Jarren 1st Lantern

Well, here is it, a new baby video :-)
Ok so it is from footage that is rather old (lantern festival some weeks back) but finally managed to squeeze some time to complete the editing.

Enjoy...

Victimology

Interesting read off the internet.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/jarvis/jarvis103.html

And I thought Victimology was a term coined by Ah Bengs to explain their process of selecting potential targets using the universal question: "What are you looking at". Shows that there is always something new to learn about everyday ;-)

Free Anti-virus / Anti-Spyware / Firewall

To continue from the last post, noticed that Dell was offering the usual Norton Anit-virus with its package.

I'm not sure about you but I was really disappointed with norton's performance when I used to have it. It failed completely to detect spyware (which you need a separate Norton product for...) and you need to renew your subscription every year.

Well, I've since switched to freewares and am glad to say that I have had no major problems with malware eversince... And all for the cost of $0.

Here's my recommendations for each:
Anti-virus - AVG -> http://www.grisoft.com/doc/1
Anti-Spyware - Ad-Aware -> http://www.download.com/3000-2144-10045910.html
Fireware - Zone Alarm -> http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/home.jsp

DELL or DIY

Was asked to help a relative buy a new computer. Initially, thought that buying from Dell might be better, what with all the recent hype about how cost effective they were. Made a trip down to Sim Lim Square to compare and realize that despite all I heard, it is apparently still cheaper to go the "DIY" route.

Ok, actually it is not really DIY anymore since the shops will install everything for you, mainboard + CPU+casing. All you have to do it connect up the monitor, speaker, mouse, keyboard and viola, it's all done.

You can get a quicker CPU, DVD burner and a good LCD monitor, all at a lower price than even the so-called Dell promotion I saw on their webpage. Flip-side is that you do not get customer support but guess there is always me to call upon for simple stuff ;-)

So if you need a new computer if you are able to tell a VGA cable apart from a power cord, would advise you to go the Sim Lim way. Heck, even the mouse and keyboard cables are color coded now so you can't even get that wrong !

Liverpool - turning the corner ?

Well, things does seem to be looking up now for Liverpool, winning 3-1 against a determined Aston Villa side. They looked really good during the first half, but relaxed a little after the break, which is probably normal even that the lead looked safe and they were probably starting to think about the upcoming midweek Championship League game.

As usual, the defence fell asleep for a second and let it a goal. Seems to be a trend nowadays, that the opponent will always score with their first real chance of the game.

Well, the results was positive anyway and to quote our past manager, "We've now turned the corner". And hopefully, no U-turn is on the horizon :-)

Here's the full match report
http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/match/last_match/match_report/index.htm

Byzantine Fault Tolerance

Came across this very interesting wikipedia entry.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_fault_tolerance#The_dilemma

I think everyone must have heard the story of the 2 doors. One that told the truth and one that always lied. And how to ask ONE question only that ensures you know which door leads to the exit and which one will cause your demise.

Now extrapolate this to 3 or more doors with similar conditions and think about how to solve this dilemma. Apparently, the Byzantine generals have already thought about this and figured out how to ensure they will still come to a more or less correct decision. Or at least, that's my guess as to why this theory is named that way. The Wiki entry never did explain this...

Real Parenting Tips

Ok, so my parenting tips so far have not been much to crow about. But here's a cool website I found that gives some really good parenting tips.

http://mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=10106&cn=28

Not to mention more development milestones for one to compare with, as I mentioned in a previous post ;-)

Reflections on a sad story

http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,116310,00.html?

Read this article about a family that lost 5 new-born babies. Knowing how much every one offspring means to every parent, my heart really goes out to them.

Being a parent means you have to constantly worry about the health of your little one, whether they are developing at the correct pace. I know they say that every infant develop at their own pace but you can't help but compare your little one's progress with another. And the advent of the internet means that there is now a VERY large database to compare with, potentially at least.

I think every kia-su Singaporean parent know what I mean...

