Between Black And White

A Peek at the Nature

noreply@blogger.com (greynut) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 13:04:00 +0000

Nature has a peculiar way to show its power. More often than not it is shown in its destructive forms. Deadly hurricanes and catastrohpic earthquakes just to name a few. Sometimes, the fairer side is put on display. Stunning panorama, eye candy sceneries and lush greeneries often come into mind in that aspect. Then again there are just some phenomenas that are outright mind boggling and inexplicable. Freakish if you will. Combinations of the aforementioned three features are not uncommon. Beautiful, yet deadly.Weird and fatal. You get the idea.

I read an article on National Geographic website featuring white lions today. Yes, white lions.The article can be found here.

Majestic,beautiful, and cute but no problem whatsoever when it comes to mauling a 150kg-250kg wildebeest in group . The notion of deadliness usually do not come across the mind of most people once they come across white animals which are not so usually. No thanks to images of adorable and cuddly snow white animals conjured in our minds which have been imprinted over the years misled by many causes. There is no denying that animals with snowy white fur like rabbits and hamsters are harmless. However, there are unexceptionally high exceptions in the animal kingdom in which it's opposite.

To be different than others of the same species in the animal kingdom means invoking dangers. Survival is at the top of list in the animal kingdom, predators and preys alike. For a prey to stand out among its species means an easy target for predators while a predator which can be easily detected is as good in hunting as polices announcing who they are going to arrest tomorrow in the news today. In fact, these black sheep are often than not isolated by their own groups. Isolation certainly shaves off survival chances of those in the animal kingdom, more so for animals who are live in groups.

So when I saw the article, the first thing that came up my mind is how are these cats going to survive in the wild. It turns out that they live in captivity. In fact, most of these cases happen in captivity. Reason? It's the same reason as mentioned above. They don't have much survival chance in the wild. In captivity, these animals are safe from so many wild elements. They don't even do much of what their species do in the wild: hunting, roaming and etc. I wonder if they still retain their animal instincts.

Further probing at Wikipedia for the reason for these abnormal occurences shows that genetic condition known as Leucism. Unlike mutation where genetic information is altered, leucism is a condition where recessive genes are present instead of dominant ones. A simple example is albinism. You would think that evolution would have eliminate these seemingly defective genes from the gene pool and survival of the fittest should have taken its course long ago. However, evolution is not as easy as that. If all but the fittest meet their ends, wouldn't the process of evolution cease? That's something to ponder upon.

Adieu, graynut signing off.

Random Pictures 2

noreply@blogger.com (greynut) — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 08:34:00 +0000

I got divided by zero lately, hence my lack of updates. Anyway, here are more random pictures that I found. I do not own these pictures and therefore credits belong to their owners. I have included the links to the owners of these pictures whenever possible, with lack of meaning I could not locate the source of these pictures. If you happen to know their origins, please drop me an email at wn.fong.v3@gmail.com.

Aurora Borealis from the space. Also known as Northen Polar Lights or just aurorae. Source

Urm...Great moment here. Unidentified source.

If my memory does not fail me, this chap is said to prevent the fire engine from being frozen. Unidentified source too.

If the words on the sign are too small, here is what it says. Unidentified source.
1. Mass Ave Bridge Closed
2. Sunday 04/22/07 6am-3pm
3. To Appease Godzilla

Zombie attack! Be afraid. Be very afraid. Unidentified source.

Shoryuken Cat. KO-ed by his awesomeness! Source

LOLCAT + Emoticon = Win! Unidentified source.

The phenomenon is not exclusive to Apple products though. Source

I say, fire away USS Lincoln. Unidentified source.

It's no longer flies that go into your mouth if you yawn with your mouth wide open. Unidentified source.

I faces the risk of invoking wraths of the fairer sex by posting this one. Heh. Unidentified source. Definitely not from the periodic table.

Beats me why his genitals are in surgical spirits. Unidentified source.

Somehow I believe the mistakes made have successfully magnified the protestors' message. Unknown source.

...especially when stress is handed to you like desserts, if you catch what I mean. Unknown source.

The WTF panda. Unidentified source. Definitely not WWF.

This may come from WWF, the wrestling body. Again, unidentified source.

Okay, this is creepy. First we have pedobear. Now it's pedopanda. Or is it pedobear in disguise? Beats me. Unidentified source.

Stay tuned. Adieu, graynut signing off.

