Not too long ago, keeping track of your friends from your primary school and secondary school days was next to impossible. I mean how do you even begin to search out for that long-never-seen friend of yours if you don't even have an inkling where in the world that person is right now?
But, times have changed...oh, boy how times have changed.
The social-networking website phenomenon that is Facebook is radically changing the way we connect to people. Long-lost friends suddenly appear out of nowhere, and before you even realise it, a friend you know is a friend of a friend of a friend. Then you begin to realise how small this world actually is. Sure, great distances may separate physically separate you and your long lost buddies, but in cyberspace, that's nothing. Your friends are only a poke away!
I'm no Facebook nut, but I find it a usefool tool for looking for people whom I've lost contact with, and vice versa. Through it I've come into contact with people whom I've not met for over 20 years! People who I thought I'd never ever meet ever again; people who I've basically stored in the "Perry's Past Friends Box".
Like I said in my previous post, technology never ceases to amaze me.
Yet, despite all its wonderful bells and whistles, technology is only as great as the people who created it. And there lies the problem. People are flawed, and so technology can only be that way as well - flawed.
How else do you explain the reason for the mighty Facebook to lump people from all parts of Wales under England? Facebook says it was due to a 'bug', which is a pretty convenient way of saying that it was a technical glitch, and error in the programming code, in short, it's all the computer's fault.
But, I suspect the 'bug' was faulty human beings in the first place.
You can read the whole story about this 'error' and people's reaction to it at the BBC website here.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
What's in a name
This is one has been sitting on the boiler for some time but I thought this is a good time as any to talk about it.
I'm not sure what it is about Sabah and building naming, but there seems to be a tremendous dearth of creativity among the developers here. Originality is something I find sorely lacking here.
Take for example this building called the KK Times Square. You'll find a building with a similar name in Kuala Lumpur, the Berjaya Times Square. We will also have a Megamall here (though it's still in progress), just like the more illustrious one in KL as well. And Putrajaya? Well, we have a Putera Jaya here. We even have a Bandar Utama (of course, that's in Sandakan...but still)!
But, the lack of creativity doesn't just stop at names of places. It extends to road names as well. Take for example this hilarious excuse for a road name - Muntahan ('vomit' in English). Well, a road with a name like that is rather sad, but imagine having a few of them (Muntahan 1, Muntahan 2, Muntahan 3, etc.). Sounds like a really bad series of sequels to an equally terrible horror flick.
And the un-originality (is there even such a word?) of the road naming doesn't end there. There's a district in Sabah called Penampang, and one of it's major towns is called Donggongon. And guess what the name of the road that runs through this town is called? The 'Road in front of Donggongon Town'. Exact words, no kidding! And we also have the 'Access Road to Family Planning Centre', which leads you to (yep, you guessed it!) the Family Planning Centre.
With all these howlers for road names, I hope someone high up in the Public Works Department will elect somebody with at least a minute spark of creativity to helm the road naming committee, so that we'd get at least more 'normal' names.
I'm not sure what it is about Sabah and building naming, but there seems to be a tremendous dearth of creativity among the developers here. Originality is something I find sorely lacking here.
Take for example this building called the KK Times Square. You'll find a building with a similar name in Kuala Lumpur, the Berjaya Times Square. We will also have a Megamall here (though it's still in progress), just like the more illustrious one in KL as well. And Putrajaya? Well, we have a Putera Jaya here. We even have a Bandar Utama (of course, that's in Sandakan...but still)!
But, the lack of creativity doesn't just stop at names of places. It extends to road names as well. Take for example this hilarious excuse for a road name - Muntahan ('vomit' in English). Well, a road with a name like that is rather sad, but imagine having a few of them (Muntahan 1, Muntahan 2, Muntahan 3, etc.). Sounds like a really bad series of sequels to an equally terrible horror flick.
And the un-originality (is there even such a word?) of the road naming doesn't end there. There's a district in Sabah called Penampang, and one of it's major towns is called Donggongon. And guess what the name of the road that runs through this town is called? The 'Road in front of Donggongon Town'. Exact words, no kidding! And we also have the 'Access Road to Family Planning Centre', which leads you to (yep, you guessed it!) the Family Planning Centre.
With all these howlers for road names, I hope someone high up in the Public Works Department will elect somebody with at least a minute spark of creativity to helm the road naming committee, so that we'd get at least more 'normal' names.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Just chillin' tunes
You've heard of youtube, right? It's that ever popular website where people from just about every corner of the globe share videos of either themselves or other people or of some other interesting bits. So, I was browsing youtube yesterday, and you know the home page where it shows you what people are watching at the moment, right? I saw this thumbnail of this person called Zee Avi (she goes under the handle KokoKaina), and it seemed to have been viewed quite a number of times. So, out of curiosity, I clicked and what greeted me was this sweet-looking girl playing her guitar. Nothing extraordinary right? I mean, you'll get lots of sweet-looking girls toting their guitars on youtube.
But, once she started playing and singing - I was fascinated. Her playing style is extremely simple and her music is very laidback. It's the kind of music that you can just listen to on a lazy afternoon, doing absolutely nothing but getting comfortable on your favourite piece of furniture. But, that's not all. Her voice is quite good. Hers is not like those Mariah Carey-esque strong, high vocals, but those quiet, peaceful, come-listen-to-me kind. Almost like Norah Jones.
