Friday, December 31, 2010

22nd Wedding Anniversary

Today is our 22nd wedding anniversary. Every year I would look at the wedding photos. In the last few years, I only viewed those that I have already scanned. This year I scanned almost every one of them into into the PC and transferred it to the iPad. I am also glad I found Julie Roger's, "The Wedding" on YouTube.



It was with this song that I symbolically said good bye to my first gf for the last time. At every milestone of her life somehow my old pal will bring the news to me and I will repeat my farewell in my heart to her. I didn't expect that the Lord will arrange for us to meet up again almost twenty five years later to send me a message that would be impossible to understand otherwise. It was just like Peter had to have the vision of the sheet coming down from heaven with all kinds of unclean animals that God okayed for him to eat before meeting Cornelius and his family. The message: A wife is more to be loved than as a partner. It has been four years that I have received and understood the message. Time needed to be confident enough to put into writing, and also a deeper appreciation of Acts 27.

The mercies and grace of our God through Christ is beyond surprising. The story continues in ways that I can only accept by faith. God has given us his Spirit as the guarantee and that is enough.

“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” Mark 10:29-31

Except by faith shown in obedience this passage cannot be understood. I mean, I don't want a hundred times more this or that. It is meant to be taken figuratively and to trip up those who have idols in their hearts. It must begin with like Moses, "Show me your face..." or it would just simply go awry.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

What's in the package?

What is the package from Patti. They are really beautiful things. Two books made in a way that I have never seen before. They are covered in velvet and feels very nice when you hold it. Four book marks and mine is special with a golden eagle in the air. There is a Christmas card and an ornament for our tree too :-)

The planks for NaviMap?

This book could very well provide me the planks I need to cross the chasm into the promised land for NaviMap. I can't believed that I took a copy out from the public library a year ago and failed to recognize its value then. A story inside read very familiar which prompted me to check my Gmail. True enough, I did check out the book.

I shall not count the chickens before they are hatched. I have been disappointed many times before. NaviMap is hard stuff.

Parcel from Patti

Patti had emailed me about this a few days earlier and now it is here! I am not opening it yet. Let's wait for the rest to get home first :-)

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Cursed by cheap books

Looking for interesting free or low priced books is really hurting me. It takes me away from reading now, those that I truly need. If I am not careful, it is an entry into a poverty trap!

I should have read Dan and Chip Heath, "Making to Stick: Why some ideas and others die" long ago. Just pay up the USD 12.47 for it than to discover it as a free ebook from the library and download it for free. The nuggets of wisdom from this book could be very helpful to NaviMap.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Nice weather

Really nice cool temperature today. What a pity we didn't go outdoors to take advantage of it.

The girls are bored with the places they can go to.

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Laser pointer

Finally after many months Lin found a cheap laser pointer at Tiong Bahru Plaza yesterday. $3 that was how much it costs.

I wonder if the LR44 replacement batteries cost more than the pointer.

The Original Serenity Prayer

The less catchy but perhaps the differences matter. This is the original words Reinhold Niebuhr used in a sermon preached during World War II.

God, gave us grace
To accept with serenity the
things that cannot be changed

Courage to change the things 
that should be changed,
And wisdom to distinguish the 
one from the other.

Figuring out what can be changed is a process of growing in wisdom. It isn't a formula that we can thoughtlessly apply.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

The girls' school so coveted

Fail to embed successfully. So here is the lnk.

http://www.razor.tv/site/servlet/segment/main/editors_picks/#/site/servlet/ajax/page?channel=contentbean%3a40370&view=asLargeVideoListBoxPage&page=1&autoLoad=true@40370_largeListPage@1293243052412

Christmas Eve gathering

A log cake from our annual get together last night. We have been doing this with the same bunch for almost as long as we have been married. In comfortable and familiar surroundings.

Anniversary Dinner

Every year we get fleeced by the hospitality industry because of our anniversary celebrations. Pay back time to them. This year we are going to Shangri-La.

Security has become so tight. This is the first time we need to have tickets such places.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

My WD workhorse

Is my trusty daily workstation workhorse, the white WD Passport drive with only 400 GB that old?

Chkdsk passed but it has been giving me write error messages many times today.


The type of the file system is FAT32.
Volume My Passport created 5/2/2003 3:45 PM
Volume Serial Number is AFC8-16EF
Windows is verifying files and folders...
File and folder verification is complete.
Windows has checked the file system and found no problems.
  390,613,408 KB total disk space.
      929,824 KB in 4,559 hidden files.
      244,896 KB in 7,576 folders.
  152,059,328 KB in 245,006 files.
  237,379,328 KB are available.

