How to piss off a Malaysian

I find this absolutely hilarious and true LOL

“Malaysian food sucks.” 

The ultimate blow to any Malaysian’s pride and a surefire way to piss us off. After long bouts of homesickness and dreaming of roti telur in my bed 9,000 miles away from home in a lonely university dorm, I know what food depression is. 

Malaysians are the kind of people who go on foodie road trips, driving up and down the country in search of that chicken rice plate in Ipoh or that chendol store in Penang. We are so proud of our awesome food that nobody else’s cuisine will ever be able to measure up.

Especially not Singapore’s.

Ahahahaha!~ Enjoy! :)

Link: http://adf.ly/qwEyN

Btw, you can see that it's actually written in a light-hearted way, so not everything in the article will actually piss a Malaysian off... just some of them are really inexcusable. For example, that food comment xD

WoW Error #132 Common fix

So, I was happily leveling my druid then suddenly my first crash of the year LOL. Then within minutes of relogging in, another crash... same error. And then again.....

So I figured there is definitely something very wrong since I was able to log in and play without problems earlier today. A quick google search popped this solution up (Link: http://adf.ly/qwF2C). Lo and behold! Somehow my Direct X was set to x11 LOL and as the forum says, you just needed to swap it back to Direct X x9. How? Check out this screenshot :)

The 'System' option is the topmost button on your right

And now, back to leveling! Ciao! :)

P/S: Usually, these sort of stuff only happen to Windows 7 and above (newer versions) since they have the option of setting it as Direct X x11. For windows XP, it doesn't have the Direct X x11 option :P

P/S 2: Actually, that's not the problem for me lol. It seems that that area in-game is buggy for everyone so, yeah, just ignore this post? xD

Something about postgrad supervisors

When people don’t like you, nothing actually happens. The world does not end. You don’t feel them breathing down your neck. In fact, the more you ignore them and just go about your business, the better off you are.

....

haha, but when that person's your supervisor, a whole lot of sht can happen. The world can theoretically end. You can practically feel them breathing down your neck. In fact, the more you ignore them, the worse deep sht you'll get yourself into

Link and source of the above snapshot: https://medium.com/p/52bc4be9e7c1



Reposted from my facebook :)


P/S: Yeah, speaking of facebook, it is taking awfully slow (actually, the page is already there but I need to add in some details ;) ) but I'm determined to set a facebook page up for my blog. So I can only share good, funny stuff there without actually 'befriending' you. Honestly, trust me, that's actually a good thing, coz well, I think you won't like having a facebook friend who kept spamming posts your news feed lol (I can share quite a lot of stuff in a day). :P I'll also repost some funny status updates from my actual facebook account from time to time as well.

On writing an abstract

Source: PhD Comics

I find this site particularly useful. Try answering all these questions then combine the answers into sentences that will make up your abstract.

Enjoy! :)

Motivation: Why do we care about the problem and the results?
Problem statement: What problem are you trying to solve?
Approach: How did you go about solving or making progress on the problem? Did you use simulation, analytic models, prototype construction, or analysis of field data for an actual product?
Results: What's the answer?
Conclusions: What are the implications of your answer? Is it going to change the world (unlikely), be a significant "win", be a nice hack, or simply serve as a road sign indicating that this path is a waste of time (all of the previous results are useful)?

Source: http://adf.ly/qwF7r and http://adf.ly/qwF93


Another excellent guide to writing an abstract:
http://adf.ly/qwFAC

Btw, I like how she wrote that she was attached to her words.... I do that too! xD Hence, I'll rather be cutting words like 'the' or 'a' than the 'cool' phrases or words that I've managed to squeeze into my writing. :P


And if you're wondering why I suddenly have an interest in writing abstracts.... well, let's just say I've finally gotten a pm (personal message for you nabs out there ;P) from a potential client on one of my Fiverr gigs :D
So, yeah, even though I have absolutely no experience in writing abstracts, I believe that I can write a good one.... and based on this belief, I'll have to write one xD

I've 'graduated'!

To level 2 for teaching at a tuition centre lol.

