I am now in my home city… For Ramadhan and Eid. After few years spending Ramadhan and Eid so far away from my family and from the festivity of Malaysian Eid style… It does feel good to be back, fasting with my family…
Thus, I went to the supermarket today to buy some stuff with my cousins and my siblings. I missed the feeling of walking in a supermarket, superpacked with people in the weekend. You do not get those feeling at where I studied. When I said, superpacked, it really mean superpacked. It is superpacked that the chance for your body not to be bumped by other customer is nearly 97.69%. Meaning, somebody will bumped into you whether you want it or not. If the supermarket is superpacked with hot Malaysian female supermodels I do not mind at all…
Oh well, the superpacked part is not so bad if you compare to the superwaiting in the superlongqueue… And it really does not help at all when it is also superslow with supermanyworkeratthecashtill…
Back where I studied, the cash till will have only one person behind it. Nobody will help him to put the stuff in the plastic bags. He will also have to weigh any stuff that need to be weigh. Still the wait and the queue are not as long as forever. Make me really wonder…
If the supermarkets in Malaysia are making good money, how much more will they make if the really have good system? They must be superrich too by now… Maybe I should be the Manager and bring the supermarket up to the supermarket standard of the place where I studied… Should I?
31 August 2008
28 August 2008
Time to frown...
Thus,
The special month for the Muslims is returning. The Muslims will fast for the whole month during day time. Blessing is abundant during this month…
The names of my friends had been written down.
The addresses of those people were hunted down.
The cards are all sitting on the table waiting with a frown.
The names of recipients on the envelopes, one down.
The address nicely written, two down.
The inside of cards is empty, nothing to be shown.
Time is running out, fuse is ready to be blown.
Terribly still no idea to be thrown.
Thinking of nice words and well wishes I have known.
That is the problem I have now, old problem I own.
Thus the cards wait on the table with no sign of going, shown…
With wishes that you all have an easier time to write in a card…
The special month for the Muslims is returning. The Muslims will fast for the whole month during day time. Blessing is abundant during this month…
The names of my friends had been written down.
The addresses of those people were hunted down.
The cards are all sitting on the table waiting with a frown.
The names of recipients on the envelopes, one down.
The address nicely written, two down.
The inside of cards is empty, nothing to be shown.
Time is running out, fuse is ready to be blown.
Terribly still no idea to be thrown.
Thinking of nice words and well wishes I have known.
That is the problem I have now, old problem I own.
Thus the cards wait on the table with no sign of going, shown…
With wishes that you all have an easier time to write in a card…
26 August 2008
The man who loved a wall
There was an arrogant man…
He was a man who had the unfailing charisma to make anyone in the world fall in love with him, upon seeing him just once.
There were plenty of reasons for his descent into the swamp of arrogance.
Whether they believed in love or not, all women who faced him professed their irrepressible passion and they crumbled to the ground before him.
He was a man who created love.
After some time…
Those who wanted to test his allure began to arrive.
They wanted to confirm it with all types of proposals.
Not a woman, but a man…
Then a child…
Even animals were brought to be his subjects.
He accepted the challenges and created love.
As they witnessed identical results from all the living creatures of the world,
the people around him started to deify him.
And he started to believe that he was a god.
A god who created love.
A challenge that was possible only for a god.
He decided to test the domain of a god himself.
A wall.
He looked upon the wall that took up one side of his room.
Whether he could love the wall, whether the wall would proclaim its love to him…
To him,
this was the final challenge.
He started to gaze warmly upon the wall caressing it at every chance. Pouring on tender kisses… he soliloquized and talked to it. He showered greater devotion on the wall than on that which was alive.
Once he had decided to love… he could not stop. No one could stop him. Not even those who were close to him. Because, this was the final test.
A long time passed.
As he spent time with the wall,
his surroundings were fading away.
The friends who visited him… And even the neighbours
who were concerned for him had disappeared.
All that was left were
the wall and the man…
And the masterless chair that watched all of this.
The man came to love the wall.
The emotion he found was like any other love, but effort was unique.
As he achieved love, time in the world stopped.
While time had stopped, the man steadily gazed upon the wall and waited.
As feelings for the wall became deeper, he sang for the half of success he had, but shed tears for half of failure, which deepened as he waited.
As the sunset faded to black, the frozen time started to move again.
The man became confused.
As the love that he believed should be returned…
As the love that he considered his rightful reward didn’t appear, frustration turned into rage.
At that moment, he gritted his teeth and swung his fists, demanding boldly…
GIVE ME LOVE AS I HAVE GIVEN YOU.
The wall…
Is only a wall…
The man also, he is not a god, but a mere human.
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The defeat nurtured by hate and rage… Returned him to his humanity.
And at that moment, though he had been away from the chair for a long time, he noticed it was still warm.
His body heat which the chair had cherished.
An excerpt taken from The Great Catsby volume 5 created by Doha.
Check this out for more information on Doha’s comics.
25 August 2008
Where I stay...
Currently, with all the excitement of going home to fast with my family again, I have to look for a new place to stay because I am not a student anymore.
The place where I stay for the past few years is a sad place I can say… One of my wish when I first laid my eyes on it was to help it. So Alhamdulillah, I was given that opportunity. I get to stay here and after that, I was given the full power and authority to do as I please to make the place better.
I was happy that after that, the place looks better. I wish I could do more…
I remember, putting up notices for other tenants… So that they could also help in keeping the place clean and tidy. By doing that I get to know that students who are doing Bachelor degree, Master degree or even PhD cannot read notices… it is very sad and also a surprise. I mean, the students who come here to study should be able to read English, the first main thing. Able to read English also means that they understand English… I mean, how do they go to classes and do their assignments? Amazingly, that did not happen here in my place.
