The Seventh Annual Weblog Awards

And ... the winner for the Best Weblog category iisss ... BUGS!

Not.

The Seventh Annual Bloggies are back, and shinier than before. Blog addicts like Sam and Wen Qi (who are better connected in the local blogoshere than i am) should be immediately at home with the nominations - there are categories for Best Weblog according to area (American, Asian, Canadian, etc etc - and no, Xiaxue is not in it) as well as Best Weblog by topic (Sports, Gay, Entertainment)

I'm actually surprised at the great content available - my favourites, A List Apart, Postsecret and Techcrunch are in there, as is Greenr and weirder blogs like My Boyfriend Is A Twat and (nominated in the teen blog category) Sex and The Ivy. Which is essentially a sex blog, i think, written by a teenager.

Go check out the nominations and vote NOW.

Photo caption: Episode 2

Ah, since you guys seemed to have quite some fun with the previous post about captions, here’s another photo for you. This time featuring from left to right: fre3ch, Ahitophel and Eli James.
You know the drill. Have fun!

fre3ch: And now, let me adjust my specs to the X-ray vision mode.

Ahitophel: Watch out Eli, he's coming after you!

Eli James: Heh! Luckily I have prepared for this, *whips around and delivers a judo throw*

Missing: Kuching blogger

If you are a frequent reader of Kuching blogs, you may have noticed that one of Kuching’s prominent bloggers, sixthseal, has seemed to have disappeared from the blogging world without a trace, and left no warnings before his disappearance. This is particularly worrisome, taking into account of his previous blog post about attempted suicide. Well, sixthseal has made quite a name for himself through his notorious posts about drug use. However, his blog is also sprinkled with posts ranging from serious posts about tests for HIV that apparently won him some kind of award, to lighter posts regarding Kuching eateries. His sudden disappearance from the blogging world is most puzzling.

My point is, what happens to a blogger or blog after the blogger decides to quit, either indefinitely or temporarily? Would it be lost in the ocean of blogs? Would it be forgotten with the passage of time? Does it even matter?

Ah, blogging fame is indeed fickle.

Speedlinking

A couple of cool things to read up on if you're bored:

• Have you heard of Chindogus? Thought not. Absolutely hilarious once you understand what the term stands for - inventions that are so useful to the point of being useless. What? Read more here.
• I found a cool thing to have on your computer - a procrastinators clock. You know the habit of setting your clocks 15 minutes earlier in the hopes of bucking up and getting to meetings on time? Well this takes it one step further. Instead of just 15 minutes, (which renders the act useless since you know it's 15 minutes and continue to slack off) this clock deviates. So you never know if what you're looking at is 15 minutes or 10 minutes or the actual time. Nifty!
• You know the 9rules network? No? It's a blogging network of top notch quality - everything from anime to apple computres to GUI design. Don't make me explain what GUI means in this blog (alright lah, it's grahical user interface). What attracted me to it was the orginal 9rules of living they had, before their community changed into a blogging network. Read that here.
• Talking about apple, check this (yet another) iPhone joke out.
• And last, but not least, for BUGS members not contributing due to bloggers block, read this for ideas on how to defeat 'em. *stares directly at Wen*
  

Follow, Frohman

If you've played Half-Life 2, then you must not miss this.


This is a little old, and I've read it some time ago too but I'm not sure if anyone else had.

It's still a funny read for those who have no idea what Half-Life is, but if you've played the game, you'll laugh so much it hurts.

iPhone, It's Everything

Apple has introduced the iPhone, a saliva inducing device of epic proportions. And, taking the liberty to mash together three concepts (those apple geeks who have watched the video should know what they are: internet communicator, phone and iPod) Steve Jobs is now sitting back as everyone else sweats in their underwear. Another industry revolution? I don't know. But at $500 it's gotta come with some great things ...



Yes indeed. iPhone. It's everything.

[Update!] Surfing around the western blogosphere lately has caused me to stumble across this:



Inspired by the iPhone, Microsoft has created a Zune phone featuring a 3D Bill Gates assistant, detachable Zune media player, and HQ Antenna. Also sporting an easy to use UI and crash proof OS, this device is bound to take the world by storm!

(Yeah Right)

For those who haven’t caught on yet, this product is just a parody from Registered Media who are the same folks behind the Microsoft iPod packaging video - so you know there is a sense of humor there. ;P

Photo caption: What were they saying? Hmm...

We have here a photo featuring two of my fellow bloggers here in The Undergroundsquare Blog. Interesting photo of Eli James and Lil Tim, go figure who is who if you do not know them. Anyway, what do you think they were saying?

Lil Tim: And you know, that day I saw fr3ech at the park with....
Eli James: I see.. interesting...

Hmm, probably not. Let's see what you think they are saying, captions in the comments please.