Funny Final Fantasy Dub

noreply@blogger.com (greynut) — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 10:11:00 +0000

Taking a break from posting headache inducing articles. Enjoy this great skit which I foraged from youtube.com

Stay tuned. Adieu, graynut signing off.

Divizion by Zero Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (greynut) — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 10:08:00 +0000

Yes, this post is entirely on maths. You may hate it when you learn it, but you can't deny that it's part and parcel of life. But then again you can just ignore this post if you really want. I posted it out of my curiosity on this matter, and if you share the same with me, you might as well as read on. I tried to make the context as accurate and simple as possible with what I have assimilated after going through loads of information that is readily available in the net. I shall not assure you that it will neither be a terrific read nor a practical lesson, but I bet my non-existent three tonnes of bullion in Swiss vault that you will realize there is more to division by zero than a mere error that pops up at your calculator every time you attempt to divide anything with zero.

Division as we are know very well is an inverse of multiplication. You may know division as, erm, division, but the essence of this operative is to reverse of what multiplication can do. However, there is another approach to this. Multiplication can also be explained as repeated addition. Thus, division is naturally repeated subtraction. This method is not practical though, because maths is mainly about accuracy and speed, of which can rarely be found in lengthy solutions such as repeated subtraction or addition. Of course, that is not my focus in this entry. Sorry for the digression.

Learning by example is unarguably one of the most effective way. Naturally, that notion is practiced in school as often as it could be. In elementary maths, we approached division through examples that we could make sense. E.g. distributing x number of fruits to y number of people, donating k amount of cash to l number of institution. You get the idea. Initially all questions that we came across resulted in whole numbers. Everything was so simple. Other concepts came into play later, i.e. remainder, decimal places etc. Those posed no obstacles too, as their concepts are fairly simple.

At that point, division by zero meant nothing. It meant nothing because there was nothing to divide the numerator to begin with. How are we supposed to distribute 10 apples to 0 person? If we approach this problem using repeated subtraction, it simply suggest we subtract 0 apple out of the total indefinitely. Thus, it's meaningless.

Then we begun learning different branches of mathematics; algebra, calculus, statistics and so on. Division by zero thus rears its ugly head, or many heads as a matter of fact because it's no longer undefined in some of the branches of mathematics even though it still remains meaningless. However, meaningless stuff in mathematics do not equal to harmless kittens when applied in life. How so?

Stay tuned to find out more in the next entry. Adieu, graynut signing off.

Reunion Dinner Wrap Up

noreply@blogger.com (greynut) — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 09:45:00 +0000

Alas, it's the last post on reunion dinner held 2 weeks ago. All photographs that was taken by me which passed my self-imposed inspection and have been photochopped edited to the best I can, can be found here.

Enough talk there. I saved the bests for the last. Enjoy :-)

The two on the left are great story tellers.

Say hi to Wen Yi.

The four scouts. The King Scout is the one in blue, Jason.

Cheese!

Ladies of the night...

The guys were not to be outdone...

Only one third who attended were in this photo.

Dinesh with his right arm raised high, probably cheering for the match shown on the TV.

Best photo of the night! Could've made it look like a magazine cover if I know how. :-P

Group photo at the end.

Front row, L-R : Wai Yew, Wee Keng, Pn. Kwan, Ms. Chang, Mr. Ho and Mr. Leong

Middle row, L-R : Shi Wei, Kar Chun, Shin En, Pui Yee, Weng Khong, Wye Hon, Wei Shin, Yin Teng, Wen Yi, Adrian

Back row, L-R : Sook Shan, Deenie, Jason, Wai Kit, Kah Meng, Edmund, Hou Zzan, Chong Yi, Chun Ho and Dinesh

Candid version :-)

What is a reunion dinner without the latest news on everyone? So here's the latest (3 weeks ago, LOL) information on everybody, in order of the position in the normal group photo.

Front row : Wai Yew is already in UKM, while Wee Keng is in UM. And the teachers, well, they are at where they were, not going anywhere. Wye Hon secured a place in UGM (Indonesia). Yin Teng will enrol in University of Nottingham (M'sia). Wen Yi is already in UPM. Adrian on the other hand is in Sunway college.

Middle row : Shi Wei is in UniMAS whereas Kar Chun is in UTM. Shin En enrolled in Uniten. Pui Yee is in UMS. Kah Meng is in UTM with Kar Chun too. Weng Khong, well, he is preparing to go to Europe (read : JPA scholar).

