Oooh… They have more interesting jobs these days.

I think I may try those just for the experience.

It probably goes against conventional wisdom. But I like the idea of a multi-faceted resume.

Plus, you can’t really pick and choose these days.

And there’s no “interstate” to fly to.

What would you do if you lost a lucrative position you had held for eight years of your life? Look for another job?

Simonetta Falvo decided to start writing instead.

Simonetta Falvo's blog concentrates on Italian destinations

“I always loved traveling, discovering new places, meeting different people, feeling amazed in front of a beautiful scenery. Instead, I worked over 10 years in investment banking and then 8 years in a PR firm. As soon as I could, I flew away to catch another little piece of world,” she says.

Simonetta’s blog is brand new, but she’s off to a great start.

Her blog is very Italy-heavy. Lately, she’s been writing about ski resorts and current events in her home country, but she sometimes covers other ground like shark conservation, infrequently visited neighborhoods in Singapore and the best sunset in Indonesia.

“For me traveling means exploration, discovery, emotions which can come anytime and everywhere: from a city, a landscape, people, traditions, nature, art, culture,” she says.

“Although everyone has their own tastes and a personal travel fashion I feel that sharing travel experiences is part of the journey.”

” Please do not turn the examination paper. Do not start writing before you are told to. This is a closed book examination. You are not allowed to bring any paper, books or pictures into the examination hall. Please consider the seriousness of cheating. If you are caught in cheating or attempt to cheat, you will be expelled from the university.  Please, do not turn the examination paper…”

Fra det tidspunkt dørene i eksamenslokalet åpnes, spilles denne beskjeden på høytalerne i Nanyang Auditorium. Om og om igjen spilles den. Vi sitter på forhåndsutdelte plassen, oppgavene ligger allerede på den knøttlille pulten, og det er knusk stille. Sekk, mobil og andre personlige eiendeler må ligge igjen utenfor eksamenslokale. Bare blyant, viskelær og kalkulator.

Ingen sier noe. Ikke på veldig lenge sies det noe. Over tusen asiater taster taktfast på sine kalkulatorer og noterer flittig. Det sitter noen europeere malplassert i mengden. De kommer fra NTNU i Norge og savner formelsamlingen sin, statistikktabellene og det gule arket.

Jeg er sikker på jeg var blant verdens 10 % lykkeligste da stemmen i høytaleren påbød meg å legge ned blyanten. Det var andre gang på samme dag. To ganger hadde jeg mobilisert, vist muskler og levert inn mine skriblerier. Det var med seiersrus jeg forlot eksamenslokalet etter min siste matteeksamen noen sinne.

Og på flyet på vei til Kuala Lumpur samme dag innså jeg at jeg faktisk nesten var halvveis. Halvveis og på vei til nabolandet Malaysia for avkobling. Og her skal jeg altså være noen dager. Lykke.

Accessibility for blocks of the internal market in Singapore has improved over 2007. E 'primarily because of low interest rates. Condominium project allowed outside the central region are driving the market recovery. Demand for construction outside the central region has increased to 40 percent of total private real estate transactions in Singapore. Developers have the opportunity to launch on the market at competitive prices in the first condominiumquarter of 2009. More than half of buyers were HDB upgrader.

The number of private construction, which must be completed between 2009 to 2013 is estimated around 11,000. Compared to 1996 – 2000, there are about 40,000 available that include both public and private housing, the number of units completed during the last five years has dropped to 13,000 units per year, according to the Government to reduce the number housing.

The population has increased subsistenceestimated annual rate of 1.4 percent over the last 10 years. Based on statistics, the annual demand is about 16,000. There is also a strong demand for public housing the government for three and four models of the room. Demand for Sengkang Punggol and this year has created a situation of over-subscriptions. Thanks to strong demand for housing, causing an effect of encroachment on private construction. Upgrader majority were social housing.

With this increased demand, prices are also beginningincreasing steadily since early 2009. For example, an average price of a prize of three bedrooms, has increased to an average price of $ 600psf, which is similar to the peak in 2007. In addition, lower interest rates has also improved the attractiveness of national comdominium.

