A Great Imbalance Part 1

It doesn't take a genius to figure, that the world is troubled by a host of problems big and small. If there are such things as aliens, I bet these extraterrestrial beings would be drafting a neat plan to annihilate the troubled human race and start rebuilding this already wretched world if, and only if their intentions are noble.

One of the most troubling events that men has neglected for a long time is the implications of human activity on the weather. Take flooding for example, already about 100 000 people in Johor have been displaced due to severe floods which has consequently disrupted the livelihood of thousands, damaging property, delaying education and also the outbreak of diseases most commonly associated with massive floods. Though most would prefer to think of it as natural, so many thousands of people who had to resort to living in temporary makeshift shelters as a result of the most severe flood in a hundred years definitely isn't just a mere natural coincidence. In the minds of many, a natural occurrence is "safe" thinking. We all would not need to think why the weather is reacting in such a devastating manner, neither the politicians would have to spill more taxpayer's money to figure out how to reduce the damage cause by this unusual natural occurrence so to speak.

Until it comes to a point where the weather system is thrown into complete chaos, then only we would start working, by then it will be too late. So what about a 1 degree increase in temperature. So what if there's sudden increase in rainfall. The weather is not governed by a set of predefined rules. Most people would prefer to think that when the weather pattern changes, it's a once in a blue moon kind of thing until when nature strikes back on our procrastination.

The weather guys has said it all, the world has become warmer and no doubt with great confidence that it is due to human activity. Once upon a time, there was much doubt in this statement (minus the confidence) but that was history. Fast forward into the present, with substantial information and research, it is with great confidence that this statement has been reinforced with all the data collected and money spent over decades of research. There was a time not long ago, an issue like this was raised but swept aside due to more pressing issues like terrorism, the war on terrorism, Osama bin Laden and 9/11. With all the billions of dollars spent on it possibly trillions, Osama is still alive and well, terrorism lives on and the world is now an even more dangerous place thanks to the US led war on terror. When it was revealed that US was the major contributor to the greenhouse effect, they thought that the weather guys were trying to exaggerated, the facts are not right or they just wanted more attention so they downplayed the issue.

6 years had passed since 9/11 Osama bin Laden still walks around like a free men and the world continues to get warmer. This time there was compelling evidence that if we don't plan to safe our planet from heating up, floods will become more frequent, polar ice caps will melt and thus more low-lying cities like Shanghai will be swallowed up eventually. Imagine moving away a population of about 16 million at the last minute....It would be worst than the war on terror!! I seriously hope that President George Bush decides to make a shift from the war on terror to the salvation of Earth from a future weather disaster.

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Adobe Photoshop CS3 Beta

New Features

1. The new user interface

2. Huge improvements to Camera Raw

3. The Quick Select tool

4. Better Curves

5. Printing Done Right

6. Black-and-White Conversion Control

7. Auto Align and Auto Blend

8. New and Improved Bridge

9. Smart Filter

10. Improved Cloning and Healing

Get the new Photoshop CS3 beta NOW!!

For tutorials
Click Here!!

• Lynda.com Photoshop CS3 training
• NAPP Photoshop CS3 Learning Center

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After 3 weeks...

After spending close to 3 weeks in HP, I have learned one thing...being a sales agent is no easy task. Thank goodness i'm not a sales agent in profession. Being a temp staff in HP, I could already feel the heat of taking as many calls as possible to reduce the abandonment rate and also the need to take in all the stupid questions that customer asks when they call in. Imagine those who are taking in other calls which includes customers enquiring about all the other HP products. Although there isn't any parallel between this job and my course that I'm taking, there are some similarities because both deals with people, one on the phone and one face to face, where you can better discriminate the feelings/emotions in the latter.

With almost 3 weeks in this job, I have been taking inbound calls, outbound calls and also at the same time keying in every detail that I could possibly get from the conversation simultaneously. Routines are the same everyday but the customers are different most of the time. Most of them of course want to know what a promotion is all about, then I will go again talking the same old thing to these customers. Most of the time, I will get them to purchase the higher value product so that I am entitled for a commission (yes even for temp staff). But seriously working 9 hours with a headset on the phone, staring at the flat screen with fingers typing for long periods of time isn't very healthy. When I first started, it was quite stressful and tiring.