In one of her videos, she tells how she started posting videos on youtube since 2007 and then one day, she was highlighted on youtube's front page, and was discovered by a recording studio in LA. And so, she's just recorded her first album and it has just been released in the US. I read that it's available at the ITune's store as well.
But, the most interesting bit is another thing I learned about her. She's Malaysian, born in Miri, Sarawak.
So, if you're looking for some relaxing music to listen to, in exchange for all the guitar-crunching, drum-beating that you listen to daily on your music player, try listening to Zee Avi on youtube and see if you agree with me whether she's one talented girl.
But, once she started playing and singing - I was fascinated. Her playing style is extremely simple and her music is very laidback. It's the kind of music that you can just listen to on a lazy afternoon, doing absolutely nothing but getting comfortable on your favourite piece of furniture. But, that's not all. Her voice is quite good. Hers is not like those Mariah Carey-esque strong, high vocals, but those quiet, peaceful, come-listen-to-me kind. Almost like Norah Jones.
In one of her videos, she tells how she started posting videos on youtube since 2007 and then one day, she was highlighted on youtube's front page, and was discovered by a recording studio in LA. And so, she's just recorded her first album and it has just been released in the US. I read that it's available at the ITune's store as well.
But, the most interesting bit is another thing I learned about her. She's Malaysian, born in Miri, Sarawak.
So, if you're looking for some relaxing music to listen to, in exchange for all the guitar-crunching, drum-beating that you listen to daily on your music player, try listening to Zee Avi on youtube and see if you agree with me whether she's one talented girl.
Techno-wonderment
The wonders of technology.
It just keeps reminding me every now and again how amazing are the myriad of technological stuff we surround ourselves with every day. Take for example the hand phone. I remember the time in the not too distant past when hand phones were still not very common, and about the only common variety was the one where you had to carry a box-like base which served as both the battery and the transmitter. My dad had one and on more than a few occasions I had the "privilege" to carry it, and boy, compared to the mobile phones we get today, those things weighed as much as a tank!
The tank
Then, came that tank of a phone evolutionised. It shrunk. Still a whole lot chunkier, and boxier than the phones of today, these phones were never less much much more lighter and mobile. I used to call them the "water-bottle" mobile phones. I don't remember now what gave me the idea to give them that name, but that's how I knew them. My dad had one, and I think the only manufacturer of such devices was Motorola. By all means, these things were tough and solid. I think even if a car went over them, they'd still be intact!
Do you still remember one of these? It was all the rage then!
But, nowadays, mobile phones are all about sleekness, rounded edges, simplicity in design, and killer functionality. No more is a hand phone just a means for communicating. I think we've passed that threshold a long time ago. Now, your average phone is a picture taking-music playing-life organising-alarm ringing-movie playing-digital file storing-web surfing-message sending-game playing little piece of wonder. And that's just your mid-range phone. The high-end ones, I'm told, are even more spectacular.
But I like having devices that are meant for what they do best. Having all the other extras a cool. And sometimes I get a bit green with envy when I look at all the cool phones that my friends (and even my students!) have. But I figure, I wouldn't use all those extra functionality very often, and so it wouldn't justify the extra cost in getting such phones. So I'm pretty contented with the one I have currently - a sub RM100 phone. It does what it's supposed to do pretty decently - to call and send sms-es.
It just keeps reminding me every now and again how amazing are the myriad of technological stuff we surround ourselves with every day. Take for example the hand phone. I remember the time in the not too distant past when hand phones were still not very common, and about the only common variety was the one where you had to carry a box-like base which served as both the battery and the transmitter. My dad had one and on more than a few occasions I had the "privilege" to carry it, and boy, compared to the mobile phones we get today, those things weighed as much as a tank!
The tankThen, came that tank of a phone evolutionised. It shrunk. Still a whole lot chunkier, and boxier than the phones of today, these phones were never less much much more lighter and mobile. I used to call them the "water-bottle" mobile phones. I don't remember now what gave me the idea to give them that name, but that's how I knew them. My dad had one, and I think the only manufacturer of such devices was Motorola. By all means, these things were tough and solid. I think even if a car went over them, they'd still be intact!
Do you still remember one of these? It was all the rage then!But, nowadays, mobile phones are all about sleekness, rounded edges, simplicity in design, and killer functionality. No more is a hand phone just a means for communicating. I think we've passed that threshold a long time ago. Now, your average phone is a picture taking-music playing-life organising-alarm ringing-movie playing-digital file storing-web surfing-message sending-game playing little piece of wonder. And that's just your mid-range phone. The high-end ones, I'm told, are even more spectacular.
But I like having devices that are meant for what they do best. Having all the other extras a cool. And sometimes I get a bit green with envy when I look at all the cool phones that my friends (and even my students!) have. But I figure, I wouldn't use all those extra functionality very often, and so it wouldn't justify the extra cost in getting such phones. So I'm pretty contented with the one I have currently - a sub RM100 phone. It does what it's supposed to do pretty decently - to call and send sms-es.
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