Internet is a scary place

I know that such topic is very common in newspaper, teenage magazine and even I.T. magazine. However, this is not a common topic in blog so I will be doing it.

Thanks to internet that we are who we are now. Thanks to the internet that we are able to get more entertaintment. Thanks to internet that I am able to write my rants online. Thanks to the internet that you are able to read my online diary. Thanks to the internet that we are closer to each other now. Or is it not.

Does the internet really make us closer to each other?

I don't think so. Although we are virtually closer to each other, we are not really close. Imagine chatting with some stranger online in an internet chatroom daily for 8 hours for 1 year. Does that means you really know the person?

Yeah, we all know that the internet is a world where little girls are FBI and handsome hunk are fat boy. You never know that the hot little girl whom you chat to might be a lure from FBI. So what if "she" send you her photo? He might just go search for some hot girl photo and send you. Internet is a scary place. You need alot of intelligence so as not to get deluded by it.

With the increase in technology, internet connection speed is getting faster and cheaper every year. This is a good news for customer of course! Problem arises too.

People take advantage of the fast internet connection and start sharing copyrighted files freely without permission. The most commonly shared file is song and movies. The whole CD can be easily compressed into 38MB (using 128kbps compression) and a full length Hollywood movie can be compressed into around 700MB without any major quality loss.

This is a serious problem. Whenever a new movie is out, there will be pirates doing the immoral stuff as if they didn't learn it in school before. BitTorrent makes file sharing even better. It is fast and safe and alot of people are using it!

What prompted me to write this entry is that Jay Chou new album is leaked and spreading like wild fire on the internet now. His new album is suppose to be out in shelf on 8th September. However, some inconsiderate soul who deserve to be punished leaked it to the internet on 30th August. This is also a serious problem that need to be addressed.

I know that the relevant authorities have already tried their best in keeping pirates down. They even lowered the price of CD. However low you lower it, it still can't be compared with free songs downloaded from internet. Advantage of paying for a CD is that you get to enjoy the full, uncompressed quality of the music! MP3 files are usually compressed and result in lossing some quality. If you are a noob on audio gadgets, you might not experience the difference in compressed music.

The problem is people don't learn. People still continue sharing songs and movies on the internet like nobody's business. They are selfish. They don't care whether what they are doing is right or wrong. What they want is free stuff.

Internet is indeed a scary place. With just a few cables, we are connected. With just a few cables, we are capable of doing so much evil deed. With just a few cables, we changed.

Internet also brings in advantages. With E-Mail, long winded message can now be sent to the recipent almost instantly. You can even attach photo and voice clip to the email. Instant messaging is also another famous thing to do with the internet. Instant messaging client such as Windows Live Messenger (formerly known as MSN Messenger) and Yahoo! Messenger makes connection to friend with ease.

Instant messaging also prove to be a good place for cyber sex. With ever increasing internet connection speed, webcam with high resolution image has no problem transmitting over the internet. This is a major problem if it involves person who is underage.

Obviously, we all know that internet brought alot of harm and benefits. There's nothing we can do but only be honest to ourself. As what I said, stay alert so as not to get deluded.

My blog is the only safe place on the internet!

Stray cat

PLEASE DO NOT FEED STARY ANIMALS. Yeah, that's the poster I got from Tampines Town Council a few months back. I got it magnet-ed to my refrigerator.

Down the stairs, to the road, I heard cat's meow. I was wondering if I am hearing things because my morning-hunger cat always wake me up in the morning with its meow-ing. I crossed the road and I saw this small little kitten purring. According to my experience with cats, this kitten is obviously hungry. I picked him up, brought him across the road and up the lift to my house. Prepared some cat food for him.

Now here's the problem. I can't possibly be feeding it for life. Although a cat's life is only about 30 years but that's a long way! What if the kitty is hungry again? Who will be so nice to feed it? What if one day the kitty got into the hand of some abusemaniac cat killer? What if one day he's dead.

Actually I shouldn't worry too much about stray cat getting hungry. Cats are really intelligent species. They know how to source for food and drink even in the most undesirable condition. I guess that's why Singapore government discourages people from feeding stray cats. I don't care. I just don't like to see them in the state of hunger, purring out loud, looking into every passerby with a "feed-me-please" eye while they just walk past without even giving a look back.

After all, cats are living things too. You can't deny that! Cat are not destructive either. You might want to argue that. Some residents claim that their car got scratched by stray cats and some even say that cat urine and litter makes the void deck smelly. I would like to say that these people are either not clever, stupid or liars.

First thing first, cat don't scratch cars because the surface of the car is too smooth to be scratched. Unless you didn't polish and wash your car for centuries, then maybe cat might scratch. Most wild cat would be scratching on tree bark because that's the best option.

Another thing for liars out there, cat don't litter or urine everywhere. They are borned with the intelligent to clean up their waste. They will dig a hole in the grass and deposit their waste materials in it. Upon doing so, they will make sure they cover it back and leave no trace of dirty smell behind. So if you claim you see cat's litter or urine at the void deck, it might belong to:
1) dog
2) your little brother
3) your children
4) yourself

If you think dog is the best pet, think again.

