The Geek Journal

2001-09-04T01:55:00.000-07:00

Looking at Julie's blog site, I began to wonder... Jules asked, what is in your VCR?

Funny, I was actually thinking of tossing mine away. The Video Casette Recorder has played a vital part in most of our lives. It recorded TV programs while we were away or watching other shows at the same time. It showed all those movies we rented, borrowed or copied. It provided us with entertainment during the lull in the TV season, or in the dead of night when we could not sleep.

But now, when I look at video, I can only see how much technology has advanced. DVD is here. The picture and audio quality is far superior to anything I have ever seen. And remember one thing, DVD, if handled correctly, is forever. The picture quality in a video, however, slowly degrades everytime you play it. Yes, EVERY TIME.

So if you see a particular movie over and over again, especially the good bits ("A white hole?" "For every action, there is an equal opposite reaction. A black hole sucks time from the universe, while a white hole spews it back in." " That thing is spewing time, back into the universe?"), you may notice that the picture is not as sharp as it once was. (BTW, the above good bit was from the Red Dwarf episode, "White Hole". Funny as hell. A must see!)

Also, video is extremely sensative to mold, dust, and other bad bits. And if your tape breaks, you may as well toss it into the bin since the movie is no longer complete.

So I guess it's time for me to buy a DVD player (have a DVD drive already for the PC). Only problem is, I can't record... till DVD-RAM comes to town.

2001-09-02T06:02:00.000-07:00

Damn...... nearly 2 months... boy am I lazy.... But it's been busy... and I have a cold again... dammit.

Anyway, it seems that I am losing steam in publishing my blog... since I have so many things in my mind.... must write that blasted screenplay, research history (for the screenplay), learn Java, French and re-read my hacking books for security.... on top of that, my day job and side job writing for the post.... how does some people do it?

Anyway, I was inspired to write again in my journal here since I read someone's blog in particular and am surprised that he can do so much with so little time... so I guess I could do it too.

Shall post again tommorow!

2001-07-19T04:36:00.000-07:00

Hmmm.... nearly a month since I last posted. In the ensuing time, I've reformated my home PC 8 times, reinstalled ME, then 98SE, back to ME, to finally 2000 Prof (3 times) before I got my system stable again. Mandrake Linux is back as my primary OS, but my DVD drive decided to snuff it (again... blasted Sony!).

In addition, I got a nasty cold that knocked me out for a few days.... I hate colds....

But I managed to see both Final Fantasy: The Movie and the latest Jet Li kung fu fest "Kiss of the Dragon". FF looks OK, nothing spectacular compared to my expectations but I am sure they will get better as time goes on. Nice story line, a bite weak in character development, and some of the human movements are not fluid enough. Not to mention the facial expressions (or lack of it). Still, an excellent beginning.

Jet Li is actually a rather short guy. But he is so damn powerful! Make no mistake, Bruce Lee is probably the strongest (he worked our religously and had move muscle tone then anyone), Jackie Chan is the funniest, but Jet Li is the fastest. The guy has skills up the Yin Yang. The story (although set in Paris, everyone speaks English - the chinese among themselves, and so do the french... why not use their own language and use subtitles?) is true Luc Besson style (he help produced it) though not very deep, but the action is cool. But as Jet Li himself said in his web site, please Parents, don't let your children see it. It is pure escapism, no Matrix like wires or special effects. Just pure skill.

2001-06-24T23:08:00.000-07:00

The great windows eXPeriment is a failure. I only tried it so I can see if I can do my web development studies AND play games on the same OS. Unfortunately, it managed to crash a few times and failed to load up NHL 2000 (or 2001!). So, I swallowed my pride and reinstalled the blasted WinME, which also managed to hang and fail to load up NHL 2000. Bastards.

So now I have a Win98SE bootup in my hand with yet another format and reinstall to go. (I'm writing this blog off my Linux, my DEFAULT OS on my computer).

2001-06-22T04:10:00.000-07:00

Just saw Tomb Raider. My advice: skip it. Or at least wait till video. Geri Haliwell would have been a better Lara Croft.

In other news, I have re-installed Windows (an experimental version) but turned off the modem. There is no way I am going to let M$ have control of my computer via the net. This windows will be stand alone, only for web development, games and movie watching. I have let evil posses my computer, but there is no way for it to jump around....... muahahahaha!

2001-06-21T00:57:00.000-07:00

It is no great secret that Asia is a haven for digital piracy. The latest movies can come here within days of an official release Stateside. Case in point, Lara Croft's Tomb Raider has arrived on my shores only 5 days after its weekend release (never mind I think that Geri Halliwell would be a better Lara Croft but I digress).

