Exam...Quiz...Zzz

Been busy with my master course and my A Level Chinese exam preparation. Took a week of leave for my chinese exam this coming Thurs and unluckily I have my database security quiz 2 the following day after that. Zzz. I didnt really expect this kind of evil coincidence to happen when I decided to sign up for the A level exam this year as a private candidate (cos it is the last year for the old syllabus and I just want to catch this "last train"). No worries though. Just study lor. =)

fsck.ext3: Unable to resolve UUID

Decide to do a fsck on my laptop and realised that Ubuntu 8.04 has the above mentioned error. It doesn't affect anything since my laptop can still boot properly and everything is functioning.

fsck.ext3: Unable to resolve 'UUID=e05eb8bc-3445-4542-9efb-827870ad68c7'


my /etc/fstab reveals the following:

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
#
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
# /dev/sda2
UUID=e05eb8bc-3445-4542-9efb-827870ad68c7 / ext3 defaults,errors=remount-ro 0 1


[ I removed my swap details]

and the command vol_id shows the following:
sudo vol_id -u /dev/sda2
e05eb8bc-3445-4542-9efb-827870ad68c7



Everything matches! I seriously don't know wth is causing this. >.<

Apache 2.0 Hardening Guide

Was trying to set up a web server on my ubuntu laptop and I came across this pretty useful page about apache hardening :)

Apache 2.0 Hardening Guide

Creating Space for Love

An interesting read taken from the site:

http://www.aish.com/dating/wisdom/Creating_Space_for_Love.asp

In order to love, you need to withdraw yourself from the center and create a space for another in your life. Love starts only when you do that. In other words, if you are self-centered, you are not ready for love. If you are self-centered, you can't make enough space to nurture another. And true love is not only creating that space within your life for another, but also giving him or her that space and respecting and maintaining that space. It is being a part of another life and removed from that life at the same time.

Viva la Difference

Once we're able to withdraw ourselves from the center and create space for another, we must develop the keen sensitivity for just how uniquely different -- just how other -- our partners are. We tend to see what we have in common, and we tend to overlook the differences. When people say, "love is blind," this is what they mean.

True love is seeing both the good and the bad.

But true love is not blind. True love is seeing -- seeing the differences, the otherness, the good and the bad. True love is seeing and still loving. In Hebrew, the verb "to see" is directly related to the verb "to respect." And that is what seeing with the eyes of true love means. True love requires that we see and accept and respect those we love for who they are, without projecting our dreams and fantasies upon them.

This is very hard, because we tend to want to fit those we love into our imaginary pictures of love. And if they don't quite fit, we want to alter them to fit.

But if we succeed in seeing not just what we have in common with those we love, but what makes us different, and if we appreciate and honor those differences, then we can take the next step toward giving of ourselves to that person. And simultaneously we must enable our partners to do the same for us, which means allowing them to make a space in their lives for us, allowing them to acknowledge our otherness, allowing them to give of themselves to us.

Excerpted from Rabbi Aaron's book, "

Endless Light

Promotion Lunch!

Still feeling very full from the promotion lunch just now. Had plenty of sashimi and some Greek cuisine. It was at Café Brio’s @ Grand Copthorne. Urgh. Still feeling bloated. =/

FujiFilm FinePix S5700

Bought a 2nd-hand camera S5700 on Thursday. It was actually from my colleague so we met somewhere convenient, at YCK MRT station. It's my first time handling a non hp camera, cos my experience with cameras have been limited to these thus far. I am a nubby photographer lol and like most girls (for once) I had found the idea of chucking a small camera (to take pictures "on the fly") into my handbag fairly appealing (Even though this really didn't fit the bill, but hey, it's cheap! :P). I am a noob at identitying picture quality too, as long as the colours look just about right and the focus is not glaringly out, I am happy. Heh. So there goes my plan to buy psp after returning it (not yet but soon) back to my guildie. (Nah I won't buy both. The thing with gadgets is, the more you have them, the less you will treasure them...)