NFSC - The Overdue Review

Need For Speed Carbon. The Need For Speed Most Wanted sequel has elements of MW such as heat levels, cop chases, you get the idea. What differs is the way the game is being played. In MW, gamers play to be 'the most wanted'. Battling your way past 15 other racers who want to be at the top of the cop list is just plain silly. Go and cari gaduh with the cops when most racers would rather keep away from the cops. In Carbon, gamers play for a much nobler cause than being the city's number 1 outlaw. Gamers play to solve pieces of his/her past and at the same time conquering a city...by racing? Yup, by racing. The game starts off with you in the BMW MIII from MW being chased by Sgt Cross. You crash your car at the end of the race and you'll be 'greeted" by your ex's ( ex-girlfriend, ex-boss, etc.) from Palmont City. You're later hooked up with a car which you choose from 3 groups of cars:

Exotics

Tuners

Muscles

There are 3 cars, one from each group, for you to choose from. The 3 group of cars represent the 3 factions that are controlling the city. On your city map, the separate faction territories are marked with different colours: blue, green, brown and red. 4 colours but only 3 factions. The red territory belongs to your old friend who uses an exotic car. To control the city, gamers must compete in races in each territory and win at least 2/3 of the races in each territory. After that, gamers play against the faction boss namely Kenji ( Tuners ), Wolf ( Exotics ), and Angie ( Muscles ).

gamers view

Now for the gameplay. Only a little change from the rest of the NFS games. In Carbon, gamers get a tactical edge by their crew. The race crew doesn't just change the tires and keep the car in tip top shape but also help you out in the race. Each member of the race crew gives different bonuses which obviously will help you out either during the race or out. Each crew member has a different task during a race. The crew is made out of blockers, drafters and scouts. Blockers well, they block other racers during a race. Drafters will help you slingshot forward during a race. Scouts however do not help out directly in the race but search for alternate routes during a race. Each race, only one crew can come along and the other racers also bring in their crew. This would mean, 8 to 10 cars per race. The race tracks are great except the drift tracks which in my opinion suck! Yup, SUCK!! Totally hard to control the car and points can just drift away. The good thing is you don't have to play the drift. Any of them! I finished the whole game without finishing any drift tracks.

I think this is a review enough. It'll be better if you guys just play it out yourselves. A double thumbs up for this game from me. For those of you who have finished the game, do post your car list in the comments.

(>_< ")

First Day Of Work....Resigning Soon?

Yup, it's my first day of work and I have decided to take the afternoon off. Incredible? No! All I had to do was talk to the boss to let me off. No surprise he let me off today. Why? Well, that's because I work for my dad. I can now safely say that I have WORKED before. Yes, I have never gone to work before. NEVER!! Call me pampered, call me manja, I don't care! Anyway, today at work I was supposed to type some letters to another lawyer and the High Court Registrar. OMG!! First day of work and already typing official letters. Just so you guys know, 'lawyer letters' are very different than the 'normal letters'. Lawyers, in or out of the court room, use the 'law language' even when writing letters. I can't even remember the words anymore! What's more is that when I printed out the letters my dad found out that I had hadn't change the date of the letter because I was using another letter as a guideline. Printed 6 copies of useless inked paper and had to reprint another 6 more letters. Bleh! What really ticked me off was the letter drafts my dad kept giving me. You think doctors have bad hand writing? With his kind of writing, my dad could put on a doctor outfit and pass as a doctor based on his hand writing! Spent a lot of time trying to figure out what the heck my dad was trying to write out. I could have sworn my eyes were about to bleed. I guess that's work life for me at the office from now on. Resigning soon? Why,I'm the office manager. *ya la,manage my dad's room only...*

There are now MORE women in the world

This was written by a woman probably, but origin unknown.

Why ladies today are still single:

1. The nice men are ugly.
2. The handsome men are not nice.
3. The handsome and nice men are gay.
4. The handsome, nice and heterosexual men are married.
5. The men who are not so handsome, but are nice men, have no money.
6. The men who are not so handsome, but are nice men with money think we are only after their money.
7. The handsome men without money are after our money.
8. The handsome men, who are not so nice and somewhat heterosexual, don't think we are beautiful enough.
9. The men who think we are beautiful, that are heterosexual, somewhat nice and have money, are cowards.
10. The men who are somewhat handsome, somewhat nice and have some money and thank God are heterosexual, are shy and NEVER MAKE THE FIRST MOVE!!!!!
11. The men who never make the first move, automatically lose interest in us when we take the initiative.

Now, who the hell understands men? Men are like fine wine. They all start out like grapes, and it's our job to stomp on them and keep them in the dark until they mature into something you'd like to have dinner with.

At this point i got a little miffed. The cheek! How they dare they! *clears throat* Got it from a funny Malaysian article, along with the statistics that 70% percent of all those joining the workforce as professionals are women. So. This means a few things.

Men who are professional and single better start practising one liners (not!). Plenty of fish in a small pond. Women better get married before they start working.

And, as the author wrote:

To the somewhat handsome, somewhat nice and have some money and thank God are heterosexual men, make the first move.

Which number do you think i am?

Que Avis, Malaysia?

This post was originally written at the author's personal blog. The opinions expressed here are of Eli James alone, and not of the BUGS community.

I have been meaning to write this post for some time now, but a tiny voice kept on saying, "Make sure you get the writing right. Think first!"

And i did. I thought of what i needed and wanted to say, and how to say it. This post is long in the waiting, and painful to write. But bear with me on this.

