A "Sharp" Eye

Long time no see, everyone!

Ok, that intro was in bad taste considering what I'm about to talk about.

Check out the latest in electric pencil sharpeners. Introducing the Living Dead Doll Sadie Pencil Sharpener. Want to sharpen your blunt pencil? Just stick it into Sadie's eye socket and you're done!

Of course, no eye socket pencil sharpener would be complete without the gory visual effect of blood streaming down her face from where her eyeball was supposed to be. And in case you're thinking that no one in their right frame of mind will buy one of these, they're currently sold out!

Don't forget to check out the rest of their morbid selection.

And in that spirit (pun totally intended), Happy Halloween everyone!

Eid's That Time

"Celebrate good times, come on!" Sing along if you know the words to this Kool And The Gang classic.

Eid Mubarak greetings go out to my dearest blogger friends - Princess, Ghasheema, Esda3wa, Dandoon, Phoenix and last but not least, my old friend Zizo.

May God shower you and all your loved ones with much happiness, peace and love.

Have a wonderful celebration!

Parking And Attendants

Coupon-based parking - a long standing system in Singapore. Parking coupons are sold in booklets at either $10 for 10 $1 coupons or 20 50 cent coupons. Lots in the Central Business District are $1 for 1/2 an hour while lots outside of the CBD are $1 for an hour. So, if you decide to park for two hours in a non-CBD area, you'd tear out two coupons from your $1 coupon stash or 4 coupons from your $0.50 stash, punch out the tabs for the date and time and display it prominently on your dashboard.

It is a fact in Singapore and, from what I see on TV, around the world that people love playing cat-and-mouse games with parking attendants to get away with "free" parking.

At my office, only Management and people of Senior Executive status are accorded free parking within the building while poor saps like myself park in public lots. Fortunately for me, I work nights so I only have to park for an hour at the public lots and when office hours are over, I get to park in our multi-storey structure mainly reserved for the creme-de-la-creme. So, a coupon is used every day.

However, there are other staff who decide to gamble. They display one $0.50 coupon and park for a good 8 hours. Sometimes, no coupon is displayed at all! Most times, they get away with it because parking attendants are on foot and have to comb a large area. So, they may only check the lots adjacent to my office twice a day. However, there are days when I see a row of cars with tickets under their wiper-blades. If a ticket is issued and the attendant is still seen in the vicinity, you'd see car owners, with ticket firmly in grip running after and yelling at parking attendants. Most of these attendants appear to be immune to such verbal abuse but I feel sorry for them because firstly, they are mostly ladies working under harsh weather and secondly, they are just doing their job enforcing the rules.

Some months ago, I saw a colleague standing by his car scrutinizing a ticket he received. I asked if it was worth the risk. His enthusiastic reply was "Of course!" You see, a monthly parking permit would cost a car owner $75. The fine for non-display of a parking coupon is $30. So, even if he gets caught twice in a month for not displaying a coupon, it is still cheaper than the monthly $75 fee.

Me? I prefer peace of mind to cat-and-mouse games. I also love my car too much to embarrass her with a ticket shoved under her wiper. So, a coupon a day, sufficient for the one hour she stays outside before I bring her into the building legitimately.

What prompted this post? A few days ago as I was walking in after parking my black beauty, I came across a couple of parking attendants issuing tickets to some cars whose owners had blatently not displayed a single parking coupon. I knew they were employees at my organisation from the car labels. One guy, who had seen the ladies in white walking through the public carpark, came running out of the building like it was about to collapse on him. "Don't book me!", he yelled from about 150 metres away, "I'm here!".

As he approached the parking attendant (or more glamourously known as "Parking Enforcement Officer") who was hovering around his car, the lady yelled back "You can afford to buy a car but you can't even afford to display a 50 cent coupon".

Red-faced, the well-dressed company executive unlocked his car and punched out a fresh coupon.

While the parking attendant made a very good point, I hardly think it was in her place to make such a comment. I thought it was not only rude but very unbecoming of a public servant. What he can or cannot afford is really none of her concern.

Nevertheless, it was still very gracious of her to allow him to come place his coupon even though he had clearly violated the law. Being a parking attendant is a very tough and thankless job because it is almost always greeted with vociferous verbal abuse. Still, I'd ask that they carry out their duties and keep the opinions to themselves or fellow parking attendants over coffee.

Tagged!

Fun fact - did you know TAGGED when rearranged spells GADGET? How cool is that?

Been away for about two weeks and little did I know, I've been tagged by two of my favourite bloggers. You know who you are. First, the rules....

“Each player of this game starts off with ten weird things or habits or little known facts about yourself. People who get tagged must write in a blog of their own ten weird things or habits or little known facts as well as state this rule clearly. At the end you must choose six people to be tagged and list their names. No tagbacks!”