Hälsningvärld!

Hello World!

Have been trying to learning Swedish for about a week plus. So far finding it's much easier to learn than 한국어! I suppose knowing English makes learning Swedish a tad easier than learning Korean, where I have to struggle not only with the vocabulary, but every other aspect of the new language in general.

Currently only learning written Swedish by looking for materials online. There are learning materials but I guess it's a bit limited. Still looking for any Swedish language courses, but so far no luck. >.<

I hate u, ubuntu 8.04

Yeah. After upgrading from 7.10 (cos it had the sound issue mentioned earlier) I decided to upgrade to 8.04 hoping that it will be a better version and i might fix the sound issue.

No such luck. It got WORSE cos now even my wireless cannot work. Urghz. I think 8.04 took a few step forward but unfortunately, it took more steps backwards. Especially if it broke existing functionalities, which is a big No No for me. Thankfully i bought a new card for my desktop - did i mention that i upgraded her to a 9600GT?? :) It was on last Saturday and I managed to catch Ironman with 2 other guildies... been too busy to write everything down... heh. So now i am gg to rely on my desktop for a while until they fix up ubuntu properly!~

On Life After Death

I went to Borders today with the intention of searching for this book. Even though i made a resolve to look for it myself without troubling the staff, the whole place is just too damn big for me to search properly. After about 20mins of wandering around and mainly getting distracted by other titles, I finally gave in and went over to a staff, asking to look for books "about death and dying". I swore her looks softened and bet that she must have misunderstood. Whatever.

She lead me to a shelf, that was a fairly small section actually. Wow, i found the book! There were two copies of them and its really a tiny little book. Its really thin and i took a copy and started reading.

Her views were fairly extreme (There is NO such thing as death) but I found the cases quite interesting. Like dying children who said he meet deceased member of his family (in some cases, even when the child has NO idea that the particular family member is already dead) who stood beside him just before he died, a blind person who experienced NDE and was able to correctly described what he "saw". :O

Death

I died a mineral and became a plant; I died a plant and rose an animal; I died an animal and I was a man. Why should I fear? When was I less by dying? Yet once more I shall die as a man, to soar With blessed angels; even from angelhood I must pass on ... When I have sacrificed my angel soul, I shall become that which no mind conceived.

LOVELESS

Act I:

Infinite in mystery is the gift of the goddess
We seek it thus, and take to the sky.
Ripples form on the water's surface
The wandering soul knows no rest.

Act II:

My Friend, your desire
Is the bringer of life, the gift of the goddess.
Legend shall speak of sacrifice at worlds end.
The wind sails over the water's surface
Quietly, but surely...

Act III:

As the war sends the world hurtling towards destruction
The prisoner departs with his newfound love
And embarks on a new journey.

He is guided by hope that the gift will bring bliss
And the oath that he swore to his friends.

Though no oath is shared between the lovers,
In thier hearts they know they will meet again.

Act IV:

There is no hate, only joy
For you are beloved by the goddess.
Hero of the Dawn, Healer of Worlds.

Three friends go into battle
One is captured,
One flies away,
the one that is left becomes a hero.
If we were to enact it,
would I be the one to play the hero,
Or would You?
Indeed
After all, your glory should have been mine.

My Friend, the fates are cruel
There are no dreams, no honour remains.
The arrow has left the bow of the goddess.

My Soul corrupted by vengeance,
Hath endures torment,
To find the end of the journey in my own salvation.
And Your eternal slumber.

Now what i want most...
is the 'Gift of the Goddess'...

Act V:

Dreams of the morrow hath shattered soul
Pride is Lost.
Wings stripped away, the end is nigh
Such is... the fate of a monster.

Even if the morrow is barren of promises,
nothing shall forestall my return.
If this world seeks my destruction...
... It goes with Me

Prologue:

When the war of the beasts brings about the world's end,
The goddess descends from the sky

Wings of light and dark spread afar,
She guides us to bliss, her gift everlasting...

