Quote of the Day:

"Nunquam ubi sub ubi!"




create your own visited country map
or write about it on the open travel guide

Aiyah, very pathetic. Anyway this thing is misleading. If I just put a foot in each country for one second, the whole map would be red.



Which Evil Villain Bad Habit are you?

Very accurate quiz.


I got this Canon S200SPx Bubble Jet Printer for $88 at Carrefour today, which is a great price for such a small printer (or maybe I'm just out of touch with the tech market). But it didn't come with a USB cable. Argh!

And this brings the number of USB peripherals I have to. One cable modem, one scanner, one MP3 player (currently down), one digital camera, one printer (What's wrong with LPT1?!) and one external cd-rw drive. All sharing 2 ports. Yeh.

I'd get a USB hub, but I remember what happened the last time I tried using one. *shudder*


140 days (20 weeks) to ORD!

You are the grammar Fuhrer. All bow to your
authority. You will crush all the inferior
people under the soles of your jackboots, and
any who question your motives will be
eliminated. Your punishment is being the bane
of every other person's existence, because
you're constantly contradicting stupidity.
Everyone will be gunning for you. Your dreams
of a master race of spellers and grammarians
frighten the masses. You must always watch your
back. If only your power could be used for good
instead of evil.


What is your grammar aptitude?
brought to you by Quizilla

Haven't deteriorated that much. At least in non-verbal skills.


Penguin Batting

I got zapped by metal surfaces due to static electricity discharge twice. Seems I'm becoming like my sister. Maybe it's due to the new shoes. Or maybe I should get mattresses that reduce the level of static electricity in your body.

I think bureaucrats are extremely comforted by the sight, feel and smell of redundant paperwork, especially since they don't have to create it. They also suffer from a paranoid fear of having too little data to work with, so they call for a suffocating excess of it instead.


Ramblings from a distant land:

"a friend of mind has suggestged picking up 16-17 year old chicks because they've just hit puberty but are still young enough to con. you've been down orchard road. 14 year olds these days dress like geylang whores. most girls these days have seen more at 16 than we have in our whole lives."

Stolen baby Jesus figurine comes back black - Someone who took a baby Jesus figurine from a church's outdoor Nativity scene painted its skin black and then brought it back.

TV sitcom so transforms use of English - Language from popular Friends sitcom provides viable reflection of changes in American dialects

Terrorists of Another Brand - If you visited Disney World in Orlando sometime in the late 1990s and had occasion to ride a water taxi in one of the several theme parks, your boat driver just might have been a friendly middle-aged fellow with a nametag bearing "Jean-Claude." The tag may have even shown he was from Haiti. Perhaps Jean-Claude would have answered a few of your questions about the park, or even patted your young son or daughter on the shoulder as your family disembarked from the vessel. Disney officials, after all, have publicly stated that Jean-Claude Duperval was a fine employee until he left in 2002. It’s likely Duperval’s former employer did not provide a reference letter to Disney, since the former employer was Haitian dictator Raoul Cedras. Major General Jean-Claude Duperval was once the Deputy Commander of the Haitian Army under Raoul Cedras and helped Cedras and his band of thugs run that impoverished island country after they overthrew the duly elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 1991.

The last dinner of King Midas.

Kokomo Spoof

Guess the Dictator or Sit-Com Character

The Official Ninja Webpage: REAL Ultimate Power

Black People Love Us - We are well-liked by Black people so we're psyched (since lots of Black people don't like lots of White people)!! We thought it'd be cool to honor our exceptional status with a ROCKIN' domain name and a killer website!!

What Beagle 2 was supposed to do on landing on Mars: "To the amazement of any nearby denizens of the Red Planet, it will play a pop song (by Blur), display a modern art picture and release balloons with sponsor’s names on them. (These are all genuine scientific experiments, but the Poms have noticed a way to make money, hopefully enough to fund the entire space program)." (Dr Bob's Skeptical Quiz, Sep 2000 issue) Maybe the little green men didn't like Blur and zapped it with their photon guns


Handsome Boy, Steven Lim aka the Eyebrow Plucker has updated! Now he's writing a book "that includes tips on... fast and magical weight gain and loss and also better skins with less acne problems!!!"

If I ever meet him on the streets, I will ask him to pluck my eyebrows and then take a picture with him!


Entries in the The Online Atheist Dictionary:

Bear - A wild animal used by God to kill groups of children for making fun of bald prophets (2nd kings 2:23-24)

Circular Argument:
* (See circular logic)

Circular Logic:
* (See circular reasoning)

Circular Reasoning
* (See circular argument)

Many other mirth inducing examples abound. The entries are mostly shorter and less dense than those in the equally excellent, albeit more verbose Devil's Dictionary (The latter link is non-blasphemous - well, largely anyway - and is safe for reading by people of all ages and dispositions).

CNY

Chinese New Year. Ho hum. Got bored several times during the dinner, but at least the food was good.

I think the Chinese have this really macabre obsession with making money, striking it rich and worshipping the God of Fortune, as reflected in their New Year Songs.


Rants and Sites

I updated my A70's firmware from 1.0.0 to 2.0.0 and all that happens is it becomes PictBridge compatible? They've got to be joking.

~NEVER BUY TAMPONS AGAIN! ~Menstrual Cup~New! - Melvin finds the weirdest stuff on ebay.

The Spice Boys - THE DARKNESS have done the impossible — and become Britain’s fastest growing band in the United States since the SPICE GIRLS.

"I will nail you all night, I'll hit like a mountain. Don don don diri diri don don don don" - Madrigals can be vulgar but it's okay as long as the lyrics are in Italian (First line in Italian: Mi ficcar tutta notte, urtar come monton. Now, don't that sound innocent!)

"not only do they touch each other's boobs
they touch other's ppl's boobs
ppl who do not want to be touched"

- Someone studying overseas on JC age girls from Singapore. I thought only guys liked molesting each other.


Intellectual Whoring

Why VERY INTELLIGENT Men Fail With Women

Got the above via E-mail - presumably the one who sent it to me thinks that he falls into the category of "VERY INTELLIGENT" :P

"If you don't know what to do at every step along the way, you'll be shut down very quickly. Women have an AMAZING "He doesn't get it" radar system. Women have all kinds of subtle and ingenious tests that they throw at men to separate the "get its" from the "don't get its". And if you don't get it, then you're going to fail one of these tests VERY quickly. But the worst part is that you won't ever KNOW that you were being tested... OR that you failed."

In a related note, was sent (by the same person) - Intellectual Whores. In short, it does not refer to a "smart slut" as it were, but rather to males who are kept around by women for their mental entertainment. These men usually want to sleep with these women who usually consider these men friends.

