Safra Card: WOW Detox?

I was doing my essay regarding about online identities, communities and that such. And of course, I didn't forget about my favorite wowdetox.com, only to be greeted by an advert I so hate to see.



Safra Card? I don't know which banner ad company SAFRA approached but in a way I think the advert company did their job? Hmm...

Anyway, as you can see from the screenshot, I've been hardworking (or rather, forced to). Essays, essays, essays. I got 3 of them to submit next week.

Funtastic!

Dangerous Rabbit

Beware of the the Rabbit. Oh, I meant the Big White Rabbit Milk Sweets (I just love direct translations).

AVA just announced that these Rabbits are dangerous and they contain Melamine. So please be careful of those. Better to be safe than sorry.

(Edit: And don't forget about the Dutch Lady Strawberry Milk and the Yilin Yogurt Ice Cream. Just to be careful, you might want to visit the AVA website once per few days? Just sayin'.)

Will the Rally Last?

As I am typing this, there is a global rally in the financial markets amidst the news of a new US rescue arm. I don't have any basis for this but there's this burning hunch that the rally won't last. At the moment, the STI is at 25XX. Totally no basis, but I think the STI will be down to 2000 very soon. No, don't ask me why. Lol.

People Coming Together?

Is it me or is there just so much impact news breaking out these days? There was the US financial sector which should be at least quiet for a while considering that AIG just got 'rescued'. Then there is the China Milk Powder incident which has affected so many babies, not only in China but also worldwide.

First and foremost, I would like to hope for the safety of all of the affected babies. (No, this is not a move to establish goodwill for my blog. -__-")

Anyway, I've managed to talk to a friend who is in the Chemical industry and he actually told me some stuff about Melamine (it's always interesting to hear from someone who has actually had contact with it instead of wiki-ing it). The basic summary...

Friend says:
well, its a resin u use to add as main ingredients into paint
Friend says:
things u use to make paint, car bumpers, wood floorings, concrete epoxy
Friend says:
But it does look like milk. And it smells a lil like it too. Sighs

It might not be very correct to say this, but I've noticed something. This incident has somehow brought people closer in a way. I know of friends who are usually passive towards international events but yet very empathetic about this one. For those who have followed the blog (thanks for following), you will realized I'm not a big fan about China too. The spitting, 'fake' fireworks in Olympics and that stuff.

But at this point of time, my heart really goes out to the babies. Maybe because they are such innocent beings. Let's just hope for the best for these affected babies.

AIG Not Collapsing (Yet?)

I realized that when I was posting about Lehman, I totally forgot the other other company which is also totally in trouble: AIG (American International Group). Very interesting stuff going on, considering how much tentacles (-_-" As BBC describes it by) they have.

Source: AIG
Employs 116,000 people in more than 100 countries
Employs more than 2,000 people in the UK
Founded in 1919 in Shanghai
Now based in New York
Sponsors Manchester United
Sells insurance policies through Argos and Boots

Imagine what happens if AIG goes down in flames? Man Utd losing their sponsor? -_-" Anyway, if you missed the news (almost impossible), there have been tons of people queuing up at AIG/AIA offices around the world, including Singapore to terminate their insurance policies although MAS has claimed that AIA has seperate stand-alone insurance funds that will not be affected if the parent company goes bust. Though some have reinstated them after hearing that AIG has been somewhat rescued by the US Federal Reserves.

Theoretically it sounds great, but will AIG really keep their hands off the AIA Singapore funds? They are borrowing money from subsidiaries and I really wonder if AIA Singapore will be in that list (pssst...). On the small scale, it may seem bad if AIA Singapore's funds are indeed utilized (especially if they still go under). Well but on the big scale, AIG will need all the funds it needs and if AIG falls, we'll still be hit anyway; just not a direct hit but more of a repercussion thing.

Anyway, George Soros believes that this is not the end and that more banks will go under. (Domino effect from Lehman?)

Gloomy times x_x?

LaymanLehman Brothers Collapses

Lehman Brothers collapses. Wait, wasn't this the ultra-big if not top investment bank that gave fat paychecks? I once heard about fresh graduates earning 11K/month there.

(P.S. Just by one cents worth of view.)

Quite amazing stuff actually. I think most would agree the reason behind all this is the Subprime Crisis and amazingly it is still taking its effect despite being around a year old. The credit crunch is like some crazy domino effect:

Times are good. A company goes 'gaga' and sells credit at an unsustainable rate in comparison with risk. No one knows the company is 'gaga' at that moment. The sad thing is certain companies have already loaned money to that 'gaga' company.

Now times turn bad. Perhaps it was due to the insane rate the money was loaned out, perhaps it was outsourcing, perhaps it was the oil prices; people start to default their payment to that 'gaga' company. That 'gaga' company goes under.

That 'gaga' company in turn is unable to pay up the other companies it owes money to. The other companies in turn cannot pay up to the people they owe money to. And so on it goes. It is a vicious cycle.

A interesting point I would like to point out is how the Federal Bank is like a sailor on a sinking ship trying to plug the holes. It successfully plugs a hole, another opens up. Perhaps the sailor should just abandon ship (let it adjust)?

Anyway, I'm no expert on Finance else I wouldn't be in SMU. Therefore, don't take my words too seriously. =)

(Though I do worry about how that sinking ship is going to pull down other ships too. But oh well...)