Ju On

It's the lunar 7th month. According to Chinese belief, lunar 7th month is the month where those hungry ghost are release to the Earth. What do they do on Earth? I think they just go around scaring people and look for food. If the ghost is inexperienced, they may travel to France or India because such places don't have alot of Chinese celebrating lunar 7th month.

*BOOM* This post is not going to talk about the lunar 7th month or teaching you how to be a "pro" in search of food. This post is going to talk about grudge. I wanted to use "Grudge" as my title but I put "Ju On" instead because there is a movie entitled "Ju On" which means "The Grudge" in English. (If you are interested in the video, check it out here: .

Why do people like to bear grudge?

[This entry is suppose to be posted 8 days ago but due to the cannot-make-it content, I have been editing it every now and then. The title and the first few paragraphs is the same, what changes is the paragraphs below this remark.]

Come to think abt my Course i realised tt theres a Lot of Hate In Ifc, i Alwayz End Up hearing Abt this Person not LIking Another Person For Some UNknown ReaSon Or This PerSon Hating AnOther Faggot Over Some Proj thing. Let DisLIkes Stay aT DisLikes, Hate Is a Very TirIng Process. Well ProCessors are too ComPliCated For me So i sHall Stay Out Of The HAte Cycle.

-- quoted without permission from Louis's blog.

What I quote up there represents my whole entry.

A few days back, me and my friends were discussing the difference between "hate" and "dislike". We managed to come to a solution that "hate is one knots above dislike" (by Victor). I got to agree with the fact that "hate is a very tiring process".

Why go around hating other people when you can actually be-friend that person? If you don't like that person, just put him in your "dislike" list. When you dislike someone, you just ignore him. When you hate someone, you got to think of thousands of way to sabotage the person. The more hatered you store in your heart, the worst you will feel.

Stop the grudge now. Or you will die with a grudge.

Happy birthday Singapore!

HAPPY 41st BIRTHDAY, SINGAPORE!

August 9, 1965. The day when we are forced to seperate from Malaysia and have no choice but to stand on our own. Mr Lee Kuan Yew cried on national TV. I remember watching the video of Lee Kuan Yew crying when I was 4 years old. I was still young that time and I don't understand why he cried. Years down the road, history lesson about Singapore filled my brains. I began to understand why.

Since I can't find any link regarding Singapore's road to independence, I will not post about it.

NDP 2006. Stayed at home and tune in to TV to watch the parade live. Hmmm, it's basically the same every year. The parade started with "Singapore Protectors" doing stunt that wow-ed the crowd. Lots of people in uniform marching around like ants and a bunch of man-in-green stand still for 1 hour forming the number "2006".

The second part of the parade means public from different aspect of life coming together to put up a performance. Most of the "public" are actually students from various schools. The climax of the show will of course be the fireworks display. Loud and nice! The singing of national songs, national anthem and reciting of pledge makes us proud of Singapore.

Singapore has come a long way. 41 years isn't exactly very long. However, we have accomplished so much in this 41 years. We overcome all obstacles since independent. We have braved the storm and crossed the oceans. United as one, we can walk singapore a long way ahead!

One people, one nation, one Singapore. Together we make the difference!

Your life

What do you live for?

Most would reply don't know. They live because they won't want to die. Some would say they want to earn their first million dollar by 30 years old. Some say they live to play more games.

Is life meaningless? Some people says that your life from birth to death, it's already arranged and planned. If you are not mean to die, means you are not mean to die. I don't agree with this point. Your life is yours to plan, don't blame God or other shit factors for your life. Although some people experienced tougher life than other people of the same age, don't feel sad. Just take it that you are experiencing more hardship than other people.

Life in Singapore feels so planned. Not by God but by the government and your parents. From the day you are born, it's already fixed that you must undergo at least 12 years of studies, 2.5 years of National Service (for man) and the rest of your life working. While working, you must not forget to find yourself a wife, get married, make her pregnant so as to answer to your great ancestor. Most importantly, plan your retirement as this is not planned by the government or your parents.

By reading the above paragraph, you might start feeling "Damn! My life is so boring, even someone with lousy English like Jerry can write my biography". Fine, you can't blame me for knowing your life because that's the standard for everyone. Just that some people are luckier, some people are unluckier, some people are richer, some people are poorer, some people looks better, some people looks uglier, some people are fortunate, some people are not as fortunate. In the end, you will still got to get burnt down to ashes.

Victor Goh says that if you can understand that life is meaningless, you can be a life philosopher. What logic? o.O

Actually, I also don't wish to live like a depressed guy. I really hope that I can make the full use of my life. Maybe make a difference to the world, if not someone before my unfilal children flushes my ash down the toilet bowl. Will update about this part of myself on the Chapter 3 of my blog.

One of my friends said this to me "Even if I die now, it won't make a difference to the world". Hmm, yes. Afterall, you are not Bill Gates or Lee Kuan Yew, how would your death possibly make any difference to the world? But, if you didn't die, you could make a difference to the world. Maybe one day, you might be the new Issac Newton or Beethoven. Not now but maybe one day, your death might make a difference to the living population. Don't give up on life.

Live is wonderful. Without it, you would be dead.