Dr Who

I’ve got more or less exactly (does that negate?) 11 hours to finish 17 small sites and 2 big sites. And I need to sleep.

I’m going to need a lot of tea and milo.

Limau-limau

Thank God, the test season for this month is finally over. I’ve had IOC, A Math and CS today.

After a massive effort to clear assignments and reports over the past week[end], I walked into class today then realized I’d missed one assignment. See, when expectations and beliefs get shaken, things can and will start going very wrong. Murphy’s Law. Lesson learnt.

Someone sent me this Wikipedia article. The way the subject matter is defined turns it into quite an entertaining read.

I’ve had two asthma attacks in the past two weeks. I’ve got to be more careful with my known triggers.

Blues

I’ve got to update my Delicious Library, I’ve acquired half a shelf of books from ELT Bookroom (small place). Guess what ELT refers to.

–

I was digging through my Yojimbo Library this morning, and found a bunch of stuff tagged for sharing. So, here they are. (No, I don’t use del.icio.us for no particular reason.)

Haha, another round of Math Test hilarities for those feeling a bit down.

Some interesting Rubik Cube artwork.

As for games, Quadradius, the Beeb’s Climate Challenge, The Gaffer are all recently published Flash games, from strategy to action =). Feel free to invite me backchannel for a game of Quadradius, I’ll oblige if I can.

Triskweline is a cool font that’s designed just for programmers. But, I prefer it over ProFont – available for OS X, Windows and Linux distros.
JavaScript Lint looks useful – I’ll give it a poke the next time I venture into those murky waters.

There’s yet another Toyota article, this time by the New York Times.

Sparkle is a framework that lots and lots of free apps use – life would be much easier, if everything was using this. Microsoft AutoUpdate is a pain sometimes.
Going on about OS X, Tofu is an interesting file reader.

Customer service, haha.. why don’t you get them to blow the dust out of the connector?
Actually, come to think of it, I have a borrowed copy of Joel on Software (Spolsky) sitting on my desk now. I’ve got to find time to read it..

Coffeecups

Haha, I’ve had quite a few more conversations about coffee and tea cups since my last post – and people seem to be favouring other ways of implementing it. So, before I have more sites to fix, I’m stopping work until the weekend to figure out what exactly they’re saying.

Speaking of empowerment, can users know too much? CIOs afraid of them? I think this applies to many great institutions, there are always the savvier ones around, somewhere.

Finally, MP Chiam has been recognised as a full-fledged ACS Old Boy – I await March 1.

SDLC is a cool thing to use – it can be applied for anything from software development to the US House of Representatives. Fascinating, but I’m wondering how to answer test questions.

I think I got a 6 for Core Math – much better than the pass I expected, thanks to a bad expansion that made me lose a 10-mark question, one-fifth of the paper marks-wise.

RegisterFly is evil or something.

There’s a new GNOME menu up, does it look familiar?

Tea

Overheard:

Aiyo. Snub me also must snub until like that. Don’t like me then say so lor, dun need to whack me using shadows and fan smoke at me..

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I’m busy shoving information into templates for the CCA sites. Time required per site is dropping, from nearly 120 mins for first cycle (setup workflow, actions, etc) to 35 mins spent on the rebranded Shooting Club, formerly Air Rifle/Pistol Club. Ha.
It’s tiring only when I have to shove names and classes into tables – which is, unfortunately, a mandate by upstairs.
I’ve done (with a friend’s assistance) 9 out of 19 submissions. A certain group’s submission will be a pain to do, since the source refused to provide information in the correct, required and requested format.. add that to inconsistent navigation, extraneous information and you get a) a very unhappy webmaster, and b) inefficiency caused by unhappiness. So, I’ve decided to leave that one for last.

ProjectCartoon is short, but quite cute.

I think, ‘life-changing experiences’ can be classified as trauma too.

This year for the harvests, my commission rate was about 30%, much higher than previous years, and the commission itself was 66% more than last years’. See, the economy is going up after all.. haha.

A bunch of people are planning to get the iPod Nano (RED), I’m still considering whether to join in the buying spree too. I suspect that the answer will eventually be ‘no’, since I’ve got to collect enough cash to fix my Macbook’s screen, as and when (not if) it dies.

Once again, happy holidays.

Dulce et decorum

“Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori”

I was just reading a stage script of happenings on Prefects’ Investiture, it is definitely most amusing – they are getting better at their hanky-panky every year. See, video isn’t meant to be transmitted over mic cables, but that’s just the technical, on-the-stairs bit; looking at it from the bystander/nobody point of view, it really made me laugh.
Cutting out the performer, replacing it with your own chorus, then not doing it [the sabotage] properly is unacceptable. Sing properly and don’t laugh lah. “Majulah Singapura” is not meant to be trifled with.

Kinematics assignment is due Thursday. Please mug properly for A Math.

Happy holidays.

TrustSg

Screeny:

Tissues

This is about the worst, most useless response I’ve gotten from Google Support in all time:

Hello Chiang,

Thanks for your message.

Please note that you may not add a nickname to an email list. Thank you for your understanding.

Sincerely,

-censored-
The Google Team

Does it fix my problem? No. Does it enlighten me? Yes.

Physics.

Quizzy

What Kind of IB (International Baccalaureate) Student Are You?

You are the Procrastinator. You always put everything off until the last second, and your grades suffer for it. Try starting your homework BEFORE 11:00 PM Take this quiz! Quizilla | Join | Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

Pen

Overheard:

You’ve given me enough disrespect since the start of the lesson.
*class silenced*
Why are you so quiet now? I’m not used to it, seriously…
*steady hum resumes*
*sensei turns around to glance at clock eagerly*

Earlier:

What do we subscribe to in the Chinese culture?
A: 重男輕女
B: Straits Times.

*eruption of laughter*

Not so earlier:

A: sensei, do you have a crush on _____?
sensei: Hmmmm.. I’ll think about it…

Singing telegrams, ha. Time to place orders.

Those who liked the Web 2.0 video, you might find Le Grand Content fascinating. Especially you Powerpoint users.

I’m predicting that I’ll fall sick by the end of this week; quite sick, I think. Not only is the stress probably going to do that, I’m nearing a (shallow) state of burnout already, homework and other responsibilities are piling up and it’s not too enjoyable. My assignments are routinely being turned in 2 to 3 working days late.

That’s before I have to face being ambushed by teachers around assembly time, with demands for information and credentials. Today, a certain unidentifiable Chinese Dept teacher came to summon me for a ‘meeting’ immediately after assembly. Then and there, I got hit with lots of questions pertaining to departmental site updates. However, since I have nothing to say – my instructions from upstairs are with regards to CCA sites – I told him I had nothing to say.
Whoo, there he goes, shooting straight up and bypassing a couple of layers, despite me pointing out the proper channels, straight to one of the powers that be – and then bomb me before contact time is over with a demand for access password, immediately on the spot.

Sorry, sir, I simply don’t want to memorise 70 24-character, liberally-punctuated passwords – and play Go Fish with the usernames. I could, but you’d have to pay me both lots of good money and marks. I have better things for my memory and brain power, see, that’s why I’m in school. This school particularly.
No, I don’t have them on hand, it’s for security. Imagine if I get chlorofoamed or worse on my way to or from school, and someone posts a school-is-snowed-out-please-don’t-turn-up-and-check-LMS announcement. Occupational hazard to me, but no compensation. Please consult the School group insurance policy terms and conditions carefully.
Lastly, I can’t give priority to any certain group unless I’m ordered to do so by some higher authority – too many others want priority too. Some want elevation and promotion from one service tier to another.