World's biggest handphone

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records/science_and_technology/gadgets/largest_mobile_(cell)_phone.aspx

Well I wouldn't call it a mobile phone. But I guess calling it a handphone (like we call it in Singapore) still makes sense, especially since you need an entire hand to press the button ;-)

Liverpool - What's wrong ?

As I watched Liverpool slumped to another away defeat, this time at the hands of Man U, I can't help but feel that it's deja vu again. Another year when things look promising, another year where the results have been anywhere matching.
Strangely, there is hardly any anger or despair, just a sense of resignation. Maybe after all these barren years, we Liverpool fans have grown used to it.

Or maybe it is just that I have had good practise supporting the Singapore Soccer team ;-)
Still remember all the hype and then the subsequent humiliations at Tiger Cup, Asean games etc...

Well I'm an optimistic guy so we'll just wait and see what this season brings. At least, it can only get better now, I hope...

Mediamax Web-hosting

Tested out another web-hosting site to see if this might be a better way than You-tube.
Got complains that the quality of You-tube video is not consistent.

http://www.mediamax.com/tbgoh72/Hosted/Baby_Workout_2.wmv

Jarren - Next Andy Lau ?

This might explain why the best looking actor/actress's offspring might not always end up as photogenic...

And maybe my boy-boy will have a chance to be the next Andy Lau ? Despite the not too favourable inheritance from me ;-)

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn10366-sexiest-parents-deliver-average-offspring.html

Singapore-My Future ?

Read about the latest online spat on the papers and decided to check it out myself.

Here's the original blog entry by Derek, which sparked off the "debate"...
http://derekwee.blogspot.com/

You can follow up the comments (cross-posted on various other blogs as well) to see the heated responses. Ranging from the pure vulgar to those that started to pick on certain "elite" schools.

I think we are rather missing the point here, by letting a young girl's innocuous reply draw the attention away from a well constructed and insightful posting.

I too am nearing the midpoint of 30s. And I too have the same fear as Derek. This despite me having had a good career so far, rising steadily through the engineering ranks. When I look at the pace of changes, and the fact that the newer generation appears much more adept at these changes, I shudder at the thought of hitting 40.

And no, I am not afraid of changes. Throughout my career, I have always embraced changes but the fact of life is that there are always younger and more agile "competitors" out there. And this age discrimination by employers, whether justified or not, completes the self-fulfilling prophecy.

I do not ask for assistance from the government, nor anyone else. What I do is to plan for my future. To put as much away as I can, living for the day when society decides that I am "too old". I do not want to be a burden to my little one, who won't be 21 until I am at the offical retirement age of 55.

And yes, I too have listened to "over-qualified" taxi drivers complaining of the same. 20 years ago, engineers were one of the 3 respectable profession. Now, you throw a stone into the crowd and more than 50% of the time, you hit an "engineer". The only "iron ricebowl" are the lawyers and doctors (and maybe civil servant) and that's only because of the closed nature of these labour market. It is true that globalisation is a great social leveller. But it is difficult for one to be fair when you are holding the short end of the stick.

So let's divert ourselves away from all this flaming and hatred towards a young teenager who was (un?)fortunate enough to be born with her particular status. As a parent, I would sympathise with anyone who has to defend his child and I do believe this has all been blown out of proportion.

I do not have any solution for this problem, nor do I think the solution is a straight-forward one. But it would be great if an official statement can at least acknowledge this problem so that we can all start looking for a solution. And hopefully, before I reach 40.

Auntie Denise's gathering

Jarren at Auntie Denise's gathering

Or try this wmv version (you need CODEC installed on windows media)

http://www.mediamax.com/tbgoh72/Hosted/Baby_Denise.wmv

For those who are interested, group photo also available

http://www.mediamax.com/tbgoh72/Hosted/DSC00234.JPG

http://www.mediamax.com/tbgoh72/Hosted/DSC00235.JPG

Life's contrast

Waiting for the You tube uploading to be completed. Even with broadband, it can take a while. Thought I might as well take the time to reflect on today.