Also, not many people have the same standard of cleanliness… Few housemates of mine showed me that. Probably the upbringing is not the same… Or maybe they just do not care to eat on table that had not been wiped for a week. Or using the stove, spill their cooking on it and let it be for the ants and the cockroaches to clean up later… Or their feet cannot feel the dust piling up on the floor after had not been swept for a week… Or showering in the bathroom full of colourful moss…
I cannot stand it but I had the opportunity to carry out few experiments and most of the time, I can safely say that people just do not care or immune to the mess or unhygienicness…
I do hope this godforsaken place will still be well maintained after I left it. It had been kind to me, providing me shade, keeping out the cold, protecting my stuff and a place where I can rest. Thank you 323 of Hawken Drive in St Lucia. Sorry for stuff that hurts you but I need to do that for me to understand my housemates and the people in it. Thank you very much for helping me to see the people around me better…
The place where I stay for the past few years is a sad place I can say… One of my wish when I first laid my eyes on it was to help it. So Alhamdulillah, I was given that opportunity. I get to stay here and after that, I was given the full power and authority to do as I please to make the place better.
I was happy that after that, the place looks better. I wish I could do more…
I remember, putting up notices for other tenants… So that they could also help in keeping the place clean and tidy. By doing that I get to know that students who are doing Bachelor degree, Master degree or even PhD cannot read notices… it is very sad and also a surprise. I mean, the students who come here to study should be able to read English, the first main thing. Able to read English also means that they understand English… I mean, how do they go to classes and do their assignments? Amazingly, that did not happen here in my place.
Also, not many people have the same standard of cleanliness… Few housemates of mine showed me that. Probably the upbringing is not the same… Or maybe they just do not care to eat on table that had not been wiped for a week. Or using the stove, spill their cooking on it and let it be for the ants and the cockroaches to clean up later… Or their feet cannot feel the dust piling up on the floor after had not been swept for a week… Or showering in the bathroom full of colourful moss…
I cannot stand it but I had the opportunity to carry out few experiments and most of the time, I can safely say that people just do not care or immune to the mess or unhygienicness…
I do hope this godforsaken place will still be well maintained after I left it. It had been kind to me, providing me shade, keeping out the cold, protecting my stuff and a place where I can rest. Thank you 323 of Hawken Drive in St Lucia. Sorry for stuff that hurts you but I need to do that for me to understand my housemates and the people in it. Thank you very much for helping me to see the people around me better…
24 August 2008
I loves to read...
When I was still in Malaysia, the range of comics or you can also call it illustrated novel, is sort of limited. Limited because of my financial and because you can only get the popular titles only…
So I missed quite a lot of other excellent comics until the day I became the member of Brisbane City Council public library.
I was and still very happy with the range of comics that are available. Never had I imagined that a library will do that sort of thing. I Malaysia for sure, the idea of reading comics alone is scoff at. Let alone putting them in the library. I still cannot figure out why drawings are connected with childish. Cartoon is childish. I just pity people with that sort of thinking because they missed out on a lot of things.
Here, I get to read some of the comics that I would never dream of buying. I get to read comics that do not attract me at first but after reading them, made me love them instead. I get to see many ways of styles and methods put forth to reach their readers. So many plots and stories. So many things to ponder. So many things to learn.
I learn a lot of Japanese culture from comics such as Usagi Yojimbo by Stan Sakai and Samurai Executioner by Kazue Koike and Goseki Kojima. A beautiful yet simple drama in The Great Catsby by Doha. I get to know more about DC universe and find that I like Green Lantern very much. The unique and mysterious stories in Sandman by Neil Gaiman. The funny adventures in Bone by Jeff Smith and Liberty Meadow by Frank Cho. So much more comics that change my mind and made me think and see this world more.
It is great to read comics and it is also an art that you will enjoy very much in fact.
So I missed quite a lot of other excellent comics until the day I became the member of Brisbane City Council public library.
I was and still very happy with the range of comics that are available. Never had I imagined that a library will do that sort of thing. I Malaysia for sure, the idea of reading comics alone is scoff at. Let alone putting them in the library. I still cannot figure out why drawings are connected with childish. Cartoon is childish. I just pity people with that sort of thinking because they missed out on a lot of things.
Here, I get to read some of the comics that I would never dream of buying. I get to read comics that do not attract me at first but after reading them, made me love them instead. I get to see many ways of styles and methods put forth to reach their readers. So many plots and stories. So many things to ponder. So many things to learn.
I learn a lot of Japanese culture from comics such as Usagi Yojimbo by Stan Sakai and Samurai Executioner by Kazue Koike and Goseki Kojima. A beautiful yet simple drama in The Great Catsby by Doha. I get to know more about DC universe and find that I like Green Lantern very much. The unique and mysterious stories in Sandman by Neil Gaiman. The funny adventures in Bone by Jeff Smith and Liberty Meadow by Frank Cho. So much more comics that change my mind and made me think and see this world more.
It is great to read comics and it is also an art that you will enjoy very much in fact.
18 August 2008
Things to fear...
I was once asked what I fear... What was I afraid of…? There are things that I did that make me looks courageous. So what do I fear?
There are many fears that I faced as I grow up. Some of those fears had been overcome and some still linger in my heart. Some fears were left to be forgotten as time goes by. Some fears come as the old fears left but to answer this question truthfully is very hard actually…
I come across these words while I was reading a book written by Tesuko Kuroyanagi, Totto-Chan: TheLittle Girl at the Window.
Having eyes but not seeing beauty.
Having ears but not hearing music.
Having minds but not perceiving truth.
Having hearts that are not moved and therefore never set on fire.
These are the things to fear.
This was quoted from Totto-Chan’s school headmaster, Sosaku Kobayashi.