However, the recent launch of the second quarter of the year was to show significantly higher prices. The proposed new current market is complete at an average price of$ 950psf. Project just completed and near the station has attracted many serious buyers who are willing to pay a premium. For example, the resale price of Casa Merah after seeing the price increase to $ 850psf.

However, with the average price is $ 900 PSF, which many people can afford the monthly payment. With this the beginning of pressure drop in form. The caveat in August showed a smaller proportion of public housing recovery.

With growth in Singaporeand infrastructure, the country attracted many investors from overseas. These investors believe that there are other good sides in the long term. The Singapore economy has done better than expected in 2009, primarily due to expenses of recovery by the government.

Recently the government has taken measures to curb speculation cooling, which can lead to house price of condominiums. However, these measures do not affect condominium in May with good positionas Casa Merah.

Dinner in Imperial Treasure Noodle and Congee House in Ion Orchard. Still think the taste is just so so. But they have superb good service.

To get there:
Get to Orchard MRT and follow the signs to Ion. It is located in B3-17.

Price:
About SGD 90 for 4 persons.

The food. Some noodles friend ordered.

Rice with roasted pork and cha siew.

Congee.

Xiao Long Bao aka my favourite. But this doesn’t taste good.

Fried rice with bbq pork and shrimp. Tasteless.

Roasted duck. Not nice.

Mango pudding. Tasted so much better than the one I had in Imperial Treasure La Mian, Marina Square. Hmm. No quality control?

Singapore has been crowned one of Asia’s food republics for its diverse food pallet at extremely reasonable prices! I present to you, the top five local dishes not to be missed when visiting (or even living in) the beautiful island of Singapore!

5. Char Kway Teow

Go to a hawker center and order a plate of Char Kway Teow. Watch the Uncle viciously toss a delectable assortment of vegetables and your choice of meat along with a sturdy handful of flat rice noodles and you have yourself one of Singapore’s signature dishes! It may look like a pile of brown gook to you, but you will surely enjoy the different textures and flavours that will tantalise your tastebuds! Each little chopstick full is a mouthwatering surprise. I like to compare with my experiences of eating Rocky-Road icecream (whenever there is a marshmallow I feel like I’ve scored gold).

4. Bak Kuh Teh

This dish originated from Malaysia and has fast become one of the most ordered dishes from not only hawker centres but also restaurants and cafes around Singapore. It literally means “Spare Ribs Tea” and is made up of pork spare ribs, boiled egg along with the various herbs and spices that make up the complex broth base of this dish. I love this dish mainly because of the soup – it has a very rich, distinct tea-like taste that is the result of the lengthy boiling process of the combination of pork ribs and the herbs. There is no comparison of this taste in any other International soup dish and is definitely a must try Singaporean favourite!

3. Laksa

The distinct Singaporean way is the only way to serve this dish. I have tried mock versions of it in countries like Australia and America and their proportions of ingredients never seem to balance out just as right as it does in Singapore! What stands out is the strong, tangent flavour of the coconut milk mixed with the spicy soup base. The texture of the thin, flat rice noodles adds extra slimy fun to its consumption, and is commonly cut into perhaps 8cm lengths for easy bites. There is the optional addition of beansprout, prawn, bean curd and the compulsory addition of cockles for the full, mind-blowing Laksa experience. I may be biased here, but it is undoubtedly one of the most unforgettable noodle dishes you will ever try. Order it at a Food Court or Hawker Centre for your best bet.

2. Roti Prata

Roti Prata can be described as a layered, fried pancake bread made of flour, egg, dough and only the worthiest fat for your body! Best trust the Indian stalls along Upper Thompson Rd at night for a truest experience. This dish can be experienced as a main meal, an afternoon snack, a dessert, or as it is most commonly, a popular late night supper. There are a variety of flavours to choose from. The pancake is most commonly either served with curry or condensed milk and sugar (whether you prefer your savoury or sweet bites). More recently, they have also developed options for the pancake, so you can mix onion, cheese, garlic, banana, chocolate or even durian (the King of all fruits – another must try!) if you feel a little more trusting with the mixes!