Think RSI, Repetitive Strain Injury a term used to describe injury due to prolonged periods of repetitive movement. In a job like this, carpal tunnel syndrome is very likely followed by bad posture/back, eye problems and psychological problems. Now why psychological problems. Apparently I came to this conclusion because one of my colleagues is suffering from anxiety and is taking lorazepam (anxiolytic). According to him, it is difficult to achieve their sales quota, even with all the promotions going on. Competition is stiff especially with big guns like Dell which is constantly coming up with cheaper computers, hence it is important to convince why HP is better then Dell. A man on the street would be able to confirm that wtih all those Dell flyers in the newspapers. Talking on the phone for long hours isn't something very pleasant also. Breaks of 10 minutes between calls are seriously rare. Half an hour intervals is luxurious!!! My personal record 69 calls in a span of 10 hours on a day with a total of 700 plus calls which is not a lot in comparison with Singapore calls....Thank goodness, more people will be coming in to ease the workload.

Listening to people talking on the other side can be pleasant or bad. First timers will be enquiring a lot of things, from specifications, models to price and some try to identify if the ads are deliberately designed to fool customers. After few weeks in this job, I've come to realized that most of the time when it come to business, money comes first consumer comes in second which is in direct conflict with what I'm doing now patient comes first. So then, in the business world you would have CAP to come and look after consumers. People who call in a few times either check for order status, make a second order, lodge complaints or the dreaded "I want to speak to your manager...NOW!!!" line, which we all constantly try to avoid. So in medicine, you try to calm you patient down and make them feel at ease and NOT tell them...."Sorry sir you are gonna die soon...so you might as well don't take your meds..."(sounds like HOUSE) In med school, it is important to communicate effectively and feel for the patient's needs or rather empathize. In sales, you would try to sell as much as possible but also not make them pissed off in any way.

Anyway, HP still needs people so if anyone is interested, msg me. Who's right for this job? People who loves talking for long hours on the phone and have no problems staying back after 5.30pm, (sometimes). People who are in the business or sales line would be perfect but those not in the aforementioned fields are also accepted. Salary...that u have to wait for the interview...

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Lessons In Life

I have always wandered what could be the most important element to achieve great success in life. In fact, I don't think there is any. In retrospect, I discovered that hard work is one very commonly used term to achieve success ie from my parents, teachers, etc. No doubt it is, as it has become even more apparent now. But even with all the hard work that u put in..ie toiling and burning the midnight oil everyday for example for EOS doesn't necessary give u an edge over others. Hence, the early conclusion...NONE.

If I were to cramp every darn information in my freaking cerebrum from Foundation 2 and all the 9 systems plus Health Issues, I would most certainly never finish studying with only hard work as the sole motivator. I believe that putting ur best effort without applying a bit of tricks into it will create problems for me especially when we are talking massive crunching of information in such a short time.. ie EOS SEM5. If most of us have heard the term study hard, you can be forgiven that you have most certainly seldom hear of the phrase studying smart. See the point. The point being made here is not to put myself in an elevated state of ego to classify others as less capable but merely stating that some things can be done with less effort.

True enough, it is difficult to achieve this balance when trying to achieve the best in everything.

No doubt, there are brilliant people around who hardly need to spend 2 hours a day on book or probably just listen to the teachers and immediately absorb everything like sponge. I still remember on many occasions, in VI and in Taylors, where there are just so many intelligent students who hardly study or put as much effort as the majority. Some of them even had time to get drunk, go clubbing, go holidays and some even manage to get good results after a mere few days of studying. Unfortunately for those that I know happen to be rich and pretty spoiled, so they end up along the same as those who don't possess the gift of intelligence. Still, intelligence does not decide if you could go far in life. Graduating with first class honours from Oxford /Cambridge/Harvard does give you an edge over others when it comes to job employment but really, regardless of the amount of grey matter in our brain, we all start from humble beginnings.

