Spam & Junk Mail of the day!

Recently I got many mails with titles like this:

"Please help me update my address book"

and this:

"Join XXX's Network".

And I have had enough. Somemore the latter will keep on sending you following requests if you ignore the former mails. Although there is a link(I am not sure but there should be) to stop further invitations, I feel that is very cruel to click on it coz that will make me feel guilty about blocking my friends!

So, please don't simply forward mails or send such invitation mails to friends since it could be a disaster to him/her.

Perhaps somebody may think that this is an easy way to keep in touch but there are actually many other better ways to do this. Just keep this in mind, "Something you enjoy may not be so to someone else".

What do you want?

When was the last time you thought about what you want in life? Perhaps you are happy with your life now, perhaps you are not. Since the world is getting better and better, we(ok, most of us living in the cities) don't have to worry about food, accomodations and other necessities in life anymore. This gives us more time to think. However, I am not very sure if this is a good thing.

Last time when I was a child, everything was so simple. And I always seemed to know what did I want at a specific moment. But not anymore. Life is filled with so many things now and I don't really know which are more important than the others.

Life can be so simple but we tend to make it complicated and difficult. More advancement in sciences and technologies brings us more possibilities. And then more possibilities bring more options and choices. With more choices you need to make more decisions. And I don't think making decisions is something easy. Therefore, most of the time spent everyday is on making decisions. To do or not to do. Do now or do it later. etc etc... And this is quite tiring for me.

I think I am going to cut down the unnecessary in my life and make it simpler this year. Let add this to the list of my New Year's resolution.

Ok, going to get up earlier tomorrow.
See ya and Gnite.

And songs are good ;D

About our brain...

Just found this interesting article on the Internet. I think I am the one of the LWM group who is also affected by pressure...

... Oh did I just say that I want to live with more confidence?!?! Ok... I am of course in the HWM group who is not affected by pressure at all... (err.. I refer this as "cheating oneself behaviour"...)

Happy Chinese New Year!!!

Happy Chinese New Year to everybody!!! I hope that this will be a better year to everyone, including myself :P

OK, although I never put any New Year resolution into practice, I still want to make one this year. I hope I can live with more confidence and more trust in myself, and can make up my mind about what to achieve in my next stage of life :D Emm, sound great.

Do you have any New Year resolution? Share with me if you don't mind. I promise I won't laugh at you... hahaha... (^0^)

Back to Mac OS X!

Ok, I tried to install Debian on my iBook for fun during the winter break and I am now back to Mac OS X. You know I actually feel that it gets better every time I reinstall it :P And I just found the OpenOffice.org port to Mac OS X. No longer has to start X before starting OpenOffice.org... Oh, the port is not called OpenOffice.org, instead it is name NeoOffice/J. I thought "J" was for "Japanese" but it is apparently not :D It actually stands for Java. Ya, it uses the Java environment instead of X so it runs almost natively on Mac OS X(the start up time is a bit long... but usable...)

Well, although it is never complete but I would like to write a report on the experience with Debian linux on the iBook(G4/800MHz/318MB RAM/HDD 30GB/ATI Radeon 9200(?) Mobility). It was overall an interesting experience for me. I thought I have learned quite a lot about linux before I started the installation but I was wrong. I spent quite some time on making the "sleep" function to work properly when the lid is close. I recompiled the kernel(2.6.9) after applying Ben's sleep patch #7(thanks Ben :D) and rebooted just to find out that it wouldn't boot correctly complaining that it couldn't find the modules. So I tried to tweak the kernel config in any ways that I know(in fact I don't know many...) but it still didn't work. After a few times of recompilation, I noticed that the default kernel that came with Sarge had some other files(initrd.img, System-Map) other than the kernel image. So I started to study the man page of mkinitrd and finally successfully installed the patch. And it works flawlessly ever since! :)

Other than the above issue, I also managed to get the video-out to work properly. I applied a patch to XFree86 and editted the config file but later I heard that you don't have to patch XFree to get it to work. But anyway this works well, too. There were other small tweaks that took place but I have forgotten most of them. The above 2 issues took the longest time for me.

As a conclusion, though you need to spend some time to configure it to work, most of the functions work as expected and it is fun to install linux on a Macintosh machine. Next time I would like to try out NetBSD but at the moment I will stick to Mac OS X for a while.

Thanks for reading. :)

p/s The only thing that isn't supported under linux is the built-in modem since it is a software-driven modem.

Test result... (not academical ones...)

I took a test on this site and got the following results. Take the test and if you are the "Warrior Soul" or the "Visionary Soul", tell me :D It said that you are the most compatible with me :P

http://www.blogthings.com/kindsoulquiz.html

Emm... I see.. there are many other tests, too except this one...

