An Abstract Model of a Cat

Picture (a).











This is an abstract model of a cat. It has all the basic features of a cat: A head with 2 ears, pair of eyes, some whiskers, a nose. Four legs, and a tail (Not visible in picture (a)).

To implement a specific breed of cat, simply adjust the size of the eyes, the nose, add some whiskers if needed and change the fur colour as required.

A thing to note is that this abstract model misses an important feature: a mouth. Because all breeds of cats have mouths, I have decided to add in such a feature. Therefore, an improvement was proposed and a mouth added to the final and improved version of the abstract model, as showed in picture (b).



Picture (b).

Bruce Schneier on Security

10min video on security from an expert. Could be useful for your 358 exam revision...

Application Threat Modeling

Check this out, could be useful for 358 AS3...

Application Threat Modeling

View more presentations from Marco Morana. (tags: risk management)

Disconnectedness in a connected world

I write this in the hope that maybe I can talk some sense into you before you click. Yes. Before you click 'send' to pass on that e-mail.

Some questions to ask yourself, what exactly are you reading? Do you really believe you will suffer from bad luck if you do not pass it on to 10 people? Do you really believe you will receive a free laptop? Who is at the receiving end of the CC recipient list? Could it be somebody who is being sabotaged to drown in the countless flooding e-mail replies?

I am astounded by the fact that there is a long line of people who pass on chain mails... I wonder if it is maybe they have too much time on their hands? Or maybe they think its fun? Maybe they are simply disconnected.

This disgustingly long line of chain mail distributors tells us that they are disconnected. The brain from the clicking finger, that is. Yes, the Internet is free. Your bandwidth is of unlimited usage. But please do not complain when your internet experience slows down, because you are contributing to it. Don't complain of receiving so many junk mail when you are in fact a perpetrator as well.

How much is your time worth? Your value of time may be worthless but other people's worth per unit time could be much more. To me, there is no excuse for being gullible, inconsiderate and ignorant at the same time. This is a big problem with the Internet. All of you are behind your monitor screens typing and clicking away happily as the "people" factor gets pushed out of the equation. People start to get rude with one another, do stupid inconsiderate things and treat it with a simple click.

If you want to be a part of technology, then keep up with it (which includes being responsible) or else go fly a kite.

Valentine's BBQ

On the night of Valentine's day, Eunice and I had a mini-BBQ at my place, away from the crowd and over-charging restaurants. We absolutely love mini-BBQs like this, and saved quite a bit too...

Looking at the food we had, my mouth waters again haha... just take a look! We had halibut fillet marinated with lemon chilli sauce, black tiger prawns marinated with sambal chilli, otaks, saba and chicken wing mid-joints marinated with kikkoman sauce, taiwan sausages & marshmallows!
















The mini-BBQ was a great success, and I really enjoyed cooking and eating with Eunice :) I love you hun! Looking forward to our next mini-BBQ hehe...

伍佰-忘情歌MV

I dedicate this song to my dead PC haha... really like the music that comes from this wonderful piece from 伍佰.

sudo

Comic from xkcd.com

Welcoming the CNY

It was a great CNY period, as I went around visiting and for the first time, I went around with Eunice to her grandma's place and great grandma's place... and I met alot of very friendly people. All her family were very warm towards me, and treated me as one of the family. I felt very pleased that I was received so well =)

Surprisingly, this time I didn't eat alot of goodies during all the visiting, but it is after the visiting period that I am stuffing my face with all the goodies... all the leftovers at home haha...

Hmm... right now, still in the CNY mood, abit quite hard to get back into sch mode but i'm moving along haha.

Happy Mooo Year people... may all of us be prosperous and happy!

Google Chrome

PC vs Mac... Spoofed!

year++

Hello people, I wanna use this opportunity to reflect on the past year's events and talk about what I'm thinking for the new year ahead...

2008 was a year of mixed feelings, or maybe I should say at first I thought it would be a bad time after having ended a 2 year relationship. But then I (again) realised the importance of having friends and family, and appreciating them. My good buddies were always there to lend a hand and listen and talk with me when things go wrong. And no matter what happens, my family will be there for me.

