It's good to see a bully being put in place. This article is written from my memory and on what I understand to be the case. If you need factual explanations, please go to tomorrow.sg for a list of more qualified people explanation.

Odex supposedly holds the license to animes sold in Singapore. A lot of people are downloading from the internet instead. Their argument is that Odex are so slow in releasing the animes, and their translation are so bad.

Anyway, Odex said that they paid big money to US company BayTSP to get a list of IP addresses of people who downloaded animes via Bit Torrent. Then they go get a court order for Singtel, Starhub and Pacnet to release the names and contacts of those IP addresses. And then they send letters to those people asking for settlements of about $3000 to $5000. Regardless of age or the number of titles you downloaded. If you are too young, your parents will have to answer for you.

Singnet didn't even bother to fight this order, and just give them the names and contacts. Starhub tried to fight and lost. But surprisingly, Pac Net won. The judge said that Starhub brought up different points and hence lost. I wonder if it's the lawyers of Starhub are lousy or Pac Net lawyers learned from Starhub's failures. Anyway, those who live in trepidation ever since Starhub lost the case suddenly have a glimmer of hope. They may not have to pay anything after all. The judge brought forth a lot of issues with Odex's case. I shan't elaborate. Go read about it yourself.

While I agree that it's better to settle than to go fight it out in court. If you are downloading animes, then there's not much you can do about it. What I don't agree is Odex sending normal letter to get the money. They should at least be getting their lawyers write the letter. What they do feels so much like loan sharks after their moeny.

They already don't have much good publicity. And with the director posting in forums saying he's busy suing people, it doesn't endear him to more people. Whether Odex win or lose the case, they can close their co. Already nobody like their product. After what they did to them, I am sure they are going to get from alternate legal source than to get from him. If they succeed, they get to pocket the money. I hope they don't.

Singtel looks to be another company that is in trouble over this issue. People are unhappy that they did not even bother fighting the case. They do not help to protect their customer's privacy at all. Might as well put your money with company who do. Yahoo was an example. A lot of people stopped using Yahoo Search when they release info about their users to the China government who promptly charged those people. I even read somewhere that Odex said that they paid a lot of money to get the IP, legal fees and pay the ISP for the names. And since they did not get any names from Pac Net, it's unlikely to be them. And since Starhub fight them in court and was forced to give the names by the court, it seems unlikely Odex will have paid anything to them. Which leaves only 1 ISP. Of course, the report could be wrong, or the person say wrongly. Singnet should be hurting from this. They should have some subscriber leaving, regardless of whether they downloaded animes.

Now I wait to watch events unfold.

http://feedcrier.com/

I came across this recently. Basically, it will monitor RSS feeds and send you a notification via IM when there is new articles. I thought it's quite cool.

When I tried to use it, there's some initial cock ups. After I tried subscribing to my own feed from the web site, it told me it will send me a verification. And until I respond, I would not receive any alerts. However, it did not say how is the verification sent. I assume it to be via IM, but I did not receive anything.

It is not until I post something in my blog, that I receive a authorisation from them to add me. So I add it as my contact. It's quite cool. You can chat with it. You can subscribe and unsubscribe from it by chatting. You can also list the blogs that you subscribed thru them. My list was empty when I tried it. So i subscribe to my own blog again. This time, received the verification and is able to verify myself and start receiving notification thru my IM.

I was downstairs helping my mum to do the 7th mth offerings. We lay down some fruits on the ground, burn some incense and proceed to the urn to burn the joss papers. When we turn back, the oranges, bananas and apples were gone! Left only the longans. The offerings by other people are untouched.

Was talking about this song with some friends yesterday. So i thought I shall post the lyrics here. I realise I only know the melody to the 1st 2 verses...

年轻不要留白
原唱：城市少女 作词：陈婷 作曲：陈美威 编曲：陈玉立

尽情挥洒自己的色彩
年轻不要留白
走出户外放开你的胸怀

阳光也叫我不要再等待
一起魅力摇摆
年轻不要不要留白

享受自我的喝采
丰富生活好好安排
阳光催我脚步加快
年轻别再徘徊

驰骋自己风采
爱我就趁现在
年轻岁月何必无奈不要留白

阳光催我赶快
青春一逝不再
逍遥自我起来把那烦恼抛开

尽情挥洒自己的色彩
年轻不要留白
年轻不要不要留白

有很多人，应为受了电视节目或故事书的影响，都会对自己的人生观有些憧憬。他们会以为自己是一个跟自己的英雄的性格很象的人。比如认为自己是个讲意气，可以为朋友两肋插刀的人。又或则是个对爱情潇洒，拿的起放的下的人。再或则是个宽宏大量，对朋友的真心忏悔，什么事都可以无条件原谅。等等。这些人也许就是最不了解自己的人。只有当真正面对时，才发现其实自己没有那么完美。