So, why did I say so? Well, coz, today, when I was frantically marking my students' revision exercises (all prepared by, yours truly, me! All questions are thought up and designed by me :D I don't photocopy exercise from other books :P).... and suddenly, bam! My red pen ran out of ink and realisation dawn on me... I've graduated to level 2! My very first red pen, which is reserved only for tuition books-marking purposes, finally ran out! :D

So there, I'm now a level 2 tuition teacher/tutor :D Congrats to myself LOL :P

Why I have not written as much these days?

Well, the answer is very simple. :P

Firstly, it seems that my tuition center organises exams for their students and hence, I'm kept pretty busy by setting revision questions (that mimic the exam paper in some way... and no, the exam papers are not prepared by me.......unfortunately lol) for my classes.

Secondly, I've started to play, again, WoW :D But this time, I'm playing the new expansion of it - Mists of Pandaria. Having a panderen is cool enough (very bouncy lol) but honestly, I don't really think its racial is very useful. I don't like the revamp for the talents/ skill trees either and I regretted spec-ing arcane for my mage lol. Without arcane missiles (have to hit level 24 T.T), an arcane mage is not that awesome. Ret pallies are quite okay at the moment (haven't tested out the other specs yet), balance druids are like in cata... I don't really like em but I need em to level lol :P I like resto the best! Seems like demonology locks are getting quite a boost, but I'll have to verify that one (heard it from a fellow leveller). 

The rest are gray areas :P ripe for exploring and experimentation hehe, but seriously, I think I'm sinking in too much time into these. I'm not at university anymore... I don't have that much free time... I can't afford to waste so much time...lol. Sigh.

I'll try to put up some stuff  in between my frantic levelling (lol), but yeah, if the server's not down, I'll probably not be here typing this LOL :P Realm firsts beckon! :D

Stolen lab reagents

And so, there I was thinking that I have 7-8 tubes of 10% APS sitting in my box in the -20C freezer and then my senior came around and asked me to prepare some for him (he needed 2 tubes). Okay no probs. I already have several tubes of those, I'll just get you some. 

But noooo.... when I open my box, there is only 1 fking tube left. W.T.H!! I was very confused but I know that I'm not absent-minded to the point of being nyayuk... and then it suddenly hit me. My senior has a very bad reputation of jacking stuff from people in the lab and not telling anyone about it. Since his favourite time of work is when nobody is around, he practically has free reign of the place. Plus, considering that we both are doing similar work, it's no surprise that my stuff are constantly missing... Fk you, senior!

And he still has the audacity to ask me to prepare some more when he obviously knows that I only have 1 tube left (which is insufficient for HIS use). WTF, who am I? Your lab assistant? You took my stuff without telling/asking me and you still have the nerve to ask me to make more stuff for you when my stuff ran out?! Fk you all.

I'm really thinking of booby-trapping my stuff - like instead of labeling them properly, I'll use a jumble of codes that only I have the key or I'll put in several tubes of plain water in my box and label them as 10% APS. Luckily, it's only something as easy to make as 10% APS. If it's something that is hard to prepare (especially those that needed pH adjusting), he is so dead!

23. OneSleepyNerd on March 7, 2013 5:29 PM writes...
I think that overlooking or allowing this kind of bullying/ narcissistic behavior contributes to the poor mental health of graduate students. It only takes one person to destroy the collaborative purpose of a research group, and then you spend the rest of your graduate career not trusting anyone around you. You start to believe that everyone is out for themselves and start hoarding things, or you try to take the high road and carry on, only to get angry every time someone takes advantage of you (This is sooo me!). It's a huge waste of time, talent, and resources for us to carry on this way, but PIs usually dislike having to manage people.

Source: http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2013/03/07/ill_just_take_a_tour_of_your_lab_drawers_here.php


Btw, a sudden realisation that I've made when I was sick yesterday (I'm still sick now lol) my surpervisor is not only a control freak, he is also an egoistic maniac. Honestly, he never thinks about his students even though he kept saying that he's 'protecting' us... how is it protecting when all the major lab equipments are going to be shifted to a new lab that requires an around 10-mins DRIVE away? How the fk am I going to do my work? I'll drive there like petrol is free and use an equipment for 1 fking minute then drive back because I have too fking much time on my hands. 

