Seen And Heard: Vega4 - Life Is Beautiful

I stumbled upon this song upon watching the trailer for 'My Sister's Keeper', and it got stuck in my music brain. A nice song with beautiful words put into it. The song is a-la Snow Patrol's 'Chasing Cars' if you ask me, but nevertheless, a great song worthy of your listening pleasure. Enjoy the song, and embrace the fact that life is beautiful:)
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Life Is Beautiful Lyrics
Artist(Band):Vega 4

Life is beautiful
We love until we die

When you run into my arms,
We steal a perfect moment.
Let the monsters see you smile,
Let them see you smiling.

Do I hold you too tightly?
When will the hurt kick in?

Life is beautiful, but it's complicated.
We barely make it.
We don't need to understand,
There are miracles, miracles.

Yeah, life is beautiful.
Our hearts, they beat and break.

When you run away from harm,
Will you run back into my arms,
Like you did when you were young?
Will you come back to me?

I will hold you tightly
When the hurting kicks in.

Life is beautiful, but it's complicated,
we barely make it.
We don't need to understand,
There are miracles, miracles.

Stand where you are.
We let all these moments pass us by.

It's amazing where I'm standing,
There's a lot that we can give.
This is ours just for a moment.
There's a lot that we can give.
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Children Of The 80's, Put Your Hands In The Air And Say We Rock!

Let's face it people, when it comes to your daily dose of cartoons, sitcoms and what not, nothing beats the era of the 80's and early 90's. That was the time where the coolest shows were on air, and that was the best time growing up! I still remember the days of watching Full House, Thundercats, Jem and the Holograms, Care Bears, Voltron...man those were sweet moments. Today it's all about anime, anime, and more anime. Even the movie business are looking into retro trends, reviving back the good old favourite shows like GI Joe and Transformers.

Anyway, I happened to come across this site some time ago, and I've decided to share it with you guys. It's called Retro Junk (www.retrojunk.com), and it's the one stop for all things retro. We're talking TV shows, cartoons, even commercials. Now I haven't really checked out this site, but I've browsed through some shows and it surely brings back memories. You can check out its synopsis, release dates and all, and the best part is, you can relive your childhood memories and watch its opening and end credits! What can I say? Sweeeettt. Do, do check this site out. If you were born in the 80's, this site will not let you down.

Crime On The Rise, It's Rather Alarming

My neighbour's house just got robbed..in broad daylight! I was lepaking and all when I heard sirens coming nearby. My initial thought was 'whose house is on fire', 'where is the fire truck heading?' When I go down the stairs, I saw my mum just outside the front gate. When I went out, I saw two police cars and a bunch of people wondering what the heck just happened. That is when I found out about the robbery. Apparently some African guy was involved; one got caught and the other managed to run away; believed tu be running towards the park nearby. That is just scary man; to think that in the midst of daylight, where the streets see constant vehicles just passing by, there are those whose got the balls to just head to someone's house . And to spice things up, the other day my maid's husband got caught in the middle of a robbery. He's working at a petrol station as a cashier, when at about 6-ish in the evening, someone entered the store and point a gun at him! Helpless, he had no choice but to give in to the demands. I'm writing this as a reminder to myself and to all readers out there about the reality of the world we're leaving in. Just when you thought it's all rainbows and butterflies, harmony and all, there's always someone who's gonna spoil the mood. Be aware of your surroundings, take extra care when you're travelling anywhere...just be careful...signing off

Sometimes, Technology Is Just Plain Stupid...

We have seen the rise of the almighty iPhone, undoubtedly crowned one of the most awesome handheld gadgets ever to arrive in our world. I'm not an iPhone user, yet I can't seem to find any gadget worthy enough to get the magnitude of buzz received by other handheld devices other than Apple's current bread and butter. Now with the introduction of the new 3GS model, as well as the boom that is the Apple App Store, the iPhone has been most of everyone's favourite little gadget. But then, you can't help but laugh when some of the dumbass software developers (I suppose out of embarrasment, they'll no longer admit that they are!) are trying to join in the hype and produce what could be the stupidest and dumbest applications yet. Check this list out!

1. iNap@Work

Developer: SilentLogic Studios
Price: $0.99

This app promises to generate random office sounds -- mouse clicks, keyboard taps, pencil sharpeners, coughs, and rustling paper -- to give power-nappers some cover. Little sliders are supposed to control your "productivity" level and the frequency of each sound.

In our tests, however, the noises were a little too random to sound convincing. Besides, which is worse: to get caught napping, or to get caught using a lame iPhone app to pretend that you aren't?

2. Zips

Developer: Jake Landon
Price: $0.99

(Also available in a free version, Zips Lite)

"Zippers," reads the promotional copy. "Sexy, suggestive, and seductive." OK. But what's the point of a virtual zipper that you can drag up and down until the fun -- and the sexiness -- wears off?