2006 has been a bad year for Malaysians. Admit it. We've seen Mahathir go anti Abdullah (proclaiming that Malaysia is a police state - ISA, death in custody - not that it wasn't before, just that the idea that our country is not that rosy hadn't really presented itself in the mainstream since the days of Ops Lallang), we've seen the Inter-Faith Commision breaking down and all discussion about coorperation between the various religions exploding ... We've had politicians in the UMNO general assembly calling Lee Kwan Yew stupid (not that that's bad, but the action in itself is foolish in the face of the old man's cunning) and blaming all the other races for the current problems.

We've had MAS and Proton struggling.

Some of us are feeling oppressed.

We've had statements (Lee Kwan Yew) telling us the painful truth that yes, the Chinese here are being systematically marginalised. Or at least in the name of Bumi rights.

We're being told that Meritocracy is the death of Malays, contrary to common sense.

We're hearing stories of how straight A chinese students who deserve it don't get scholarships, even though they have more than enough co-curricular activities. And then we have heard how Bumis with 7As get Med scholarships overseas.

We're being bombarded with unintelligent remarks by Datuks and MPs, through the mainstream media that is the convenient arm/leg/anus of our political parties.

No more chinese schools are being built, nevermind that Kua Kia Soong keeps tabs and reports that there are no racism there, albeit increasing enrollment by students of other races.

Marina Mahathir writes, or wanted to write, about how national schools are turning her children into 'little racists'.

The foreign press is having a field day sacrificing us. There is a New York Times article about how the Chinese and the Indians are being cheated by the Malays. I can't find it, but i found one worse.

We are told not to celebrate Deepavali with Indian friends.

We have weak leaders.

We want to be taught science and maths in BM, or so we're told.

Our ministers want to control the evolution of the BM language.

And through it all we are getting cynical.

See why this post is hard to write?

I have Malay friends. I admit, i like Malay culture. Their food, their traditions, the beautiful pantun and the wise proverbs taken from nature. Call me brainwashed by Sejarah, whatever. But sometimes i'm scared. Scared that i'll morph into something i'm not, something i never want to be.

I'm scared that i'm turning into a racist.

Me, a Malaysian, proud to be tolerant. Us, Malaysia, proud to be multi-racial.

Where has all the love gone to?



Perhaps my longing to love our country stems from my Sejarah classes. The students of 5S1, (2006) St Thomas's secondary school has had marvelous Sejarah teachers since form 1, making it hard for the lot of us to hate the subject. They were all wonderful storytellers, creating beautiful tapestries of people and places long ago. Of course now we can all get sidetracked into arguing that history is anything but objective, but that's not the point. The point here is that they did their job marvelously. We loved our country. Well, at least before 2006 began to dilute the solid, wonderful picture in our eyes.

And yet, I have friends who gladly admit that they hate the Malays. All Malays. Nevermind if they're called Nazrin or Ahmad or are decent people when you give them a chance. How many great people would i have missed if i were generally prejudiced with all Malays even before i got to know them? Hmm ...

Let's have a scenario. Say there are two great groups of people in a country. One group is the natives, the other we shall call the Others. The natives are poor, the Others are rich. The natives are the majority, the Others are the minority. Now there are two ways to get rid of the economic disparity: one is to lift the natives out of their doldrums, and the other is to deprive the Others so heavily so that wealth is then equally distributed to the majority, ie, the natives. It would seem that the first is the ethical way, the better way, since it would prevent any potentially bloody coup or uprising. But isn't the second way the easier one?

It isn't hard to see what is going on here. When it comes down to the basics, the problem with Malaysia is that the fine line between helping the Bumis and being equal and fair at the same time is getting only thinner.



But we have the NEP! My God the government is doing all that is correct right for the love of my motherland you must understand!

The NEP was introduced when my father was a noob in the working world. Now it is reintroduced again when my father is nearing retiring age. Bumiputera equity is so damn low - i'd actually be happy if it was 80% or higher as ASLI described (nevermind that i think they're wrong). It would mean that the NEP did its job. It would mean that disparity was gone.

Still not convinced? Well.

Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim on the NEP (the link is a blogger's repost, who gives Tan Sri Khalid's background. Search for Off The Edge for the actual interview):

"What I don't accept is the way NEP was vulgarised in terms of implementation. At the end of the day, I was a player for 30 years and having looked at the end-result of it, the NEP pleases some,. but so many feel so strongly against it.

Let me explain. There are Malays that have benefited from the NEP, but there are a lot of Malays that have been sacrificed by it.

What has happened is, not only have the [bumiputra] figures for [equity participation] declined, the size of disparity between Malays is also high. This means that the idea of positive discrimination to redress imbalances is out, as you have to create other excuses for its continuance".


And in another part, he continues:

"What I am saying is that the NEP has not achieved what it has set out to do, and has instead segmented society. The problem with the NEP in regards to UMNO, is that it is utilized for the existence of the political party.

That is the worst - the wealth of the nation and its future is controlled is by 3,000-4,000 people who decide to select or not select their people, and this is funded through the advantages connected with the NEP. That is what this squabble is all about".

Patrick Teoh struck gold with his Teohlogy section in Off The Edge.

The Malays: 'Never mind lah. Whatever happens, the kerajaan, which will always will always be our majority what, will take care for us lah. We are of the soil.'

The Indians: 'You only go to see them when you are sick or need legal advice, right? Yes. THEY will do for YOU.'

The Chinese: 'Never mind lah. Can make money enough lor. My family in Perth lah. Yours?'

