Attention: The Break

I'll be giving the blog a major makeover (a great cover reason for taking a break). Thus I might not be posting for awhile. Hmm... hopefully I'll be able to integrate some major stuff into here and there. What stuff? Lol, I don't really know yet.

But yeapz, it will probably take a good two weeks to three. There's just so much stuff to clean up and improve.

My thanks to whoever has been reading the blog; someone must be cause the counter has been jumping. =).

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In the meantime, here are some blogs I read. Some are pretty personal blogs so might not be of interest to you. But I'm lazy to filter out which has public value and which does not =D. So here goes:

(P.S Do let me know if you do not want your blog address posted here or if you don't like my description of it.)

Bing Zhao. Friend I knew through Military Police. Good if you want to learn more about failogy and cooking stuff. He is one great cook.

Celine. Friend I knew through work at SMU. Good if you want to learn about maintaining fair skin. Okay, I was joking. She's a pretty girl though.

Celeste. Poly Classmate of mine. Great cook too. Good if you want to get more cooking recipes. -_-" Why do I have so many friends who can cook so well when I can't? Classic

Caleb. Military Police friend. Good if you like to read posts with a satirical touch. Rather personal stuff usually though.

(Note: Darn, I'm lazy to post the rest of the links. -_-" Okay, more will come. If I missed out your blog here, please let me know too.)

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You can contact me at ozg02591834@hotmail.com if you don't already have my MSN contact. No, please don't ask me what's up with that spate of numbers.

Till then.

Random Thoughts: My Kind Of Home

I don't exactly know what was the trail of thoughts that led up to it. But as I was walking home from Punggol Mrt (it's a long boring 15 minutes walk), the thought of my kind of home came up. What would be my kind of home if I lived alone? (Assuming I get rich one day, which is kind of a fallacy of it's own.) I sure many have given thought to this topic before. And here's my version of it...

Well, I would definitely reserve a room for entertainment; probably equipped with soundproof walls, deafening sound systems, up-to-date consoles, big LCD TV where you can wind out in. It's the kind of the room everyone would want if they had the money and time to spare.

...

But, another room I would definitely want to have might be more of a rarity in most people's list I guess. A Green Room.

A room with colorful plants and flowers. A few potted plants hanging around here and there and a few well placed crawlers. Full glass windows to allow the warm sunlight through. A few English-looking table and chairs to give the room a slight antiquated look. The walls decorated with colorful oil pastel paintings. Oh, and don't forget the coffee maker too.

Gawd, wouldn't this make sure a great place for a tea session with friends or to read a book along with a cup of Earl Gray or Green Tea?

Not really this but yeah something like it...



...

(I need to strike Toto. -_-" Lol.)

Firefox 3

I've just installed Firefox 3 and I like what I've seen so far. The main difference I've noticed so far? It's freaking fast!

While most would expect browsers to get more and more bloated as they come up with new versions, the Firefox 3 I have been using so far is fast. And that kind of matters when you are using a old computer like mine. Okay maybe not that old, but still pretty old (Athlon XP 1.8GHz).

More updates on Firefox 3 will be upcoming. Likely.

BOB 013

Car Plows into Bike Race:
My condolences to the family of the person who died in the below accident. But isn't anyone surprised that only 1 died and the rest survived this accident? It looks so horrifying in the picture. Gosh.



The Fat Girl Angle Shot:
Remember seeing those pictures on Friendster/Facebook where a girl who is relatively big-sized shoots herself in a manner that make her seem much slimmer? That's a Fat Girl Angle Shot according to Encyclopedia Dramatica. I have nothing against fat people, I was once fat too. Fat ain't a crime but I do think it is a questionably unethical act when one tries to go around trying to hook up guys with a picture that well, totally doesn't depict her at all. But that's just my opinion.

