Adam Sandler is listed in the newly published edition of "Guinness World Records", launched this week, as the film actor with biggest annual earnings, with paychecks totaling $47 million in 2001 alone.
For that same year, Cameron Diaz tops the list of best-paid film actresses with estimated earnings of $40 million, according to Guinness. The book cites figures published last year by Forbes magazine's "Celebrity 100" list.
Sandler joined the Hollywood big leagues with the success of a number of film comedies in the late 1990s, including "Waterboy" and "Big Daddy", only to see his very next film, "Little Nicky", flop at the box office in 2000. He fared better last year with "Mr. Deeds" and his romantic turn in "Punch-Drunk Love".
In the Guinness record book, the former "SNL" sketch comic replaces action star Bruce Willis, who ranked No. 1 in last year's edition by earning $70 million in the year 2000.
Diaz, who was a fashion model before snagging her film debut in "The Mask," supplants Julia Roberts as the top-earning actress in the 2004 edition of Guinness.
Diaz has had a hot streak, playing a pickpocket in "The Gangs of New York", the voice of Princess Fiona in the computer-animated fairy tale "Shrek" and its sequel, and a high-kicking crime fighter in a pair of movie adaptations of the 1970s TV detective drama "Charlie's Angeles."
- Reports Reuters News (throught MSNBC)

If your browser fails to render this page correct. Click on the "Refresh" button of your browser. Thank you for your patience.
I added something new today, something of which I called "Major Theme". As you have probably noticed I have been adding a themes section on the right side of the page. I figured out that I cannot add so many themes due to web space limitation. So I added some major themes. These major themes will be featured for 1 month and it will be replaced with new major themes. If you were to set that theme as default, you'll receive message information you that the theme has been removed. New ones will be added periodically. This is to ensure the content of this blog will remain fresh, hence less likely to bore regulars.
This month's major theme features Get Backers. It's an anime that I have been watching, recommended by David. It turns out that I very much enjoy this anime. It's really a good one.

I'll introduce the characters briefly from the left to the right:
Fuyuki Shido: Nicknamed "Beast Master", Shido specializes in communication with animals. He has to ability to make use of animals to attack his opponents. He speaks little and often hide his feelings.
Fuuchouin Kazuki: Nicknamed "Kazuki of the Strings", he (yes, he is more effeminate) is the sole descendant of Fuuchouin Clan. This clan makes use of strings to tackle their opponents.
Midou Ban: Nicknamed "Man with Evil Eye", he specializes in hypnotizing and is armed with a grip known as "Snake Bite" that inflicts 200 kg worth of pressure onto the opponent.
Amano Ginji: Nicknamed "Thunder Emperor", Ginji often electrocutes his opponents. He is very friendly and extremely funny in the anime.
Makubex: Nicknamed.. Hey, Makubex is already a nickname. He doesn't know who his parents were. Makubex is very knowledgeable in the computer field.
Akabane Kuroudo: Nicknamed "Dr. Jackal", Kuroudo shows no mercy to his opponents. He kills practically everyone who tries to stop him. Very interesting character.
Also, there are some minor updates to the site's style sheets.

Was in the train today when Cui Xia asked me about World War I (WW1) and World War II (WW2).

Blonde Jokes 

"I knew a blonde who was so stupid that she took a ruler to bed in order to see how long she slept. "

[Oh, Microsoft Word 2002 claims the previous sentence is fragmented, I think you know why, hahaa..] Ding Yuan (@Han Bei) talks to be about them very often as far as I can recall. It's like reciting his entire history book to me. This doesn't seem to at all bore me frankly. [Let's call him "Bei"] Bei is an excellent story teller. He speaks of many tales and adventures [I think this phrase is stolen from a film..]. He can be quite bias though. He sides the Chinese. [Down to the Americans, the Chinese rules, he so claims].
Oh, why am I talking about Bei.
[See, you're drifting away from your topic again..]
Opps, sorry.
Anyway, that's just the background where my WW1 and WW2 knowledge originate. When Cui Xia asked me about this, I answered. Then a thought strike me - what if I were wrong? I mean, I never took history. I never read much history too. I heard these from people. What if Bei made some mistakes? What if memory fails me?
Pardon me, but I wasn't worried that Cui Xia receives incorrect information. Instead, it's the people in the train that were probably listening to the very word I say. Eavesdropping. I do that often. It cures boredom.
I can picture myself speaking for the British forces being invaded and, out of no where, some guy popped up and says something like "Excuse me, Germany did not participate in the War this way". That would have been awfully embarrassing.
I lowered my volume.
And lowered more.
And lowered even more.
[Okay, point taken that you lower your voice, now get on with your post!]
This is done to minimize the number of people listening to me. Soon, I find myself whispering..