There are some truths there if not all truth. Without all those things he said, you will not be happy in this world, you cannot appreciate, you cannot love and you cannot even be grateful. You will not be able to be a human…
There are many fears that I faced as I grow up. Some of those fears had been overcome and some still linger in my heart. Some fears were left to be forgotten as time goes by. Some fears come as the old fears left but to answer this question truthfully is very hard actually…
I come across these words while I was reading a book written by Tesuko Kuroyanagi, Totto-Chan: TheLittle Girl at the Window.
Having eyes but not seeing beauty.
Having ears but not hearing music.
Having minds but not perceiving truth.
Having hearts that are not moved and therefore never set on fire.
These are the things to fear.
This was quoted from Totto-Chan’s school headmaster, Sosaku Kobayashi.
There are some truths there if not all truth. Without all those things he said, you will not be happy in this world, you cannot appreciate, you cannot love and you cannot even be grateful. You will not be able to be a human…
17 August 2008
TMNT! YEAH NECA TMNT!
Just want to say I really like turtles and ninja… thus I really like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! NECA Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are really awesome possum! Now I will be waiting for one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles greatest enemies… The Mousers!
I am really looking forward and hope that NECA will also create the Foot Ninjas, the Shredder, Leatherhead and of course the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles master, Splinter… Keep them coming and keep up the good work NECA!
I am really looking forward and hope that NECA will also create the Foot Ninjas, the Shredder, Leatherhead and of course the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles master, Splinter… Keep them coming and keep up the good work NECA!
The search for POPCORN!
Once I had written how unhappy my heart had become because the longing that linger and dwell in my broken heart…
Since the first day I arrived to this country that was unknown to me, I mean, basically I know where Australia is and always envisioned that the country filled to brim with kangaroos jumping around on the ground and koalas hanging on the eucalyptus tree branches but at that time I had no idea how the place is and how the people is…
So, like I said before, since the first day I stepped my foot on this soil that is separated from other continents, since the first time I went into the movie, the first movie I watch here in Brissy was Spiderman 2… Since the first time I ate the popcorn here in Brissy, my heart grow heavy with sorrow and sadness…
My soft pink tongue had never taste popcorn so salty and dry in its life. The saltiness that was comparable to the swallowing boatful saltwater or swallowing the salt water crocodile full… The dryness that was comparable to the dried sand of Sahara that not even cactuses could get a teaspoon of water out of it or as dry as three days socks left in the smelly old shoes…
That is how dry and salty the popcorn here in Brissy… Totally different from the popcorn that I grow up with back in Malaysia. My naïve mind always thought that popcorn will be the same no matter where they are. How naïve and stupid I was! How green and shallow was my knowledge of popcorn! How totally embarrassing it is to find that the same happiness cannot be found in the popcorn here…
All this spark the spirit of finding and discovering the popcorn that I always adore here where I stay now…
The search and the finding never cease. Each passing days become the fuel to empower the spirit of searching for that one true popcorn that my heart beats for…
That was until the last day of Ekka, the day my heart is filled with the sweetness of popcorn love… I was totally dumbstruck and my heart pound so hard that I was actually afraid that my rib bones would be cracked and smashed to pieces… The feeling of despair for the fruitless search gave way for the feeling of rejoices that had blossomed in my heart! How happy was I to find the popcorn that I had long search for was right in front of me…
Since the first day I arrived to this country that was unknown to me, I mean, basically I know where Australia is and always envisioned that the country filled to brim with kangaroos jumping around on the ground and koalas hanging on the eucalyptus tree branches but at that time I had no idea how the place is and how the people is…
So, like I said before, since the first day I stepped my foot on this soil that is separated from other continents, since the first time I went into the movie, the first movie I watch here in Brissy was Spiderman 2… Since the first time I ate the popcorn here in Brissy, my heart grow heavy with sorrow and sadness…
My soft pink tongue had never taste popcorn so salty and dry in its life. The saltiness that was comparable to the swallowing boatful saltwater or swallowing the salt water crocodile full… The dryness that was comparable to the dried sand of Sahara that not even cactuses could get a teaspoon of water out of it or as dry as three days socks left in the smelly old shoes…
That is how dry and salty the popcorn here in Brissy… Totally different from the popcorn that I grow up with back in Malaysia. My naïve mind always thought that popcorn will be the same no matter where they are. How naïve and stupid I was! How green and shallow was my knowledge of popcorn! How totally embarrassing it is to find that the same happiness cannot be found in the popcorn here…
All this spark the spirit of finding and discovering the popcorn that I always adore here where I stay now…
The search and the finding never cease. Each passing days become the fuel to empower the spirit of searching for that one true popcorn that my heart beats for…
That was until the last day of Ekka, the day my heart is filled with the sweetness of popcorn love… I was totally dumbstruck and my heart pound so hard that I was actually afraid that my rib bones would be cracked and smashed to pieces… The feeling of despair for the fruitless search gave way for the feeling of rejoices that had blossomed in my heart! How happy was I to find the popcorn that I had long search for was right in front of me…
The humongous jumbo huge popcorn I bought accidently at Ekka.
Now I can say that Brisbane is a good place to live in… You can eat the nice and sweet popcorn here too…
And another visit to dreamworld...
This is one of the theme parks that I always go to… The first time I was here was because I could drive. Then I return again as the tourist guide and again and again…
The recent visit to Dreamworld actually completes my visit there. I had officially sat on every ride in the theme park… Yes, every rides including the rides for children…
The rides are boring but still enjoyable. You can scream if you want but the children will look at you with a weird face…. I do not blame them for that strange expression because if the children are not afraid to go on those rides, why should that young man be?
