Working in groups

It seems that full-time students here at my school are literally swimming in the course work. Stop moving and sink yourself.

Group work is unavoidable. And for me, I have different people for different groups in different classes. Not a single person is in the same two groups as I am. Without me, these groups will be mutually exclusive in terms of members.

This can be to a disadvantage since the rest of the group may not understand the workload you're already carrying. They may ask for your contribution without knowing that you're already up to your nose with other things.

But it's not all bad. Most importantly I've managed to gain experiences from working with different people. There were moments of blazing debates and bruised egos. But there were moments when we learned new stuff from each other and shared a couple of laughs.

At the end of the day, we returned to same spot again, as friends and fellow learners, to fix ourselves a nice, warm cup of drink over at the beverage/coffee machine. We are united by our belief, friendship and our quest for knowledge and success.

And free coffee and Milo.

Meanwhile, this weblog will be taking a break for about a month. Come listen to the sound of My whirring head and let me know what you heard. Feedbacks are most appriciated.

The smell of bunga

The good folks at PTPTN sent me my annual balance statement (is this correct translation for Penyata Kira-kira Pinjaman?) for the past three years.

And I got my first whiff of the rotten smell of bunga.

Yerghh.

A fortnight (almost) offline

For the last two weeks, I was (almost) entirely disconnected from the online world. My Internet connection was down, possibly due to a violent late afternoon storm that happened while I was napping quietly.

It's not because the people from my ISP was unresponsive to my predicament. I purposely called them a few days later after I realised it was down because I was busy preparing for the new semester. In fact, the technician came to my house in less than 24 hours after my complaint call was made. Kudos, TMNet, for the improved service quality.

The two weeks (almost) without any Internet made realise one thing. Although before I was online nearly everyday (reading my favourite sites, occasionally emailing or IM-ing or IRC-ing or blogging or downloading manga/anime), I seem to go well without the urge to rush and find a PC with Internet access and get online.

I did however spent some time online at the computer lab just before class started the other day, just to kill the time. Hence 'almost' part.

In other words, now I'm quite sure that I'm not addicted to the Web. A fortnight offline didn't bother me much. Alhamdulillah.

New semester

Ah, the new semester. There has been changes this time around, apart from the new lecturers, the new subjects and the new schedule. I'm now a full time student, which means that I have classes every night from Monday to Thursday. Which also means that I'm charged with double the last semester's fee.

I'm taking two subjects that I'm not really good at: finance and economics. I'm not good with money. I'm the worst person to talk to about how to get rich or ways to expand the wealth. Even primary school children are more adept at money-making then I am.

At least I still get to be in the class with the beverage/coffee machine in it. Alhamdulillah.

New possible (and somewhat crazy) career option

I should stop watching the National Geographic channel. It seems that almost every time I watch it, I start to get unusual ideas that gets me all fired up and wanting to actually do them.

Like for example, the other day I watched a ShowReal Asia episode that briefly featured the falconers of Xingjiang. For about a whole 10 to 15 minutes, my jaw just stayed dropped due to awe.

Those birds looked so magnificent. I just couldn't take my eyes off them, especially when they're in flight with wings spread wide. In my best Crocodile Hunter impersonation I muttered the man's most famous words, "...gorgeous..." Although the Golden Eagle seems as the top bird in the game, I'm eyeing the slightly smaller but equally formidable falcon.

If things things don't work out with management school or any of my future undertakings, I could scrape every sen I have, fly to Xingjiang and become a falconer myself. A cool job, albeit one which my mother will not be too happy about.

Mental note to self: stop watching the National Geographic channel. Or stop coming up with crazy thoughts when watching the National Geographic channel. Insya-Allah.

Bats, blood and brotherhood

First of all, let me welcome you back from your kampung or Hawaii or wherever place you have spent your Eid or Raya at. I hope you had a wonderful time during the blessed days.

The other day, I watched an episode of Human Instincts called Real Life Heroes over the Discovery channel. It talks about the science behind feats of heroism in humans and nature and what causes them to happen. The instinct to survive in times of direness is astonishing, and often in these circumstances, humans and even animals can act in ways that defy believe.

The show highlights stories of strangers helping strangers, friends putting their own lives on the line for the other's sake and family going all out for each other. But for me the part that caught my real attention was the one about the display of altruism by vampire bats.

Vampire bats, in case you still haven't figured it out yet, are the type of bats that feed on blood. Mostly cattles, horses or pigs blood, but on rare occasions humans are also said to be preyed upon. Found in South American countries, these flying mammals are built as stealth and agile attackers. They are light and attack when their victims are asleep, making them blissfully unaware that their blood is being consumed. They also do not actually suck blood, they instead puncture a hole through their victim's skin and lap up the blood that comes out. Their saliva contains draculin, a subtance that stops blood from clotting.