In addition, DVD's of the latest movies are also available, allegedly out of Hong Kong and Malaysia, in which the DVD's are "ripped" off the actual theater film (not those flimsy handycam-in-the-theater ones, but an actual film-to-digital transfer, which is soooo illegal, even in Malaysia). The prices range from $30 from the original imports to $7-8 (US) for the crystal clear digital copy of an actual (and still is) DVD.

Guess I have to buy a DVD player now.

2001-06-16T21:24:00.000-07:00

Ah, the ancient art of Linux.

I decided that Blogger is getting to be very slow so I must consider moving my journal (along with a renamed domain). I love Blogger, and really do hope that Ev (it's CEO and only remaining employee) strikes it rich, but as they say, it's not personal. It's business.

BS. It's always personal when one's actions affects other people. In this case, it may affect Ev in a way. But I can probably free up space for some converts.

In any event, this means I must find a good host and learn Linux. Which means reinstalling it again with Apache and PHP and see what I can do.

So Mandrake 8 has been installed, I am learning as slow as a turtle, but it feels good to use something that does not have to pay homage or tax to Uncle Bill.

Speaking of Ancient Arts, I think it's time for me to troll around the net and find that game, The Ancient Art of War.

Posted on Mandrake 8 and Netscape.

2001-06-16T00:00:00.000-07:00

Bastards.

A few days after the Vice President delayed the implementation of the gas price hike, we were told to expect an announcement last night at 9 PM. Since I was at the apartment watching movies and no net connection (even palmtop net connection!), I did not have the opportunity to be enraged hearing that the prices were to up by 30% at the stroke of midnight last night. No warnings, no time to adapt. Pure cold turkey. To think I had passed 3 gas stations thinking if I should fill 'er up, but nah, the government won't do shock therapy. It's just not the way you do things. I was wrong and my view on government gets dimmer indeed. At least I had a blast watching Analyse This.

I also saw Stigmata, a film if any that should have brought the wrath of the Catholic Church. (Instead, they targeted the mostly harmless film Dogma which is funny as hell but makes us think just a bit.) Stigmata follows the premise of the actual teaching of Jesus Christ, based on the very early writings by one of his discipiles. A faith that does not need beautiful or luxury churches, cardinals, priests or popes. A faith in which belief is within you. Facinating.

Islam is kind of like that already, with people being free to follow the teachings by themselves, to pray, to read, understand and comprehend the teachings. Well, in some countries. I am not exactly the most penitent but I do follow its values, as a knight in shinning armour would follow the virtues of Chivalry. Back to Stigmata, such teachings (which allegedly were declared heresay by the Vatican) does not actually threaten faith of Christianity, but that of the church. The standing of the church. The power of the church. Not that I am against organized religion or anything, but I do have serious problems of people or organizations trying to influence masses for the sole purpose of staying in power (Microsoft, my country's previous dictator and current President are prime examples).

Is the Vatican a power hungry organization? They once were (check the Middle Ages, the Dark Ages and all those Crusades). Are the Mullahs of Iran any worse? Don't know about that, although I have to admit they can be rather conservative to an extreme. But I do understand that faith must be tested against all that question it. Questions must never be silenced. Because at the end of that, you do not serve the religion. You serve yourself at the expense of others.

And that is not what my parents and grandparents taught me.

2001-06-15T00:21:00.000-07:00

I filled up my tank in anticipation of a gasoline price hike (30%). Then I drove 140 kilometers in 2 days, leaving with a quarter tank left. Why? I have to go 40 km to the northern part of the city to the computer center to get my Mom's old Pentium 1 computer some EDO memory (remember that?). EDO is TWICE the price of regular SDRAM. Then I had to drive another 17 km to fix my car's Airconditioning. Plus my usual daily commute (about 45 minutes one way).

Why go so far? Service. Being an ex-service man (no, not military, hospitality!) I truely appreciate the concept of customer service and relations. I go to Procom (Professional Computers) for all my computer stuff since they can deliver and they have excellent after sales services and warranties. I go to a small AC shop far from home because all of the family's cars go there since day 1. True, there are other places to go, closer and cheaper, but in the days where the quality of service and spare parts can be questionable, I don't mind taking the time and distance to get quality. Do it right the first time. Never mind the heat, and *%@$#!% traffic.

In the meanwhile, the gas price hike was cancled. Bastards. Although I do admit our gas prices are WAY below world prices. It cost about 10 US Cents for a liter. Extremely cheap. But if the gas prices go up, so will transport costs, and so will produce, foods, furniture, equipment, etc since all are tied in to transport costs. Problems, problems.