1. Chicken Rice

The secret to a good chicken rice is in the rice. Through the process of making the rice, cooks add oil from the chicken fat, with ginger and garlic to fry, after which they put the mixed rice into an electric rice cooker (or pot) with chicken stock and pandan leaves. This is what they always neglect to do when you try International attempts at chicken rice! It does not taste the same. You best order this dish at Hawker Centres, perhaps adding an extra dollar (to your $3 meal) for extra chicken or rice (if you please).

I hope you enjoyed reading through this short review of the most unique dishes Singapore has to offer! Be sure to sink your teeth in all these for one the most unforgettable dining experiences you will ever have! Enjoy Singapore, and let me know of your own experiences and local favourites!

The guys at KittyLab are making a fan out of me. Really.

Here’s what I posted on their fanpage on facebook.

On Mon, Nov 23, 2009 at 9:26 PM, Ben <minus37@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi guys @ Kittylab & Golden Village,

I read about the online promotion for the 20% discount for kittylab when i book tickets online with Golden village.

This I did for this evening, and with a ticket stub ID 09112306380, i tried to fill up the online ticketing purchase website at http://www.kawaiibuddies.com/purchasetickets/#

it tells me that my ticket stub number is invalid.

Please get it fixed before i purchase my tickets for tomorrow. its the only day I will be free.

i know the promotional period for the 20% discount ends 23rd nov. I BELIEVE its for the booking period for the tickets, as kittylab runs right through to 29th nov 2009, and the online forms allow me to purchase tickets all the way till that day.

I will be terribly upset to find out that my movie ticket purchase has been in vain, and would expect a full refund on my movie tickets if nothing is done about this.

Do get back to me soonest, my contact number’s 91250111,

and oh, did i mention that your so-called customer service centre @ 8301-9844 is down at the moment? I know that its after office hours. Do us all a favour, please make it work.

Appreciate the effort.

Best regards,

Ben

On Mon, Nov 23, 2009 at 9:39 PM, Ben <minus37@gmail.com> wrote:and for starters, here are my ticket stubs i purchased this afternoon through the web,
http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/3371/photo0338.jpg
and then my attempts to purchase my tickets.
http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/371/kittylabtickets.jpg
http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/6901/invalid.jpg
Honestly, I’m not expecting to pay the full entrance fees when I’m doing what the promotion says.
Please get back to me in the morning, my phone lines are open 24/7 :]
Thanks for the slight disappointment there, guys. But i’ll be fine

Wonderful, isn’t it?

I prolly won’t drop by at all.

Thanks for the effort, guys.

The Community Defence Initiative (CDI) is enthusiastically backed by Stanley McChrystal, the US general commanding Nato forces in Afghanistan. Special forces will be able to access money from a US military fund to pay for the projects. US special forces are supporting anti-Taliban militias as part of a secretive programme that experts warn could fuel long-term instability in the country. The hope is that the militias supplement the Nato and Afghan forces fighting the Taliban. But the prospect of re-empowering militias after billions of international dollars were spent after the US-led invasion in 2001 to disarm illegally armed groups alarms many experts.

Obama hope the militias will encourage an increasingly demoralized Afghan population to take a stake in the war against the Taliban. By aiding the militias, Obama and Afghan officials hope to rapidly increase the number of Afghans fighting the Taliban. That could supplement the American and Afghan forces already here, and whatever number of American troops Obama might decide to send. The growth of the anti-Taliban militias runs the risk that they could turn on one another, or against the Afghan and American governments. Militias have begun taking up arms against the Taliban in several places where insurgents have gained a foothold, including the provinces of Nangarhar and Paktia.

The US government will make a pot of $1.3bn (£790m) available for the programme. The $1.3 billion in development funds for militias and warlords adds to US spending in Afghanistan, which totals $3.6 billion per month. Good decision or Bad decision?