I still remember a comment made by a CEO of a top company from Singapore that sponsors student to study anything (except medicine) and also pay for their transportation, air fees and accomodation and also their allowance.

"They are so many students scoring a string of As in their results, getting top results compared to our time. But we begin to discover that most of them have a huge sense of pride in themselves especially the brilliant ones. I remember on one occasion, there was this girl who graduated top class in her degree but when she started work, she began to give us a lot of problems. She had a meeting to attend and was late but when she was told to come immediately she said, " Can't I just finish my coffee and then come??"

Imagine wat our typical Malaysian response would be... "U ingat ini c bapak lu punya company arr?? Boleh suka suka buat apa- apa saja, haa??" What happened to that girl wasn't told of course but this typical example of a "Prima Donna" isn't what the company expects of her. The point is, intelligence does not give us special privileges in the things we do but merely a bonus over what others don't have. A Prima Donna may be brilliant but certainly does not have the experience of an employee who has been working for 20 years. Similarly, life is a journey which cannot be thought but must be must be experienced. Hence hard work also applies to geniuses/intelligent people albeit to a lesser extent.

Be it a Harvard student or a Cambridge student, it doesn't necessarily give u an edge over others. Me being not a very brilliant student knows that hard work is one way but is not the hard and fast rule. Certainly connections with others does help. Brilliance is an added bonus but not everyone is that gifted. After reflecting on the number of people graduating as doctors, it has become clear that finding a specific field of interest or a niche would give me the upper hand.

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What A Longggggg NaMe......

Remember the song "Mr. Lonely"?? Akon sings it...and my what a long name he has, thank goodness we don't need to call him by his full naaaaammmmmmeeeee...

Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam

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Ahhh.....My Preciouss......

Finally, after so long...yes a long time, I've got my hands on the Sennheiser CX300.

What?? U may ask...

Nevermind it's actually a earphone.
SO?? what's the big deal about it??

This earphones is one rare commodity. My first encounter with this amazing earphones was at MediaPlex MidValley Megamall. Since I was looking for the best earphones in town, I decided maybe MediaPlex could fulfil my requirements. And there was it... one fine day, a long time ago on a bright and sunny day with clear blue skies, I FOUND IT.... not that it was easy looking for one.

I was opting for Sony at first and I thought I already had Sony so I tried looking for other brands. I knew Sennheiser was the way to go. It was the cheapest in the category I was looking for and certainly a very good pair of earphones at a reasonable price. Even Sony's MDR NC-11 loses out to this fellow. In my opinion, Sony's noised reduction earphones have too much bass. Not balanced enough. The Sennheiser CX300 was love at first sight. Then one fine day, I knew that I had to get it. It was on dat day, to my dismay I found myself nearly disappointed by the shopkeeper saying that they had actually ran out of stock for those earphones. I din know what to say, here I was in MediaPlex and suddenly they ran out of the most expensive earphones in town. Crap...so I look elsewhere and to my surprise, I found it in Machines, an authorised Apple reseller at the same price.

Immediately I grabbed it and tested it and boy it was wonderful hearing music with those pair of earphones. My old Sony can now RIP in my house for the moment. Don't worry I won't leave u to rot.

As for the Sennheiser CX300, it's produces clear,crisp music. Much better bass, very clear midtones and it emphasizes much more of those sounds that you can't hear through conventional headphones,speakers,earphones. Higher registers are really clear even at higher volumes. It simply is a joy to listen. OK looks like I'm putting my marketing skills here from work to good use here.... LOLZ so much for being a doctor and it significantly reduces outside noise except maybe for rustling of the wires on your shirt or of course much louder sounds which is why the bottom few earphones are my dream earphones.

Certainly, I was hoping for Shure, Westone, or Ultimate Ears to sell their products here but looking at their insane U$150-499 for a pair of earphones, it literally closes the door to some of their products. Who in Malaysia would want to buy such an insanely expensive earphones. Even if they were, the market would be really small dedicated to people like me/audiophiles/sound engineers.

