Friday, July 31, 2009

Property of..

.. the SAF.

There’s probably no hiding it now.. I’m now ‘one of them’. It wasn’t exactly the start that I expected, since I still have to wait up to a month for them to officiate the documents.. but this is pretty much it. I’ve now a new sticker on my 11B.



I can already foresee the comments that will come streaming in.. brace urself alvin. Brace..

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Acknowledgement

Today, it suddenly dawned on me that I’m gonna be convocating next week. And that I’ll actually be a university graduate. RIGHT.. I never thought of it this way.. and so I sit here and I suddenly feel humbled.

I thank God and acknowledge all that He has done the past 3 years with me/for me throughout my undergrad time in NTU. I acknowledge without a shadow of a doubt that I attain my grades not by my own might, my own brilliance or by my hard work, but purely by the grace and provision of Him.

Anyone who’s known me will definitely know that I’m not the academically sound kinda person. Far from it.. I prefer things that I can see/hear/touch/feel/do.. not books. So I’ve never excelled in school, I’ve never been the brains of the family nor have I ever been mr high-flyer-straight-Ace-boy. But as I look back now, from my PSLE, to the big Os, to my diploma and now my degree, I can safely say that I’m proud of my achievements.. and most importantly, I know full well that these are not by my own might.. but a gift.

And so, I acknowledge that it’s all His doing.. and I have to just continue to trust and believe that there’s a path out there that’s carved out for me.. all I have to do now, is to just follow it.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Zap!

Recently got into the Harry Potter hype.. but it’s got nothing to do with the new movie tho.. all credit goes to beeps. So it started with finding the movies for her cos she wanted them.. being the nice brother that I am *cough*.. so naturally, I watched it too.. and that was my first time watching Harry Potter.. yes, I know.. If u know me, I haven’t exactly much chance to watch movies.

So anyway, I started watching the 3rd installment first.. the one with the prisoner and the dementor thingies.. and I have to say.. it’s Good! Hah.. abit long for a movie.. but the story’s nicely written and the visual effects did it justice too.. so I’m happy. And of course, with my new set of speakers.. I’m not complaining.. =)

So I’ve since watched the first 2 of the series and they’re decent too.. and I now understand what all the hype with Daniel Radcliffe is abt. He’s really got that boyish charm and fresh-face thing going.. more so for the first film especially. But no, don’t worry, I’m still straight. Baah.



Ok, on a separate note.. I came across this article on the new issue of Popular Science.. abt some submersible science vessel that they aptly named.. well.. Alvin. =) hah.. quite shocked when I came across that article. It’s some 21-million dollar (woot!) deep-sea research tool that can apparently dive to 21,000 feet with 3 ppl on board (for the record, the RMS Titanic rests at 12,500 feet).. fully equipped with the latest techy stuffs like high-def cameras and such.. quite amazing.. hah.


Alvin can dive now too!! Haha..

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

ARGH

Ok, here’s a quick update at what’s been going on for the past few days..

My computer started screwing up.. for starters, my anti-virus went to auto-update itself and then it starts detecting that some of my files were Trojan-infected.. files that have been sitting there and running with no issues prior. So after many failed attempts at trying to sort it out, I decided to do the unthinkable.. format my computer.

Any windows user will be familiar with the issue at hand. A computer when brand new behaves brand new.. nice and fast.. then over time.. by abt the 6th month.. things start to get screwy.. and almost every 6 months, you need to do a system overhaul to keep ur machine running efficiently. Yes, it’s one of the ‘joys’ that a mac user will never have to go through..

So I look through my archive and I realize that the last harddisk image I created was back in September 2007. That also meant that that was the last time I formatted my comp.. all thanks to my FYP that I kept pushing back the task of formatting it.. just in case I forgot to back up some stuff and jeopardize my project and grades and honours and blah blah..

So now, I’ve got a clean desktop, but that’s abt all.. I’ve to reinstall all my programs, games, drivers, and utilities that I’ve included since Sept 07 and worse.. I forgot to back up my ICC colour profile that I painstakingly created (as mentioned here). DARN. And at the end of the day, I realise that it's just the stupid anti-virus that's too 'sensitive'.. it isn't a trojan; the file isn't infected. Stupid boy.

So much for windows.. when will google’s new OS come.. pls hurry.

