** Updated at 19:46:33 on 2005/07/05 **
I hope. Finished work on a CS plugin that I hope to use soon. Man I can’t sleep well back home. I want to go back to Singapore…
Can’t sleep so end up going through the day without a particularly (spelling?) good mood and I don’t take afternoon naps as threw screw up my sleep timings. But then again as if my sleep timing aren’t ackward enough as they are already huh?
Yesterday I finally finished sorting out my folder which stores all the applications and stuff I’ve downloaded but never installed. Phew what a relief to see only 2 columns worth of files compared to like 20 :| All thats left to be done is transferring them over to my external hard disk.

Sigh… Dear dear’s computer is dead?
  _____
 /     
|  RIP  |   ?????
|       |
|_______|
Chinmay went over to take a look at it (thanks again man) and it seems like the hard disk is dead :( So no nightly chats with my dear online until I go back to Singapore :'(:'( Miss you darling. Take care of yourself and love you
Speaking of that I was supposed to call the travel agency today but I forgot… Better remember later because I’m trying to get the Saturday flight.
On a sad note my laptop no longer just flickers anymore. The screen kind of fuzzed out!!!! Thank goodness it was only for a little while. Man whatever they did the last time my screen flickered doesn’t seem to be enough. They said they changed the graphics card. Wonder if they’ll change the screen for me, which is what I’m hoping for as there are a few stains of Soya Milk with Jasmine Green Tea on the lower left hand portion of the screen :$ :P

Anyway

** Updated at 8:36:48 on 2005/07/02 **
I thought I killed the old desktop computer last Friday or was it Saturday. Bought a 256MB RAM stick to add to a 128MB 933MHz P!!!. Ended up detecting only 256MB, so after playing around with the position of the sticks I decided to do a BIOS update after all the motherboard supported an option to update the BIOS throught Windows and it even had a backup option. Everything was easy especially since it detected that there was only 1 possible option for the update as it was an Internet BIOS update where it retrieves the latest BIOS from the Gigabyte servers. So thinking I had nothing to lose I decided to format it.
Flashing and programming went fine though I was nervous being the first time I ever flashed a BIOS and hoping the power wouldnt cut out leaving a useless BIOS chip there and thus an almost useless computer. So reboot the computer to be greeted by a few BIOS beep codes. Thinking “oh crap, now what’s gone wrong” I go look for the translation of the error code. It corresponded to a graphics error, so I check that the graphics card was properly in place but still gave the same beep code. Worse part was that it had 2 extra beeps that did NOT seem to be mentioned in any website that I referred to for the BIOS beep codes. Even tried changing the graphics card with an old 1. So I thought that maybe the BIOS update compeletly screwed up. So obviously I was in a bad mood.
So kind of gave up on it and decided to start looking for parts to build a computer for my bro. So when he converts over to that computer I can get his 80gb laptop hard disk for myself :P So I can finally dual boot Windows and Linux in peace, hopefully :D Anyway realising I don’t really know much about building a computer I go research up on it. The hardest thing is custom building a computer here. First of all most of the prices are so high compared to Singapore but what do you expect? Then looking at which graphics card to possibly get. Bro said he wanted to be able to upgrade the computer later on so I was planning to get a P4 with a motherboard based on the latest 775 Socket. Pondering over DDR2 support as well. PCI Express graphics card obviously as well. Then looking at the prices… ahhhhhhhhh
Tom’s hardware helped be a lot and I especially liked the following articles
Benchmarks: PCI Express Graphics Cards | AGP Graphics Cards. These are pretty good comparisions for a whole lot of graphics cards, based on the standard GPUs.
The Mother of All CPU Charts Part 1: Basically telling the history of how the CPU and its sockets changed over the years.
I admit I should know most of these, as I am a Computer Engineer but I guess my main dislike for reading gets to me… Aaaaaahhhhh. Well anyway its not too late to learn now is it? :D