So, here goes folks!

1. I studied Electronics and Computer Engineering but my dream was to be a radio deejay.


2. I absolutely have to wash my car at least twice a week because I cannot imagine someone passing it saying "this guy really does not look after this beautiful machine". I probably feel that way because I'm guilty of making such comments myself. *sigh*


3. I must sleep with a bolster. I'll be wide awake if I don't have one - no matter how tired I am. This is the very reason why I don't go on holidays cos many hotels don't have one and it is a little ridiculous to pack a bolster!


4. I will not wear the same shirt twice within a week. A shirt, once used, is usually given a week and a half break before it sees the outside of my closet again. Yes, I have a lot of shirts.


5. Everyone knows that I buy a lot of gadgets. But no one (except Mrs Prem) knows that when they're first unpacked, I smell them. Just like a newborn baby, fresh electronics have a magical smell.


6. While people quote noteable historical people, I quote characters from TV series like The X-Files, Heroes and Grey's Anatomy. Seriously! *wink*


7. I tend to overthink every situation and that usually makes me depressed.


8. I will not wear a watch with a square or other odd-shaped face. Only round faced watches for me.


9. I hate drawers that are left open. It irks the hell out of me. I don't know why.


10. And finally... I check and edit my blog entries at least 20 times before I'm happy with what I've written. Perfectionist? Hmmm... more like obsessive compulsive.

There you go.

Now, as I don't know many bloggers on blogger, I guess I'll have to zero in on Zizo and Eshda3wa. Tag... you're it!!

Missing But Not Gone

First and foremost, my sincere apologies to everyone who have expressed their concern over my sudden disappearance from the blogging world. It is nice to know that I have been missed and at the same time, I do miss reading all the fantastic blogs I frequently visit. I promise to get to them as soon as I am done with this entry.

Over the last two weeks, my workload suddenly escalated and I spent a great deal of time at my organisation's Data Centre. I also put in extra hours before and after my regular working hours and this led to more sleeping hours.

Outside of work, there was another situation which was causing me a great deal of problems. Although I could walk away from it, my conscience didn't allow me to and it resulted in some sleepless nights and a great deal of stress.

To make matters worse, I was down with a severe gastric problem for two weeks. It started off two Mondays ago and it seemed to subside a few days later. But by last Saturday, it hit again so hard that by the wee hours of Monday morning (yesterday), my wife was rushing me to the hospital. I'm glad to report that I am feeling a little better today and hope this keeps up.

I've missed converting my thoughts and feelings into bits and bytes over the last few weeks and since I've accumulated quite a bit by now, do expect a slew of them in the coming days. Meanwhile, do look out for my comments in your blogs very soon.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Premster is back!!

Farewell To Blogging

Scared you, didn't I?

No, I am not leaving the wonderful world of blogging but if the guys down at NEC had anything to do with it, my days sitting in front of a computer and writing my personal thoughts and feelings, not to mention the numerous gadget posts, are severely numbered.

The boys and girls at NEC Japan have built a blogging robot. You read correctly, my friends. A blogging robot. It is called PaPeRo. I guess it means "Too lazy to write and manage your own damn blog so you need a robot to do it for you" in Japanese. Just kidding.

To start off, all you have to do is talk to the little fella about your day, who's been annoying you or about the cute boy / girl you've just met, and it'll record every detail and analyse the data. Then, it'll search the Internet for suitable media, eg. images, videos, music, etc., and compose your blog using speech to text technology.

Amazing technology. But do be careful what you say when you're around it. You'll never know what will get published on your blog without your knowledge. *wink*

Pooches And Pennies

I've always said dogs are as smart, if not smarter, than humans. I've come to realise this especially from my two doggies, Eddie and Casey.

Eddie loves his orange squeak ball with which he eats, sleeps and even doo-doos. And when he knows my wife and I are free (he never bothers us when we're busy), he'll leave the ball by our side and wait patiently at a distance for us to throw it. The thing is, he catches it with extreme accuracy no matter how fast or slow the ball is thrown. He picked up this feat all by himself and it makes us so proud when visitors come by.

Eddie won't leave the ball unattended even for a minute. Obsessive? I'd have to say yes. The strange thing is, Casey figured this out too! And whenever she gets an opportunity, she'll take the ball away from him and that will put Eddie into a huge frenzy. He chases her around the house trying to get it back and she taunts and avoids him so perfectly like she has a strategy in her head. We watch in awe - and laughter.

Here's more proof that dogs are as smart as human beings. A charity organisation called Canine Partners is training Labradors (or Golden Retrievers?) to help their disabled owners to withdraw cash from ATM machines! Amazing but true!

I wonder if I could teach Eddie to do the same thing. Sadly, I know for a fact that Eddie is too short to reach any ATM machine but most importantly, my "dog-genius" might just take my money and go buy a new squeaky ball or two.

