My Professional, My Life, My Story

Daily Life: What's ur favourite subway sandwich

2009-11-01T21:52:00.002+08:00

As I normally work on Saturdays, I try to give myself a treat on that day. All weekdays I will be taking normal hawker food like laska, chicken rice, mixed vegetable rice, fishball noodles and others. Sometimes if my colleague is having lunch with his wife, I will ask him to help me buy Mac cheeseburger. Not that it is healthy, but it is the cheapest burger I can afford @ $2 a piece.

So with the money saved (S$10 per day for meals is not a big deal in Singapore context but to me it is...), I will balance it with a subway sandwich on Saturdays. Why subway? well, it has good bread like my favorite, hearty Italian and lots of vegs. I love vegs but cannot live without meat yet.

My top three choices are subway melt, cold cut trio and italian B.M.T. Except for onions, I will take all vegs and have honey mustard as the sauce. When I am very on the ball, I will take only olive oil if they do have.

Whats urs?

IT: Windows 7 hype or the real deal?

2009-10-25T22:09:00.005+08:00

Windows 7 was launched worldwide on Oct 22. Its the replacement for vista which unfortunately is a failed product since XP. Vista's heavy memory usage plus security orientated settings though good, failed to win the hearts of many XP users including business like my company.

Despite deployed successfully Vista business on some workstations and desktop in production environment, our testing conclude that Vista business even when locked down, does not provide the stability nor performance of XP Pro. so when Windows 7 Professional (not the RTM version) is available for us 2 months before the Oct 22 launch to test, we decided to test it out.

To my surprise, it's 1) fast to install when compare to Vista business and provided most of the device drivers, more than XP Pro. We tried both a upgrade from Vista to Windows 7 & a fresh installation of Windows 7. both result are the same: good! 2) its memory demands is low, we test on a Core duo machine running on 512MB ram and it performs like XP Pro, stable and fast.

Its interface needs to get use to; users of vista OS should not have any problem with Windows 7. We also tested our existing applications like Sophos AV, SAP, engineering software like UG NX4 etc on windows 7 and do not encounter any issues despite that these applications are designed more for XP Pro.

I like the User Access control (UAC) which was a nightmare in Vista OS. Windows 7's UAC is less noisy and provides the necessary protection we are looking for.

On the whole, I think Microsoft do address the shortcoming of the vista OS with the windows 7 OS. Looks like I have to work out the migration plan to change some if not machines to Windows 7.

IT: Review on MSI X340

2009-10-18T07:22:00.004+08:00

Today we will look at the MSI X340 notebook. Its design is a copy from the Apple Macbook Air n Dell Adamo. Like the apple and dell models, it does not have a built-in dvd writer and uses a standard USB external drive.

Its strongest point is its price, retailed at S$1300 for a standard base unit, it is at least 35% cheaper than its peers-in-class while keeping the same weight and thickness.

Below are its specs
Intel Core 2 Solo U1400 1.4Ghz
2GB Ram
320GB Hard disk
Full sized keyboard
1.3M Webcam
2 USB ports
1 VGA port
SD, MMC media reader
Intel Wireless 5100N adapter
Boardcomm Giga-E Lan adapter
56K Modem (Do people still use it???)
13.4" LCD
Windows Vista Home Premium
1.3kg for weight/w battery, Dimensions: 330 x 224 x 19.8 mm
Warranty: 1 year international, 2nd year local

Daily Life: Guess who's birthday is it?

2009-10-11T12:28:00.004+08:00

So whose birthday was it? Its so easy unless the reader is only into the enterinment news for the past 10 years.

Its Jim Roger's birthday. No his birthday was not on Oct 10, just that since he was at the Wealth Asia Summit 09 and his birthday is just 9 days away, I think the organizer decide to give him a surprise. He has aged much since I last saw him on newspaper 3 years ago. He and his family are now living in Singapore and his insight into the world economy still remains valid.