Anyway back to the story. So it was Thursday night that I actually dawned on me. I thought that the BIOS was dead, but then why was it giving beep codes!!! That must mean that the BIOS was alive just something was wrong. Then another light bulb lit up and thought that it could have been trying to display the video on a PCI slot as the graphics card I had installed on it was an AGP one. Found a graphics card courtesy of my dear dear :D She gave me her old computer after I got her sister a $200 laptop (P4 1.6Ghz 256MB). No I did not buy this laptop at a black market of anything, my friend was willing to give it to me but I thought I should at least pay him so $200 it was. Anyway put the PCI graphics card in and viola the computer booted up to display an error message!!! One of the rare times I was happy to see an error message. The BIOS was still kind of screwed up based on the fact that it did not boot the computer as it was supposed to so I decided to flash the BIOS back to the working version. After doing that now I hesitant to even flash another BIOS.
Man what an experience. But my learning of computers did not end there. After my bro started installing a few things he wanted he tried to see if Sims 2 would play on the computer. It did play though slightly laggy. So I thought I would try use my ATI 9600 pro on main house computer to see if it could perform better. This is when I found out there are more to AGP slots as well. 3.3V slot on the old computer with my new ATI graphics card which supports 1.5/0.8V (AGP compatibility). I tried to use the new computer RAM on this old computer as well thinking it was backward compatible just to realised, just like the graphics card that it would not fit. Man I should really read more.
So read more I did and found out that the RAM I got was a double sided RAM that was not supported on all motherboards and apparently not mine either as it was detecting only half of the value. So I finally just went back to try to change my RAM only to find out there is no single sided RAM in stock so ended up getting 512MB RAM for the main desktop computer giving it 768MB RAM which should be good for my gaming :D If I get the time to actually play…. Ahhhhh
Anyway I better go off to get the PROPER PC133 256MB single sided RAM for my bro so I can get my 80gb :P

So far since I’ve come back I’ve fixed or repaired or (re)installed OS’es on 7 computers. None of the computers are mine :( :P
I admit I’m no expert when it comes to computers let alone computers with pre Windows XP OSes. Win XP is an ‘easy’ OS to deal with, the 1s before them are a bit :S All is done now except with 1 fickle scanner on a Win 98 computer. The thing is the scanner is connected via a parallel port, and the scanner itself has an input and output parallel port, so the input port is connected to the computer and the output port is connected to a printer so that both devices can work. The thing is, the printer works but the scanner doesnt. Windows doesnt even detect the scanner when adding new hardware and when trying to manually add the printer, the CD that came with the scanner doesnt seem to have the drivers for the scanner :S
Ahhhhhhhhhhh
Anyway hopefully now I have time to continue my mod I hope. AAAAhhhhhhhh
Tired and I just want to code….
I should sleep, have to go to the office later.
Sleepy and tired and want to program: thats my current mood and I bet that will be my mood for the coming days. So dont get angry if I snapped at you, its because I’m tired and/or sleepy.
Good night (morning) people

Been pretty good back home. Renovating the house though, so was rudely awakened yesterday morning at abt 9am :'(
Got the wireless working with my card, it was the firmware that needed an upgrade. Previously it was acquiring network address but then CPU load would go to 100% and never connect but just lag the computer bad. Problem with my wireless card is that it cant be recognized by my kubuntu distro even though it is supported. The funniest thing is that my friend loaned the same wireless card from the computer centre and it works both on Windows and Linux. The only differnce in the cards is mine has ‘Singapore’ on the back while the card that works on both platforms has ‘South Korea’ on the back. *Shrug*. I even tried with another ‘South Korea’ card from the computer center and it works on Linux. Possibly firmware problem? Could be I guess. Maybe try that out later.

The wireless here as problems though :( Some due to the ISP some due to the configuration I think. Sometimes the wireless needs to be restarted when DHCP supplies a new IP to the computer and sometimes the main ADSL connection just goes down and the modem has to be restarted. Worse thing is that since the modem cum wireless router we got is NOT the modem bundled with the Internet package it doesnt connect as fast as the orignal modem does.. Sigh… But when the connection works its pretty good minus the fact that if you torrent ANYTHING surfing comes to a complete stand still. Brunei’s Internet infrastructure really needs to be upgraded / overhauled to make it reliable. Heck they dont even give out ADSL modem configurations probably just because they want the customers to buy THEIR modems.. WTH

Anyway I was supposed to go to work but since I was up playing UT2k4 until about 1am I woke up at 1030 :P So I’ll just go after lunch. Nice to have a family business so I ‘can’ slack a bit :P

Just had lunch and having an Internet ‘blackout’. The modem doesnt seem to be connecting properly. So anyway links here that I got before the connection went AWOL
Bluetooth hack shakes mobile security: Guess bluetooth isnt as secure as it used to be. Exploits exploits, what are we going to do?
World’s fastest inkjet printer?: 170 pages per minute!!!! I want one!!! Not only that but “Apparently this technology also features the lowest power requirements of any inkjet head on the market”
Japan unveils “robot suit” that enhances human power: This is cool. Reminds me of Gordon Freeman’s HEV suit from Half-Life :P

Anyway need to go to the office but need to drop a few things at sis’s work place 1st. Save this post to Opera’s notes function and continue later….