Among other things, there is an article on "Ladder Theory", "a theory of adult male/female interaction".

'you're everybody's favourite intellectual whore!!... what got me interested in the first place was because you were a "intellectual whore"' - Gee.


Sikhism

we all know the turban is an intergral part of sikhism, while the tudung is not.. but rather a mere accessory with religious conotations, such as wearing a cross.

Unfortunately, modernity has eroded the basic tenets of sikhism. How many Sikh boys do you see with turbans these days? The bracelets you see more frequently. I wouldn't know how many still carry the Khanga or wear the Kachha, but you sure as hell don't see people brandishing their Kirpans! I'm not sure whether using the dagger-toothed comb to symbolise the Kirpan is disingeneous or not - could someone enlighten me as to this (someone who is not He Who Shall Not Be Named will be most welcome ;) )?


Meetup.com

Unfortunately, fewer than 5 people confirmed that they'd attend
the Singapore, SG Atheists Meetup, so this month's Meetup is
CANCELLED. Help make it happen next month!

What you can do now:

Spread the word for next month:

* Tell friends about http://atheists.meetup.com/
* Post flyers around town: http://atheists.meetup.com/flyer/
* Tell good websites about http://atheists.meetup.com/share/

Similarly,

http://brights.meetup.com/

Help spread the word for next month:

* Tell friends about http://brights.meetup.com/
* Post flyers around town: http://brights.meetup.com/flyer/
* Tell good websites about http://brights.meetup.com/share/

(For the uninitiated: A bright is a person who has a naturalistic worldview. A bright's worldview is free of supernatural and mystical elements. The ethics and actions of a bright are based on a naturalistic worldview.)

14.8% of Singapore has no religious affiliation, I'm sure we can get at least 5 on Meetup.com.

Viruses of the Mind by Richard Dawkins

Even for those who frown on controversy and political incorrectness, Section 2, Computer Viruses: a Model for an Informational Epidemiology, makes for an interesting read.

The article also explores something that has puzzled me for a long time thus: "Is it possible that some religious doctrines are favored not in spite of being ridiculous but precisely because they are ridiculous? Any wimp in religion could believe that bread symbolically represents the body of Christ, but it takes a real, red-blooded Catholic to believe something as daft as the transubstantiation. If you believe that you can believe anything", and includes a seemingly paradoxical (and thus intriguing) quote: Certum est, quia impossibile est (The fact is certain because it is impossible.) (Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullian, De Carne Christi [ch. V, pt. II])


George W Bush and the real state of the Union - 0: Number of coffins of dead soldiers returning home from Iraq that the Bush administration has allowed to be photographed, 0: Number of funerals or memorials that President Bush has attended for soldiers killed in Iraq, 100: Number of fund-raisers attended by Bush or Vice-President Dick Cheney in 2003

F*** THE NAZIS, SAYS CHURCHILL'S PARROT - SHE WAS at Winston Churchill's side during Britain's darkest hour. And now Charlie the parrot is 104 years old...and still cursing the Nazis.

Passers-by stop to watch as flames envelope a young Buddhist monk, Saigon, October 5th, 1963., Buddhist monk sacrifices himself - A Vietnamese-born Buddhist monk who self-immolated outside a U.S. pagoda on Christmas Eve sacrificed himself to call for an end to religious repression in his native country The more things change, the more they stay the same

Hotel Erotica - We have all had one night - The things people get up to in the Sims Online

THE SIMS AND THE ALPHAVILLE HERALD - As they observe, When you try to censor someone, though, everyone else will automatically believe that what they're saying must be true


Had a spin on the Beta version of Technorati, and found yet more people I don't know linking me. Wah. Who are all of you? :0


It seems most Nokia phones support only 4 simultaneous tones. That's pathetic.

I have just removed the opacity, partly in preparation for a new layout (sometime in the distant future). IE shouldn't choke up on it anymore.

My page's new layout is "commissioned for $15 from someone".

And maybe the only people to go on Friendster now are bored NS guys in camp and kairen, though the latter may have something to say about that *g*

Something's wrong... everytime i go to gssq.blogspot.com my IE crashes. Any-way... for all those who didn't know, i'm back in singapore and singapore is ... very hot. What's this craze about adidas, and now puma shoes?

I see "Gabriel's homepage" has surfaced yet again. Who did the layout for u? On first glance it doesn't look like signature gabriel style. What is gabriel style? Any thoughts?

On another note, is the friendster craze dying out? Haven't seen any recent bulletin board messages/new friendster requests on my friendster for some time

That the quote happens to be there is purely a coincidence. I've got the ORD mood, remember?


Muslims protest head-scarf ban in France

Considering that the ban is only for public schools, the reaction seems disproportionate.

Funny how Singaporean Muslims meekly accepted the standing headscarf ban. I say, in the interests of fairness and consistency, that the turban should be banned too.


Damnit, the first 2 pages of search results for "'power rangers' kimberly" are mostly sites offering access to the usenet newsgroups "alt.sex.fetish.power-rangers.kimberly" and "alt.sex.fetish.power-rangers.kimberly.tight-spandex".

I'm surprised no one has made any politically-correct comments about your use of "arbeit macht freit" when juxtaposed against your sufferings in NS.

Although, you fat spoiled bastard, even a vague allusion comparing your life to Auschwitz and the Shoah is pure self-pity.

I'd intended to use the same basic layout for both Balderdash and my re-launched homepage, but it hasn't worked out due to my inability to tweak the layers to compensate for the dynamic blog Image of the Week (or other time interval) and the positioning of the blog entries. Oh well. Maybe I'll use another layout in the near future. In any case, I present:

Gabriel's Homepage (Vague Incarnation III)

It comes with some words about the history of both sites, since I was feeling somewhat inspired in my half-daze.


What You Can't Say - (This essay is about heresy: how to think forbidden thoughts, and what to do with them. The latter was till recently something only a small elite had to think about. Now we all have to, because the Web has made us all publishers.) - I can't really say succinctly what this article is about, but I found it very enriching. Plus, there was a reply to He Who Must Not Be Named's accusation that altrusim is always a thin veneer disguising pure, unadulterated self-interest (since he always sees the worst in people and the human race to better vindicate his lambasting of everyone and anyone, while ensuring that he has already totally debased and degraded himself, all so no one can accuse him of hypocrisy, only of being ridiculous), as well a riposte to his extremely broad definition of hypocrisy which would make leading a normal life impossible.

I admit it seems cowardly to keep quiet. When I read about the harassment to which the Scientologists subject their critics, or that pro-Israel groups are "compiling dossiers" on those who speak out against Israeli human rights abuses, or about people being sued for violating the DMCA, part of me wants to say, "All right, you bastards, bring it on." The problem is, there are so many things you can't say. If you said them all you'd have no time left for your real work. You'd have to turn into Noam Chomsky.

