Earth Hour 2009

Three days ago, I got to know that I was shortlisted for JPA scholarship interview. I chose Engineering(Germany), and my interview will be held at 2pm on 1st of April(APRIL FOOL!) at Putrajaya. Being a pessimistic person, I know it's hard for me to not think negatively towards the outcome of the interview. You and I both know why.

The interview takes the form of group discussion, in which I heard there will be some kind of debate between the interviewees (around 4-6 people per group?). Hence, with my blunt mind, I'm sure that I won't be able to catch up with other interviewees' conversation and points. Not forgetting that my communication skills are below average.

Anyway, I just found out that the marks are now allocated as below:
75% result
10% family background
10% cocurriculum
5% interview performance
Now I better hope that this is true!

By the way, Earth Hour will be held later today at 8.30pm. But I might not be able to be at home at this time since I have to attend the so-called "Academic Prize Award" ceremony at Ikhlas Jaya Tuition Centre, and I doubt that my tuition teacher will "celebrate" it to prevent some wolves from taking advantage.
I don't know what will happen when the time comes. Are we able to see the neighbourhood in darkness? Or will we be seeing the neighbourhood still in flashy lights? Well, to me, this is just an event in an attempt to save the Earth(?), if we, I mean the whole mankind, would like to save energy to save the Earth, we should be using less electricity everyday, on our own will. There's no need to wait for this day to shut off all your non-essential lights, when you lit your spotlights and flashy blinky ornaments just to show how majestic your house is everyday (no offence).

But still, it's still a good thing that we respond to this event, as long as it still reduces energy consumption, and shows that we have the heart to save the Earth! May God bless these kind-hearted people will be safe from darkness. (Think, who don't like to take advantage of everything in the darkness?)

For more info about Earth Hour, kindly visit these websites:
Earth Hour homepage
Wikipedia

DIY transplant surgery

Ok lads, do you want to become a surgeon? Err, I mean a "computer surgeon". All you need is just some basic computer knowledge, so you can do it even if you're a layman! Sounds easy right? Great, let's move on.

I went to Low Yat Plaza today to buy a new DVD-RW drive to replace my LG GSA-H55N which died few weeks ago. I was unlucky perhaps, the H55N just lasted for 1 year+, just exceeding the 1 year warranty. Zzz.

Today, I was unlucky again. I was opting for the Pioneer S16FXB, but none of the shops I visited has the stock. Dumbstruck. Out of no choice I had to buy the inferior Pioneer DVR-217BK. (Well, my mom was with me, which made me felt lazy to survey any longer). Anyway here's the picture:

There's nothing special about the package, but it's bundled with a decent burning ROM software, Nero 8 Essentials. (Well again, I didn't bother to try it, so I didn't know how essential it is, obviously)

The "surgery" started as soon as I get home. Before I start, allow me to explain my title.
DIY (Do-It-Yourself): I don't think you need a group of "surgeons" to replace a broken DVD drive?
Transplant: An action of replacing a broken part with a functional one. In this case, the broken H55N is replaced by the new 217BK.
Surgery: Err, what's the reason? Transplant is a kind of surgery?
So, current or future doctors & surgeons (pro pro), please don't despise me and thinks that I'm trying to act pro with my title. ;p

I tend to talk too much cr@p, now back to the topic. I start by cleaning dusts stuck at the mesh material at the front of the casing to ensure optimum airflow. This action is irrevelant, but I know it will be left uncleaned for another half year if I don't clean it now, which might cause any of the hardwares to go haywire again.

Then, both side panels were removed. The device was disconnected from the motherboard, along with the IDE cable. I found a new SATA cable, and was made to spiral helix shape using a pencil, because it will be the same with IDE cables in terms of space occupation and appearance (BEING FLAT! LOL).

The final product

Next I installed the new 217BK on the 5.25" bay where the H55N used to be. Finally, SATA cable and power connector were connected. Side panels were then installed again. Surgery has finished, in less than 5 minutes!

Ignoring those wires, the SATA cable is still looking good IMO

I can finally do everything related with discs again. Hooray!

By the way, now I know why it's a surgery, because it's so identical to surgeries done by real professional surgeons!
1)Cleaning mesh material --> Surgeons disinfecting patients before beginning
2)Removing side panels --> Opening up the patients body with surgeon knife
3)Removing broken hardware --> Removing broken organs (example: kidney)
4)Installing functional hardware --> "Planting" in functional organs
5)Installing side panels --> Closing/sewing up the wound
Well, the CPU's a system after all, I bet there's nothing wrong with it ;)

Yong Xian's birthday

As the title implies, today is my friend, Yong Xian's birthday. We celebrated his birthday at Aeon Cheras Selatan today morning.