Applying for a transfer of school.

Trying to jump out of second choice to her first choice school. Paying the price for 3A* and a damned B, when 81% of cohort achieved A or better for CL.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Apple Care

Decide against extending the warranty of two of our iPods by another two years. We would probably buy a more updated version within the two years or may be even out grow them to something else.

Sneaky Singtel

Last Thursday I recontract my mobile with them for another 24 months and in return I get to trade in my E63 for $100 and got a SE Xperia X10 for $198. Regrettably the salesperson didn't inform me that I would also receive 30 days of unwanted free mobile content, which would become chargeable afterward. I was wondering over the past few days why was I getting all these smses from ST, Reuters etc., Chagrined, I just called 1688 and got them to terminate it. :-(

This selling by stealth is unethical. Sadly these days the only value that rule is money and the criminal code. They will do it as long as they have not broken the law. If so, we would have to broaden the law but that is not a practical option. It would lead to runaway cost and paralysis.

Moral decay every where.


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My Mobile Broadband subscription

My 1 GB traffic plan for Broadband Mobile is way too much for my use. But at only $8.37/month for a 12 months plan, I can't be complaining. The data report is what I had used up since the service was activated for me last Thursday.


Last Data transaction as at: 20 Dec 2010 18:55:43HRS

Local Data Usage: 2.35 MB 
(Include download and upload usage)

Roaming Data Usage: 0.0 MB
(Include download and upload usage)
Your next bill statement will be on: 10 Jan 2011

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Salmon Sashimi

The girls' favorite sashimi at Ichiban Sushi.Usually they will order the 7 pieces one and eaten without wasabi. Soy sauce only.

Nando's in Singapore

Nando's has come to Singapore. We used to visit the one at The Greens in Dubai which is walking distance from our house. The food is real spicey. Their outlet in Singapore is at Plaza Singapura.

Nokia X3-02 screen guard

Guess what happen when you try to force the screen guard for another make of phone on another. Just two days and the whole thing peeled off in my pocket! It happened last night when I was enjoying myself at Justin's cook fest at the Biopolis. Never knew that there is such a place as "Palate Sensations" and it is not a restaurant but a cooking school.

Friday, December 17, 2010

A letter from China. Who could it be?

Wondering who in China could have sent me a letter. Was puzzling over it from seeing it emerge in the letter box all the way upstairs until I got a chance to open it. For a while, I wonder if it was from my late father's younger brother, but it wasn't possible since he didn't have my name and address in English.

Turns out that it was from a friend whose family is in China.









Neighbor's renovation Part 2

They are bringing in the tiles today. I supposed they are nearly, hopefully all done with the hacking. What a relief.  What we can expect now are the occasional drilling.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Why Mobile Broadband

A story I am excerpting from WSJ.

Last year, he might have just dropped the $184.85 Garmin global positioning system into his cart. This time, he took out his Android phone and typed the model number into an app that instantly compared the Best Buy price to those of other retailers. He found that he could get the same item on Amazon.com Inc.'s website for only $106.75, no shipping, no tax.

But immediately, my new subscription to Broadband Mobile (I pay < $9/mth for a 12 months term) is to check up the traffic in order to avoid congestion. It helps that I can see what many cameras on our expressways see too.

I don't shop a lot, so the benefit here is more limited.

Neighbor's renovation

Good thing we decided to stay away from home today in view of the hacking going on upstairs. The noise would be unbearable but we never imagined that it would create enough vibration for this to happen.

I hope they had finished the job today.














The tools created so much vibration that our tumbler and hand wash lotion was thrown into the sink!

Queing for the iPhone 4




















Was at Jurong Point early this money to trade in and re-contract my mobile plan at the Hello! We arrived ten minutes before the shop opens and was very surprised to see such crowd outside. Every shop owner would love this.

Later I learned from one of one of their salesman that the reason for so many people waiting for them to open is because they know they usually have stock of  iPhone 4. They must come early as it is usually sold by lunch time.

Apple is one very happy company.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Testing X3-02 camera

A demonstration shot with the Nokia X3-02 set at maximum resolution. I am quite happy with it.

New Phone

Bought this for $288 at Tiong Bahru Plaza last night. My E63 will be traded in for a SE X10, which my younger daughter is looking forward to owning.

This is the last pic by the lousy E63 camera.