Making the same point is this Zits comic:

(Image has been resized so it won't break the layout)


Ever since my brother in law finished his Masters in Management, he's read nothing but stupid management books which say nothing that's not new and commonsensical, and inflicting these theories on me daily. In other news, we ordered "Candian" 2 for 1 Pizza last night, and agreed that it sucks. Hell, even frozen pizza is better and cheaper.

My mother has some very weird ideas. She thinks that I thought a pair of pants she recently shortened for me are too short only because Screwed Up Girl said so. Huh?!

Pacman for Excel - The amazing things macros can do.

JD5000 Proxomitron Filters - Perhaps the most intricate filter set I've ever seen. Industrial strength filtering indeed, but I've yet to work out the bugs it causes with Hotmail.

Ban Comics Sans - Some people are obviously too free. But then, I have an abiding suspicion that this is a joke.

Garfield Sucks - I totally agree. It's seriously un-funny and lame.

A Woman's Guide to Peeing Standing Up

Smoke Kills - How smoking leads to the Apocalypse

Does it take less muscles to smile than it does to frown?

100 MOST OFTEN MISPELLED MISSPELLED WORDS IN ENGLISH

Woman's Skin Falls Off, Miracuously Lives

Bush's Desolate Imperium - Though the author is a little alarmist and extremist, I largely agree with the points in this essay. Sadly, the USA has already swung too far to the right.


"The only unassailable arguments these days are materialism and pure philosophical agnosticism. If you are dealing with someone who believes that the material world exists, you can win every argument by having the position that all that exists are atoms and molecules bouncing randomly around and that there is no moral or philosophical principle that can be proven to be true, or even to have any meaning. Life is completely pointless on a philosophical level, but if you want to continue filling your belly just for the sheer bloody- mindedness of it, Darwin pointed out the basic game plan and Ayn Rand filled in the egotistical details. Have at it.

If you have someone who is more clever and knows to argue that the material world may not exist, then there are not only no moral or philosophical principles that can be proven to exist, but indeed, there are no scientific principles that can be proven to exist either. You have sunken into solipsism, which of course can't be proven either, leaving you with no provable statements whatsoever. As before of course, if you wish to continue filling your non-existent belly with insubstantial morsels, there are plenty of other non-existent people who will apparently play that game with what we will for argument's sake call you, so jolly good luck, if there were such a thing. "


Singapore assailed on 'hidden' death penalty toll

Singapore leads the world in executions, putting more people to death on a per capita basis than Saudi Arabia, China and Sierra Leone, the human rights group Amnesty International said Thursday.

In a report entitled "Singapore: The Death Penalty - A Hidden Toll of Executions," the organization described the city-state's execution rate as "shockingly high" and called on the government to impose a moratorium on all executions and commute all death sentences to prison terms.

"We are also calling on the authorities to end the secrecy about the use of the death penalty and encourage public debate," the rights group added.

About 400 people have been hanged in Singapore since 1991, mostly for drug-trafficking, Amnesty International said.

Singapore's drug laws are among the world's harshest. Anyone 18 or older who is convicted of carrying more than 15 grams, or half an ounce, of heroin faces mandatory execution by hanging.

But there was "no convincing evidence" that the tough penalties had curbed drug use, the organization said, citing Singapore Central Narcotics Bureau statistics. The figures showed that 3,393 people were arrested for drug offenses in 2002 and that the number of new drug abusers was up 16 percent from 2001.

From 1994 to 1999, an average of 13.57 executions were carried out per one million people, three times higher than the next country on the list, Saudi Arabia, Amnesty International said.

The Prisons Department said 400 executions since 1991 was a "fair estimation." The government does not usually publish statistics about death sentences or reveal the number of prisoners on death row.

I still support the abolition of the death penalty, especially since it doesn't seem to deter people

Quote of the Day: "Arbeit Macht Frei"

Trust in the SAF

The SAF has a serious problem with trust. The implicit assumption is that enlistees can't think and are unworthy and incapable of being entrusted with responsibility, as reflected by the lower pay and status. Then again, even Senior Specialists are not that highly regarded, to say nothing of Specialists. If you are a Third Sergeant, you are entrusted with the onerous burdens of conducing warmups for PT and being a station IC for IPPT, but you are not trusted to do (marginally) more important things, like conducting activities, leading WITS Teams or approving documents. Those are tasks fit only for Officers, as we all know that their (on the whole) higher educational level and 9 months in OCS have magically endowed them with wondrous skills, even if the real work is done by other people - most often poor, suffering NSF enlistees, the true unsung heroes (more than roadsweepers, who at least get paid for their effort, have a choice to quit and get copious tributes in Chinese moral education textbooks) - most of the time (as is the case of the latter 2 examples) while everything is done in the name of the Officers, giving them all the credit [Ed: You can substitute "regulars" for "officers" and the point would hold - perhaps even more firmly].

Then again, I don't blame them. Non-officer NSFs can't be trusted, and there are good reasons for this. You enslave them for at least 2 years and treat them with little respect, like they are sub-humans unworthy of dignity due to their lack of rank. You make them do things they don't want to do. They serve as your guinea pigs, scapegoats and whipping boys for regulars. And then to add insult to injury, you pay them peanuts. Perhaps the most damning factor, however, is the lack of trust in Non-officer NSFs. Trust is reciprocal and recursive - if it is not given it won't be returned, and if you don't try to trust someone in the first place, he will never try to earn the trust. It's just like how children won't love you if you don't love them back.

In contrast, let me cite an anecdote that was related to us. This Australian soldier was hyperventillating due to an acute allergic reaction brought on by drinking water that had been purified with iodine. Their medic specialist gave him 2 puffs of Salbutamol, gave him a shot of adrenaline and sent him straight to the hospital. In contrast, we aren't allowed to give patients any medicine except for 2 tablets of panadol - not even over-the-counter medicine, let alone Salbutamol, and SAF personnel on ambulance attachment are only supposed to observe, even if their medical qualifications are greater than that of the SCDF paramedics.


PACES, the computer system for medical record management, undoubtedly sounded like a good idea when it was first introduced in the middle of the last decade. However, I think it is responsible for the greatest complaint of the patients - the waiting time. Due to the slowness of the system (mostly due to network bottlenecks), it can take up to 3-4 hours for a patient to get his medicine and status slip from the time he sees the MO. Whereas under the old manual system, a patient could conceivably leave the medical centre with his medicine and status 3 minutes after seeing the MO. This problem has become particular evident recently, for our report sick rate since the start of the year has been of a magnitude unseen since BMT, and comparable to that of 46's (considering their PTP started less than a month ago, that's saying something). 42 must be doing really horrible things to them.