I had lunch with Jinyao, Guan Jie and Teck Hui today. It's been a while since I last see them. [Actually, I last met Teck Hui and Guan Jie last Friday..] Guan Jie talks to me about Flash [Macromedia Flash MX] stuff with me once again. We always ended up talking about this. And once again, he requested for the source code of the Flash animations I created for our project last year. He did not know about Flash at that time.
Let me explain what it means by Flash source code first. Jinyao, Guan Jie, Teck Hui and I often collaborated in our projects. During the presentation, we submit Flash animations instead of the usual PowerPoint animation. I have to admit that it does give us an advantage. It impresses people. I create this Flash animation using a program called Macromedia Flash MX, and then I export the Flash animation in swf format. There is no way of viewing the source once it is exported. There is no such thing as the "View Source" option in Microsoft Internet Explorer. No editing and viewing of source code is allowed.
The reason why Guan Jie wants the source code is mainly for learning purposes I suppose. He wants to see how I animate the objects and how I code. Giving him the source code will allow him to view, alter every single thing in the project. That I ain't happy.

Special 

On August 28, 2003, 12:30 am SGT, you will be 2,000 km closer to Mars! (NASA.gov)

I am selfish.
I did not want people to see my source code. I felt as if the source code is part of me. It's like my baby ya'know. I spent more than 30 hours compiling it, editing it, perfecting it. I do not like the idea of someone viewing, what more if he's editing, something I spend so much time on.
[You are selfish]
Yes, I am.
Last Friday, the topic came about. And I say I don't really mind giving him the source code. He has been asking me again and again. Today, he asked again. I tried to change the subject, but it always gets back to Flash. I love to help him in learning Flash, however, not by revealing my source codes. For I have spent too much time and effort on it. I did not want people to peep into it. He really wants to see what's inside. I like to aid him in his learning for this software, but..
[You are confused]
Yes, I am.
I felt sad to reject his request. Felt really bad as well. He's a good friend of mine. I have yet to tell him that I do not wish to hand over the source code. I probably never tell him at all.

By the way, if you watch the planet, Mars today, it's going to be just as big as the moon as seen from Earth. See the picture I attached from NASA.gov before they remove the image from there servers.

Nielsen//NetRatings, a firm that deals in internet audience measurement and analysis, provides the statistics concerning the recent MSBlaster worm attack. Traffic of web sites with information concerning MSBlaster worm has increased significantly.

Q&A 

Question: "Do you know why George Washington's father didn't punish him even George chopped his favorite Cherry tree? "
Answer: "Because George still had the axe in his hand? "

At the bottom of the top 5 list is Zone Lab's web site, attracting 638,000 users, that is a 73% increase compared to the previous week. Norton Anti-Virus maker, Symantec, sees their viewer ship increase over 302% with over 4 million users.
The Windows Update web site which was targeted by the MSBlaster worm sees over 11 million users; that is an increase of 76% week on week. MSN Tech and Gadgets, which provided information and articles about the worm, attracted over a million people, seeing a 304% jump on that week.
Well, the winner is Microsoft's TechNet site which recorded 3.9 million unique surfers as compared to 317,000 of the preceding week. That is a surge of 1131% week on week!
Don't you just love statistics?
The worm attack launched on Microsoft's Windows Update web site fail too. The worm is preprogrammed to attack http://www.windowsupdate.com/ which is just a redirecting web site. Microsoft removed Windows Update's redirecting site and the attack failed. Somehow this DoS attack attempt reminds me of Code-Red which attacks http://www.whitehouse.gov/. I guess the worm's author fail in his attempt.