Click On Links
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Profile
September 11, 2001 Timeline Of Events
Impeach Obama
The Afghanistan War
Military Deaths In Afghanistan
Obama Repeatedly Said He Would Reinforce US Troops
Obama’s Keeps Silent About The Afghanistan War
Obama Ignore Soldiers Dying In Afghanistan
The Afghanistan Problem
U.S. Afghanistan Raid Gone Bad
Taliban Attack

Obama officials now faces a mountain of new debt, a balloon of short-term borrowings that come due in the months ahead. With the national debt now topping $12 trillion, the White House estimates that the government’s tab for servicing the debt will exceed $700 billion a year in 2019, up from $202 billion this year. An additional $500 billion a year in interest expense would total more than the combined federal budgets this year for education, energy, homeland security and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The surge in borrowing is due to the financial crisis and the deep recession, and high deficits. The problem, many analysts say, is that record government deficits have arrived just as the long-feared explosion begins in spending on benefits under Medicare and Social Security. Baby Boomers are approaching 65, setting off what experts have warned for years will be a fiscal nightmare for the government.

MAJOR FOREIGN HOLDERS OF TREASURY SECURITIES (billions of dollars)
HOLDINGS 1/ AT END OF PERIOD
                       Sep     Aug     Jul     Jun
Country               2009    2009    2009    2009
China, Mainland       798.9   797.1   800.5   776.4
Japan                 751.5   731.2   724.5   711.8
United Kingdom 2/     249.3   226.9   219.9   214.0
Oil Exporters 3/      185.3   189.1   189.2   191.2
Carib Bnkng Ctrs 4/   171.7   179.9   193.2   189.7
Brazil                144.9   137.3   138.1   139.8
Hong Kong             132.2   124.7   115.3    99.8
Russia                121.8   121.6   118.0   119.9
Luxembourg             98.7    94.2    92.0   104.1
Taiwan                 78.1    75.9    77.4    77.0
Switzerland            68.9    68.2    68.1    71.5
Germany                53.7    55.0    56.1    53.8
Korea                  38.8    38.7    37.6    36.3
Singapore              38.3    42.0    42.3    40.8
Canada                 38.3    26.2    20.2    19.0
India                  35.9    38.5    38.9    39.3
Ireland                32.7    36.5    38.6    46.3
France                 32.1    35.0    24.6    26.0
Thailand               30.1    33.5    31.4    29.7
Turkey                 28.2    28.7    27.3    27.5
Norway                 25.2    24.7    28.9    28.7
Mexico                 22.1    27.5    27.7    29.5
Netherlands            21.3    21.3    21.5    18.9
Egypt                  20.8    20.4    18.6    17.3
Sweden                 18.3    16.7    16.5    16.5
Israel                 18.3    17.7    16.9    18.1
Italy                  17.6    16.9    17.3    16.7
Colombia               16.7    16.3    14.8    11.8
Belgium                15.0    15.6    15.7    15.7
Chile                  12.9    13.0    13.5    14.3
Philippines            11.8    12.4    11.4    11.6
Malaysia               11.0    11.2    11.9    11.7
All Other             156.8   158.7   159.5   157.5
Grand Total          3497.3  3452.9  3427.4  3382.1

For. Official       2369.5  2360.1  2346.2  2295.7
Treasury Bills      597.7   607.3   606.6   571.9
T-Bonds & Notes     1771.8  1752.8  1739.6  1723.8
 1/  Estimated foreign holdings of U.S. Treasury marketable and non
marketable bills, bonds, and notes reported under the Treasury
International Capital (TIC) reporting system are based on annual Surveys
of Foreign Holdings of U.S. Securities and on monthly data. 
2/  United Kingdom includes Channel Islands and Isle of Man. 

3/  Oil exporters include Ecuador, Venezuela, Indonesia, Bahrain, Iran,
Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates,
Algeria, Gabon, Libya, and Nigeria. 
4/  Caribbean Banking Centers include Bahamas, Bermuda, Cayman Islands,
Netherlands Antilles and Panama. Beginning with new series for June
2006, also includes British Virgin Islands.