Whatever happens, Malaysia is my country. I don't know how the Malay Dilemma will be solved. I don't know whether Chinese all over the country will stop jumping boat to other, fairer countries that reward you based on your capabilities, and not your skin colour. I do not know how the millions of possible permutations and actions yet to be made will play out, writing history in a swirl of movement and happenings, never reversible.

But what i do know is that you and i have a choice. We can bitterly weep with what is happening, be cynical since 'everyone is doing it'. Or we can make a stand, to not fall and be racially prejudiced and scoff at the inferiority of our country. Through little ways, daily ways.

Malaysia, after all, is in our blood, our thoughts and our soul. And if not in yours, then in mine.

10 Day's Worth of Funny Cartoons.

Right. So after the failure to post a gun and a flower, hash style, i decided it was time to make sure this blog didn't get sued and die. Or at least make sure the NSTP people who come will all drop of laughter induced heart attacks. Now allow me to dig into my stockpile of funny stuff, and ...

Viola!

Which is proabably a nightmare come true. Although one must wonder how the sex scenes would turn out ... *clears throat* a definite oscar nominee shudder. Next one, please.


And then you realised that you were in a Gay bar. Although i don't see how one can realize that quickly, unless two people of the same sex are having a quickie in one of the booths ... Ahh, nevermind. It's not as if Malaysia has dating bars.

The bullet entered Big Bird's left kidney, ricocheted off the rib and spliced the Cookie Monster in two. Ernie was brought in for questioning and he pointed The Finger at Bert. After which all kids gave up spelling and learning nice numbers and immigrated to Barney.

And since Eragon is such a rip-off of Star Wars, i won't be surprised if Sapphira turns out to be Eragon's mom too.

What a load of rubbish.

I am getting this blog sued

As Jeff Oii and Attan are sued by NSTP for defamation. I am also trying to get Underground Square and every bloggers in here sued by the press. This is my attempt of doing it. NSTP is bad, don't buy it, let's libel and defame it. Oh what? NSTP is not suing us because we don't have a 15000 readership like http://www.jeffooi.com/? That's just too bad we don't have to remove this post.

I am for the government and I am for the New Straits Time

I told you admin, freedom of speech is okay, as long as you don't do it in the public. The government believes it with me. I am for the government and I am for the New Straits Time. I think we should just limit the freedom of speech in this country and let every citizen give up their rights to promote truth and tear off the ugly faces of lies. We should just listen to the man in charge, of high authorities and let truth be it in our hearts, not in the press, not in the world wide web, no, not outside our minds and spoken out of our mouth, big big mouth. Truth is never meant for people to know, that's exactly my philosophy and my policy to achieve vision 2020. Share this dream with me every Malaysian, let's just shut up and let the big guns decide what we should say and what we should not. Let's just say the nice thing and ignore the bads. Let's just be a third world country forever and be quiet. Shhhhhh. Don't speak too loud, don't listen too much, comment discreetly, be an idiot. And that's peace. Look at the US, they speak too much they rebel too much they are always out fighting. Be like Malaysians, see how establish we are in our 3 month National Service with tons of crappy stories. See how peaceful we are and learn how we can alter truths and turn justice around. I am so proud of every single inch and part of the society we have built. Grace our mentality, kiss my pen is.

This is 50 years of independence, 2 Malaysian bloggers got sued.

9th UGS Gathering

What started out meaning to be a surprise, turned out to be rather not. 7th January marked the birthday of one of our fellow UGSer, Ben. Or as he is known in the forum, benong92. The original plan was to buy him a cake and just surprise him at his home, thanks to the help of his sister, Angeline. However, things don't always go according to plan...

On that morning, the birthday boy was dragged out to town by his sister, and that was probably one of the first signs that something was up. In town, by coincidence, they bumped into UGS admin Kenny, who just happened to be in the shopping district. Which prompted the birthday boy's imagination and led him to think that there might be some kind of "surprise" gathering awaiting him in town. Haha. Well, next mishap to happen was me getting stranded at Parkson with my family as the other UGSers at some shops near Ben's house and waiting to storm his place. So sorry that I made you guys wait, but I did tell you guys to go ahead. Anyway, as it turned out, both the UGS group and the birthday boy arrived at the house gate at the same time, or so I heard. And Ben didn't seem really surprised, which isn't surprising. Haha. Oh dear.. us lot are really inexperienced in organising surprise birthday parties.

Okay, time for some photos...

Isn't Ben's son just adorable? Haha. Okay, it isn't his son, but one of the kids at the nursery his mother owns. At first, this kid Malcolm was just so shy, clinging onto Angeline or Ben or escaping to the back to watch 12 Dancing Princesses. But when I pulled out my camera to snap a photo of him, he was a natural. Ben just asked him to smile but he even went on to flash a peace sign. What a darling.

The UGSers makaning Italian food on brightly coloured Swedish IKEA stools.

Having one of the many laughs we had that afternoon. There was one time when the guys were engaged in talking about, of all things, Power Rangers. Yea, I had no idea people their age still watch them. Anyway, Kenny appeared to be getting bored admist talk of cartoons and anime, and was tending to his n80 instead when suddenly Cedric burst into laughter at the hilarity of it all. You know, us in a nursery setting, sitting on the floor or on stools, and all of us teenagers, yet still talking about Power Rangers. I started laughing along too till my face turned red and even attracted a "Hey, Jie (elder sister) look at her face" from the birthday boy.