Though what he shared with us was not something new to me, it just confirm something that I shared with many, US is on the decline and USD will suffer as a result. Oil has peaked for the past 10 years and the only way for prices is to go up since supply has more or less dwindling while demand is growing. The rise of china will in not doubt happen even though short term there will be falls and challenges ahead. (just look at US grow into a superpower for clues)

Daily Life: In the darkness hour, comes hope

2009-10-11T12:13:00.002+08:00

For many people, investing and/or trading whether in stock, forex, futures and ETFs are a mystery and something not to be taken lightly. Some has taken the path to greatness while most have fallen short of their target and stop in their tracks.

Before 30, I knew that any failure is acceptable and given time can recover the loss made. This year, I think this mindset is being changed to 'failure is no longer a option I will even think about'. The sudden change in mindset was set in motion since my birthday where I plan on what I want to achieve within the next 4 years.

My passion still remains in IT, that is why I do not have any problem working in my company for so long as I am continuously learning and shaping the way IT is run and operate in the company (its not mine anyway but I feel responsible towards it)

My trading so far was being flat at best. I am still learning and fine-tuning the system I was taught and modifying them to suit my needs. Its not prefect but as long as it works, who care. Yesterday I was at the Wealth Asia summit (WAS) 09 and another channel was created, internet marketing. It's a area I am not too familiar with since my last encounter with the World internet summit 1 year ago.

At the WAS 09, I see failure and success at the same time. I believe in no-get-rich-scheme so hard work is in stock for my new venture into internet marketing. Given my financial background, I know that trading and internet marketing will become 2 of my important income source other than my job. From then will I look at real estate investment and other channels; Now is to be focus on one thing than be side-track by other investment vehicle. After all I know i am not very good at multi-tasking investing in various investment tools.

Daily Life: Nice sunset

2009-09-28T22:22:00.005+08:00

On Sat, I was working late and went home around 6.45pm. While on the way from office to the bus stop to take my bus home, I saw a nice sunset and decided to take a shot at it using my iphone.

Not too bad... The car rushing past remains me to keep focus on my goals in life and stop to take a look around, to enjoy the sunset over the horizon. It may not be gloom but its the small things that make one's life enjoyable.

:) 2 days before end of Sept.... Oct here I come.

Daily Life: A song to sing my in most..... emotions

2009-09-22T22:10:00.005+08:00

I was watching MTV on Monday night after a days work when I came across a new song by 陶喆. The song is called '暗戀'. Its meaning is to secretly in love with someone but the person do not know.

It sings out certain part of my life when such things do happen. When listing to the song, it still does.... lets leave it at that and enjoy this music video (MV)

陶喆 - 暗恋

Still lonely still lonely
昨晚又再见到你你还是那么美丽
我紧张到话都不会说就傻傻看着你
渴望永远这距离就是和你在一起
醒来发现这一切都只是我的梦境
告诉自己要冷静却又无法不想你
我的懦弱已经开始让我讨厌我自己
是你对我有戒心还是我没有自信
可是谁也不能阻止我我要暗恋你
So lonely
So here I am standing all alone
在某个街头有个我在这里只为你等候
Here I am waiting just for you
开放我所有希望你能了解你能够接受
So lonely
今晚渴望再见你虽然只是在梦想
短暂的甜蜜也胜过了一辈子没有你
就算没快乐结局就算从此死了心
我要付出我所有诚意只要能感动你
我愿意
so here I am standing all alone
在某个街头有个我在这里只为你等候
Here I am waiting just for you
开放我所有我要为你怎么做你才接受我 (才接受我)
我喜欢你 (我喜欢你) 我要你 (我要你) 我爱你
So here I am standing all alone(standing all alone)
在某个街头有个我在这里只为你等候
So here I am waiting just for you
开放我所有希望你能了解你能够接受
I'm lonely
故事就说到这里就算你们再好奇
我想说的都已说完了其余是秘密
在那某一个街头会流传某个旋律
那是我在轻轻唱着歌我多爱你Janine

Daily Life: Older and wiser?

