Cynthia got me the new favour Absolut Apeach. It tasted like any other Absolut Vodka … and always … served chilled right from the freezer.
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Category: My Good Life
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Of Blue Light and Sunrise
[A]
Fed up with the frequent screen black out and system restart, I opted to do another “mini-upgrade” to my computer. As wise people would say, since you can never locate the exact cause of problem, just keep upgrading and your problem will one day be gone.
So, here was what I did. I added a moderate hard-disk of 300GB with the latest technology that supposed to perform better (the entire system now has 660GB disk space), added a moderate 1GB memory (now 2GB overall), and a brand new casing with additional fans (purchased separately) that suppose to solve my over-heat problem – if that was a problem to start with. Nicely surprised I was, this new casing come with fans that emits blue light (as seen in the picture).
So far so good, I have been loving my computer. But if past experience has one thing to teach me, never say “yay” too early.
[B]
A rare occasion required me to wake up at 6 in the morning and indeed it is rare for me to admire the sunrise (middle picture). It was beautiful beyond words. Funny thing is Nature offers us so much that we human beings just keep ignoring it each and every day. Now I have noted down in my to-do list that I wish to see sunset at Santosa. I really do wish … (or Malacca for that matter).
PS. All pictures taken with my N80. (Nokia should pay me for publicity.)
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Photos that My Phone N80 has Taken (So Far)
Alright. So I got this cool new phone of mine and I have been taking photographs like no others business. From top left-hand corner clockwise, here we go!
Cynthia and her dessert when we dined at one of the nice restaurant at Millennia Walk. Ah … the German beer, sausage, and lovely dessert. Next is an amazing Latte that Spinelli has offered. At first I was wondering why he took so long to make my Latte and now I know. See that lovely lady? Well, we were on a boat ride to one of the military sites and I thought the image is pretty crisp clear. Next, back in the office, that is my guitarist of my band Jason and the ex-member Jeremy who was playing the guitar when the photo was taken. Last, was that a beach resort that I have visited while my wife was away? Not at all! My client site that is.
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To the Attic
In my own home, I chanced upon one of my oldest diaries that has one of Robert Doisneau’s famous photos as the cover (see the picture). Reading what I have written 16 years ago, it was a surreal experience. I kept asking myself: was I there? Did it really happen? Who was that girl? The passion that I had was just overwhelming. Skipping through the pages, I had the desire to recover my 2nd diary (that comes with a lock by the way). I am lucky to have found the “lost” diary and of course, the key to the diary was long lost. But that didn’t stop me from reading what I have written 15 years ago.
Looking back, I think writing diary is a good habit and I think technology has somewhat “murdered” this good old fashion habit. Nothing beats pen and paper when it comes down to diary. I think I should start writing diary again. What I have written 16 years ago, I can still retrieve and read. What I have written in the website or in all these electronic documents, I doubt if I can retrieve them 16 years later. That applies to the photographs we take as well. Have them printed and not just in electronic forms.
Alright, two more items added to my shopping list: a diary and a photo printer.
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I Googled Myself
Out of boredom, I typed in “Wilfrid Wong” in Google and see what it came out. Not surprised not surprised, this website came up as the first item (Yay?). Surprised surprised, my product rating and comments at Amazon.com has come up as well (Wow?).
My first phone was the Erisson 688 (96-00). My second phone was Nokia 8-series (00-06). Finally I have waited long for this N80 phone. At times I am amazed by my own patience. Seriously …
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A New Song!
I wanted to write a fast tempo song began with the word “Forever” and after sending Cynthia off to the airport, I set up my home studio and got the new song “Chasing Forever” going. I love to write songs.
Happy with the General Election reasult. Happy that Katherine will stay in American Idol for a couple of round. I mean, if she doesn’t screw up (she has a tendency to do as as I don’t think she really works well under stress), in a contest of 3 guys and 1 girl, she can easily land herself to the final. Just my thought.
Having equiped my computer with 2 video cards, I have revisited the game Warhammer 40,000 (real time strategy game) and see what my cards are capable of. As I was taking screenshots, I thought why don’t I write a story about one of the missions that I partook?
The mission began with the Librarian and Inquisitor arrived at the base not convinced that there was another alien force in the planet other than the Orks.
As part of the advancement of the combat units, capturing strategic points is part and puzzle of the mission.
And look what I have discovered. The alien units!
My tanks – Whirlwind – have a super long range. See how they destroy the enemy base. Ground was shaking I swear.
What is Warhammer without an intense battle? (In fact, there were many of these battles.)
Alright, we have found an Orks base. Seek and destroy!
My scouts are the great infiltraters. One of the coolest looking units.
I was advised to build a second base so HQ (headquarter) here it came.
As soon as I have started building this second base, our base was under heavy fire.