Finally, time for cake. Aaaw, don't the brother and sister duo look sweet?

6 Word Stories.

While coming online yesterday i found a blog through Darren Rowse's blog, that in turn led me to a Wired Magazine article, here.

“We’ll be brief: Hemingway once wrote a story in just six words (“For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”) and is said to have called it his best work. So we asked sci-fi, fantasy, and horror writers from the realms of books, TV, movies, and games to take a shot themselves.”

It's kinda interesting, really, the one-liners (6 words are one liners) that the authors came up with. A few examples:

Failed SAT. Lost scholarship. Invented rocket.
- William Shatner

Computer, did we bring batteries? Computer?
- Eileen Gunn

God to Earth: “Cry more, noobs!”
- Marc Laidlaw

Gown removed carelessly. Head, less so.
- Joss Whedon

Automobile warranty expires. So does engine.
- Stan Lee

Machine. Unexpectedly, I’d invented a time
- Alan Moore (...notice how he wrote in a loop!)

Longed for him. Got him. Shit.
- Margaret Atwood

We kissed. She melted. Mop please!
- James Patrick Kelly

It’s behind you! Hurry before it
- Rockne S. O’Bannon

Batman Sues Batsignal: Demands Trademark Royalties.
- Cory Doctorow (founder of Boing Boing)


And, of course, my favourite:

Bush told the truth. Hell froze.
- William Gibson

Leave 6 word story in comments.
-Me. :)

Gonna give my couz...

Remember Thy Fellowship


Smile brightly; grin
Now, do you appreciate venture?
Afore the tide comes in
Would you bid a farewell gesture?

Or moan certain grief…
Amongst them friendships’ lost
Never believing your leave…
To the land of the distant Host

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ___. . _//. \ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _/. . . \/___. \ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . /. . __//_/==\_. ___ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . /. . /. ///. ==. \. \. . . / . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . \. //_\. . _/ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . \. . \. \\. /. \_/. . \ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . \___/\\. _. . ///___\ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . \__\_\=//_//. _\_ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . \___\_____/ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . !!. \____/

Darn, this was suppose to be a flower! wats wrong wif this blog


..._.....____________________, , ....../ `---___________----_____] = = = ...../_==o;;;;;;;;_______.:/ .....), ---.(_(__) / ....// (..) ), ----" ...//___// ..//___// .//___//

This one's a gun.

My Blog has a sTRANGE NAME

Ahitophel

The King's councillor

made a great sage

To the prince, also a close ally

.

There were those

Extraordinary wishes

Of princes, at the time

Yet common

.

- take the throne, expunge the King

.

That his wisdom

Were not truly exploited

Never preceded the mind

Of sage nor fool

.

Henceforth, merciless vengeance

Be brought upon

The transitory reign

Of that idiot prince

.

And they, cohorts

Cat Overload

Blame Tze Lun.

Blame Koko.

I was forcibly pushed over the age inspired to write this post by a particular photo, which you can also find here. It seems Tze Lun has been repeatedly attacked by a tiger over the past few days, and now is a refugee in a hidden camp in Kuantan, wondering how to mortgage his cat get credit cards for his cat. Okay, maybe not.

Koko is soo cute!

This is what happened when an extremely idle mind gets eyejacked and is suddenly jolted into a flurry of activity. My grandparents used to have a cat. Once. It got hit by a car, was turned into an orange missile, and flew into a ditch. I liked him very much. Now let me see if i can resurrect this love of cats that i once had.

Claws: Now you see em, now you don't

The funny thing is, now that i think back on it, what's so nice about cats? Dogs are loyal, they run after you, they play catch. Cat's don't. Dogs lick you, and their degree of happiness is directly proportionate to the number of Wags Per Minute. Cat's do lick you, but only if you're really close with them and they trust you. And when they wag (wave?) their tales you'd better start running.

Mouse: Ehheh! Nice kitty?

Mouse: I'm sure we can be friends, right? Cat: waves tail

*Little mouse scream*

But cats have their own good points, if you care to look - they're cute, they're elegant, and they purr when stroked. Their fur is like silk, and they make better hunters in urban environments than dogs (try see a dog chase a cicak)...

Mabuk kitties

So, are cats better than dogs? I'm not sure i know, or if i want to make up my mind now - but, at the very least, cats make better camwhores than dogs.

Who brought the cat?

Here's your credit card, meow?

Nowadays, it just seems easier and easier to get a bank to issue a credit card to you. But who knew it would be this easy.

SYDNEY, Jan 4 (Reuters Life!) - An Australian bank has apologized for issuing a credit card to a cat after its owner decided to test the bank’s identity security system.

The Bank of Queensland issued a credit card to Messiah the cat when his owner Katherine Campbell applied for a secondary card on her account under its name.

I just couldn’t believe it. People need to be aware of this and banks need to have better security,” Campbell told local media on Thursday.

The bank said the cat’s card had been canceled. “We apologize as this should not have happened,” it said in a statement.

