Too Trusting...

The holidays have come to an end. My blog has not been updated for a while as I've been rather busy with things. Anyway, Happy Belated DeepaRaya to all. (^.^)

I've been spending my time playing games and getting up to date with what movies I've missed... and I've missed an AWFUL LOT!!!

I've also managed to try out the latest Warhammer 40,000 installment, Dark Crusade on the PC and its an A M A Z I N G game!! I highly recommend it to all you RTS (real-time strategy) gamers out there. Of course, if you're pre-occupied with CoH (Company of Heroes), then you an ignore my recommendation-la...

Anyway, I got "ping-ed" by EV who has been trying to get me to update her resume for the past... year (*ahem*) but what do I know about the financial/accounting industry?? Oh well, she decided to disturb me and we got online...

EV: *ding*!! (actually, its a Nudge.. she loves to do that..)
Me: yeah (oh no! the torture just got virtual... would I lose real brain cells? yep..)
EV: u asked me to come online, now i'm online-la
Me: hehehe. r u done w ur resume?
EV: yea. u were supposed to help me!
Me: o_o... wat do i know?
EV: anyway, i got something to ask u
Me: yea. wat?
EV: i want to clean my pc, clear the trace of where i've been.
Me: ohhh... just clean the history & files-la. u using IE?
EV: how??
Me: select "Delete Files" from your Internet Properties. 1st select "Tools --> Options", then the thing will come up.
EV: and then?
Me: delete ur history oso-la. select "Clear History".
...
Some minutes later

EV: and then? wat else? i want to clean it...
Me: hmmm.. lk that.. open the command prompt and type "format c:\"
EV: ok
...

EV: i'm hungry now... need to get something to eat.
Me: y didn't u eat earlier?
EV: u were disturbing me-la...
Me: hahahaha... :P
EV: this thing take so slow, i go makan 1st.
Me: ** OMG... did she....**

At this point, I wondered if she REALLY did try to run the command "format C:\" and so, I frantically call her.

EV: WHATTTT??
Me: What is your PC doing now?
EV: Running the cleaning-lo, very slow now...
Me: ... (O.O)
Me: Did you run the "format c:\" command I gave??
EV: Yeah.. So slow...
Me: ALAMAK!! STOP THE COMMAND! CANCEL IT! YOU MAY HAVE FORMATTED YOUR C:\ DRIVE!!
EV: WHATTT??? WHAT DID YOU DO???!! WHY YOU ASKED ME TO RUN THE COMMAND??!!
Me: I DIDN'T KNOW YOU WERE SO BLUR TO RUN IT MAH! TELL ME HOW YOU RUN IT?
EV: I just open the Run command and type it-lo
Me: ... Ok ok... Nevermind. Just stop it and restart your PC. Hope that nothing happen!
EV: How could you do this to me... You know I'm blur one... If something happens to it, I'm going to kill you!
Me: Haiii... You kept asking me all the questions on cleaning your PC, how would I know?? Sorry-lo... (=.=)

EV was pretty upset as she had about 6yrs worth of data there and HAD NEVER DONE A BACKUP BEFORE!!!

I asked her if she ever did a back-up and she said "No"... Clearly, it is bad IT policy (both company and personal) to not have a back-up of your data. If given to some malicious people (not me.. please..), you could be in serious trouble.

Nevertheless, the latest tech in IT forensics could still help to recover such data but you have to pay for such services...

Anyway, by the end of the day... I SMSed to EV to apologize and she was pretty angry with me. I followed up on Monday to check if all was well. She didn't send me any nasty stuff and so, all was well.

Kekekeke... Don't ever try this on your non-IT-savvy friends.... (^_^)

Salute the Boys In Blue!!

Today is one of those days which I can play Daniel Powter's "Bad Day" because it certainly feels like it. I just got a "fantastic" piece of news concerning work... *update on that later*

Anyway, I couldn't sleep too well as I was preparing a lot of stuff in order to head over to the UK visa office this morning after getting the rest of the stuff from the Office Manager. So, I reluctantly went to bed at 3am after watching a bit of Paradise Kiss with my PS2 (which I will miss dearly... |T_T|)

I managed to wake up early today and decided to go off early to work so that I can make copies of the documents that I have to file. I was happily on my way, driving slower than usual because I remembered that the speed limit has gone down by 10kmph effective in the next few days. Besides, I like a slow drive once in a while. ;)

Anyway, around near the Pekeliling flats I noticed that my steering was veering off towards the left. I knew something was wrong. So, I turned on my hazard lights (THIS IS THE TIME TO USE IT!! NOT WHEN IT'S HEAVY DOWNPOUR) and made my way towards the left side of the road. I stopped near the Titiwangsa monorail station. So, I called my colleague to let him know that I had some car trouble and won't be in. I called my dad to let him know as well.

After about 15mins, the traffic police from DBKL came to ask me to move my car as it was at a dangerous spot. The officer asked "Boleh gerak-ke?", I answered yes. So, we moved our car and another officer came. He checked my car and found that my tyre had punctured.

Officer: Ini tayar puncture-la (This is a tyre puncture)
Me: Ya-ke? Ada mekanik sini boleh tolong-ke? (Yes? Is there a mechanic nearby?)