As for Julie's rant about the death penalty, I must say I agree with her on some aspects of it. But I also agree on the other side (why waste money on feeding and housing super max criminals when you can solve your problems with a bullet?) This web comic shows exactly how I feel about it. I can be caring on one side, but when push comes to shove.........

2001-06-10T22:42:00.000-07:00

It's noon and I am sleepy. 5 hours of sleep did not help.

Captain Mog has confirmed that it was NOT her on TV. Which brings to question: is Michael Crichton right about parallel universes (Timeline)? Was it in fact a double to Mog and James on TV? Or a set of twins of them in this universe? Or my eyes playing tricks on me?

In any event, I'm going to have to watch the rerun of the race, scheduled Tuesday. Stay tuned.

In other news, I leave my PC at the office on over the weekend to allow the United Devices app to run. It's a small program designed to run in the background, utilizing the idle time of the processor. You probably have heard Seti@Home, a small distribute computing app designed to search for extra-terrestrial life.

The UD app I have is part of an effort to find the cure for cancer. Since I don't have idle time when I use my computer, I only activate it when I go home, allowing the full 500 megahertz (a while ago, this used to be the fastest processor) to be utilized by United Devices. The only download and upload portion is to get new data and send back processed information. It's for a good cause, so you DSL, Cable and other broadband users out there, go to United Devices website and download it. If you never turn off your PC at the office, do it there.

2001-06-10T12:10:00.000-07:00

It is 2AM, local. A few hours ago, as I sleepily waited for the Canadian Grand Prix to start, I woke up with a start when I saw Mog (AKA Captain Mog of the Mogship). I couldn't believe it. But it's true. Sitting next to her was her husband waving a Scottish flag. Scottish? In Montreal? In Jacques Villeneuve territory? (Or should I say, Newtown? <--- inside Canadian joke). Of course, all this is pending confirmation. I could be totally, totally wrong. Coincidence? I think not. My Sherlock Holmes instict says so. Unless there is an exact double of Mog and company waltzing around MTL.

Actually, I support David Coulthard myself since I believe M Schumacher is a meglomaniac and all Tifosi are fanatical fanatics. They cheered when Mika's engine blew on the final lap 3 races ago, giving their golden boy an undeserved win. Bastards. Not sportsmanlike, what?

I've always dreamed about waving in front of a TV camera during sports events and the sorts so I can wave to my friends overseas (Canada, US, Holland, Germany, Australia, Thailand, and Netherlands to name a few). Of course, I must know when the camera is aimed at me, is it live, and is anyone watching.

I could use webcams to do this (what can I say, it's a childhood thing) and hold up signs to the camera saying "Hi guys!" or something corny, which I am known for. But for naught. The only thing shown on TV here worldwide is a demonstration or a riot. I hardly think it would be a good idea to stand in the middle of a street battle holding sign saying "CNN" then flipping it over saying "Bring back Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles".

I say that only because I want them to take out those blasted Teletubbies.

2001-06-09T20:32:00.000-07:00

Envy. One of the Se7en deadly sins.

The Colorado Avalanche just won their 2nd Stanley Cup, giving Montrealer Ray Bouque his first Stanley Cup in his amazing 22 year career. Of course, Super Goalie Patrick Roy (another Montrealer) shut down all the NJ Devils can muster. And here I am, stuck in the twilight zone, not able to see or hear the game! (Actually, I am listening to the post game conference over Real Audio on my dial up but Telkom costs has risen by 50% so must keep online activity offline!).

Plus, it is the Grand Prix Weekend. The Canadian Grand Prix will be running in just 14 hours from now on Isle Notre Dame . At least it'll be telecasted lived on local TV at midnight local. But I can't see it in person. In Montreal. Without doubt the best and most beautiful city on the planet. The new Pepsi Forum, the Canadien's Keg, downtown core, the underground city, Vieux Montreal, Mount Royal Park and many more.

I have pollution, government instability, possible insurrection, rising prices, falling currency, all around madness and rant, rant, rant.

Point is, for those of you living there, don't take it for granted. Go to the Grand Prix and support hometown hero Jacques Villeneuve. I will. At the stroke of midnight.

2001-06-09T10:08:00.000-07:00

Additional.

Corruption is a cancer in society. You would think that a city of over 5 million people would be able to maintain upkeep for the roads and sewege system so that whenever it rains a bit the roads won't flood. You'd think that with all the corporate advertisment placed on Buses (like painting the entire vehicle as a giant running billboard), the company would have enough money to keep the buses smoothly running so they won't breakdown in the middle of the street causing a gridlock for miles. You would think that a country the size of Indonesia can effectively and efficiently collect taxes, manage a budget and provide adequate services, instead of spending money on overseas trips for the President. You would think that there can be an effective community police force where people can lodge their complaints, instead of avoiding them at all costs.