9 Bad Habits of Gym Rats (Kudos: Bing Zhao):



I'm going to let a excerpt speak for the article:

"6. Killer Karaoke It's common and profoundly annoying: gymgoers get carried away listening to their music players. Before they know it they've treated everyone in the room to an off-key rendition of "...Baby One More Time." "I call it karaoke gone bad, because there is no background music and they're singing at the top of their lungs," says Harry Reo, a regional vice president for 24 Hour Fitness."

LOL. And believe me, it does happens in gym sometimes.

Major Disasters in the World:
Droughts in Sudan, landslides in Indonesia, volcano eruptions in Chile, flood is Myanmar, earthquakes in China and... what exactly in US?

Random Tidbit: 1TB HDD

(WARNING: Geek Stuff Incoming)

I was reading through this article in a certain hardware magazine. It was an article about hard disks and how far they have came.

The article said, "If 10 years ago, someone told you that you would be using a 1 Tera byte HDD in your personal computer today, you would probably been laughing your ass off that fellow."



Now just to make it easier for you to remember, 10 years back, I was a Secondary 1 student. I vaguely remember my computer as a Compaq Presario Pentium 133Mhz. It had a 5GB hard disk.

In comparison, a Vista installation takes up about 6GB. -_-"

The Spank

Something that has always existed but yet usually disregarded for some reason. Can someone tell me why do big-grown up guys in sports (basketball especially) spank each others' butts after a good play or something akin? Isn't this just awkward?!



It's just gay. -_-" We need to ban this. Seriously.

Slimming down for the MRT

I am sure everyone who takes Singapore's 'world-class' packed like sardines transport system in the morning and evening each day understands how wearisome the journey can be.

Today was the same. Because I work at SMU, I was taking NEL back home after work, about 630pm. As usual, I had to face the terrible squeeze. I barely managed to get onto the train. We were all packed like lovely sardines. =D

Well, the amusing part was when the train came to Fareer Park Station. A lady wanted to board the train. Although the train was pretty packed, there was still slight space near the door, enough for a average-sized person to board. But the problem was that the lady was pretty big-sized (no offense to big-sized fellows, I was once one), say about 90-100kg.



(I didn't took the picture. i just got it from some random blog. Lol.)

So, she rightfully didn't bothered to attempt to board the train. However, her attitude kind of pissed me off. As the doors of the MRT began to close, she glared into the train with as much menace as she could muster, giving that kind of 'It's all you guys' fault that I can't board the train' look.

That totally stunned me. You mean that it's our fault that you are freaking too big sized to get onto the train? And even for a decent sized person, it is not guaranteed that for every train that comes, he/she will be able to board it. Maybe it was out of frustration that the lady did that (she might had missed a couple of trains already). But that sure wasn't a classy act.

Anyway, why does the government believe that hiking up ERP prices will keep people off personal vehicles? People will need to travel no matter what, and I'm sure some of them wouldn't mind switching over to public transport from personal vehicles if the quality is there. IMHO, the problem should be solved by improving public transport (higher frequency, lesser downtime, etc.) and not wasting money on building gantries at Toa Payoh. -_-"

....

In case you didn't catch the news, a NSF just died recently. My condolences to his family. I just pray that an actual thorough investigation is done. If you know what I'm saying. *Shakes head...

And this website is one kick-ass website with comprehensive info on SAF related incidents.

Firefox 3

Did I mention that Firefox 3 would be coming out soon? I did? Oh well, I will just say it again. Firefox 3 will be coming out around this end June (alternative trial versions can be downloaded already though).



First of all, for those who don't know what is Firefox, it's basically a web browser. Something akin to Internet Explorer but much better, the main reason being that it is open source which means that users can get involved in making Firefox better. Users can also customize the browser to their needs with themes and add-ons. It taps on the power of the masses, much like Wikipedia, Facebook, etc.

No, Mozilla did not pay me to come up with the above. I'm just so in love with Firefox that I even dedicated a whole entry to it before.

And if it ever crashes on you, feel happy by looking at the below photo (Kudos to Bing Zhao). Lol.



(Sorry for the post, I couldn't help the inner geek in me. Lol.)

