Ramblings: Best Man

So I told my buddies that I would be their best man if they want me to. Looking at current situation, I might really end up being all 3 of their best man.

Thinking about it makes me feel sian. I think I'll be bored by the second time.

So I shall blog about this and remind myself. I will be best man 3 times if they so ask for it.

=)

(actually it's because I want to expose all their embarrassing stuff during their wedding dinner. thanks to my ultra memory, I'll have a lot to tell)

The Facebook Series #5: Spam Links

There's an easy way to find out if a link your friend posted is spam/trojan or not. Take a look at the URL.

Let's take the most recent free KFC for a week one as an example. The URL posted was addchicken.com . You'll notice that there is no "KFC" in the URL given. Further, as this is supposedly an offer for Singapore thus there should be a .sg behind as well (in case you didn't know KFC exist in more than one country). Also, it is wise to look at what the offer is. Do you really think KFC will let you eat everything for free for one entire week?

The other spider-under-girl's-skin link is obviously a spam link as well. The URL often has really weird domains such as that ending with .info .

Sometimes, using your brain before clicking on a link just because it looks interesting helps. Spam links are getting more common these days. Just clicking on them makes you repost it automatically. Even if you remove them from your wall, your friends will still see it. While such backdoor trojan are used to hack into your account (password, friends list or whatever), I haven't heard of a major problem arising from clicking such links but you'll never know.

If you did not find my post hiding a "hint" of sarcasm, you are probably one of those who blindly click on links. I'm blocking you.

The Facebook Series #4: Bring Back The Old Facebook Chat

I honestly hate the new Facebook chat sidebar and if you're like me, this URL (taken from a nice guy at Lifehacker.com) https://www.facebook.com/presence/popout.php will give you back the old Facebook chat. Granted it's not integrated into the main Facebook page but at least it shows you a list of people who are online rather than making you search for your friend.

Tech Speak: The Technology I Want Now

I want this 2 pieces of technology. NOW.

ASUS EEE Slider Pad. Honeycomb tablet which comes with a built in keyboard. Tegra 2.

Motorola Droid 3. Android phone with qwerty keyboard. Omap dual core processor with 1GB RAM

Ramblings: It's The Company

I just had my first In Camp Training and ironically, I felt so much deja vu throughout the entire training. There were so many times I felt like I was NSF all over again. I mean, sure the training is definitely less stringent compared to when we were serving full time. But certain things still made me feel like I haven't ORDed.

But since I was an NSF, no matter how hard it was, I would always have a reason to smile and laugh. I would have shoulders to lean on, people to bitch with, all because my platoon mates were there and we stuck together. The radio team was always my pillar of strength for those dark times like things could never be worst.

The people make it better. All the time.

Brain Storm: Regrets Or Not

Life is a road of regrets. In life, it is either do or no do, or choosing between A or B. And you'll never know what will happen if you had chosen the other option. The regrets are always there. Only the degree defers. You can choose to not think about it, or choose to assume that your choice was the best choice.

But let's face it. You'll never know.

Tech Speak: Instant Messaging Status Meanings

http://lifehacker.com/5819017/im-status-how-should-you-use-it

Here's a good article from Lifehacker about what kind of IM status habits say about you. For example, if you are constantly available, it actually gives out a signal to people that you are not contactable all the time even if you're online (because it's simply impossible for you to be around all the time). Thus if your status is available all the time, it prevents people from having high hopes of getting a reply from you if they send an IM to you unless they know your schedules and IM habits. This either makes them resort to other means of contacting you or makes them not IM you all together. It's not a good thing because more often than not they will not know how long they have to wait before they get a response from you. A more responsible way is to make use of busy, BRB or idle statuses.

More in that article.

 

Brain Storm: Experiencing Life's Emotions

When we talk about emotions, there's always a few prominent ones which comes to mind first. 喜怒哀乐, as the Chinese phrase always go, though actually 喜 and 乐 comes pretty close. There's a difference in intensity though. Happiness, anger, sadness... These are emotions which everyone will definitely experience as we move through life.

There are the normal people who goes through life as it is, then you have the extremities - those who emo their lives away, and those who insist that life can be only happiness and it's all in the mind. I think that in life, it is essential to live through all these emotions. It is healthier to live them as they are, as they come. When something bad happens, it's alright to feel angry. When something depressing happens, it's alright to feel sad. When something nice happens, no matter how small it is, it's alright to feel happy. That's what life is supposed to be, a life of different colours. How fun will life which we only live once be, if we only stay sad all the time or even stay happy all the time?

I think it's not very sensible to say that as long as you wish to be happy, you can be. Life is not fair. There are people who are out there to get you. There are also people who affect you negatively unintentionally. Not everything is within our control. Wouldn't your life be miserable, in a way, if you brush everything off and stay happy when someone is torturing you? It's okay to let it out. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that this attitude is not right. It is definitely better to keep a positive attitude. But, you know sometimes, it's okay to let it get to you, to feel depressed, to cry it out, to flare up or to shout it out loud. You don't have to contain it, and pretend that everything's alright, all the time.

As for the perpetually emotional people, it's rather unhealthy too. Life is more than the sufferings you see. Being blinded is what keeps you from being happy. A lot of times, a person stays emo because he thinks that's the worse he has ever been. But even more often than not, a person stays emo because he thinks he's the worst off among the people around them. "Life sucks" and "Why do I have to suffer from this?" are common mentalities. But that is not true. Somewhere out there, there's definitely bound to be people who are worse off than you. When life cannot get worse, it can only get better. You wallow in self pity and that's why it becomes a spiral and a cycle you can never get out of. Even if you keep encountering a series of unfortunate events, it won't keep up. If it does, it's probably because you're not doing something about it. It's not easy but you have to try. Seek help because life is about sharing and helping each other. If you don't have anyone to count on, you probably just didn't find hard enough. Effort is needed if you want to escape the miserable fate you think you are caste in.

Life doesn't have the four seasons. Sometimes, you get a string of unhappiness. Sometimes, you keep getting unlucky. Sometimes everyone else just seems to be doing well. But life is complicated. We should try to keep life simple, but you don't have to shun that fact. It'll only get better. Don't be superficial.

So face it, your real emotions.

Why does 喜 and 乐 comes first and last? Because happiness is supposed to surround and engulf your negative emotions. No matter which direction you go, whether it is the start or end of the journey, you will be happy. If you are not happy, it's not the end yet.