To keep things lively the app comes with underwear you can change with a tap of the finger. The $0.99 version includes a camera icon that lets you add your own suggestive pictures.

3. Hold the Button

Developer: Me Mundo iPhone SL
Price: Free

Here's the deal: The image of a fingerprint appears on the screen, you put your finger on it and hold it there. Keep holding. And holding. Forever. Or until you remember that you have a life.

The game is supposed to be a test of patience or stamina or will power or something. When you finally give in, you can compare your score with slackers all over the world.

4. Sexy Girl Talk - Sexy Alphabet Deluxe

Developer: theM Dev
Price: $0.99

From the creators of such classic apps as Moronizer and Angry Kittens Attack comes the 26 letters of the alphabet spoken by a "professional voice model...in a sexual and sophisticated way." Sexual enough, apparently, for Apple to rate this application 12+ for "Infrequent/Mild Sexual Content or Nudity."

You could have fooled us. What's it good for? The developer -- for whom English is apparently a second language -- offers several suggestions: "Listen to some Sexy Alphabet. Listen to some nice pronunciation. Fun for all the guys."

5. Taxi Hold'em

Developer: iSignz
Price: Free

Designed for tourists who fear that big-city cabbies will ignore their waves and whistles and drive on by, this app does the whistling for you. And when you tilt your iPhone horizontally, it flashes the word "TAXI" colorfully and rapidly enough to require a disclaimer. (It can trigger seizures when used near epileptics.)

One reviewer suggested that if you are going to wave it around the streets of New York, it should really be flashing "STEAL ME."

6. FatBurner2k

Developer: Daily Burn
Price: $0.99

It's a good thing Apple put this app in the "Entertainment" category. Otherwise one might be tempted to take seriously the claim that it can "help your body consume fat molecules using disharmonic, molecule to molecule, physical oscillations."

Translation: It vibrates on your tummy. It will not, however, have the same effect -- as the developer implies -- as "moving and shaking...at some expensive members-only gym where people just stand around drinking coffee trying to look hot all day."

7. Hair Clinic: For Man and Woman

Developer: Sociag Project
Price: $3.99

If you believe an iPhone can make your love handles disappear, you'll probably buy this, too: an app that promises to give you "healthy and abundant" hair by generating "various types of inaudible high and low frequencies to promote blood circulation around hair roots and under the head skin."

A helpful disclaimer adds that the Hair Clinic app is not a cure for alopecia and can, in fact, cause headaches if the iPhone's built-in speaker is held too close to the ears.

8. Cow Toss

Developer: Digital Thought Software
Price: $0.99

Another publication rated Cow Toss the 4th stupidest app ever written for the iPhone, but that doesn't do justice to all the other dumb apps.

The rules are simple: You flick the image of a cow with your finger to send it flying through space -- mooing and bouncing all the way -- and score points according to a system that is never fully explained. The developers say they hoped with the latest update to be rated "most stupid." They're not even close.

If you ask me, my vote for the the dumbest application goes to the FatBurner2K and Taxi Hold'em...I kinda like No.1 though, funny as hell (although I will never ever buy it). That being said, I actually like to see any of you out there who happened to buy this lame apps, just to see the stupidity of it in real life.

Thanks to CNNMoney.com for this hillarious article. And you know what? Go check out Krapps.com, coz these dumb apps? Tonnes of it can be seen there!

A Day In The Office

Well, obviously I have got nothing interesting to write about, so I guess I’ll share with you my day in the office.

0803 hrs – arrived at the main gate. Punch in!

0810hrs – spend a few minutes going round and round looking for a free parking spot. It’s like going into a shopping mall during weekends I tell you. The reason being is that some of the night shift staffs have yet to go home. They are still borak2 and all. If I’m lucky, I’ll get a shaded spot. If not, then I’ll have to settle parking under the hot sun.

0815hrs – punch in into process area (Here in the refinery there are non-process area (admin, finance, HRM, etc.) and there’s the process area (where all the action takes place). Only permitted vehicles are allowed so I’ll have to wait for a shuttle van to pick up passengers to their designated destinations.

0825hrs – arrived in the satellite control room (SCR) (it’s a blast proof building, huhu). The Operations and Maintenance team all resides here. The operators and technicians will hang out in the cabin just beside the SCR. I’ll be printing all the necessary documents to start the week such as the look ahead plan for planned jobs, any related HSE info, etc.

0830hrs – head to the cabin for the daily toolbox meeting. Usually the manager chairs the toolbox, if not supervisors will act as alternate chairman. Daily toolbox usually starts with discussing any HSE related issues, completed jobs, jobs for today, any on-calls during the night before (update by discipline, i.e. mechanical, electrical, instrument)

0845hrs – End of toolbox. Usually I will head to the pantry for breakfast.