What was a sad end to a relationship eventually led to a turning point in life for me, as I found someone whom I now love so so so much. I met Eunice in July, and since then I have never regretted meeting and knowing her, nor have I regretted loving her with all my heart. Having her makes me feel so fortunate and happy, its truly a wonderful feeling. All the time we spent together, it was truly the time of my life. I am grateful to have her, and thank her for loving me. I wish that we can be together for eternity...

I have been working hard at sch and having my hard work pay off really feels good, I think that my interest in computers is something I can do for a long time to come. Hopefully I can find a good job and start earning money to repay my parents for bringing me up all these years and paying for my education.

2009 will be a year that I truly prove my worth, to be able to really earn a living for the first time. Going out to work, earn my worth and get ready to do the things I really want to do. I hope the economy will not be so bad when I get out from sch in july. For now, 2 more modules and a FYP to complete first hehe.

I wish everyone a happy new year, and may your goals and dreams become reality.

Double the fun

On the 21st Dec 08, Eunice and I went out to east coast park (ECP for reference in this post, not the expressway).

We bought some snacks at IMM's Giant before driving there, and bought ourselves lunch from Mcdonald's drive-thru. Then we drove towards the end of ECP where we found a place to park along the road and yet very near to the beach. We then set down our picnic mat and had our lunch. The weather that day was really great, it was very cooling and windy.

Then later on we went to rent a double-bike for 2 hrs (1-for-1) and we really had a blast cycling through ECP together. Its really great to be able to do something fun together with her like this and yet give ourselves a workout. I have to say it's probably the best time I ever spent at ECP... sharing joy and laughter and feeling so close to her, the wind in our hair, the sun gracing us gently.

These few days spending my time with her during the holidays, i feel like im living the time of my life.












========== Side-Rant ==========
Something annoys the both of us greatly, and that is the transformation of ECP into refugee settlement camps. The pollution of tents all over the park makes it look very messy and crowded... it has now become a shelter for the homeless. Go to our neighbour in the north where land is abundant, don't do this to our precious landscape.

Near-War Experience & A Happy Day

Hello! I just had a super great day at JB with Eunice and her parents, I'm really happy because it's the first time going out with them, and things went really well :)

========== Near-War Experience ==========

Leaving the best for the last, I shall first rant about some really scary experiences we had, and they took place at possibly the world's worst immigration checkpoints... Hang on to your seats as some really serious ranting is about to happen... No offense to malaysians, I have nothing against you. But please do something about your non-existant government.

The horror starts right from when we got down the bus to get our passports stamped at the malaysia side. The queue starts right from where we got off the bus, and stretches all the way to the counters. I estimate the length of the queue to be roughly 60 to 70 meters... Ok well, maybe its because its a saturday and many people are going over to shop and eat... I don't mind to queue a little while, but is it so hard to make us feel comfortable while we are at it? Don't they have some money to install working air conditioners? Don't they have money to hire people to clean the fans? Do they even have the brains to separate the queue lines with fences so that we will know where to start queuing? (No, the couple section of fences right in front of the booth doesn't count.) And why is there a person paid to give out white cards while he can be chopping passports? Haven't they heard of automation? Or maybe the word "organisation"? Or "order"? How about "common sense"? I don't feel a little bit welcome at all. Instead I saw stupidity, laziness and outright retarded-ness. They do not deserve tourism in their country. At all.

Fast forward to the time of escaping back to peace and prosperity... The same thing happens at the counters. This time, the queue starts right from the landing of an escalator. And then its madness and chaos. Its just a crowd, all squeezed together... I felt like I was in a concentration camp, just that there weren't any Nazi soldiers. Things were reallllyyy crawling, there were like a million people trying to get out of the war zone, and the "brilliant" government of malaysia built a little hut with about 6 counter booths. Imagine a small gate, and trying to get a billion sheep to cross that gate. They even have a few immigration officers standing there doing absolutely nothing at all. Some of them were trying to look important while some were just keeping the snail passport choppers company, happily smiling and talking while we were dying out there. At one point I was actually scared for the safety of my honey, because the mob was getting impatient and pushing towards the booths, hoping they can maybe overrun the checkpoint. I wouldn't be surprised if one day a stampede happens and people die. While queuing up to get their passports chopped. It will be the joke of the millenia. Cockroaches will still remember and laugh about it after humans go extinct.