I have an inkling that when cellular phones first came out, the SAF banned them. Eventually however, it sucuumbed to the inevitable and now the SAF would collapse without them. I wonder what implications the growing crop of camera phones has for the SAF - they are the future, and I don't think everyone is going to change their phones just to use them in camp. Maybe they will accept the inevitable eventually.

I think the ORD mood is striking me. The past week I've been ditzy and easily amused, and have been in better humour than for a long time - maybe since my unit started whacking me last July. Or maybe 42 has finally driven me crazy.

It seems all the uniformed SAF women I see are warrant officers. I wonder where they are hidden when they are sergeants. Maybe it's to keep them away from deprived NSFs.

A friend went for his BMT recourse and was the only one there who found the food good. Coincidentally (or otherwise), he was also the only one from Armour. Hmm.

Our cookhouses are getting pseudo-Western pretentions again. One day we had what was billed as "Mulligatawny Soup". This turned out to be a hot-and-sour soup with potatoes and onions inside - a far cry from its description as a "Classic Anglo-Indian soup, the name of which means "pepper water," [which] should be richly endowed with meat and piquantly spiced." At the same meal, the "Chicken Chop with BBQ Sauce" was more a hunk of chicken than a chop.

One of the great mysteries of life - why, by the time I eat my breakfast at the cookhouse, there's only one option left, usually the poorer one - has been solved: One day I went there early, and saw that the SFI people were only serving one of the two choices of breakfast, probably to save manpower. So their laziness condemns most of us to eating the lousier breakfast.

We now have Company PT on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. The Unit Fitness Program (UFP) has been moved to Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. Whee. Time to collapse from exhaustion. Luckily I'm starting to clear my off and leave...

Recently I've put this Singtel 2004 Calendar on my table in the medical centre, and marked each day from January 1st to June 11th with a number (days till June 12th). Now, not only do people vandalise my calendar, they keep moving it from its location. I've a good mind to nail it to the table.

I think a lot of the stupid things we are made to do can be explained thus - the people who make us do them think that we are as free as they are.


Misc Matters

It seems that Singaporean judges always like to use vitriol laden, emotionally charged language. Eg "You are a monster". I've come across many other examples, but they do not readily come to mind. I find that very unhealthy as self-righteous moralism is no way to dispense Justice - which is supposed to be blind, fair, just and impartial, after all - as it probably leads to unnecessarily harsh sentences being dispensed.

China is being hypocritical again. They've trotted out the "interference in our internal affairs" line again which, oddly enough, doesn't seem to have been used recently, and called on the USA to "stop interfering in Hong Kong's Internal Affairs" after a spokesman said the USA supported moves towards democracy there. Right. Meanwhile, China gets to interfere in Taiwan's Internal Affairs flagrantly and shamelessly, even making not-so-veiled threats of war and as for Tibet, well, it's much worse than mere "interference".

The Nokia DKU-5 cable is ridiculously overpriced. I saw it at $88 at one shop, and that's apparently one of the cheaper quotations. I wonder how they think they can charge so much for a simple cable.

The music that NUH plays to callers being put on hold is now Chinese New Year music. Argh!

I've finally seen the books authored by Fabio! After hearing about them for so long but not seeing them, I'd thought they were apocryphal, but one day in EMF bookstore I saw his familiar pectorals splashed across a book cover.

No anti-dandruff shampoo I've used has ever worked, but Selsun, a selenium sulphide suspension, is working miracles. I heartily recommend it.


Quotes:

[On booking out dockets] What do you put in remarks? [Someone: 'Post Out'] [Me: 'Good riddance'] They're actually very nice people. [Me: Then what did they do to deserve a place like 42?] That's what they were saying during posting.

[On someone attempting to commit suicide by drinking a bottle of muscle rub] Next time ask him to kill someone first... Kill the people who are torturing him.

It's good to have a horse... I can ride it to camp... but nowhere to park... I can let it walk home, then when I need it I can whistle and it will come, like Gandalf (It would be good, but there's, Gandalf did)

rifle stringe (sling)

You mean your camera got phone meh (phone, camera)

Braised pork chop in haninanese sauce (hainanese)

If you ask me my unit - SIW lah. [Someone: School of Infantry Weapons?] Soldier in Wonderland.

[On the price of being in the Premier Combined Arms Division] They are fuckers. My reports are never ending.

If Gabriel pass IPPT, I'll treat the whole medical centre Crystal Jade. [Someone: The Taka one] If Gabriel get a silver for IPPT, I'll treat the whole medical centre anything they want. [Me: If I get Gold, you'll treat the whole of Sungei Gedong] If Gabriel get gold, I'll treat the whole of Sungei Gedong anything. One bao4 yu2 [Ed: Abalone] each. (passes, centre to, gets, centre to, gets, Gedong to)

[On asking questions of TCS Artistes] You are sex kitten. I always fantasise you going around my bed naked (?)

[On asking questions of Fiona Xie] I'm a big fan of your breasts

[On asking questions of TCS Artistes] How do you keep your breasts so big?

[On my good humour] Gabriel, are you getting married or something?

[On SCDF people] The other day we saw them being knocked down at the gate. [Someone: Are you sure they weren't saying Friday prayers?] Jee bye! [Someone: Kannina!]

[Me on someone: Effeminate does not mean gay] He's not like Andrew Gan.

[On me not getting an understudy] After you ORD, 42's morale will go down, then they will have to be decommissioned as a unit... No one to book referrals.

[On a regular] See? Gey Kiang [Ed: Hokkien for 'trying to be too smart'], go and upgrade. Now cannot pass [IPPT], want to downgrade.

[On sggirls.com] I normally go for 'swimsuit' and 'laundry' (lingerie)

...


How Satan is propping up Bush's war on terror - An obsession with the devil, born out of personal experience, explains why so many fundamentalist Christians believe that Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden were working together In actuality the feature says little about Saddam and Osama. Enlightening nonetheless

Officer Murphy Is Screaming - God and the Problem of Suffering in Paul Verhoeven’s Robocop "I can't decide if this is ultra-elaborate satire or not". Unfortunately, looking at the other articles on the site, I'm inclined to believe the latter.

I thought MP3/WAV to MIDI convertors were quite good, but after some grappling with them, I am very disheartened. In related news, you won't believe how hard it is to find Power Rangrs WAVs these days.


Search Requests:

rgs pinafore sports bra - I went to see what else this gets you, and found one site where someone ranted: also bought 2 sports bra... the stupid saleswoman so dumb lorz! anyway dint wanna buy the one with the thing inside... make your that thing look so big... eeew... *hints at hippo* i want to make mine smaller lorz.. the person said it was like what? size 32 or something.. sheesh... disgusting lor... i dunno why some ppl like ... I thought big was good. Singaporeans are weird.

schoolgirl give rectal thermometer - I'm sure they love getting em up the ass. Never knew that this would happen when I recounted how I had to shove one up someone...

rape of nankan - I take offence, for I am a great fan of Wo-Hen Nankan, the one and only Asian Prince!