2009-09-21T14:25:00.003+08:00

Today I celebrate my 31st Birthday. Even though its a public holiday following the hari Raya holiday on Sept 20 (which is on Sunday this time round), I am back in office working.

Since there is no one to celebrate my birthday with me, I choose to give myself a treat of Mac fish fillet meal (up-size of course); that's lunch. Dinner should be a homely affair with home cooked food (I doubt my aunts/mum remember my birthday anyway so its will be a simple daily meal instead).

As I take stock of my situation, I realize I am 4 years away to get my own flat.... yeah... finally become a property I can call my own. The other way to own a flat in Singapore is to get married or better very rich to afford a private apartment. Since I am single and I do not wish to impose unhappiness on any females, I choose to wait until 35. Foolish? No. I do not think so. I do not see a point in getting married just to get a flat... its too much a gamble ones life-long happiness on a few months of pleasure being a property owner. Rich? (look below)

Financially I am broke... yes.. very broke.... I still servicing loans taken earlier for my studies and ill-fated investments. Well, its not too painful as long as I learn from them. A bright spot: I finishing one loan in 1 months time so I am one step closer to close all my loans... then I can go on to invest in other things like going to the gym or swimming (these things need $$)

Spiritually, I do not know if i still count myself as a christian, its being so long since I went to church and from what i last heard, all my old friends at TRBC are either gone to other churches or like myself, fallen to the sidelines. Will I go back? That answer i do not even know it myself... too much has changed and I too have changed... nothing will be the same again.

So Happy Birthday to you, Tzewen from Tzewen. (if you do not take care of yourself, there is no one to do that for you.) :)

Daily Life: Are we donating correctly?

2009-08-30T17:27:00.006+08:00

As I have too much unfinished work, I went to Toa payoh after lunch to take a bus to office. While at Toa Payoh, I saw groups of people asking for donation to the Taiwan typhoon victims.

Even though I did not donate, I cannot help to wonder if the full sum of these donations will go to the victims or be spirited away to some people's pocket. Given that this year that have been many cases of such scams, it is no wonder I will believe so.

The organizer of such donation could assure the public by thanking the public for their kind faith and share with us the amount given so that at least the public is aware the money indeed went to these victims; whether will someone in taiwan will take the money for their own use is another matter by itself.

It maybe a blessing to give than to take but wary is the fool who gives without thoughts.

IT: Review on HP Mini 5101 Part 2- Software and Summary

2009-08-30T17:08:00.003+08:00

In part 1, we review on the hardware specs of the new HP mini 5101. In Part 2, we will talk more on the software package and its performance.

HP choose to package 5101 with either XP home or XP Pro downgrade from Vista business. Whether Windows 7 will be offered for this model, there is still no announcement from HP yet. But given the better performance of Windows 7 vs Vista Business, there is no business reason for HP not to offer Windows 7 when it is officially launched in Oct 22 2009.

As with all XP based netbooks, the 2GB ram did improve the response of this unit. It boot up fast and office 2003 sp3 runs smoothly. If no one say this is a netbook, we will think we are looking at a Core Duo machine of similar specs. Corel office comes bundled with the 5101; we choose to remove it and use office 2003 instead. Office 2007 is more resource intensive so I will not advise on it unless the user can live with the performance degradation.

On engineering software side, we install Solidworks E-drawings 2009 and Autovue 19.3 and surprisingly, it works better than the Dell latitude 2100. Again we do not know if the RAM did play a significant part but given that this is the only difference between the two models, we choose to believe RAM indeed play a role here. The small screen size is a let-down unfortunately. I do not think anyone in their right mind will install full fledged engineering software like Solidworks 2009, UG NX6 etc on a netbook so we did not test on them.

