what is it be to me?

started unknowing, recognising yet denying
most will hide it, to subtly express it

fuzzy warm when up
tearing misery when down

hopeless it may seem, hopeful some think wishfully
wretched, sometimes feel yourself; blessed when you receive

search for one in the crowd, or try to be the one often

never certain 'til the last moment
never waiver, until never

always selfless, for only oneself albeit
always giving, wishfully receiving

none like others, but much for ours
what is this?
none other than what you think it is

what would it be to me?
don't guess unless you see
:)

The River

Came across this song lyrics when i was searching for something, nice country song, of course i know Garth Brooks for another song, "Lost in you":

~The River~

You know a dream is like a river, ever changing as it flows, and a dreamer's just a vessel, that must follow where it goes.
Trying to learn from what's behind you, and never knowing what's in store, makes each day a constant battle just to stay between the shores.
Too many times we stand aside, and let the waters slip away, 'Til what we put off 'til tomorrow has now become today.
So, don't you sit upon the shoreline and say you're satisfied.
Choose to chance the rapids, and dare to dance the tide.
There's bound to be rough waters and I know I'll take some falls.
But, with the Good Lord as my captain I can make it through them all.
I will sail my vessel 'til the river runs dry.
Like a bird upon the wind, these waters are my sky.
I'll never reach my destination if I never try.

So, I will sail my vessel 'til the river runs dry.

"The River" Lyrics By ~ Garth Brooks

Everyday pictures 3

drool...

mother's day card

so it started like that, from the outside, then from the inside

then i decided to cut it (actually cos cannot fit into envelope). write some words inside, and that's it. i think it looks best when standing up... oh well, i think next year i'll just buy a card la haha..

Home office

http://www.popsci.com/popsci/technology/14da48c8527e1110vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html

2 of this please.

Geeks can teach

14 Things Geeks Can Teach The World
We assemble the choicest nerdy nuggets of everyday wisdom from the brightest tech minds around. Start your education now!
By the How 2.0 Geeks
quoted: http://www.popsci.com/popsci/how20/0031cb989f071110vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html

Every group of friends has that one person to go to for tech advice: what kind of TV to buy, the right HTML tags to pimp out a MySpace page, and so on. Believe me, I would know. But although I consider myself fairly willing to share the tech wealth, my powers pale in comparison with the sage wisdom dispersed in the "Ask a Geek" feature found in each issue of Popular Science. Every month, we feed the practical questions faced by everyday netizens to some of the Web's brightest minds—including Gina Trapani (editor of Lifehacker), Merlin Mann (editor of 43 Folders), Jake Ludington (keeper of the MediaBlab blog) and Annalee Newitz (tech writer extraordinaire, Second Life whiz)—, anything from ridding your computer of spyware to using any song file on your computer as a ringtone.

But that’s only the beginning. Here we present a compendium of the choicest nuggets of nerdy advice—get yourself a geek education by launching the photo gallery.

And if you have any wisdom of your own to share, or perhaps a question for our geeks, we want to hear about it over on the How 2.0 Blog. —John Mahoney

Table of Contents:
How Do I Hang My Flat-Screen TV? by Bryan Greenway
How (and Why) Should I Encrypt My Data? by Gina Trapani
Can I Download Streaming Videos Off the Web? by Jake Ludington
Can I Plug In My Prius? by Stephan Wilkinson
Can Viruses Attack My Cellphone? by Eugene Kaspersky
How Can I Make a Personalized Email Address? by Merlin Mann
How Can I Surf the Web Anonymously? by Annalee Newitz
How Can I Guard Against Spyware? by Ben Edelman
Can I Use My Own Songs as Ringtones? by Gina Trapani
What Music Format is Best? by Jonathan Coulton
Why Do Batteries Explode? by Nicole Dyer
Is the Music Industry Still Suing People? by Fred von Lohmann
Can I Wipe My Name off the Web? by Lauren Gelman
How Can I Tame My Overflowing Inbox? by Merlin Mann

Mac rocks. period.