Back row : Sook Shan is in UPM as well. Jason chose Uniten to be near her wife, Deenie, although Deenie is not in Uniten, just somewhere near. Sorry, no accurate detail on this. I will amend once I know. Wai Kit is in UMS also. Edmund got into UKM whereas Hou Zzan, he either accepted the offer from UTHM or he chose Uniten in the end. He was still undecided that night. Wei Shin has already been in UTP (note : Petronas scholar). Chong Yi is in the same boat as Weng Khong. Chun Ho is in UniMAS too. And finally, Dinesh, who is in UPM.

So, that's all for the reunion this time. Just a simple gathering organized at the eleventh hour. Thankfully, the response was not as lukewarm as dreaded. I will see to it that another reunion be organized in the near future. I shall take the chance to bid everyone farewell and the best of luck. Kick asses in your new places alright?

Stay tuned for the next entry as I revert my mode back to wacko and get my crazymotor running in my brain once again : Division by zero, not as simple as an error that you know. Adieu, graynut signing off.

Reunion Dinner Part 4

noreply@blogger.com (greynut) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 12:37:00 +0000

This series is getting really boring. So, I've decided to wrap it up with the next post instead of continuing it for another four entries with photographs accompanied by witty comments which I am seriously running out of. The remaining photographs will be stored here, along with those that I've posted before this.

Here goes.

The loaded Fortune Deity giving out moolah while shaking hands with recipients a la VIP.

No, this photo was not smeared. It was the steam rising out of the pot.

Somehow this shot reminds me of those couples shot. Okay, that was so wrong.

Wen Yi and Dinesh in discussion. Dinesh was the only non-Chinese to join us. I am not being racist here. Rather, I was disappointed that he was the only non-Chinese there.

You can see Adrian showing er, whatever sign that means.

Mr. Ho helping himself to those fresh crustaceans while Mr. Leong looked on.

Shin En caught unaware.

The guys were having a great time exchanging news among each other. Don't forget about the bullshitting part too when Chun Ho was in the photo. Trust him to blow your logic away with his mind numbling stories with the occasion help from Wye Hon.

There was one incident during the dinner that warrants a special mention here. First, have a look at the incident.

Unfortunately, this is not a guess-what-is-that game. This is the clearest shot I could get of that incident.

Just in case you still can't figure out what's that, those are oysters. In a cup of Chinese tea. How did those oysters get into the tea? I'll leave it to your imagination. It was totally unintended though.

Stay tuned for the last part. Adieu, graynut signing off.

Reunion Dinner Part 3

noreply@blogger.com (greynut) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:46:00 +0000

This is part 3 of the 8 parts series on reunion dinner. Don't you think this is getting boring?

Everyone helping themselves to those delicious food.

Jason and his girlfriend/wife Deenie.

The teachers were not to be left behind in eating too :-D

Wei Shin and Weng Khong posing, while Adrian was busy messaging.

Wei Shin and Weng Khong, again :-P

"v" for v, Edmund and Kah Meng.

No, Wai Yew was not looking sideway at the camera. In fact, his eyes were fixed at the steamboat. Drools...

The surprise Santa/Fortune Diety, Ms. Chang, handling red packets with the most powerful charm in the world, moolah.

Yin Teng receiving her charm.

Santa/Fortune Diety doing her round, giving everyone a packet.

That's all for the time being. I'm back to more editing.

Stay tuned. Adieu, graynut signing off.

UCAS

noreply@blogger.com (greynut) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:21:00 +0000

My mind was taken over by kiasu mentality and I promptly went to this site.

Stay tuned. Adieu, graynut signing off.

Reunion Dinner Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (greynut) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:20:00 +0000

This is the 2nd entry on the previous reunion dinner. The first post can be found here.

As the clock ticked away, more and more arrived. I was really glad that so many people turned up in spite of the short notice. However, we were really had a lot of empty seats until the very last minute. In the end, the number that turned up was nearing 30, way beyond my expectation. You can say that I have low expectation or whatsoever, but then again you don't really know what kind of responses I got from some of those that I've invited.

'Nuff with the boring details, and feast your eyes upon these sub par photographs.

Wai Kit chattering away with Pn. Kwan before dinner began.

The guys were doing the same across the tables.