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
You Are an Old Soul

You are an experience soul who appreciates tradition.
Mellow and wise, you like to be with others but also to be alone.
Down to earth, you are sensible and impatient.
A creature of habit, it takes you a while to warm up to new people.

You hate injustice, and you're very protective of family and friends
A bit demanding, you expect proper behavior from others.
Extremely independent you don't mind living or being alone.
But when you find love, you tend to want marriage right away.

Souls you are most compatible with: Warrior Soul and Visionary Soul
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Oooopppsss....

Now come to think of it, did I just violate the copyrights law by translating a part of a song? If you think I did I will take it down. Just tell me and don't sue me... (-_-!)

Found a good link!

You don't need to do the search for "Richard Stallman" anymore because I did it for you. Go here and read! (^ ^)

http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/

Happy reading.

Happiness that stay forever...

Be happy
Don't let your worries tie you down
Learn how to make your heart
As deep and as wide as ocean

Be happy
Don't try to figure out everything
Letting go is a must
To make happiness stay forever

- Translation of part of a song by Beyond -

The first time I listened to this song was when I was still in junior high school. My sister was(and still is, I guess) a great fan of a band from Hong Kong named Beyond. And this is one of their songs that I like the most. It has since then helped me through many down periods.

Someone may claim that, if you let go of everything, there will never be improvements. But I think the opposite way. Perhaps I am such a pessimist that letting go is the only way to calm me down, thus enabling me to concentrate better.

Recently I have been thinking about the copyrights law and reading a book written by Richard M. Stallman with the title "Free Software, Free Society". I really admire him because he can let go of many things just to uphold his own idea. For those who don't know, he is the man behind the free software movement. Take note that the "free" here doesn't mean "without a fee" as in "free beer", but "free" as in "freedom". They are different, ok? I think I will make mistakes if I try to explain the concepts here, so if you are interested please do a search for "Richard Stallman" and you will find out what kind of world he is trying to pursue.

Yawn~~~!(-_-)~~ Gnite.

Up and Down...

I was feeling quite happy last night, and even felt proud about myself since I have completed the compiler and it was approved by my TA(Teaching Assistant) that the compiler has passed all the prepared tests. What I have to do next is just to write the report and pass in. "Since I have been working quite hard these days, so I deserve one day off work", I said to myself and rested the whole night watching variety shows yesterday.

However, there is always down time following the up one. I got a piece of bad news today. The result of the mid-term test of the subject I am retaking(since I failed it last year... :( Do I have to explain this???) was out! And I have got a rather low mark :((( That means I have to aim for near 100 points in the final test... (x x)... >> Sigh <<

And whenever this kind of things happens, I tend to blame myself for many things, like not studying seriously, like spending my time on those foolish and meaningless things, like this and like that. It makes me feel really bad about myself. Is there any way to increase one's self-esteem? If you know one of them please let me know...

But don't worry about me. I will be OK again a few days later. This may be the only best thing about myself. Those some may refer it as "escaping from realities" :P But why not if realities really hurt you bad? OK again don't worry about me. I will be OK again tomorrow since I know there are many people who love me and support me no matter how lousy I am :D Am I right?

Come to think of it, I shouldn't let the bad overshadow the good. It is a fact that I've completed the compiler afterall :D

so see you.

Wow wow wow...

Wow I think I have been switched into the workaholic mode. I always think of work work work these few days. Stayed back in school late again today, testing my somehow-completed-but-should-be-full-with-bugs compiler. If everything goes as planned, I should be able to start writing the report this weekend ;D

However, another assignment, the experiment, didn't go as well as I expected. But since there are others who are struggling, too. I think I should be ok :)

Don't worry, be somehow happy...

Thinking of switching back to Slackware... Slackware... Slackware... By the way I am using Debian now...

Gnite.

Another hard coding day...

Phew... the compiler is a bit nearer to completion today. There is only one last feature I have to implement to get it into the next stage: the test phase. I think I will have some hard time again debugging this badly designed compiler :P But I think I should be able to pass in before the deadline :D Thanks to those who are supporting me, directly or indirectly :)

But there is another nightmare, the experiment. I have to design a pipelined processor in this experiment but I still haven't passed the first stage... Luckily the lecturers gave us extra time on it. See how I perform tomorrow.

Anyway, I think I will have some time to relax after completing these two assignments. Then I might format my computer again :P Oh, by the way I am running Debian Sarge now, on both my desktop and iBook G4. I really like it but I feel it is somehow slower than Slackware and FreeBSD. Perhaps it is because of the bloated desktop environments I am using. Although it is always said that linux can run on very old machines, it is not so true nowadays. If you would like to enjoy all the latest technologies, you might need a rather modern machine. FYI, I am running GNOME 2.8 and KDE 3.3 on an Athlon XP 1800+ box and I don't have much complaints about it :D

See you + Good night.

exit

Eyes strain...