Apple of Our Eye: Macs Save Money
03.20.07 5:00 AM
quoted from: http://www.wired.com/gadgets/mac/commentary/cultofmac/2007/03/73005?currentPage=1

There's been a distinct sea change in the way people think about Apple in the last few weeks.
Recently, people have been saying the strangest things about Apple and the Mac. Everything is topsy-turvy. Pundits aren't trotting out the old conventional wisdoms any more. They're saying odd stuff, like Macs are good for business; Macs can save money; and that Apple's stock -- at $90 a share -- is a bargain.

In fact, there seems to be a widespread re-evaluation of Apple going on, a cultural shift that's changing the way people think about the company. It's been building for a while but it has reached a tipping point in the last couple of months. Here's what people are saying now.
Macs will save you money

Macs have always been derided as more expensive than PCs, but now Wilkes University in Pennsylvania is dumping its Windows machines for Macs -- to save money! A few years ago, universities like Dartmouth College, one of the biggest Mac-centric colleges, couldn't dump their Macs fast enough.

Macs are good for business
Macs in the workplace used to be just for the artsy types in the design department. But now they're appropriate for regular desk jockeys of every stripe. In Computerworld, consultant Seth Weintraub recommends Macs for the enterprise because they're easy to learn, easy to administer and not as prone to viruses and other nasties. Weintraub says IT managers who bought Macs for home use are increasingly looking to deploy them at work.
Less is more

At one time, loading on more features was the mantra. When the iPod came out, critics said it didn't match rival devices, which boasted FM radios and bigger hard drives. But users wanted fewer features, and better ease of use. "That's why the iPod succeeded where its predecessor products bombed," writes Chris Taylor, Business 2.0's senior editor, in a recent piece titled "The Trouble With Gee-Whiz Gadgets."

Closed is good
Apple's traditional closed system -- proprietary hardware, software and online services -- is now a selling point. A couple of years ago, many confidently predicted Apple would fail if it didn't open up the iPod/iTunes system to rivals, who would "hybridize" the platform with interoperable hardware and software from multiple companies. "It's absolutely clear now why five years from now, Apple will have 3 (percent) to 5 percent of the player market,'' Rob Glaser, CEO of Apple rival RealNetworks, told The New York Times in 2003. "The history of the world is that hybridization yields better results."

But consumers seem to want the opposite -- products and services from one company that are guaranteed to work well together. Look at Microsoft's attempt to copy the iPod's top-to-bottom integration with the Zune. And customers are embracing that "closed" system. "I just switched from a Dell to an Apple laptop and love the Mac lifestyle," student Priya Sanghvi told USA Today

Apple is the darling of Wall Street
Wall Street analysts, traditionally skeptical of Apple, are suddenly giddily bullish, releasing extremely positive forecasts on future performance. Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster says the Apple TV will give the company a big lead over Microsoft in the digital living room. (Target price: $124.) UBS Investment research analyst Benjamin Reitzes believes the iPhone is the beginning of a "mega platform" of touch-screen devices that will give Apple "open-ended growth." (Target price: $124.)

Jon Markman, a columnist for Microsoft Money, thinks Apple's shares will double by 2010. "If you have ever kicked yourself for not buying Apple four years ago when you bought your first iPod, you should go for it now during this market weakness," he writes. And The Street's Scott Moritz says that thanks to the iPhone, "Palm seems doomed." According to Zacks Investment Research, 14 of the 17 analysts following Apple rate the stock a "buy" or better. (There are three "holds" and no "sell" ratings.)

Macs can run more applications
I can't remember the last time I heard anyone say there's no software for the Mac, or that Macs are too expensive. People still acknowledge that Apple's products aren't the cheapest, but they seem happy to pay for better-designed, better-made products. As for software, the old argument against Macs is moot. New Intel Macs can run Windows software as well as any PC. I more often hear the opposite -- people complaining that software like Apple's iLife suite isn't available on Windows.