Things didn't go as we have planned though. Our birthday boy didn't show up on time. I'll keep the reason to ourselves. We decided to have a karaoke session instead of watching movies.

We bought him a cake and ate it during the karaoke session. It was fun. It's been a long time since the last time I sing and as expected I can't live up the standard I used to be..Now my throat is sore enough to even talk properly. Failed.

I didn't prepare a present for him (sorry boss), we just used this chance to hang out together before some of my friends begin their college life. To continue the "celebration", we even went to a cyber cafe at Sungai Long, before finally going home.

Anyways, Happy Birthday Yong Xian bro. Wish you all the best in your studies and future. And of course, wish you good luck in your relationship with your gal. XD

SPM? What is that??

Today is the day where we receive our SPM results. Today shall be a historical day in our lifetime.

I arrived school at around 11.30am. Well I have to say that our school is a bit slow as we have to wait until nearly 12pm before we can take our SPM result.

Anyway, when the time finally comes, the feeling and tension I was having is hard to be described. Although my face didn't show any expressions, my heart was pumping fast while lining up, the waiting is actually..exhilarating. When these feelings clash together, I felt that I was going to have a heart failure, seriously.

There goes the queue and it's finally my turn. My teacher searched for my slip, and said "Congratulations! Full straight A!" to me. WTF, I got nerved and thought I got 11A1, but no lar, I'm not that pro to get it. I could see it at my first glance through the slip that I got an A2 for my BM as it's at the top of the list. I failed, in terms of getting full straight A1..
Anyways, I can't get any prouder about myself for scoring this kind of result. Everything was out of my expectations, especially the 3 language subjects. Was luck on my side again?

Today, some unlucky ones might get scolded by their parents for not scoring the amount of As they required, I felt sorry for not being able to give any appropriate advice or help regarding this matter, just hope that they can get over it soon. On the other hand, those lucky ones might get something as their reward. Well, they get their rewards always anyway(I was referring to the rich ones).

For me, it's just the same. My parents didn't rant on or praise me. Never mind, I didn't study for that. I'm most probably not going to receive any rewards. Never mind, I know my family condition and won't ask for more. Without these kind of "motivations", what actually drove me to take this exam so seriously? My future? Or, is it because of you?

I don't know. What I know about now is that applying for scholarships for private colleges are easier than before. One A1 less, still ok la, more choice, but still not the most. Now I just have to consider about entering which college to further my studies.

Say, I have complicated feelings about my BM result. I hate it because it ruined my 11A1 dream. But, I have to love it because it saved lots of my money as I have made deals with many friends that I have to give them a big treat or buy them a laptop if I ever scored 11A1. It saved my money but I have to compromise my better valued scholarships, which means, my dad is the one going to suffer instead of me(my dad will be the victim for both situations actually. Zzz).

Cheers!

*Special Thanks*
My teachers for their teaching and guidance all these years.
My parents for creating me and spending money to educate me.
My friends for their help in my homework all these years.
Anyone who has ever despised me before.(?)

The judgement day has come

This post should have been written earlier today, if not because of the sudden heavy thunder rain that poses a threat to my computer made up of delicate electronic components.

Say, I can't recall when is the last time the rain falls so heavily like just now. The sky is so dark when it should still be bright, small ice pieces falling from the sky, the thunder is strong and non-stop, the wind is blowing as if there's a typhoon happening here, and I mean it. Although I can't see roofs flying in the sky, but it is most certainly going to blow away stickman like me.

At first, I thought this heavy rain is going to save me from facing the SPM results I'm going to receive tomorrow. But obviously it didn't work as I'm still writing cr@p here. Hahaha...fail.

Anyway, I'm shifting back to the topic now. Every student that has taken their SPM 2008 should have already known that the results will be released tomorrow(duh). We will be going back to our school to take our results(duhz). Someone might scream with happiness, someone might cry, someone might even not bother to show any expressions.

Tomorrow will be the day for me to decide whether I should continue my studies with A-level or Form 6. Anyway, I hope to get as much As as I can, of course, preferably more than 10A1s, but that's not going to happen. I'm not going to pray for it because I never pray during the normal days. If I do it now it just looks like "临时抱佛脚" and usually it doesn't work.