Another thing about these flyers of the night is that they cannot go two days straight without blood. If so they could die and this where the fascinating part comes in. It is discovered that vampire bats often help their family or friends or cavemates who are unable to get a decent shot of good ol' blood by actually giving them some of the blood that they have collected. They regurgitate the blood that they lapped up and give it to the 'blood-thristy' ones through an act that appears to look like a kiss. In exchange, the receiving party returns the good favour by rendering grooming services. A case of one good deed deserves a good-looking fur.

According to scientists, this display of compassion and altruism is quite rare in the animal kingdom. This has certainly painted the vampire bats in a new light (although light may not be something they would actually like very much).

Sure, vampire bats may not win the title 'World's Most Cutest Animal' easily (by normal standards of cuteness, anyway) and they turn out to be such caring creatures towards one another. They are also found to be intelligent and it has been recorded that these bats can respond when their names are being called (some children should take a lesson from this).

Subhanallah. Who would have thought? Not me, that's for sure.

Eid mubarak

Syawal is dawning upon us as we bid farewell to Ramadhan. I wish that Allah will reward all your efforts during the past holy month and may this new one bring joy, peace and success to everyone everywhere. Amin.

Please forgive any mistakes that I've done to all of you in my writing or in real life. Eid mubarak. Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir Batin.

The Long Day Wanes

Mental note: must borrow Anthony Burgess's The Long Day Wanes from the library. It's in the other campus branch's library, though. I hope I don't to travel there just to check out one book.

More mental note: must exploit library staff for this (they're paid to help us in this sort of things, right?). Resort to Jedi (or Sith) mindtricks if they refuse. And thank Sharon for the info on Burgess being a former MCKK teacher.

There's psychology in everyday things

I read about Donald A. Norman's book, The Design of Everyday Things, in an article a few years ago. Being the design-freak that I am, I made a self mental note that I would read it one day.

And my mental note reminder alarm didn't go off until recently. I don't remember what triggered it, but once it went off I immediately scoured my campus library for the book. To my disappointment, the library does not have any copy of it in its collection. However, they do have the next best thing: an earlier book the same author called The Psychology of Everyday Things (POET).



I'm quite sceptical about books that are written academicians because they tend make you flip through the dictionary every few sentences and consequently make the books less accessible to the ordinary readers.

This book is also written by an academic, but one who's a storyteller as well as a keen observer of the relationship between cognitive science and everyday life. POET is a noteworthy read for all designers and the ordinary, non-designer folk. In his book, Norman takes his readers on a breezy and entertaining guided tour on how design can either make or break a product and cites examples ranging from doors to nuclear plants.

I'm still reading the early chapters and I'm certainly looking forward to the later ones.

UPDATE I just learned from Norman's official website that both The Design of Everyday Things and The Psychology of Everyday Things are the same book, where the latter is harcover version while the former is the paperback version with new preface, introduction and, of course, title. Just my rezeki!

Read any good e-books lately?

(This post has been sitting quietly in my Drafts section for quite some time. Due to lack of time and ideas, I've decided to finally publish it and share with you some of my views. The information contained in it may not the latest and for that I apologise. I hope you will gain something useful from it.)

I love paper. The sight, the touch and even the smell of it. There's nothing like the sight of rows and rows of neatly shelved books in a library or a bookstore. Or the feeling of flipping through a thick paperback book with your thumb. Or the smell of a book that has just been taken out of its plastic wrap (but that's mostly the chemicals used to make the plastic wrap and the book I guess).

Thank you, God, for the gift of paper.

In this day of 'e-this' and 'e-that', e-books are fast becoming common. Aside from the physical, paper-based books, readers now have the option of reading books and other text material in a virtual, 'electronic' form. A convenience for those with computers or electronics devices like a PDA, but not so much for the rest of the people.

I used to have a brilliant, soft-spoken but highly engaging researcher as a lecturer. At the end of a chapter that he finished covering, he would upload two sets of PDF (portable document format) files containing his lecture slides. One would contain one slide per page and the other six per page. He told us that the first one is meant to make it easier for our eyes, and the other one is meant to make it easier on the trees.

I think, in the beginning, e-books was meant to reduce the use of paper and chopping down of trees. A noble intention, but people like me are a stubborn bunch. We still want our paper. We want to see it, touch it, hold it, feel it and smell it. Especially those free perfume samples in magazines.

But we're not an entirely closed-minded crowd. E-books are a good way to spread the written word. Some books, especially the ones on programming, often come with a CD that also carries the entire book's content in PDF. We love e-books too. But not as much since we can't actually get sample perfume from e-magazines.

Just a few pickings

Over the last several months, I've amassed a small collection of e-books that are of interest to me. It started with an article I read about Project Guttenberg, an online reservior of literature classics that are now part of the public domain. I downloaded Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, but its length is the reason why I haven't started reading it yet.