Neighbor moves out

Today my neighbor upstairs moves to their maisonette in Clementi. Nice folks. My younger girl sometimes went upstairs to play with their girl and pet dog. That was years ago, and as many other activities and increasingly heavy study loan impose themselves upon them, they interact less with each other. During the upgrading works, we used to visit each other homes exchanging tips and providing small aid to each other. 

Before I forget. I took this shot with my new phone camera. This is much better than the E63 with only 2 Megapixel. I am now using the X3-02. It is equipped with a 5 Megapixel camera.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

The latest terrorist attack in Sweden

""He was saying physical jihad was an obligation for all Muslims and saying that Muslim scholars are unreliable and untrustworthy because they are in the pockets of governments,"


Quoting the chairman of a mosque in Luton where the suicide bomber Taymour Abdelwahab attacked. 


The present environment supports the theology of enough people with extreme views in Islam. They are going to be keeping us company for a very long time.

Stupid Nude

Stupid fellow.

We go there about once a week for McDonalds. Always thought such madness happen at places I don't frequent. Now I think any place is as likely as any where else.

People will do anything now for the few brief minutes of fame isn't it? There is no more shame.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Power: Why Some People Have It-and Others Don't




In this crowning achievement, one of the greatest minds in management theory reveals how to succeed and wield power in the real world. Over decades of consulting with corporations and teaching MBA students the nuances of organizational power, Jeffrey Pfeffer has watched numerous people suffer career




Read about a quarter of the book. Nothing really new to me as it reads like a retelling of what I have seen in corporate life previously.

Months back I had shown it to my ex boss. She found it very interesting and felt that it would have benefited her as a young executive. She encouraged her kids to read the book. Then I wasn't interested. I didn't buy into the book core ideas. I saw it as morally corrupt and piling up for ourselves the eventual wrath and judgement of God.

For those clueless it is useful to understand what hit them.

For the young and inexperienced it is like a how to manual but most will be disappointed when they discover it doesn't work. They will learn the hard way that their fates were never in their hands. Majority of people wouldn't learn this any other way.

So what is this book good for? For becoming aware about the ways of the world and not to stupidly walk into traps for nothing. For me, how the author has organized the information is useful for discussing with peers and advising the young.

This book is a godless and self-centered tome of advice. I don't think this was the author's intention. He was just reporting what his research had uncovered. Of course, he must have hoped to sell many copies. I am glad he wasn't very successful on this account.

Friday, December 10, 2010

GNAX Hosting

I have checked for quite a few days but this morning I could no longer reach the dedicated server hosted at GNAX. I had informed them my wish to terminate the hosting service more than a month ago but they had kept silent. Perhaps they were hoping that I would change my mind after a month they must have decided that I am not going back. The burden to keeping a dedicated server shipshape is just too much. Traffic to the sites have fallen so much over the years. Shared hosting is good enough.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Mandai Zoo

Just got back from taking the children the zoo.

The entrance fees have gone up. I don't remember an adult ticket was $20 the last time we visited in March 2008.

I don't think we will be back for sometime. Perhaps only when the River Safari and the Panda enclosure are opened.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

WSJ subscription

It will expire quite soon. On the 22nd to be exact. I shall miss it but I am holding out for a better offer like the one they gave me the last time. After one month of absence they baited me with a $20 Amazon voucher. They can do better this time by not waiting so long. But will they?

Monday, December 6, 2010

eBooks DRM

What is remote now is possible tomorrow. Today I bought a software to remove the DRMs from my eBooks and archive them for safe keeping. Just in case the vendor some day stop being a player in this space.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Acer Service Centre

Took this at 9am when I collected my Acer Notebook PC from their service centre. I am impressed how empty the place was. I remembered previously there was a long queue.

Selecting a secondary school and PSLE results

Just submitted via the S1 system the following schools for my younger daughter.

Choice of Secondary Schools
1st :3005 - Crescent Girls' School
2nd :3013 - Tanjong Katong Girls' School
3rd :3512 - Tanjong Katong Secondary School
4th :7021 - St. Margaret's Secondary School
5th :7023 - CHIJ St Theresa's Convent
6th :3029 - Clementi Town Secondary School

Pity she had a B in CL to accompany her three A*s. 81% of  her cohort achieved A and better. You can imagine that her T-score for CL is way below 50.

The top pupil achieved 282. Typically that would be the perfect score. Assuming that the outcomes for all the four subjects are similar, the likely maximum T-score per subject is 70. See this blog for and excellent lowdown on t-score calculations.