Chun Ho and Hou Zzan, with hint of excitement in their eyes, though you can't see Chun Ho's from this angle.

Wai Kit indulging himself in university entrance guide.

Pn. Kwan and Mr. Leong. They are this friendly all the time mind you, not just in front of the camera.

Wye Hon, it was hard to get a good shot on you despite all your previous efforts until now. Really.

Wai Kit may seems reluctant being alone in front of the camera, but it's different when he's with others.

Yin Teng with, er, some meat (?) between her chopsticks. Abymsal focus, this one, yes.

The two Koks, Adrian Kok and Kok Wee Keng. Close buddies since young.

Everybody was busy sinking their teeth into something.

These guys prefer a la carte, and so they have to wait while those eating steamboat feasted non-stop. Chun Ho was peering over his university entrance guide, while Hou Zzan tried to catch a look.

So, that's the end of this entry. It is not even half way yet.

Stay tuned. Adieu, graynut signing off.

Reunion Dinner

noreply@blogger.com (greynut) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:19:00 +0000

Class 6AB ACS Ipoh of 2007 threw a reunion dinner on last Sunday. More information below.

Venue : Moven Peak Steamboat Buffet
Time : 7pm
Date : 22nd June 2008
Dresscode : Smart Casual

Anyway, the dinner was not restricted to students from that class. We had people from other classes as well. Heck, we even had people who were no longer ACSians since Form 5 in 2005.

Less words, more photographs. I think I'll need about 8 entries to cover the whole thing, 10 photo at a time.
Dial-up friendly, eh? Anyway, for those who want the original version of the photographs, please inform me. I'll upload them to you once I have true broadband unlike pseudo broadband that I am using now.

From front : Yin Teng, Edmund, Pui Yee and Chong Yi (hidden)

Ms. Chang, Kar Chun, Shi Wei, Wee Keng and I were first to arrive. It was already 7 by then. It seemed like MRT (Malaysian Rubber Time) was in effect again. Oh bother. Punctuality was not emphasized this time. Attendance was.

From right : Wee Keng, Ms. Chang and Mr. Leong

So, we while away waiting for the rest to arrive. Yin Teng showed up in a short while. Glad she did, because she mentioned that she might not make it in time from KL. Mr. Leong, Kah Meng, Edmund, Pui Yee and Chong Yi arrived soon after that.

From front : Edmund, Kah Meng (hidden), Pui Yee, Chong Yi (hidden) and also Moven Peak service crew :-P

From front: Edmund, Yin Teng, Kar Chun and Shi Wei

From left: Pn. Kwan, Mr. Leong, and Ms. Chang

Pn. Kwan too arrived soon after. By then we already have 3 teachers with us, with Mr. Ho on his way.

From left: Ms. Chang, Wee Keng, and Chong Yi

Sitting from left : Edmund, Kah Meng and Pui Yee
Standing from left : Kar Chun and Shi Wei

From left : Do I need to repeat myself? :-D

Standing from left: Hou Zzan, Kar Chun, Shi Wei, Jason and Deenie
Sitting from left: Edmund, Kah Meng, Pui Yee and Wai Yew

7.30pm, and there were still missing faces.

I think I have repeated names enough. Perhaps one or two were not in the photographs before. Far left, donned in orange , Adrian, while on the far right, donned in beigi, Chun Ho.

So, what happened after that? Would more turn up? Or would the dinner come short of expectation?

Stay tuned. Adieu, graynut signing off.

Random Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (greynut) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 00:42:00 +0000

I wanted to post something funny once in a while but most of the time I was not motivated enough to write one. I ended up saving pictures I stumbled upon when I hopped my way through sites after sites. Here are some of them.

It's okay to look. Really.But gawking is forbidden :-)

Since Spiderman can't come to our Malaysian neighbourhood when he is busy kicking super villain's asses maintaining order in LA, Malaysia's very own Spiderman decides to step in and save these chicks' hides.

Captcha at a whole new level.

Durex, never fail to entertain with quirky advertisements.

Chuck Norris, an Internet meme legend.

For real? I'm a bit sceptical though. Read : photoshop

Over 9000! Another internet meme.

Amusing captions always bring different perspective out of pictures.

Thank goodness they don't have mana bars, attack points and defense points.

Earth at night. From space.

This makes life so much easier for everyone.

The artist is indeed, very playful and skillful towards his food.

