I used to read the Time magazine back in my Junior College days, since they always presented the controversial, and frankly, they were suspiciously anti-Republicans. The award of the year has always been the Person of the Year award. Historically, they have aimed to have people whom have made a significant hit in the headlines (Bill Clinton in 1998, Bill and Melinda Gates last year).
This year, guess where the award has ended up?
Well, it is official. You, me, and every other online content generator ever lived are the Persons of the Year. That means, if you have ever created a web page, written a comment to a blog post, you are Time’s Person of the Year!
View the Time article
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I couldn’t resist listening to sound vibes without creating some of my own, so I went out and bought myself a headset, complete with attached microphone to make myself look like a true blue telephone operator. Matthew recommended Altec Lansing for the headpiece, so I splurged $31 on one which looked reasonably priced compared to the rest out there.
I had to close my jaw when I saw one priced at $129, though I had forgotten what brand it belonged to, since they all looked similar to me.
I ended up with Altec Lansing’s AHS202i, which reminded me of the ones that I use at work, though more sleek.
(After 3 paragraphs that starts with “I”…) When I went home, I signed up with Gizmo Project, and started an account. It was cool being able to chat over the computer, but I really wanted to hear myself talk. I made a mini-recording using the embedded Sound Recorder, and nearly threw my phone into the speaker when I heard myself sing.
The microphone pick-up was slick and filtered, with the lower bass noticeably missing, and the mid-tones were emphasised a little, though it was probably distortion by the headset’s speakers.
It illustrated the point that 99% of the world probably sing just like me, and that makes me very, very grateful that I have friends who can tolerate my croonings.
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While certain humans have a special weakness for creamy, fat-rich aphrodisiacs euphemistically named “chocolate”, I took a special indulgence yesterday in the office while I was on my night shift.
In fact, let me tell you what I actually did: I polished one entire tub of Ben and Jerry’s.
New York Super Fudge Chunk with loads of dark chocolate chips, almonds, and calorie goodness. When it slides down your warm and fuzzy throat, it sends a wonderful stream of gentle electricity all the way down to the stomach, making you crave for yet another spoonful.
It was so good that I only remembered to check the nutrition information panel for details on what I had dumped on my poor body after I finished the entire tub.
I nearly kicked myself in the office, because I knew that it would take me at least 5 days of running to get off 2000 calories off the system
(In case you have no idea where it stands, 2000 calories is the recommended daily intake for 20 year old males in a combat vocation, ala having his body sweat it out for at least the better half of the day)
Considering that I had three square meals prior to this, I would safely classify this a disaster on the scale of a monster truck tyre around the abdomen area.
It is definitely time to intensify the track pounding!
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It is a new experience blogging from the office right in the middle of the night. Not only does it bring you into trouble because your boss is reading your blog, it is also a chance I had to take, since I don’t usually like to login from systems other than my own.
Hence, for the record, if anyone sees this, I am blogging from home. 
I had a very strange angry welt just under my right nostril from before I left the house, which hurts terribly whenever I accidentally brush my hand against it (don’t ask me how I happen to put my hand under my nose; suffice to say that I was trying to mine for gold).
That gave me the incentive to pinch and squeeze to break the angry welt, which made the pain even worse. I think there is something growing inside that is lodged near the pain receptors to discourage me from digging it out. I didn’t care that it hurt a lot, I just wanted to get it all out, so I proceeded to do the dirty deed with just a piece of tissue paper, and freshly cut, short fingernails.
Long story short, a lot of blood came out, and now the welt has come down, though it still hurts a little. I wonder whether I had gotten it out with my adventure. What I’ll dare say is that normal people with lower pain tolerence might not be able to take it. Unless you are a facial perfectionist.
For the rest of the world, there’s always pimple cream.
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Sometimes, I worry that a blog will epitomise all my writings for eternity.
You will agree, when you see what I have just written for my next post.
Please don’t rip me to shreds, I already feel sheepish for having churned that out. Goodness! To compensate, I will try to write something during my night shift this evening.
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I know that you know that I know that Singapore is a pretty small country. That makes it cost inefficient for us paupers to invest in a car to get around.
So instead of resorting to cycling or running 30 km to work every day, we have a pretty nifty human invention that never fails to amaze: mega-car pooling (or as we all know it: buses).
Granted, we have been taking it for so long that this ingenious adaptation has become part of a concrete island life, yet for some reason, on a transport system that clocks 2 million commuter trips per day, you continue to find grimy, smelly seats and interiors.