Click On Links:
Millions To Repay Part Of Obama Tax Credit
Obama’s Approval Rating
Dollar Losing Value Under Obama
Obama Bank Overhaul
Obama’s 9 Trillion Dollar Deficit
Obama GM Bankruptcy
Obama Says ‘WE’RE OUT OF MONEY’
Obama $3.6 Trillion Budget Proposal
Where’s The Money !
U.S. Dollar Dropping Under Obama
Obama Promises One Year Later

Singapore Flyer.jpg, originally uploaded by anthonli.

An HDR view of the Singapore Flyer.

I’m not sure if it’s the camera lense or the window pane, but the Flyer seems to be tilting away.

Amazon's Global Kindle Reader

I heard that Amazon now has a global version of Kindle. I was disappointed to find this morning that the new version still will not work in my country.

Since I’ve wanted one for some time, but have been waiting until they got a version that would work in my country, I checked out their website this morning, only to be disappointed again. Apparently the new global version will only work in SOME countries.

In case you are thinking of purchasing the new Global Kindle for a Christmas gift this year, since the new version will only work in SOME countries, I thought it would be helpful to most expats to have a complete list of which countries it will, or will not work in.

STARRED (*) countries marked below indicate that Kindle needs to be ordered from a SPECIAL PAGE on the Amazon site.

The Global Kindle version DOES work in (as of Dec. 2009):

Aland Islands, Albania, American Samoa, Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Aruba, Australia*, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Boznia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cambodia, Canada, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Falkland Islands, Faroe Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Finland, France, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guatemala, Guernsey, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Holy See, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jersey, Kenya, Kiribati, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Latvia, Liberia, Leichtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Moldovia, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Mozembique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Caledonia, Nicaragua, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Norway, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Réunion, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Serbia, Seychelles, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Virgin Islands – British, Virgin Islands – U.S., Wallis and Futuna, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

The Global Kindle version does NOT work in (as of Dec. 2009):

Afghanistan, Algeria, Antarctica, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bouvet Island, British Indian Ocean Territory, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chile, Chad, China, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Cuba, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, French Southern Territories, Gambia, Guinea, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Isle of Man, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Korea – Democratic People’s Republic of, Korea – Republic of, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco (including the Western Sahara), New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories, Pitcairn, Qatar, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Helena, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Somalia, South Georgia and the Sandwich Islands, Sudan, Svalbard and Jan Mayan, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tokelau, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, United States Minor Outlying Islands, Uzbekistan, Yemen.

I wish my trainer  for the course I’m on for these two days would talk less about himself and his life story and get to the real gist of the course – how to conduct a bloody interview.

When he finally touched on the important points though, it was all vaguely familiar. I really have given back whatever I’ve learnt in my 3 years uni to my lecturers. Tsk tsk…

The saving grace is that the food provided at the hotel was pretty good! I had a good tea-break (love the samosa) and the buffet lunch was not too bad. (In fact, it was much better than the hi-tea I went previously). My only gripe is that being with some new acquaintances, I couldn’t eat at ease or as much as I would have loved too =(

I drank way too much tea – 3! all in the hopes of keeping awake.

Oh yes and I miss the BF! Had a rather splendid weekend and a relaxing one at that. *Reminder to write more

One more week to go…

barcampsg4 was awesome. held at IDA on an early saturday morning, i really had to drag myself down to their office, as i had only 3hours of sleep on a rocking friday night, haha. anyways, it was a worthwhile experience, as it really redefines learning.

what is good about barcamp is that there is no real issue. anything and everything can be discussed there. they got discussions ranging from inspirational ones, like 'How to be broke and change the world', self improving talks like 'Personal Improvement(i think) aka how to be more badass'. another plus point is that, the un-convention is held for the audience, for everyone. in a sense that supposing you are not learning or get interested in the topic of the talk, you are free to leave at anytime.