AE86 wannabe. Only in Malaysia.

Remember to breath before you go down.

Stay tuned for photographs of the reunion dinner held last Sunday. My blog is slowy but surely turning into a photoblog. Adieu, graynut signing off.

Moven Peak Gathering

noreply@blogger.com (greynut) — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 05:27:00 +0000

Arvin called for a gathering before everyone part ways, and I answered.

So, at approximately 2.15pm on 21st June 2008 (it was Ren Shen's 20th Birthday by the way), I went to Moven Peak Steamboat Buffet with Kar Chun and Shi Wei. Once there, we joined the organizer, Arvin, who were chatting with Hou Zzan and Jien Wey.

Siew Vern, Wai Yee, Chee Yan and her boyfriend soon after that. The lasts to arrive were, as expected, Chun Ho, Wye Hon and Hon Yuen.

Knowing that everyone was there already, I went on to take group photograph.

Standing, from left : Hon Yuen, Hou Zzan, Wye Hon, Chun Ho, Arvin

Sitting, from left : Chee Yan, Jien Wey, Siew Vern, Wai Yee

As my primary objective there was to get a group photograph, besides doing a bit of catch up, duly achieved, Kar Chun, Shi Wei and I left since the two have other things to attend to and they did not have any intention of joining in the first place.

The next reunion dinner to attend to will be the Class 6AB of 2007 Dinner.

Venue : Moven Peak Steamboat Buffet

Time : 7pm

Date : 22nd June 2008

Dresscode : Smart Casual

Contact me for further information.

Although the dinner serves as a reunion for class 6AB of 2007, anyone from other classes is still and very much welcome to join us. In fact, bring along your friends. We believe in "the more, the merrier".

Stay tuned for entries on the next reunion. Adieu, graynut signing off.

Within Temptation - Our Solemn Hour

noreply@blogger.com (greynut) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 12:19:00 +0000

I don't know what genre it is, but I just couldn't resist posting it here.

It's been a long time since I've fallen for music like this. Reminds me of Bring Me To Life by Evanescence.

Stay tuned. Adieu, graynut signing off.

Friendly Encounters During Ipoh Startwalk 2008

noreply@blogger.com (greynut) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 12:18:00 +0000

Ipoh Starwalk 2008 Pics Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (greynut) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 12:18:00 +0000

Disclaimer : All photographs are not to be reproduced in any method without my consent. The photographs were taken without subjects’ permission via model release form. If you are featured but do not want your picture to be posted here, please notify me at wn.fong.v3@gmail.com. I would have the said photographs taken down immediately. Last but not least, you can request for the original versions of the photographs (without watermarks or any form of modification) by emailing me.

Okay, more photographs of Ipoh Starwalk 2008.

The first walker to arrive. He took about 46 minutes to cover the 10km route. Average speed = 13.038km/h = 3.62m/s. WOW!

The champion up close. (There is no need to pinpoint who he is, right?)

2nd walker to arrive. He clocked 48 minutes, which translates to 12.5km/h or 3.472m/s. Amazing feat/feet!

The third walker to arrive, shortly after the arrival of the second.

Ops, wrong lane.

The first non-competition walker to arrive. Great spirit there.

The competition officials waiting for more walkers at the finishing line.

Giving it all to reach the line.

Mr. Thomas Kok, a veteran walker. How do I know? He's a former principal of my former alma mater.

The first lady walker to arrive.

Not only did he finished among the top, he even did it barefooted.

The teens, who formed the majority of the participants, are known to be very energetic. However, they are dim when compared to veterans when it comes to things that need perserverance like marathon or walkathon.

More and more walkers arrived as the clock ticked away.

All walks of life.

Age is no barrier,not at all.

Here comes one of the oldest walker of the competition.

Running! Violation of rules!

I wonder why was he holding that piece of paper.

Another veteran walker.

Do not underestimate the kids' power.

Her majesty coming through.

Who says you need appropriate gears? T-shirt coupled with pants and sandals were good enough.

The rush to the finishing line as the 100 minute limit approached.

Checking out sponsors booths after a long journey.

Almost all participants have arrived.

Participant receiving first aid treatment from the Red Crescent Society.

5bucks that he was the oldest walker in the competition, anyone?

The crowd at the finishing line.

The crowd dispersing as the sun rose higher and shone brighter.

Walkers grabbing free isotonic drinks given out by sponsors before saying goodbye.