I don't know if you'd be interested in reading them or not but I'm sharing them in case you anybody who would be. Some of these books are downloable for free and some of them are licensed under the Creative Commons deed, just like this blog. Without further ado, here they are, in no particular order:

Depression : A Primer
by Ellen
A light-hearted and humorous look at depression, and ways to beat off the blues. From the author of The Reign of Ellen.
[ Get it!/Read it! ]


How To Manage Smart People
by Scott Berkun
After spending nine years at Microsoft managing some of the smartest people in the world, Scott has a few tips to share on the art of managing the best.
[ Get it!/Read it! ]


Free Software for Busy People
by Mohammad Al-Ubaydli
Can free software work for you? Yes it can, according to this Bahraini doctor, who believes in the untapped potential of affordable technology. Even if you're not a busy person.
[ Get it!/Read it! ]


Down and Out the Magic Kingdom
by Cory Doctorow
Life, death, immortality...and Disneyland?!! Cory Doctorow is one of the rising stars of sci-fi as well as the European Affairs Coordinator for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, who not only sells the books he wrote but also gives them away for free in electronic form. He was in Singapore not long ago to give a talk on "Copyright and the future of media".
[ Get it!/Read it! ]


Palin's Travels
by Micheal Palin
In the land of celebrity hosted travel shows go, Micheal Palin is the king. No celebrity is more enthusiastic about setting foot in strange, foreign lands like he is. As a former cast member of Monty Phyton, Palin mixes humour, wanderlust and genuine curiosity to bring the world some of the best shows and books on exotic travel ever made. Some of his books are available for you to read on his website, or better yet, grab a copy from the local bookstore.
[ Get it!/Read it! ]

A trayful of posts

First of all, I would like to thank everyone who came here to read, leave comments or just checking to see whether I've deleted this blog or not. I've been busy lately with some personal and family matters so naturally this blog is left not updated until I'm able to muster up enough sanity to be able to write something. Anyway, thanks again everyone.

Al-Fatihah, Datin Seri Endon Mahmood

This may not be breaking news, but it's a sad one. The wife of our Prime Minister, Datin Seri Endon Mahmood, passed away yesterday morning.

Our Pak Lah is a national leader going through a personal loss, and as fellow Muslims, we should give him our best support as brothers and sisters of the same faith. As for Datin Seri, she is in a place beyond our senses, but indeed a place where we shall be in the future, indefinitely. May Allah grant both of them, their family and all of us strength and divine help to get through the testing times.

Innalillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un.

Ramadhan: the last few laps

In terms of making the best of the holiest month in Islam, I sincerely hope all of you are doing better than me. Clearly this is (one of) the most testing Ramadhan I have ever faced and I'm not too proud with the way I handled things lately. May Allah have mercy upon me.

The best thing to do now is to make the best out of the situation. Amend the bad and aim for the better. I'm not an ustaz or a person of strong faith. I get derailed easily for the smallest reasons. Take a lesson from me, people, and do your best this Ramadhan. May Allah give us all strength and will to please Him the rest of this holy month, and the rest of our lives.

Print your own calender

In an unrelated topic, I would like to point your attention to a very nifty, methinks, service by eprintable.com. The site offers free printable custom calendars for everyone to specify, download and print easily.

The calendar can be displayed by week, month or year. There are options for us to specify the start date, add images for a touch of décor and quotes to inspire us throughout the days.

My friend Ishe used to make calendars like these manually using Microsoft Word, and now he can do the same with this service using just a few clicks.

This service requires a browser with Adobe Acrobat plug-in installed.

OpenOffice.org 2.0

Now this one is breaking news. Yesterday, fresh out the OpenOffice.org oven, comes version 2.0 of the multiplatform, multilingual and open source office productivity suite, OpenOffice.org.

OpenOffice.org is just like the Microsoft Office suite, except it's free. Well, not exactly. The 'free' part is true, the 'just like' part is not. I won't jazz over all the details and put you to sleep in the process, this article covers most of what's important for everyone to know.

All I can add to the subject is this: OpenOffice is just as good as Office, if not better. Sure, it may need some getting used to, but it's free, stable and open source.

Let's face it, most of us use the pirated version of Office in order to get our job done on our PCs. Even the so-called Student and Teacher version (possibly the most 'affordable' Office version Miscrosoft is offering) costs more than five hundred ringgits. Most people just ignore that version and buy the pirated version that comes everything Office has to offer with no restrictions for under RM 10.

Why feed the pirates? Get OpenOffice instead and give it a test drive.

Bubur lambuk

Yesterday, we had some homemade bubur lambuk for iftar. It seems there are many versions of this dish that it's hard to say which version is the authentic one. Ours as featured above is slightly peppery and without seafood (because someone in the house can't take any). Don't ask me for the recipe. I just eat it.

The Trump Blog

It's only a matter of time if you ask me, before The Don starts a blog of his own.