Basically, I know the theme park well by heart… Unless someone move all the big rides location around, I could easily lead you to any places you want…
The best ride for me will still be The Claw… But was it just me or the ride duration getting shorter… I hardly felt the swinging sensation when it came to full stop… The sadness it left in my heart because it cannot fulfil the sensation in my heart is just like the pouring rain from the blackest cloud in the sky…
That is how sad my heart is…
The recent visit to Dreamworld actually completes my visit there. I had officially sat on every ride in the theme park… Yes, every rides including the rides for children…
The rides are boring but still enjoyable. You can scream if you want but the children will look at you with a weird face…. I do not blame them for that strange expression because if the children are not afraid to go on those rides, why should that young man be?
Basically, I know the theme park well by heart… Unless someone move all the big rides location around, I could easily lead you to any places you want…
The best ride for me will still be The Claw… But was it just me or the ride duration getting shorter… I hardly felt the swinging sensation when it came to full stop… The sadness it left in my heart because it cannot fulfil the sensation in my heart is just like the pouring rain from the blackest cloud in the sky…
That is how sad my heart is…
15 August 2008
Burger... Delivery?
I am now busy doing nothing… well, not exactly nothing but I am now on holiday full swing. Not really on holiday as I also have to look for a job… something that can make money…
Thus, one of my usual activities in a day is opening up the job search website. Well, to tell the truth, I spend more time browsing through rather than doing the application… reason why? I will tell soon and soon you all will know why…
So I come upon this one particular job website… Where you will work with this particular company that was founded in 1954 and become the world’s predominant underground fast food delivery service. I would love to tell you more about the company but unfortunately, I do not know much to because if I do, they will kill me…
This company mission is to defend the downtrodden, fight for the honour of the company and to deliver hot and fresh food to their customers. The only drawback about this company is this one thing, fail to do any of the mention above, the employee have to commit seppuku… One mistake and you are fired… So failure is not an option… Talk about work stress…
Other than that, the excitement of joining the elite burger delivery team is just so exhilarating! I will get to learn delivering tasty burgers and fries everywhere and anywhere, bringing honour to the franchise. Like I mentioned earlier, failure is not an option.
I will hone my skills; learn the secrets of stealth, swordsmanship and customer service, fighting for honour, respect, big tips and the coveted promotion… Oh yeah, I will be pitted against my fellow trainees in the burger store but that happen in every work place, so that should be normal…
The customer list is quite impressive they said but they cannot release any names because they respect the privacy of their clientele… However, they said that their customers include many powerful, respectful, influential and important people so no questions asked.
One of the first things that I have to do before I lodge my application is to fill in a simple questionnaire to find the best position in the company for me… The position suitable for me is as shown below:
Thus, one of my usual activities in a day is opening up the job search website. Well, to tell the truth, I spend more time browsing through rather than doing the application… reason why? I will tell soon and soon you all will know why…
So I come upon this one particular job website… Where you will work with this particular company that was founded in 1954 and become the world’s predominant underground fast food delivery service. I would love to tell you more about the company but unfortunately, I do not know much to because if I do, they will kill me…
This company mission is to defend the downtrodden, fight for the honour of the company and to deliver hot and fresh food to their customers. The only drawback about this company is this one thing, fail to do any of the mention above, the employee have to commit seppuku… One mistake and you are fired… So failure is not an option… Talk about work stress…
Other than that, the excitement of joining the elite burger delivery team is just so exhilarating! I will get to learn delivering tasty burgers and fries everywhere and anywhere, bringing honour to the franchise. Like I mentioned earlier, failure is not an option.
I will hone my skills; learn the secrets of stealth, swordsmanship and customer service, fighting for honour, respect, big tips and the coveted promotion… Oh yeah, I will be pitted against my fellow trainees in the burger store but that happen in every work place, so that should be normal…
The customer list is quite impressive they said but they cannot release any names because they respect the privacy of their clientele… However, they said that their customers include many powerful, respectful, influential and important people so no questions asked.
One of the first things that I have to do before I lodge my application is to fill in a simple questionnaire to find the best position in the company for me… The position suitable for me is as shown below:
Just the position that I want and love to do. I might join them until I can get a proper job… This is the motto of the company:
No matter how secure your office,
how deep your bunker,
how dedicated your guards . . .
we deliver your burger in 30 minutes or less.
Just I case you guys will be interested to join and want to check it out, click here.
See you then at NINJA BURGER.
13 August 2008
EKKA!
Thus, this will be the fourth year I have been to Ekka. The second year I perform here at Ekka… What I like about performing in Ekka, I get to enter Ekka for free… So hurray for that!
Another good Ekka day and I do hope the next performance will be as great if not better. Thanks again and hope we will have more performers in the future…
The card that gives me the free access to EKKA!
It is always nice to see the farm animals… And to see so many people around with festivities in the air… And to see spectacular display of Showbags with staggering varieties and prices… Good place to get some gifts for your sisters and cousins… Over the four years I have been to Ekka, there is not much change to the rides… So this year I decided not to go for the rides… Same old same old.
Performing in Ekka is great! It is nice to see all the angmos to gawp at your costume, guessing to their best where I might come from, figuring why I twisted one end of my Kain Songket and tie it into a flower, the different of style to the usual karate and taekwondo style and to be able to show the Malaysian martial art to the angmos…
Last year our performance was pretty much boring… Just some opening ceremonies called the Bunga Tanjong, the basic Silat Gayong movement in Gulungan Anak Harimau and end it with Senam Silat. We showed what Silat is but not very interesting to see…
This year, my Guru adds some spices into the performance. Our new team member also proves to be valuable for he is able to fight with one of our member splendidly in such a short time. Good one Faris! Not to forget Raqim who performe really nicely. All our kicks and punches at him really are worthwhile… A gift from Malaysia for your hard work! Just do not blame me if you become mortally endangered… I felt bad already…
Guru was correct that fighting with Parangs will be great. Thanks for his teachings and I do hope I can be better in the future. People said it was awesome. Wish I could put up the video of us performing… The parangs are dangerous to fool around with but seeing Silat with Parangs is just awesome and you can also said the awesomeness of the Silat is magnified with Parangs. Now Keris will be another story…
From left, Ali, Me and Faris… Raqim was still changing into the Silat outfit…
Another good Ekka day and I do hope the next performance will be as great if not better. Thanks again and hope we will have more performers in the future…
12 August 2008
Surgeon loves Engineer...