Below, the best earphones on the planet.....

Shure E500 PTH

Westone UM2

Ultimate Ears Super.fi5 Pro

Ultimate Ears Triple.fi10 Pro

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Eragon

Ok, it's been along time since I watched a movie and my first movie after such a long break would be Eragon. I knew for a long time that this show was going to be something like The Lord Of The Rings. The environment, the storyline, and for a moment I thought the battle was also similar. It's also another one of those good versus evil storyline. The script is a tad bit too predictable and some things just don't make sense in the movie. I haven't read the book so for the record I have no idea what to expect from this show except for a few scenes that I saw from the trailer.

So I thought, if Lord of The Rings was so darn good, how could this show possibly outdo it or even be at the same level as it. To avoid having these feelings before the show, I decided that, alright let's just give this show a shot. It might just surprise me. Obviously the ads and the trailers are good. It's all part of marketing and no doubt there would want portray the best image for the show.

Got the Hint???

For those who have, I say the show is just an average show....maybe sitting on a fence between B and C, so I think I'll give it B-. Eragon looks more like the hunk of "Laguna Beach" instead or a hero/chosen one. Ok that's expected since throughout the show everyone expects The One to be more than they expected...to their disappointment. Maybe it takes some time for Eragon to develop the heroic appeal. Let's hope to see that in the next 2 shows. So, that's fine, the perfect guy for Eragon. Brom, is fantastic in the show. I was a little disappointed when his role ended up so abruptly in the show. He should have been given a longer time to survive before killing him. He really looks like a fighter but certainly does not have the appeal of The Chosen One. As for Arya, the book describes her as the most beautiful/fairest in the land. (form my sis who read it) True enough, she does have the looks but no doubt Arwen IMHO is much better. Somehow, I felt that she was insecure in her role in the show as though she was a bit hesitant.

Things that didn't make sense...

Common sense would tell you that a chick wouldn't be a cockrel in a matter or hours. The dragon in Eragon seems to have some form of accelerated growth mechanism built in. In fact this all happened when it started flying. Suddenly and mysteriously the dragon transforms in various stages as it flies ( those who saw will know what I mean) to a beautiful dragon, Saphira. I'm fine with its ability to speak so fast and tell its name. Fantasy does give a bit of leeway and since this is about dragons, why not the higher intelligence but not its growth. So I checked with my sis on the dragon metamorphosis since she read the book. Even she said," Where got transform so fast wan......?" And as for Eragon it seems weird that he could pick up the ancient magical language of the elves in a split second. Something like how babies could say 1,2,3 or A,B, C the moment the mother tells him that.

The fight scenes are a bit too tame for my taste. Maybe it's because LOTR has left such a great impression on me, that I just thought ok yaa this happen and that happen.... blah blah, even when Galbatorix send a whole lot of his army to get rid of the Vardens. But I love the dragon fight scenes. I thought it was excellent and the dark creature summoned by Durza was really excellent CGI. Durza was pretty convincing in the role of the evil magician.

For me, the only interesting development was when Murtagh came about because it kept me guessing, is this fella da good or the bad guy, because he was wearing a cloak all the while until later on when he sort of helped Eragon and da gang escape from prison. Besides that, I think the story could have more depth. I think it would not be so bland if the scenes aren't so predictable. OK dragon's special ability is fine, it's "natural" to have it there, after all it's a dragon show.

For those who are expecting a great adventure mixed with fantasy like me would be disappointed.
For those who read the book, I suggest imagining the scenes in your mind as an alternative to the movie.(because a lot of things are not there as usual.....)

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Results Out!!

Results are out and yes there are real good. No one made it into the VIVA List and it was a 100% pass rate. Probably unheard of in the history of IMU. In fact getting 100% pass rate isn't quite unbelievable judging from the academic competence of our fellow batch mates.

Congratulations to all m204 mates who passed the M204 EOS Sem 5 Final Exam. Good luck to your future plans and also in your clinical years.