And people still ask why I want to leave.

2001-06-09T10:00:00.000-07:00

Wowzers, Blogger is pretty fast now... thanks Ev!

After over a year, and 28 total hours played, I finally finished Thief 2 by the late Looking Glass Studios. I saw late because althought the software house was responsible for a few monster gaming hits like System Shock 1 and 2 as well as the celebrated Thief series, the company had to close it's doors one year ago. Pity because the games they make are top class.

OK, the reason for the low total hours played is that I used the walkthroughs. Why? Because I don't have the patience to be looking around the map for clues and I am trying to ease off the computer use (hell, I'm online everyday!)

2001-06-05T05:30:00.000-07:00

Saw La Veuve de Saint Pierre, an excellent movie with Juliette Binoche and the amazing Daniel Auteuil. Sad, uplifting, depressing, amazing... it is the kind of movie I would have avoided like the plague had Ipe not drag me to it. It was a romantic comedy, she said, clearly reading the wrong synopsis for the movie.

Set in Colonial France, somewhere of the Newfoundland cost in the 1800's, a man is sentenced to death by Guilliton for murdering a man in a drunken fit. Full of remorse, the man is then "adopted" by the wife of the colony's regiment Captain, who believes that all man that were bad can be good. As they must wait for a guill, Neel, the condemmed continues to live his life on borrowed time. The film is a good example of the many questions that continue to confront the death penalty. Is it about rehabilitation, upholding the law, or plain revenge?

After that depressing but excellent movie, we moved over to see Taxi 2, a refreshing film about an illegal taxi driver from Marseilles who dreams of becomming a Formula One driver. He at least drives like on. Written by Luc Besson (Deep Blue, The Fifth Element), the film shows what a low budget, no stars and a non-Los Angeles location can do for a movie. Simple yet not stupid in typical Hollywood fare, this movie is a barrel of laughs.

In other news, I managed to get Thief 2 working again. Using Detonator 3 version 5.14. Took me hours to get it right.

2001-06-04T01:26:00.000-07:00

I despise Windows.

Especially Windows 2000, which is by far the most bullet proof and uncrashable version of Micro$oft's ugly GUI. I need 2000 to use SQL, Cold Fusion and other stuff I am currently learning. And it is much better then 98 or that blasted ME. But can you play games?? Not!

I reinstalled Thief 2 (since I have 3 more levels to go) but it doesn't seem to work very well. I load it up and it drops back to the desktop. I have tried 3 different versions of Detonator (I have a Riva TNT 16 MB Asus card) and am currently downloading another 7 to try.... which means reinstalling the update, restarting the computer, testing and reinstalling again.... yada yada yada.

And people wonder why Linux is now my main operating system. But I have to learn THAT too.

Another half hour to finish my article. grumble grumble.

2001-06-03T22:04:00.000-07:00

I hate long weekends.

Tis now Monday, a holiday in these parts, and I am too lazy to go out (40 minutes drive to Cybergen, 55 minutes to the office - free broadband or 30 minutes to our apartement -free cable TV). That and I have to finish my article for the Jakarta Post on.... what I wonder. Must figure that out. Takes 2 hours to complete an article... too much time I reckon. Must be more efficient. Thank God for my WorldSpace Satellite radio.... good radio programming is very hard to find.

Saw the film "Gamer" during the French Film Festival. Excellent geek movie. You want a film with car chases, computer special effects laden with in-jokes of the gaming culture, this is the film for you. A two bit scam artist and thief try to find their fortunes in making one of the best video games of all time. Never mind you need tons of programmers, graphic artists, state of the art computers and supreme knowledge of C to even consider making a game, this guy did it. Well, sorta.

Seems that X-Ray just found Neil Stephenson, the greatest cyber writer of all time (don't really understand Gibson that much). Snowcrash is my number one book and just can't wait to see it filmed... if ever. Cryptonomicon is long and sometimes confusing, considering he tossed in a lot of code and crypto, which I have to read over and over to even start to comprehend how weak crypto even works. Another good read is the Code Book by Simon Singh. It covers the art of secrecy from the time of ancient Egyptians to today. The book is written for the general public at large therefore not a complicated read. But it is also a history book of sorts and where would man be without knowing his history? He'd be doomed to repeat it.

But seeing Bosnia, East Timor and the Middle East, we're doomed to repeat our mistakes anyway.

