PC Show

I went to the PC show today, and bought a new ASUS VW192T model LCD monitor.

There were a couple of other brands available, Samsung, LG, Acer, DELL, Phillips, Hanns,...

The Samsung 931C, cool, but no more stock when I got there, LG's 19" L196WT, not bad too, wide screen, 2ms response time. Acer and Dell were the cheapest deals with the 20" LCDs, less than $300. Nowadays, people are not just looking at the price, but also the looks, response time, the LCD panel types, .e.g A, S or C, The 'S' type panels being the best, I heard.

Finally, I got the ASUS LCD, the promoter claimed it's a type "A' LCD panel, the price just alright. Not bad, I set it up, works fine, not for gaming though, but ok. It's wide screen, so have to try getting used to it.

Changed Blog's URL

Yes, I have changed my blog's URL address. The new one is much more easier to remember now.

I was at the library today for a couple of hours (rare!), grabbed some books to read, mostly IT related. I really like the cosy and quiet atmosphere there. Well, since I don't have a lot of things to do during the weekends and I have also completed my PC game of 'Hidden and Dangerous', I think I should go there more often.

Security Audit

Again, it's time for one of the systems that our team managed to be subjected to an external audit, this is done once per three years. Unlucky me, I have been chosen to front this audit exercise.

Althought, I have had experiences dealing with auditors, but I do still get scared sometimes, not because they are intimidating, but rather, what kind of information they will try to probe. They are smart people. On our part, each question should only respond with a simple answer, no more than that. To them, people are the weakest link, so they will always focus on people questions.

Read this: "There are those who will say that network security is an oxymoron - that if you put a computer on a network, it is no longer secure. To some degree, this is true. There is no such thing as a perfectly secure network." - Randal K. Michael's AIX 5L Administration book.

Hidden & Dangerous

It's 2.24am on a Sunday morning. I just had a game of Hidden & Dangerous, trying to figure out how to grab that decoding machine on the floor. Spent some time, but still couldn't find any help from the Internet. Bored, I drifted to another websites, reading some posts on the recent Fighter jet crash news which killed 4 soldiers in Taiwan. It's a pretty sad thing to happen, that made me pondered about the days when I was with the army. You look out for your buddy's back and he do the same for you, a simple logic to understand in order to survive. Yawn....time to sleep now....

Here we go again....

*Sign*....It's time, finally, our experienced DBA is leaving us, he tendered his resignation last Friday, 20/4.

I was told that he had found a new job in the finance sector, but still in IT field. The funny thing is that, his new job is on contract basis, for six months, I heard, but enough to make a decent pay equivalent to one year's salary here in this company. If I got an offer like this, maybe I will also consider, job market is good now.

Oh well, have to start doing knowledge transfer, again, kind of getting used to it now...

My new D-I-Y PC

Finally, I went down to the computer stores last Friday to get all the hardware needed to setup my new PC. A new ATX casing, MSI Mainboard, 1GB Kingston RAM and 250GB HDD are all that I needed. The Mainboard has built-in Sound and Video, so, I don't have to buy separate cards. Also, I saved a bit more by having to built it myself, usually, this costs about $40 if you get the guys at the stores to do it for you.

I have not done D-I-Y PC setup for years, but lucky, with all the diagrams and instructions given in the manuals, I managed to it set up and running in about a day, phew, but wait, except for one small issue, although the BIOS recognised the 250GB HDD, but the Windows XP Professional OS doesn't, this was due to the '137GB filesystem' limitation. The problem was fixed by installing XP SP1 or the most recent SP2 (in my case) from update.microsoft.com, of course, you must make sure you got the legitimate version of XP to download the patch.

The moment I turn on the PC, WOW, it was faster...than my old PC. So, what's going to happen to my old PC? Guess I will dismantle it, salvage what that can still be used, and maybe sell it in the Internet, ebay?

Thanks, uncle!

Today, when I was on the way home on a crowded train, a family boarded the compartment where I was lucky to have a seat. Seeing that a young kid from the family could not get a seat, I gave up mine, as usual (I am nice?). Most of the time, people will just take the offered seat without saying anything, but, this time, it was different, the small girl said to me, "thank you, uncle!". I was happy, over the sky, really.

Kids are kids, they are so innocent and sweet, but, when they grow up, will they still be that courteous too? I am not sure. We shall see then.....

A friend

I saw, yes, I saw this friend of me on a train home today's evening, guess what, we haven't seen each other for more than five years.

I think this is really pure luck, because I usually don't go back that early. Somemore in the same train cabin, board at the same door, but at different stations.

Obviously, she didn't see me, that I'm used to it, in the past, I'm always the first to approach her. She's married, I think, how I know? She is pregnant. She still the same with a tired and worried looking face.

So, did I approach her? Nope, don't think she still remembers my name. Maybe next time.....

Dreams can come true

The other day while I was day dreaming away on my couch, I dreamt about playing football on a large patch of green. The air was fresh, a light breeze was blowing, it was sunset time, warm, but not hot. Far in the distance south were mountains and hills. To the north, a river cut through the dense forest.

I was on a high ground, with my old time buddies of 15 years, we were playing football. How times flies, it has been that long since we were together again.

As I awoke from my day dream, I heard my pager beeped. Strange, I have never seen this number before, who could it be? A long lost friend, perhaps?

I called the number, well, you just couldn't believe it. It was one of my old time buddies! Who says dreams don't come true? It does for me, at the least expected...