That's the default colour for the Q&A for your info. I added a new theme - Goto Maki! She went solo last year I think. She used to be in Morning Musume. Check her out, she looks really pretty. [I kinda cheated and smoothen her skin just A BIT, hehee.. But she's still pretty without my editing.] At first, I only include her picture to her shoulder, not revealing her bikini. After a couple of look, I find it extremely distasteful, so much so that I recreated from a scratch - this time including her bikini. She looks more stylish in this way. Some minor updates only. I am gearing it up for a change coming September 01, so be sure to get your mouse (the computer one) ready. Oh, my Stellvia of the Universe download is complete. So happy about it. Shin-pon~! lol

I can't think of anything to write today. I surfed [Don't you think "surf" is such a weird word..]

Movie Quotes 

"Concordantly, while your first question may be the most pertinent, you may or may not realize it is also the most irrelevant. "

The Architect  
(Matrix: Reloaded)  

the web [Don't you think "web" is such a weird word..] and found several weird news. These are real news. One taken from ABC News [That's "America Broadcasting Companies" in case you thought I just anyhow type what my baby nephew is reciting from his Alphabets book.] and the other's from Associated Press (Newsday, AP). This weird news are compiled by Chuck Shepherd (P.O. Box 18737, Tampa FL 33679). I just lift two of them up. Let's just say they're pretty thought-provoking. And some Junior College peeps can use it for their General Paper too. That is only if it applies of course. [lol]

Legal nude photos?
ABC News reported in May that it is not illegal in Massachusetts for a man to take surreptitious photographs of his adult daughter in the family home, even though in "hundreds" of the photos, she is nude or partially nude. The Easthampton, Mass., woman was 19 when she moved back into her old bedroom, where her father had been keeping electronic equipment, but later got a tech-savvy friend to examine a camera and computer. The parents are now divorced, but since the father committed no crime, he got to keep the photos. [ABC News, 5-29-03]

Wonder how does a fork taste?
A July Associated Press dispatch from Jerusalem reported that a 32-year-old woman accidentally swallowed a cockroach and then, after trying to dig it out with a fork, swallowed the fork. Dr. Nikola Adid of the Poria Hospital in Tiberias, Israel, had to remove both items. [Newsday-AP, 7-10-03]

Note: This sea-inspired gradient will be the default colour for movie and lyrics quotes. They aren't as plentiful as others, so they have to share, lol. Hey, also, anticipate furthur site updates after next week. I am adding something new again. I think I am adding new stuff every month, hahaa. It'll be a surprise, so watch this blog closely. The new thingy will arrive September 01, 2003. That's when my term break starts. One-week term break by the way.

I have a rather interesting Web Publishing teacher. She's Miss Jennifer Ang. She wrote us e-mails quite frequently.

Senseless Thoughts 

"Love thy neighbor;
But don't be caught. "

I thought I share some of them with you guys. It's rather funny. She uses very interesting English as you can see on the bottom. Even my friends don't write like that. [hahaa..] I did not do any editing except for changing the font and font sizes. [I swear I never!]

Anyway, this is the first mail I received from her:
          
dear people,
in yesterday's practical, many of u feedback that the textbook is out of stock. we have noted the issue.
now pls respond to me quick quick, how many of u COULD NOT get the textbook? i need to compile a list to be sent to the bookshop.
arigato!
Jen Ang

This is her second e-mail to me:
          
dear people,
so far i have got 16 requests for textbook. i'll tell the bookstore 20. so pls go get it from the bookstore fast ok? b4 those from other classes grab them 'cos i don't know who else in classes i don't teach wants the book.
we will post the news on the announcement page if there is any feedback from the bookstore.
Jen Ang