For security software, we tested AVAST home, AVG home and symantec. Only avast offer good performance-cost-security ratio vs the rest. AVG slow down the machine a lot; initially we thought the machine is infected. Symantec runs reasonably well but as a pay-to-use product, it does not find favor in our budget section.

For warranty, one can choose either 1 year or 3 years. As measure, we advise a 3 years warranty as a better form of insurance.

In Summary, the HP mini 5101 is moving in the correct direction for corporate netbook manufacturers to follow. As more and more processor power gets tapped in netbook, it will not be long before netbook be a common item among corporate users.

IT: Review on HP Mini 5101 Part 1- Hardware

2009-08-22T23:32:00.010+08:00

Netbooks is getting very popular nowadays. Not just they are light (<1.5kg), they offer acceptable processor performance. They are moving into the range of previously expensive thin-light notebook models.

HP being the leader of the IT pack, revamp its netbook range and offer the HP Mini 5101. Its weight of 1.2kg caught my attention and so does it thickness. When compare with the Dell Latitude 2100, another business-class netbook, the 5101 looks space-age and has the feel of a high-end thin-and-light notebook due to its same chassis design as the HP Pro-book series. The keyboard is 95% full-size and is very responsive when typing with thick fingers like myself.

The intel processor is Z280 1.6Ghz, 512KB L2 cache comes standard with 1GB ram. There are two slots for the RAM so it can go up to 4GB of Ram which is a lot for a netbook. (The review unit comes with 2GB Ram (single slot)) Its 160GB hard disk with HP driveguard (for shock protection) provides more than sufficient storage space for daily office usage. There is option to get up a 300GB hard disk. Even though the reviewed model only has a 10.1" LCD with webcam capable of only 1300x600, the picture contrast and pixel is very sharp and detailed.

For connectivity, it has 3 USB port with one of the USB double-up as a quick charge connector (charge USB devices like iphone when netbook is not on) and VGA port.There is also the Gigabit Ethernet and 802.11n wireless adapter. If 3G mobile broadband is need, there is option to add one in. A 2-in-1 media card reader for SD and MMC rounds up the netbook. There is the option of purchasing with a 6 cell battery instead of the standard 4 cell battery (2 hours of continuous video playing usage).

Having used the acer netbook and asus models, the HP mini 5101 is a very much improved version. In the next review, we will talk more about software and OS system performance of this netbook.

IT: Review on Dell Vostro 1220 Notebook

2009-08-17T13:39:00.003+08:00

This is a review on a Dell Vostro 1220 Notebook. As per my previous posting on the Vostro class notebooks, they are Dell's answer to SME who are tight on budget and still need cost effective notebooks.

The Vostro 1220 is a improvement upgrade from 1200 and 1210 models. The chassis remains similar in design. Below are the specs of the reviewed notebook
Core 2 Duo P8600 2.4Ghz 3MB L2 Cache
2x1GB DDR2-800 Ram (can go up to 8GB)
250GB Hard Disk
Tray loaded 8X DVD writer
Vista Business downgrade to XP Pro
Intel 5100 802.11N wireless
Integrated Intel X4500MHD Graphics card
12.1" LCD with 1.3M Webcam
Gigibit Ethernet LAN and Bluetooth
3-in-1 Media Reader (can read SD & MMC cards; the third format I have no idea which one)
3 USB Ports
1 VGA Port
1 Express-card slot
1 RJ-11 Port
1 Wireless on/off toggle switch
6-cell battery (about 4hrs of normal usage)
1 year on-site warranty

Most users do not need large L2 cache processor; a 3MB L2 will do very well for heavy office usage and basic engineering design usage.6MB L2 cache is more appropriate for those doing high-end designing.