Indeed, nothing we couldn’t handle. As soon as the area was secured, the Librarian and Inquisitor travelled in style inside the transport units – Rhino. (My own idea … thought it would be cool to have main characters travel in “limo”.)
Soon after the Librarian and Inquisitor have arrived, they have confirmed the existence of this alien race.
And of course, as for me, mission accomplished.
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Such a sad day!
After a long day from work, I rewinded my tape and watched the American Idol. My favourite Katherine McPhee I thought did really well with stage presence and all. But the words from the judges were so harsh that broke my heart.
However, if to look at the overall performance of all the contestants, Eliot Yamin’s performance was the best I have to say. I really hope that Katherine won’t be voted out.
During the show, I especially love a quote by Andrea Bocelli – “To be great, it is destiny”.
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One PC Two Graphic Cards
I switched on the power half expected my computer to go kaboom. I saw three fans were moving but wait, what happened to the other two? A journal of my got-nothing-better-to-do-and-brainlessly-added-a-second-graphic-card adventure.
If technology bores you, at least admire the beautiful picture on the left taken right after I am the official proud owner of a computer that has two graphic cards. Can you see the characters “SLi”? If you wonder where are the two graphic cards, they are on either side of those characters.
I kept telling myself that I hold a Master degree in the field of computing. But the reality is when it comes down to the computer and me, something supernatural in nature bounds to happen. And in my opinion, all these hardware installation and configuration and manuals and all are written by the geekest of the geeks and only the geekest of the geeks can operate and understand them at ease.
When I upgraded my computer couple of months ago, I have this vision of having two graphic cards taking my gaming experience beyond the wildest of my imagination. Think of this like a car. Imagine there exists a car that, if it pleases you, can fit not just one, but two engines underneath the bonnet. It runs like a sport car with one engine. With two engines, you feel as though you are no longer driving but rather, flying.
Why didn’t I get 2 graphic cards in the first place? Well, back then, the price for one card was S$450. Spending S$900 on graphic cards seemed a bit excessive back then. Today, the card is less than S$340. The price is dropping but so is product (dropping off the shelf that is). The cards have to be identical. Otherwise, it won’t work.
Over Chinese takeaway, I was looking at my new graphic card and then at my computer and I was trying to figure out how the hack I was going to power my new card. In the old days, I just needed to plug the card into the slot and it would work. You see, this wonderful card requires a supplementary power supply that takes not just one, but two “power plugs”. I was searching high and low for spare “power plugs” but found none. After dinner, I creatively freed up some and ended up having two fans not working (hence the beginning of this journal). I swear I found two plugs saying “Fans Only” but somehow, supernaturally, the idea did not work.
And I was compelled to try to search for the manual of my power supply unit. I was in tears (of joy) when I found three “extension plugs” that convert one “power plug” into two.
Without reading the graphic card manual in details (who read manuals these days?!), I plugged the new identical card into the allocated slot. In doing so, I had to move the sound card down and removed the extra USB outlets in order to make space for my “new engine”. Not a problem. If my car can fly, I can do with 2 lesser USB outlets.
Like a kid with new puzzle, I found a “bridge” that straddle across the two cards. I read the manual once more and realized that I have to flip one of the big chips on board upside down! Oh no! That chip was located right in the middle of the two cards and since I had difficulties in removing the cards from the slots, I squeezed my fingers into the tight space, released the chip, and turned it the other way round. Now, instead of reading “Single Video Processor”, it read “Dual Video Processor”. Make sense, isn’t it?
After placing the “bridge” on my two beloved cards, according to the manual, there was a “mechanical device” to lock the “bridge” in place. I found the device in the box and installed it as per instructed.
Just when I thought that was it, I discovered another step in the manual asking me to power this wonderful mechanism or else the entire system would go unstable. How could I miss that?! Now, I have used up my last “extension plug”.
When all were in place, I did a sign of the cross and powered up my computer yet again. So far so good, no kaboom at all. In fact, the computer just booted up like every other days. Then I realized that I have to instruct the “brain” of my computer (read: BIOS) that I now am a proud owner of two graphic cards. Restarted the computer and set the instruction properly. Still, the operating system did not register the fact that I have a 2nd graphic card. Oh no! S$350 has gone to waste! Not to turn this already boring journal into something lower than a bored read, I have tried an hour and in desperation, I swapped the two identical cards around and viola, the operating system finally “discovered” that I have a new hardware. All of a sudden, my computer is “SLi enabled” (technical details can be found by clicking here)! Thanks to the invisible supernatural force.
To be honest, after taking my new car now fitted with two engines out for test driving, I hardly see any difference at all. Perhaps I am ahead of time. After reading up a bit more on SLi, I realised that not all the games and applications are built to utilize two graphic cards. The analogy is that there are only certain “roads” whereby my new car can fly.
In a way, it was a confidence boosting experience (after messed up on my very first assembled computer). And in a way, I know in the future, I won’t say to myself: If only I had two graphic cards …