Nooooo, your ego, your kiasu attitude is more important, right? You can't just back down from an obviously you-lose type of situation. And what have you done? You've just successfully isolated yourself from the other lecturers that you obviously despise, but then your students will also be isolated from the majority students at the new lab. We'll ended up like being shipwrecked in a deserted island with no one else but ourselves and a egoistic PI.

In short, I will leave this place... then I'm going to get a nice break to clear myself of all this hatred and vengeance, and I'm going to get myself a good steady job where my EQ won't be tested to its very limits everyday.

It doesn't have to be like this.

Brief update: So, yeah, I've continued my second semester of study after all.... why? Well, let's just say that there are too much at stake at the moment, but my mind is very changeable by a certain someone. ;)

More funny tuition anecdotes

So, yesterday, during my science class for standard 2 kids, one of the exercises called for 5 volunteers to write down their weight, height and size of their waist, and then compare them. I asked my class of 10+ students for volunteers and I got an overwhelming number of volunteers. At that time, I emphasized that I'll only choose those who know their weight and height and the chosen 5 said they knew.

The first girl said she is 40kg and I nearly burst out laughing. She, a very skinny eight year old girl, is 40kg? Ahahah. Then I asked her if she's sure and she very confidently and persistantly said 40kg is her weight. And when it comes to height, she said she is 30cm. Then, the other 4 chosen people started bombarded me with their 'height'. I was getting 30-40cms from them. LOL. It was then I totally lost it. I chuckled out loud and asked my class if anyone has a long ruler. The longest that they have. 

A kid brought me 2 long rulers. Then, holding the rulers, I turned to the class and said, 'You see these long rulers? Each one of them is 30cm-long and I'm very sure you are not 30-cm in height.'

In the end, I allowed them to use the long rulers to estimate their height and the values that I get are more reasonable now - 100cm+ :P

Kids, right? xD

* I would have put in the reference to the Kingdom of Lilliput (little people) but I knew the kids will not understand, so I didn't. :P

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And oh, this's one's a real hooter. So, this Standard 3 boy in my English essay writing class refused to do his work until to his horror, he realised that I actually meant it when I said he will have to stay back after class to finish his work. If not, he won't be able to go home. So, after seeing his friends left the classroom and seeing new students filing in (as well as the tuition teacher for the next class), he started vigorously writing. 

Needless to say in his haste, he 'ate up' (skipped) a lot of words and one of his sentences is particularly hilarious. Check out his sentence number 5. ;)

Well if his handwriting is too difficult to read, it says 'I accidentally spilled hot water on my balls.'

I had to practically cover my mouth to stop myself from bursting out in laughter. :P Heheh

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In that same English essay writing class, there was an exercise on designing a menu for your (imaginary) newly opened restaurant. I taught them the various Asian dishes that they can include in their menu and after that, I asked them to add in the prices for their dishes. To my surprise, the kids gave me this:

Fried spring rolls - RM 10
Fried mee - RM50

I would have thought kids that age (9 years old) would have no understanding of the word 'inflation' but well, interestingly, through this exercise, I suppose they did subtly know lol. Hence, the ridiculous pricing on all of their dishes on their menu.

Then, I told them, 'Wah, all of your food at your restaurant are SOOOO expensive, ah? I don't want to go eat at your restaurant liao lor.' We all laughed :)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There was another case where a naughty standard 3 boy took a girl's pencil and ran around the classroom, refusing to return it to her (my back was turned at that time - gah). Anyway, the girl yelled 'Teacher!!' and at that exact moment when I was turning back from the board to look at what hellstorm that has happened behind of me, I saw that naughty boy slipped and fell right on his butt. Haha, serves him right. That's karma for you.

Then I told him, 'See? You wanted to annoy the girl but in the end, who paid the price? It's you.'

I'm glad to say that the boy became way more obedient after that incident that had left him with a painful butt.