How to be broke and change the world

a truly inspiring talk by Dwight. he quit his job to be a professional broke. but still find ways to change the world, through charity. they are based in bangkok, and came all the way to singapore just to share their experience at barcampsg4. he really redefined events management. he didnt have any sponsor, no budget (as in no money) and still is able to change the lives of the people in need. with the help of his sidekick, cody of course.

Hackerspace.sg

in my view, this is the next big thing in singapore. hackerspace is a place to let you discover, invent, experiment, blablabla whatever you want, and they serve as a platform for your success. they provide you the space, resources, and contacts for you to build/create/improvise on a product. for more info, just go to their webbie @ http://hackerspace.sg
they just got a space at 70A Bussorah Street, but personally, i think its quite small. but its a great start for them! i applaud their idea. Justin said that it took them 2months for the conceptualisation of the idea to implementing the idea. thats crazy fast!

How to explain difficult concepts to lesser beings

i had a good lol in this one. the person who presented, coleman yee aka @metacole obviously prepared for this talk and has a great sense of humour. he used funny analogy that we can relate to, which is great! the three steps to <topic> is to

1. watch the knowledge of curse
2. use analogy
3. oversimplify first

he used AND and OR operator for the analogy part. and its freaking funny.

How to be more BADASS!

www.jnorris.org
he has a whole list of useful websites. really really good.

LUNCH WAS AWESOME!

oh because i was too tired, i had a power nap during lunch. felt recharged after the quick nap.

we had a sharing session after that, titled

Bored sites for bored people

the turnout was quite lame, but oh well. we weren't prepared, so meh. the sites we shared were FML, MLIA, GMH, omeagle, tom365, etc.
this is quite the learning experience as we failed, really hard. but the route to success, is to fail. so i guess we are on the right track.

then went on for another of metacole's talk

Design thinking and how to find true love

another great talk by metacole. i think he's one of the coolest guy in barcamp. he actually wanted to name it 'Design thinking and how to get laid', but had to tone it down to be more NC-16 rather than an R-rated. haha. he used an analogy to illustrate the four steps of design thinking, namely Define, Diverge, Converge and Implement by using how to get a laid, oh not laid, but married. haha!

Your film sucks!

a talk by chris gomez, aka @chrisgomez, he tells us how to improve our film. he revealed a really good information : history is always new. which is true. oh, and some of us, the DMC people will be working with him to create some video in the near future. and prolly we will attend filmcampsg next year, which is the equivalent for barcampsg, for film.

Poken, i choose you!

Poken is really interesting. and they are giving out for free, provided we fill up a survey. thanks IDA. Poken is this thing where you can exchange social media accounts to other pokens via poking. check here for more info on poken. i hope more people has poken, so it'd be easier for networking

Other interesting stuff that happened~

twitter rules barcamp – everyone is a pro at multitasking, and can listen and tweet at the same time. so even if i didnt attend to some of the talks, i get info too, via twitter. and someone misplaced his/her phone, and tweeted about it, and wala~ he/she got back his phone. thanks twitter!

iphone/ipod touch rules barcamp – everyone whips out their iphone/ipod touch to tweet like crazy. there's even a Hiphone charging station, to charge your iphone/ipod touch. great great idea.

wireless@sg is a lifesaver – its faster than IDA's provided wlan for barcampsg

so that's my view on #barcampsg4. its a great way to share your crazy ideas. and twitter rules barcampsg4.should i have had more sleep before barcamp, i would've enjoyed it more. ]]> http://rebeldiamonds.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/the-season-is-here/ Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:51:17 +0000 egomarc http://rebeldiamonds.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/the-season-is-here/

Ok, The Season is here again and I’m very sure you know what it is!

And yes, since you are reading this, I’m sending christmas cards out to anyone (locally)! All you need to do is to let me know if you want it and leave your address to receive it from me!

Afraid to disclose your address? Fret not! All you can do is to email me your address at egomarc@gmail.com and when the time comes, you will receive your card!

Remember, while stocks last! =DDDDDDD Hurry!

SEASON GREETINGS!!