A very crude estimate as we do not have any clue about the mean and especially SD for each subject, the T-scores from her A*s should range between 190 to 210. Therefore if CL wasn't an issue and she was just average of her cohort, her T-score is easily beyond 250.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Problem with my Acer Notebook

Some of the lamps on the bottom edge of my notebook PC aren't working. Sent it to Acer this afternoon. Good thing it would be ready by tomorrow. Also asked them to fix the Bluetooth radio, which has stopped pairing and recognizing with any device I tried to match.

My Acer AspireOne Netbook also kaput several months ago. Looks like they aren't as trusty as before? But at the service centre, it wasn't as crowded as I remember it before.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving coincides with the PSLE results release this year. It would be many times better to have Thanksgiving celebrated here than Halloween. We will be far better off for it.

What would the girl's PSLE results turn out to be? Who knows? Every parent hopes their kids get into a suitable school. Some hope to see them get posted to the top schools.

It is in the Lord's hands, we do not resist his will. Some people disobey him by running their own lives and others unknowingly try to put him into boxes. Human nature is completely self defeating. It takes a while to show up and we are deceived. Therefore the sacrifice of the Son is necessary. On our own we have no hope.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Christmas Tree

The Christmas tree the girls put up entirely on their own. They have added an innovation of putting a red spiky ball against the gold star. Enhances it!

Installed the Mitsubishi Starmex air-con

Spent a whole day waiting for the workmen to install the new Mitsubishi Inverter air-con yesterday. It was worth the inconvenience. Now we have a more energy efficient and quieter air-con.

Update of Dubai Mall Fountain

Much better than the live but new show we saw in 2008

Monday, November 22, 2010

Ship of Fools: How Stupidity and Corruption Sank the Celtic Tiger

Reading this book which I took from the library to better understand what went so badly wrong with Ireland. They were our fierce competitor for sometime. Are there lessons to take away so that we would avoid the deep hole they had dug themselves into.



Sunday, November 21, 2010

Not at parties

Saw so many photos of my girl's schoolmates on Facebook in farewell parties which is not invited or involved with.

Both of them are not mixers.

If they don't need those interactions to develop their social skills, they have not missed much. Everyone out grows their youthful silliness or they would really be dysfunctional.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Friday, November 19, 2010

Where is Lloyd Jenkins?

Delivery to the following recipient failed permanently:

    ljenkins24@comcast.net


Today Lloyd Jenkins email finally failed. I wanted to send him a Thanksgiving movie. I haven't heard from him for at least three years. Prior to that most of his emails were incoherent. You see, my friend was suffering from Alzheimer. He had it even when I first knew him six years ago. His wife Goldie also suffered from the same disease and passed on before him. He was a true soldier, former fighter pilot and test pilot for the USAF had put in a good fight. He surprised himself how long he lasted.

He and Michele were the earliest supporters for my Inspirational Flash Movie site. I will always cherish the memory of him even if I have never ever met or seen him in a photo. I pictured him as a physically fit man often helping his neighbors solve their snow in problem. He welcomed me to visit him in the States but was also realistic that we are more likely to only meet in the life hereafter in God's kingdom.

The Lord keep you and protect you Lloyd.

Last day of primary school

Last day ofvher primary school career for my younger daughter. Wonder what results she will obtain comes next week. MT makes it very uncertain. Had her MT just been average for prelims, she would have topped the class. Her three other subjects were comparable to what the GEP classes had achieved.

Just hope she qualifies for a safe school. That would already have achieved our objective.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Reinhold Niebuhr insight

What insightful remarks from Reinhold Niebuhr


The Irony of American History (Andrew J. Bacevich and Reinhold Niebuhr)
- Highlight Loc. 1035-38  | Added on Thursday, November 18, 2010, 05:22 PM

Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we are saved by love. No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our standpoint. Therefore we must be saved by the final form of love which is forgiveness.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Bears Christmas Tree

Every year we will make a trip to Ngee Ann City to see the big Christmas Tree at the atrium and also soak in the surrounding sights and atmosphere. This year this tree of bears by Takashimaya impressed us. You can't go wrong with bears can you?

In a dream

Last night I had a dream. We were all having lunch, the whole extended family. I was seated beside my dad. He has happy, smiling and talking but I can't hear what was said; from him and also myself. There was simply no audio. Then it suddenly dawn on me that he is no longer with us. So how could he have joined us for this meal. I decided I should test it and stretch out my hand toward him. I was shocked that I could reach beyond him. It is like he was just a hologram, albeit a very good one. This caused me to suddenly wake up and realized that it wasn't real.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Book: The Irony of American History

With great expectations, I am onto this book now. Niebuhr is the author of the famous Serenity Prayer. Just the first few pages of the book, the introduction by Andrew Bacevich, I already get exposed to the humble wisdom of Niebuhr. America's leaders do well to listen to this prophet.