Wow... I have been facing computers too much lately, for completing my compiler. The LOC(lines of code) of all the .c and .h files exceeds 4000 now. Heard from the lecturers that somebody has done the same thing with the LOC of 2000+. I don't know how they have done it but I think I am stupid. So I need to double the lines and the program is still not complete :P

Still wondering should I get a LCD monitor for the sake of my eyes. The price of the 17" seems attractive to me. But it may be a bit luxurious to have such a nice monitor. How should I get rid of the old large CRT if I decided to get one? Questions everywhere.

Anyway, after 31st of Jan I will be a bit more free. Since I should have completed all my reports and passed them up by the time... I hope :)

Getting busy...

School starts tomorrow. And this is how I spent this holiday according to my feeling(I didn't actually measure the time, ok):

50%: Configuring Debian on my desktop and iBook
30%: Going around and play
20%: School work, other activities

Althout I didn't manage to execute my plan to work on my school assignments in the holiday and will have a hard time in the following weeks, I think I have at least made it a meaningful holiday :D

Long time updates

Wow.... When was the last time I posted? I forgot already... There are many things happened since then... that is for sure :D But I am not going to write about all those things but just a little about the present.

It is the long awaited WINTER HOLIDAY!!!! I desperately needed a break from all those daily routine: going to school, doing assignments, reports, report this report that... wow... I have to treasure this holiday to do what I think I should do :) Oh ya, I successfully installed Debian Linux on both my desktop and my iBook.. Debian rocks!!! I love Debian!!!!

And there is a bad news... I think I have to close down the other two blogs, namely the linux blog and the freebsd blog, since I don't think I am going to post there anymore... so from now on I will post all the messages here :) Got it? :P

And another bad news, this is really bad... Earthquake in the north of Sumatra has caused a lot of damages to many countries... I don't know what I should say but personally I think that... we can't stop natural disasters like this one but we can definitely stop wars from happening... hope that we have a better year coming...

That's all for now... c ya...

Reports & Friendster & X'mas

I just reached home at around 23:10 just now. Was working at school lab trying to complete the assignments in an experiment. Tired... (_ _!) But finally got it done. I am quite happy with that (^ ^) That means I will not be that late for passing up the assignment(one week late actually, but I think at least 50% of the students couldn't make it to pass up today... Life is tough!)

I finally signed up with friendster last night as have been ignoring the invitations for quite a few times (^ ^!) I think it is a cool idea but my first experience with it was not very good. The server was slow yesterday but I think it is OK now. For those who have an account please try to search for my name and add me.

Just recieved the earliest X'mas card from my family (^ ^) Perhaps it is too early? Anyway, for X'mas, I think I will not go anywhere but sitting in front of the TV set. Perhaps I should go to invite some "lonely souls" to celebrate X'mas with me? Anybody? However, right after X'mas, I am going on a snow board trip (^ ^) Hope that my backside will not be as painful as last two times. Cheers!

OOoFf!

I have forgotten how long have I not been updating my blog. Kind of busy with all the reports, mid-term tests and some other activities. Just drop by to say hi. Today is a holiday and I am thinking of going out to rent a movie to enjoy myself before going back to study.

Came across this piece of news just now. A new software package is introduced. It is called OOoFf! Can you guess what is it about? Go and have a look. HINT: you don't really have to pay for it because you can get it free from here and here.

Hi, long time no see(?)

Have been disappearing for some time because of the mid-term exam on the coming Tuesday. Although that definitely doesn't mean that I have been studying all the time. Until now I still don't actually adapt to the way of studying here in university. How I miss the days in high school years (- - )

Was looking at some "job-seeking" site. And found out that many companies actually don't care what you have studied in university. So someone from the art stream can enter a technology company and become a programmer there. Amazing, huh? But this is how it works in Japan. They will re-train you once you entered the company. So I was thinking if this applies in Malaysia, too, what would I have chosen, art or science? What about you?

Still thinking whether to go have lunch with friends. And start to study later... any suggestions? :)

Say goodbye to my signature phrase...

"There are only 10 types of people in the world, i.e. those who understand binary numbers and those who do not."

I wrote the above phrase under my signature for the last few months. Now I changed it to something else. Just wanted to have something different. Actually, the above phrase is not my idea. I copied it from a website. It is thinkgeek.com which is selling products for geeks. Unluckily it is based only in the U.S. and it is expensive to buy from here. Sigh...

S.W.A.T. the movie

I just watched S.W.A.T. just now. And I saw no "W" and "T" in the movie. I only saw a guy who is not so handsome who thinks he is, acting solo. Teamship only can be seen when somebody got shot. Lousy lousy. And I just dun understand why they use a jet instead of an helicopter... someone please enlighten me... :D I was thinking that I could become more energetic after watching an action movie, but it made me feel sleepier... I would rather go for a Jackie Chan movie... :P