The Keyboard feel is similar to the 1310 (see previous posting), has a fuller feel and is about 95% full-size so makes typing easier despite the notebook small size. There is no trial software installed like Mcafee free 60 days etc so makes installation of user's own anti-virus easier and cleaner. Since the notebook is installed with XP Pro, it is faster in operation vs using Vista business; Windows 7 will be a better OS vs Vista business and XP Pro. There is a free upgrade from Dell for those who purchase their notebooks from July to Oct 2009. Windows 7 will be out in last week of Oct 2009

The weight of the notebook is advertised at 1.52kg but we feel the weight should be at 1.7kg to 1.8kg given the above configuration and most users carry the adapter together with the notebook.

Dell could do better by designing the notebook to be slimmer like its inspiron 13 but on the whole, I do recommend this notebook for those who needs cost-effective light weight notebooks. Those who are into notebook design can choose other models.

Daily Life: Insurance.... do i need it? Part I

2009-08-15T23:48:00.005+08:00

Someone ask me before, 'do i need insurance? i am still young... etc.' Well insurance industry has been around for the past 20 odd years and nowadays seldom people not know about insurance. What people do not know is what type of insurance is available and what do they really need. So just as well share my experience and knowledge with all. Noted that I am not a insurance agent nor gives accurate advice on what you will need. Pls refer to professional for help while armed with the correct knowledge.

Given we are living in uncertain times where we may have alive today and gone the next, it is important we leave something behind for our loved ones.... even if the amount is small. so what type of insurance do i really need? Insurance can be represented as protection, health and wealth improvement. We will cover protection based insurance policy today.

First, always understand this, a insurance should be bought as a protection tool and not for investment. There are better investment products that gives better returns than using insurance for investment. There are two types of protection type insurance, term and whole life. The difference is term does not have a cash-back value while whole life has. A cash-back value means say we pay $150 as premium for whole life, at the end of say 30 years, there is a X amount of money I will get back when my whole life insurance mature. So what is good about term insurance? For starters, term insurance offers the same protection amount at a reduced rate. Example a man wants to buy a S$500,000 worth of personal protection coverage: Given there is no riders involved, He may pay $300 as premium per month for getting a whole life policy or pay $150 as premium per month for getting a term policy. The extra $150 he save for buying a term policy allows him the choice to purchase another term policy of same coverage, effectively giving him S$1000,000 coverage.

That makes term policy affordable for all regardless of rich or poor. Purchasing a insurance is a long term commitment and should be taken seriously.

Daily Life: Started using Iphone as a phone

2009-08-06T22:33:00.004+08:00

I bought a second hand iphone from US last year. As my samsung phone is still working, I used the iphone primarily as a PDA (jailed-break though). Recently my samsung starts giving me funny problems like cannot sms, cannot call out etc for a while. So I took the decision to use my iphone as its original intention, a smartphone.

I got my colleague to format it to firmware 3.0 and transfer my messages, contacts and other items from the samsung phone to the iphone. As I am using the default SMS client on the iphone, it takes me a while to get used to it. How will I fare.... using the iphone, it needs some getting used to but once hooked, it is hard to go back to any other phones (at least for me). What apps I using now? Below are the top three:

TranSGuide: free and good apps especially for those who travel in Singapore on buses. It shows what bus stops are nearby me using the location function and display the distance I am to the bus stops, the bus no at each bus stop plus their arrival timing

Xe Currency: free and allows me to convert currency based on entering the amount and currency pair. Useful as I travel overseas so need to have a rough idea how much is the exchange rate.

Bloomberg: My all time fav. I cannot do without it. Even though I am IT personal, knowing business news gives me good idea about the economy pulse and negotiate better (talk cock better also)

Daily Life: It's too expensive

2009-07-26T22:39:00.004+08:00

On Friday, my ex- colleagues ask me out for dinner. Since its a long time since i went out and to get to talk with them, I agreed to the dinner. The location is at Sakura Downtown east. I took a 2 hours bus journey (Bus no 88) from Ang Mo Kio central to Downtown east.

