What is it in our ecology or in the refinement over evolution that makes us feel empathy when hearing the sound of a kitten calling out? Or is it within the evolution of small felines that the mimicry of the cry ensures survivability of the species and ultimately the branching of feline domestication (it mimics a human baby’s cry in some way).
We were used. The dozens of kittens who have manipulated me for free room and board. Reel me in with their pitiful cries, their big sad eyes and the lolcatz trickery.
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Today I read an article that really fumed me up. I really do not know whether to cry or laugh… seriously. I have the following to say.
Question: Was he misquoted?
Referring to a news article citation from The Star, 26th February 2009, “Teachers going mad teaching subjects in English, claims rep”;
“Prof Abdullah said the argument that the usage of English would provide better job opportunities could only hold water if there were plenty of job openings.”
This is a grave worry for me. It immediately translates to a community leader leading the nation into a technological, sociological and geo-economical regression by actively forcing the people to live in the “tempurung” where nothing challenges the mind anymore.
Our company here develops software for a world-wide audience. All of our knowledge workers are Malaysians, 80% of them are graduates of local universities. The complaints I’ve had from our clients are difficulties in communicating with those who graduated in Malaysia in English. I’m very certain that asking our Norwegian clients to learn Bahasa Malaysia is not the best way to solve the problem. If the man-power future of Malaysia is designed by the above directive, we will not be able to continue growth in Malaysia and have to find my knowledge workers elsewhere.
It is not just matters of science or mathematics, it is also the matter that English is the lingua-franca for commerce and international law. The article seems to say that it’s better not to endure the hardship of learning, lets return to what was comfortable. Shouldn’t the appropriate response be to give proper language aid to those teachers facing difficulties adopting the language rather than running away from it as if the English language carried a heinous disease?
Bahasa Malaysia, our national language - is spoken and kept with pride in our culture and literature. It should not be re-invented to slow down our journey to compete in the international arena.
The “Wawasan 2020″ seems to be at a lost like a lotus leaf detached from it’s anchor.
Malaysia Boleh, Thoughts
Apparently not - a man in France lived a normal life - apparently in what the doctors proclaimed - with a virtually absent brain. The man’s brain matter was approximated to be similar to a chicken egg in volume. There’s practically no cerebral cortex tissue on the CT scan. It’s just black emptiness. The hindbrain and brainstem could be seen (those controlling our reflex, senses and essential mechanics to live in this world - sweating to cool down, breathing etc.) and makes sense (he’s 40 years old and alive)…
I remember hearing remarks from psychologists saying that an average human uses less than 20% of our brain. I wonder what do we do with the other 80%.
[Link to article]
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Siftables is a prototype to prove modular HCI concepts - and wow, has it proven it….
http://web.media.mit.edu/~dmerrill/siftables.html
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Communication infrastructure is critical to the nation’s development and continuity of it’s welfare and is therefore covered under national security. Internet infrastructure is becoming vital in enabling the nation’s wishes to build a strong knowledge economy. TM is the company that appears to step forward to uphold this responsibility. However, I must say that it is doing a very good job at disappointing the nation’s wish to progress - and is consistently putting the nation in a state of regression.
From it’s traditional wired service to their foray into Internet services, TM is the winner in a one horse race - and I believe they are very proud of this - the iron horse is arthritic and have one property that has been prominent over time, rust.
I believe I do not mind if the nation’s leaders have to employ protectionism for key infrastructure based business (oil and gas, water, sewage, electricity and communication) - I just want to get the service in which I paid for. We were the leader in ASEAN countries when MIMOS launched the JARING project in the 90s. We were the envy of many nations when we launched the MSC. Now, we are one of the saddest back-markers in this mission. Knowledge workers are not happy and if the nation is serious about preventing or reversing brain-drain, put money where it makes a difference. Stop worrying about who is going to topple you and start working - at least that’s what we thought we voted for you to do…
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New Tippmann Straightline barrel - at 35 feet - chrono’d at 270 fps.
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About 35 feet away
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My mother was not too pleased.
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Like I said - brittle plastic is dramatic.
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Stock A5 barrel on top, Tippmann/Hammerhead straightline barrel (w/muzzle and fin) below it
Paintball
Was driving out for lunch after a paintball game and had my 12oz fully filled CO2 cylinder behind my car - at a casual cruise, suddenly a loud “woosh!” and hiss - my friends and I immediately knew what happened - the CO2’s burst disc - kicked in and let the pressure out of the cylinder to avoid a catastrophic rupture. The liquid CO2 - when released at sea level (normal atmospheric pressure) immediately transforms into gaseous CO2 at the lowest temperature (before normalising). Here are the pictures of the 12oz cylinder - I was actually going to put it in my pants pocket with an external line for a game later on…. imagine if that happened during a game.
If this happens to you - please do not touch the tank - leave it on the floor, holding on to the tank will immediately cause your skin to be frozen and you may suffer from frost bite as a result.
Safety first, safety last - check your gear!
Paintball
Bought my second Tippmann today - the Tippmann A5 basic kit. Comes with the notorious Cyclone Feeder - a smoother trigger weight (probably about half of the Tippman 98C’s rated 3 pound trigger). Awaiting for my Flatline barrel to arrive in about a week - Straightline 16″ Hammerhead - and I’m ready to put myself in paints way!
Paintball
2009 is now upon us. New year resolution at hand, mine starts with keeping my health on track and improving my physique - I’m on drawing closer to 40 than I am to 30. I’m determined to pick up paintball as my main hobby - get my speed and stamina up with speedball and indirectly get team work and networking done at the same time… golf just doesn’t work for me.
It’s not an accessible sport - there are only 2 paintball parks in Kuching. Down from four or five a year ago due to the difficulties of obtaining a paintball license from the authorities. The government supports the game but the law enforcers seems to post a hindrance to it.
My next resolution is to increase my blogging activities at work in my internal corporate blog. I find blogging as an effective way of documenting my actions and thoughts. It also allows me to have a library of knowledge so I do not need to repeat myself again if I meet the same questions down the road. Never stop learning - just try to stop forgetting.
Malaysia Boleh, Paintball, Thoughts