I was relieved to get out of that hot, sweaty pile of human jam. Although I have been to malaysia before, this is undoubtedly my worst experience (at the checkpoints). I'm amazed that a short bridge can separate a first world country from a third world country, order from chaos, heaven from hell. I'm no great supporter of PAP, but let me say I am so proud of what my government has done. Lucky us Singaporeans that we have a government, because our neighbour has none. The stark difference you will experience, the moment the automatic doors slide open after you get off escalators that actually move: Cold air. Order. Peace. Singapore.

Word of advice, DO NOT go to JB during the weekends unless you are planning on committing suicide. I wonder if the new checkpoints will prove me wrong about malaysia not having a government... I wouldn't count on it to allow myself to go during the weekends yet. Maybe someone can be a guinea pig and tell me? If you manage to come back alive, that is.

========== A Happy Day ==========

Now for happy things!!! =) I'm gonna talk about what an incredible day I had with Eunice and her parents... I'm so happy because its the first time I went out with them and everything went really smooth. They are a very nice couple and we shared many moments of joy and laughter. I feel great to be able to have them accept me, feels wonderful! I can feel my relationship with Eunice getting into a higher level, now that I have met her parents. And out of accident, I also met her sister and brother-in-law =) I have now met all of her family members (met her brother, sister-in-law and their new born baby awhile ago), and just yesterday I was at her place and I met Eunice's 7 year-old niece and 4 year-old nephew, whom I really enjoyed playing with haha... they are such cute little things. Now back to the JB trip...

We shopped for the entire afternoon after having lunch at Secret Recipe, at City Square. Her parents were really generous and nice, treating me to lunch and dinner. After we were done shopping at City Square, we went to Holiday Plaza to get DVDs. In order to get them, we had to get to the third floor, and enter a room that is well hidden away from the public, especially the polis. In the room, we were greeted by a very friendly guy which provided us with superior service in finding the movies we wanted, being very patient in looking for missing titles and taking care of all our pirated needs. I have to say I was really impressed. We bought 32 movies in all, and with free delivery to our homes, we didn't have to worry about being caught.

The last item on the iternary of the day was a sumptuous dinner at Teman Sri Tebrau, where we had stingray, cereal crayfish, kangkong, sotong and penang char kway tiao :p Just listing them out makes my mouth water again haha...

Another reason that I am so happy is because Eunice and me really had lots of fun shopping, talking and laughing about all sorts of stuff. Everything is so right when I'm with her, we can agree on anything and this connection feels so magical... everytime I hold her hands and look into her eyes, I feel so lucky to have her. 

I love you, Eunice :)

Keeping the door closed and locked

Hello everybody! EXAMS ARE OVER hahahaah...

I'm really excited with the lineup of activities eunice and me have planned for the holidays... cant wait to do all of them!

I have wanted to write this post for a damn long time, but haven't really got the chance to do it. This article is more for people who are not so aware of how to keep their Windows PC (especially XP and older) safe and sound. For those who are more aware, maybe you can exchange ideas with me, and I can add them in here.

I have thought to myself a long time ago, why do people's PCs keep getting bugged down with viruses, spyware and other malware? Is it because they surf alot of porn? What could be the reasons? After many experiences of troubleshooting infected PCs (some FUBAR-ed...), I have come to realise the 3 grave mistakes people make, which led to their PC's horrible deaths...

1. Performing daily tasks using an administrator account, especially web surfing. Most people don't even know what is an administrator account.
2. Windows not updated. Most people simply don't care or don't know how to do it.
3. No anti-virus software installed, or not updated. Most people have a few months of trial period on their anti-virus and just leave it there to rot after it expires, because they have to pay to renew the license.
   

Now I shall share with you how to do things the proper way. This is how I have kept my computers safe for years without ever needing to reformat my disks.

1. Use the admin account only for installation of programs and other admin tasks. Create a limited account for your normal work (especially web surfing). If you have to download files for installation, use the limited account. Trust me, the little amount of trouble from switching accounts is worth it.
   