And may I present you her third e-mail [I like this one]:
          
ok, die die must tell u this b4 i go to toilet.. it is so important that all other businesses can hold!
ok, summary of an email from the School office (read carefully huh)..
01a. You are to record temperatures in STRES through PCs or by SMS.
01b. Failing to do so, first fine $5, second fine $10 and third fine $20. After that, intransigent students will be sent to Disciplinary Committee.
02a. To ensure you to take your temperatures everyday, temperature-taking parades will be conducted in class every morning and afternoon.
02b. Principal and his Deputies may come by to your class. They have already visited a few classes and have been asking students if the temperature taking parades have been conducted for them in the morning and afternoon.
03a. You are to wear your lanyard on campus at all times. In class rooms, lecture theatres, laboratories, workshops, library, corridors, foodcourts. In fact students will have to pay a surcharge at the foodcourt if they do not wear their lanyards.
03b. Failing to do so, first fine $5, second fine $10 and third fine $20. After that intransigent students will be sent to Disciplinary Committee.
what does that mean? that you guys better make sure that u bring your themometer EVERYDAY and record temperature!
and please may i suggest that u wear your lanyard to the toilet too, like what i do, although it is not a requirement.. yet.. hee..
Jen Ang

Sure is one interesting teacher, isn't it? May I stress again that not editing is done, lol. Yes, I added the colours but it's no big deal.

By the way, the rounded rectangle features "Senseless Thoughts" this time, this lime green colour (which incidently is one of the few greens that I am pleased with) will be the default colour of it.

I lost my phone pouch today. Quite angry with myself. I am just very careless. I am holding too much things with my fingers. Then I suppose the pouch just slip off my hand. I SMS-ed (that's short messaging system I think) Cui Xia, Benedict and Yong Liang to complain about it. Benedict did not reply though. He may be some where in school having lessons right now. That phone pouch isn't cheap by the way, it cost SG$10 as far as I can remember. I told Cui Xia to help me get a replacement anyway. Yong Liang kept telling me to relax, relax and relax. I do not sound (or rather, look) agitated in my SMS.

Blonde Jokes 

"I knew a blonde that was so stupid that she spent 20 minutes looking at the orange juice box because it said 'concentrate'. "

Fact is that I am not at all agitated. I have a test tomorrow, and I got to really study it. I haven't exactly been listening in class. I am day dreaming (that is dreaming about the day?) most of the time. The teacher knows it I think.
Anyway, as I was saying (or rather, typing), there's this test tomorrow. I can't have any distraction to study for it. I want to study it yesterday evening, but I went to take a nap after Zhi Yuan messaged me on MSN Messenger saying he's going to take a nap! He woke up at half past ten at late evening and I woke up at half past six [!?!?!] early morning this very day! Damn.
Anyway, as I was saying (or rather, typing), I can't have any distraction to study for the test. A lost pouch is a major distraction and it's been cycling [I do not know how to cycle] in my mind again and again reminding me that I lost my pouch practically in my entire train journey. The reason I wrote this post, send SMS to Cui Xia, Benedict [at least I tried] and Yong Liang is so that I can feel better. But I simply couldn't feel much better. So I request Cui Xia to get me a replacement. It's more like an insurance type of thing ya'know? It makes me feel better that I have told people about it and even prepared a replacement for it. I hope spending an extra ten dollars will make me study for the test without distraction. If it does, it's worth it, no matter what.

Note: I broke my two week history of attempt to write only on every alternate day, that is, every odd day of August. duh.. Too bad I guess. Also, I added a joke today. Orangey background gradient. I like that tone of color. That will be the default color of jokes. Today's a blonde joke. That means all jokes will have that as the background color. I standardized it as I am tired of spending 2 minutes each time trying to figure out which gradient to use. Oh, one more thing, I changed my style sheets again so that I can better suit the 800*600 crowd.

Years ago, my family got an air-conditioner. I always felt (yeah, I no longer think so) that the air-con is a blessing from above, especially with the humid and warm weather in Singapore. At first, we were satisfied with the air-con. It does what it supposed to - keep the temperature down - and my parents are quite please. [By the way, my brother is extremely pleased.]

Senseless Thoughts 

"One should love animals.
They are so tasty. "

Weeks and months passed (quietly). My father starts his first compliant. According to him, the generator [I do not quite know how to call it, I am referring to the huge machine with a fan in it] has start to make some unnecessary noise. He became upset over it. Soon, he is obsessed with the topic of fixing air-cons that that (I make no mistake repeating the word) it is the only thing I can talk to him about.
He started to bring home some weird remedies. There's this spray can thingy that ejects foam into the air-con. By the way, he brought lots of these spray cans to spray, each time a different brand. He sprayed it into everybody's air-con. He forced everyone to clean their room's air-con. He even used the vacuum cleaner to suck out some weird fluid from the pipes of the air-con.
But the unbearable noise went on.
So the air-con repair people came to our place. My father complained to them from the start. [I was so bored listening to the same old story that I returned to my room.] They claimed it could be fixed and it requires a really special part that is currently not available. They say they'll keep a look out for us on this special part. They never return.