I should try this some time :P
Source: Reuters

Cutesy Cartoon Prints

The plans for a UGS t-shirt may have died down, but that doesn't stop me from finding what other communities are plastering over their shirts. And here's what retarded pictures i've found sites like Explosm to be putting on theirs:



If those weren't cutesy and horribly wrong enough, here's my favourite:

Forum news: I've a personal addiction to Share a Joke, and i think i'll share the best of them in the blog, just to get laughs and gross injuries of people falling of chairs. The forum is currently undergoing a makeover - with topics being moved around and pruned, and i hope once we're done with it the discusions will take an even more enjoyable (and intelligent) turn.

I love Kuching.

The few things I love about Kuching

• Do you know the highway(mainroad whichever you prefer) next to the Stampin Primary School? The one with the leading to town and the one to have to pass to get to the airport? Yeah, that one. I love driving there at 4am in the morning when cars are non-existent and the only thing surrounding you is the darkness of night and the street lights under the canopy of gorgeous trees. It's a stellar view and for a split second, it makes me feel as if the world and all it's troubles have passed me by. It's like being stuck in a moment in time. It's amazing to say the least.
• I love riding the sampan at Waterfront after the rain has stopped for a bit. There's just a bit of wind to wispify(this word does not exist) your hair and the sky is still a bit grey and the sun is just about to rise. I don't know how to describe it. It's just ...perfect.
• The Japanese restaurant below Lok Thian. It's called ten i chi and the Japanese food there is wonderful. Much better that most of the Japanese fast food restaurants in KL.
• Rainforest Music Fest. Every 2nd weekend(it has just been altered to the 2nd weekend) of July at Cultural Village. It's practically tradition for me to go and I really enjoy it.
• Laksa. Muahahha. I don't like Chong Choon but I like the laksa at Sekama and the one at Stutong. If you haven't tried the ones there, then you have missed out on a lot my friend.
• The city itself. It's small and it's unique.

Admin note: I found this post as a draft in the blog. Apparently Jylene either had no time to put it up, or wanted to leave it as a surprise, so we could post it after she left for NS. And i think it's beautifully written - Kuching shall, to me, forever be home.

Friendster Bulletin Boards

I really hate those emails and messages that says I'll have back luck if I do not forward their passage. Those are just craps writen by pathetic losers that's way afraid nobody is going to read their stupid things. And those that forward them are even STUPIDER. Take for instance, this is what I got from friendster.



When's your birthday!

>January- Gothic
>February- Horny
>March- Preppy
>April- adorable
>May- Stupid
>June- Vain
>July- Kissable
>August- Beautiful
>September- Popular
>October- Nerdy
>November- Pretty
>December- Talkertive

What day is ur birthday?>
> 1- Beauty Queen
> 2- Poser
> 3- Ninja
> 4- Actor/Actress
> 5- Fairy
> 6- Sex Maniac
> 7- M other
> 8- Crack-Trash
> 9- Dog
> 10- Candy Cane
> 11- Caution Freak
> 12- Angel
> 13- Irish Girl
> 14- Princess
> 15- Punk
> 16- Alcoholic
> 17- Teacher's Pet
> 18- Stoner
> 19- Pirate
> 20- Power-Ranger
> 21- sexy beast
> 22- Surfer
> 23- Piece of Pizza
> 24- Gay
> 25- Druggie
> 26- Drama Queen
> 27- Surgeon
> 28- Hottie
> 29- Rockstar
> 30- Hooker
> 31- Care Bear

> What color is your hair?>
> blonde=Who's sexually frustrated
> brown=Who's Talented
> dirty blonde=Who is greatly frustrated
> black=Who's great in bed
> red=Who loves to ride emus
> pink=who loves to make out.

> Now repost this saying "Im a _ _ _"> Or you will have bad luck for 10 year


!@#$%^&*#$%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I AM AN ADORABLE STONER THAT IS GOOD IN BED! THERE IS NO WAY I AM GOING TO HAVE BAD LUCK WHEN I DON'T REPOST THIS PIECE OF SHIT. SHIT, YEAH, I WROTE THE WORD SHIT, SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT. I'M NOT WORRIED ABOUT IT CUZ THE ADMIN WILL CENSOR THEM FOR ME!

Web 2.0 services to shout about

There's a reason i read Techcrunch, in addition to Kennysia and Andrew Ho and whatever other local blogger that you just can't stop imitating. Now i guess most of you've clicked the Techcruch link, read the posts there and are now scratching your respective heads, asking "What's so nice about company mergers? This boy is crazy ..."

Well, that innocent looking green blog has helped me in countless ways. It's founder, Michael Arrington, reviews up and coming beta (or not beta) web 2.0 services, and has reached such a level of influence Techcrunch has had conventions, is now a default option in most feed readers, and is begged by millions of startups to review their products. I found Last.fm (1 year back), Meebo (coupla months), Flickr (3 years back), and Pandora (1 year, too) through him, and his marvelous reviews. And now i've just made two beautiful discoveries (through him again) that i must share.

Omnidrive
I've been looking for a good online hard drive for years, screaming my head off at Yahoo Briefcase's 25 mb storage. My pleas are answered: Omnidrive has 1 gig, allows you to upload with a slick file system, and even has a program you can download to sync folders with their online service.