Another joke on us the engineers… I like it and that is why I am trying my best to date a surgeon… We should be able to get along well…
Five surgeons were taking a coffee break and were discussing their work.
The first surgeon said,
"I think accountants are the easiest to operate on. You open them up and everything inside is numbered."
The second surgeon said,
"I think librarians are the easiest to operate on. You open them up and everything inside is in alphabetical order."
The third surgeon said,
"I like to operate on electricians. You open them up and everything inside is colour-coded."
The fourth surgeon said,
"I like to operate on lawyers. They're heartless, spineless, gutless, and their heads and their butts are interchangeable."
The fifth surgeon said,
"I like Engineers...they always understand when you have a few parts left over at the end..."
I am proud to be an engineer. We make the surgeon life so much easier… No offence to any of my lawyer friends out there and accountants too...
Five surgeons were taking a coffee break and were discussing their work.
The first surgeon said,
"I think accountants are the easiest to operate on. You open them up and everything inside is numbered."
The second surgeon said,
"I think librarians are the easiest to operate on. You open them up and everything inside is in alphabetical order."
The third surgeon said,
"I like to operate on electricians. You open them up and everything inside is colour-coded."
The fourth surgeon said,
"I like to operate on lawyers. They're heartless, spineless, gutless, and their heads and their butts are interchangeable."
The fifth surgeon said,
"I like Engineers...they always understand when you have a few parts left over at the end..."
I am proud to be an engineer. We make the surgeon life so much easier… No offence to any of my lawyer friends out there and accountants too...
Is Clever, Clever enough?
Once in a while I will stumble upon a story that is funny yet left me with something to ponder on…
Once upon a time, in a kingdom not far from here, a king summoned two of his advisors for a test. He showed them both a shiny metal box with two slots in the top, a control knob, and a lever.
"What do you think this is?"
One advisor, an engineer, answered first.
"It is a toaster," he said.
The king asked, "How would you design an embedded computer for it?"
The engineer replied,
"Using a four-bit microcontroller, I would write a simple program that reads the darkness knob and quantizes its position to one of 16 shades of darkness, from snow white to coal black. The program would use that darkness level as the index to a 16-element table of initial timer values. Then it would turn on the heating elements and start the timer with the initial value selected from the table. At the end of the time delay, it would turn off the heat and pop up the toast. Come back next week, and I'll show you a working prototype."
The second advisor, a computer scientist, immediately recognized the danger of such short-sighted thinking.
He said,
"Toasters don't just turn bread into toast, they are also used to warm frozen waffles. What you see before you is really a breakfast food cooker. As the subjects of your kingdom become more sophisticated, they will demand more capabilities. They will need a breakfast food cooker that can also cook sausage, fry bacon, and make scrambled eggs. A toaster that only makes toast will soon be obsolete.
If we don't look to the future, we will have to completely redesign the toaster in just a few years. With this in mind, we can formulate a more intelligent solution to the problem. First, create a class of breakfast foods. Specialize this class into subclasses: grains, pork, and poultry. The specialization process should be repeated with grains divided into toast, muffins, pancakes, and waffles; pork divided into sausage, links, and bacon; and poultry divided into scrambled eggs, hard-boiled eggs, poached eggs, fried eggs, and various omelet classes.
The ham and cheese omelet class is worth special attention because it must inherit characteristics from the pork, dairy, and poultry classes. Thus, we see that the problem cannot be properly solved without multiple inheritance. At run time, the program must create the proper object and send a message to the object that says, 'Cook yourself.'
The semantics of this message depend, of course, on the kind of object, so they have a different meaning to a piece of toast than to scrambled eggs. Reviewing the process so far, we see that the analysis phase has revealed that the primary requirement is to cook any kind of breakfast food.
In the design phase, we have discovered some derived requirements. Specifically, we need an object-oriented language with multiple inheritance. Of course, users don't want the eggs to get cold while the bacon is frying, so concurrent processing is required, too.
We must not forget the user interface. The lever that lowers the food lacks versatility, and the darkness knob is confusing. Users won't buy the product unless it has a user-friendly, graphical interface. When the breakfast cooker is plugged in, users should see a cowboy boot on the screen. Users click on it, and the message 'Booting UNIX v. 8.3' appears on the screen.
(UNIX 8.3 should be out by the time the product gets to the market.)
Users can pull down a menu and click on the foods they want to cook. Having made the wise decision of specifying the software first in the design phase, all that remains is to pick an adequate hardware platform for the implementation phase. An Intel 80386 with 8MB of memory, a 30MB hard disk, and a VGA monitor should be sufficient. If you select a multitasking, object oriented language that supports multiple inheritance and has a built-in GUI, writing the program will be a snap.
(Imagine the difficulty we would have had if we had foolishly allowed a hardware-first design strategy to lock us into a four-bit microcontroller!)."
The king wisely had the computer scientist beheaded, and they all lived happily ever after.
As you can see, being too clever is not really clever especially in the real world… Live and let live I say…
Once upon a time, in a kingdom not far from here, a king summoned two of his advisors for a test. He showed them both a shiny metal box with two slots in the top, a control knob, and a lever.
"What do you think this is?"
One advisor, an engineer, answered first.