The change in perception seems to have been tipped by the iPhone. A lot of people thought Apple got lucky with the iPod: It was a one-hit wonder, a fluke not likely to be repeated. But the iPhone is already starting to look like another industry-changing smash hit, and it's shining a different light on the company.

The clearest example is the Apple TV, which is due to be released this week. Late last year, there wasn't much buzz about the Apple TV. Most people just shrugged. There didn't seem to be a need for a wireless box to stream content from your computer to your TV.

But lately, the buzz has been growing. I've seen a lot of blog posts and news reports predicting the Apple TV will fly off store shelves. Some analysts are even saying the Apple TV is a more important product than the iPhone.

There's been a shift here. In a few weeks, the Apple TV went from "who cares?" to must-have. The product didn't change, but what people were saying about it did. I think it's because Apple is very clearly looking like a serial innovator: a company that can successfully trot out one big product after another. This has been generally true since the iMac in 1998, but now the wider public is catching on.

What's changed is not Apple, but people's perceptions of the company.

Ghandi on bible

You Christians look after a document containing enough dynamite to blow all civilisation to pieces, turn the world upside down and bring peace to a battle-torn planet. But you treat it as though it is nothing more than a piece of literature.

this is funny

When Your Spouse is Hotter than You
Thursday, Apr. 26, 2007 By BELINDA LUSCOMBE
quoted from: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1615172,00.html

Marrying outside your religion is no big deal anymore. Neither is marrying someone of a completely different generation. And now that something like 4% of all marriages are interracial, not even your grandparents will get lathered up if you marry someone of another color. But as the old prohibitions fall away, a new one is rising to take their place. It's a discrimination that's widespread but largely unspoken, causing pain and stress to the affected couples, who often find it hard to talk about, even to each other. I'm talking, of course, about marrying outside your looks. Marrying a few degrees up or down the hotness scale. Refusing to stay within your cute-gory.

I've been in a mixed marriage for a decade and a half now and gotten used to the stares and nudges. I've even developed a couple of airy responses to the inevitable comments that arise from co-workers and friends along the lines of "Um, your husband is so hot..." Sometimes I go with "Oh, that's not my husband--that's my twin brother," and other times a dismissive "Yeah, but back in Australia I'm considered a great beauty. It's Nicole Kidman who's the hag." Each time, it hurts just a little less.

Like so many in my situation, I didn't mean to intermarry. It wasn't that I had ideas above my station; it was just that I was young and naive enough to think love would conquer all. Also, to be perfectly frank, I didn't think he was that hot. That's what makes this type of discrimination particularly insidious: it's not clear that couples have transgressed against hotness-equality laws until they're already married. Nobody minds if you date outside your tribe, and people applaud an ambitious play for the hubba-hubba human across the room, but--as my brothers and sisters in the gay community have found--there's a world of difference between what people will accept in the innocent suburbs of hooking up and the judgmental metropolis of marriage.

As in so many other areas of discrimination, women face double jeopardy. Guys who marry a few rungs up the looks ladder are rock stars or rich or have, I don't know, beautiful penmanship. Women who marry up, well, they're deluded. Their husbands must be gay or have really bad bacne to even look at them. And the standards are ridiculous. Deborra-Lee Furness is a charming, spirited, good-looking woman who happens to be married to Hugh Jackman, a freak of nature. Hence rumors circulate that Jackman is gay. Had there been an Internet in times gone by, they probably would have swirled around Queen Victoria's and Eleanor Roosevelt's husbands as well.