That concludes the second part of the event. Next up, the third part.

Stay tuned. Adieu, graynut signing off.

Ipoh Starwalk 2008 Pics

noreply@blogger.com (greynut) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 12:17:00 +0000

Disclaimer : All photographs are not to be reproduced in any method without my consent. The photographs were taken without subjects' permission via model release form. If you are featured but do not want your picture to be posted here, please notify me at wn.fong.v3@gmail.com. I would have the said photographs taken down immediately. Last but not least, you can request for the original versions of the photographs (without watermarks or any form of modification) by emailing me.

As promised, here are the photos that I took.

Rela personnels forming a barrier along the starting line.

The emcee entertaining the crowd. He did a great job that day, entertaining the crowd with his funny quips. See The Star photographer near him? Canon user too =)

Non-competition participants gathering before flag off.

The crowd raring to go while the emcee continued to stir their spirits. Apparently, there was a misunderstanding as competition participants were to be flagged off first. After the cheer, the non-competition walkers retreated to make way for those serious walkers decked in their own colourful gears.

The competition walkers gathering at the starting line. Their number may be small, but their spirit was just as high.

And the event begun!

OH HAI! whoever you are =) People kept on waving to me when I was taking photographs. Probably they thought I work for the media. I even stood on the media platform to take those photographs, but I am really anything but a media reporter. I hope they didn't feel dissapointed if their pictures were not published in newspaper =P.

The remaining participants regathered at the starting line for their real flag off this time.

Once again, walkers cheering.

The Rela personnels backing off immediately after the starting signal. Who wouldn't when you have thousands of people rushing at you?

Some decided to trod at their own pace. Great time.

It was a chance for some to parade their culture and fashion too.

OH HAI! You're da man!!11!!

These young ladies kept on posing in front of me so much that I could not resist their unspoken request for photograph. Watch where you are heading!

Cheers! Anons again.

The walkers taking it to the streets. Perfect weather for a leisure walk of 10km.

OH HAI! More Anons.

Do not be deceived by the clothes. Or the look. This gutsy uncle was in fact a participant. Look at his wristband. Respect! Many young punks have their butt shoved to them on silver plates by aged walkers.

This walker is worthy of a special mention. Despite vision disability, he still took part in the walk. Great spirit.

Stay tuned for the second part. Adieu, graynut signing off.

Ipoh Starwalk 2008 Coverage by The Star Malaysia

noreply@blogger.com (greynut) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 12:15:00 +0000

A picture says a thousand words. A video shows tens of pictures per second. Metaphorically, a video says tens of thousands of words per second.

The following video is the official coverage by the event organizer. It saves me the hard work of copy and pasting e-newspapers report from here.

Enjoy the video, albeit too grainy for my liking.

I've just uploaded approximately 55 pictures onto Flickr and will post them here as soon as possible.

Stay tuned. Adieu, graynut signing off.

Ipoh Starwalk 2008

noreply@blogger.com (greynut) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 07:05:00 +0000

"It's 15th of June 2008" + "It's Ipoh Starwalk time" + "I'm in Ipoh" = Coverage!

An event that is held annually without fail, Ipoh Starwalk 2008 was totally a hit among the Ipoh townsfolk. The number of people who turned up at Stadium Indera Mulia this year was roughly estimated to be around 7000. (I'll amend the figure once I've read the newspaper)

Similar to previous years, sponsors for the walk this year poured in from major companies like DiGi, Milo, 100 Plus, Magnum and etc. Each sponsor created their own exhibitions and attractions. DiGi with its unforgettable popcorn booth, Magnum with its game booth, and so forth. Free drinks were handed out too, courtesy of Milo and 100 Plus. Not to forget is the organizer, The Star Publications, which generously handed out free copies of The Star papers to the public.

That being said, it's a no-brainer that the Starwalk become such a hit. You just have to pay a meagre amount as registration fee to enjoy the following perks :-

You get to enjoy Ipoh landscape through the tedious scenic 10km route

You get free gifts like T-Shirt, wrist bands etc

You get free drinks

You get quality time with your family

You get to hang out with your friends

You get the chance to take part in lucky draws and games

You get to check out hot chicks and studs in sweaty white t shirt

So, yours truly,being a busy body, hopped on his bike and rode all the way to the stadium at 6.45 in the morning, shivering from top to toe during the journey because it was very chilly, just to shoot people photographs and show them to you.