[To be continued..]

I went for the search of Benedict's birthday gift with Cui Xia this day. I shan't reveal the gift just in case his itchy hands type "beconfused.blogspot.com" on the Address Bar.

Interesting News
The rogue website vyagra.com has been dismissed as little more than a scam by the United Nations' copyright agency, which has ruled it should be handed over to Viagra-maker Pfizer.
The UN's World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), which arbitrates global Internet domain disputes, found that the site was aimed largely at extracting money from the world's biggest drug company and maker of the anti-impotence treatment.
The site in the past had directed surfers to other drug companies and pornographic links.

ABC News Online  

It is highly unlikely though, but I am just playing safe.
We were looking at some badge with humorous phrases "embedded" (sorry, I just feel like using this word, hahaa..) on it. I pointed to her a badge with the word "buzz 3rd". Get it? Recite out to get a clearer view. Apparently she doesn't get it that fast. She recited it more than 3 times, much to my amusement, to get it. Ignore her, she's a little slow. [hehee..] It meant "bastard" by the way. If you don't get it, stand at the corner holding your thickest book (make sure one with hard covers) up high on the air!
Oh, I saw Jean Danker and Daniel Ong, both from MediaCorp Radio Perfect 10, at Precious Thoughts (Wisma Atria). Jean sports the Perfect 10 black tee, while Daniel.. I can't seem to remember, he's dress in white anyway. Jean seems to have worn some pretty thick make-up (perhaps it's the lighting), and Daniel seems to have worn some pretty thick moustache. I have to admit that they look quite "celebrity".
I did not approach them to say hello though. Felt kinda weird if I were to talk to someone I quite often listen to Jean's All Requests Live (Jean, if you happen to see this, do send me one of those Perfect 10 goodie bags, lol) on radio. I ain't so free in school, so I often listen on my way back home. I listen to Daniel's Morning Madness too. In fact I listen more often (Daniel, if you happen to see this, do send me TWO of those Perfect 10 goodie bags, lol and lol another time) while walking towards the MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) station every week day. I especially like Jean's shift though. Sorry Daniel.

If you've notice, I featured news instead of quotes. Just testing to see the response. If you have any good quotes, give me a comment. Include the quote, the author of the quote and preferbly your name too. Thanks.

Veralene (Pei Shan has given herself a brand new English name), Yong Liang (Yong Liang's parents gave him this name), Zhi Yuan and I left class at 11:45 a.m. and head down to the Community Service and Cultural Club (CSCC) club house to borrow 4 tennis rackets. Each tennis racket comes with 2 tennis balls.
This isn't the norm. Aren't we supposed to play badminton? Oh, we changed. Today is Tennis Day.

"Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow-ripening fruit. "

Aristotle (~4 B.C.)  

We did our bookings for the court and went there realizing that we do not need to book them at all! No one is playing tennis there, meaning that the courts are free to be used by anyone.
It's Zhi Yuan and my first time playing tennis. I have to admit that the only time I touched tennis rackets in at one of those sporting equipment shops. I often 'admire' their prices. They belong to what I would call a touch-but-cannot-purchase section.
So, the subject says "tennis//wet", you've seen the tennis. "What's this 'wet' about?" you wondered. Well, we got wet. Literally.
The sky blessed us with slight showers after we played for 15 minutes. We continued to play for a while until the sky blesses us with much more.
We returned our tennis balls and rackets and ate lunch instead. After a hearty meal, the rain stopped. How interesting weather..

Addition: We did return to borrow those rackets and stuff again, but this time from Chemical and Life Sciences club house. We played till 2 p.m. and proceed to Dr. Xu's class which then ended at 3. We then armed ourselves with rackets and played for an hour then proceed to the one-hour Web Publishing class at 4 p.m..