So much for taking a risk

So, yeah, I thought it was safe enough to upload those vids, so I've uploaded them to my main account but nooooes. Suddenly, my vids are taken down and my YouTube account is gone. Heh. It was a useless risk though, since no one can view the videos either, coz well, they are restricted in every country in the world (except Japan ;)). 

Oh well, my backup account is still okay though - just 1 strike. Ima go ahead and make a new account now as backup and my backup will become my main account now :P Hate that I'll have to switch accounts to use my YouTube though, but meh, since my alt account can also post on this blog as an author so it's still fine.

Guess I won't be taking anymore risks now... And now, the hassle of re-uploading all my videos onto my backup channel. :P

R.I.P. Aveyn's channel

with 307 subscribers and 40,000+ views


* oh yeah and btw, all the videos that I've linked are all gone as well. I'll try to restore those links (by linking them to my backup channel) as soon as I can, but don't count on it being too soon... I'm hectic as ever and hardly have any free time to have enough rest lol. I'll try, but that's all I can promise you.

** on a side note, I can't find my motion typography video that I did for Linkin Park's Lost in the Echo. I don't remember if I've kept a copy - I should have, I suppose. That's my only real loss so far. Gah, no wonder I had that itching feeling a few days ago that I should have downloaded that video down for keeps. The rest, I can easily remake them. 

Kristen Bell & Idana Mendel - For the First Time In Forever (Frozen OST)

Anna:
The window is open, so’s that door
I didn’t know they did that anymore
Who knew we owned a thousand salad plates?
For years I’ve roamed these empty halls
Why have a ballroom with no balls?
Finally they’re opening up the gates

There’ll be actual real live people
It’ll be totally strange
Wow, am I so ready for this change

'Cuz for the first time in forever
There’ll be music, there’ll be light
For the first time in forever
I’ll be dancing through the night

Don’t know if I’m elated or gassy
But I’m somewhere in the zone
'Cuz for the first time in forever
I won’t be alone

Anna: I can’t wait to meet everyone! (gasp) What if I meet.. the one?

Tonight imagine me gown and all, fetchingly draped against the wall
A picture of sophisticated grace
I suddenly see him standing there, a beautiful stranger, tall and fair
I wanna stuff some chocolate in my face

But then we laugh and talk all evening,
Which is totally bizarre
Nothing like the life I’ve lead so far

For the first time in forever
There’ll be magic, there’ll be fun
For the first time in forever
I could be noticed by someone

And I know it’s totally crazy
To dream I’d find romance
But for the first time in forever
At least I’ve got a chance

Elsa:
Don’t let them in, don’t let them see
Be the good girl you always have to be
Conceal, don’t feel, put on a show
Make one wrong move and everyone will know

Elsa (Anna):
But it’s only for today (It’s only for today)
This agony awaits (This agony awaits)
Tell the guards to open up the gates (The gates)

Anna (Elsa):
For the first time in forever (Don’t let them in, don’t let them see)
I’m getting what I’m dreaming of (Be the good girl you always have to be)
A chance to change my lonely world (Conceal)
A chance to find true love (Conceal, don’t feel, don’t let them know)

Anna:
I know it all ends tomorrow,
So it has to be today
'Cuz for the first time in forever
For the first time in forever
Nothing’s in my way!

Source: http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/frozen/articles/222963/title/frozen-first-time-forever-lyrics

Idina Menzel - Let It Go (Frozen OST)

The snow glows white on the mountain tonight,
not a footprint to be seen.
A kingdom of isolation and it looks like I'm the queen.
The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside.
Couldn't keep it in, Heaven knows I tried.
Don't let them in, don't let them see.
Be the good girl you always have to be.
Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know.
Well, now they know!

Let it go, let it go!
Can't hold it back anymore.
Let it go, let it go!
Turn away and slam the door.
I don't care what they're going to say.
Let the storm rage on.
The cold never bothered me anyway.

It's funny how some distance,
makes everything seem small.
And the fears that once controlled me, can't get to me at all
It's time to see what I can do,
to test the limits and break through.
No right, no wrong, no rules for me.
I'm free!