Attended a gathering organized by Calin's online friends. All of them were recent mothers (and the few fathers as well) and it was quite an eye-opener for Jarren to see so many "little people".

Met another mother with a really big baby, at least compared to Jarren. She was advised by the doctor to cut down his food intake. Guess it's a really early introduction to dieting... Makes me realize that everyone has his/her little problem that most likely someone else would never even think could be a problem. Here we are thinking of how to fleshen our Jarren up and there's another baby with the exact opposite problem.

Lesson to learn : Be satisfied with what life provides to you. As long as Jarren is healthy and growing well, I should be happy.

This lesson is further reinforced when I read of the man who jumped onto the MRT tracks at Boon Lay due to financial problems. Guess you'll never think life is good to you until you see the contrast...

Funny Lecturer - does such a thing really exist ?

Got this video link off Mr Brown's website. Really funny. Wonder why I never had such an interesting lecturer during my time.

Most of the lecturers I had were the best at bringing on sleep. Usually the LTs were so quiet you could almost hear the snores coming from the last row... Would be a weird thing to actually hear laughter in an LT. Unless maybe you had a real funny dream :-)

Cutest Baby Video

Jarren's cutest moments...

Youtube video of Mini-me's 1st month

Parenthood tip

Read this article on the internet -> http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=17630&ch=biotech

It reminds me of a discussion I had with my other half. Well it boils down as to how we can be sure our little one is really in distress. You see, he's been picking up some attitude recently and have been throwing tantrums every now and then. Ok, basically everytime you put him stationary in one place (on your lap, in the cot...) he starts to brawl...
My wife wanted to give him the cold treatment but my heart starts to ache whenever I see his tears, thinking he must be genuinely in dis-comfort. The next thing you know, he breaks out into a smile once you pick him up.
Apart from a baby speech/cry translator, the proposal from those scientist might be the next best thing to assist clueless parents like me.

But oh I do love to see my little smile. Here's some samples

Me when I was mini

That's me when I was mini. Notice the resemblance ;-)

Second Photo

Second photo of mini-me, this time using public sharing of the file from box.net

http://www.box.net/public/f9ebd4mhk8

Close Shave with Time-Share

Hmm, was wondering exactly what to post on my blog and coincidentally, something cropped up. Another one of those time-share scam and thankfully, I did not get tricked. This, after I managed to search the internet and find a posting on crimeshare.com. More searches on the web also revealed that OT travel is actually Oriental Travels, a blacklisted time share company.

Here's definite proof that the internet is a life-saver at times. It keeps communication open so that we know about crooks like this.

I posted a message on crimeshare but not sure when it will appear there.
Reproduce it here:

"THanks to MeMM, I saved myself from a wasted trip down to Shaw House in Orchard. Similar to his/her description, I received a phone call from 68874995. Said the same crap and asked me to attend a presentation on Oct 21, 12:30pm. I kept asking if they were timeshare company but they keep insisting no, claiming it is some travel sale. I asked for their sponsor and they dared to say O.T. Travel. Did a check on internet and they are already blacklisted (aka oriental travel). When they called back to confirm their attendance, I righteous pointed out that I have found out about their scam from internet. This senior manager then took over and sound indignant, asking where I got the information from. I quoted "crimeshare" and hopefully they will learn now that they already have a stinking reputation online. And hopefully stop trying to pull the same trick again.

Well, but they did make me happy for a while thinking I really won a luncky draw. Guess there's no free lunch in this world (except 4D and Toto ;-))"

Here's the link to the post that saved me -> http://www.crimeshare.net/63.html

As a follow up, thought I will list the blacklisted Singapore companies here as well:
Emerald Network Consultancy
Emperor Resorts International
Event Plus
Global Sensation
Interval Resorts Network
Leisure Group Marketing (LGM)
LRD Consultants
Oriental Travel
Regency Leisure Development
Universal Privelege
World Resorts
Zealtz Corp Pty

If you receive phone call of any of these companies, just hang up on them.

First Photo

Not me, of course. But mini-me