From LOVELESS, Crisis Core

The Little Prince and the Fox

"Goodbye," said the fox.
"And now here is my secret, a very simple secret:
It is only with the heart that one can see rightly;
what is essential is invisible to the eye."

"What is essential is invisible to the eye,"
the little prince repeated,
so that he would be sure to remember.

"It is the time you have wasted for your rose
that makes your rose so important."

"It is the time I have wasted for my rose--"
said the little prince
so he would be sure to remember.

"Men have forgotten this truth," said the fox.
"But you must not forget it.
You become responsible, forever,
for what you have tamed.
You are responsible for your rose. . ."

"I am responsible for my rose,"
the little prince repeated,
so that he would be sure to remember.


From the Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Ubuntu Upgrade

/sigh

After ignoring the Update icon at the top right corner of my ubuntu laptop for quite some time (because everytime i tried to upgrade, the downloading of packages will inevitably FAIL), i realised its time to do something about it since I have fixed my desktop (err well, not totally but at least it is 'gaming-able').

So I changed the repository source to "Singapore Server" and tried again. Half-heartedly actually, cos I didn't really expect it to work.

But it did.

The upgrade went without a hitch and the upgrade was done after a reboot. All was fine except for 2 things:

a) The wireless is down again. Expected, cos I needed to put the firmware into the new kernel folder (I didnt really try to see if i can just dump the firmware files into /lib/firmware instead of /lib/firmware/2.6.22-14-generic, on hindsight i think i should give it a try lol). This time though, a reboot is needed after copying the files over to the new kernel folder.

b) Audio issue. The OS is totally ignoring the fact that i muted my hardware. There is NO volume control. Every single sound is made at the highest volume. This means that before I had the chance to disable the login/logout/any system sound, I must run out of the room before the sound is triggered (the power of a built-in Altec Lansing is still a force to be reckoned with). And yes, even when the speaker icon showed that it's muted.

Zzz.

a) was solved in less than 5 mins, mainly cos i spent tonnes of time solving it the previous time.
b) is a new problem i didnt encounter before and its a headache because unless i get it fixed, all my anime are going at MAX volume if I were to watch them. Which means, I can't.

So I googled around to see if there is anything i can do. Unfortunately, people are reporting issues different from mine. Their Ubuntu become soundless after the upgrade. My searches of "ubuntu upgrade 7.10 max audio" or "ubuntu upgrade 7.10 volume control" yielded no relevant results.

Sian. I think i will do more research. And I am starting to understand a bit of those Linux haters' logic: "Linux is free, yeah. Only if your time is worth nothing". Well, if i look at it another way, at least i will know how to solve it next time. =P

MC

Woke up feeling feverish (and i was fine yesterday >.< i strongly suspect the culprit to be the sweltering hot weather + accumulative effect of pieces of dark chocolate i have eaten over the past 3 days) So decided to take an MC.
Just came back from the family doctor, popped some meds, and going to sleep for a while now.
But not before sending an sms back to Zan for telling me almost every guildie's alt is approaching 70... except mine. -_-

milkmi.. /spit
shiroii.. /spit
currypok... /spit si ni!

i hope you guys are reading this.

123 木头人

Went for the 陶喆-123木头人 concert last Saturday. It was quite a rushed decision to go actually. I was at home fixing my machine since morning until late afternoon (See the Graphics Card post - Sorry I dun blog in chronological order, just write whatever that comes to my mind), and frustrating over the possibility of having to get a new system again, when suddenly my hp rang... My friend called and I started rambling all the display problem etc etc and generally flooding him with all my pent-up feelings, lol. Too bad lor, he called at the wrong time.