"It is a toaster," he said.
The king asked, "How would you design an embedded computer for it?"
The engineer replied,
"Using a four-bit microcontroller, I would write a simple program that reads the darkness knob and quantizes its position to one of 16 shades of darkness, from snow white to coal black. The program would use that darkness level as the index to a 16-element table of initial timer values. Then it would turn on the heating elements and start the timer with the initial value selected from the table. At the end of the time delay, it would turn off the heat and pop up the toast. Come back next week, and I'll show you a working prototype."
The second advisor, a computer scientist, immediately recognized the danger of such short-sighted thinking.
He said,
"Toasters don't just turn bread into toast, they are also used to warm frozen waffles. What you see before you is really a breakfast food cooker. As the subjects of your kingdom become more sophisticated, they will demand more capabilities. They will need a breakfast food cooker that can also cook sausage, fry bacon, and make scrambled eggs. A toaster that only makes toast will soon be obsolete.
If we don't look to the future, we will have to completely redesign the toaster in just a few years. With this in mind, we can formulate a more intelligent solution to the problem. First, create a class of breakfast foods. Specialize this class into subclasses: grains, pork, and poultry. The specialization process should be repeated with grains divided into toast, muffins, pancakes, and waffles; pork divided into sausage, links, and bacon; and poultry divided into scrambled eggs, hard-boiled eggs, poached eggs, fried eggs, and various omelet classes.
The ham and cheese omelet class is worth special attention because it must inherit characteristics from the pork, dairy, and poultry classes. Thus, we see that the problem cannot be properly solved without multiple inheritance. At run time, the program must create the proper object and send a message to the object that says, 'Cook yourself.'
The semantics of this message depend, of course, on the kind of object, so they have a different meaning to a piece of toast than to scrambled eggs. Reviewing the process so far, we see that the analysis phase has revealed that the primary requirement is to cook any kind of breakfast food.
In the design phase, we have discovered some derived requirements. Specifically, we need an object-oriented language with multiple inheritance. Of course, users don't want the eggs to get cold while the bacon is frying, so concurrent processing is required, too.
We must not forget the user interface. The lever that lowers the food lacks versatility, and the darkness knob is confusing. Users won't buy the product unless it has a user-friendly, graphical interface. When the breakfast cooker is plugged in, users should see a cowboy boot on the screen. Users click on it, and the message 'Booting UNIX v. 8.3' appears on the screen.
(UNIX 8.3 should be out by the time the product gets to the market.)
Users can pull down a menu and click on the foods they want to cook. Having made the wise decision of specifying the software first in the design phase, all that remains is to pick an adequate hardware platform for the implementation phase. An Intel 80386 with 8MB of memory, a 30MB hard disk, and a VGA monitor should be sufficient. If you select a multitasking, object oriented language that supports multiple inheritance and has a built-in GUI, writing the program will be a snap.
(Imagine the difficulty we would have had if we had foolishly allowed a hardware-first design strategy to lock us into a four-bit microcontroller!)."
The king wisely had the computer scientist beheaded, and they all lived happily ever after.
As you can see, being too clever is not really clever especially in the real world… Live and let live I say…
11 August 2008
Boring Looking to Awesome Looking!
Thanks to a friend of mine, I now have another thing to do in my free time. He let me use his Gundam Marker on my Gundams…
Before, I was wondering why the heck the Gundams pictures on the box always look awesome and great. That curiosity leads to the discovery of colouring the Gundams…
The real hardcore fans of the Gundams did not only enjoy putting them together but also enjoy the painful and tedious process of making the Gundams look as beautiful and awesome as possible…
When I had those markers with me, I thought it will be an easy job. Once I hold the markers and try to colour my Gundams, boy, it was not that easy… Trying to draw a thin, a really really thin line was not easy at all… Few googling and trial and errors later helps to make my colouring skills better. Now my Gundam looks better…
I would not go into the details on how to do it but I will just show the Gundam before and after the colouring. I am just too lazy to write the whole thing. My Gundams used to look so plain as plain as Jane… Now they have some depth, the details are better and just plain awesomeness! 
Before, I was wondering why the heck the Gundams pictures on the box always look awesome and great. That curiosity leads to the discovery of colouring the Gundams…
The real hardcore fans of the Gundams did not only enjoy putting them together but also enjoy the painful and tedious process of making the Gundams look as beautiful and awesome as possible…
When I had those markers with me, I thought it will be an easy job. Once I hold the markers and try to colour my Gundams, boy, it was not that easy… Trying to draw a thin, a really really thin line was not easy at all… Few googling and trial and errors later helps to make my colouring skills better. Now my Gundam looks better…
I would not go into the details on how to do it but I will just show the Gundam before and after the colouring. I am just too lazy to write the whole thing. My Gundams used to look so plain as plain as Jane… Now they have some depth, the details are better and just plain awesomeness!
Even my Astrea looks even more beautiful… Thanks a lot o’ brothers and sister… Still need more practise before I consider myself good in this stuff…
10 August 2008
Memorable Quotes...
Due to the tension of the new Star Wars movies, I find this quote appropriate to the mood:
Duct tapes is like the force,
it has a light side and a dark side
and it holds the universe together.
Duct tapes is like the force,
it has a light side and a dark side
and it holds the universe together.
I don't errrrr... eat BEEF...
One of the things that you will encounter as a Muslim in a place where the Muslims are not the majority is Halal food…
That is not even the real problem actually… The main problem is to get non Muslim people to understand that you can only eat Halal food.
For those who do not understand the word Halal, I give you the meaning taken from this wesite:
http://www.afic.com.au/Halal.htm#HalalConcept
“Naturally Halal animals such as cattle, goats etc., must be slaughtered according to Islamic rites, the rituals specify that the act must be performed by a mentally sound Muslim, to sever the blood and respiratory channels of the animal, using a sharp cutting tool such as knife.”