Continuing the post :P Its 2210, back from Ya Chee’s aunts place, fixing their computer. Guess what was the problem? Our ‘good’ friend spyware…. :P PS Picked up an insecure wireless access point there :P

Rail Guns Closer to Reality: Now I want to play some Quake :P
Windows to Have Better CLI: More command line interface’s :D
Hand-made Web Server, Built From 200 TTL Chips: Next wire wrapping project? :P “…out of 200 74-series TTL chips wired together with thousands of individually wrapped wires” :|:| Ok… Maybe not :P

Anyway back to eating supper then slack a bit before going to sleep.
Have a good night people!

Using ubuntu right now =D yay!!!!! Couldnt get the wireless adhoc network connection using kubuntu (which is basically ubuntu with KDE as the desktop environment). Despite having the same base, ubuntu (which has GNOME as the desktop environment) was able to connect to the wireless adhoc network that I configured at my friends place =D

So I guess its ubuntu for now. Whats happened recently? Results out yesterday. Got an A for my EE2001 project =D But that was my only A :'(:'(
CAP gone down a bit so I guess I cant really relax in my final year which is to come :| I’m old…. Speaking of FYPs, I have an FYP interview on Monday, hope it goes well even though its for my 2nd choice topic. Just wait and see what happens on 15th July when the results are out.

Anyway I better go off to sleep. Meeting tomorrow for my Biofuel project… Good night world from ubuntu!! =D

Getting nostalgic with the old good TV program for geeks like me
It all started from this slashdot article.
From there it got me to
systm.org and revisiting
thebroken
CFH tracker
this WEEK in TECH (twit :P)
Listening to the podcast now. Ahhh reminds me of the good old days of techTV.

And last I saw I had 6 people bidding for the same project as their 1st choice :'(:'(
Hope and pray I get the FYP I want so life will be at least fun next year :D
Lecturer censored in Spanish University (UPV) for defending P2P networks: Now thats basic stupid censorship if you ask me. P2P just one of those good applications used for the wrong things (well mostly for the wrong things) currently at least.

Got some hardware for 1 of my projects so now I have to connect it up and play around with it and program the board and hopefully it works and I can go home in peace, or I just take the board with me back to Brunei and leave the other stuff with my other project mates :P

And just came across a few interesting links
The Evolution of the PDA: Something for me to read when I have the time and when I’m not lazy to read :P
$100 Linux laptop to help world’s poor: Get this done and you have completed an NUS FYP topic :P
A Pistol Mouse for Your Fragging Pleasure: Point click and shoot but I’m sticking to my mouse anyday

Today have to go back to school. Will program my PICs :D Got free samples from Microchip and will just program them with the software used for my EE2001 project so I can get my remote controlled car to work :D
Then meeting at school, 1830 @ PGP canteen. Whoops forgot to mention that I have to meet my UROP supervisor that I couldnt meet yesterday due to last minute exam marking matters in his part so another hour plus journey to NUS again, not to mention the hour plus journey back :(

Anyway off to read things on RFID for my UROP :p

Waiting for my UROP (Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program) supervisor to come back to his office. Right now in IES clubroom. Nothing much to say just that I want another working 2.5″ hard drive to install Linux, my bro’s old HD that he gave to me seems to be konked out. Cant even reinstall Linux on it, well it makes funny noises when it is shaken.
Been playing a lot with Zhenyang since I’ve moved to his place for the time being. Serious Sam, 1st and 2nd encounter and Warcraft 3 basically. Set up ad-hoc wireless in his place with the wireless usb adaptor that I got at a Creative warehouse sale.
Stupid NUS OSA. First of all, the online appilcation says that I did not submit my application. After mailing and calling a person in charge at OSA, I was told there was some data loss. So I could have been 1 of the people involved. Its so stupid because it wasn’t even MENTION!!!!! And they say that they cant do anything for me now because all the rooms have been allocated…. wth
grrrr