Not Enough Time

You know you are pretty tight on time when you cannot even afford to join a CCA. I actually got into the final round of interview for this investment fund CCA and decided against it in the end because of all the school work and other stuff. =_="

Consciousness: The Force, Lifestream and More?

(Before I forget, I better jot this down...)

It was this afternoon where I had this very unique 'conversation' with a schoolmate - I met him through community service (SOS) and happened to be in the same class as him.

We were talking about how sometimes in life, many things are unexplainable but yet we just know it's there and our current level of science is not advanced enough to explain their existence. For example, gravity has always existed. Whether or not the durianapple had hit Newton or not, it would still be there.

For example, we both think that there might be a possibility of some main lifestream (like Final Fantasy) or conscious or force (like Star Wars) out there where everyone connects to. Yeah, it may sound all fantasy and illogical at first but how do you explain stuff like...

• Twins 'feeling' the existence of each other. There has been stories that if one of the twins getting a serious injury/death, the other will be able to sense it. If such stories are indeed true, what enables such an ability?
  
  
• People being consistently to outguess others in number guessing games like Ultimate Number (Zong Ji Mi Ma). Are they just pure lucky? Or are they able to look into people's mind in someway by connecting to the main server (geek time)?

(And I'm lazy to list down all of them. Haha.)

But yeah, it just seems like there's something to it. I can't pinpoint it but oh well. That's life I guess.

I Love Calculus

(Waking up at 7 for a 8:30am Calculus class. Going to class only to not really understand the China Professor's accent. The foreign students are really good with their Maths. I don't understand why they are in the class. Thank goodness for my netbook else I'll probably be struggling to avoid lala land like my friend is. Maybe it's time to go post something on G is For Geek. My nose is running. Terrible. And my friend has just went into lala land I think. Head on the table. Motionless. Must be.

It's still 9:15am only? 2 hours and 45 minutes more to go. Not very encouraging.

11 more weeks to go. Even less encouraging.

(Update at 11:34am. There's 26 more minutes to go. The guy beside me is using a laptop to surf around the web too. The China student two seats away from me has super duper red eyes which I assume means she is bored too. Funtastic.)

Puzzling? Revolting?

(This post was created on 3rd Sep 08 and only published now because Ron is afraid he might not have the time to post anything thus he wants to spread out his posts.)

Warning: Rant incoming...

Ever met those people who build their glee upon others' misery? Those who boast every of their accomplishments (no matter how small) and criticize any other people's shortcomings (usually subtly)? They usually also pretend to be dominant and yearn for power. Well, I personally know a few. And unfortunately, I bumped into one of them today.

I was in school at a bench alone using my midget netbook and this fellow (acquaintance more than friend) was passing by. Not so surprisingly, the first thing she spoke about wasn't something nice. She said something like: "Wah! You alone? No friends ah?". Well, people who might not know her might dismiss it as her being EQ-less. But tapping into my near 1/4 century experience (aaah...), I knew that was yet another 'push that person down, make myself feel better' moves.

Well, being a nice person [=)], I just smiled and talked a bit and hoped for her to move off as soon as possible. That was the best I could do. Maybe my judgement might turn out to be wrong. I'll never know but I really felt revolted at that point of time. This is especially because these people bring across their sacarism so subtly that it makes it very hard to retort. The one thing I feel people should do about these people is to ignore them.

I try my best not to wish them harm but these people are really revolting sometimes. Really ugly. =(

End of rant...

Bad Economy?

Maybe it's good (or bad) I'm still a student for a bit of time to come. The STI just fell by another 80 points today to 2626.05. (Is there a great tumble to come? Maybe to 2000?) And it is usually a good indicator of how the stock market is going. And the stock market in turn is usually a good indicator of how the economy is going. Not a good time to be in the job market?

The fact that the growth rate forecast has been revised to between 3-5% doesn't help. So does having less valued money in the face of a 5-6% inflation year (forecast). Perhaps a global slowdown is inevitable.

On the bright side, at least we are growing. Maybe it's just a slowdown; a correction. And I'm sure hoping there's no replay of the 1997 Financial Crisis incoming. Oh well, worst come worst, we'll just start growing some sweet potatoes. Well, we won't die. =x

Netbook: Comments

As much as I've been trying to keep a low profile about my new netbook (unofficial term for mini and affordable laptops), the comments that have been coming in has been rather interesting. One classmate asked me how in the world was I able to use such a small keyboard. The other asked me if I needed to squint my eyes to see what's on the screen. Another was rather surprised when I told her about the less than $1000 (936) price tag.

I think most people have the notion that in making a mini-laptop, either the processing power has to be compromised or the price tag will come to be very hefty. In my case, the latter is definitely out. Regarding processing power, the laptop does have it limitations, especially in graphics intensive games. But I don't see any scenario I'll be gaming with a laptop. I rather use a desktop. For the remaining computing needs, a netbook should be more than enough.

I've been using this midget for 5 days. So far so good. I even synchronize my Nokia phone's calendar by Bluetooth (I used to use cable).

I just hope there won't be any comments saying it's gay for a guy to be using such a small notebook. =x

MSI Wind

I got this puny fellow at the Comex Show '08 for 936 after a upgrade to 2GB RAM.

And I'm using it now at home with in plugged in to a 19" widescreen monitor, 2.1 speakers, keyboard and mouse. I wouldn't want to use that small keyboard at home.

The only great thing about this midget is it's weight. With a 3-cell battery, it's only 1 kg. Amazing.