2001-06-02T03:48:00.000-07:00

I started Friday waking up from my all time second worst nightmare. I was back in high school, about to take my final exam and I had no idea what was going to be in it. I had the worst notes and the textbook suddenly felt as heavy as 14th century cast iron anvil. I wasn't the best of students but I wasn't a complete bum (just a tad lazy). I ran around and begged Pronab, who has one of the greatest minds in my grade, to help me out. But before he can answer in came Lita, complaining on how she hated her teacher and in disgust threw her books down. I asked her for help and she GAVE me her complete, neat and coherent notes for me to cram. She is such a sweetie!

Now, 11 years on, I am forced to confront those high school years again, albiet from a different perspective. One of the International School based clans asked me to join them on their "Super Friday", to celebrate their final of final exams. I actually had no choice since I asked one of them to make a Counter-Strike map based on a popular mall here. But I was also curious on how the Britney Spears generation would party compared to me and my buddies, of the Debbie Gibson generation. Yes, that long ago.

And it came down to this. After a pre-fare binge at Chi-Chi's (whose personnel are far from friendly and I never got my change from the French Fries), part of the group was in my car on the way to the infamous Music Room. An incoherent Shaggles, a hyper Doctor and an euphoric Hamster were all trying to talk at the same time. In my 1978 Toyota Corrola. Coupious amounts of beer, champagne and liquor were consumed (among other things I don't dare to speculate) and the results were showing. The Doctor was bouncing around in my car while Shaggles claimed that alcohol made him think very clearly. He just had problems in delivering his thoughts at the moment.

Hamster was grinning ear to ear, talking about the great time he's had and how he'll miss it. And it seems after all this time, nothing has changed. Teens still drink to have a good time and go out to clubs and hang out. But I guess the cliques are still around as people don't seem to blend together as my school did (the cool group didn't mind talking to the geek group and the European crowd had no problems with the American group. I was part of each). I would have thought that in the years since my graduation kids would be more open, more accepting. After all, they all had one thing in common: they are all Third Culture Kids. Not nerds, jocks, cool, etc.

But I may be wrong.

The one thing that still puzzles me is the copious amounts of alcohol. Call me conservative (right, after my liberal statement that X-Ray commented on... ^.^) but I have some issues about drinking over the top. I had a beer (Australian!) and some champagne (Chardon - also Aussie based and it is excellent!) but as I was also driving I had to scale back. I am not keen about drinking just for the hell of it and lose some of my reflexes. I consider myself one of the best Counter-Strike snipers here (please, no flame mail) with great hand eye coordination and anything that slows me down is a cause for concern. Alcohol (at least too much of it) kills brain cells and that is something we should not take for granted.

But apart from my "adult" rant about the sins of youth, it was an interesting night. It was like being part of my gang again, going out to Haus Munchens then Mars Bar Party House (or Nasa) to dance, listen to music or be together as a group. Kind of difficult if you keep moving around and "your group" is scattered around the globe.

I'm going to e-mail Pronab and Lita to thank them anyway. Truely good friends are hard to find. Even after 11 years.

2001-05-31T07:57:00.000-07:00

I just finish the book Six Days by Brendon DuBois. Interesting concept and set in the near future (sooner then you think). Although there are some parallels to Ah-nold's Sixth Day, the novel showed an impressive array of technology that would be common place soon (satellite based internet systems, lapbots (laptops with the power of robots) and automatic cruise control (straight out of Sixth Day)

But the disturbing part was the cynical look of how the world (or the US for that matter) would be in the future. (Never mind Canada, dubbed FEDERAL Canada since Quebec seperated!). The US is in a long recession, Washington is fraught with special interest groups, the Army is filled with volunteers who have to get food stamps since they are underpaid (due to the budget appropriation by Congress for pork barrel projects), the President is losing his mind and the right wing begins to plot to completely decapitate the government and take over. Good techno-thriller. Pity things must be bleak to peak our interest to read the book.

Ironically, I saw Star Trek: The Next Generation on Sunday, an example of how positive the future can be. Mankind has come together and begins to explore space, medicine and history. Why can't we be like that? Instead of fighting and killing people, why can't we just get along? (The world population is exploding, the left has too much influence, the people next door are heathens, yada, yada, yada)

I am probably considered a Liberal since I believe that we all can live together in peace and harmony. A pacifist. Imagine that. But make no mistake, if someone comes in and tries to smoke a defenseless, innocent community/person/ideal, the Klingon, Counter-Strike playing God-of-War part of me would come out and lash back. Lock and load.

Is that what humanity has come down to? The violent defense of ideals? Or perhaps the readily acceptance and/or justification of such acts?

I need a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster. Here's looking to you, Arthur Dent.

2001-05-27T20:21:00.000-07:00

Restful weekend. Was unwired for about 30% of the time. Must work on that and completely unplug like Jeff. But a few things to think about.

