Curse me jeebers! Cursebird is a cool Twitter mashup that aggregates & display tweets containing our favourite words like “fuck”, “fuck me hard”, “shit”, “bullshit”, “crap”, etc. Made by fantastic players.
I love things like this. Fuck yea!
October 30, 2008
Get your freak on with Open Source software
FOSS.my 2008 is an interesting event organised by the awesome people of free, open source software evangelists, with only one purpose: TO TELL THE WHOLE DAMN WORLD (Malaysians in particularly) THAT OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE IS FREAKING AWESOME!
Got that right. Open source software is awesome & has changed my life when I started hacking 56k (winmodem) modem drivers for RedHat 4 just because I was working in a god forsaken island with no broadband. In fact, because of open source software, I received my first programming gig/contract with a federal government-linked-company in that god forsaken island. In fact, because of open source software, I was able to contribute back to Malaysian villagers on how to use a computer & allowed them to start threading on the path of the Jedi.
It was all totally awesome experiences!
I love:
They have a long list of speakers & sessions that would open up your minds & get yourself hooked on open source software. Registration is free, but not free if you want to attend & listen to the sessions. It’s about RM50 per attendee. Plus, they have a cool t-shirt for RM30. One thing odd though, where did the “free & sharing of knowledge” culture go? Probably they realised that not everything in this world should/can be given/attained free. Betul tak rakyat?
It’s a very good event to attend & get yourself mingle around with open source software developers, evangelists & entrepreneurs alike. Free real social networking. Visit their Facebook event page.
Am I attending? Not sure. I like free stuff :D
How was Google DevFest? It was awesome! Now that’s what I call free knowledge! It’s an event to attend at any cost. They even got their own blog to highlight Asia Pacific developments & programs.
Will upload photos when I finished taking pictures with the disposable camera. Why do I like to use disposable cameras so much? Because lojack is cool.
October 25, 2008
Happy Deepavali
A very thoughtful video advertisement. If we didn’t have our parents, we wouldn’t be here. Yes, there are bad parents. But nothing is as bad as when you start forgetting how precious they really are. And another thing about this video that made me smile. It’s not about what you want, it’s about what you get & how you make the best out of it to make things better for you & your family. Life is shitty, but there are others who goes thru shittier things than you.
Happy Deepavali ;)
October 24, 2008
October 19, 2008
Let’s talk about corruption
That has to be the hottest topic of our century. Another hot topic would be that Dr. Chua Jui Meng lost MCA’s presidential race. I have a feeling why he lost, and because of his reputation during his term as a government servant (this is just my assumption, but from what I’ve seen & heard & thru my judgement, it’s true), I think we’ve lost another potential & good leader. I’m sorry for your lost Datuk, but I admire your stand & stature. No worries, we can still fight on a different turf.
Everyday we read & listen to variety of stories touching the issue of corruption within the government. But let’s talk about how it all started. No, let’s talk about how we can stop this corruption, since we, the rakyat, seems to be wanting & fighting to change.
We, the rakyat, must stop giving handouts.
We, the rakyat, must stop corrupting these people that we accused of being corrupt.
If you disagree with my view, then my friend, you are the one who is at fault & the actual corrupt person.
When we give handouts to the people we accused of being corrupt, we not only corrupting ourselves, but also our children who depend & eat the dirty money that we bring home. Not only to ourselves, but also to the family of the people that we accuse of being corrupt. It’s like as if we are giving the family of the person corrupt dirty money & feeding them with dirty food. It’s like we are tainting them with dirty paint without us using the paint brush. I guarantee that our own corrupt actions will ultimately corrupt the hearts of each & everyone in the family of the people who we accused.
Why? Because in the beggining, they were feeded with dirty money. Dirty money = dirty hearts.
In a way, we are corrupting a whole generation of human beings without us realising that we are doing it back to ourselves. We fail to see the result of our own action down the line. And to make it worst, karma has a way of paying back these corrupt people. Don’t believe me? Try & observe. You will see a whole corrupt generation.
And we will end up having more people that we will accuse (in the future) of being corrupt. But not once do we realise, that we the rakyat is the main cause of this corruption. We are the akar umbi of corruption.
October 18, 2008
Hardy Boys & Nancy Drew
Those were my reading materials when I was 9 years old. My mother bought almost completed the whole collection of different edition & paperbacks for each title, which sadly was ultimately destroyed by the ravaging, hungry termites. Last night, we had a small family get together & I browsed into some of our old family photo albums. My god, how naughty I was. My sidekick was my little brother, we do almost everything together.