Here is another point that is taken seriously by most Muslims to ensure the Halality of the food to be consumed:
“All raw materials and ingredients used must be Halal.”
“The Halal ingredients must not be mixed, or come into contact with Haram materials such as products from pig or dog during storage, transport, cooking, serving etc.”
For the benefit of those people who do not understand what Haram is, it is just the opposite of Halal, meaning, a big NO. Most of the non Muslim people find it absurd, weird and to an extent as some people put it an extreme. They questions this way of eating and shake their heads in disbelief that we actually abide by this rules and still survive. Here, where I live and stay now, the point that I do not eat pork is even shocking to some of them and said that how I missed out all the good food in my life…
Some of the Muslims I know of tried to tell them what Halal is. They have good intentions and it is great that they try to make the world understand us Muslims better… but getting mad and angry because they do not understand some of the terms and most importantly the idea of Halal itself is not the way. I mean, you are talking with a people who do not care much about your religion, not brought up with all the understanding you have in your religion and they do not have problem consuming anything edible, of course they cannot understand the words coming out from your mouth unless you use an easier terms for them to grasp the situation.
Now, another good way for the Muslims to avoid all this fuss is to say that they are Vegetarians… Good way to escape all of those stupid questions and stares but you will have lots to answer for if you get caught eating Kebabs the next day…
So, I find that relating my excuse not to eat those meats especially pork and why we do not eat them if they are mixed with other non Halal material is this:
The Vegetarians will stir up a great fuss if they find that the food contains animals be it as fat, oil, emulsifiers, bla bla bla and to an extent even if the utensils used to prepare the food are mixed. Nobody questions them or even ask them why. People will just say this thing would not happen again and we will prepare the food your way. I do find this strange… but it is an easier way to relate to this non Muslims…
If you also have problems with people saying that the pork is delicious… Do remind them to say that the beef is also very delicious to those people who do not eat beef… if you do not have problem with people not eating beef then why you should have problem with people not eating pork…
I hope this will help those people who stammer every time people questions your Halalation action…
That is not even the real problem actually… The main problem is to get non Muslim people to understand that you can only eat Halal food.
For those who do not understand the word Halal, I give you the meaning taken from this wesite:
http://www.afic.com.au/Halal.htm#HalalConcept
“Naturally Halal animals such as cattle, goats etc., must be slaughtered according to Islamic rites, the rituals specify that the act must be performed by a mentally sound Muslim, to sever the blood and respiratory channels of the animal, using a sharp cutting tool such as knife.”
Here is another point that is taken seriously by most Muslims to ensure the Halality of the food to be consumed:
“All raw materials and ingredients used must be Halal.”
“The Halal ingredients must not be mixed, or come into contact with Haram materials such as products from pig or dog during storage, transport, cooking, serving etc.”
For the benefit of those people who do not understand what Haram is, it is just the opposite of Halal, meaning, a big NO. Most of the non Muslim people find it absurd, weird and to an extent as some people put it an extreme. They questions this way of eating and shake their heads in disbelief that we actually abide by this rules and still survive. Here, where I live and stay now, the point that I do not eat pork is even shocking to some of them and said that how I missed out all the good food in my life…
Some of the Muslims I know of tried to tell them what Halal is. They have good intentions and it is great that they try to make the world understand us Muslims better… but getting mad and angry because they do not understand some of the terms and most importantly the idea of Halal itself is not the way. I mean, you are talking with a people who do not care much about your religion, not brought up with all the understanding you have in your religion and they do not have problem consuming anything edible, of course they cannot understand the words coming out from your mouth unless you use an easier terms for them to grasp the situation.
Now, another good way for the Muslims to avoid all this fuss is to say that they are Vegetarians… Good way to escape all of those stupid questions and stares but you will have lots to answer for if you get caught eating Kebabs the next day…
So, I find that relating my excuse not to eat those meats especially pork and why we do not eat them if they are mixed with other non Halal material is this:
The Vegetarians will stir up a great fuss if they find that the food contains animals be it as fat, oil, emulsifiers, bla bla bla and to an extent even if the utensils used to prepare the food are mixed. Nobody questions them or even ask them why. People will just say this thing would not happen again and we will prepare the food your way. I do find this strange… but it is an easier way to relate to this non Muslims…
If you also have problems with people saying that the pork is delicious… Do remind them to say that the beef is also very delicious to those people who do not eat beef… if you do not have problem with people not eating beef then why you should have problem with people not eating pork…
I hope this will help those people who stammer every time people questions your Halalation action…
06 August 2008
Ed... Edjama... Edjamacated!
Today, I had learn a new word: edjamacated
I was not sure what it was at first so I asked my angmo friend what it means. Well, he called me with that word and I went, “errrrrr what is that?” The meaning of that word I wrote it here in my blog slightly altered from the original sentences because the angmo like to put in harsh words which are not nice for my young readers…
Thus,
Edjamacated: to get qualification for whatever crap I know and get paid hell lots of money for that crap. Whatever crap I spit out will be paid handsomely.
You learn something new everyday…
I was not sure what it was at first so I asked my angmo friend what it means. Well, he called me with that word and I went, “errrrrr what is that?” The meaning of that word I wrote it here in my blog slightly altered from the original sentences because the angmo like to put in harsh words which are not nice for my young readers…
Thus,
Edjamacated: to get qualification for whatever crap I know and get paid hell lots of money for that crap. Whatever crap I spit out will be paid handsomely.
You learn something new everyday…
04 August 2008
Assassin is Ultraman?
One of my favourite movies is one with assassination or spy in it… I read up the meaning for that two words, both are link to the art of stealth. That makes me think again… They do not do that in the movies!
