well as in the communities that people occupy. How to balance between master planning and spontaneous development...?

Ok, while the rush of patriotism courses through our veins, here's a funny video of a parade mass display, which carries a rather poignant message... just because you've been given an unglamarous white board to carry doesn't mean that your role's not important!

As an aside, I should get out of my habit of resting my thumbs along the inner circumference of the steering wheel when I drive. Was alerted to this during a driving course I attended last week, and true enough I stubbed my left thumb on the wheel while executing a reverse 180* flick.

Land of Broken Speedometers

2007-06-25T16:08:00.000+08:00

Strangely enough, I've had 2 experiences with broken speedometers on my first day in Bangkok. The first was on the taxi from the airport to my guesthouse (had the foresight to at least book in advance this time...). The taxi ride from the new Suvarnabhumi airport cost 233B, or about S$11, and took 45 min. Most of the journey on highways, the speedometer was showing 200 km/h. We were going fast alright, but I would have guessed at a speed more in the 120 km/h range... Having an over-estimating speedometer can't be a problem anyway I guess, and in any case, I was feeling the effects of Bangkok pollution, and for some reason the air just felt denser and heavier and I had to expend a noticeable amount of effort just breathing normally. This went away by evening, as I was probably attuned to the air pollution by then.

After settling down at the Wendy Guesthouse on Soi Kasem San 1 opposite from Siam Square in central Bangkok, it hit me that I had gotten myself in a non-English speaking foreign land, with no clear objective or itinerary. Experienced a slight twinge of regret and a very lost feeling for a while, and definitely felt that I had put together this trip pretty much on a knee-jerk reflex without much thought. Really felt like just nuah-ing in the hotel room, but I felt the compulsion to make the most of my time overseas by hitting the ground running and visiting places. In any case, after a more thorough examination of Lonely Planet, I managed to put together a to-do list of attractions I wanted to visit in Bangkok, and also decided that I would make the overland journey to Siem Reap, Cambodia, to visit Angkor Wat - it was the nearest thing to Bangkok that had something I did actually want to visit. I figure I would spend 3d2n in Siem Reap and bookend that part of the trip with overnights in Bangkok. Surfed the web and realised that the Bangkok-Siem Reap overland journey is fraught with dangers and annoyances, most economic, but some physical... but more on this later. See talesofasia.com if you're interested.

After a relatively uneventful visit to the Jim Thomson house, which belonged to an early silk entrepreneur who helped popularise Thai silks in the west and has since been converted into a heritage museum run by the Thai government, I decided to head to the business district of Sukhumvit for dinner. I used a moto, or motorcycle taxi - you ride pillion, which would become my favourite means of transport within Bangkok, seeing as it is less touristy
- tourists usually come in groups that don't fit on a moto - than the tuk-tuks, and the prices are usually cheaper (altho in a group, tuk-tuks are more economical with the cost-sharing aspect). 80B to jump across town, for a 190B dinner. The moto's speedometer showed a constant 0 km/h the whole trip. Now this is scary, because it felt like we were whizzing through standing traffic at upwards of 50km/h, passing by vehicle side-view mirrors with nary a 10cm clearance. Not to mention it was the first time I had ever ridden on a motorcycle... Got dropped off in the vicinity of where I had pointed to on the map, and had to walk almost 200m before finding my bearings. Stopped by a photo shop because I had forgotten to bring along spare photos, and I had read that having a photo speeds up admission to Angkor Wat. Dinner was some fried noodle with chicken in sweet sauce dish - not unlike a "whiter" version of our char kway teow. Going back to the guesthouse, I used the BTS Skytrain and made it back on a 20B ticket.

On your marks, get set...

2007-06-19T14:04:00.000+08:00

So, I'm in the middle of a month-long break between NS and my first posting. Had originally planned to travel in the last 1.5-2 weeks of Jun, as I wanted to be in Singapore for an event which had originally been planned for 14 Jun, although that was subsequently changed to 21 Jun, meaning I had to cut short my holiday to a week at most. David, my college roommate, was in town from 15-18 Jun, so I figured I could make plans to travel once he leaves... that is, until the event I had planned to be in Singapore for got postponed (again) to 26 Jun!