记得我在念小六时，我有一位好朋友，志明。当时我也以为自己是个为朋友两肋插刀的人。我们住很靠近对方，又读同一间小学，所以常常一起搭车回家。有一天，我们在车站等巴士回家。我因为要做什么事情，需要两支手，就把水壶交给志明。后来巴士来了，我们匆匆忙忙地上了巴士，而把水壶留在车站。直到下车后，我们才发现水壶忘了拿。志明说水壶是他的粗心才会留在车站的，所以他应该负责。说完，他就上了另一辆巴士会去把水壶取回。而我就在家里等。那时我在想，水壶是我的，当时我也在场，所以我也应该对这负责，怎么可以麻烦志明呢？最少也应该和志明一起去把水壶取回吧。我不但没那么做，还把事情搞到错完全在於志明身上。

这件事虽然是一件小事，但我记到现在。就因为它是第一件让我了解自己多一点的事。之后，也有发生一些让我更了解自的事。或许这就叫做成长吧。每发生一次，就会检讨自己一次。慢慢的，就会向着完美靠进。

人常常会对不中听的评语产生排斥。想尽方法为自己辩护。其实，只要静下来想想，才能更清醒地处理。评语未必是完全对，当重要的是在它对的地方。不可以应为它错的地方，而把整个评语排斥。朋友是应为希望我们能变得更好，才会于给我们评语。不要辜负他们，要好好了解自己。

I was going for my RT lessons. For those who don't know, we Singaporean men have to go for physical training tests conducted by our Armed Forces. If we fail, we have to go for Remedial Training, aka RT. As I said, I was going for 1 particular lesson. It's held inside an army camp, and cameras are not allowed. We have to deposit our cameras at the guard room before we go in.

Nowadays, how many of us are not using camera phones? Most are using camera phones right? So I find myself in a long queue to deposit more phone. After that, when I go into the camp, the guard did not check me at all when I flash him my voucher for depositing the phone. I could easily be carrying a 2nd camera, or worse, a bomb. Of course, I don't wish for their security to be too tight as it will be quite troublesome.

Which makes me realize 1 thing very wrong here. It's not the lack of security. Rather, why are we having physical conditioning sessions inside an army camp? Do doubt it's organized by the army, but all of us are going there only for physical conditioning. We don't need to be in contact with any sensitive Army material. If they are able to hold RT sessions outside the high security army camp, things will be so much simpler....

Continue from Phish or Real

I wonder if it's due to the email I sent them. They never reply to me about it. But I receive this email recently.

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Swe Kim Ong
To: [Me]
Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2007 8:28:57 PM
Subject: Wireless@SG Account

Dear Wireless@SG User,



As we are upgrading our system and equipments,



we are doing a check on all duplicated and incomplete records for Wireless@SG registration



so that when users try to login there will not be errors.



Therefore we need your help and full particulars so as to assist us in serving you better.





Login to http://www.icellnetwork.com/login.php to update your details (fullname and NRIC/Passport number)



and do call our iCELL Helpdesk at 6338 0870 for updating your mobile number.



Please update your details by this week so that your account will not be deleted.



Thank you for your co-operation and your understanding.





Regards,



Kim

iCELL Network Pte Ltd

This mail looks better. I wonder what happens to Z- Jinlee. How come it's Kim this time.

The naive me used to think that having a car is convenient. You can go where you want, when you want. And if you bought a nice car, it can be used to show off as well.

Now it seems like I am wrong. You have to face 3 Pees and a Tee. if you own a car. Petrol, parking, erP and Traffic.

The least of the pees is ERP. You just need to know where they are and what time are they charging, and avoid it. And that means influencing your friends to either change the location they are meeting or make them meet later.

The problem of petrol comes in 2 forms. Cost and harm to the environment. Petrol is not cheap. If you live in Jurong and you want to go Tampines to try the famous Ding Tai Feng, it gonna cost you at least $20 I think. Add to it the fact that Earth's supply of oil is dwindling, it makes sense to be economical in our usage of petrol.

The problem of parking is also in 2 forms. Cost and availability. Basically, you need to know where can you get the cheapest parking and at what time is the cheapest rate available. And then, like the problem of ERP, influence your friends to meet near your desired car park at your desired time.

