Chasing cars by Snow Patrol
By Dumdum | July 20, 2008
Topics: Tunes | No Comments »
I wanna get over X
By Dumdum | July 20, 2008
Truth be told, I have lost the motivation to do X.
It makes me ponder on the equation of passion and motivation. They affect each other like a chemical equilibrium; when one side increases so will the other side and vice versa.
If only I find the activation energy to get things going.
Topics: Rant | No Comments »
Desktop and Spore Creatures
By Subby | July 17, 2008
Well, I planned to troubleshoot the desktop and head down to SLS to buy replacement parts if need be. What followed was rather amusing. The computer was still in its weird display-freezing state when I tried to turn it on for the first time in ages. I proceeded to open the casing, pluck out the graphics card and removed all the dirt balls with a cotton bud. It has been working ever since.
So I finally manage to get the desktop up and can’t miss the chance to try out the Spore Creature Creator Trial. Even with the limited palette made available in this demo version, it was still tremendously fun. Here are some of the uglies I made:
Oh yes, I have a profile page too!
Instead of creating another post, I’m dumping the newest trailer here:
Topics: Gaming, Geeky | No Comments »
Internship or not?
By Dumdum | July 17, 2008
I have been planning on joining the school’s internship programme for sem 2. After doing some planning for the coming semester, I realised that doing so might cause a delay in my graduation even with special term thrown in. This is because there’s quite a number of modules that are only offered in sem 2. Moreover, hyp seems an easier option than taking up high level mods.
Guess I’ll have to rethink my options and priorities.
Topics: Rant | No Comments »
Hellboy muse
By Dumdum | July 14, 2008
Just watched the telecast of “Hellboy” on chl 5. It ended off with:
“What makes a man a man? A friend of mine once wondered. Is it his origins? The way he comes to life? I don’t think so. It’s the choices he makes. Not how he starts things, but how he decides to end them. ”
Behind all the fighting, heroism and special effects, I feel that this movie brings across an important message about the judgement of character. It is a fact that we judge the people we encounter; to say otherwise would be a lie. Be it a derogatory whisper in the back of our minds about a person’s skin colour or whether the sides of our eyes wrinkle when we laugh at a joke by someone, we unvoluntarily form words to describe that person. The sad fact is that most people judge a person by his physical appearance, something that is inherited and difficult to change.
What makes us shun people who are very different from us is “fear” and “lack of knowledge”. The monsters portrayed in the movie are equipped with the capabilities to kill people and thus, injected fear into the general population but that doesn’t mean they do not have the faculty to make wise choices. It is therefore very important not to judge and dismiss a person too quickly.
Speaking of which, this reminds me about a recent conversation I heard about a guy that have high physical expectations where is comes to choosing a partner in life. I’ve heard many times the first few things men say when asked about the type of girls they go for. It will go something like long hair, big eyes…blah blah blah before intelligence for example. Sometimes even the last bit of inner beauty is not even included in their list. What then are they offering in return? If only they judged themselves first.
Topics: Movies, Quotes, Rant | 1 Comment »
Gathering
By Dumdum | July 12, 2008
Every programmer will definitely have experienced times when one’s mind refuses to solve the coding problems at hand which leads to code-moodiness. I had the most vexing of times today trying to debug a code. Eventually, I sank into inefficiency by being a couch-potato for most part of the afternoon.
Was kinda lazy to pull myself out of the state of deterioration initially but I’m glad I did. Met Liyong, Suqin and Subby for dinner at Thai Express @ Holland V in the evening. If my mind did not fail me, I believe this is my second time at Thai Express. The first time didn’t make much of an impression. This time, I had honey chicken rice and Subby stuck to his curry soft shell crab rice which he was full of praises for. The honey chicken was superb. It’s kinda sweet when you first put it in your mouth but leaves a tangy sour aftertaste. Very interesting! I’m not a curry lover but I thought that the soft shell crab was not bad.
We had dessert at 2amDessert. It’s a small place but the interior looks very posh and cozy. We each ordered a dessert set (a dessert with the recommended alcoholic drink). Turns out that the dessert came in quite a large plate and the chocolate dessert was oozing with chocolate goodness! It has lifted me out of code-moodiness! The drink that came with it was sweet. I’ll definitely order than drink the next time I’m there.