Officer: Saya boleh tolong tukar. Ambik itu "jack". (I can help change the tyre. Can you pass me the "jack"?)
Me: Ok...

Three officers came to help. One helped to jack up the car using the "jack" while the other was removing the bolts. After about 20 minutes, the guys got it done. They even told me that someone tried to steal the tyres from my car as one of the bolts wasn't right.

I wanted to thank each of them properly, but they had another breakdown to attend to. Another kancil stopped their car somewhere near I did. Turns out to be some engine trouble.

As I went off, I waved to them and wished them a "Selamat Hari Raya". All of them were very fortunate to be able to "balik kampung" (go back home) for the Raya hols. One of them told me that the army and some police who had their leaves frozen.

As much as what alot of my friends tell me about how often they met with some corrupt officers, there are a few good guys out there. Most of the time, its people who have broken the law, tried to bribe these guys to get off scott-free. And when these people take the bribe (because they are getting so little pay... seriously), we chastise them for being corrupt. There are a whole more corrupt people out there who actually cause some harm to the public. These are the crooks we should go after.

I wished I got the names of the three officers who helped me out that day. Perhaps when I've got a bit of time, I'll e-mail The Star and let them know that there are good officers out there.

Anyway, thanks Mr Police Officers!! You really help me get back safely home to fix my car!

BTW, just to remind you guys... If you're driving home, make sure your car is safe to drive. Don't speed too as the cops will be out to get you. It doesn't matter if you reach your destination late. It matters more that you have reached your destination safely.

Price of new tyres: RM700
Price of toll: RM4.60
Price of 3 police officers helping you change your tyres: P R I C E L E S S

Happy Safe Hols guys... ^^

Google RSS Reader

As I was trying out the new GoogleDocs, I came across a new RSS Reader (beta) by GoogleLabs. Quite cool!!

Here's a screenshot taken from the site.

(Taken from GoogleReader tour)

I've subscribed to my favourite blogs, Janesse, Joel on Software and even Screenshots (Jeff Ooi). ^^

The posts are organized in e-mail formats, thus making the posts easy to read. Give it a shot, am sure you'll enjoy it.

Meanwhile, back to my MU-vs-Wigan game. So far, its not going United's way.. (T__T)

Virtual Office?

I'm not referring to where we can setup a virtual office in cyberspace ala Matrix styley, but more about the latest trend in office productivity - software hosted on the web where users can login and create documents online.

Anyway, a couple of sites caught my eye after I saw a piece of news on eWeek, regarding latest news on what Google was offering --> GoogleDocs. This is kind of cool! If you have the time, do check it out.

What is the pro/cons of having such a service? Well, for one, you can create/view documents on your web browser without installing any office productivity software. Pretty neat idea for a mobile roadwarrior who is lugging a large notebook around. All you need now is an Internet connection which is reliable and fast enough. (^-^)

HOWEVER... I do have some issues in regards to document security as these documents would be stored at some server somewhere. So, security and privacy would be the main issue of why this idea may not be adopted so soon.

It was interesting to note that Google announced this so soon, ahead of Microsoft, the forerunner of office productivity software, which nearly 90% of the world's office workers use (both legal and illegal.. *hee*) . Anyway, don't be surprised that after Office 2007 is released or prior to that, Microsoft would have a version for customers (who have bought Office 2007) to use online, via Microsoft Office Live (still in beta).

Anyway, besides GoogleDocs, do check out Zoho as well as these guys have also launched their services in beta mode this week as well (news from Techcrunch). This is certainly taking collaboration to another level..... Wonder what is next, developing code online?? (^___^)

Note that if you have signed up for Google Spreadsheets before, you can access this with no issue.

Happy Mooncake Festival!

What's the in the box??

Another food-related post... This comes a bit belated but just wanted to wish you guys "Happy Mooncake Festival"!!!

Alot of legends and stories came about why this festival is celebrated by the Chinese but the best I like was the one related to how the Chinese rebels slipped messages to one another using cakes to inform each other of the plans to overthrow the Mongolians who ruled China at the time.

Anyway, there were lots of stories surrounding the Moon and the Mooncake festival, but all I know is that every 八月十五, we would celebrate the 八月中秋 (mid-autumn festival) by having a nice meal at home. This means usually steamed white chicken. My mom remarked that during those old days, having chicken at every dinner was a luxury and so, these special occasions would give them a chance to have chicken. My late grandma would celebrate every special occasion in that manner.

This year, I've decided to get a number of mooncakes for my family to eat. Perhaps I've gone overboard a little but then, I wanted to try the various kinds out there. These days, there are many types of mooncakes to eat, including the teochew style of having yam instead of lotus as the filling in the mooncake.

Anyway, here are a couple of photos of the mooncake in all its plastic-wrapped glory. (^-^)

The mooncakes are hygenically wrapped in plastic...

The following picture is a close-up of the "Shanghai" (上海) mooncake I got for myself to eat since no one likes the pastry kind... Kekekeke...

上海月饼... (Shanghai mooncake)

Happy Mooncake Festival!!!! (^.^)