There's only 1 main thing bad about traffic. Waste of time. It's very frustrating to be stuck in a traffic jam, watching the minutes tick by, not able to do much. So it makes sense to avoid high traffic area during peak periods. This is somewhat related to ERP as where there's ERP gantry, the traffic for the roads inside will be quite bad during peak periods.

So going to where you want, when you want it is more like a myth.

And no, I don't own a car. So the above article is probably crap. :P

I saw this in my email recently

From: Z- Jinlee
To: [a whole lot of people, including me.]
Sent: Saturday, August 11, 2007 12:17:45 PM
Subject: RE: upgrading iCELL system


Dear Sir/Madam,

As we are upgrading our system and equipments,
we are doing a check on all duplicated and incompleted records for wireless@SG registration
so that when users try to login there will not be errors.
Therefore we need your help and full particulars so as to assist us in serving you better.




Please kindly fill up the informations that are required.

Full name:

IC or passport :

Handphone:


Thank you.

Regards,
iCELL network

I wonder if it's really from iCELL. If it isn't, it looks like they have a staff phishing for data from their database. If it is, then jinlee looks like an incompetent staff. How can you ask for particulars from customer via email? It's so unprofessional. How am I supposed to trust this email? Should at least do a proper page in their website and email me the URL. Moreover, by doing this, she put everyone in the TO field, meaning everyone can see everyone's email, hereby putting us to additional spam risks. How thoughtless of her.

Anyway, I sent an email to iCELL telling them about this. I wonder what they gonna do about this.

I was channel surfing this morning when I saw 香江花月夜 showing on channel 62. I thought this is a very nice movie with a feel good plot and nice soundtracks. Strangely, it was never a hit.

The story started with a out-of-favour Hong Kong singer, Johnny in the 70s. At that time, there is no canto pop. Cantonese songs are all operas. Their pop groups sings English songs. Johnny believes in Cantonese pop songs, but shares his views. Until Samuel Hui becomes a best seller when he put Cantonese lyrics in English songs, and canto pop pick up from there.

Johnny now works in 香江夜总会, let's call it XJ night club. When we Singaporeans talk about night club, sleazy sex joints comes to mind. It's actually a pub with a live band and various performers. Something like a indoor 7-month getai on a permanent basis. Something like what Dragonfly of St James Power Station.

Anyway, back to our story, Johnny adopted 2 orphans and trains them to be singers. 高志 is a bright kid with a smooth mouth and is a favorite with the adults. 家颖 is a quiet, steadfast boy. He wears thick plastic black rimmed glasses. He is the nerdy forgettable kind of guy with low self-esteem. They formed a 2-man band called Marbles and performed in XJ, Johnny tried very hard to get them recording contracts.

While growing up, 高志 and 家颖 are good friends with the boss's daughter, 阿怡. She later went overseas for studies, but she came back to take over the running of XJ when her dad died. 家颖 fell in love with her, and is working on writing a song for her. At the same time she is knitting a jacket, seemingly for Johnny. Sometimes, she'll get 家颖 to help her with it. One such time, she took off his glasses and say he look better without them. When he says that everything is blur, she replied, "以后，我就是你迷路的方向". And of course, we'll find out soon after that the sweater is meant for 家颖.

Unfortunately, 家颖 is allergic to wool and he gets very uncomfortable while wearing wool. And when he finds out that 高志 is interested as well, his inferiority complex tells him to give the jacket to 高志. He even gave the song he wrote for her to 高志. The lyrics goes like this

只爱你
长夜里剩我独对,又是无尽空虚
心里此际暗淌泪,只怕增添你的困累.

长夜里剩我独唱,这未完成的歌
手里的结它低和,高唱生命的交错.

Chorus:
想你知,心里有些感觉
是多么真挚,但不懂怎说出口

想你知,此生可碰上(遇上)
从未去妄想,能梦见已足够.

Sure enough, armed with the song, 高志 wins the girl's heart. The 2 of them even got popular with the song. Unfortunately, success has gotten to 高志's head. He's becoming very conceited and becomes a womanizer. Many a times, 家颖 have to help get out of sticky situations when they come looking for him at XJ and 阿怡 is around. Strangely, 阿怡 seems to be aware of this as she say to 高志, "你果然是个会唱，会演，会编，会导，4凄艺人".

And, on one occasion, 阿怡 asked 家颖 to teach her 1 musical instrument so that she play together with 高志. 家颖 told her that 阿志 can't play any instruments anyway. He can only sing. And 阿怡 replies with 2 modified lines of 只爱你.
手里的结它低和
高志家颖你们有没搞错.