As there were too many photographs taken by this greenhorn photographer who's trigger happy, I'll attempt to cover the event in maybe two or three more posts. With few words. And lots of photos.

Stay tuned. Adieu, graynut signing off.

List of Useful Keyboard Shortcuts

noreply@blogger.com (greynut) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 07:03:00 +0000

The typical input devices for a home personal computer (PC) are keyboard and mouse. Other not so typical input devices are joysticks, game pads, microphones and etc. Well, you get the idea. Initially, keyboard was the only input device used with early computers, whereas mouse was introduced later. The impact that mouse has on computer users is anything but insignificant.

The ease of using mouse along with the ever improving user interface of personal computers have definitely made user experience a lot richer. Imagine surfing the net nowadays without a mouse. How about have a round at showing your elite Photoshop skills without a mouse, if that is even possible?

However, the increasing importance of mouse, not to mention the role it play in navigating through your computer system, has somewhat send keyboard to the realm of the less-used. Has keyboard really become a vestige in computer system entirely nowadays?

The answer would be no, for the time being anyway. We still need keyboard to key in passwords, to type, and of course to hammer at just because you got a pwned in online games, the lag being the culprit. Putting those aside, keyboard can actually enrich computer user experience by providing shortcuts functions. What would normally takes a few seconds to execute with a mouse can be done in split second with a keyboard IF you know how. How does that sound eh?

Let's just take one simple example; opening My Computer with a mouse.

Step 1

You move your cursor and click the start button at the bottom left of the screen.

Step 2

Again, you move your cursor to My Computer,then left-click it.

Step 3

There you have it, My Computer opened at last. Time taken : 1 to 2 seconds. Alternatively, you can double-click the My Computer shortcut available on the desktop.

You'll need about 1 to 2 seconds to do that, longer if your computer is not up to par or your screen size is bigger. How fast can I do it with keyboard? 0.5 seconds. How? Just by pressing the Windows Logo and E simultaneously.

Saving a fraction of a second may not seems much but imagine repeating the same action for, let say, 100 times a day. Collectively, you would've saved about a minute a two per day. Yea, big deal. But that's not the only thing that you can do with keyboard shortcuts in Windows.

Here are 2 lists of keyboard shortcuts and their functions that you can use to improve your user experience in Windows.There will be another list for Firefox, the web browser in the next entry hopefully.Besides, you also get the bragging rights if your friends know nothing about it.

General Shortcuts

CTRL + C : Copy your selection

CTRL + V : Paste what you've copied or cut

CTRL + X : Cut your selection

CTRL + Z : Undo your previous action

DELETE : Delete your selection, deleted items show up in Recycle Bin

SHIFT + DELETE : Delete the selected item permanently without placing the item in the Recycle Bin

CTRL while dragging an item : Copy the selected item

So far so good? Brace for more.

F2 : Rename your selection

CTRL + SHIFT while dragging an item : Create a shortcut for your selection

CTRL + RIGHT ARROW : Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next word

CTRL + LEFT ARROW : Move the insertion point to the end of the previous word

CTRL + DOWN ARROW : Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next paragraph

CTRL + UP ARROW : Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous paragraph

CTRL + SHIFT + (LEFT/RIGHT) : Highlight a block of text

SHIFT + (ANY ARROW KEY) : Highlight lines of text

CTRL + A : Select all

CTRL while dragging an item : Copy your selection

That's not all. Not even half of it.

F3 : Activate search function

ALT + ENTER : View the properties of selected items

ALT + F4 : Quit active programmes

ALT + SPACEBAR : Open shortcut menu for the active windows

ALT + TAB : Switch between opened items

CTRL + F4 : Close the active window in programmes that allow you to have multiple windows opened simulatneously

ALT + ESC : Cycle through items in the order that they had been opened

F6 : Cycle through screen elements

A few more to go in the general list.

F4 : Display the address bar list

SHIFT + F10 : Display the shortcut menu for selected items

BACKSPACE : View the folder one level up in My Computer or Windows Explorer

SHIFT when you insert a CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive : Prevent the CD-ROM from automatically playing

CTRL+SHIFT+ESC : Open Task Manager

F5 key : Update the active window

CTRL + ESC : Display the start menu

That sums up the general keyboard shortcuts list. Next is the natural shortcuts.