2003 guestbook of top mechanic in turkey - Maybe he won an award.

steven spielberg bipolar disorder - He has it? Or he made a movie about it?

bestiality noticeboard - A noticeboard dedicated to animal on human sex? Whee.

jilat puki - I doubt malay porn sites are very prevalent. (This means "Lick my pussy" in Malay btw)

"Neverwinter Nights" AND "Nude Portraits" - I can't believe people still want their adventurers running around without so much as a cloak.

FACES OF DEATH OFHOLLYWOOD - If Hollywood ever makes a movie based on "Faces of Death", I will swoon.

ah beng tudung - Never shall the twain meet.

anne coulter braless pics - Someone has a thing for naked female right wing fanatics.

Gay geppers - Erm.

photos on how to clean your anus in european style of toilets - I never knew that Europeans had a different way of cleaning up after defecation. And to think this came from Google India.

On faith:

The philosopher Ronald de Sousa once memorably described philosophical theology as "intellectual tennis without a net," and I readily allow that I have indeed been assuming without comment or question up to now that the net of rational judgment was up. But we can lower it if you really want to. it's your serve. Whatever you serve, suppose I return service rudely as follows: "What you say implies that God is a ham sandwich wrapped in tinfoil. That's not much of a God to worship!" If you then volley back, demanding to know how I can logically justify my claim that your serve has such a preposterous implication, I will reply: "Oh, do you want the net up for my returns, but not for your serves? Either the net stays up, or it says down. If the net is down, there are no rules and anybody can say anything, a mug's game if there ever was one. I have been giving you the benefit of the assumption that you would not waste your own time or mine by playing with the net down."

Now if you want to reason about faith, and offer a reasoned (and reason-responsive) defense of faith as an extra category of belief worthy of special consideration, I'm eager to play. I certainly grant the existence of the phenomenon of faith; what I want to see is a reasoned ground for taking faith seriously as a way of getting to the truth, and not, say, just as a way people comfort themselves and each other (a worthy function that I do take seriously). But you must not expect me to go along with your defense of faith as a path to truth if at any point you appeal to the very dispensation you are supposedly trying to justify. Before you appeal to faith when reason has you backed into a corner, think about whether you really want to abandon reason when reason is on your side. You are sightseeing with a loved one in a foreign land, and your loved one is brutally murdered in front of your eyes. At the trial it turns out that in this land friends of the accused may be called as witnesses for the defense, testifying about their faith in his innocence. You watch the parade of his moist-eyed friends, obviously sincere, proudly proclaiming their undying faith in the innocence of the man you saw commit the terrible deed. The judge listens intently and respectfully, obviously more moved by this outpouring than by all the evidence presented by the prosecution. Is this not a nightmare? Would you be willing to live in such a land? Or would you be willing to be operated on by a surgeon who tells you that whenever a little voice in him tells him to disregard his medical training, he listens to the little voice? I know it passes in polite company to let people have it both ways, and under most circumstances I wholeheartedly cooperate with this benign arrangement. But we're seriously trying to get at the truth here, and if you think that this common but unspoken understanding about faith is anything better than socially useful obfuscation to avoid mutual embarrassment and loss of face, you have either seen much more deeply into this issue than any philosopher ever has (for none has ever come up with a good defense of this) or you are kidding yourself (The ball is now in your court.)

--- Darwin's Dangerous Idea. Evolution and the Meanings of Life, by Daniel C. Dennett, pp 154-155


Suppose, however, that God did give this law to the Jews, and did tell them that whenever a man preached a heresy, or proposed to worship any other God that they should kill him; and suppose that afterward this same God took upon himself flesh, and came to this very chosen people and taught a different religion, and that thereupon the Jews crucified him; I ask you, did he not reap exactly what he had sown? What right would this god have to complain of a crucifixion suffered in accordance with his own command? - Robert G. Ingersoll


1. Do not feel absolutely certain of anything.

2. Do not think it worthwhile to produce belief by concealing evidence, for the evidence is sure to come to light.

3. Never try to discourage thinking, for you are sure to succeed.

4. When you meet with opposition, even if it is from your family, endeavour to overcome it with argument and not by authority, for a victory dependent upon authority is unreal and illusory.

5. Have no respect for the authority of others, for there are always contrary authorities to be found.

6. Do not use power to suppress opinions you think pernicious, for if you do, the opinions will suppress you.

7. Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.

8. Find more pleasure in intelligent dissent than in passive agreement, for if you value intelligence as you should, the former implies a deeper agreement than the latter.

9. Be scrupulously truthful even if the truth is inconvenient, for it is more inconvenient when you try to conceal it.

10. Do not feel envious of the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise, for only a fool will think that is happiness.

- Bertrand Russell

Unfortunately, following them faithfully would probably lead one to ostracism

Al Dente didn't use to levy a service charge. Now that they do, instead of printing new bill paper, they resort to cheapskate measures!



You will marry Wo-Hen Nankan. He is filthy rich and will take good care of you. You will get to be driven around in his fast cars and sexy vans. Plus, he has a vibrating hand. Congrats!!!


Which male celebrity are you going to marry? (10 results that have pics!)
brought to you by Quizilla


caning for life.

Caning is a necessary and useful tool in the modern education of young children.

Errant children need to learn at a young age that misbehaviour or inadvertent mistakes may result in violence. On top of caning teachers should ridicule the children in front of the class so as to reduce their self-esteem. Phrases such as "you not so clever now are you?" and "ooh..I wouldn't' like to be your bottom?" are the particular types of comments which a teacher could use after a serious caning.

Should the caning be fatal, the teacher should immediately cane all the children in the class so as to remind them not to talk to the authorities. Another fatality may be used at this stage as an extra deterrent.

Having been a teacher in Kazakhstan for over 15 years, I have found the above techniques essential in maintaining respect for teachers despite the fact that class discussion is often curtailed. But then, there's nothing a good caning can't help! (a touch of caning humour).

I hope that these points have been useful and should you need to any further advice on specific caning techniques or situations in which caning is necessary (oh and there's lots) please do not hesitate to contact me.


Internet 'geek' image shattered

LONDON - The typical Internet user - far from being a geek - shuns television and actively socializes with friends, a study on surfing habits said on Wednesday.

The findings of the first World Internet Project report present an image of the average Netizen that contrasts with the stereotype of the loner "geek" who spends hours of his free time on the Internet and rarely engages with the real world.