0920hrs – Brrpp! Now I’m ready to work. Work starts off with reading and replying emails, updating schedule compliances, reviewing quotations of jobs to be done by contractors, settling pending payments for completed jobs as well as performance evaluation. Thanks to the invention that is Microsoft Office Communicator, computer work does not seem dull.

1100hrs – Bathroom break. Casual chat with colleagues next door.

1125hrs – Gear up to go to the plant, supervising work, checking out what the contractors are doing. Usually this is followed by performing a Behavioral Safety observation. Any safe/unsafe acts will be recorded and reported. Usually daily maintenance works are preventive, such as lubrication, visual inspection of any signs of leaks and all

1225hrs – Back to my workstation. Reading and replying emails; occasional Internet browsing. Sites like The Star Online, Paul Tan and Zero To Hundred will be opened (the ones not blocked by the system admin at least). The mood is now towards going out and having lunch.

1255hrs – Going out for lunch. Usual spots will be either ‘kedai merah’, ‘kelapa sawit’, ‘traffic light’, ‘pantai’, ‘harriettes’, ‘kedai abg jeff’ or ‘pokok mangga’ (for today, ‘kedai merah’ it is)

1410hrs – Back from lunch. Back to office, only to know that one of the air fin coolers has its belt snapped. Haiyoo…oh well, raise a work order then. No MWO, no work!

1500hrs – Weekly coordination meeting, chaired by the process manager. We’ll discuss issues such as unit status, area safety audit, maintenance updates, open & closed action items. (This just in: the furnaces at one of the units tripped..WTH?)

1600hrs – Passed some documentation to colleagues, chatting via communicator, preparing items for job to be done tomorrow.

1700hrs – Am no longer in the mood to work. Technically I’m only paid to work till 5, hahaha. Tomorrow is another day. Good job!

The Wildfire That Is H1N1

I mean seriously, H1N1 after its declaration as a pandemic by the WHO, has spread through the whole world like an uncontrollable wildfire. Many cases have been recorded in Malaysia, and you see everyday now in the news that colleges and schools were closed due to the increasing cases of swine flu infection among the students. The symptoms which are somewhat similar to the typical flu and fever makes people even more paranoid. Even I am! I am now feeling slightly unwell, with feverish feeling and I can't help but thinking 'Gosh could it be that I caught a H1Ni virus?' Seriously I hoped that I'm not. I'm too freaked out to go and see a doctor, but so far after a few doses of Paracetamol and a good night sleep (I slept for 12 hours last night! wowww), I think everything is under control (fingers crossed).

Anyway, here is some Q&A about H1N1, courtesy of article by BBC News:

Swine flu is a respiratory disease, caused by a strain of the influenza type A virus known as H1N1.

H1N1 is the same strain which causes seasonal outbreaks of flu in humans on a regular basis.

But this latest version of H1N1 is different: it contains genetic material that is typically found in strains of the virus that affect humans, birds and swine.

Although the strain may have originated in pigs, it is now a wholly human disease.

It can be spread from person to person by coughing and sneezing.

Symptoms of swine flu in humans appear to be similar to those produced by standard, seasonal flu.

A fever - which is a temperature of 38ºC (100.4ºF) - is the key symptom, combined with other complaints which may include a cough, sore throat, body aches, chills and aching limbs. Some people with the virus have also reported nausea and diarrhoea.

As with normal flu, the severity of symptoms will depend on treatment and the individual. Many people have only suffered mildly and have begun to recover within a week.

People are most infectious soon after they develop symptoms, but they cease to be a risk once those symptoms have disappeared. The incubation period may be as little as two days.

We haven't seen a pandemic of this magnitude since 1968 (according to the records, how should I know, I wasn't even born yet). Apparently the the most devastating outbreaks in human history was the Spanish Flu in 1918. 40% of the world were infected and more than 50million died! That is just some scary shit. But then, according to a statement by WHO, the H1N1; now affecting over 160 countries is still in it s early stage and could continue to spread now, perhaps could infect up to 2 billion people in the next two years! I suggest all of us to limit our outdoor activities, because reading all this is just frightening to the core.

Here's a website which I think is very useful to instill awareness and knowledge about the swine flu. Take good care of yourself...

The Eclipse

Here are two pictures of the recent eclipse happened yesterday at about 6-ish am (India time). I actually forgot about this eclipse till I read the news. Looking through the window at about 7am yersterday (was in Renaissance KL for a 2-day course), I actually thought it was gloomy coz it's raining. Simply amazing. I wonder if now then somebody in this world will have super powers a-la Heroes? More about it can be read here and here