It's actually one of my ex-colleagues, angela's birthday. After dinner, my colleagues and I went for a drink at the nearby lounge. We left the place around 12.35am and I took a cab home (my colleagues live around the around so not along the way). The journey actually cost me $16, nearly half of the dinner price. No wonder no one wants to take cab... its too expensive. This will be the last time i go home so late on a cab. I think I have better use of my miserable budget.... then spend on some not necessary transport fees.

Daily Life: No more hair issue

2009-07-19T22:51:00.003+08:00

Today I went for a hair cut. For this two weeks I am not too sure if I wish to go for a full botak (bald in malay) haircut or a crew cut or flat top. The first one I have not tried before while the second and third I have cut these styles before and suits me well.

Well, as they all say, the first step is always the hardest. so I went for a full botak haircut. Not too bad. Guess my head shape and size suits botak hairstyle. There is of course another more personal reasons for having such a total hairstyle, its too hot in Singapore in the morning and I always sweet a lot so keeping my hair out the way is one way to cool my head. The other reason is when trading, the last thing i want is sweat dripping down my head in the night, when the temperature is still high (28 to 30)

How I look? u readers will have to decide.....

Daily Life: Little India truly is Little India

2009-07-12T20:41:00.003+08:00

Today is Sunday and one of the days I am free to go play badminton with my friends. After the game, I walked to one of my army friend's home around the area as he has some problems with his mum's PC.

So I went over and help him solve the problem. His mum's PC is XP home SP3 and the game is suppose to run on windows 98. The game will display a error message saying 'no 3D graphics card available' so I went to the game folder and set the game.exe to run in compatibility mode for windows 2000. Some applications I know works well in Windows 2000 only. The problem is resolved and it took me less than 10mins. His mum was kind enough to allow me to join them for dinner. It's home-cooked but as a guest, I feel its ok and frankly, I prefer to eat home-cooked instead of cracking my head of what to eat if I went home should my aunt do not cook dinner.

As it is sunday and I am feeling tired after the game not to mention smelly, I opt to go home instead of going office to finish some work( Monday will start early for me loh). The bus I took is 65 and it pass by orchard road, little india before going to circuit road (where I am living). Once in Little India, I saw crowds of Indians... A lot of them. I took a picture while on the bus (explain the movements). I also saw security details around, Guess with so many people around, the government is not taking any chances with security.I do see other nationals around like ang moh and chinese nationals but they are few and in between.

Daily Life: The one thing bad of me....

2009-07-10T21:30:00.003+08:00

July is my company performance appraisal and as per year, we write down our objective for the new year and what we intend to achieve.

Though this two years has been recession years, I must admit the company has not been too bad, at least I have a job, a objective to fulfill each day so each day is a challenging day for me. Knowledge wise and working ethics, I do not have much problem. But as the days, months and years go by, there is one problem which i have yet to overcome, that is my anger. I actually wrote it down as one of my many objectives to fulfill this year round.

Everyone will have temper and a pressure point where we can take before exploding into anger. But I have a rather low pressure point or rather, when i get angry, I can get very fierce and this has become a sore point to some of my fellow colleagues, whom feel I am too fierce for comfort. As I am a very committed person, things can easily get out of hand when the pressure to perform and get things working can play tricks on people's minds.

But strangely, I realize as fast as I get angry, I also cool down fast. As senior, I have fellow team members to guide and seek guide from so sometimes I do behave objective but other times, I get high on emotion and creates problems for both myself and others.

Looks like I still have a long way to curb my inner demons before they consume me. i always think one of reasons I still is single could be due to my temper which at times may prove too much for some to stomach.......