Lousy Camera + GSS

As I was walking from SMU to Dhoby Ghaut MRT Station after work, I took this photo because I thought the view was rather scenic. No? It has a beauty of its own. Somewhat. Lol.



I must say the photo much flatters the pathetic 2 megapixels camera on my N81 phone.

Although the phone render much better quality pictures than most counterparts (probably due to the algorithm they use), it is still only a 2 megapixels camera. And thus, it fails me on most occasions.

For instance, the LED flash is so bright that I get overexposure when I try to take anything at night. And for some reason, the phone randomly outputs yellowish retro-like photos when it feels like it. Totally confounds me. It's like as though it has its own mood swings. -_-"

...

Anyway, the GSS is going on but so far I've not got much. The slipper cost me 18 while the Puma shoes cost me 30 (which I though was quite a steal).



Might want to get a few more T-shirts/Polo-Tees for my impoverished wardrobe. -_-" If you know of any places with good bargains, please let me know. Lol. =)

Random Tidbits

Xeroxed
Outside of Singapore, there are actually many people who like to use the words
'Xerox', 'Xeroxing' or 'Xeroxed' to denote photocopying. I realized that when a student mailed in and refer to his photocopied results slips as 'Result Slips Xeroxed'. -_-" For details on how this came to be, there's a wiki page here.

I know that Xerox is a company but I can't help but relate this name to Scientology. If you don't know of Scientology yet. It's a 'unique' religion which has caused quite a bit of controversy. Tom Cruise included.

Singapore Population Makeup
I think I've said it before in this blog somewhere. But ain't anyone freaked out yet by the fact that we'll be having a 4.6 mil population with over 1 mil not being 'authentic' Singaporeans? And the pace ain't slowing.

By the time I start work, maybe 1 out of 2 colleagues could be a foreigner? Rofl. But one should always look on the bright side. *Prays for Korean, Japanese pretty girls. Lol.

NBA Marketing: There Can Only Be One
I love this commercial. Simply love it. With so many fancy colorful commercials flashing on TV these days, this commercial goes back to the fundamentals and catches the point.



No fancy dunks, no pretty ladies, no big spotlights. Just a simple script that captures the real, humane emotions and thoughts of the players. In the NBA, the ultimate aim for all players is the Larry O'Brien trophy. And I thought that commercial bought out that point so well.

It was apparently so good that Times used that concept with a twist of their own on one of their covers. Barrack Obama vs. Hillary Clinton. Of course, we all know who won in the end.



Just a simply amazing commercial.

My Room

I seldom invite people to my house and very few people have seen what my room is like. So in the case that anyone is curious about the geek's bunk station (though I don't think anyone would be)... here it is...





I love drinking green tea, both warm or cold. And I hate the 2MP camera on the N81. But I guess you always have to trade off something when you get such a cheap phone. -_-"

Anyway... Firefox 3.0, my beloved web browser is coming soon to all servers near you. Just some geeky fyi.

Oh, and this scientific breakthrough (sort of) about monkeys being able to direct a robotic arm with only their brain signals might just help a lot of people.

Zen: Share Bear?

It's been sometime since I have had this blog opened and I haven't written any reflection article on it, have I?

A lot of people always love to ask me why I chose such a title for my blog. People usually think it's a pretty queer title. People usually associate Zen with the Buddhist kind which is pretty near the 'Zen' in my blog's title. So why did I even setup the blog in the first place and what has 'Zen' got to do with it?

Well, I think people usually setup a blog to achieve a certain personal objective (duh). Objectives can vary greatly; pushing forward a certain movement, camwhoring to gain attention or financial incentives, sharing about a certain passion, making humor or simply sharing about one's life.

For me? It's more of a place to find my peace of mind by sharing with people my musings.



...

People who don't really know me usually describe me as quiet, cold, 'dao' and sometimes even proud and haughty. Probably not the most likable person in their perception. I don't blame them cause I usually speak little to just-acquaintances. I'm the type that takes time to warm up to people.