Okay, you ask. What's so great about uploading stuff on the net? Well, think about it. You can backup your important docs, songs, or pictures (or even programs - i've uploaded the DMC converter installer, a program you can no longer find on the web). And then you can download those files anywhere from all over the world, as long as you have a browser and an internet connection.

I can, for example, even create an account for UGSers and upload stuff that they can access all from anywhere, at any time. Cool, huh - the only problem would be one daft person might change the password and poof there goes the account.

Okay, so Omnidrive is not something to drivel over, it's useful but a little geekish in nature, so bear with me here - the next service is something you can get a hard on over will love.

Amie Street
Oh, you've gotta be kidding me. Amie Street is everything an indie music lover would ever want. Too bad Jylene isn't here to read this, and try it out - it's every feature screams I AM WEB 2.0 so much that i barely noticed the colour of the background (i'm doing this purposefully, by the way). It's tasteful, doesn't require credit card information at the beginning, and groups artistes by genre (so Alternative junkies like me can jump to the category that matters the most).


Amie Street is an online music store for Indie artistes, unlike any other. Check this out: songs are free in the beginning, but as it increases in popularity so does the price. If you download a free song you like and recommend it, you've a chance to get free music credits to buy other songs when the songs you've picked goes up in popularity and price.

Okay, so you may have to sift through piles of crappy songs, and low quality recordings, but when you finally find a gem it'll be worth it. After all, you made the discovery. And the hunt would be all that matters. More online time wasters, coming your way.

PS: I've downloaded three songs! So much for broadband. Of those three, two suck. But the last one is growing on me. And what are you waiting for? Sign up and tell me what discoveries you've made, how much time you've wasted, how good i am to tell you about these services. You gotta love BUGS now, don't you?

Another start!

We started a new year two days ago. And now, for all of those below 17 and some of those below 19...the new school semester has started again!

I wonder if anybody actually slept peacefully last night knowing that school was to start again after a two month break...

Everybody in SMK St Mary's (Well, ALMOST everybody in the morning session) seemed to have woken up extra early to go get their seats...I know I did...6a.m. is a FARRR cry from my usual waking time of 11.30 when I was in afternoon session and 1.30p.m during the holidays.

Ironically, even though I reached school by 6.30...All the seats, literally HALF of the classroom had been taken already.

6.30 in the Morning! C'mon!!!

>.> So now...I'm here to inform you, 3.1 of 2007, in Jubilee one...has been segregated into two parts. The front half of the classroom doesn't talk much.

And the back part of the classroom will never be quiet. (Easy to guess where I'm sitting).

It was weird seeing all the prefects in pinafores, and the new prefects in the prefects outfit. Reminded me of how I felt when I saw my seniors back to being normal students and myself in a prefects uniform...The form ones were looking a bit...nervous? One of them even came into our classroom during last period asking to join...

She thought we were a form one class and that she was late!!!

That's how nervous some of them were!

The day flew by...and the end of the day reached surprisingly fast...another day of firsts...first break time, first lesson, first notice...

The first school day of the year ended on a wet note though...and the catch phrase of the day...

This isn't fun. Just funny.

Hope everybody has a great, school or no school, year ahead of them!

Let's Get Back On Track.

Our new year wishes are over and posted, we managed a 62 post count for the month of December - the first month in this blog's life, and now 2007 is upon us. Let me get the ball rolling, with funny, nonsensical posts that is our speciality (okay, not really, but it's something for you to read and laugh).

I found this while scouring the internet today:

Click to read - some clever guy with nothing to do came up with this picture, to my amusement. Basically that means i was laughing so hard my chair broke. Or something along those lines. Comment guys! And wait awhile - it takes sometime to load what with an unstable connection.

PS: It's the first day of school, and i feel strangely empty not going, experiencing teachers and friends and social moments. It's sad - i really miss school. And now what in the world am i going to do?

Happy Belated New Year

Ah yes, the new year is upon us. 2007.
I hope you all had a wonderful time.
Me...Hehe, I had a little fun. Had a count down party at a church members place.
So you can expect most of the youth and a few uncle and aunties joined in to celebrate.

Since I arrived early, I got to help up prepping the materials for the games and setting up the barbeque stand. I got to cook abit XD.

Anyways. what followed after the eating was the gaming.
Ah that was fun.
We had a cherades. You know, one team tells one team member from another team what they selected and that team member must draw out what the other team told him, then his team has to guess. XD Fun fun... One of the categories was a person in the house.....My team chose me...Why...
In the end, the other team(a girl) drew me with spiky hair(fringe) and small eyes....aiyo...

Anyways, after that, we had some free time. some people just continued chatting, some started playing UNO and card games. Of course I joined in with it XD

The one I really loved was buck shaw....dunno if thats the proper spelling but thats how I think its pronounced.

Pretty much its a game where you have to say skip, go or back when ever you reach a number that can be divided by 3. Or in other words is a multiple of three. Everytime you reach a number of which is from a multiple of ten, you have to say buck shaw, twenty = buck buck shaw. hilarious no?

Anyways...

It would go like this, 1...2...go...4....5....back(counter clockwise to clockwise now)....7....8...skip(the next person is skipped)..buck shaw!..11

After all this, it was already around 11.45, so everyone got some bangers and prepped for the countdown.
I must say, Sydney has the best fireworks display...Melbourne's one was just depressing.
After the countdown, some chatting, everyone began leaving to go home.