Alright, on a brighter note.. if u’ve been catching the adverts on tv lately, u’ll notice the trailers for the new season of Singapore Idol.. then they’ll show these clips of ppl ‘trying’ to make it. There this one that strikes me really hard.. like REALLY HARD. The lady who goes “I’m the next avril lavigne.. ASIA’S AVRIL LAVIGNE!” totally cracks me up.. sounded more like ‘ahhveel lavin’.. heh. So jokes aside, I decided to dig out some of her songs (yes I actually got them)..

and latest earwax? Avril Lavigne’s When You’re Gone.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Chi Ba Boom!

.. that’s my attempt at spelling my interpretation of how an explosion sounded like when I was younger.. hah. Chi Ba Boom!

Right, so anyway, after what seemed like forever, I finally got down to getting me a set of 2.1 speakers.. =) yet another entry on my wishlist that I can strike out..!


Creative A300

Yesyes, I know, for the purists out there, I can already start hearing the mumblings and grumblings, either that it’s some low-end system, or that it’s a Creative, or that it’s a whatever-that’s-not-up-to-your-standard.. but sometimes in life, it’s all about being contented. You find happiness in being contented with what you have.. and being technically still unemployed, 49 bucks is as far as I’ll part for a pair of speakers..

And so I’ve learnt to be contented in the simpleR things in life.. I am contented therefore, I am happy. Hah.

Right.. so now I can blast (or Chi Ba Boom) away at the silly games I play, watch my movies with more oomph literally and my attend my favourite concerts as though they’re right in front of me, right here on my computer.. all thanks to my nice new set of ears.. brilliant!

Oh and yes, on a separate note, I can’t help but want to mention this.. u know how google has these little google-art thingies that changes with some event.. how they’ll decorate the word ‘GOOGLE’ on their webpage to fit whatever current event is happening.. so well, today I noticed a rather familiar icon while patronizing google..



that to me, looks awfully familiar and somewhat a comforting flashback/reminiscence of the poster I designed for my IA stuff.. ahh.. lovely memories. =)

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Chrome

Took a while to decide what to blog abt today.. so while snooping around, I came across this article that was on my RSS feed on my desktop. It talks abt Google’s Chrome, which is supposedly their very own web-browser.. to me, honestly, it’s getting kinda saturated, with the likes of netscape (remember?) eventually dying off..

For starters, I’m glad that there already are open-source rivals to micro$oft’s Internet Explorer. I’m using Firefox myself, and I totally love it. The whole idea of a ‘tabbed’ browser (which I totally love) came from them anyway.. and with the newest versions, u get a fully enabled browser, without all the crashes and junk and security breaches that IE usually comes packaged with.

Anyway, the topic isn’t exactly on slamming microsoft’s product or anything like that, but instead it mentioned that Google plans to come up with their very own Operating System for the personal computer.. I'm thinking Android on steroids.. hah. And yup, it’s gonna be open source. *everyone goes yay*

So against all odds, I’m hoping that this will truly be the answer that I’ve been looking for.. as lamented here, it’s the tiny kinks and creases that mar the wonders of open source OSes, and hopefully, google will maintain their high level of standards and be the answer the open source world hopes for.. ultimately bringing one that can rival and *hopefully* topple microsoft.. *cough*

Oh, and on a separate note, while looking for inspiration, I looked out my window tonight and noticed mr moon. So after a few balancing acts with some of my tools, I finally managed to capture a decent shot of him.. one of the best shots of the moon I’ve ever made with my humble Powershot A520.


fly me to the moon anyone?

Monday, July 6, 2009

A Tribute

With all the hype and buzz surrounding his demise, I figured, what the heck, I might as well jump on this bandwagon..

And Yes, for the record, I recall a period of time where I wanted to be him; trying to imitate him and the way he danced.. hey, I was just a kid, being a kid. =P (u can stop laughing now)


The King of Pop.. it’s not difficult to see why he created such a stir.. sheer brilliance..

Sunday, July 5, 2009

They say..

..that life is short..

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Happy SAF Day

Yup, happy SAF day to one and all.. was just gonna hit the sack, then figured, I might as well put up a post here. Since it’s the first day of July anyway.. so might as well start the ball rolling. So for all those out there who will be promoted today, a big Congratulations to you. HOOAH!

Took a loong swim today, and something tells me I’m so gonna feel it tmr morning. Hah. And I added me some new entries into my playlist too.. amongst them I’ve added some Rob Thomas/Matchbox Twenty songs.. lovely kick to it.. somehow these types always appeal to me. Anyway I also think it’s time to do some house keeping, some of the songs that I don’t really fancy are starting to pile up..

Latest Earwax.. The Calling’s Wherever You Will Go. Ok, I wanted to keep this post short and sweet and unlike this one, I intend to actually do it this time. =)