The Power Of Pee

Some years ago, as a result of a dispute about the price of water being sold to us by Malaysia, Singapore embarked on a bold and "innovative" project to become self-sufficient when it came to our water supply. The project, named "Newater", took waste water from homes (toilets??) and sent it through a stringent and complicated process to produce clean and healthy drinking water again.

I have no doubt that the process is infallible but I sometimes cringe at the thought that I might be drinking water that originally came out of someone else. *yucks*

Looks like we've found another use for pee. A pee-filled battery has been tested and can churn out 1.5volts, that's equivalent to one dry-cell battery (think its called a dry-cell because there's no pee or other bodily fluids in it!!), for a full 90 minutes. Who knew that pee could generate that much... er... juice? (no pun intended)

Now, all we need to do is to make a pee-powered car. That'll give the world a good excuse to drink and drive.

Shutdown Day - The (Horror) Movie

As we cruise into the month of March and the big day gets closer, I am beginning to feel a slight tinge of panic. How do I go a day without my computer and gadgets? They are so much a part of my daily life that the thought of going one whole day (that's 24 whole hours!) without them is daunting.

If you're like me and suffer from separation anxiety, here's some fun things you can do with your laptop without even powering it up.

This video is rated PG - Pitiful Gadgets.

Tears are rolling down my face as I watch this video. *sniff*

Ditch Your Computer Day!

Just yesterday, I read and blogged about the passing of Mr Robert Adler, the man who invented the remote control - a device I absolutely cannot live without. We take so many of these devices, gadgets and inventions for granted without even an inkling of who invented them or considered if we'd be able to survive without them.

As a gadget addict / freak / aficionado / fanatic / buff / devotee / enthusiast, I am fully aware that I cannot function like a normal human being without my gadgets for a day. This is why when I leave my home, my laptop, 2 smartphones, my iPod Video, my internet-banking security token, a 2GB thumb-drive and two remote controls (one for my car's security system and the other for my home's security system!) goes with me. This does not include my gadget-laden car which I drive everywhere.

So as a personal challenge, I have decided to give this a go. On 24 March this year (a Saturday), I will not turn on any of my PCs or laptops. To make things more difficult, I'm going to ditch my smartphones and settle for one cellular phone without any of the fancy bells and whistles. Anyone also keen to take up this challenge?

Now, all I have to do is to key this date into my smartphone's organiser to remind me of the event. *wink*

Picture above : My outdoor geek-kit. My other smartphone (not in picture) was used to take this shot.

Farewell To The Father Of Remotes

When my son was born, I wished for him to have interest in medicine, law, business or anything other than the field of Information Technology and hankering after gadgets everyday like a love-sick puppy (read: like his Daddy). With my luck, I knew my wish would not be granted and this was confirmed when my little boy took his first glimpse at my array of remote controls. His eyes brightened, he started to drool and then desperately (and recklessly) reached out to grab one. Since then, he'd kick up a ruckus if he failed to get his saliva-coated hands on it.

A week later, I promptly got him a t-shirt which said "Hand over the remote and no one gets hurt". He wears it proudly. *sigh*

We use remote controls everyday. We reach for it subconsciously when we want to change the channel on reruns of Seinfeld, to pump up the volume when we hear our favourite song on MTV or to pause Flightplan when we need to go take a tinkle. Do we know who first invented the remote control - a device used by almost everyone in the world? His name was Mr Robert Adler. Sadly, he died last week at the age of 93 and it is a shame that the world was none the wiser.

With this entry, my little boy and I bid a fond farewell to an inventor that brought a great deal of convenience to the world.

Thank you, Mr Adler. I couldn't have become the remote toting couch potato I am today without you. I am eternally grateful.

Gong Xi Fa Cai

Gong Xi Fa Cai - that is the traditional greeting exchanged between Chinese people during the Lunar New Year celebrations. That's today and the celebrations span across 15 days.

Although I don't celebrate Chinese New Year, I love this season because of the festive goodies and the holidays, of course. It is usually a 2-day holiday in Singapore but because today is a Sunday, we get an additional day. So, I'm only back to work on Wednesday!

Wishing all my Chinese friends and fellow bloggers a very Happy and Prosperous Lunar New Year.

The image is the Chinese character for prosperity. It is traditionally displayed upside down because "upside down" in Chinese sounds like "arrival". So, the upside down character for prosperity symbolises arrival of prosperity.

Happy Thanksgiving

It is a pity that Thanksgiving is only celebrated in the States. I think it is a wonderful tradition where families get together, share what they're thankful for in their lives and have a meal together.

I have many things to be thankful for in life. I hope you have the same.

Here's wishing you and all your loved ones a very Happy Thanksgiving!