Let it go, let it go.
I am one with the wind and sky.
Let it go, let it go.
You'll never see me cry.
Here I stand, and here I'll stay.
Let the storm rage on.

My power flurries through the air into the ground.
My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around
And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast
I'm never going back; the past is in the past!

Let it go, let it go.
And I'll rise like the break of dawn.
Let it go, let it go
That perfect girl is gone
Here I stand, in the light of day.

Let the storm rage on!
The cold never bothered me anyway...

Demi Lovato - Let It Go

Let it go, let it go
Can't hold it back anymore
Let it go, Let it go
Turn my back and slam the door

The snow glows white on the mountain tonight
Not a footprint to be seen
A kingdom of isolation and it looks like I'm the queen
The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside
Couldn't keep it in
Heaven knows I tried

Don't let them in, don't let them see
Be the good girl you always had to be
Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know
Well now they know

Let it go, let it go
Can't hold it back anymore
Let it go, let it go
Turn my back and slam the door
And here I stand
And here I'll stay
Let it go, let it go
The cold never bothered me anyway

It's funny how some distance makes everything seem small
And the fears that once controlled me can't get to me at all
Up here in the cold thin air I finally can breathe
I know I left a life behind but I'm too relieved to grieve

Let it go, Let it go
Can't hold it back anymore
Let it go, Let it go,
Turn my back and slam the door
And here I stand
And here I'll stay
Let it go, let it go
The cold never bothered me anyway

Standing - frozen in the life I've chosen
You won't find me, the past is all behind me
Buried in the snow

Let it go, let it go
Can't hold it back anymore
Let it go, let it go,
Turn my back and slam the door
And here I stand
And here I'll stay
Let it go, let it go
The cold never bothered me anyway...
(let the music go on)
let it go
And here I'll stay
Let it go, let it go
Oooooh let it go.

'oh and if you haven't watch Frozen, you really should. It's easily one of the best Disney movies for quite some time :)'

A very interesting site - Fiverr

So cutting to the chase, one of my relatives recommended this site to me when I told her that I'm interested in writing. She said that through this, I can get feedback and earn some money on the side (she knew about my dismal financial problem as well). 

I've forgotten about it until yesterday and, boy! I had a blast trying to think of stuff/service that I can sell. :) 

It's pretty cool. I haven't made a sale yet so I cannot comment of how the buying-selling works, but the setting up sales part is pretty awesome. Somewhat rigid in a way, but awesome. And it's fun seeing what kind of weird stuff people sell online for fiver ($5). :P

Check out my Fiverr account (Link: http://fiverr.com/users/aveyntoh/). If you somehow saw something that you like or need, feel free to purchase any of my gigs ;) I might just start  making crafts for sale as well! But ... uh, no time. Sigh... lol.

Okay I'm out. Cya!


Note: I've noticed that the site frequently goes down (becomes inaccessible). That's one major part the devs at Fiverr should work on asap :P

P/S: Btw, I've just made my first sales! :D I've written an abstract and she paid me $5 but then, somehow, Fiverr said I was paid $8. However, when I checked my revenue, they only inputted $4 into my Fiverr account..... LOL 

And so... here's to a brave soul

Okay, if you've been with me long enough, you can often see that I lament and complain about my postgraduate studies, and the frequency/intensity of my complaints are getting worse each passing month. And well, I saw this very lengthy facebook post posted by my lecturer from UTAR (Let's just call him Mr T). He is quite a successful entrepreneur with a Masters who wanted to get his PhD by learning with the most acclaimed supervisor in his field in Taiwan.

I never thought much about his studies - it looks fine to me since he didn't actually complained a lot on facebook lol. Needless to say, I saw surprised to see this on my news feed today.   

新年終於作出心痛的決定。[Loosely translated into: I've finally made a heartbreaking decision in this new year.]

I have decided to give up my PhD studies. Last month, I gave myself a 3-week break to think seriously about quitting.

I know that walking away from my studies at this point makes me and my love ones feel very heart broken, but it make no sense that when I realize that the research work I'm doing now to fulfil the PhD requirement is utterly rubbish (to me) in the sense that it does not contribute any good to my career development, or making me more employable after I graduate. In fact, getting a PhD makes a person's job scope narrower. Frankly speaking, I do not need an employment. I'm a technopreneur, and I create employment opportunities instead.

