Monday, June 29, 2009

Clickspam.

I don't if this warrants a new post but...

I just got a new mouse =D

Well. Its the first purchase I've made on impulse since... a long long time ago in a land far far away?

If you were wondering what on earth would make a mouse worthy of a blog post, no, its not a Raz0r mouse. Nor is it a purebred variety you find scurrying around evil laboratories. Its just another Logitech plasticky optical mouse that happened to catch my eye.

For those who don't know my spending habits, I rarely make a purchase unless it is absolutely of utmost necessity. And not without plenty of self-debating and consideration.

So why the impulse rodent buy? Well I had a niggling need to get a new mouse since my old (Logitech also, I'm a fan) one started acting erratically and began to clickspam. I believe I may have coined a new term here -

Clickspam .v

To unleash a flurry of clicks with a mouse/cursor, intentionally or unintentionally.

e.g "I was playing (insert random MMORPG) and suddenly got ambushed by this imba PKer, so I panicked and started to clickspam."

In my case it wasn't intentional. Damn furry thing went crazy and double, triple and quadruple clicked everything I clicked. And when I wanted to hold and drag something, the clicker gave up halfway and left the item dangling behind. Which isn't very handy especially when you find yourself engulfed by zombies and your gun stops firing.

Which brings me back to the original topic. I was walking along Eunos MRT when I spotted this new, tiny hole in the wall PC shop. The inner geek in me screamed "Lets go take a look!!!!" And so I did. Of course there was this little niggling thought at the back of my head reminding me of my mousey predicament, so I scanned the mice available, saw the brand Logitech, felt sudden euphoria, simply grabbed it, paid for it and hey presto!

I'm now happily clickspamming. On my own accord.

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Here's a video someone took of our performance at the Mascot Parade. Thanks, whoever you are!

QUIS @ Mascot Parade - Nobody (Wondergirls)



I wan nobody nobody bak chiu~

Friday, June 26, 2009

An ode to a Real Devil

Back when we were already champions

You were with the Hammers, fighting to stay up

We met on the last match of the season

And you single-handedly kept them alive in the League

Scoring a single goal that their fans will forever remember

We told ol' Fergie; "Sign him up!"

And he did

So began 2 years of loyal service

You fought for us

Chased for us

Heckled and closed down for us

Never gave up on us

And most importantly, scored for us

Who will forget those last ditch efforts?

The powerful strikes?

That wonderfully improvised back heel?

Then came the languid Berbatov

You found yourself on the bench

It must have been hard, watching from there

But when you came off it, you gave your all

The fans loved you

The players loved you

We told Fergie again; "Sign him up!"

But we were too late

Too late to mend your heart that was broken

We tried our best, but you thought us insincere

Its a pity that you chose to leave

Please, if you haven't already made up your mind

There'll be millions of us welcoming you back with open arms

I await your say, come first July

PS: Thanks for not joining Liverpool, but try to avoid Chelsea or Manchester City? We don't really like them either. I strongly suggest you consider Hull City, first-team opportunities won't be lacking there. You might be playing alongside Owen too, he'll complement you perfectly with his "charisma" and "looks".

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

What to do now?

Life as an unemployed is a nice, refreshing change from the mindless routine that began ever since I started NS. No waking up before the sun rises, no reaching home before the sun sets. Sure, there were the short periods of breaks, holidays and stuff, but nothing beats waking up at 10am in the morning with the thought "Now what shall I do today?" instead of "Argh, (insert number) more days before going back to camp/work."

Lately, the answer to the question above has been "Lets see, Final Fantasy XII, Rappelz (an MMO I've neglected for awhile), FIFA, L4D or TF2?"

I've become a no-life gamer ^^. Haven't done that since the last school holidays (minus the mugging).

In the meantime I'm trying to keep track of the Singapore stock market and try to learn a thing or two about investing to pass time. Quite interesting to see the numbers go up and down and linking those numbers to the performance of the economy and the individual companies. I might even try my hand at buying some stocks to keep and see what happens in time to come.

Why the sudden interest? I realised that plain savings and working like dogs for a salary ain't enough to keep up with the inflation rate. The recession also made me realise that the people who really earn the most out of it are those who dare to take the risks. And I happen to be very risk-adverse (i.e humji).

Anyway!

QUIS will be perfoming this Saturday at Ngee Ann City (Orchard Road) for the Mascot Parade Event http://www.mascotparade.org/

*EDIT* Our timeslot is 7pm!

We'll have a surprise in store for everyone ehehehe.

Cosplay isn't my kind of thing, but it'll be nice to see members of the 501st. Stormtroopers and ol' Vader himself in Orchard Road! What next? Podracers zipping past those Ah Beng street racers in their zhnged Evos and WRXs?

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www.fmylife.com just got mentioned in today's newspapers (I forgot which section). Have you had an FML moment?