Recently, a worm, MSBlast, has been spreading on the web at a tremendous speed and infected more than 120,000 computers. The forums I frequent seem to have lots of discussion on this. Lots of finger-pointing are involved. The author of this worm addressed to Microsoft chairman in the worm: "billy gates why do you make this possible?" and continues with "Stop making money and fix your software!!".
So it's Microsoft's fault? Not exactly too. This Windows vulnerability has been patched on July 16, 2003.

"Life's a box of chocolates, Forrest. You never know what you're gonna get. "

Quoted from Forest Gump (1994)  

It is listed as a critical update in the Windows Update web site. This worm works in a unconventional way, taking advantage of the Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) Remote Procedure Call (RPC) in Windows 2000, NT and XP. It uses File Transfer Protocol (FTP) to download itself to the victim's computer. Those people who are infected apparently failed to patch the vulnerability that has been release about a month ago.
The worm also attempts to cause a denial-of-service attack on Microsoft's WindowsUpdate.com, similar to the Code-Red worm that aims at WhiteHouse.gov. It causes Windows Update web site to be very slow, but has yet to bring the servers down.

To prevent this from happening, download the patch from Microsoft.
Windows NT 4.0 Server
Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server Edition
Windows 2000
Windows XP 32-bit Edition
Windows XP 64-bit Edition
Windows Server 2003 32-bit Edition
Windows Server 2003 64-bit Edition

For removal of this worm:
Central Command
F-Secure
McAfee
Symantec
Trend Micro.

I advise you to visit the Windows Update site often or subscribe to Microsoft Windows' mailing list to get updates on their software. This attack could easily be avoided. It is simply due to the public's ignorance that cause more than 120,000 computers infected.

I wrote this posting originally to introduce the Windows Media web page to a school discussion board (there is one to share the web sites you see that you like). I thought I share this one with you people.
I like Windows Media's new webby at http://www.windowsmedia.com/. No Flash stuff there this time though, but click on the 'Next' button, the fading-in-and-out transition effect is very cool. The overall design looks pleasing to my eye. (Although I don't quite like Mary J Blige looking at me at the 'Music' section with U.S.A. Localization). I like the way they display the colours. Good use of CSS (although they used some IE-only attributes). However, there're some anti-alias problems with the 'pause' and 'next' button when displayed upon a dark background. Oh, note the fontography too. Multiple fonts are used, looks like Verdana and Trebuchet to me, I may be wrong. And says who multiple fonts in web pages don't look right.

Badminton is a game that can be played with 2 people. Each of opposite sides of the court. Alternatively, there is a game play for badminton that involves 2 teams, 4 people that is. 2 people will be in each side of the court competing against each other. And why aren't there a game play that involves 2 teams, 6 people, 3 people on each side of the court? There is a reason, and I know the reason. I know it the hard way though. ["hard" is not a good word to use here but I can't seem to be able to replace it with any word.]
My class is having some sort of badminton craze, we play badminton so often that I thought it was part of our curriculum. We play (and sweat) during our breaks. The courts are usually filled. It would be selfish if we play single, that is one-against-one. Hence, we usually play doubles. The problem arises when there are too many people.
Last week, we had this three-against-two game. We had 3 people on our side, including me. One will guard the right, the other the left, and the extra (the person who join last in the game, in this case me) at the back. James and Shawn were at the front. [There aren't many chances for shuttlecocks flying to the back usually, but when playing with Zhi Yuan as an opponent, the chance increases significantly.] Zhi Yuan hit the shuttlecock, it flew quite far, far enough for me to hit. James rushed to the back too, trying to hit the shuttlecock. We both hit something, which is good in a way, and bad in another. James hits the shuttlecock. I hit James. I smashed my racket onto his face. He squatted down immediately in apparent agony. I rushed to him in guilt. It turns out that I hit his bone at the eye brow area. I am very sure it is very painful. So much so that James stopped playing badminton for that day.
And history repeats itself.
This very day, we had this three-against-two game again. We had 3 people on our side, including me.