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Yeay...New running shoes

No this is not some late Christmas present. It is just something that I bought myself after shopping around. After finally conceding that a pair of good sneakers doesn't come cheap, I have decided to find something cheaper. So after much looking, I have decided that, ok I am going to get a running shoes, so that I don't keep looking for all the shoe types cause I jog after all...

New Shoes

Goodbye old running shoe... OK not that I am gonna throw you away, maybe I shall just look at you a little while longer or maybe use you until you are totally worn out from toe to heel at the soles which I doubt I would. Maybe I should write a book, call "The Once Fine Shoe"... Why do I get the feeling that I am "syok sendiri".

OH what the heck, this sounds like one of those autobiography essays where you got so pro at and bored of in Primary School that goes by the title "Saya Sebuah Kasut". Yawnnn......

Since Adidas has a good history of manufacturing good running shoes, I decided to go for a try in one of those Adidas retail outlets and there it was I found it, a spanking good, comfortable and light Adidas shoes. Wanted to go for the new "28 days tryout" running shoes., but it cost an insane RM500 bucks, who the heck spends RM500 bucks for a running shoes but I must admit that I haven't dismiss the idea of getting one..What a hypocrite

Haven't tested it out yet but definitely during the weekends.

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Steve Jobs and his new TOYS

iPhone


The rumour mongers have been true all this time. All the big hype and talk about the new iPhone has been true all along. Look up on the sized up gadget which will sadly come to our shores or rather Asia only in 2008.. WHat!!!..Sob Sob!!! Tears rolling....Introduced first in America then 6 months later in Europe.

Much was said about the new toy rolled out by Apple.

Most were great comments on the new gadget which is a phone, video and Mp3 player, delivers voicemail, email and surfs the Web.


MacTv



What does it do? A Tv that is a Mac. For the uninitiated, this gadget allows you to watch all you computer videos on TV wirelessly*. That Simple. All you need is a TV and a Mac with iTunes.

*Disclaimer: Don't come and screw me here for providing the wrong information. Before you do that be smart and check out the apple website and don't ruin this blog...PLease AAH Don't say I provide the information and then some fella come and say there, there, this guy from this blog say wan...

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Before and After the Call. The First Day

If some of you were to follow my blog over the past few days, you will most certainly find out about the HP job I was talking about. OK it's in the previous post laa....If you are just simply malas to read about the whole thing just scroll down and go to the last paragraph (i think) and yeap it's there. OK la, let's just get straight to the point. Yes, so as I was saying I have this inkling of not getting the job..... I got it, OH wow that's so amazing.

It all came like this. One fine afternoon, as I was beginning to dismantle the Christmas tree(it's already past the 12 days of Christmas...folks and the beginning of Epiphany), a phone call came. I never thought that this would be THE Call, so I picked it up nonchalantly thinking that it was somebody who would be looking for someone else. It turned out to be some lady from HP. I was like expecting the reply on my status because as I know, my contact had her reply really fast. Instead the caller turned out to be some other person from HP who decided to have this telephone interview with me. Now I was excited, because the decision on my status hasn't been made yet. It went on something like this.....

Caller: Hi, May I speak to Bryan please?

Me: Yes...Speaking

Caller: Hi, I'm *** calling from Hp just to check out on certain things. Now, from what I see here it seems that your subjects doesn't actually fit into what we are looking for...

Me: A ha...( with a little bit of sigh)

Caller: I would like to find out certain things from you

Me: Yess... Yesss. Sure

Caller: Have you had any working experience before and do you have any experience in the IT line

Me: (Reluctantly I said..) No
At this point I was thinking was this the deciding factor. Could my answer no put the final nail in the coffin??