Shockingly few peer-reviewed studies have been done on our type of union. We don't yet have our own box to check on the Census, even though we've been around for years. I'm actually the product of a mixed marriage. My father has an unlined face and thick, curly salt-and-pepper hair in his 70s. My mother--well, let's just say that when she comes to visit, the kids hide the broomstick and the big cooking pot. She tells folks my dad married her for her legs and her fortune. Coincidentally, these are the only two of her attributes she did not pass along to me.
If you suspect that you might be in an interfacial marriage, don't be ashamed. Acceptance is the first step to recovery. Ask yourself these questions: Do you and your spouse disagree on how many mirrors should be in the home, what angle they're placed at and how well they're lit? Do you find yourself taking all the photographs at family gatherings and "forgetting" how to use the self-timer? If your spouse buys you some beauty products, do you take it as a kind of warning? Do you ever encourage your spouse to wear those pants that make him or her look beamy?
These are all challenges that scummy-yummy couples must deal with to survive. And that's before you get to the big questions: Do you raise the children as attractive or hideous? Or try to find a middle ground--you know, sorta cute? Do you celebrate beautiful-people holidays (Valentine's Day, Mardi Gras) or Oktoberfest? Very few mismatched pairs can work through these issues on their own.

What they--who am I kidding, we--desperately need is a celebrity spokescouple, a famous mixed-assortment pair willing to step into the limelight and explain the challenges specific to this unequal yoking. Maybe then people would have a little compassion for those of us who, through no fault of our own, have to wake up every single day to a drop-dead gorgeous human being on the other pillow, for the love of mercy! Donald and Melania Trump, are you reading this? Ric Ocasek and Paulina Porizkova? Sylvester Stallone and Jennifer Flavin? Larry King and whomever you're married to now? Your people need you!

C

perfect family car. Citroen's C-airlounge. Or maybe the preferred mode of transport will be Citation X?

work-life, not worklife

Stephen Covey, the celebrated writer talked about work-life balance here. so this is an exerpt for it, for those who lazy to press the link.

-- Discipline 1: Focus on the Wildly Important. This means you need to narrow your focus down to the one, two or three most important goals you must achieve. These goals are so important that if you don’t achieve them, nothing else you achieve really matters much.

-- Discipline 2: Act on the Lead Measures. After you’ve narrowed your focus to the few key goals you must accomplish, you need to select the few key activities that are predictive of goal achievement and that you can influence on a weekly basis. These are called “lead measures.” These lead measures are 80/20 activities--that is, 80% of the results come from 20% of these activities. The 80/20 rule is also known as the Pareto principle.

-- Discipline 3: Keep a Compelling Scoreboard. Once you’ve defined your goals and measures, you need to put them on a scoreboard so everyone knows all the time whether you’re winning or losing.

-- Discipline 4: Create a Cadence of Accountability—a rhythm of team-based engagement and accountability.

--

All these management consulting stuff are talking about the same thing essentially, there's this Johari window thing years back. But essentially i think all laws and good 'rules' and habits to follow comes from human being's consciousness of knowing/having God's likeness, thus following their word. try it, track any of these principles that worked, and it will go back to something you have read in the bible. can they be earlier than the bible? no rite?

Most of us fall into different tranches of closeness to doing what we really want. the broadest base is dunno what we want at all, up a level: knowing what we want, but not pursuing; up a level: knowing what we want, tried pursue but gave up; followed by pursued, and currently in a sterilized variation of what we want; followed by doing what we want, but not focused pursuit; followed by the pinnacle, which is doing and fully pursuing.

of course if you put in the Maslow hirachy of needs (or this, this and this), you will pursue thing according to your different needs in progression. I seriously think that things like having to renovate ur house nice nice, having an expensive wedding, etc makes the exit barrier of the current good paying job and lifestyle higher, and makes the entry barrier to the what-u-really-want high also.

priorities, it goes back to. somethings you would forsake anything, for. some, not.

---

but again, who says that doing something you don't really want is wrong? i think prob knowing what you really want (or at least what you think you really want at least) is more important.

i like this quote: "I would rather regret the things I have done than the things I have not" - Lucille Ball

means, just whack la.

zzzzzzz.......