When out on gatherings, I’m more of the person who feels more at ease in small groups. Maybe it’s because everyone gets their chance to participate in the same conversation and they take away a little something more about the small group of people that they have met. Anyway, the bill came up to be quite a lot but it didn’t matter that much. The company was great, the food was good and I enjoyed myself.
Pics will be up when Subby is less busy.
Subby: here they are:
Topics: Food, Rant | No Comments »
Spore is almost here…
By Subby | July 10, 2008
Spore is due for release this September. While we wait…
Watch the interview with the legendary Will Wright,
Then download the trial creature creator here.
Topics: Gaming, Videos | No Comments »
Of Leadership
By Subby | July 10, 2008
It’s been more than a week since the end of camp and everyone must have talked about it til death yet I’ve been strangely quiet about the whole event. I’m not sure if I’m jaded, detached or for whatever else reason, somehow I just don’t feel the attachment to Xcalibur 08. Someone (I think it’s Isaac) once told me that the 2 camps that’d be most memorable to you will be the one you attended as a freshman and then as a group leader. True indeed, I remember fondly Yo-A-Ke and Chiarimento. Emerga of last year seems like a whiff of a dream, barely conjuring an imagery from my mind.
It’s not that the camp was bad; I am in fact very proud of my guys who broke new grounds, attempted novel ideas and more so for carrying them out well. I will also remember the new faces and names, especially those who came to help in the float sessions, though there’d always be people who wave at me once semester starts, only to get a puzzled look in return.
Over the past several months, I’ve questioned myself on numerous occasions the meaning of being a leader. Having no student leader experience before university and not much of a team to leader when I was the Comms Director, the appointment of Freshment Orientation Projects Director was possibly the first real foray for me in leadership. There were some expectations on my part when I first agreed to oversee the orientation activities but it never prepared me for the amount of work and actuality of it. There are some things I can’t fulfill and time I have to spend away from family and loved ones but this isn’t a new problem to me, is it? Although we’re only roughly half way through the projects, I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel. There is no regrets for doing what I’m doing, as with everything else I’ve done in life, and I’m enjoying every bit of it.
Back to the topic of being a leader, there are times when I feel lonely as a leader; the solitary person in that position, one shared by none yet looked upon by everyone else. I’ve learnt that is doesn’t have to be that way, as I can always turn to the people I work with and the people I have around me. The more I make myself less alone, the more likely the team is able to come together as a family and less likely I’ve seen as the authoratative bad guy. The school sent us on the Dale Carnegie course and it’s all well and good; all of us can pick up any self-help book or read on the Internet to improve people skills and learn how to be a leader. We’re always told to lead by example, to motivate, to set visions, to solve problems, to achieve goals. Something I’ve learnt through the months that I realise isn’t said enough about leaders is the need to inspire people, to dispense confidence and to groom new leaders.
One problem faced every year is probably the seeking of new blood to take the reins of the Management Committee. One year isn’t a long time, neither is it too short for one to learn the ropes to take it to the next level. Have we trully been that busy handling projects and tasks that we couldn’t pass on our knowledge to some new folks, to show them the way? I think not. Are leaders then just selfish and paranoid that they’re unwilling to see someone else take their places, even though it’s inevitable? Even if someone else seats where they are today, the new guy should never outshine the old bird? If this is the way, maybe it’s time for a little change.
I’d like to think of a leader as being an illusion; here I am telling people to do what they already know to do, giving advice which should already be common sense, telling them they can do it when deep down somewhere they should never doubted themselves. Leaders are but humans and shouldn’t be worshipped on a pedestal; one day the follower too will step up and he will think to himself, “Hey, this isn’t that bad afterall.” More often than not, the first step is always the easiest, after that, you just hang on for the ride. Right now, I’m enjoying the ride, knowing that some day it might end but before it does, I hope I can inspire some to take it with me. That is why it never fails to bring a smile to my face when someone steps out of his comfort zone to do something he never thought he could or enjoy doing.
Topics: Wall of Text | 1 Comment »
why we should do what we love
By Subby | July 8, 2008
Straight from Bryan’s blog:
Passion (creates) Goals (and drives) Motivation (that brings) Achievement (which reinforces) Passion
Topics: Quotes | No Comments »
Clouds in School
By Subby | July 7, 2008
Topics: Pictures | No Comments »