However, the course of pursuing PhD is not totally wasted. I have positioned myself more firmly as a technopreneur, proudly as well, ever since 8 years ago. Putting my knowledge (in algae science) into good use in the industry makes me feel even more satisfying than teaching in an academic institution. I wouldn’t deny that science and academic development are undoubtedly important, as stepping stones, and have brought me to who I am today.

Pursuance of a PhD degree during the path of my career development is a bonus, in which my supervisor has recently torn down this idea. He is a perfectionist who has high expectation towards his students, being academically excellent and more importantly being obedient. Not saying that I’m rebellious. Being educated in an American way, I respect his profession but I couldn't understand why he wants everything to be done only using his way. When the work was not done using his way, he used malicious and insulting words to discredit my prowess, even when the result was more prolific. He also denied all the ideas which are unconventional to him, whereas his ideas were arbitrarily unquestionable and unchallengeable. What could be more painful than the mental and verbal torturing from a beloved mentor who supposed to give us courage and advise? I used to treat it as a course of mental training which had to be experienced by every PhD student but eventually I gave up. It is not necessary to work in this devastating way.

 There was a time when I felt that I was useless and depressed, which was the result of his savage verbal attack. Now, I am glad that I have gone through this and regained my confidence. I trust that there are many more to be done in this industry using what I have learned. I choose to develop my career in Taiwan rather in Malaysia, despite the fact that the industry recognizes my supervisor as one of the most influential expert in Taiwan. I am now officially a “traitor” to my supervisor who discontinued the study halfway, stealing his intellectual ideas to set up business without his blessing.

I understand that the path that I choose is more difficult than any others. Therefore, to all my friends, at this difficult moment of my life, I need your support and courage. It is a turning point, and a great challenge. I thank my family for giving me fullest support, being understanding and backing me all the time. For those who gave me positive energy which I desperately need it right now, thank you. I look forward to seeing a brighter future, together we build

I seriously applaud this brave soul and I strongly agree with one of his main points - It is not necessary to work in this devastating way. I've endured (and complained) for 2 years now at the hands of my supervisor. He doesn't really verbally abused me as Mr T's supervisor, but he does kept putting me down whenever my work gets negative results. He doesn't understand how hard and how much effort I've put into this futile stupid and eventually useless + time-wasting side project despite the negative outcome. He just knows that the outcome is negative, so you're a lazy, useless student. W... T... F...!!! 

I believe all supervisors are the same. They kept saying their students are useless, worthless piece of garbage that they had the unfortunate luck to accept into their group. But then, the worse part is that they only bully the junior - and in my lab, that unfortunate junior (since Lyra left) is me. He fking compared me with a technician and scathingly said that at least technician delivers results. Sht lah you... if you give me a working protocol to use, of course I can get results but you practically want me to DESIGN my own protocol and OPTIMISE it... WITHOUT any experience OR GUIDANCE. Or any luck for that matter, looking at the results I've gotten. I've did the best I could, had given up multiple times over the 15+ lengthy methods that I've tried and it probably contributed a whooping 50% to the cause of my severe depression. And your snide comments are not helping.... at all.... oh and my family are not exactly supporting me. I mean, I do understand how they see this. They saw a cheerful bubbly lady went into postgrad studies and turned into a moody, volatile lady. They can at least smell the garbage heap of a place of study before they actually saw it. Not me. I'm practically swimming in it and I still scared to leave. That garbage heap is not at all comfy. Why don't I just leave?!

I think it's because I'm torn between what's worth it or not. I've always made any decision using this 'worth it or not' system. It failed me a couple of times but most of the time it still works, and yet, here it is... the cause of my indecision and my inability to leave.