"Be slow in choosing your friends; slower in changing. "

Benjamin Franklin  
(Invented lightning rod)  

One will guard the right, the other the left, and the extra (the person who join last in the game, in this case me again) at the back. Benjamin and Shawn were at the front. [There aren't many chances for shuttlecocks flying to the back usually, but when playing with Zhi Yuan as an opponent, the chance increases significantly.] Zhi Yuan hit the shuttlecock, it flew quite far, far enough for me to hit. I swung my right hand horizontally, from my left to my right. I hit something, or rather some things. I hit the shuttlecock, which is good. As my racket swung from my left to my right, I hit Benjamin who is on my right. I smashed my racket onto his shoulder. He squatted down immediately in apparent agony. I rushed to him in guilt. It turns out that I hit his bone at the shoulder area. I am not very sure it is very painful. Benjamin claims he is okay and continued playing badminton.
After reading this, you probably thought that I never learn. Fact is that you are right. I told myself a dozen times not to hit people in the court again. It makes me seem quite violent. I think I inflicted fear in both Benjamin and James. [More fear in the former I think.] I felt really bad about this. At least I know why this game is invented with a maximum of 2 people on each side of the court..

Edited: Upon reading this again, I found that I somehow made this sound like a joke. I apologized at least umpteen times to James and once to Benjamin. I am really sorry that a casual game of badminton can turn out that violent.

School starts at 10 in the morning today, but I was there 15 minutes earlier. Why? To grab a copy of a book called iGenetics which the school bookshop only has 30 of them in stock. This book cost S$49.50, and I consider it to be quite a bargain. The price has been inflated to a staggering S$130. I saw the exact same copy at Kinokuniya1 priced at S$143 about 2 weeks ago with Benedict! The distributor sends in 30 books as an introductory offer I think. There are more than 50 students interested in this book.
I did get the book. Pei Shan got hers too, before 10 in the morning too. Ben got his too, but after 3 in the afternoon! I shouldn't be so kiasu2 after all. I am glad that I've got that book (and a good bargain). I hope it'll spur much interest in the field of Genetics for me. I am having trouble being interested in genetics stuff. I hope this book can be a motivation factor.

"We travel this road to find happiness.
Everyone is a traveler, carrying his own never-healing wounds. "

Ayumi Hamasaki (Song: Voyage)  

I am quite hesitant buying a text book on Web Design though. It cost S$45. No discounts. Quite expensive actually. Considering that the web is ever-changing, such a purchase seems to be not that worth it. At least science doesn't change that ridiculously. The web is change instantly (although with backward compatibility) when those W3C3 guys have their annual meeting. I think their favourite word in the dictionary is "deprecate". duh..

1) Kinokuniya is a Japanese bookstore. I think it is currently the largest book store in Singapore, overtaking Borders in terms of size.
2) Kiasu is literally means afraid to lose in the Hokkien dialect. It is used as an adjective in local (Singapore) English, better known as "Singlish", which is a local variant for English. "Kiasu" is used to refer to a person who is afraid to lose out to others.
3) W3C stands for World Wide Web Consortium.

I bought the much publicized Canon (xnu) i320 printers to replace my old Canon BubbleJet 210. As free gifts, I received bundled software (some drivers and useless stuff), a phone set and a mini-cooler (for those picnics and stuff). However, I received the phone set all thanks to my aunt. And, however (again), I am not very happy about it.
I have been eyeing on this printer for quite some time (for 2 weeks ago actually, not that long). I told Ben that I am interested to purchase one of these Canon printers on the Today (newspaper) advertisement. He revealed that he has one of these at home, and wanted to sell it to me for S$80 as his family is upgrading to a higher-end model. It costs S$149 as advertised by the way.
This afternoon, I was at Westmall with Cuixia, looking at the i320 printer which cost S$129, less expensive than what was advertised on Today. I asked the sales guy if this offer is bundled with any things. [Note: Asking if the offer comes with bundle stuff is just my way of asking if there's any free gifts, hehee..] I was told it comes with the bundled software, a telephone set, an ice-cooler box and some photo paper. It's a really good deal it seems - buy 1 get 4 free. lol
I went home and discussed it with my mother. She agreed upon the purchase after a while. [She thought that S$129 is a very cheap price for a printer.]
After dinner, I returned to Westmall with my mother (she wants to see the printer) and my aunt (she wants the cashier