I can't sleep after 2 teh tariks... im so gonna fall asleep tmr at work.. oh later today that is... oh nooo...

Sunny Days

"Sunny Days"

Sunny days keepin' the clouds away
I think we're coming to a clearing and a brighter day
So far away. Still I think they say
The wait will make the heart grow stronger or fonder
I can't quite remember anyway

So if you're waitin' for love
Well it's a promise I'll keep
If you don't mind believing that it changes everything
Then time will never matter

Winter, Spring... is what love can truly bring
Ice turns to water, water flows to everything
You can lose your mind, maybe then your heart you'll find
I hope you won't give up what's moving you inside

If the car won't start, when you turn the key
When the music comes on, all your cold, cold heart can do is skip a beat

It's a promise I'll keep
When you're waitin' for love
If you don't mind believing that it changes everything
Then time will never matter

-----

I really liked this song, it was playing again and again in my mind; from my favourite Jars of Clay album most probably (I have all of them, and the special EPs) "Who we are instead"; Someone said this, Jars grew along with us. Their songs grow in season and maturity/style (though the latest monster CD is a little over me).

There is cleverness in their simple songs, if you listen carefully. Though who can forget their classics with frankness - love song for a savior.

things that people away from home eat #1

1. chu qian yi ding (CQYD) instant noodles, the one with sasame flavor.
2. your favourite canned tuna, preferably flakes in oil

boil water with instant noodle flavoring (powder flavoring). put noodles in boiling water, and add few flakes of tuna with some of the oil that comes with the tuna.

cook until noodle is very soft, as desired.

add sasame oil to noodle and serve with tuna.

-----

best ribs in town

best instant noodles

best canned tuna

with everything else, visa

mum's soup/cooked food: priceless.

way to reach the heart? simple.

cos we are cruel

i like what gizmodo say.. why we always tease you with products that aren't real? cos we are cruel... i really like this concept phone. bigger keypad buttons please. but yes, i am an avid fan of apple since the beginning of time and i will buy iphone. irrationally.

drunk squirrel

This is really funny, a drunk squirrel trying to climb a tree, saw it from think.com.my

i wonder what is the animal with the highest alcohol tolerence, of course, excluding those that walk on 2 legs.

setting foot in virtual world

http://swerve.lifechurch.tv/2007/03/12/lifechurchtv-has-a-second-life-church-campus/

But for the real world side:

Best Places For Business And Careers#1

Raleigh
Population: 978,000

RANK
Colleges 1 :90
Cost of Doing Business 2 :27
Cost Of Living 3 :121
Crime Rate 4 :49
Culture & Leisure 5 :104
Educational Attainment 6 :12
Income Growth * :152
Job Growth * :35
Net Migration * :15
Overall :1

from:http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/1/07bestplaces_Raleigh-NC_100138.html

THE-sign, see it?

I Have always emphasized design as the important component in problem solving. maybe this is what designers has been screaming all along, hoping us to hear it. what took them so long for the deaf ears to discover it?

Business leaders with and edge in design, or believe in it. look at GE's ecoimagine, Apple, and of course my favourite company IDEO. tommorow's business school, tomorrow's business leader. people with an appreication for design, but yet have the skills and strategic thinking for problem solving. both soft and hard skills. looks like the world needs me. ain't it? :)

its really not about the art art stuff, its not about aesthatics, its not even about the bombastic word-"creativity". those are just expressions of design. its the mindset, its the direction, the approach and prespective. this would be one of the most useful things i've learnt in all my years of fine art. the perspective and approach. not sure how to explain.



have a read:
Tomorrow's B-School?
It Might Be A D-School Business schools are hooking up with design institutes -- or starting their own

The Academic: Roger Martin Joseph
L. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, Ont.

Save the penguins!!!!

Save the world, you can do your part. Stop using so much of that tissue paper. Yes, you.

http://www.designcanchange.org/#home