Surprise!....No thanks.

Geez....I was shot by a surprise "arrow" last Friday, I was given a new task.

Apparently, some business "bighead" decided to cut cost, cut man-power, wanted to send me down for that task. Hey, this was last minute, just when I was about to knock off for the week!

This is tough, man, never expect them to do that, I'm too good to take advantage of or what? Later as I found out, they have been working on this piece of task for quite a while, someone was already fronting it, why the last minute change?

Till now, I haven't got much clue or info...*Oh...Oh.....*

Surprise!....No thanks.....really.

Old friends gather

Back from a friends gathering, some haven't met for more than 3 years. From the look of each other's face, we know we are getting old! Most of the guys are already married, they brought along their spouses and kids.

Hey, I know you guys are better off in that area, maybe, I need some little fixes in my life, but well, I guess I am still comforable now with my singlehood, I still have a job to do.

haha....take care.

Hungry king

When I am really hungry, I could eat a cow. Just joking anyway, I don't eat beef, what I am trying to say is that I could eat a lot more when I am, well, hungry. This is what I found out recently, if there is anything that stands in-between me and my food, I will go into a high RECON mode, eliminate and destroy! Ha...ha....not really true always.

I eat a lot at times, but my body is still ok, not thin nor fat, stike a balance in the middle. I think I am more health conscious these days, been trying to cut down on FATS in-take, especially saturated fats, there are quite a lot talks about this type of fats, last heard not good of the body, you shouldn't take more than 5g per day.

Windy season over?

Guess the north-east wind has passed, no more windy nights! The weather was so cooling for the past weeks that I don't even have to switch on the fan when sleeping at night, save a lot on the electricity. The heat is slowly creeping back, though the rain comes once in awhile, but hopefully, the haze doesn't appears again.

Rain, rain, please come! I miss you....

Manpower issue

The other day I was talking about a System Admin in my team leaving, the one who is supposed to replace him is from another department.

Just yesterday, the Resouce Manager spoke to him, and he highlighted his concern about the pay package. Apparently, the company may not be adjusting his salary if he comes over to our team. If this the pay that he is drawing after joining us, then it will be lower than what he's getting now. At the moment, he works on shift, so there's a shift allowance, with our team, nope.

Well, the Resouce Manager will talk to the HR, check whether there is anything can be done. Keep our fingers crossed.

Family gathering

Tonight, everybody will gather at my parent's place for dinner.

We are going to have a sumptuous meal of seafood steamboat, the prawns, crabs, abalones, noodles, etc... My mum's home cooking is the best, no comparison. I am looking forward to having the dinner tonight. Yummy......

Someone's leaving...

*Sigh*......a Windows System Administrator from my team has tendered his resignation, his last day will be on the 21 Feb.

He is an ok guy, who works hard, pro-active, willing to learn and have a good attitude, people with these traits are pretty hard to find these days.

What motivates?? Pay and opportunities to advance are the top most criterias of job hopping. There has been talks that company is not paying people well, maybe it's true. We tried to make him stay by counter offering, but failed, offered pay too low.

Nevertheless, I wish him all the best in his future endeavours. Take care and keep in touch!

St Valentine's Day

Today is Valentine's Day, actually to me, this is nothing special, just a normal day. You wash up in the morning, go to work, knock off after that, go home, have dinner, pick up a book and read and then go to bed.

I think this Day is being "blown up in proportion", a day where it creates opportunity for shops, restaurants and hotels to make money. A bouquet of half dozen roses could cost more than 100 bucks, worth it? Nope, I say.

I prefer a Day which is special and unique, like a birthday, not everyone around you celebrates the same birthday as you are, it's SPECIAL, I say.

To me, treasuring each day is the most importance, another day, another fresh start and your future is charted based on what you do today, don't waste it. Live on!

February 2007

It has been quite awhile since I last wrote, not that I have forgotten but simply was too lazy to write. So how's everyone? Enjoying your new year? Did you guys watch the fireworks on new year day? I was there, it was fun-fair and fantastic.

I was actually pretty relaxed at the start of the new year, not many projects work to do, so things were still manageable then, got some free time to do something else, e.g. jogging, swimming, sightseeing. But, come the next two months, work will start coming in.

Want to share with you guys, if you understand the Hokkien dialect, check this out....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjUX5hB74zs

Happy New Year 2007!

Hey, how's everyone? Enjoying the holidays? Have you any plans for the coming new year?

The Internet link in this region was crippled by the earthquake last week, it was very slow, and most of the time couldn't even access sites hosted in Nothern America. Kudos to the guys who fixed the broken under sea cable lines. There's this guy in Taiwan saying that this will never happen in another 100 years. I think this incident clearly shows that it's just too much to rely on these links alone, especially most links goes to Taiwan and Japan, the high risk earthquake regions, then to the America, having an alternative cable path is just too expensive, they say.

Oh well, let's hope this will not happen again....in another 100 years, perhaps.

Christmas eve...

Today is X'mas eve, but I'm still in office, working. Why am I working? It's not because I don't like holiday, but I got to finish up with some outstanding work, so that I can go on leave till 28Dec.

Although, I don't really celebrate X'mas as a religious day, is a holiday to me actually, but, I do buy a gift for my little niece, as she is such as loveable girl. I always make a point to get her a present or gift on her birthday and X'mas.

I have also send e-greeting cards to my colleagues, wishing them a happy and joyful X'mas and new year.