But people who know me well will probably tell you I'm humorous (in the cold manner), chatty, inquisitive, geeky, fun-loving and perhaps creative. And I have a strange trait of liking to poke around. Poke around? Yeah.

Well, being the inquisitive (kaypoh) me, I like learning new stuff. Even if I lack basic knowledge of that subject, it never daunts me to approach these stuff. That's how curious I am about things sometimes. If I was a cat, I would had died sometime ago. (If you catch the joke =P). I'm not going to list the stuff I know out cause if it doesn't impress anyone, I'll be pretty sad. Lol.

The thing is that very often, after I manage to hoard up all these knowledge, I often don't write them down or talk about them for sometime. And as time passes, I usually forget about them. Usually until one day when someone brings it up in a conversation.

One day, I simply got fed up of losing memory of all these stuff, be it the website bookmarks, the people whom I think deserves mention, the emotions, the reflections and so much more.

The first thing I had in my mind was a blog. And Zenhouse came out despite my concerns about privacy and my worries about being not able to come up with articles apprehensible to most because of all the Singlish/Jargon/Lingo I often like to use.

...

But anyway, all that is history and so far so good I guess. Although I don't have truckloads of visitors, I am glad that my blog has been of certain value to people; be it the lame jokes, the bookmarks or the opinions. I seriously wonder how visitors can understand my gibberish sometimes...

(The next entry would probably be a review on my new phone, the N81 GB. I would had loved an N82 or N95 8GB. But I'm one poor guy =()

Commendable

If you think that robberies, chase-downs and the such only appear on TV shows (Crime Watch), then you are pretty much like me, wrong. Well, just a few days back, while my friend (SIM student) was on his way to Ang Mo Kio Library to for his daily mugging session, he witnessed a robbery and even helped to chase the robber down. Cool. O_O.

This was the MSN conversation between me and him (yes I'm very lazy to sum it up =D)...



.

Friend: zg i help caught a thief today in amk

Ron: Reeeeeaaaaaaally? What kind of thief?

Friend: robber, some old man. I was walking for amk library when I saw a slightly big size man chasing an old man. He was shouting thief, stop him!

Friend: Three guys including me went after him. The old man surrendered and the big guy restraint him. Apparently, he took 2 handphones from a lady by some shop

Ron: So it was you, one big guy and who else?

Friend: one Ah Beng looking Malay. When the Malay looking Ah Beng asked the old man to take out his wallet and IC, a pill fell out of his pocket. The Malay looking guy quickly identified it as drugs

Ron: loooool erm how come he so certain?

Friend: I don’t know. He even knew what drug that was. "hei kia" in dialect. Then he also tried to ask the old man where his accomplice was because 2 phones were taken and we only recovered one. The old man denied the existence of such an accomplice though

Ron: sounds like quite an experience. =O. So did you guys send him to the police station?

Friend: Yeah, we called the police and they came and took over.

Ron: But why was he so dumb as to rob in broad daylight?

Friend: Oh no, it was in the night, although there were still a lot of people around. I think it wasn’t really very clever of him. But considering he was probably on drugs, I don’t think he can rationalize much. I never knew drugs in Singapore.

Ron: He should had trained running before he even robbed. Rofl. -_-“

Friend: Too many ppl chasing him. We came from behind, in front and the side. Only the road was left open.

Ron: Ownage. I think he just got pawned.

Friend: But seriously, the police really take their time. We were complaining about how "efficient” they were. We called at 7.40pm. The police came at 8.15pm.

Ron: That’s freaking slow -_-“

Friend: Well, it’s a world class force. We can’t expect much more from them.

Ron: World class? -_-“ Yeah yeah yeah… Anyway, what made u chased the robber at the spur of the moment?

Friend: Man shouting robbery while looking at you. Can’t really siam.

Ron: Lol. True true.

.

Anyway, I think that my friend really does deserve some kudos here. =). Proves that not all Singaporeans are unhelpful. *Clapz