Natural Shortcuts

Windows Logo : Display or hide the Start menu

Windows Logo + BREAK : Display the System Properties dialog box

Windows Logo + D : Display the desktop

Windows Logo + M : Minimize all of the windows

Windows Logo + SHIFT + M : Restore the minimized windows

Windows Logo + E : Open My Computer

Windows Logo + F : Search for a file or a folder

CTRL + Windows Logo + F : Search for computers

Windows Logo + F1 : Display Windows Help

Windows Logo + L : Lock the keyboard

Windows Logo + R : Open the Run dialog box

Windows Logo + U : Open Utility Manager

CTRL + SHIFT while dragging an item : Create a shortcut to the selected item

I think it's best if I stop here.

Stay tuned. Adieu, graynut signing off.

Baby ROFL

noreply@blogger.com (greynut) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 07:03:00 +0000

Found this on Reddit lately.

The video shows a toddler rolling on the floor, laughing, literally. I guess ROFL is not confined to those glued to the computer and internet.

Cheers to the toddler and his inexplicable laughter.

Stay tuned. Adieu, graynut signing off.

New Dinosaurs Extinction Theory

noreply@blogger.com (greynut) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 07:01:00 +0000

The extinction of dinosaurs is agreed to have occurred approximately 65 million years ago. While paleontologists generally agree to the date of the event, there is no agreement where the cause is concerned. Many theories were proposed, with the suggestion of massive asteroid impacts and increased volcanic activity among the popular ones. However, recent developments in areas such as genetic mapping and biology simulations are shedding new light in this topic.

More and more theories that explain the extinction of dinosaurs are presented. Among many new theories put forth, there is one that caught for attention for its sheer simplicity in explanation using basic physical law such as inertia. For more information on this theory, please scroll down.

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Seeing this message, I believe that dinosaurs are not the only species in danger of extinction for not buckling up.

Some Joke

noreply@blogger.com (greynut) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 07:01:00 +0000

You know when having more doesn't exactly mean it's good?

You wouldn't have thought that having some is better after all?

Well, awesome is definitely better than awful.

Thank you for reading this lame joke.

Stay tuned. Adieu, graynut signing off.

Gifts From China

noreply@blogger.com (greynut) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 06:42:00 +0000

Two months ago, any mention of China will conjure images of the Tibet issue.One month later, the earthquake at Sichuan province was and still is synonymous with China.Thus, I would like to clarify that this entry has nothing to do with both. However, the victims of the earthquake still have my deepest sympathy and condolence. May they pull through such testing time.

My relatives went to China recently and being the typical tourists they were, they brought back heaps of local goods. Foods were the majority while some other weird gifts made up the rest.

Among the weird gifts that they brought back are these three gooey toys.

Introducing, the Red Lil' Chick, The Green Pig, and The Brown Pig

They are not your typical toys. They have shape memory for christ's sake! Throw them at the floor, or at the wall, or at anything you can find and they will go SPLAT, deformed!!! One second later, they will return to their original shapes.

Here's The Green Pig being abused in the memory shape experiment.

See how it deformed?

It begins returning to its normal shape in split second.

One full second after its deformation, The Green Pig is back to its plump shape.

Shape memory is not the only cool feature these guys have. They can even stick to the wall like Spiderman does.

That happens if you throw it against the wall instead of the floor or ceiling.

However sticky these toys are, they are still subjected to the gravitational law.

The Green Pig taking the plunge.

Toys hanging on the wall.

The Green Pig succumbing to the gravitational force once again.

Twang!!!

Stay tuned. Adieu, graynut signing off.

Truth

noreply@blogger.com (greynut) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 06:40:00 +0000

Wary not of those who vent out their frustration before settling down and think.

Instead, take heed of those who settle down and think before blowing their hats off.

I thought this up when I recalled the discussion I had with my friends last night. So, copyright reserved there.

Interview 1 - Petrol Price In Malaysia

noreply@blogger.com (greynut) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 06:39:00 +0000

I ended my previous post with a promise of interview with some youths regarding the recent petrol price hike in Malaysia.

Guess what? I failed.

What was supposed to be short answers for three simple questions turned into a bash fest of some sort by very ticked off Malaysians.

The whole discussion that took place, yes, discussion and not mere interview anymore, on MSN touched on issues enough to fill three pages full of words in font size 10.

Meh, so much for the effort.

Stay tuned. Adieu, graynut signing off.