James Bond does not use much stealth when he does his mission. The new assassination movie I watched wreck havoc wherever they go. Not much stealth there. No sir…
It is more like an Ultraman trying to be a spy… Everything crashes, everything crumbles and everything blows up… I thought these guys are supposed to come and go without people noticing… Like I said, it is more like an Ultraman trying to creep in… Maybe it is better to send in a huge elephant with bells dangling on its arms and legs and trunk…
James Bond does not use much stealth when he does his mission. The new assassination movie I watched wreck havoc wherever they go. Not much stealth there. No sir…
It is more like an Ultraman trying to be a spy… Everything crashes, everything crumbles and everything blows up… I thought these guys are supposed to come and go without people noticing… Like I said, it is more like an Ultraman trying to creep in… Maybe it is better to send in a huge elephant with bells dangling on its arms and legs and trunk…
03 August 2008
Memorable quotes...
Before you criticise someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes...
That way, when you criticise them, you are a mile away and you have their shoes...
I am feeling happy so I will add another one...
Clothes make the man...
But you cannot judge a book by its cover.
That way, when you criticise them, you are a mile away and you have their shoes...
I am feeling happy so I will add another one...
Clothes make the man...
But you cannot judge a book by its cover.
Astrea! Exia! YEEEHHAAA!
First thing first, I give my thanks to my brothers and sister for the beautiful graduation gift… GUNDAM ASTREA!
Truly truly it is one of the beautiful Gundam around… The sword, the gun and the cannon… He is just beautiful and nearly brings tears to my eyes… So thanks again dear brothers and sister…
I just finished assembled the new Gundam few minutes before I post this. I finally get the time to sit and put it together… but it is beautiful…
Now my Exia will have a new friend. They nearly look the same but they look great together. With Avalanche Exia, the three of them will look greater… That is another Gudam on my list…
Now I am also setting my eyes on another beautiful Gundam which just emerge recently to this world… Ghehehe… I will get you one day… Just you wait my beautiful Shin Musha Gundam… just you wait…
Truly truly it is one of the beautiful Gundam around… The sword, the gun and the cannon… He is just beautiful and nearly brings tears to my eyes… So thanks again dear brothers and sister…
I just finished assembled the new Gundam few minutes before I post this. I finally get the time to sit and put it together… but it is beautiful…
Now my Exia will have a new friend. They nearly look the same but they look great together. With Avalanche Exia, the three of them will look greater… That is another Gudam on my list…
Now I am also setting my eyes on another beautiful Gundam which just emerge recently to this world… Ghehehe… I will get you one day… Just you wait my beautiful Shin Musha Gundam… just you wait…
02 August 2008
Memorable quotes...
DO NOT walk behind me, for I may not lead.
DO NOT walk ahead of me, for I may not follow.
DO NOT walk beside me either.
JUST LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE!
DO NOT walk ahead of me, for I may not follow.
DO NOT walk beside me either.
JUST LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE!
Mee Kolok... Or is it Kolok Mee?
One of my favourite dishes from back home is mee kolok… or kolok mee… When I go abroad, far from the mee kolok reaches, I could not indulge myself in the heavenly taste of the kolok mee… it is just a dream to be able to sit together with a bowl of mee kolok, holding it close, feeling the warmth of the freshly cooked mee from the outer shell of the bowl, inhaling deeply the maddening smell of sesame street lingering on each strand of noodle… and to taste the luscious meat against the softness of the noodles in my mouth….
So I search far and wide for the recipe… hoping to duplicate the beauty of mee kolok here in the land of kangaroo… where kolok mee is a foreign food and alien to them… even koalas have never eaten mee kolok because as far as I know, they have never heard or seen nor smell it… Pity pity them… Having to live with only eucalyptus leaves…
So I was searching high and low for the recipe… so that my hunger for the maddening taste of kolok mee can be satiated… The search leads me to few recipes each recipe quite similar to each other with small tweaks here and there to make it a tiny small little different from each other…
Still I was not satisfied… For my culinary skill in creating mee kolok here in the foreign land is not commendable… The mee became only mee but no kolok… It leads to many sad days until the kitchen was shaken to the arrival of my mother from the land where kolok mee roam in abundant…
On that day, the day where my mother produce the mee kolok as if it was nothing, was the day where I finally realise that kolok mee was with me finally… It was always there waiting for me, except that I did not have the potential to draw it to my realm…
Thus with the spirit of Leocanthus and avoiding the coming of the month of Brutus…. I will try with all my might and will to conjure the one mee that will be worthy of the title of kolok or I will have to be content with the title Goblok…
So I search far and wide for the recipe… hoping to duplicate the beauty of mee kolok here in the land of kangaroo… where kolok mee is a foreign food and alien to them… even koalas have never eaten mee kolok because as far as I know, they have never heard or seen nor smell it… Pity pity them… Having to live with only eucalyptus leaves…
So I was searching high and low for the recipe… so that my hunger for the maddening taste of kolok mee can be satiated… The search leads me to few recipes each recipe quite similar to each other with small tweaks here and there to make it a tiny small little different from each other…
Still I was not satisfied… For my culinary skill in creating mee kolok here in the foreign land is not commendable… The mee became only mee but no kolok… It leads to many sad days until the kitchen was shaken to the arrival of my mother from the land where kolok mee roam in abundant…
On that day, the day where my mother produce the mee kolok as if it was nothing, was the day where I finally realise that kolok mee was with me finally… It was always there waiting for me, except that I did not have the potential to draw it to my realm…
Thus with the spirit of Leocanthus and avoiding the coming of the month of Brutus…. I will try with all my might and will to conjure the one mee that will be worthy of the title of kolok or I will have to be content with the title Goblok…
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