IT: Review on Dell Latitude 2100

2009-06-17T22:22:00.004+08:00

Dell latitude 2100 Review
Intel Atom 1.6Ghz 512Kb cache
250GB Hard disk
2GB Ram
10.5" LCD with 1.3M webcam
96% keyboard
3 USB
1 VGA-out port
1 Gigabit Ethernet
3-in-1 Media player
XP Pro SP3
3 years warranty

With the popularity of netbook and the recession, most IT OEM has come up with their own version of netbook. But the lack of business class netbook is preventing the wider adaptation of netbook in enterprise where reading emails using outlook and word processing the the norm.

With that in mind, Dell create the Latitude 2100 which should address some questions that IT dept in enterprise are looking for in a enterprise notebook.

But the design is so brick like I doubt executive will take it around. Upcoming models like the HP 5101 and ASUS Eepc next generation are way thinner than the Dell model. Dell could take a leaf from its consumer market designs. Even their Inspiron 11v is thinner than 2100.

IT: Review on Dell 1310 Notebook

2009-06-16T13:34:00.004+08:00

Dell recently has recognized that the SME market is still a growing market and many vendors have yet provide good value for money machines to handle this market. There are many challenges facing SMEs, and the lack of large budget for purchase of laptops and desktop is one of the many.

With the introduction of 3G mobile broadband, the adoption rate of Laptops vs desktop is increasing and with laptops getting cheaper each day and the introduction of netbooks, it is little worth for users to purchase desktop except for specific reasons like gaming or workstation CAM/CAD design.

Dell SME range of laptop is the Vostro class and unlike its more costly cousin the latitude class, does not have 3 years warranty and magnesium alloy design. It does have the same Dell world class support and comes clean with no trialware. For this review, we will look at the Vostro 1310. Below are its specs

Intel Core2 Duo T5870 2.0Ghz
2GB Ram
250GB hard Disk
Slot-based DVD-RW
Bluetooth
Intel 3945ABG wireless adapter
Gigabit Ethernet adapter
4Cell battery with 65W adapter
1 Year standard limited warranty

The weight of the notebook is at 2 to 2.1kg, not too heavy for affordable daily usage. Its built-in graphics provide enough juice to run CAD drawings viewing with min effort. The keyboard felt fine for long term usage. The only bad i can think of its is thickness. It looks like a brick.

Daily Life: KL trip over the weekends

2009-06-08T21:27:00.003+08:00

My youngest brother and I went to KL over the weekend to see my second brother who is posted there as a technical finance consultant since Middle of May 2009. We arrived at KL around 4.30am Sat time. After a RM15 taxi ride, we arrive at the hotel tired and sleepy.

Later in the day, we went to change money. The rates is S$1: RM2.40. We then went for a shopping spree buying what is required and some. Dinner was A&W. Singapore's A&W close down as least 4 years ago and boy do we miss it, especially the root bear float... Pity those youngsters, I doubt they really understand how the taste be like.I was proposing a movie, which is Terminator 4: Salvation. for 3 person, I paid RM33, that is only about S$5 per ticket, paying weekday price for a weekend movie. Very worth. The movie was nice and I will give a blog review later on it.
After movie, we stayed around KLCC park to see the twin tower switch off its lights before going home. I was dead tired and went straight to bed after a hot shower.

Sunday, my second brother gave us a tour of the service apartment we are living at. There is gym, in-door swimming pool, squash court, tennis court, laundry service etc. This is the life of an expatiates in KL. Breakfast was at the high class cafe where we are eating better food than Sat morning. My younger brothers after breakfast went to KLCC park while I go to the gym for some fat burning exercise. Lunch was supposed to be at a Japanese restaurant but its close on sunday. Our coach back to Singapore was at 4pm so my youngest brother and I had lunch at chinatown. The place has not really change much except the crowd is smaller and things are getting more ex....

We arrive back in Singapore around 11.30pm using the second link. The coach is really cheap, only RM45 per person.

Daily Life: busy busy....

2009-05-25T21:36:00.003+08:00

Time really fly. Its been nearly a month since I last updated my blog!