Instead, the typical Internet user is an avid reader of books and spends more time engaged in social activities than the non-user, it says. And, television viewing is down among some Internet users by as much as five hours per week compared with Net abstainers, the study added.

"Use of the Internet is reducing television viewing around the world while having little impact on positive aspects of social life," said Jeffrey Cole, director of the UCLA Center for Communication Policy, the California university that organized the project.


Quoted by an anonymous person:

"Could you imagine a world without the internet? I know, it's pretty hard to think about. Instead of sitting on their asses in front of a computer screen people would go outside and experience what the world has to offer. People would create real relationships with other real people instead of making love to an instant messaging program. Sounds good huh? Wrong! The true purpose of the internet is keeping people like that out of the real world. Do you really want some role playing fetish fuck standing in line with you at the grocery store, or would you rather have them stored safely away in front of their computer screen, away from the rest of us? Would you rather have Counter-Strike nerds playing that stupid game for hours on end in their room, or do you want them out and about attempting to trip over third base with your daughter? The choice is obvious. For all that we curse the internet for, it is actually a blessing. It's a kind of prison for those too stupid or mentally unstable to escape it's suffocating grasp. I wouldn't have it any other way."


For thousands of years, men have tried to understand how to deal with women. Now, behavioural scientists have come up with an infallible merit/demerit system to help men manage. Remember, in the world of romance one single rule applies: Make the woman happy. Do something she likes and you get points. Do something she dislikes and points are subtracted. You don't get any points for doing something she expects. Sorry, that's the way the game is played. Here's a guide to the points system:

SIMPLE DUTIES
You make the bed [+1]
You make the bed, but forget to add the decorative pillows [0]
You throw the bedspread over rumpled sheets [-1]
You replace the toilet paper roll when it runs out [0]
When the toilet paper has run out, you resort to Kleenex [-1]
When the Kleenex runs out you use the next bathroom [-2]
You go out to buy her tampons [+5] in the snow [+8] but return with beer
[-5] and no tampons [-25]
You check out a suspicious noise at night [0] it turns out to be
nothing [0] it turns out to be something [+5] you pummel it with a
six iron [+10] it's her cat [-40]

AT THE PARTY
You stay by her side the entire party [0]
You stay by her side for a while, then leave to chat with an old university
drinking mate [-2] named Tiffany [-4] Who is a dancer [-10] With breast
implants [-18]

HER BIRTHDAY
You remember her birthday [0]
You buy a card and flowers [0] you take her out to dinner [0] you take her
out to dinner and it's not a sports bar [+1] Okay, it is a sports bar [-2]
and it's all-you-can-
eat night [-3] it's a sports bar all-you-can-eat night, and your face
is painted the colours of your favourite team [-10]

A NIGHT OUT WITH THE BOYS
Go out with a pal [0]
The pal is happily married [+1]
The pal is single [-7]
He drives a Ferrari [-10]
With a personalised number plate (GR8NBED) [-15]

A NIGHT OUT WITH HER
You take her to a movie [+2]
You take her to a movie she likes [+4]
You take her to a movie you hate [+6]
You take her to a movie you like [-2]
It's called Death Cop III [-3] Which features cyborgs that eat humans [-9]
You lied and said it was a foreign film about orphans [-15]

YOUR PHYSIQUE
You develop a noticeable beer gut [-15]
You develop a noticeable beer gut & exercise to get rid of it [+10]
You develop a noticeable beer gut and resort to loose jeans and baggy
Hawaiian shirts [-30]
You say, "It doesn't matter, you have one too." [-800]

THE BIG QUESTION
She asks, "Does this dress make me look fat?" You hesitate in responding
[-10]
You reply, "Where?" [-35]
You reply, "No, I think it's your bum"[-100]
Any other response [-20]

COMMUNICATION
When she wants to talk about a problem: You listen, displaying a
concerned _expression [0]
You listen, for more than 30 minutes [+5]
You relate to her problem and share a similar experience [+50]
Your mind wanders to last weekend's game and you suddenly hear her saying,
well, what do you think I should do ??" [-100]
You have fallen asleep [-200]

IT'S THAT TIME OF THE MONTH
You talk [-100]
You don't talk [-150]
You spend time with her [-200]
You don't spend time with her [-500]
You are seen to be enjoying yourself [GAME OVER - YOU LOSE!!!]

Note to self: In future, for more than one reason, always set alarm clock whenever father says he'll take "15 minutes".


"I have always urged Christians to debate with a Muslim (and vice versa) to see how ludicrous the other's justifications are. You will then have a realization of how ludicrous your own justifications (rationalizations) are. Please do this."

"It is one thing to inherit the facial features, hair color, etc. from the parents but a totally different thing to inherit sin. To be consistent, don't you think if one inherits 'sin' or the Sanskrit equivalent of it 'Paapum', then one should inherit the opposite of it for which I know not the Biblical word but the Sanskrit word is 'Poonyum'. Which means, if my dad and mom were wonderful human beings who have accrued a great deal of poonyum, then I should inherit all of that, right? In the Christian view, if my parents have accepted Jesus, their sins are washed away and they have become 'perfect' enough to spend eternity in heaven. Automatically I should inherit their perfection. However, this 'positive inheritence' does not happen according to Christianity."

Tales from the Medical Centre

One day when I was the Duty Medic, there was a need to send a patient to A&E. Now normally it is hard enough to find someone willing to go down to A&E, despite the lure of Civilisation and the opportunity to buy the New Paper and maybe even patronise the NUH food court, but this time it was worse, for this was no ordinary patient, but a transvestite/transsexual. Even though I found at least 3 people who were totally free, I could not find anyone who was willing to send him. I would have sent him myself, but I was on duty. In the end, his unit medic sent him even though he had something on later. It just goes to show that in modern Singaporean society, where discrimination based on someone's race, religion, language and gender are all politically incorrect, it's still acceptable to harbour unreasoning prejudices against those with sexual identities or orientations judged deviant. So much for us being a multi-racial society - it doesn't seem to have made us more tolerant (even on a superficial level) of differences beyond those drilled into us as being unacceptable. People fear what they do not understand and destroy what they fear.

Jonathan and Wang always like to shit together in adjacent cubicles. I suspect their bowel movements are synchronised, in the same way that the periods of females who always hang out together are synchronised.

People always like to leave the door of the Documentation Room open after they enter or leave it, despite frequent reminders (from me). This is especially irritating when I am the Duty Medic, since not only does hot air blow in, pesky insects (of both the 6-legged and 2-legged varieties) like to fly in to bother me. Luckily, the broom is long enough for me to use it to close the door, though it is rather tiring.

