auyongtc’s blog

… was how I started the new semester in my degree programme in INTI College Malaysia in Nilai… after the end of this new semester, I’ll have 3 more semesters in the Final Year, after which I would graduate with a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Computer Systems & Networks degree…

Yeap, now that I’ve moved back completely to civilization Kuala Lumpur, I have to travel to class in the campus in Timbuktu Nilai by bus. The college provides shuttle bus service between the Subang Jaya campus and the Nilai campus and charges RM 60 for a monthly pass.

Not too bad I guess, except that I have some (or rather, lots of) spare time to wait for the next bus… really need to get a laptop so that I can do my work and projects in the library….

As for the bus ride, well, I have to drive to Subang Jaya and park my car near Sion’s house (thanks buddy for letting me park outside your house) and walk to the Subang Jaya campus…

Boarded the bus this morning with Ly (my coursemate, she’s from Vietnam, and I’m using her laptop now to blog this entry… found out that she actually read my blog from time-to-time…. another lurker… ) as she also travel on a daily basis by bus… the bus provided is like a typical express bus you would take to “balik kampung” (Malay term for going back hometown)…

That would only mean an hour of bumpy and noisy bus ride coupled with the lack of powerful air-conditioning…. sigh, luckily I only have to go thru this twice a day, one hour each way, and 5 days a week… the next ride coming up at 5.30pm to go back to Subang Jaya….

Definitely not a good environment to be doing any form of reading, or else would end up getting a big headache… sigh, should start filling up my iPAQ with mp3 music so that I can listen to it while dozing off to sleep in the bus…

Got my official result too today… 2 A’s, 1 B+ and 1 B-… not too bad, considering the shit I’ve been thru over the course of the last semester…
I got A for both Distributed Database System, and Computer Structures and Interfacing (read: assembly programming)… while I got a B+ for Systems Programming and a B- for Windows NT & NetWare Administration….

I got a B- for the Windows NT & NetWare subjects perhaps because it’s already obsolete and that I don’t understand how they could make us sit for a exam paper on such a practical subject… imagine questions like “Explain the steps to install a new printer and share it to the users with the permission bla bla bla”… Hello? It’s a practical subject, it’s about an operating system, it’s graphical… geez… nvm ler, I did well I guess…

That’s all for today I guess… can’t wait to board that damned bus and get home…

… why not get it from me? I managed to source from the authorized distributor and I can sell at the following price:

All are brand new with full 1 year warranty and in box.
Details can be found here: http://www.apple.com/ipod/

Payment via Maybank2U and free delivery around PJ/Subang area.
Otherwise, additional postage will be required for PosLaju delivery.

Posted the offer at Lelong.com.my too: http://auc.buysell.com.my/Auc/List/DetailSale.asp?ProductID=839902

Just wanted to earn some extra pocket money since college is starting soon.

P/S - If you’re waiting for the iPod mini, let me know, I probably can get it too once the authorized distributors in Malaysia get their stock

… I bought the Lite-On LDW-401S 4X DVD+R/DVD+RW writer and 2 sets of Plantronics LS1 headsets (one for Sarah), a Logitech New Touch Keyboard (for Sarah too), and some Imation CD-R and some various DVD-R media.

You’ll be wondering why I bought some DVD-R media when I have only a DVD+R drive… no, I didn’t make a mistake (considering the + and - are both different writing technologies in the DVD recordable industry)… but rather, I managed to cross upgrade its firmware to a +/- writer (LDW-411S) and with another cross upgrade, managed to get it to work at 8X (LDW-811S)! (though I have never tried it due to the lack of a 8X compatible media). So I paid RM 300 (came with a bundled TDK DVD+R media) and upgraded to a drive that’s worth RM 500.

Well, how did I manage to cross upgrade? Simple, as all the 3 drives (LDW-401S, LDW-411S, LDW-811S) have the same mechnical specifications and motors, it’s just a difference of firmware. If you refer to this site, you can find out the way to upgrade from LDW-401S to LDW-411S and then upgrade from LDW-411S to LDW-811S. Of course, you’re doing this on your own risk (I took the red pill ) and will void your warranty.

So now my drive is a happily converted LDW-811S, believing that it could burn up to 8X… sadly, I’ve only 4X DVD-R and DVD+R media to try. I bought a small 10-piece spindle of the i-Blue DVD-R 4X (RM 5 each) and 2 pieces of DDM DVD-R 4X (Made in Malaysia by a Malaysian company, RM 2.90 each, summore with a jewel case… wonder what’s the cost maybe I should call up the factory (number provided at the jewel case) and ask how much for a 100-piece spindle) and 100-piece spindle of Imation CD-R (RM 0.74 each). Tried burning on the DDM to try out its quality, took about 13 mins in 4X writing and the end product was okay. It didn’t became a coaster like I expected, and it worked remarkbly well.

I managed to get the Plantronics LS1 (now renamed to .Audio 60) stereo headset with mic for only RM 18 each! Although OEM, but it’s helluva steal! Sounds pretty good, with quite nice bass support, mic’s got echo cancellation, and has a volume control with a mic mute button. Well worth the RM 18! *it retails for USD 29.95 in Plantronic’s site. And the nice part it’s that it comes with a 3m long cable!

