Microsoft's latest boo-boo - allowing viruses to spread in the form of image files which can be triggered merely by viewing. This is nasty. Fully patched computers with up-to-date antiviruses have NO protection against it. Depending on the code of a particular virus, it might do anything. Worse case, files start disappearing from your hard disk. For you fellow students, start backing up anything important concerning your studies.

Recommendations for staying safe - stop surfing for a few days, stick to large reputable sites. Don't go near forums. Somebody post one of those pics there, and you've had it. Turn off image viewing/download in your email and internet browser.

To *reduce* damage in case you get infected, do this now - Start Menu > Run > regsvr32 /u shimgvw.dll

This will turn off the previewer for images, and possibly reduce damage done if you somehow get hit. Good luck, and stay tuned, I'll keep this post updated.
 

I've read many articles over the years, discussing what effects loud music can have on our hearing, especially headphones and oversized speakers. Here's an interesting fact - sound measurement isn't linear. That is, 100 decibels isn't twice as loud as 50 dbs. Instead, it's exponential. Every 3 decibel increment is a 100% increase in sound volume. So when we start measuring sound around the 100db - 115db range, a small increase in the scale is a huge increase in actual volume. So much for all those times when I used to think "Ahh, what's the difference between 100db and 110db...", now I know just how much difference there is - lol.

So anyway, earlier tonight I had a dinner with some relatives, including a certain nice, cheerful baby. At least, that was my first impression of him. After dinner, we decided to meet up at my house. And the baby was following my mum. Thats when we discovered just how much the baby disliked vehicles. I mean, my aunt had warned us earlier that he disliked travelling, but we weren't prepared. The moment we stepped into the car -
WwwaaAAAAaaaaahhhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhh....hhhh
And it lasted halfway across the island. Till we gave up and stopped at McD to give our ears a rest. Guess what, the moment the door opened, the noise stopped. Who said babies can't communicate verbally? This guy's a baby genius, he's figured out binary already. On. Off. On. Off. Ouch. My eardrums.

And when we figured out we had no choice but hurry back to my place, I tried turning on the radio, thinking maybe to drown him out a little. Waddaya know, the lil fellow quieted up instantly. And nodded away to the music all the way home. Being curious, I tried an experiment, and turned off the radio -
WwwaaAAAAaaaaahhhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhh....hhhh
Turn it on again. And he goes off. Ahhh. Thank you Hitz FM. Music to my ears.
 

A certain somebody complained that my guestbook link was too small and hard to find. I wisely refrained from making a comment about apes with bad eyesight. Instead, I made the guestbook link more obvious. Maybe now more readers will sign it... (hint hint)
 

It is my opinion that, in any tech-related company nowadays, there must exist at least one trustworthy manager/administrator who understands IT. For example, I have an acquaintance working in the Penang Bayan Baru FTZ. For obvious reasons, I won't identify him or the company. Now here's the funny part. He was hired under the Quality Control department. As it turns out however, being a Computer Engineering student, he knew more about IT than the IT department of said company. Interesting. Apparently the IT departments troubleshoots computers by popping in a Windows cd and reinstalling Windows whenever a problem crops up. He mentioned several other routines of theirs as well, but I'm sure you get the idea.

So now, we have this manufacturing company with an incompetent IT staff. My acquaintance is now the most knowledgeable guy around concerning IT. And he's a trainee. In the Quality Control department. Gee. Anyway, his manager asked him to set up an office network for the department, and asks him at the same time if he thinks their data is secure. He gets this bright idea and goes -

"Not yet, you need a RAID too." (RAID = Redundant Array of Independent Disks, used for backing up very important data in huge amounts, usually for time-critical uses.)

Now, the RAID wasn't really neccessary, it just so happens that he had never played around with one before. Voila, his manager authorizes him to buy one. Sigh.

Another anecdote from the same guy - the company is paying thousands yearly in fees for Microsoft Office. When I went "WTF?!?!", he explained that it was for technical support. Wow. They have a dedicated IT department, and they're paying thousands in technical support for one of Microsoft's user-friendliest products ever. I just hate to imagine what other nonsense they're paying for too.

Now just imagine how much money that company would have saved by having hired an IT manager who actually knew his job. Enough to justify hiring the experienced, higher salary guy, I'm sure. But then, I probably shouldn't be writing this article. Otherwise, who would hire me to order all sorts of unneeded computer gadgets when I graduate? ;D
 

Just an interesting fact. Many of you, I'm sure, would know that Christianity was founded in the time of Rome, and its followers were persecuted for their religion. Here's what you didn't know.

At the time, Rome was an empire of the world. It was, sociologically, an utopia. No racism, no nationalism. Slavery existed, but existed as a punishment, for crimes or bankruptcy. It wasn't perfect, but their social system might well have been far better than ours. And here's the interesting fact. They practised freedom of religion too.

So why did they prosecute Christians? Because of the Christian religious intolerance. The Christian view that their way was the only true way to heaven, and their belief that all other religions were blasphemous, was anathema to the Roman concept of tolerance. Indeed, of all the major religions in the world, only Christianity professes to be the one true way to God, and claims all other religions to be the work of the Devil. Other religions tend to teach tolerance instead. Makes you wonder...

More on this topic later (I guarantee), since Christianity and their missionaries are one of the major annoyances i tend to encounter.
 

I got chewed out by my mum recently, for using an improper word with a friend over the phone. This got me thinking. How do we define what language is improper nowadays? To me, it would depend on the other parties in a conversation. What is improper to my parents, and the older generation, may very well be tolerated, accepted, even expected by those of my generation. My grandparents would probably get out the detergent if they heard somebody from my generation greeting a friend. Shifting times and evolving language, indeed.

This is not to say I condone rudeness. There are few among us who can talk to his (or her) parents using the same language they use with their friends. For those who can, I applaud them. They survive in their generation without bowing to pressure of how to speak, or act. For those who can't, we know better (we should, anyway) than to speak suchly to the older generation. Indeed, we maintain two separate vocabularies and grammars, for different audiences. Woe indeed to the one who lets his parents hear him using the other language, as I discovered.

Does this mean that we no longer respect our friends? I disagree. To be rude would be to behave in a shocking, unacceptable way. This is a judgement call, as I have discussed earlier. What is rude to one may be natural to another. In a way, you could say that when adjusting our language, we are respecting the values and customs of others.
 

Had dinner with my ex earlier tonight. First time I'd seen her since we broke up over the phone several months ago. My parents wondered why I wanted to meet her. Fact is, the meeting was a sort of closure for me to that chapter of my life. Despite her having told me she wanted to break up several months ago, part of me couldn't really accept it yet. It took that last meeting for me to accept that we would just be close friends from now on. Sort of a 'Dear John' dinner, I guess, except for a weird twist, being that she paid for the dinner. Lol. No, I'm not that cheapskate, I just forgot my wallet. God bless you Lyn, and have a good life. I sincerely wish you happiness with your new boyfriend. And now, I guess it's time for me to heal and move on.