As 高志 gone from bad to worse, 家颖 decides to break up their partnership. Johnny is sad by 高志's betrayal, and is gratified that 家颖 is still loyal to him. He decides to organize a breaking up concert for them and to train 家颖 up to be a outstanding singer.

In the concert, the last song they sang is 只爱你. Before they they started singing, 家颖 took off his jacket showing the woolen jacket underneath. He said that for a long time, he had not dared to put on this woolen jacket as he is afraid of the pain it might cause him. But when he sees the jacket taken by somebody else, it pained him even more. He decided that he do not wants to be afraid anymore.

During the song, 高志 tried to grab the limelight. However, when they sang to the end of the chorus, 家颖 sang the unfinished part , the bridge. The lyrics is like this:
你是我,迷路里的方向
此身躯可替你受伤,
还愿意乐意为你做世上一切事
心里感激你但偏偏你未知.

你是我,能面对的真相
笑声于心里再回响,
唯独最害怕望见是你亮晶的眼泪
想你一生快乐想给我幸福

在我心深处. Wo...只爱你

And the crowd breaks up in applause. The fans are now going crazy of 家颖 when they were going crazy over 高志 a moment ago.

I am not talking about me. I have a friend who was China born. She came to Singapore on a scholarship and has been working in Singapore for some time. She found her China born husband in Singapore too. Then she convert her nationality to Singaporean. I think she did it not because she loves Singapore so much, rather, she did it because she loves the Singapore passport so much. The Singapore passport enable her to go to a lot of countries, including China, without having to apply for visa, unlike the China passport. Anyway, she's now working in her hometown on work permit. I would say that chances are she is not coming back. I wonder which officer approves her application for Singapore citizenship.

I have a friend. Let's call her Esther. I don't want to give her real name this time as this article is not speaking well of her. :P

She is nearing 30, but she need to be home before midnight. There's 2 issues here. The first is that, if she goes home late, she'll be reprimanded by her parents. This is because her mum will wait for her till she come home. So the later that she come home, the less that her mum sleep. In addition to that, her mum is worried about her. She says that parents will always view their child as children no matter what the age. They'll always be worried about them. So she tried as much as possible to be a good girl and go home early. She cannot stay, out before seeking her parents permission, which is always accompanied by a solid reason.

While her filial piety is admirable, I think she's doing it the wrong way. I feel should make her parents realize that she's no longer a small kid and that she's capable of looking after herself. Her parents have to stop waiting for her at night and not control the time that she should come home. If she wants to stay out, for whatever reason, they should trust her to not get into trouble. Even if she did, they should accept that she's her own girl now. Respect her decision on how she wants to run her life. She has to make her parents realize that.

Of course, I don't mean for her to be out late every night. It's her freedom that is the issue here. And also, it's not good for her parents to wait for her. They should be sleeping when it's time to sleep. By being a good girl now, she is actually depriving her mum of a good night's sleep. I am all for yelling at her mum for now if it makes her get the idea. It may be rude, but it's for her mum good. so it's justified.

The second is that her mum cooks her dinner everyday. And she has to finish them. Or else it's a waste of money and effort. So when she are with friends for dinner, she won't eat. She'll wait till she's home and then eat the food that her mum prepared for her. If she went home at 1am, she have her dinner at 1am. There is 2 problems here. Having a heavy meal before bed time is not a healthy thing. This may cause as to gain weight and more importantly, it makes our body work to digest our food when it should be resting during sleep. And when she have her dinner at such a weird time, it makes her body confused about her eating habits. Another bad thing. It's good to be appreciative of your parents. But doing it at the expense of your own body is simply wrong. I am sure the parents don't want that, though they may not understand the concept of it's bad having dinner at 1 am.

I feel she should just have her dinner as usual when she's out. And not take the food that her mum prepared for her. It's a waste, no doubt. But after a few times, she probably won't cook for her when she say she's out. This is the right way to prevent her mother's efforts from going ot waste. That is to make her make unnecessary efforts.

If rain how?

Last week, I was supposed to go East Coast blading followed by dinner with a group of friends. We were supposed to meet at 4. At about 2, I got a call from the organiser saying that it's raining, and the forecast says that it will continue for the next 3 hours, so the event is cancelled.

I similar encounter some time back as well. The organisers are a couple. So when it rain, they cancelled it and go pak tor. While I am left to find my own alternate plans.

While I agree that if it rains, we have to cancel the activity. But I disagree about cancelling the event totally. We can always find alternate activities. When we organise something, the participants has committed their time to us. They may have pushed away some other appointments. We shouldn't just cancel it totally at the last minute. At least should have offered an alternate plan. It it break down then so be it.