Today, I stepped into the lift and into what seemed like a puddle of water. It covered the entire lift so it was hard not to step onto it. "Oh, someone just went swimming or something". There was this strange smell though. Now that I think about it, I might have been stepping in dog pee all the while. FML.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

McD's, anyone?



lol.

And this one which I really like



Peter fails.

Friday, June 12, 2009

An ode to a Devil

When we first saw you in action, it was magic

The stepovers, the flicks, the tricks, we insisted that the gaffer sign you on

From the land of Portugal you came, to brighten the terrible English weather

You sparkled at times, fell spectacularly mostly, and yet produced magic that confunded the best of defenders

Others said you were a cheat, a boy with a penchant for mischief and a terrible hairstyle

We said you could do it, gave you the number 7 after ol' Becks left

It was a tough few years, til the World Cups came

You tumbled on the ground, ol' Wazza let loose his breath and saw red

Then came the wink, the boos and the jeers

Wazza left it in the past, so did you, and with each boo you ran faster

With each jeer you thumped the ball harder

And finally you showed the world who you really were

Those blazing free-kicks, the lightning headers, feet that dazzled, speed to rival the roadrunner

And those goals, those wondrous 42 goals, and with it came cups, trophies and honours

Heads were turned, from Spain and hitherto.

You were drawn, yet stayed for another year

We were glad, but knew that you would eventually leave someday

And so you did.

Cristiano Ronaldo, we thank you for those magnificent displays that you put in for us. We will not miss you, nor will we rue your absence, but we truly wish you well.

Rio and Co. will be eager to have a go at you should we ever meet again.

P.S Tell Ruud that he left behind his old socks when you get there, will ya?

Monday, June 08, 2009

Valve left us 4 dead...



Creative use of photoshop aside, I believe many gamers, including L4D players were taken by surprise by Valve's announcement of the development of L4D 2, slated to be released by the end of this year. For those still in the dark, here's a couple of additional reading to keep up to date.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L4D2

http://steamcommunity.com/groups/L4D2boycott
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3174667
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/06/04/valve-on-l4d2-trust-us-a-little-bit/

I must say I share the same sentiments as the rest of the disgruntled L4D fans (I joined the group!), but primarily because I didn't like the idea of spending money to get another sequel just when I bought the original game. Its like how I gave up trying to keep up with EA Sports' FIFA every year. The coincidence with the 40% weekend discount also played a part, almost as if Valve was trying to clear stock to make way for new ones.

Sure it looks interesting, with enough content and storyline to warrant a "new game" status (hell, if I ever decide to buy it, it'll be because of that CHAINSAW), but I'm really concerned whether L4D will continue to receive updates and new content, just like the other fan favourite, Team Fortress 2. If it were EA or something, I wouldn't care less, but this is Valve, one of the few game developers that I actually feel a sense of loyalty to (the other is Blizzard). And its precisely their commitment to long-term post-game support that attracts their large fanbase.

Will I succumb to temptation and buy it? Guess I'll adopt a wait and see approach.

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Since we're on the topic, here are some games that deserve to be awarded a "Longest Lasting Game" award.

1) Counterstrike (1.6 - Source)

It's synonymous with LAN gaming shops and tournaments all over the world, ever since it was released in 1998. Thats a 10 year history boy!

2) Starcraft (and Brood War)

While not as popular now, its still one of the iconic RTS games that pro gamers train on for tournaments. The South Koreans in particular are still crazy over this. Another 10 year-old!

3) Warcraft III (and Frozen Throne)

Another RTS, albeit more recent one, to command a huge fanbase with thousands still playing on Bnet and LAN shops. Thanks to the custom map DOTA, WC3's lifespan has been considerably lengthened. Possibly the most widespread RTS game now too. Blizzard has been patching TFT regularly too. 7 years!

4) Team Fortress 2

This one gets in based on pure ingenuity on the part of the game developer. Its a newbie in terms of age (only 2 years) but updates have been coming regularly and not just to fix game bugs. You get whole new maps, game modes, new weapons and other goodies with every update released. If this continues, it'll probably be around for ages to come. Respect to the TF2 department in Valve!

Saturday, June 06, 2009

Well its time to say goodbye to the past 4 months at Alpha Biofuels. I can't say I've had the greatest time there, but hey, there's bound to be ups and downs everywhere. I'm sure I not many people know what I've been up to since February, so now I shall dedicate this post to my short stint there.

So when I first started work, there wasn't very much to do, other than handling some banner designing stuff and manning the pump whenever customers came to pump biodiesel. I was still a noob, not really used to working since it was my first job (and internship). I spent lots of time reading up on biodiesel and its properties as well as production. I can say I learnt most during those first few days. I did my first lab-scale production of biodiesel as well.