Leaving for a short holiday immediately after wasn't possible either, because the same day I was told about the postponement (15 Jun), my future office asked if I would be available to attend a course and retreat from 28-29 Jun. Spent my Saturday (was showing David around on Friday) madly scrambling to put together a flight itinerary leaving the day after David goes and returning on 25 Jun. All flights to Hanoi and Vientiane were booked, and the cheapest options were going for $600++. Ouch! Had to eventually settle for Bangkok and back at $200 after taxes. Not quite where I wanted to go, and quite frankly I didn't even know what I would do for a week in Bangkok - esp. since everyone says Bangkok is only worth 3 days tops, unless you're there to "bang kok", plus the fact that I knew next to nothing about the tourist destinations in Bangkok. Immediately went out and bought (library had no stock) a Lonely Planet SE Asia guide to try to figure out an itinerary, and to hopefully see what other places around Bangkok are worth visiting. Didn't really have much time to read it tho, and so even on the plane to Bangkok I was still reading (as opposed to re-reading) the section on "Sights in Bangkok". More on Bangkok later...

Spectacle Prescriptions

2007-06-12T00:41:00.000+08:00

I've been totally screwed by my optician. I made a new pair of glasses in Mar, and curiously, my optician read off my prescription using only the auto-refractometer. Well, I went for a follow-up eye check as part of my participation in the SAF's neurovision study. Here're the different readings (given in SPH - myopia/CYL - astigmatism/AXIS - axis of astigmatism in degrees)

Old glasses (before Mar 07)
R - -0.75/-1.00/100 L - -1.50/-0.50/70

New glasses (after Mar 07)
R - -1.25/-0.50/111 L - -1.50/-0.50/176

As tested today
R - -0.75/-1.25/095 L - -1.25/-0.75/65

Well, that figures... The axis of my new glasses are significantly off from what they should be, especially for my left eye, where the axis is a full right angle off from where it should be, basically doing next to nothing, if not aggravating my astigmatism! And to think all this while I thought I had become too old to expect corrected 6/4.5, i.e. better than "perfect" vision with glasses. Grrr, I'm going to ask for my lenses re-done tomorrow...

Is Firefox memory leaking?

2007-05-26T11:48:00.000+08:00

Just on a hunch, I think the new version of Firefox 2.0.0.3 is leaking memory like crazy... can anyone corroborate this?

I don't believe this

2007-05-26T10:05:00.000+08:00

When I've recovered enough from the shock, I will blog.

Long time no see

2007-05-25T14:33:00.000+08:00

Watched "Blades of Glory" last night. Very slapstick comedy, but I felt some of the jokes weren't fully developed - or maybe the director just wanted to leave more to the imagination...

Anyway, after returning home, I had this compulsion to stand on the porch and look at the stars... it just hit me how long it had been since I had last done that... and then I realised that I could hardly make out the familiar constellations like the Dipper and Orion... It took a while to find the Dipper and Polaris, which was somewhat reassuring because at least I remember that finding the Dipper probably means Orion is below the horizon... In any case, the moment of recognition felt a bit like seeing an old friend again...

To start, or not to start?

2007-05-23T21:23:00.000+08:00

So, facebook has a feature to import blogs. Interesting... Now that I'm coming to the end of my NS stint, I'm feeling like I can put some time in to maintaining a blog... Excessive optimism? Not knowing myself? We'll see...

I need to start thinking of what to write in my farewell email to my colleagues. There are so many people to bid farewell to... I'll have to spend a whole day just thinking of who I've worked with in the past 2 years...

The power of a sweet

2005-10-19T01:07:00.000+08:00

So I just got back from work - yup, at 1am. Had to clear stuff till late 'cos whole bunch of stuff needs to go out by tomorrow. Couldn't start on some of it until my colleague got back from meeting at 8pm, and before that I was busy helping some colleagues shift their cubicles.

Net result is that I ended up working until 12. Kinda sucks. The guard supervisor was coming around chasing us, although the duty guard actually came to tell us not to worry and to take our time and not rush. What really made my day (night, no... morning) is that as I left, the guard on duty passed me a sweet - my favourite japanese gummy candy! I don't know why, but after a day in which I spent 16 hours at work, and wasn't feeling too fresh or particularly happy, the sweet did manage to perk me up and as the sweet taste permeated through my mouth, things just somehow didn't seem that bad after all, or so I was thinking as I was walking out from work. Kinda strange effect... maybe I should stock up on japanese gummies instead of sour apple strips.

tgis

2005-09-17T11:28:00.000+08:00

As of midnight last night, I had spent 46 of the previous 64 hours at work. It didn't help that I had to cover for my colleague, nor did it help that some of my other colleagues were being uncooperative and dismissive of my requests to clarify certain matters. They felt they had checked through certain protocol details before and didn't need to do it again. I was concerned that there might have been an error of omission somewhere and that it didn't hurt, at least for no more than 5 minutes, to run the check disambiguate the matter once and for all. Yes, it seems anal retentive, but when you invite a dignitary to an event, making an error that is tantamount to demoting her in stature can be serious enough to orbit and come back to haunt you. Not funny. I had spent 5 hours staying until 11pm the night before in office to double-check using all available past files, and my colleagues weren't willing to spend an additional 5 minutes to help out.