Case for Kindle 3

Received this in the post box yesterday evening. I got a 20% discount, so affordable I can't really recall the price now. I think it is about S$16. I didn't know a screen guard was included. Didn't remember they said so on ebay.com.sg

The only thing I didn't like about it is the color. It is bright red as you can see. Too bad, it was the only color available. It was so hot that they ran out of supplies and mine was delayed. That is the story behind my 20% discount.

So cheap, you can imagine what the cost of manufacture must be next to nothing, and how much the workers putting it all together must have been paid.

Here is another picture of it when I have inserted the Kindle 3 into it.



Monday, November 15, 2010

Selling the USD

SGD/USD is now above 1.30 and it got there very quickly too. I know this is going to happen. What is difficult to tell is when. The jitters are caused by Ireland's financial problems. Time for me to sell more USD.

Post crisis, the world remains a fragile place pregnant with many negative surprises.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

A/Cs

Our air conditioners were getting less effective and then suddenly they become exalted fans only! Got to call the service guys to come in asap...I hope to replace the system with an inverter based one in the next few months.


I think we have easily had the system for 7 to 8 years already? Possibly has one to two years of life left. 


It is like turning one full cycle. The first to be replaced was the fridge, the DVD player broke down and then another one that came with the smaller TV also went kaput. I hope it stops here. 

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Mistake on Facebook

Didn't know it was a mistake for me until it is too late. Damage control: I have removed it but I want to record it here as a lesson to learn for myself.


Sandra Leow

Sandra Leow So..friends...other than John R Green ;)
how many of you have contemplated this statement
"For me to live is Christ; to die is gain"? Your thoughts, please :)

Yesterday at 01:43 ·  · 
    • Rosie Koebele I can only really be fully alive, when I die to myself, and thus Christ lives!
      Yesterday at 02:35 · 
    • Sandra Leow ‎:)
      Yesterday at 02:45 · 
    • Kwek Sing Cher 
      Often through the years

      Early teens: In the song, "for me to live is Christ to die is gain, to hold his hand and walk his blessed way, there is no peace, no joy, no thrill, like walking in his will..."

      In the 80s: From the late John White, "The way of the Cross is a magnificent obsession with a heavenly pearl"

      In the 2000s: In a vivid dream which Mother Teresa had, she saw herself at the gates of heaven. St. Peter met her there and asked why is she here, and told her that there are no slums in heaven.

      Getting too long. Better stop here.
      23 hours ago · 
    • Joel Tan If Christ is grace than to die to go to grace. Which is eternal life. :)
      21 hours ago · 
    • Lane Anderson Either way, I win.
      5 hours ago · 
    • Sandra Leow Lane: I know you're trying to win 1st prize too :)
      5 hours ago · 
    • Lane Anderson Heaven is 1st prize.
      3 hours ago · 

Clumsy?

The elder girl broke an egg onto her lap at Kopitiam Jurong Point. This was the second egg. The first one was alright.

But she is alright in the lab. Thank God. Doesn't come naturally for her. Everything must be learned


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Asperger's Syndrome

I ordered fishes and ikan bills but the stall holder gave me chicken wing and luncheon meat. One realized I was pulling their legs but the other did not.

These things are learned opportunistically. The more practical approach is to learn to recover from such social faux pas gracefully. If you can laugh at yourself, that is even better.

Friday, November 12, 2010

Talk on ASD

Attended a talk on ASD yesterday afternoon. I already knew most of what was shared and yet I came away with much deeper understanding of the subject than I had ever had. I concluded that most interventions are way too late. In fact, intervention must began even before detection. This will help to unleash the greater potential of our specie. Get to it too late, and the disabilities threaten to overwhelm the strengths.

Can late intervention repair the damage? Given ASD diversity, I think in some cases late intervention, though unintentional yield better outcomes for some individuals.

Many of the secrets of human intellectual abilities and leadership are locked up in the autistic spectrum. A surprising number of the key contributions to this world come from people with Asperger's Syndrome because they have a bridge between the Autistic world to the regular world.

One day we will develop the technology to draw out those with non-Asperger's autism just like we have figured out the super senses in the animal kingdom.