On my way to the Internet Convention, I saw the aftermath of a small fender bender between 2 motorcycles and a car. An middle aged couple had to be helped off their motorcycle. It reminds me on how stupidly fast we now drive nowadays. My friend once told me on how he past by an accident scene in which someone's wife was sobbing, begging for people to help her husband, who was trapped by the steering wheel, desperate for breath. No one could do anything, we don't have 911 or the jaws of life handy here. My friend just drove on cause there was nothing he can do.

Back to the couple, I have always been cynical about people nowadays. How perhaps if something happened they would just go on their way, thinking only of themselves and no one else. But a mob of people immediately can the couple's aid, lifting the husband off the motorcycle, helping the wife to the curb. It bring back my faith in humanity, despite all the war of words, riots, threats and other junk that continues to plague my city, state and country. So I felt guilty on driving on, since I probably would be a hinderance instead of help with all those people there.

I guess we are not all bad after all.

2001-05-20T02:44:00.000-07:00

Sunday Afternoon. Back at the office.

I have successfully burned Mandrake Linux 8 to a CD-R disk after making 4 coasters (i.e. CD's that was burned a bit too much, practically to a crisp). It's about time I slowly cut my ties to the Borg (read: Microsoft) collective and learn some new computer skills. Gotta get out of the graphic user interface mode, and back to real hacking: text base commands!

After 3 years, I finally saw Pirates of Silicon Valley, and it brings back the good old days. I was introduced to computers via the Apple //, programming via the Macintosh (MacPascal), gaming via the collective (Windows95) and web programming via Linux, which is right now. I guess kids nowadays have no idea what a Volkswagen minivan is (one in which you can actually camp/sleep in), what a hippie commune is, or that computer conventions back in the 70's were a big deal. They probably never have even seen an Altair computer, an Apple //, an old Colecovision video game, PacMan, or my personal favorite, a Sinclair ZX 80. Time flies, but I believe we all should know our history, which is what Pirates of Silicon Valley.

How the big (XEROX, IBM) have fallen and how the meek (Micro$oft and Apple) got rich. "The money is in the hardware", said one IBM exec during the meeting with Gates and co. Right. I cannot believe the people in the boardroom at HP, XEROX and IBM did not have the foresight on what technology can do. Of course, Gates nearly got burned with the internet. And the DOJ.

Another film I saw was New Word Disorder, which had the words "B-Movie" written all over it. Starring Rutger Hauer (Bladerunner), Tara Fitzgerald (Sirens) and a shockingly different Andrew McCarthy (all 80's kids know him!), it tells the tale of Software Pirates actually raiding a company to steal their data. Didn't they ever hear of the Internet or network cracking? Apart from the major plot holes and about average storyline, the technology is pretty up to date. The funny thing is, the film is set in Silicon Valley. But was filmed entirely in the principality of Luxemburg. What? What's the deal? Are all movies supposed to be set in Southern California? I mean I love the place (lived there for over a year) but there are other cities. Much better cities. Face it dude, LA is a dump.

But I digress.

2001-05-19T03:07:00.000-07:00

Wired recently announced that Amazon.com has just signed a deal with Buena Vista Pictures to share/sell their customer database. So anyone who purchased a book about World War II or Hawaii some time ago can expect a (spam?) e-mail about the new upcomming Disney Picture Pearl Harbour starring Ben Affleck and Cuba Gooding Jr.

Good or bad? I am a big fan of Amazon and a paranoid computer hacker. Selling my information? How dare they! But then again, what do they have on me? A list of the books I purchased? (Mostly sci-fi books and the odd Samurai history novel). Where I live? (And when is Pearl Harbour comming to Jakarta? I rather see The Mummy 2!). But it is another revenue stream for Amazon, who I believe will weather this dot com storm nicely. They are one of the best web based business online and if it wasn't for the panic in Nasdaq and the hammering their stock is taking, their plans for achieving profitability in x years had to be accelerated to now. As in be profitable this year or perish.

But it is also a convenience for the customers. Us. Having purchased many books by Neil Stephenson (his Cryptonomicon is a masterpiece!), I may one day get an e-mail informing me of an upcomming movie featuring the works of William Gibson, the master Cyberpunk himself. (He wrote some of the best hacker episodes of the X-Files, didn't you know.) Perhaps it is a movie that tanked with the test audiences but would be a success in the geek world (think Johnny Nmemonic). It would help broaden our horizons a bit by giving us a heads up. Of course, if they spam me with junk, they better be prepared for the concequences. 1 0VVn jOo! (geekspeak for "I own you!")