We had the luxury at that time – 1st generation of Nintendo Gameboys, Sega Game Gear, Mortal Kombat games, Micro Genius, Atari console, the works. I spent my past time being an avid Tottenham Hotspurs fan, drooling over Paul “Gazza” Gascoigne & Gary Lineker. I’d also spend my dad’s money buying those Popular Electronic, model airplane magazines & also those science magazines that came with a binder & free stuff. I can’t remember what was it called, but those magazines where super cool. I guess my geekness was really there at an early age. I just never bothered to harness it, I guess.
When we lost (almost) everything due to the ’90s economic downturn, thinking back, it was a blessing in disguise. Had we not lost everything, I would ask my dad to send me to MIT. But had we not lost everything, I would have not instilled & nurtured my self determination to succeed in life no matter what the obstacles are in front of me. Had we not lost everything, I would have been a spoiled brat with a different mindset. Had we not lost everything, I would have not learn to be grateful.
Fast forward to present day, I watched my nephew Ben typed his search terms in YouTube’s nicely positioned search box. He was looking for “dragonball”, “digimon” & “majin buu” and added every single video that he finds interesting on YouTube’s quicklist feature. When he’s done, he just click on his quicklist & enjoyed his cartoons. Amazing. Simply amazing. But one thing though, this could be a sign of human evolution but also a sign to show that we, parents & uncles alike, need to teach these kids to learn to read & appreciate books. Hell, until today, my mom’s Britannica Encyclopedia circa 1980s is still my reference & reading material whenever I’m bored at home.
I guess losing is winning.
October 17, 2008
Reasons I quit KJROLLERS
Many asked me why I quit the KJROLLERS group. Some came up to me with a direct approach, some just, well, let say loves to assume the reasons why I quit. If you’d like to talk to me about it, please come and talk to me. Don’t just hide behind the tree like a Hindustani actor/actress.
Here’s a reason why I quit: it’s time to move on to my next adventure. I can’t be stuck and be happy & miserable doing the same things & go thru the same shit all over again. When there’s no compromisation, you can either keep on fighting or leave. And I choose to leave.
I’ve been skating for 14 years(if you want to find out how long I’ve been rollerblading, take my age & divide it into 2) & co-founded the KJROLLERS with my 2 other friends for more than 12 years ago. It is without doubt there are clashes of thoughts & arguments with each other, but it was for the sake of Malaysian rollerblading, which I hope would also be the reasons for the other 2 co-founders.
I’m like Jawed Karim, the 3rd silent co-founder of YouTube, where he takes the back seat. He was the one who conceptualized and inspire the development of YouTube (the general public don’t really know this fact, so sad) & let the other 2 co-founders take all the fame & glory. It was full of happy times & happy thoughts. And I choose to go first.
Gua jalan dulu beb.
Find my next adventure or it will find me. I prefer to be an independent & a nobody. But that doesn’t mean I quit skating. That is one thing I can’t quit. Full stop.
October 16, 2008
The feel of failure
And nobody actually know how exactly failure feels like. But anyone can know how to avoid one.
That’s the thing. Why is everyone so afraid of failing? Why is failure not an option? Subhannallah, God didn’t make us humans perfect. But that doesn’t make Him a failure. Maybe, just maybe all that He intended to do was for us to learn how to fall, so that we can learn to pick ourselves up.
I am in no position to think the way He thinks, but it is a thought.
I did something incredible today(more precisely, yesterday). It’s a decision that has been made several years back but it took several years after to figure what, how & when to make it into a reality.
I officially resigned from any active role from my 14 year old rollerblading crew, KJROLLERS. Yes, they are my own version of the “Band of Brothers“. The battle scars that I’ve accumulated over the years are like tatoos that will always reminds me of the great years I had in life as a skater & also as a friend. Was I a good skater, was I a good friend? That answer remains to be unanswered. And I prefer it to be mysteriously that way. Oddly enough.
I don’t regret letting it all go & moving on to be a simple boring geek in this underestimated world. When I think back, without those years, I wouldn’t had made it alive & well today. To be honest to the world, I have never felt better. It’s like nagging thought that has been hidden and keeps scratching for an itch that was never there yet. And now it’s gone. I saw freedom.
It’s ok not to be cool. But it’s not ok to be unable to free yourself when you know you can. That, is not cool.
To the KJROLLERS, I wish them the best of luck & may the group reach success where no one has ever reached before. This I know will happen. In fact, it’s been happening all the while.
Thank you for everything. Thank you for being my friends.
October 13, 2008
Alif mim nun wau = Sarkas?
I totally didn’t notice this at all when all this while watching P.Ramlee’s infamous “Bujang Lapuk” films. The video link was passed around in a mailing-list. Totally unexpected, but seriously hilarious. And it was from the 50s. Just imagine the perception the rakyat had back then.