What was i busy about? That is a good question. Actually I am busy doing the windows update for the conflicker virus and cleaning up those unfortunate machines that are infected. Lucky our patching are up-to-date for most machines so I do not need to spend too much time on all the 100 odd machines exclude servers

Then after the windows update came the customer project. For business sense, I will note disclose the customer publicly; But since I am in charge of network and infrastructure, I am entrusted to ensure the customer is able to go to the internet and is kind enough to give us two workstation. We need to go to their HQ to get their standards. So was busy getting quote and working out the details.

Then singtel decided to kill my weekends and brain cells. We change our plan from a 2MB/512KB line to a 3MB/768kb line. Right after the change our line went down every 5 hours. At first we thought it is our configuration or old equipment (our cisco 837 is in use since 2002) Then we tried all the methods include cleaning up the configuration but to no avail. Finally we got singtel since they are providing the infrastructure. The singtel contractor was kind enough to see that our line is giving us problem backend so we did a change in our circuit on May 19. Then all back to normal.

After the above, we thought everything back to normal. Then singtel for no reasons, moved my another 512kb/256kb line to a new circuit. Problem is the new circuit will only be activated on May 26. So I was unable to do site to site VPN with my parent company for a mission critical application. After I screamed at Qala which is caught between singtel and us since we got the line from them, agree to a Joint test on may 23 morning. We only get the line back up on May 23 2.45pm. Reason: They change the circuit and ask the contractor to do a test on the DP which is working fine all these while. So the contractor was 'screwed' by the singtel backend to do troubleshooting for a problem that belongs to the backend, back at the exchange. With the incident concluded, I shoot a mail to Qala demanding a incident report and prepared to take with my boss for legal advice to make Singtel pay for its reckless mistake.

Daily Life: Finally someone admit we are in Recession

2009-04-14T23:18:00.003+08:00

Today the S'pore Govt announced that this year Singapore Gross domostic product (GDP) is predicated to drop 6% to 9% instead of the earlier decline estimate of 2% to 2.5%. This reflect the continuing challenging environment business is operating and puts a lot of pressure on all to reduce cost or think out of the box to get revenue.

Manufacturing shrink 29% on year on year led by electronics, chemical and biomedical. Just earlier last year we are expected to go through 2009 with some hope. Looks like the hope is getting no-where as we enter the second quarter of 2009. And this is no longer a technical recession but a full recession (personal opinion)

Being the key purchaser/key decision influence of IT items be it equipment or maintenance of licenses to new IT projects, I will have to negotiate harder and smarter to ensure the budget if any, will be well spend on projects that will make the company stronger and in a better position to move ahead of its peers when the good times are here. Thankfully this cost reduction exercise has been ongoing since 2002 so there is nothing out of the ordinary. Just the intensity displayed.

Daily Life: Ground Zero for malware

2009-04-01T23:24:00.002+08:00

Today is april fools day... and no jokes are moving around in each companies IT dept. All of us are hard pressed to prepare for the conficker malware virus which is stated to attack all unpatched system on April 1 2009.

Granted that we have step up efforts to get all machines patched but it is next to impossible. The lucky thing is all these while we have have patching our system especially those that are new. Our current process required us to patched all new machines to the latest patches of that day. plus we also locked down machines to Univac standards.

But on the whole, users need to 1) have a updated anti-virus system, 2)a updated anti-spyware software like spybot or windows defender, 3) a updated fully patched windows system (since windows is used by most homes and companies) and lastly if the user is tech savvy enough, a firewall like comodo firewall which provides some additional level of security. That handles the technology items. While we can have the latest systems, all is useless if users ourselves do not practice safe computing habits, like opening of all email attachments even those whom we do not know, downloading unknown software with the false promise of speeding up our machines etc.

Daily Life: Back to Office

2009-03-16T14:09:00.001+08:00

After 18 days of in-camp training, i am back to my office; back to the real world where deals are made or broken.

Time for me to work on the projects and tasks left behind in Feb and play catch-up.