In the meanwhile, I am at the office, working Saturdays. What is my idea of a restful weekend? Streched in front of the TV with a line up of movies that I have been wanting to watch for a long time. Galaxy Quest, Pirates of Silicon Valley and Barton Fink are all lined up and ready to go. Along with Blood: The Last Vampire and The Golden Boy (both Japanese animes), I hope to return to my throne as Couch Potatoe King. Then comes Monday and back to the grind.

I really need a vacation.

2001-05-18T07:54:00.000-07:00

For the record, it is 9:34 at night and I just finished e-mailing a friend when I decided to check out all my friend's blogs before I fight traffic to go home after a long day and 2 hour work out session (I lie, only 1 hour 10 minutes). Jeff, aka X-Ray now known as White Noise, was shocked by my preference of cheeses. He says that cheese ain't cheese unless you're talking brie, camembert, monfort or the like. (an easy cut and paste job from his website... saved me time from re-typing! : )

It is kind of ironic. Here I am in Indonesia, where the only good cheese we have is Kraft Chedder slices, Erin, an American friend of mine, hears a Canadian accent in me, and Jeff, a Canadian, thinks... actually I don't know what he thinks but I can pretty much determine that he thinks very little of the cuisine of his American cousins. Montreal, the city I grew up in, is essentially a very cosmopolitan (read: European) for a North American city, so the cuisine there (be it cheese, sandwiches or kebabs) are top class. Jeff probably thinks I have an American appetite (be it Pizza Hut, Hamburgers and Tacos Yo quiro Taco Bell?)

Which is probably true... I love junk food. Too much actually, so now I am cutting back and eating sensibly and working out. No more can I gorge on Big Macs and still remain thin (as my youth with a high metabolism). American stomach, Canadian accent, actually Indonesian. I need to move somewhere where all of this makes sense.... New Zealand, anyone?

In other news, another car bomb exploded in Israel. Erin visited the Museum of Tolerance yesterday and was shocked by the images she has seen. There is still violence in the world, be it in the Middle East, Bosnia, Africa, even here in Indonesia. You'd think that most of us would learn from all that has happened but noo.... we still have to pick our petty fights.... The sad thing is that if
we ever become a person when they see distressing news (bombs in Iraq or famine in North Korea), they TURN OFF THE TV, it basically means that they don't care anymore. It doesn't fit our personal worldspace... but it is there and all of us can do something about it. But then again, that is the idealist in me.

In happier news, I got a new scroll mouse.

2001-05-18T03:21:00.000-07:00

While I was quasi-cleaning my room (read: moving my junk from one side to the other), I found my battered but well read Omnibus of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Mr. Adams passed away suddenly last week and rocked the geek world to the core. Hitchhiker's is practically required reading for all up and comming nerds. It was not only the manic description of life, the universe and everything that makes the book so appealing, but also the humor and totally off-the-wall-and-from-far-left-field incredible tale of the last human alive. Well, for 5 years he was then suddenly he wasn't.

Mr. Adam's writing and style inspired a generation of writers, sci-fi or not, myself included. His death came as a shock to many of us, who at 49 was far too young to have left us for the Restaurant at the End of the Universe. He was known to always never make deadlines and his friend Richard Harris laments why the hell did he have to be early for once. Looking at various DNA sites (Douglas Noel Adams) from the BBC.co.uk to Douglasadams.com, one can see how many people he has motivated. One site even had a virtual wake where they celebrated his life and books in a cheery fashion. His books brought smiles to many of us and it would be improper if we were all depressed as Marvin the Robot at his wake.

His inane observations of the world help us see a different viewpoint in life, although it may not be terribly useful. Mankind's infatuation with the digital watch is one example. Or how easy it is to fly (You simply throw yourself to the gound, and miss).

I wrote on one of the websites that I will try and get more people to read his books. What with TV, Movies and Video, I am sure a lot of quality books and films that my generation (X) has seen may never been seen or read by the young'ins these days unless they are forced to for a book report or essay. How many of us has actually seen Casablanca or It's a wonderful life. The same for books. How many of the Britney Spears generation would actually read Shakespeare or Sir Arthur Conan Boyle?

For those of you who have never read of Douglas Adam's books, take a day and give it a try. You may just understand what us geeks find so funny sometimes. After all, compared to the trash comming out of Hollywood, Adam's books are mostly harmless. So long, Douglas, and thanks for all the fish!

2001-05-15T22:11:00.000-07:00

It has not been a good few days. I went to the barbers yesterday and ask for a short haircut. The young barber ask for particulars (how many inches, what style, keep the sideburns) which confused the daylights out of me. Too many choises. I am used to having a barber take my instructions and cut a conservative cut.