I hitched a ride with a friend and stayed over at his place.
XD Near Victoria's market. Got to play some PS2! Mainly Naruto 2 and Starwars battlefront of course.
Ah, fun fun fun.
Spent all of yesterday literally playing O.O From morning till night. Seriously.
Quite soon, Ima PM Sam to send me some of the combo's for Naruto....hehehehe....then ima finally beat Sasuke's brother >.<>.<

Till next time, I remain faithfully yours, Lord Divious.

NYE

This will be my last post before I get shipped off to National Service. It's 5.47am in the morning and I cannot sleep. And it's not because I'm excited about National Service(ehem ehem) but because I woke up with a bad case of nausea. Yes, before I leave, I will tell you a short account of my New Year's Eve.

Well, my night began at 10pm. I know it's a bit too late to begin but who cares. I made reservations at Bla Bla Bla for 10. And me and 6 other people ate. Left the restaurant at around 11.30pm. And there was a traffic jam. We were in a rush to get to Travillion before 12 am because we wanted to countdown. Fortunately, we got to Trav 3 mins before 12 and it was jam packed with people. Everyone was squeezing and every club was packed. Not to mention, a certain club(not to name drop but it's called MC^3) overcharged and hiked up the entrance fee to 15 bucks. Sigh. Anyway, we countdown in Zen and then we partied. Couldn't dance much because it was SOOOOOOO packed with people. Could barely even move. So me, being the attention lover I am managed to get up to the pool table(courtesy of a bunch of other clubbers I don't know, but THANK YOU!) with my best bud and we danced the night away. How was it? Well, my shoes were soaked in beer but besides that, it was REALLY FUN(No details here. Ced will prolly delete the whole paragraph) and I effing enjoyed myself. Nevertheless, I got home LATE!(was supposed to get home by 1am and i got back at 2.30? but what the heck) My dad wasn't angry (thank god). There goes my very under-described night. I'm too lazy to get into details anyway because it's a bit hazy to me too ;p

*sinister laugh*

Here's all the best to everyone on the blogging team especially to Andrew who developed Jylphobia. And I have to apologize to Sam for not replying her text because I was too busy dancing on pool tables. Have fun everyone and good luck. My love to all. Ta people. See you during CNY!

8th UGS Gathering

This gathering was seriously hard to organize. After the daft quake in Taiwan, most members went offline for good, not wanting to brave the choppy waters of the information superhighway. Plus my phone bill had shot through the roof, forcing me to chat with crystal jo - her through sms, and me through blog comments *sweatdrop*

Anyway, this particular gathering was also special because a few UGSers were going away. For good. Okay, not really - only Cassy and Jylene. And Cassy couldn't make it. (Off to NS and then Taylors at KL).

The three UGSers going off to NS

Danny

Jylene

Tay (and Cassy, couldn't come)

So the gathering started off with us gathering (repitition intended) at the kopitiam next to Green Hill. We went to buy movie tickets (after a short Jylene lecture about the Thomian/Marian skills of crossing roads) and bought tickets to the Host.

Then things got weird. We sat down, ready to watch what Star Reviewers described as the movie of 2006, and .... Amber Chia started screaming.

We were watching Possessed.

Empty halls!

Me, Garrick, Jylene and Wen Qi got up, left, and argued our way into The Host (which was in the next hall - never ask Jeryl for directions) and by then people were running away from the creature. This probably spoilt the movie for me - what could've been great merely turned out good after the conclusion that drew a parallel to what was happening in Iraq. But overall not as amazing as some other political commentaries - V for Vendetta is probably the best i can think of right now (haven't watched Munich or Syriana). Miscommunications. Heh. BTW that korean girl was so cute why did she have to die?

Anyway, after hoping Nadia would come, (which she didn't) we trooped over to some Filipino restaurant, seeing as Italiano was closed. Ah, yes, the food.

Halo-halo, something Jylene recommended. That slimy orange stuff is ... i don't know what.

Ahh. The pot that Kenny could swallow.

The fish with the bones taken out and then put back in. *stares*

We left pretty soon, although conversation was not as interesting (lack of Sam to engage Jyl in girl babble, and Andrew Ho not being there to flirt endlessly with them. Hehe. He's so scared of Jyl). Then we all had a little fun with Tay who was trying to place Jylene ("Seem so familiar leh...") after she left.

Snappies:

The Boy's Corner (PS: no photos of Ben! Aargh)

Jylene and Wen Qi

Danny and me.

Angel and Aricka (who is not in UGS. Yet)

Jeryl showing off his Halo-halo

Tay showing off his iPod (in Kenny's carwhichwastooloud)

I'm gonna stop killing your download speeds now and sum up: this wasn't the best gathering ever (that was in Wen Qi's house, IMHO, because partly of the laughter and her little brother, although kenny would definitely disagree with me), and it also wasn't the worst. But this was to be expected, i guess - only so much quality can seep through when you're planning last minute and with limited communication available. What did people do without handphones and blogs?

Planned ahead.

*Shuts little voice in head up*

Well, its done and i'm glad it happen. It was good to see all those people again (for the last time?), especially Jyl, Tay and Danny. Good luck and Godspeed in rural camps.

Kenny wiping his glasses, wishing you happy new year!