Here’s something extremely obscure!

A few years ago I spent a lot of time in Singapore and, as always, wanted to understand their system of vehicle registration places (license plates).

The basic system is easy to understand.Wikipedia has some basic documentation here.

Here’s an illustration from Wikipedia of a current private vehicle plate design (front and rear).

It’s British heritage is obvious but the Singapore Government made an enhancement that’s unusual. Almost every license plate (apart from military and diplomatic plates) has an alphabetic character at the end. It’s not a “year letter” like the old British system but a “check character”.

The check character is calculated from the values of the other characters in the plate and serves as a validator. If you make a mistake recording the plate the check character will be wrong.

As far as I know the Singapore Government does not document the check character generation algorithm for the public. I had a big database of Singapore license plates I’d observed and back in 2002 I tried to reverse-engineer the algorithm.

My mathematics isn’t the best so I got some help from somebody on the Internet. He quickly helped me understand the system and I wrote some Microsoft Visual Basic code to calculate check characters and to validate them.

I published a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet with the code on my web site, but I closed it down in 2007 as an economy measure. When I discovered Scribd I decided to re-publish it as a service to anyone else who’s interested in the subject.

In the spirit of open-source I placed the code in the public domain under a GNU General Public License. I don’t know how many people are interested in this obscure subject but if you are, you’re welcome to the code.

After the break is an embedded form of the spreadsheet from Scribd. Don’t worry about the “VALUE” errors in the preview – Scribd rendered the preview incorrectly.

I am not a great Visual Basic coder so I’m sure many people can improve the code. I’ve tested it on hundreds of Singapore plates of all types including the new “SMB” bus plates and it works. But of course that isn’t a formal proof of correctness. As the license says – no warranty!

When I wrote the code I put lists of validated registration plates for the various classes of Singapore buses on the Singapore Buses Discussion Board on Yahoo Groups. They’re still there in the “Files” section over seven years later.

L’incontro tra il presidente statunitense Barack Obama e quello cinese Hu Jintao ha sancito il mancato accordo sui tagli alle emissioni di CO2 tra i rappresentanti delle nazioni che hanno partecipato al vertice dell’APEC, (Organizzazione per la cooperazione economica dei paesi dell’Asia-Pacifico).

Molti autorevoli esperti avevano realisticamente previsto che gli interessi di Cina e Usa (le due maggiori potenze industriali del mondo e i due paesi più inquinatori), ma anche quelli di numerosi paesi asiatici, a partire dall’India, non hanno voglia, denaro e fantasia per impegnarsi in un gravoso e costoso programma di lotta all’emissione dei gas serra, almeno in termini di scadenze precise, livelli prestabiliti e sanzioni per chi non è in regola.

Nessuno negli ultimi tempi ha negato a parole la necessità di affrontare l’emergenza climatica, ma da Obama al presidente dell’Indonesia Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, dal russo Medvedev, al brasiliano Lula, tutti hanno preso, o lo stanno facendo, dei provvedimenti in merito. Ma nessuno di loro vuole impegnarsi in modo vincolante, con un’autorità che controlli standard di riduzione dei gas serra, tempi di raggiungimento dei livelli determinati, in una comune condivisione di sforzi e di obiettivi.
E su questo si costruirà il fallimento della Conferenza di Copenhagen e si metterà a rischio il futuro della Terra, soprattutto perché è passato il principio che non esistano delle scadenze improcrastinabili.

A pochi giorni dalla conferenza di Copenaghen, i ministri Ue dell’Ambiente si dedicano a due giorni di consultazioni informali. Si trovano a discutere la nuova situazione che si é determinata a Singapore, con il sì del presidente americano, Barack Obama, alla proposta danese di un accordo in due tempi. I ministri della Ue così si trovano presi in contropiede e in evidente difficoltà nel preparare una trattativa, destinata fin d’ora al fallimento. L’assenza di target vincolanti per le emissioni è il problema maggiore.