As it is, ASD is one of God's favorite nesting grounds to inject creativity and life into our world. So when we say an ASD child is special, we make that statement by faith. Perhaps God will gift it to us as science eventually. I just hope we do not repeat history by crediting ourselves instead of him for it.

Since God gave our ancestors their first clothes of skin to replace the ones they made out of  leaves, he has continued to be very gracious to us.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

A good explanation of Asperger's Syndrome

It is far more complex and richer than this, but for a simple explanation, this one is hard to beat.



And something I can identify with and has advised others especially in the aspect of communication.


China jails father of tainted milk victim

Well this is China. Totally unlovable, feared and may be hated. They have a lot of work to do if they want to be welcomed as a global power. As it is, they are more likely to herald Big Brother but might not be stupid enough to create a Dark Age.


China jails father of tainted milk victim
A Chinese activist who organised a support group for parents of children affected by one of the country’s worst food safety scandals has been sentenced to 2½ years in prisonhttp://link.ft.com/r/S4XZQQ/BM192P/10OVM/0GEE3V/HDUCJS/1G/h?a1=2010&a2=11&a3=10

Wall Street to sidestep ‘Volcker rule

The rule doesn't work. All the lobbying, the campaign funds....damn corruption


Wall Street to sidestep ‘Volcker rule’
Wall Street banks will continue to invest billions of dollars of their own capital in spite of new rules aimed at stopping them from taking risky bets, executives sayhttp://link.ft.com/r/S4XZQQ/BM192P/10OVM/0GEE3V/GKP0SN/1G/h?a1=2010&a2=11&a3=10

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Commodities prices

Commodities prices are running away. Blame in on the Fed money printing. Blame it on speculation. Blame it on anticipated emerging markets demand.

I expect all these to end in grief. Commodities get over priced beyond the realities of supply and demand.

In short, this bubble together with other bubbles will burst.

Inflation is a problem that could well be short lived and temporary.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

ACJC a school to avoid sending your kids

Sick students with a warped sense of fun and a clueless school leadership. I quote the foolish remarks by the principal,

"The College is aware of the incident which was a birthday celebration of a student who was popular with her peers. We understand that the student was prepared for the celebration, and that there was no malice nor bullying involved."

Just watch the video and judge for yourself.


ACJC responds to 'birthday hazing' incident
ANGLO-Chinese Junior College (ACJC) has responded to an incident where a girl was tied up and humiliated on her birthday. The girl was tied to a chin-up bar by her wrists while friends pelted her with milk and cake.
Principal Mrs Kelvyna Chan emailed STOMP with this reply:
"I refer to an article put up by a STOMPER regarding a birthday celebration of an ACJC student.
"The College is aware of the incident which was a birthday celebration of a student who was popular with her peers. We understand that the student was prepared for the celebration, and that there was no malice nor bullying involved.
"When a teacher saw the celebration, he immediately stopped it and counselled the students. The birthday girl also assured the teacher that she was not hurt physically nor emotionally. Some weeks after the event, a teacher again enquired about the girl's wellbeing, and she assured the teacher and the College that the celebrations were all done in good fun and she was well.
"Although the activity was done in good humour, the college has counseled the students involved on the possible hazards of such activities and that there are more appropriate ways to show friendship among their peers.
"The STOMPER had erroneously interpreted the video as a case of bullying when in fact it was a birthday celebration between good friends as seen by the laughter shared by the birthday girl and her friends."
» See video

Update: Feb 19, 2013

I knew I would get a chance to add to this before any other JC. Clearly the uniforms are those of ACJC. The tell tale collars.


Update: July 6, 2013

Wonder what's coming after this...2013 hasn't been a good publicity year for them.









Monday, November 8, 2010

Relocating the website

The transfer from GNAX to the new host is complete. It would completely stabilize within 48 hours I think.



Pinging  InspiringThots.net [72.167.232.101] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 72.167.232.101: bytes=32 time=216ms TTL=44
Reply from 72.167.232.101: bytes=32 time=218ms TTL=44
Reply from 72.167.232.101: bytes=32 time=217ms TTL=44
Reply from 72.167.232.101: bytes=32 time=232ms TTL=44

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Billy Graham 92nd birthday

The following is excerpted from Graham's biography. At this point of my life, I certainly agree with him.

One of the joys of Heaven, I am convinced, will be discovering the hidden ways that God in His sovereignty acted in our lives on earth to protects us and guide us so as to bring glory to His name, in spite of our frailty.