After finishing all my rambling which he patiently digested and tried to offer helpful suggestions, only then did he get the chance to get to the purpose of the call... lol. Apparently he got hold of the concert tickets and asked if I am free to go. Wow, of course i would like to go! Anything beats staring at the machine for the entire day (not to mention that i accidentally cut my finger while poking around its internals. /sob)

So we met at Kallang MRT at 7.00pm. It was kinda funny, cos we both arrived early but I assumed he would be late (cos he had a record for doing that so...) so I just find a comfortable corner and play psp while waiting for him. When its 7, I called him but he didnt pick up his phone I got a bit panicky. After all, I came ALL the way down from Yishun and I hope he didn't oversleep or what. Luckily he called me back a short while later and faced my wrath for being late.

"I wasn't late, I am already here, just that I am sitting on the staircase. Come find me la."
"Find your head! Here both left and right side also got staircase lor. I am in the middle. YOU come find me. Late liao still talk so much!" *Click* (Um it reads fiercer than it sounds hor...)

When we reached the stadium on time, it didn't exactly start on time, so we just talked and waited. I never been to a concert (except those Chinese Orchestra/Symphony Orchestra types) before, so I was very curious. As time passes by, the stadium filled up, but it didn't go fullhouse, quite a handful of empty seats could be seen. Thats why my friend got the lobang for the tickets, apparently. Haha. According to him, he went down his hp phone list one by one before reaching me and turned out that I am free to go. "So you should feel lucky" he said. -_- somehow I dun feel that way lol. Shouldnt it be the other way round??

I find the volume of the music and his singing too loud to properly enjoy the songs, but the experience as a whole is quite fun! Later we shifted closer to the stage as there were empty seats lying around (we were sitting quite far initially). The laser effects were awesome! I found myself distracted by the laser performance several times, lol. Once I kept looking up at the ceiling because the lasers were curvy and I was wondering how was it being done. I mean, one just don't see curving lasers everyday. My friend saw me and asked why do I keep looking up. When I answered it was because I was looking at the lasers (why they can curve one ar??), he laughed so hard and said that I "used my brain on the wrong thing" LoL.

The concert ended late! 11.30pm! Its the first time I have to literally run to catch my last train and my last feeder bus, as I looked around and saw all the cabs On Call. -.- It was quite scary at that time, but looking back, its quite fun! Heh.

The May-Day concert is on this coming Saturday, and another friend had jioed me to go... but it's unfortunate that I have some other plans that evening (which mainly involved my computer again. -_-) so I wouldn't be going. If its Jay Chou's though, it might be a different story... lol.

大女人

According to 百度百科, the definition of a 大女人 is as follows:

大女人

开放分类： 社会

　　大女人是对女人的一种评价，与“小女人”和“小男人”相对应。
　　大女人通常是指那种性格有男人特质，有超出普通女性性格优点的女人。也指那些有女权主义思想，瞧不起男人的一部分女人。甚至喜欢支配和命令他人。
　　她们往往不喜欢斤斤计较，也不喜欢传播家长里短，论人是非；她们把时间用来工作、学习，用来干事业。性格顽强而有主见，有远见。豁达大度，精明干炼。
　　但大女人也有其不好的一面，比如她们往往不够温柔细腻，往往粗枝大叶，容易忽略身为女性所特有的柔美，而且太过争强好胜，做什么都要与男人争个高低，会令男人对她们敬而远之。

Skimming through the entire paragraph, I highlighted the qualities that I *think* I have. OMG. Do I qualify as a 大女人??

Let's see... I see myself as wanting to learn new things, be it technical, or personal development. I have always known my pride to be very strong, so I suppose this is the 好胜 part of me. Also nobody can tell me what to do if i dun wanna do it...lol yeah i am plain stubborn, so that justifies the 性格顽强 part...

Another part of me, I am fiercely protective of my privacy. I don't know if this has something to do with me being a Cancerian. I just don't feel that I need to answer everything people asked of me, especially when it serves nothing but to satisfy their own curiosity. The only sense of curiosity I satisfy is my own... "Need-to-know basis", people.