Fonte: Rinnovabili.it
Subscribe to EcoPensiero – efficienza e sostenibilità by Email

What you don’t know is really ALOT! And what you don’t know is what you’ll never know. I’ve got so much to tell you and pictures to show you but I don’t think I’ll ever catch up. I guess you’ll never miss what you don’t know because you don’t know what it is.

My mom and sister have been here for three weeks now and the phrase “all good things must come to an end” is unfortunately coming true tonight. They head back to their homes and their families and their beds which I’m sure they’re grateful for but it will be yet another sad goodbye. Man, I’m tired of those already.

Lookin’ on the bright side, though, we have done so much in three weeks!! I think they’re exhausted and will probably sleep for the 24+ hour flight home.  With the help of a little dramamine and benadryl perhaps?

Even though we’ve been running around the world and making all kinds of memories together, the moments I’ve loved the most are watching my mom and my kids playing cards and my mom and sister making school projects together, my sister teaching Anna how to make jewelry and riding in the sky with Jakeb. It’s been a short three weeks but we’ve managed to cram in a million memories and take almost as many photos.

I’m forever grateful for my family and still find it utterly amazing that anyone would spend a bunch of money to get here and leave their lives behind for us.

Photos coming soon.

Duplicate Bridge is not the same Bridge I learned on sleepy afternoons at my grandparent’s house at the shore. There were no bidding cards or deck cases and the whole game was not so silent. But the American Women’s Association plays Duplicate and so I must learn. The game is the same, just the trappings are different.

My late email was not read so I arrived unanounced to the organizers but they gladdly welcomed me. One of the chief women had other things to do than spend hours playing cards so I took her place. I was paired with K, a former Bridge teacher. With four tables and a light lunch I prepared for 16 hands of Bridge: probably the most that I have played in any one sitting.

Most rounds were uneventful. I won all of the hands I bid. K took few occasions to teach me anything but I caught on and often had to recall the voice of my grandmother or father explaining bids to me. When the three hands per table were done there was some chatting before we rotated. Mostly light. I got to tell everyone that had just moved here from New York and they all marveled at how young I am. I’ll never tell exactly how young but I vowed to dress older next time.

One conversation turned to how unpressured women of their generation (early babyboomers) were and how much is demanded of children today. I am not sure whether they were approving of me not working or dissaproving of my husband being so ambitious or WHAT they were talking about. Maybe I am reading too much into it.

Before I knew it the hours after noon had slipped away and it was 4:15. I promised K that I would return in two weeks after our trip to Hong Kong and she lent me a book for beginners. Her last teaching moment.

Nothing much to say about it .. its Danny Choo trying to imitate the Singaporean accent/slang! With a few mei-dos! =3 After AFA09, i was amazed to find out, not only was it a big event for otaku, but a massive culture shock for those who didnt know what the AFA was all about. Well, first time for everything! Apparently the newbies were shocked to see so many otakus in Singapore, and brain-freezed when they saw the maid cafe! Coz they didnt know how to react to it! ROFL. Looks like otaku culture is not globally known yet in some areas of the world. Either that, or these ‘normals’ have not been surfing the internet right! Haha!

The staff that  helped pull off AFA09 did a great job, even when they were shocked by Otaku Culture. Even when saying “I am trying to keep an open mind..” .. their minds mostly froze about how a big deal anime conventions can be! Its like that quote “Humans tend to fear what they do not understand!” .. enough bickering about the mortals .. they can take their own time to accept otakuism and evolve or something. Here are some of the AFA09 youtubes! (Credit goes to this uploader, Zerartul @ Youtube)

Team Singapore – Gundam 00 Exia. They won the competition!

Team Philippines – Witchblade

Team Malaysia – Code Geass

Team Thailand – Houshin Engi

]]> http://princesspanda.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/ang-bao-calculation-table/ Mon, 23 Nov 2009 07:03:25 +0000 princesspanda http://princesspanda.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/ang-bao-calculation-table/

I’ve found this really, really helpful!

Bear in mind, this is applicable for Singapore only, with possible slight variations in other Asian countries. Someone should do one up for Malaysia!