I don't know but I believe too many choices confuses people. But I think it's just me. When I was in the states a few years back, I went to the local supermarket to buy some breakfast supplies and was shocked by the amount of cheese they have. Morey Jack, French Cheese, Goats Cheese, Cheeder... everything but the Kraft Slices that I have been eating for over a decade! (Actually I found it under the Gruyere cheese). I sometimes feel like a citizen of a communist country seeing choice for the first time..... arghhhhhh!!

But I digress. It's only hair and it will grow back....

Too make matters worse, my scroll mouse at the office died.....

2001-05-13T01:44:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, the entire family (minus my sister who's in Sydney) decided to go to the hot water springs in the mountains. As we drove up the hill, my grandfather remarked that 60 years ago, this particular area was filled with trees. A truely dense forest. My mother concurred and said that in her days, people walking about had to be afraid of tigers. As in live, uncaged tigers.

But now, there are no tigers in sight. The trees have thinned out, still providing some shade, still blocking my satellite radio's dish in the car. (The long trip was made bearable by my WorldSpace Digital Reciever. CNN and BBC news crystal clear all the way). I am now wondering what will our children see in 60 years? No more trees, rivers or zoos?

Then I found a website with pictures of good ol Montreal. The shot of the McGill main gates on Sherbrooke with the forest of Mount Royal Park in the background makes it all right in the world again. At least someone in city planning on this planet did not mess up!

2001-04-26T04:31:00.000-07:00

b>Age of friendships

My dearest pal Julie Martin just upgraded her website. I find my journal linked (thanks, Admiral! ^.^ ) and Jeff's<. Unbelievable. It's been 7 years this May since I saw both. Jeff, or WhiteNoise as he is known now (previously he was X-Ray), looks different. Dude, how're ya doing?

I always seem to ponder the past because I just find it so awkward. Of my friends in Canada and Thailand, I have changed the least. I still am the same, (although have added some weight but not much), act the same and look the same. I do not in any way look like "an adult" (which has caused a lot of problems during my month in Las Vegas, but I digress)

Some of my friends now look very mature, adult-like in a Nicholas Cage kind of way. People like Tom Cruise and Dick Clark are always perpetually youthful. Check out Top Gun and Eyes Wide Shut, movies Cruise did in a span of over a decade and do you see any difference?

In my case, my photos of High School and today, I do look different. My hair is now shorter (compared to the big hair I had in ISB - because I didn't trust barbers but that is another story), and I have gained weight since I was soo bloody skinny back then. But compare the photos of Montreal and now, I still look the same. Scary.

I say that since I seem not to have a face that inspires leadership or confidence. I still look like a kid, and act like one (kicked my friend's ass in Counterstrike and and continuing to play Thief 2: The Dark Project).

My secret? Stay away from the sun. Difficult since I live in the tropics where it is hot and humid all the time. But unlike the Canadian snow birds in Florida, I avoid our galaxy's greatest star like the plague. Check out Dr. Vail Reese's website to see what the sun can do to your skin.

Looking good X-Ray. And what about my book, Jules? : )

2001-04-23T22:04:00.000-07:00

So it begins......

I am old. Damn old. Working out in the gym the other day to MTV, I painfully realised that I can no longer be part of the MTV generation. With programs like Road Trip or worse, Singled Out, I have graduated beyond the targeted marketing audience of MTV. Never mind that my generation (X) is one of the first groups to grow up with MTV (Duran Duran, Boy George, and the whole lot) but now, we look nothing like those toned young men and women "hanging out" and having a good time. I suddenly feel as old as U2 and The Police (remember them?).

Yes, in my days it was Debbie Gibson, New Kids on the Block (shudder) and the Cold War. Now it's Britney Spears, N*Sync (or Backstreet Boys, whatever pleases you) and still, a mini Cold War (versus China). How times have changed. Or has it?

I studied History and Computer Science hoping to make the world a better place. I once said "Computers are the future, computers are everywhere" and hot dog! am I right. We learned about the horrors of World War 2 and were convinced that we had the knowledge to prevent another travesty of humanity. My generation grew up hoping to have lasting peace in the Middle East with that famous handshake on the White House grounds between Yitzhak Rabin and Yassir Arafat. The world was finally going to be just like what Gene Roddenberry dreamed, a world of peace and justice for all.

Alas, computers and the net has taken the world by storm (along with Viruses, crackers and pron - no that is not a misspelling!) and the past 10 years have seen so many wars, conflicts, revolts, demonstrations, shootings, beatings, jailings, and famine. And the most powerful people/countries/corporations of the world did nothing except to safeguard their profits/revenue streams/politcal connections.

Nice place the world turned out to be, eh? Stop the earth and beam me up!