Lastly, I can't click with people who are too brilliant, lol. I realised some of them tend to be more argumentative and more inclined to add their own uncalled-for opinions when I share with them things about my own life. Look, I don't care if your opinion is based on a true fact on earth or even in the whole universe. I didn't tell you things in my life to start a debate/argument/whatever. Its all FYI, so you just STFU and listen to understand, not listen to counter-and-argue... These are the type of people I will run like hell to get away from, because talking with them will inevitably become a debate that becomes a I-am-wrong-you-are-right kinda thing (mind you, its MY life and i am just sharing it with them... sob), sending me into an early grave. ZzzzZzz. You know what's call "八字不合"? Thats the kind of feeling I get from interacting with such people...

Graphics Card Underclocking

Having decided that I am not going to tolerate Vista anymore (No more "Display driver nvlddmkm stopped" crap), I reverted back to XP last Saturday. After all the installation, I realised that my graphics card, a 2-year-old GeForce 7900 GTO is "Ki Qia-ing".

=(

I smsed my friend, whose family owns a shop in SL, for his advice on which replacement card should I get. Before I buy a new card though, I am determined to try and 'cure' this existing card.

After a few rounds of uninstalling/installing drivers and directX, I am convinced the problem is hardware, specifically, heat-related.

A temperature check shows that my card is running at 50 degree Celsius when idle and up to 65 (or possibly even higher) when I am running a full screen 3D game. This is with the casing opened and a full standing fan blowing at it =/

Hence the solution: underclocking to reduce the heat emitted and minimise further damage to the (already damaged) 7900.

Now it sounds harder than it is. Just go to the nvidia site to download the utility nTune. The tricky part is to know how much to underclock. I keep trying and failing the test (urggh, trial and error) but eventually I hit on some values that successfully lowered the temperature and solved those display spikes and lines and whatsoever that was bothering me. =D

I got the link somewhere at home, its a very helpful site with advice and screenshots of the exact same problem as mine. If I do find it I will post here, heh. The idea is to incrementally underclock it as the card slowly deteriorates until the point of no return, after which the card is proclaim dead and need to be replaced.

EDIT: I managed to dig up the link. Its a really useful page, check it out: http://www.playtool.com/pages/artifacts/artifacts.html

Disclaimer: If it's down its not my fault. Heh.

This blog is gathering dust! /gasp

Wow! I have totally forgotten to update this blog for some uber long time! Hmm lemme see what I have to update... in order of importance.

1. I passed my CISA! *cough cough* of course! =D This is just a baby step forward. After clearing my CISSP and CISA, my next step is taking my Master of Computing (Infocomm Security).

2. (Something that is the result of 1) Because I am taking my Master, it follows that I will be in this company for another 2 years at least, therefore made sense for me to register for my A Level Chinese. The extra allowance from language proficiency is always welcomed. Its good return for an investment of a few weeks of pia-ing, ya? (provided I pass lar, lol)

3. Sad to say, during this period of absence from this blog, I have joined SGRaiders and left it for another new guild, Incursio. World of Warcraft is my alternate reality when I have nothing better to do at home, and my guildies are literally becoming fast friends. That said, I am levelling a PRIEST yeah u heard me right, those who know me will know that I am not "holy" enough to roll a priest, so yeah, she is definitely shadow. Just slightly less evil than my warlock. /cheer And no I won't heal you, currypok. I will just wand the mob and see your green hp bar slowly emptying. And charge you 2 gold for ressing you. =D

4. PSP. =P How can I not mention this baby (even though its not mine) who faithfully provided me tonnes of entertainment on those long MRT rides to and from work. Currently playing Patapon (stuck at the Retreat Song boss), Crisis Core (lost in the depth of judgement, oh yeah i know my sense of direction is hopeless even in games), FF Tactics (stuck at a boss.. urgh!), Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords. Finished Brave Story New Traveller, lol. Its an awesome game btw! =P