Caller: Oh I c. IT also says here that you are a medical student. What year are you in ah??
As though it was not clear enuf??.....I thought maybe she running out of things to say

Me: I'm in my 3rd year now

Ok, I think I don't want to replay the entire conversation but she just asked a few more questions like why do this when it is not related to what you are studying and then she had a real interview like asking all the normal questions you would expect from an interview. Then it went on and on...and then finally she said

Caller: I will call you back later
Fast forward an hour, the answer YES....Immediately it hit me, I GOT IT.. All those preconceived notions that I wouldn't get it flew away immediately, like some giant kite, only thing this time, the string snapped this time. SNAPPPPPP!!

I told her then I was ready to come the next day to work. And she said.GOOD.

I was like Excellente!!

Fast Forward>> Next Day. I can imagine myself Clicking away the Universal Remote just like Adam Sandler did

Honestly, I didn't know what to expect. I don't know if it would look like some "ke le fe" place or some really nice professional looking office with people on headsets talking away. Reached there before time and then was introduced to the office. It was pretty impressive, love the entrance. Nice lighting, cosy design, friendly receptionist but still I haven't seen the office yet. To cut a long story short, I was brought around the office, which I thought was not that big or small but was really busy with people talking away like they never had. This is where free talk for hours on the phone translates to money-making. People there were really busy talking away staring at the screens with their tables stacked with papers on the latest products and promotion and gosh I've never seen a screen with 30+ active windows. That's madness!! From then on, I knew, I will be a real busy man the moment I start work.

Talk..Talk..Talk..Type..Type..Type

Multitasking is the new word I learn from my new colleagues. Before this it was almost synonymous with the word foreign to me. That is when you talk and put in customers details, put it in the HP database and at the same time handle emails, which looks so hard at first. I can't even begin to see which active window was the important one cause it seems like it is a "Rule" to crowd your start menu with tons of active windows which actually is because otherwise you would be slow. Slowness here translates to lost time which could be use to get more customers which also means do things faster. Practically everyone practices it there. This is where keyboard shortcuts rulezzzzz....Daunting is the new word, it was like learning anatomy all over again. OH gosh I can't believe I've found something so similar to this but also different.

Hmm... I really wander how many have been diagnosed with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. LOLZZ

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New Beginnings and a Hopeful Year

AAHhh... the end of the most major of all exams. The end of tiring hours of study. The end of sleepless nights wrecking havoc on my biological clock and possibly rewiring my entire diurnal rhythm of cortisol leading to unwanted elevated levels of stress at the wrong time of the day which has began to take its greatest effect towards the last few days of preparation. And the most comforting of all is the end of me looking at the same darn 9 systems plus health issues (which I don't consider a system) and yeap...that's it...since I've completely neglected Foundation 2 out of my studying schedule because of its almost 100% redundance in the EOS based on past yr's observation.

But of course, when you've finished so much in so little time you will most certainly want the best of results. Obviously no one wants to pay RM24k again to redo Semester 5, think of what one can do with those precious 6 months...... OSPE was fine for me, OSCE was ok but it could have been better especially the 1st day and SAQ was DA BOMB!!! Not a single question on behavioural science came out in the SAQs which kind of like was a prediction for me which became true. I almost "purposely" forgot to study BS if you know what I mean....HAHA. Overall the paper was doable and everyone found the paper much more comfortable which was a good sign. Then again, I certainly pray that everyone pass SEM 5 n MOVE ON....

So what happens after this. This is now what I call the Post Sem 5 era. I certainly would miss the good times that I have in IMU though I wished I could have done certain things differently looking back. It is sad that most of us have to part ways to pursue our final journey to our career path. Most of us are going overseas/PMS and the rest in Seremban. What are the people waiting going to do until the next phase starts?? As for me, I really pray that I can get the HP job, though I know it would be totally different and tiring. It would be a good experience handling customers on the phone. Somehow I had this inkling I won't get it but I'll just wait a few days more and see what the good Lord has decided.

As for me, last year was the best year of my life. I can't begin to describe this feeling of achievement. I guess I should use every darn superlative in the dictionary. I'm hopeful that this year would be another great year or even better as I plan to achieve more before I leave this country

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2007

Nothing much to write about. Got to prepare for exams. This will mark the beginning of the new year..

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