2. Set your Windows installation to update itself automatically. This will allow your Windows installation to be patched with security fixes regularly. The malicious software removal tool which is updated monthly will also be provided automatically through Windows update.
3. Set your anti-virus software to update its virus database regularly. If you can afford to, then pay for an extension of licenses. If not, just simply download a free anti-virus solution from the internet. e.g. AVG free

Take note that these are simple solutions for common day-to-day security problems people face at home, and should be rather easy to practice once you get used to them.

Many users are simply not aware of what to do, and a little education can help alot. Do not be ignorant about these matters, knowing what you should practice as a user can help save alot of your precious time. You do not want to keep reformatting your hard disks right?

Tips to save money #2

Here is the second entry, and this time I shall share some knowledge about...

*** Saving Electricity ***

1. Switch off lights / fans / aircon / appliances when not in use. (You can keep your fridge switched on...) Keep a habit of turning off these things everytime you leave a room for sometime.
   
   
2. Try not to use the aircon so much, use a fan to cool yourself. Aircon is the killer as they REALLY consume alot of electricity. Yes, I know... sometimes it gets really hot in Singapore, but try to cut down.
   
   
3. Appliances on standby mode consumes electricity too, keep the power socket switched off if possible.
   
   
4. Try to multi-task: download huge files when you are doing your work on your computer to avoid having to leave them on overnight. Computing power in home PCs for today's standards can easily accomodate this, even for gaming or watching streamed videos at the same time. If you do not like to wait for your computer to boot up, you can put it in hibernation mode instead of leaving it on for a few hours, this can reduce power consumption. Hibernation mode consumes less power than standby mode.
   
   
5. Learn to shower with cold water, you save power by not having to turn on the water heater. Plus, its refreshing!
   

The Matrix...

on Windows?!?!?! I wouldn't want to live in Windows...

Tips to save money #1

Hello people... times are hard, so I thought of sharing with people some tips to save money. On this mini-series (hmm... "mini-something" sounds like a sensitive word nowadays), I will have a few posts on saving money, each will cover different aspects...

If you have any more that isn't here, please let me know and I will share it here too!

*** Saving Water ***

1. When bathing, shampoo and soap your body before washing off everything. You can also wash your face with facial foam (if you normally do that at all) too and wash off everything together. Position the shower head above your head, as the water will wash everything down, for a more efficient bath instead of holding it in one hand and moving it around your body.
   
   
2. Do away with aquatic pets... changing of water in tanks means using up alot of water.
   
   
3. Don't you dare fill up that bath tub!!!
   
   
4. This is a little extreme... flush your toilet only after a few times of pee-ing. If you are thinking of shits too... you are sick.
   
   
5. Put a filled water bottle in your toilet cistern (away from the moving parts) and you can save quite alot of water.
   
   
6. Eliminate bad habits like letting the water run while you brush your teeth, while you soap / shampoo etc.
   

The run for my love

As I run along the quiet streets of the already asleep neighbourhood, I can only hear music in my ears.
But what runs through my mind are images of your sweet pretty face,
and they certainly motivate me to run ever faster.
Every step I get closer to my goal, every drop of perspiration I sweat for you.
Red lights don't stop me, but watch out for speeding taxis!
Block 542! I break into my final sprint, the last bus rushing back to the interchange.
In between hard panting, I feel vibrations coming from my pouch.
It can only be my love, her sweet voice greeting me just as I enter the void deck.
The familiar routine of the lift ride, the long corridor I must walk to reach my dearest.
At last I see her, my angel smiles upon me.
All tiredness soon fades away with her presence.
A long awaited kiss, tingles my heart and soul.
I'm home.

Stoning in class

im just trying to keep myself occupied actually. SImply cant focus anymore due to my 4 hr sleep from this morning. Just cant wait to see u at 6pm later honey!

Tired Pok

List of POKs

This is Eunice-Juncheng language. Nobody else will understand... here goes!

1. TDP!!!
2. Clumsy Pok
3. Lousy Pok
4. Tired Pok
5. Stupid Pok
6. Honey Pok
7. Silly Pok
8. Crazy Pok
9. Candy Pok
10. Toot Toot Pok