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in the beginning there were dial-ups. then came broadband, and soon after, we were lured into the wifi phenomenon. now, a new wave begins to sweep us off our feet and carry us into new worlds.

welcome to the age of p1 w1max (packet one’s worldwide interoperability for microwave access), brought to you by green packet. simply put, wimax is a wireless digital communication system which is intended for wireless “metropolitan area networks”, which basically means wireless internet with coverage that blankets cities.

in the recent pikom pc fair held in kl convention centre last weekend, i spotted a few banners stating “discover that small is the next big thing with… p1 w1max”.

image taken from dannyfoo.com

therefore what’s so great about wimax that people go ga-ga about?

accordin to wikipedia, you have an extended coverage of up to 50 kilometers, which is not entirely true accordin to damien. accordin to him, he conducted a trial in another country, and wimax forum’s standard only allows modulation technique to go as far as 8.3km. to put it simple, he provided an example in no way reflects the real situation of wimax.

1. distance from base station (km) : download speed (mbps)
2. 0.1 : 10
3. 0.5 : 7
4. 1 : 5
5. 2 : 4
6. 3 : 2
7. 4 : 1

now, this isn’t good right? but, with such a high speed access and wireless freedom (no phone lines required), and many base stations around the klang valley, this could solve the coverage problem, ain’t it? when tested at p1’s booth in pc fair, the download speed hit a whoopin 2.6mbps, which is freakin amazin for a wireless connection (as compared to maxis’ 3g wireless broadband).

it is even faster than my wired streamyx connection! video streamin on youtube takes no waitin time, and i can download files 5 times faster than my house streamyx connection. wow!

honestly, what is he doing here at pc fair?

well, new technology always comes with a hefty price, and i expect it to range between rm150-200. i was so keen to sign up for the free trial, but because their coverage areas are only in kuala lumpur city center, subang jaya, usj1 and usj2, sentul, setapak, and gombak, i do not stand the chance to become a wimax tester =[

I know i haven't been updating my blog for some time..mayb cuz im lazy, or mayb cuz kenneth is now on his mega holiday trip n im not able to contact him, so takde mood recently.=P

Anyway, this blog is to highlight how touched i am by my bro.*blush*
Too much of late nights + insufficient water + durian + rambutan--> i officially don't feel well!
FEVER plus TERRIBLE FLU.*sobs*

Back to my bro, i asked him whether he has 'liang cha' in the house. He said no n asked me why, if i was sick. I said, 'Oh, nvm la..'

The next thing i know, he got changed and drove out. Out of curiousity, i asked his gf where he went. N she told me my bro went to buy 'liang cha' for me. I was quite shocked and at the same time touched.=) Shocked cuz there are no shops anywhere near here, n touched cuz he didn't mind going all the way out to get me the liang cha.

I realised that i haven't been so close with my bro anymore since i finished my spm. Not that we aren't close anymore, but well, i act cute a lot n he used to act cute together with me! N even up to form 5, we would do many stupid n fun things together.

At times i wished i could turn back time, yet usually i don't. Cuz life has to go on no matter what. I will reminisce those moments back when i was younger with a delighted heart cuz it happened.

People grow up, and move on. My bro has a gf, n i have a bf..mayb that's y our attention for each other has diminshed to some extent? I wonder.
No matter what, i am really touched by his certain acts..e.g., making sure im not alone in vista during the weekends, buying me presents on my birthdays, etc..=D

Thank you ko ko!

While I sit around,wasting away my friday night waiting for the start of the Olympics Games opening ceremony, I can’t help but to ponder upon the issues thats been shrouding this games. For the record, I am not excited about this Olympics. For me its just one of the things that happen once very 4. Its a bland, emotionless thing. (don’t get me wrong, Im still a big fan of Malaysia’s badminton team) However, there are certain quarters who are all excited about it because it’s China who’s hosting it this time. I’m not. I don’t like China.

Now don’t get started with that “but you’re Chinese” argument with me. My ancestors did come from China. But that doesn’t mean that I would naturally get excited about everything Chinese. It would be like saying “Errr, why don’t you like ticks now? Since your monkey-like ancestors used to eat them from each other’s back & seem to enjoy that very much.” 

First it’s the Tibet issue. I supported the call for a boycott. Many people think that it’s China’s internal affair, we should not intervene but I think that is just too unempathetic. It’s like knowing that your neighbour next door has murdered his wife, treated his children like animals, keeping them in cages and still not report it to the authorities. Would you still say, “Well it’s his family’s “internal affair” afterall, we shouldn’t be such a busy body”? If you would, then well done. You’ve just proved to me that the dark prince does exist indeed.

I’ve also heard that people say boycotting the Games would be unfair to the athletes who have trained really hard for it. Well yes, but it would be great if the athletes can just come out and make a statement by boycotting the opening and closing ceremony and still participate in their respective events. By doing so, they won’t waste their hard work, and at the same time do something significant, something humane, sending out a strong message to the communist Chinese government. It’s a win-win situation! However, the boycott call has died off over time, although i still wish that there’s someone who would hoist a flag, flash a poster or anything Tibet-related during the ceremony, for the Tibetians has suffered long enough.