I've been there for 2 years already. I'll be losing 2 years of work, no testimonial from my supervisor (especially not good ones since he'll definitely be fuming mad), no proof of what work I've done and how well I've done it (refer to testimonial) and hence, if I went to an interview for a job opening and if the interviewer asked me, 'I see you've graduated for 2 years now... what job have you been doing for the past two years?', I don't even know whether I should tell the truth or lie...... (I'm very realistic, no matter how pitiful your story may sound, I know for sure that the interviewer will not take pity on you and just hire you. No fking way. Not in this world anyway.). Then perhaps enduring one more year (or more) just to get that piece of paper (my Masters certificate) is the better choice? But looking at myself now, I'm not entirely sure I can hold on for that long... I might just (due to my stubbornness or persistence) land myself a one-way ticket to Tanjung Rambutan (a very famous mental institution in my country).

Honestly, I have half a mind to just drop everything and start a food business of my own - I make some real mean burritos (and I'm not even Mexican :P)... well, they are not exactly 'burritos', more like wraps. :) I've already have the menu planned (with my dad lol. He's a huge fan of my wraps) and the type of business that I think I can do... I just don't have that courage. I just don't have that money to just try and be like 'oh bother, it failed. Never mind. I have plenty of money left and I can still EASILY get a job ANYTIME I want'... lol

At my state, I'll probably own my first car when I'm 30 years old (I'm 24 now lol)... and house? Hah, perhaps after I'm 55, I will have finally finish paying my house loan LOL...

I'm not brave... and I'm not a coward either. I'll stand up for myself... just not all of the time. 

I really don't know what I should do. Maybe, it's best to just stop thinking.

The story of the long and arduous path that leads to CNY

Something that I came up with. Unfortunately, the photos are recycled photos from previous years - I didn't had the time nor the energy to take the photos for this flow chart lol :P

Btw, 'makan' means 'eat'. :)

Within Temptation lyric videos

So, yeah, I'll bet you still remember that I promised to put up the WT songs from their Hydra album on the 31st of January and yet there are still no news till then. Partly, it was my mistake coz it's Chinese New Year and I'm busy like hell lol. The other part is that WT's recording studios and publishers (a list of 6 of them I think) restricted all WT songs from Hydra - this means that they blocked all countries from viewing the video... or so I thought.... until I saw my videos getting some but very little views.

After some investigation, I've realised that the videos (which contained the songs) are blocked from all countries EXCEPT Japan. 

Strange right? But then, there's the loophole. It's pretty easy to just 'fool' youtube into thinking that you're viewing the video from Japan and not... for example, from the US. How?

Check this out: http://aveyntoh-blog.blogspot.com/2014/02/how-to-access-youtube-videos-that-are.html) ;)

Oh and I'll be listing down the links to the restricted videos here as well since the videos are not 'searchable':

1. Roses - 
2. Tell Me Why -
3. Silver Moonlight (Release version) - 
4. Dog Days (Release version) - 
5. Let Us Burn (Release version) - 
6. Edge of the World -

Note that I've only uploaded a few videos. I'll work on the rest once I have more free time.

Note, just scratch that, you'll just have to download the album since they are doing a massive take down of all WT's music-containing videos on YouTube. Until I find a new video-sharing site that is more lenient... well, let's just say either WT will make a music video for their songs or you'll never get to see these songs on YouTube lol. 

How to access YouTube videos that are blocked/only available in certain countries

This method is not tested out (yet) but it should have worked... logically. If it worked for you, you can post a comment in the comment section below. TQ!

If you are trying to set up a proxy server for your browser for normal use, you can also check out this guide (you can skip to Step 3) :)

~ ~ ~ ~

Step 1. So first of all, once you've encountered that blocked video on YouTube, copy the URL of the blocked YouTube video. 

Example link of YouTube video: http://youtu.be/_k2mDALQJSE (unfortunately, it was taken down by a copyright claim lol)

Step 2. Paste the link into the box provided at this ProxyNova site: http://adf.ly/qixyl It'll tell you which country that will allow you to watch the video.

In my case, the only country that can view the video is Japan. Note the green country on your right :)

Step 3. So you'll need to find a proxy server that is located in that country. How to find it? Well, just go to Let Us Hide: http://adf.ly/qiy39 and then choose the location (country) that you want. 

***Btw, there are plenty of other methods to 'lie' to YouTube about where you're actually connecting from but this is just one of it.