Then our driver Siva fell while cycling home and fractured his elbow, so yours truly, armed with a driving license, became the substitute driver. For the whole of Feb, I was driving all over Singapore, collecting waste cooking oil as well as delivering biodiesel to our customers, together with partner-in-crime Wootien. This was the most fun period of my internship I guess; we got to meet lots of people, chat with the aunties and uncles who provide us with oil, explore unknown parts of the island as well as the unseen parts of shopping centres, travel around looking for good food to eat, all while rushing to get back to office by 6pm.

March came, and so did the official opening ceremony of ABF. It was kinda hectic to prepare for that day, though thankfully I wasn't much involved other than figuring out parking space and cleaning up. The day finally came, and it was quite a success. Everyone had a good time, and there was a sense of achievement that we managed to pull it off.

Once the euphoria died down though, work finally piled up. I was called to do some marketing campaigns in Eunos and Simei, by foot and armed with flyers and namecards, to spread the news about 2 new retail stations. I talked to loads of people, mostly the bosses of small workshops located within the vicinity. It was a good experience I guess, though I ended each day with sore feet. Thereafter was a sudden explosion of demand for biodiesel, driven primarily by a retail station in Simei, run by a very ambitious (and demanding!) customer. It was also the place where we managed to get a steady stream of taxis to run on biodiesel.

As a result things got pretty crazy in the factory, with everyone struggling to churn out biodiesel to meet demand. I was assigned a new title - Blender, which was basically to polish biodiesel and package for delivery. Also since me and Wootien were the ones who setup most of the retail stations, we were often called up to fix leaks, perform on-site maintenance and what not, as well as deal with unhappy bosses. We were the self-named Repair crew, and proud of it. As WT put it, by the last week of my internship we could deduce the source of the problem just by listening to customer's vague descriptions, bring along the right tools, and rectify them in record time.

April and May were pretty much the same thing, except that we welcomed new guys to the place, so we had to teach them from scratch and hand over our duties. There was a lot of restructuring and changes going around as well as back breaking work so there were a few conflicts here and there. But at the end of every day, I guess everyone went home without hard feelings.

I guess some memorable events which I joined in, aside from the opening ceremony, included the lab courses that we conducted at JJC and TJC, as well as Earth Hour. Although I was just helping out at the 2 JCs, it was quite fun being back in school again, seeing the students go about doing their lab stuff, explaining and guiding them in biodiesel making. I was a student too, listening to Mr. Tan give his lectures and learning at the same time. Earth Hour was fun and relaxed, we were basically just manning the ABF booth, fooling around with the bosses and fellow interns, talking to random people who passed by and enjoying the atmosphere (and free Starbucks, Coke and Old Chang Kee!).

I've also come to understand the feelings and cultures of the foreign workers who keep our economy humming along. I've made friends with Siva, an Indian national who wishes to obtain a PR and bring his family over someday, as well as Xiao Li, a PRC who came from Shandong to a unfamiliar and foreign land, hoping to earn as much as he can to support his family. Its quite humbling to watch them work with little complaints, scrimping and saving to feed their loved ones back home, and yet maintain a cheerful attitude towards work.

And so 4 months have come to an end. No more travelling insane distances to work, lorry driving or dirty work (someone suggested we have our own Dirty Jobs documentary). Its been quite a journey.

I didn't get a chance to say this yesterday so I guess I'll type it here.

Thanks to Woots for being my best buddy in ABF, guiding me from the start, joking together and creating lots of funny moments to make life at work bearable.

Thanks to Lynette and Jaimie for treating me as Xiao Di and putting up with our nonsense.

Thanks to the new guys who formed the Ground Crew, its been great working and goofing around with you guys.

All the best to everyone at ABF, hope it will eventually become a huge success in the local biodiesel scene.

Thursday, June 04, 2009

Time to come out of the depression that befell all fans of the Red Devils...

And that's after watching the Premier League Review twice (i.e watching my team lift the BPL trophy twice).

I'll be finishing my internship/attachment/cheap labour job in 2 days! Its been a very interesting experience, guess I'll blog more in detail in the following post.

Just a little "Tweet" to keep this blog somewhat active =x

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Just replaced my music player Jaangle with Songbird, an open source music player that aims to be to iTunes what Firefox is to IE. In other words, highly customisable, with lots of add-ons to enhance that listening experience (heck, it has a built in web browser!) and a cool, iTunes-like interface.

Can expect many more improvements since its only version 1.1, but already you can feel its a finished product. My only grouse is the memory hogging - it eats up 100+ mb of memory while playing songs, which is probably due to the many functions and visual candy available. Definitely not for slow PCs. Slow to start-up as well as to play that first song (sounds familiar, Firefox users? Trade-offs, trade-offs...)

Check it out here - http://getsongbird.com/