"Underpaid medical staff pinched drugs and supplies" - this was written about Tanzania, but I think it applied perfectly to the SAF as well

Stories from 42

A regular told us that in 25 years in the Army, the highest AWOL rate he's ever seen is in 42SAR currently. I think that speaks for itself, but would also like to wager that the attempted suicide rate is, similarly, also the highest that he has ever seen.

I left my cupboard lock's key inside the cupboard on Christmas Eve, since it was the lousy type of lock (Tri-Cycle, a blatant ripoff or Tri-Circle, which is really sad - pirating a China brand) which allows you to remove the key even if the lock is open. As a result, I was locked out. Valiant camp mates from all over my level came to help me break the lock on Sunday night, but they all failed despite attempting the widest range of lock-breaking methods known to Man - from a skeleton key to Arc of Fire sticks to Paramedic Scissors to an Entrenching Tool (ET) Blade and even the ET Blade, ET Stick and a helmet, all to no avail. Eventually the lock gave way the next morning after dilligent hammering on my part with a hammer and screwdriver. But at least we now know that Tri-Cycle locks are very strong.

We have been told that now Urgent Leave has to be applied for in person, and not by phone. This is most curious, for I had always believed that Urgent Leave was Urgent, and servicemen needing it could not afford to return to camp to apply for it. I wonder what will happen if in the future someone's father is dying and he is told to return to camp to apply for Urgent Leave, but while he does so, his father passes away. If that unfortunate eventuality comes to pass, I hope the requisite heads will roll.

It seems we are not allowed to sit on our beds in the morning, on pain of getting confinements. The bunk is a very dangerous place indeed, so I will resolve to leave it as soon as possible each morning.

The Unit Fitness Program is not conducted by 42SAR. We are told that the reason for this is that someone (who probably has nothing to do with the UFP in the first place) just had to make the stray comment that if the PTIs took us, there would be "no sense of belonging" (we'd rather not belong to 42, thank you very much), but I think another reason is that the Chief PTI realised that UFP had become the 42 Fitness Program, and that 42 had spoilt the market (because since after 42 men started joining in, those from HQ Armour didn't turn up anymore). We are all very sad that we're now to be trained by 42, since the training will inevitably be less imaginative (and thus more boring), more regimental and involving us doing a lot of silly, unnecessary things and less useful (since the PTIs are the experts at PT).

I notice that recently, the 42 cookhouse has cleaned up its act. Its food used to be really bad, getting worse when all three cookhouses decided to have cooks from each place taking turns to cook, but I think it has responded to complaints, probably to keep a "receptivity" rating of more than 90%, arrived at by some mystical formula involving the celestial movement of the signs of the zodiac. Nowadays it's edible most of the time, and they've even made up for the period when they used to skimp by providing 3 dishes for chicken rice instead of 4, as specified in their contract - by providing a bonus dish (Tau Kee) for their chicken rice on two occasions.

Bureaucracy is a great consumer of paper, and the SAF is no exception. Some might recall my previous rant about admin instructions, even for minor activities like company games, with one particularly farcical safety hazard - "Serviceman is hit by frisbee". This time, I saw the lesson plans for the Close Combat Training packages, and the whole stack was ridiculously thick. However, on closer inspection I found that all the lesson plans shared at least 95% of their content. I divine that much of this is done to cover people's asses, and to conform to ISO regulations (this devil hits yet again!), but I wonder if it does more harm than good, for the amount of paper wasted - not helped by idiots who print out all their email - is surely leading to deforestation. (Incidentally, our paper is provided by "SFI" - Sabah Forest Industries and I doubt any part of it is recycled, so I think the Dayaks are the ones suffering the impact of our bureaucracy) The SAF may get award after ISO 900X award, but it's not getting any credit from the WWF or related agencies.

Something is very wrong. Often, my uniforms start to become musty after only a day in my cupboard. Maybe a malodorous miasma, the scent of which I am at a loss to describe, wafts in from an unknown dimension, but it doesn't seem to affect non-No 4 clothing.

Miscellaneous Vignettes

In its bid to employ the destitute, the Ministry of Education is hiring extra cleaners for each school, so the students don't have to sweep the floor or empty the wastepaper basket anymore. Maybe they should help the destitute further by hiring them to do the area cleaning that we NSFs do now.

We are always told to go to our commanders if we've problems, but those who repeat this advice never consider (or at least never tell us that they do) that the commanders *are* the ones causing many of the problems.


Heelys - the shoes which have wheels at the back so you can "heel" along - seem to be very popular these days. Maybe I should get a pair and sprain my ankle.

It seems that whenever people say I've lost weight, I will turn out to have gained some.


Quotes:

[On being in the army for 10 months) All my linguistic structures are eroding (?)

[Before I draw his blood] Can I scream in pain? [Me: Your choice]

Do you know how many people have suggested giving me a vibrator or a dildo for Christmas or my birthday?

[On breaking my lock] This is from someone who has broken his lock 2 times. Let me show you the power of the paramedic scissors. *proceeds to fail*

My whole [JC] class stayout except for 2 persons [,including me]... fuck. (stays-out)

[Me: Don't you find it reassuring to have an arm on your shoulder?] Yes, but not your arm. [Me: Then whose arm?] Maybe some chiobu's arm, but not around my shoulder? [Me: Then where?] Nevermind.

[Someone: Is 'Scary Movie' scary or not?] Scary? You want to know what is scary? Then go to [the] company line.

In the SAF Ward, the most frequent visitors are from 42SAR, or rather from Armour... If I see [people from] 42, I always see [people from] Support [Company]

[Camp mate to me: I don't think you've ever commented on someone who's not lian] That's because if they're not lian they don't warrant comment

I, me, Law and Ban Xiong... 3 of us.

Can I withdraw blood? (have my blood drawn)

None of you volunteered to be in the army right?

[On 42SAR] I'm 25 years in the Army. I've never come across so many AWOL cases.

[On suicides in the army] Last time you see a lot of people jumping down... That's why now all the blocks shorter (saw, are shorter)

[On fighting in camp] If you are in a commander unit and you fight, that is another reason, because the CO encourage it (commando, fine, encourages)

Fight also you don't get caught lah. Fight, get caught - xiao kao. (If you want to fight, If you fight and)

Fighting is childish... Don't be like the Americans: Go around bombing everybody.

Safety is the most important... All the time, at the back of your mind (front)

[Christmas Card] Merry Xams & a Happy New Year (Xmas)

[Sign] endorse statue (status)

Ah lians? Please. I just want to find decent, exotic, non-chinese bips. (babes)

[Me: You all are shitting together again ah?] Standard. Eat together, shit together. [Me: Sleep together] Fuck you. (It's standard practise)

[On his Friendster list of 96] At least 20 of them are SC[GS]... All either SC of AC.