Yikes! I don’t want to be showing pictures, but the abject state of some of the buses out there is enough to relieve every pregnant men and ladies out there of their recently consumed meals.
It appears that the problem area is always at the rear, where the 15 year old engine rumbles with the smell of unidentified sweat, dirt, dust, and other anti-nose irritants serve to keep people in a highly agitated state.
The situation is more acute on SMRT buses than on SBSTransit ones, but given time, I would vote for both companies to be abject maintainers of their own properties.
That makes me wonder what happened to all the fare raises, purported to keep the companies in profit, so that they may continue to provide comfortable and enjoyable rides to commuters.
In case you don’t know what I am referring to, just hop on SMRT service numbers 857 or 985. Since the problem is more noticeable on the old Mercedes Hispano bus makes, you might want to wait out the bendys and long buses (which are relatively new; though you might want to try them a few years down the road for a similar experience).
The front of the bus feels pleasant enough, though your eyes are already struggling with the perpetual grime and molds along the door rims, not to mention the dust covering the front panels of less accessible areas. Do not, for your sanity’s sake, look along the silicon sealants on the windows. The mixtures of dead insects and mould is simply too revolting for a sane human to bear.
The visual disaster does not even preclude on what is going on in the air circulating the bus. Previously, I remembered that when SMRT was still TIBS, they always installed air fresheners on their buses, which always covered up the bad smells that might be on the bus. It seems that it was scrapped like an expense.
Well, they would not have needed the air fresheners in the first place had they kept the buses clean in the first place. I am really shocked that the buses that I enjoyed taking 12 years ago have been neglected till such an extent that they are an assault on our very senses!
It simply makes me want to get a car instead. At least I know that I take more pride in my transport than the two major companies do.
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Well, I got a little bored when the blog went down, so I searched around for some interesting quizzes to completely fill up. After filling some of them out, I thought: why not group the tests together by themes, so that they look more interesting for marketers to harvest?
Therefore, without further ado, here’s what 2 religious related quizzes have rated me:
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You scored as Satanism. Your beliefs most closely resemble those of Satanism! Before you scream, do a bit of research on it. To be a Satanist, you don’t actually have to believe in Satan. Satanism generally focuses upon the spiritual advancement of the self, rather than upon submission to a deity or a set of moral codes. Do some research if you immediately think of the satanic cult stereotype. Your beliefs may also resemble those of earth-based religions such as paganism.
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Satanism
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100% |
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Buddhism
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96% |
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agnosticism
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63% |
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atheism
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58% |
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Paganism
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38% |
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Christianity
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29% |
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Hinduism
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29% |
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Islam
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17% |
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Judaism
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13% |
Which religion is the right one for you? (new version) |
The Dante’s Inferno Test has sent you to the First Level of Hell - Limbo!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:
Take the Dante Inferno Hell Test
Apparently, being an almost aethist (but satanic) person earns me a place in limbo. While it is better than being burnt to a crisp, I prefer reincarnation, thank you very much. I am a Buddhist through and through, though sometimes when you hear me swear, you would place me far, far away from the virtuous sea of calm…
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I used to be a fan of CAPTCHA tests. You know those images with twisty words and numbers that appear and require you to type in the words and numbers to prove that you are not an automated machine out to flood the website?
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Sample Captchas I used to have them too, until I realized that everybody was having problems getting past those mysteriously contorted figures.
Since then, the CAPTCHA plug-in for my blog has laid in there along with my plan for world domination in their corner of the cobwebs: sadly relegated. I knew that unless it was improved on, it will make life difficult for all the nice people out there whom want to comment on my blog (I know many of you still don’t, but that’s beside the point.)
Now, after reading a post by Mark from Weblog Tools Collection that is mostly disapproving of the image Frankensteins, I am totally convinced that CAPTCHAs actually hinders commenting, (or registration, if your site happens to be using it).
You could be typing furiously on a comment box, but when you reach over to hit the “Post†button, and the entire system blanks out because you mis-typed a character in the CAPTCHA. Odds are the most you are going to just give up and close the window.
While there is no easy solution to curbing those automated spam advertisements, or account sign-ups, if you aim to be an all-inclusive service provider, you have everything to gain from dropping the cumbersome thing.
Saves you the headache from all those support questions, because you will automatically take it down sometime in the future anyway, like I did.
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