In a nutshell, it's the result that matters. I have tried my best in the exam, even it's not good compared to myself during the trial exams, but it's over. As mentioned in Ah Gong's latest post with his pro philosophies, if you knows how to feel satisfied, you will be satisfied with everything no matter how good or bad the thing is. For now, I wish every SPM 2008 students will get their ideal results tomorrow. Wish me luck too! Hope I still can see all of you after tomorrow ;)

MGS3 ending

Another post about games, hope no one's going to get bored. ><

Finally, we get to know that SPM 2008 results will be released on 12th of March, which is next Thursday. After the long waiting, I'm going to see how many subjects that I've failed in. Can't wait for that day to arrive as the waiting is killing me now.

To make the time "fly" faster, I've been concentrating on gaming(again), but not as excessive as last time, of course. Far Cry 2, the next-generation FPS PC game, is very tiring to play for long hours as compared to Maple Story. However, I've just finished this game recently, and I'm not feeling to keep on playing L4D or my ears will burst from gunfire. I came up with an idea: Youtube-ing.

If you're living in Malaysia I'm sure that you're familiar with this local telecommunications company called TMNUT, with their broadband serviced named SCREAMYX, offering "broadband" speeds as fast as a dial-up connection(for some people, or take it as an exaggeration. No offence!). Hooray!

Since it's that slow, buffering Youtube is a helluva task to carry out. A one-minute clip might take you more than 3 minutes before you can stream it smoothly. Given this situation, you can open the clip first, pause it, do something useful in your life while waiting for it to buffer completely, before watching it.

Suddenly I have the urge to watch MGS3 cutscenes to revise my understanding towards the story of the game. The best of all, it's the game's ending. I loved the ending the moment I watched it. This is one of the best endings, if not the best, for a game. Listening to the soundtrack while watching the movie just makes the ending feels so...dramatic. I havn't play MGS4 yet but in fact, I think MGS3 will be the best game in terms of storyline in the MGS series.

Here's the movie clip. You may watch it if you like it. Enjoy!


It's touching, well, at least for me, since I get touched rather easily. However, finished gameplay is recommended for the best experience ;p. Did you learn anything from this movie? Well let me share mine. I learnt that history can be altered by politics or some other factors. For example, The Boss should be remembered as a hero for her sacrifice but she was remembered as a war criminal in history instead due to the "special arrangements" made by the government.

I know this is fictional, but that doesn't eliminate the possibilities of this occurence in our world. I mean, imagine, what if the texts we read in our History textbooks aren't the actual events or facts but is altered instead? Who knows if we had been given false informations regarding history all these years without realising the truth? Well, only God knows..

Lastly, I would like to end my post with this famous Chinese idiom:

尽信书不如无书

It's March already!

It wasn't 29th of February yesterday, because this year wasn't a leap year. It wasn't 30th of February today, because this date has never existed! God, I've completely forgotten about the date if I have not checked the calendar today!

Time flies, I've been living my idle dreaming days for like, 4 months? Good, that's 4 months of time wasted doing and gaining nothing, well, except for the "heightened" reflex from intensive gaming...In this 4 months, my brain is blank, everything learnt just to face my SPM has gone to nowhere. So how am I going to survive the high-level education?

And since it's March now, our SPM results are most probably going to be released at the second week of the month, as I read from the newspaper. I've yet to make up my mind about the course that I shall take. A-Level or Form 6? Each of them has their pros and cons. For the former choice, you study at colleges, which is a new environment, but you will have to pay a high tuition fee for it. While the latter is free, you still study in your boring secondary school, and are still bound to the good old school rules.

Still, my choice to take which course will fully depend on my SPM results. Good results = more scholarships, so that I have more choice to study in private institutions. As for the opposite, I will have to stay in my good old secondary school to study Form 6 and take STPM in the future.

I have no issues with both of them actually, since both of the Pre-U courses are widely recognised in the world, only if you obtained good results in either of them, of course. My dream is to study in Singapore universities, with grants and scholarships. That will postpone at least 7 years of time for me from joining the s2pid NS by the gov'ment.

A-Level/Form 6: 1 & 1/2 years. Engineering course: 4 years. Bond attached from grant(work in Singapore): 3 years. So, I will be 27 or 28 years old by the time I graduate from university and "detached" the bond. And by that time I might be able to get some disease that can help me skip NS! LOL. Hell, I won't curse myself to get diseases just to skip this programme. Just hope that this dream comes true and I can continue to work overseas until I'm 35 years old.

But wait a minute, I did say everything has it's pros and cons, didn't I? If this dream ever comes true, this means that I will have to be a single dude until I'm 35 years old before I can come back here to find a girlfriend. I don't think I can afford the high "maintenance fee" of Singapore girls le. ><"

(P.S.: Again, not criticising Malaysian girls for having low "maintenance fee", but I simply like Malaysian Chinese girls more ;P)