Got this by mail:

Subject: Best Images of the past year 2003

The photos below were voted by readers as the best images of the past year... 



  1. Swallowed whole
 
A rainbow trout fingerling peers out from the gullet of a northern pike at the Alaska Department of Fish & Game aquarium in Anchorage.



  2. A romp in Russia

A polar bear cub plays near his mother at the Moscow Zoo.



  3. Moonshot

Flying at nearly 35,000 feet, a jet passes over the disk of a winter half moon above Boston on Jan. 3 The jet leaves contrails in its wake due to the temperature difference between the hot engine exhaust and the cold
air.




  4. Red Square reflection

  The Kremlin's Spassky Tower and passers-by are reflected in the wet cobblestones of Moscow's Red Square on Feb. 13.



  5. A galaxy's sharp edge
 
An image produced by the Hubble Space Telescope, released March 1, shows a perfect "edge-on" perspective of the galaxy NGC 4013, with huge clouds of dust and gas extending above the galaxy's main disk.





  6. Light of the world

  This composite image shows what Earth looks like at night. City lights highlight developed areas of the planet.




  7.
Mother and child
 
  An ethnic Albanian refugee from Selce, Macedonia, and her child look through the window of a bus as they arrive in Prizren in Kosovo on March 27, after fleeing the fighting in Macedonia two days earlier.





  8. A useful lesson

A German Shepherd named Pepper sits with two endangered Bengal tiger cubs and a cougar cub, far right, at the home of veterinarian Rob Zammit outside Sydney, Australia.



  9. Great white whale

  A beluga whale swims in a tank at the Vancouver Aquarium.



10.Puppy love

  Crystal, a year-old black Labrador-Dalmatian mix, peers through a heart-shaped hole in a fence.



  11.The gathering storm
 
  Dark clouds roll over Blair, Neb., on May 9, bringing thunder and flashes of lightning.





  12. The little duckling who could

  Mallard ducklings wait their turn May 14 as a sibling struggles to make it up a curb in South Bend, Ind. The mother, who had already cleared the obstacle, flirted with traffic for 20 minutes before leading her offspring safely across the busy road.



 13. Mideast flare-up
 
  A Palestinian youth uses a slingshot to fire stones at Israeli soldiers from behind a barricade of burning tires May 23.



  14. Rainbow times two
 
  An afternoon storm brought a double rainbow over downtown Chillicothe, Ohio, on May 27.



  15. Fury from above

  Lightning ripples over the Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth, Texas, on June 14.





16. Grand old night

Tanner Mann, 8, of Hortonville, Wis., gets a good seat on top of his mother's car July 4 for the fireworks show at Riverside Par
k in New London.





17.Un-bear-able heat

  Koluk the polar bear goes headfirst into the pool at the Albuquerque Rio Grande Zoo in Albuquerque, N.M., on July 15.





18. Stellar light show
 
From ground-based telescopes, the "ant nebula" resembles the head and thorax of a garden ant.

HOPE THAT YOU SAW ALL THE PICS... BECAUSE NOT ONE OF THEM SHOULD BE MISSED!!!

THEY'RE JUST TOO SPECTACULAR!!


Let them sing it for you - Write your own songs and have famous singers belt them out

WON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN [till the next boo-boo] - I thought BigO wasn't one of the "subversive" Singapore mags. Oh well. Tis always enlightening to see how the Straits Times changes its tune.

"Repression... is a habit that grows... an intimidated press and the government-controlled radio together can regularly sing your praises, and slowly and steadily the people are made to forget the evil things that have already been done, or if these things are referred to again they are conveniently distorted and distorted with impunity, because there will be no opposition to contradict."
- Harry Lee, Oct 4 1956


Accept Jesus Christ and Get a Free Playstation 2 - From the always amusing Landover Baptist Church

Drug user accused of faking urine test - A drug-using shoplifter tried to outwit his probation officer by wearing a strap-on device that puts out a drug-free urine sample, but John Gatanas found out The Original Whizzinator turned out not to be as "foolproof" and "undetectable" as its creator promises.

Prison officer sacked for Bin Laden jibe (because there were 4 Arab visitors there) - Political correctness goes too far. As usual.

Quarantining dissent / How the Secret Service protects Bush from free speech - Shameless, really.

Fontifier - Make your handwriting into a font.


More Trivia

- Scientists at Australia's Parkes Observatory thought they had positive proof of alien life, when they began picking up radio-waves from space. However, after investigation, the radio emissions where traced to a microwave oven in the building.

- In the early 1800's John Dalton pioneered the concept of atoms of chemical elements - what did he die of?

"Dalton ... was convinced that atoms really existed - hence his violent objection to the terminology Berzelius was to introduce, in which an element was denoted by one or two letters of its name rather than its own iconic symbol. Dalton's passionate opposition to Berzelius's symbolism (which he felt concealed the actuality of atoms) lasted to the end of his life, and indeed when he died in 1844 it was from a sudden apoplexy, following a violent argument defending the realness of his atoms." (Uncle Tungsten, by Oliver Sacks)

- What is unusual about the paper The Computation of Pi to 10,000,000 Digits published by Academia Sinica Computer Centre, Peking - authored by Wei Gong-yi, Yang Zi-quiang, Sun Jia-chang, Li Jia-kia?

A9 - The answer, from Pi Unleashed (Springer-Verlag, 2001):

* The article made clear the trouble which the four authors had had with their calculation and how they had finally overcome the problems. The article naturally contains a list of references. One of these is another article which sounds familiar, The Computation of Pi to 29,360,000 Decimal Digits by David Bailey, 1988. It would seem that the direction or progess is not always forwards.


Wrestling with perl and cgi for my quote of the day script is very irritating.

"At first I was mad, I've been lied to my whole life about this god/supreme being. Told I had to follow this one account of someone else's life. Argh!

I am here to tell you that I no longer accept it, I am no longer mad, but rather now I feel sorry for those still stuck. It is a little like escaping from the "matrix." I want to free other minds, but most are not ready to be freed. They are too dependent. I have often thought this maybe that is one of the hidden messages behind the Matrix movie."

How true. I often regret that I do not do enough to help free others.


I am intensely curious as to how He Who Must Not Be Named's assertion that Singapore society will not be able to accept a Slave lottery any more founded than an assertion that either of the three big monotheistic religions is superior or inferior to the other 2, or indeed, is more prone to inciting violence in its adherents?


In other news, the 1000th Comment has been made, by "nobody".

for all concerned: I've arrived back in singapore (on monday) and this friday morning i'm taking a coach up to KL to visit friends, will be up there till tuesday afternoon/evening. Give me a call/sms and we'll meet up sometime. Returning to melbourne in february.