In my case, I have to choose 'Japan'.

Then a list of proxy servers will be listed for you. Choose one that has high reliability and speed.

As you can see I've chosen number 6 server.

Step 4. Now, you'll have to do a bit of tinkering with your web browser :P And, in my case, google chrome.

So firstly, you click on the menu button (mine's in orange colour because I haven't updated it yet... lol :P). Then, you click on settings.

Next, you scroll down to the end and click on 'Show advanced settings'. You'll need to scroll down some more until you hit the Network section, then click on 'Change proxy settings....'

And now the slightly more complex part :P Follow the numbers in the pic and the instructions below.
1. Click on LAN settings
2. Check the 'Use proxy server' box
3. Enter in/Copy&Paste the address of the proxy that you've chosen in the previous step (Step 3) 
4. Enter in/Copy&Paste the port number of the proxy that you've chosen in the previous step (Step 3)
5. Click 'OK'
6. Click 'OK'

***Note that proxies are relatively safe to use but it may have slower than usual connection speed.

Lastly, restart your browser (click on the red 'x' button on your top right corner of the browser and then start Google Chrome again) and check out that blocked YouTube link again to see if it's unblocked for you. That's it! :P

Honestly though, these steps should technically work (but I have not had the time to test it out yet). I'll post up the results here once I've done it. You can also post your results in the comments below :)


For more reading:
http://adf.ly/qiy8h
http://adf.ly/qiy9P

(Hi, I'm using adf.ly for most of my links now - it shortens the links and let me earn a tiny bit of cash... please think of it like you're supporting this blog without actually paying anything. There are no virus and stuff there and you can skip the ads too.)

Get paid to share your links!

I, Frankenstein movie review

So... I've been to the cinema to watch this new movie called 'I, Frankenstein'. It's a 'what happened after?' version of the old Frankenstein story. 

Without giving too much away, I would say that I find the director's idea of a more handsome Frankenstein 'monster' a very nice touch. I think he's trying to make the Frankenstein 'monster' appear more human as the movie discussed quite a lot on Frankenstein's uh~ species status - since he's not exactly human (immortal lol), he can be either a creature of light or darkness :P but initially, he ofc chose to be neutral - he is just starting his journey to find the answer to the question 'who am I?' at that time. 

I find the story line quite satisfying though there are some parts I was like 'What?'. I also like the awesome CGI used in this movie - I especially like the way the Gargoyles morphed into human form and vice versa, and also how the good and evil souls get sucked up into heaven/ down into the ground :) Despite all that, I still think that this movie is more CGI and fighting. I've mentioned that the story is pretty satisfying but, emotionally, I don't find it fulfilling. The part where Frankenstein finds his true self and his life's purpose is just... a little too short and not well explained I think. 

Overall, it's still a good movie - I'd rank it as 7/10 (a B grade, haha), but it's not exactly a must-watch :) That's what I think anyway. 

Honestly, I think it's somewhat similar to the movie, Mortal Instruments: The City of Bones. :P

Cheers!

Samsung Android phones problem - Camera locked

Just to clear some things up - I'm a total noob when it comes to smartphones. I just find smartphones so much difficult to understand (the inner workings of it I mean :P) then computers LOL.

So, anyway, somehow when I was busy taking photos, my camera was accidentally locked (there was a little lock icon on my camera capture screen). 

Needless to say, because of that tiny lock icon, I cannot take photos on my phone or even exit the camera app without resorting to using the home button or the power button (to turn off the phone and then on again). The settings button and the back button both became unusable. 

The lock icon persisted even after I've rebooted the phone. So what caused this and what can I do to fix this?

The answer is really easy.

Once you've pressed on the camera app on your Samsung phones, press the power button on the side of your phone to turn the locked mode off. 

Simple right? But it has caused me plenty of headache and frustration lol. Haha. 

Okay, I'm off to play Tropico 4. Stay tuned for the reviews in a bit (unfortunately no screenshots though. Somehow my Fraps isn't working with Tropico 4 :P Meh, I suppose because Tropico 4 has its own screenshot feature)