First of all thanks to Gordon in his latest post =D=D Free games!!! yay!!!! =D
Looking at the games and reliving my old days gone by :(:)
A few (actually quite a lot :P) of games to mention:
Altered Beast: I remember playing this game on the Sega Genesis. So fun :P
Battle Chess for Windows: I believe I had this game for DOS on my old old old OLD computer which got ‘stoned’. I mean it. When we turned it on 1 day it say something along the lines of “This computer is stoned” :P Virus or what not it was an old computer that we got rid of.
Ironman: Dont be fooled by the name, the full name is Ironman Off Road!!!! Yea!! Off Road!!! I remember playing that in an arcade in Australia or somewhere!! Even have it on the Nintendo Gameboy =D Fun racing game =D
Lamborghini American Challenge: Had this game for the Super Nintendo. Not a great game but just thought it was worth mentioning as I remembered I had it :P I think I remember 1 race where I didnt hit any cars and I go a special bonus =D :P
Bubble Bobble: Ahhhh a classic. When I play this I want to be the GREEN dragon (at least I think its a dragon) :P
Castle Wolfenstein: hehehe just look at the graphics :P Never played the game but worth a mention.
Wolfenstein 3D: I played this on my sisters old laptop a P1 166MHz if I remember correctly. It was in black and white though, I think. Unless my memory fails me again, which I wouldnt be surprised though :P I’m growing old :P
Castlevania: Nintendo memories :)
Civilization 1: One for those Civilization fans ;-)
Civilization 2: I remember playing this on my P1 133MHz system. Pretty fun game except for the fact that it takes so long
Command & Conquer: Never played this though I’ve played the sequal and have the the later sequals. Think I’ll try it out 1 of these days :)
Cool Spot: The 7-up spot!!!!
Doom 2 – Hell on Earth: Now this is a game I have to play as well. Seeing how I’ve never played a Doom game or a Duke Nukem game to think of it
Double Dragon: Ahhh Billy and Jimmy where were we? :P Had this for the old computer I not sure which 1 because I forget :P
Double Dragon 3 – The Rosetta Stone: Me thinks me had this game for the Sega
Duck Tales: Scrooge McDuck!!! And his lucky lucky dime!!!! I want to swim in coins like he did :P
Dune | Dune 2: Never played them but wanted to and now I can =D
Earthworm Jim: Everybody’es favourite worm, aside from those in the Worms series by Team 17
Final Fantasy – Endless Nova: For thos FF fans out there
Ghostbusters 2: “Who you gonna call?”, GHOSTBUSTERS!!!!
Golden Axe: Had this on my old old computer as well :) Fun multiplayer game =D
Grand Theft Auto: The father of the GTA series. Actually I downloaded this game a long time ago from the producers but never got around to playing it :P
Lemmings | Lemmings 2 – The Tribes: The Lemmings are coming the Lemmings are coming!!! Well maybe more like falling… falling into the sea :P
Lord of the Rings – The Fellowship of the Ring“: This game caught my eye especially since I have yet to watch the 3rd installment of the movie :P
MDK (Murder Death Kill): Having borrowed MDK2 from a friend I had to mention this.
Mechwarrior: I dont know why I always like Mechwarrior 2 eventhough I’ve never played it. I guess the game catches my eye especially with several installments of the game (at least 4 games right?)
Micro Machines: I had Micro Machine TOYS when I was little. I liked cars :P And racing games :P
Mortal Kombat | Mortal Kombat 2: A game that caught on more because of the blood than the gameplay I think. Sick sick children were the kids of my time :P But still fun in a way I guess :P I remember how they were showing off their ‘digitized’ graphics which I still dont really like, though I gave a unique feel to the game.
Operation Wolf: ahhhh I remember playing this in a arcade with those mounted guns :P
Pandemonium: I only really know this game because it was 1 of the games released on the Nokia N-gage (spelling?) and I played it a bit on the N-gage :P
Paperboy: 1 more of those games that I remember playin in the arcades. AAhhhhh memories. I also remember playing those water guns games at the arcade in Marina Square :P
Populous: This game only caught my eye because of the main screen. Looks like the Warcraft II main screen
Puzzle Bobble: Another arcade game which, I might add, many girls seem to be fond of.
Rampage: Its good to be big apes and climb buildings :P
Sim Farm | Sim Tower | SimCity 2000 | SimCity Classic: Games from the “Sims” franchise
Skate or Die | Ski or Die: I remember these games. Never played them but I liked the name of the games :P
Softporn Adventure: The thing that caught my eye is that this is a TEXT BASE game :P lol I shouldn’t be advertising porn here should I? :P But I found it funny anyway :P
Street Fighter 2: The mother of all fighting/beat-em-up games. AAhh the memories of trying to do a dragon punch and end up getting a raw hurting thumb :P
The Lost Vikings: The Vikings!!!!
The Smurfs: La la lalalala la lala lala. La la lalalala la lala lala =D
Wacky Wheels: Another fun racing game =D
Warcraft: The mother of all RTS (real-time strategy) games? Something I HAVE to play :P

Whoa now thats a long post. So many links :P Happy looking for free games =D And thanks again Gordon :P