 

Secondly i think China’s being too pretentious. They are officially trying too hard; closing down zillions of factories that are warming up the world for a couple of months to clear the air, trying to impress the world with its still smog-filled skies and after that, I’m sure they will just go back into operation and start polluting the world again. I don’t see any attempt for improvements! To me, its just a show, for the world to see, instead of them grabbing the crux of the issue and dealing with it. I don’t even think they care about the environment. All I know is they are more concerned about their ‘face’ than anything else. 

People always say that the West is trying to bad-mouth China by spreading news of these issues through the media but I think the issues are really relevant here. Most capital punishments in the world (spare our fellow Muslims in Saudi and Iran alright, China holds the record), distortion of truth about the Tiananmen Massacre to its citizens, the Tibet issue, suppression of religious freedom, and etc. All these are issues that need to be addressed, but instead of doing that they are more concerned about ’saving face’ and petty things like setting up idiotic rules like asking their plus-sized citizens to not wear clothes with horizontal stripes when they are out in the streets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

*additional read: wikipedia’s - Concerns over the 2008 Summer Olympics, BBC’s - Have the Games changed China?, Times Onlines - You’re telling me to wear what?

The Away Box

Entering the building, it was as if one was entering a great asylum of which was just hit by a massive outbreak of admittance due to a natural disaster. There were some people sitting around looking hurt, while there were others looking strangely transparent and slowly hovering along the corridors and the rooms, as if looking for something.

"Oh Lord, have mercy." exclaims Mother Goose. "Are they..."

"Yes, She's already extinguished some of us. Sometimes, they come back. Sometimes they don't." utters Ego. " I believe Conscience was one of the lucky ones who did. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for Trust and Faith."

"Dear old Faith, I really liked Faith." says Conscience.

"I'm surprised She hasn't come for you again, Consy." expressed a tall dark figure standing against the wall with a hideous smile. Large shackles could be seen broken into the arms and the legs. A tired looking unsuccessful attempt to unchain the right shackle was also visible.

"Hello, Guilt. I see you have been well." says Mother Goose

"Of course, my dear. How else would dear old Consy here survive another fall if wasn't for me? I believe I have been useful, and if it wasn't for Ego, Trust would have been in her gardens pruning her rose bushes, isn't that right, Ego old friend?"

"Is that true Ego?" Mother Goose asks with a frown no one will ever forget.

"Necessary steps had to be taken. Trust was at fault for leading us to a resolution at the expense at many others. I merely saved the rest of us from becoming like Love. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, does it not, Guilt? But of course, I never expected you to be able to make that decision, not even for yourself!" argues Ego.

"Trust and Hope were the only ones keeping the lot of us from being extinguished! If She didn't get to us, we would have faded out ourselves without them! And with Trust gone, we have failed to find Hope's whereabouts!" spat Guilt.

"Hope lives, for now. But I cannot guarantee Hope's existence for much longer." Ego mentions without a pause.

Guilt then rushes forward and striking Ego in the face as both fall into a struggle.

Conscience screams.

"Children! Stop this at once!" screams Mother Goose.

Conscience held Guilt back while Naughtiness helped Ego up.

"I do not need your help, woman." says Ego as he pulls his arm away from Naught.

" That's enough, Ego! Your despicable struggle with Guilt will have to wait. I want to know what has happened to Love, immediately!" orders Mother Goose.

Just then, a strong cold gush of wind blasted along the corridor. Everyone had to crouch down to prevent falling over while covering their faces from protection from flying objects.

"What in God's name is happening now?!" yells Mother Goose at the top of her voice

"It's HER!" yells Guilt.

The strong wind turned into a squall which lasted for a short while before subsiding completely. Leaving the place in a mess of objects and people. It was then made obvious that Work was missing.

" Looks like She needed Work," noticed Ego. "or perhaps not."

"You better pray Work is not extinguished, Ego" threatens Guilt.

"Not everything is my fault, you know. But don't worry, Work was probably just called away. He'll be back in the ab." explains Ego.

" Now before the two of you go off into one of your insufferable scuffles, we should head to where Love is. I need to speak with Love urgently, before any of you gets called away or, God-forbid, extinguished!" exclaims Mother Goose while tidying her hair and dress.

"Why don't Naught lead the way this time?" says Ego with a sneaky smirk.

"Yes, let us go Naught. Come now, dear. I don't have all day!" says Mother Goose.

Naught wipes the hesitantly worried look on her face and proceeds without a word.


To be continued.

Just a brief update and sharing. Watched Hellboy 2: The Golden Army last week and Mummy 3: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor just now in cinema.

For Hellboy 2, I think it’s a decent movie, with its special effects better than the first. It offers a simple plot, and it’s more of a action-fantasy movie that is catered for families. I’d say that if you wanna have a light movie, just go watch it. Nothing deep about it, but it’s OK to spend your money to go to the cinema, in my humble opinion.

As for Mummy 3, DON’T watch it. It’s not worth your money. Like Hellboy 2, it offers a simple plot. However, what Hellboy got it right, Mummy 3 screws up big time. The movie feels messy, and everything is tied up loosely. Perhaps I’m a bit critical about this movie, since I know quite a bit about Chinese culture, but this movie just don’t cut it. Everything in the movie runs in a very very cliche way, you can literally tell what is going to happen next every moment. Things are also too cheesy, and I think the actors in it treat the movie more like a vacation than casting. To sum it up, I really DON’T recommend watching this movie. The only saving grace for this movie is its special effects. Unless if all you want to see is Jet Li, Brendan Fraser, Maria Bello or our dear Malaysian Michelle Yeoh in action.