"Celine Dion is coming out with a new line of perfumes this year. You don't spray it on. You put it on your fist and pound it into your chest. "

David Letterman  

to see her credit card) to purchase that printer. Again, I asked for a review for the bundled items, and it has changed. Now an ice-cooler, bundled software and a calculator (non-scientific) is offered instead. Apparently the previous guy who introduces the printer to me that afternoon made several mistakes. The telephone set and photo paper is only offered to high-end printer models.
I called Ben up and ask him for details on his S$80 deal. His parents decided to sell it at S$70 instead. But my mother ain't too keen. I don't think she trust Ben too. She brought up a couple of what-ifs. I informed Ben, telling him the deal is off. I felt quite bad about it actually. S$70 is a really good deal actually.
We went back to buy the printer. My aunt went to complain to another salesman that someone told me that I will receive a telephone set as a free gift. Surprisingly enough, the sales man agreed to give us the telephone instead of the silly calculator, on condition that I point out who told me I will get a free phone. Frankly, I have no idea. But hey, we still get the phone! No photo paper though but it doesn't matter.
Perhaps that something I should learn from my aunt. And also, sorry Ben.
[I went back home and test-print it. I looked for the image with the best resolution which is the image of Lain1. With 1147*1663 resolutions, that's the best I have got. I wonder where should I put Lain1, hmmmp..]

1) Lain is a character from the Japanese animation - Serial Experiments Lain. Serial Experiments Lain reminds me of Serial Dilutions, hahaa.. That is if you know what I mean.

I saw this post in someone else's blog so I attached it to share with you people. I thought it's pretty funny. Head down to his or her blog at http://whyjapansucks.blogspot.com/ for more hilarious reads. lol.

Hooray for Kofi Annan!!! [That's the subject.]
It's rare that I can find any decision by the UN that I can agree with but recently the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan actually did something of which I approve. He decided to reject an invitation to attend the big Japanese "We are the Victims!" festival in Hiroshima next month. This event supposedly is to commemorate the A-bomb attack on Hiroshima in August 1945. In reality, the event has been used and manipulated by the Japanese to change or obfuscate their actual role as aggressive, bloodthirsty gang rapist raping and pillaging Asia, into poor, innocent victims of an evil, white, colonial power. Poor Japan! Always the victim!

"There are books of which the backs and covers are by far the best parts. "

Charles Dickens (1812 - 1870)  

Ask any Japanese high school student what they know about WWII and they will generally respond that America attacked poor, innocent Japan with an A-bomb! No mention of anything before this event....just that evil America attacked poor, innocent Japan! Every year high school students are herded like sheep (how appropriate) to Hiroshima and Nagasaki so they can see for themselves what happened to poor, innocent Japan in 1945. The powers that be trot out the survivors and they tell their pitiful stories. Then, the high school students shed a few tears and mope around a bit feeling sorry for poor, innocent Japan. Their self-image as victims reinforced, most students soon forget all about it as they return to playing with their cell phones and posing for pictures while making the peace sign. "Oh look! Another Hello Kitty key chain!!!! Kawaii!"
I know this as I work at five different high schools and every year it's the same old shit. Students visit the A-bomb sites and come back and report to me their new-found hatred of "evil America" or their complete indifference which, to me, is even worse. When I ask them why Hiroshima and Nagasaki were attacked none seem to have the slightest clue. It appears to them that America just attacked poor, innocent Japan for no real reason. Mention Nanking, Unit 731, the Bataan Death March, the Burma Railway, Comfort Women, Forced Labor, and any of the other numerous attrocities and all you get are the usual blank stares.....WWII? Pearl Harbor? What's that? Must have been that movie with Ben Affleck! Cho Kawaii!!!!!
[End of his or her posting]

Man, this person sure knows how to write. I do not quite like the Japanese Government's way of hiding stuff like that. It's like forging history. Kofi Annan did well on this, I will not attend such a function if I've got the privilege too. Japan is home to some really great stuff, but there's a seems to be some ethical and political problems there. Maybe Junichiro Koizumi is not doing a good job. Actually I don't like that fellow too. [hmmmp.. eeto.. kawaii?]