I'm sitting at home now trying to figure out how to unkink the telephone cord at home, so that I can go back to office to try to unkink the cord on my office phone as well. Here's an interesting link I found while googling. It wasn't too helpful, but by trial and error I think I have a method for simple kinks. Most telephone cords are right-handed spirals. If you take two sections of cord and grasp them about say 2cm apart, and then turn in a right-handed screwing motion (like tightening a bottlecap), you'll see the middle section of cord expanding, and then snapping back on itself to produce a kink. Therefore, it makes sense that if you find a kinked and twisted section, you can likewise turn in an unscrewing or left-handed screwing motion to undo the kink. Try it out and let me know if it works. The best cure is prevention in any case. Don't buy those swivelling cord adaptors. They don't work - I'm sitting here untwisting a cord that was attached to a swivel at both ends. According to the linked website, just make sure you don't twist the phone in the same direction when you switch the handset from left to right ear and back.

Retarded greetings

2005-09-08T23:30:00.000+08:00

[08092005 11:22PM] bayboy: yo
[08092005 11:22PM] Shuzhen: yo!
[08092005 11:22PM] Shuzhen: sup
[08092005 11:22PM] bayboy: per!
[08092005 11:23PM] Shuzhen: cal
[08092005 11:23PM] bayboy: lif
[08092005 11:23PM] Shuzhen: frag
[08092005 11:23PM] bayboy: gil
[08092005 11:23PM] Shuzhen: lis
[08092005 11:23PM] bayboy: u messed up
[08092005 11:23PM] bayboy: should've been list
[08092005 11:23PM] bayboy: tic
[08092005 11:24PM] Shuzhen: no lis is ok what
[08092005 11:24PM] Shuzhen: exp
[08092005 11:24PM] bayboy: but we've been overlapping first/last letters
[08092005 11:24PM] bayboy: pi
[08092005 11:24PM] Shuzhen: yah so you could have said stic
[08092005 11:24PM] bayboy: but stic is not a word
[08092005 11:24PM] bayboy: aha!
[08092005 11:25PM] Shuzhen: well you should have said pie
[08092005 11:25PM] bayboy: ok. pie
[08092005 11:25PM] Shuzhen: heehee
[08092005 11:25PM] Shuzhen: el
[08092005 11:25PM] bayboy: lid
[08092005 11:25PM] Shuzhen: doc
[08092005 11:25PM] bayboy: cious
[08092005 11:26PM] bayboy: i can't think of a word for that one
[08092005 11:26PM] Shuzhen: woohoooo
[08092005 11:26PM] Shuzhen: oh man that was damn retarded mr bat
[08092005 11:26PM] Shuzhen: bay

Who is Katrina?

2005-09-06T20:39:00.000+08:00

I'm sure you've all seen footage of the destruction wrought by Hurrican Katrina over and over again on TV. It's inundated the social consciousness - forgive the pun. And now there's all this talk of the US having concentrated too much on Iraq and Afghanistan and not having the resources to fight fires - or water - at home.

So let's look at the facts...
9/11 - 3000+ people die, US launches war on terror. Let's not count the war in Iraq, for which I buy the argument that Saddam Hussein had it coming anyway. Just the war in Afghanistan is expected to cost US$300b when all's said and done.

Hurricane Katrina - Death toll still unknown, likely to be in the tens of thousands. Spending on flood control after the 1995 hurricane strike in New Orleans that killed 6 people was about US$400m, to be liberal with numbers.

Okay, so one could argue that we're comparing apples to oranges here, that $1 does more in one use than in the other, that we're talking pre-emptive spending in one case and post-catastrophe spending in the other. But it seems that people have known about New Orleans since goodness knows when. A friend of mine from there says that everytime it floods is an excuse for the population to upgrade their furniture using insurance payouts - so much so that insurance companies decided not to insure against flood in Louisiana a couple of years ago.

If one really wanted to safeguard US lives and property, and make each dollar work as hard as possible, wouldn't it make sense to have spent more money on construction in New Orleans? I guess the bottomline is that investing in flood control just doesn't sound as sexy as spending money to blow the crap out of some Islamic fundamentalists half the world away. A pity this lesson will have to be learnt the hard way now. Katrina dwarfs 9/11 in destructive magnitude, and it's unlikely that any feasible terrorist attack will significantly dwarf Katrina in turn. Common wisdom tends to look for direct linkages between cause and effect. Al Qaeda -> 9/11. (?) -> Katrina. The US spends money to go after Al Qaeda, but for Hurricane Katrina who is there to go after? Who's responsible for Katrina? No one, it seems, and yet everyone. I guess that's why we're doomed to repeat history's lessons over and over.