Now I can Skype with ease!
All in all, although the PC Fair lacked some big bargains, it was a splendid time I had, going there with Sarah and getting caught in the rain…

… as my 3D graphics card in the system is considered old and unsupported for this game!

Well, the game’s the sequel to Splinter Cell, called Pandora Tomorrow. Yeap, it’s the game by Ubisoft that’s based on Tom Clancy’s excellent military fictions.

And apparently my card, a NVIDIA GeForce2 MX 400 with 64MB SDRAM could not be supported to play this game… drat!
*Same goes for the new Prince of Persia game released not too long ago!*

Anyone got a 3D card newer than the GeForce4 MX series to throw away to me?

… today at the Shah Alam Immigration Department was a breeze! *Phew*
Reached there 5 minutes before 10am and I got the number 4057, with the counters currently serving 4042… not too bad, just 15 numbers ahead of me…

Managed to get it done before 11am and then drove to Brickfields to have pork noodles for lunch there with my dad…

Although the application process wasn’t a nightmare (thankfully! ), but there was one incident there that annoyed me…

Well, when I was queueing up behind a guy at the counter to get my number (after filling in my forms and attaching the relevant documents), comes this lady in her late 20’s or so, cutting in just behind that guy (the queue with the lane dividers were just a tad to the right of the counter).

So, I patiently waited for her to realize her ignorance of the queue (there were nobody behind me, you see) but after a while, I made a comment to her, saying that the queue is actually where I’m standing. She gave a look at me, and arrogantly said in Mandarin: “I came from across another counter (pointing to some counters to the left) and I was here before this, SO I AM NOT cutting your queue”

What a load of bullcrap from this lady… she was at the counter before this was because she needed to buy the application form (RM 1 each) and I did that too earlier *grin*

I decided not to make much of a fuss out of it (considering my dad was beside me at that time, and he knows a few of the immigration staff behind the counters). She went on ahead of me to get a number, but for some reasons, was denied a number, perhaps due to some incomplete documents or her photographs not up to specification. Serve her right…

And then when I was minding my own business (means, firing up my iPAQ PDA to play Bejeweled), she sat down right next to us. Noticed that when she got her number, it was like 5 numbers after mine…

After I went thru the first phase of the application, I sat back down waiting for the 2nd phase (2nd phase was to pay for the application at a separate counter and get the receipt) and after a while, I noticed her number being called.

This smart alec lady, conveniently place her right thumb on the fingerprint scanner device (made by SAGEM, by the way) when told by the officer. At that time, her right thumb was still dirty with the black ink that was used to take her thumbprint in the traditional way (supposed to clean it up right after, with the tissue paper conveniently provided at the counter top) for documentation purpose. I saw the officer give her a very fierce grin as the officer had to clean up the mess of smudges that she caused… Serve her right again!

So it wasn’t a bad experience… at least I can get my passport on Wednesday!

… today and I’m heading to the Shah Alam’s Immigration Department tomorrow morning to apply for my International Passport.

Supposedly, I’ll be required to fly to Tokyo, Japan soon, either end of this month or something in May. Moved most my essential belongings back from Nilai (that means my clothes, and PC and all its tangled wires) and gonna go back a few times next week to bring back the remaining stuff left there…

I’ll try to blog my passport application experience, much like what Dr Liew and Jikon here, here, here and finally, here. Don’t think I’m bringing my bulky Oly Camedia C-750UZ camera though, really gotta get my hands on a cameraphone… so much more convenient for daily pix…

… is what I feel like blogging today. According to Dictionary.com, important means:

Strongly affecting the course of events or the nature of things; significant: an important message that must get through; close friends who are important to me

But (there’s always a but or however) this importance is always a subjective affair. One may find something of importance, yet other people may feel that it’s of nothing important or significant. I suppose one’s priority plays an important (maybe not) role in identifying the importance of things…

Okay enough of rants, on a totally unrelated subject, Arsenal lost at home and sent Chelsea into the European Champions League semi-finals, with the scoreline 1-2 in the 2nd leg of the quarter-finals match (they were deadlocked at 1-1 each in the 1st leg). Monaco also scrapped thru with the 5-5 aggregate result with Real Madrid over the 2 legs and won in the away goal rules.

Is this the end of Arsenal’s high flying season? It’s not important now…
What’s more important is I get my ass offline and start studying for the exam at 12pm!

… to be studying for my exam paper tomorrow… so I’m on the web now looking for freelance PHP development projects that I can take up to get some side income…

Anyone out there looking for freelancer to do a simple to enterprise PHP web system? I’m your man… e-mail me at auyongtc@theuseless.com today!

… as his Mercedes-Benz V10 engine went up in smokes and caused him to retire the race early for the 3rd consecutive times this season at the inaugural Bahrain Formula 1 Grand Prix!

Blardy hell, I really feel like walking up to Norbert Haug (the person in-charge of the Mercedes-Benz engine for the West McLaren Mercedes F1 team) and give him a piece of my mind for building up a supposedly-reliable engine that was supposed (by this season’s regulation) to last the entire race weekend…

Not just Kimi had a engine blow on Friday practice, but on race day as well… sigh… last 2 seasons he struggled to find his maiden victory and now this season, will he have to struggle to even finish the race distance? I shudder to think of this, especially since McLaren came a long way as a racing powerhouse in Formula 1…

But mark my words about BAR Honda… especially Jense with his determination and Sato (if he behaves well on the track…)