wLoG

Epistemology

2012-01-11T15:21:00.000+08:00

Steno had decided not to accept astatement as true simply because it was written in a book, but ratherto rely on his own research.

Theme song from the movie The Land Before Time (first movie) sung by Diana Ross, If We Hold On Together.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sf3QRdYmlSs

恐龙都是动物，

神马都是浮云。

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Steno

Of fairy tales, princesses & dragons
http://irwinbartlet.wordpress.com/2012/01/26/of-fairy-tales-princesses-dragons/

Where is our humanity?

2012-01-10T01:28:00.000+08:00

You fools!

You think you can inhabit the newlyfound planets that can sustain human life?

If you cannot solve your own problemsfor planet Earth, don't think of colonizing other planets and killingall the original inhabitants all over again.

你们向天举目吧！看是谁创造了这些万象？是谁按着数目把万象领出来，一一指名呼唤？因他的大能大力，连一个也不缺少。

以赛亚书第四十章第卄六节

You think g-Brother or f-Brother is watching?
Or gg-Brother or ff-Brother?
WE are watching you.
Ha ha ha.

Dare to Dream

2012-01-09T15:16:00.000+08:00

Do not be ashamed that 'God' has dealtyou a heavy hand. People do not accept you. But those are yourtalents! Each person is given different talents. Use your talents.

Dare to Dream

https://www.facebook.com/groups/107870362628862/

The people of this world are bombardedwith pornography, hate speech, sexism, discrimination, prejudice,racism, homophobia, heterophobia, LGBT-phobia, colour-phobia,diversity-phobia, creativity-phobia, depression-phobia,happiness-phobia, age-phobia, blindness-phobia, [insert your religionhere]-phobia, cosmic religion phobia, [insert your country here]-phobia, [insert your psychologicalstate here]-phobia, medicine-phobia, [insert your vocationhere]-phobia, [insert your desires here]-phobia, [insert your naturehere]-phobia, [insert your favourite animal here]-phobia, friendship-phobia, trust-phobia, sharing-phobia, Wikipedia-phobia, drugs, violence, misunderstandings, suspicions, hate,wars, selfishness, and greed.

Dare to beDifferent.

Vanessa Mae - I'm a Doun For Lack of Johnnie music video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lh9j0-Ey3kw

Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus || Spoken Word
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IAhDGYlpqY

A Message To Humanity!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RYlAPjyNm8

You Alone Can Rescue - Matt Redman - Passion 2010

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oFpbQrC7vY

Monty Python's Life of Brian
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079470/

Truth Seekers

2012-01-09T07:24:00.000+08:00

One small step for the Swedes, One giant leap for humankind.

Swedish faith based on file-sharing recognised as religion by government

http://www.nme.com/news/miscellaneous/61308

Driver-to-driver Comms as Horn Replacement

2012-01-08T02:24:00.002+08:00

With the help of near fieldcommunications (NFC), we propose the concept of driver-to-drivercommunications to replace the simple blast of the horn. Usually,sounding the horn is meant as a polite indicator but is oftenmisunderstood and interpreted in a negative way.

The driver can preset various messagessuch as:

I'm sorry.

Please go ahead.

Watch out!

After you, please.

Thank you.

He/she can send this message to amultiple number of drivers. The transmission channel need not belimited to NFC. The reconfigurable software-defined radio canautomatically select an available channel from a multiple number ofradio access technologies (RATs), and a multiple number ofspace/time/frequency/code resources.

Each vehicle is equipped with GoogleTranslate to instantaneously translate the incoming message to thelanguage defined by the driver. In the event that the message thatthe sender wishes to convey is not included in the predefined setsuch as the set given above, the sender can activate the Google VoiceTranslate and speak his/her message. Google's advanced voicerecognition algorithm automatically performs translation of themessage to unicode which is then transmitted to the multiple numberof drivers. Similarly, the receiver translates the incoming messageto the prefered language of the driver.

Based on extensive surveys, 90% ofdrivers are in favor and are of the opinion that such an inventionwould dramatically improve the driver experience on the modern roadnetworks.

Patent Pending

Green Environmentally-friendly Energy-efficient Bumper-to-Bumper (GEE-BB) Driving

2012-01-07T15:53:00.002+08:00

In this proposal, cars are equippedwith electromagnetic sensors and actuators in the front and rearbumpers. This enables a car to maintain the same distance with thecar in front e.g. 5 centimeters. (Optional near field communication(NFC) is also possible to enable the drivers to communicate theirintentions instead of the primitive blare of the horn. Using a relaysystem, drivers can also talk to another driver a multiple number ofcars away. Google Translate also offers instantaneous translation tothe language of the driver, as defined in the automobile optionssettings control panel.)

The front car is equipped with acommunications link to the traffic light ahead, and will receive asignal for smooth deceleration should the traffic light turn fromgreen to red. A multiple number of cars can be linked up behind thiscar, forming a car-train. It can be easily shown theoretically thatflow capacity or the maximum number of people ferried per unit timeis greater than the conventional car system without the GEE-BB systeminstalled, for the same number of cars. Computer simulations havealso shown that the proposed car-train system greatly outperforms thesituation in which only fully loaded double-deckered buses (withoutGEE-BB) are plying along the roads.

The cars can also be equipped with themini-nuclear-fuel-cell (MNFC, Patent 2012). In countries where carbontax incentive is imposed, drivers can also earn financialremuneration for every mile that they travel, due to the fact that nocarbon dioxide is produced by the cars.

Patent Pending

Turning time on its head

2012-01-07T05:38:00.000+08:00

Have you ever had a deja vu feeling andask yourself why is everything turning out so well? This is becausethere is a higher plane than this physical Earth. There are severaldimensions in the metaphysical world. Our current world is simply aprojection down onto three dimensional space. When we believe in Godand allow the superflows freedom to move within our body, God givesus a little insight into His great wisdom. One of the wisdoms is thattime as we know it is far less than how God views it. God is notlimited by time. God's time does not move in one direction only. Itmoves in both directions. God can move into any instant of ourtimeline and insert an event. We just need to ask. You want themountain to be moved? Ask for it! You want the mountain to have beenmoved 18 years ago? Ask for it, and it shall have been done. You wanttelepathy? Ask for it. It is actually not very difficult. Everythingis in God's hands. You just have to get into God's good books. Youwant levitation? Ask for it. God can do it, but he may not give it toyou just yet. You may be regarded as a dangerous entity that wants totake over the world. God knows what is best for you. Usually, Godwould not give you levitation capability. Maybe just in private. Catsand dogs are God's creations. When we love God, we would naturallylove cats and dogs. When the furry creature acknowledges that youlove him/her, he/she would allow you to enter into his/her mind. Youcan then see the world from the perspective of a cat or dog. Prettycool huh? ^_^

Matters really nothing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAVx9RKaLPU

Matter is really nothing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXKFTzlBziI

When can human beings ever learn compassion?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

2012-01-07T01:05:00.003+08:00

Lets talk about Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkJtY5O_2WI

Happy Epiphany Holyday!

2012-01-06T05:48:00.002+08:00

Today the fourteen worlds are on cloud nine celebrating the revelation!

See how Allah has created the seven heavens one above another, and made the moon a light in their midst, and made the Sun a Lamp?

Change the stories in your head
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150395101860006

The Lotus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3SVXz3TFr8

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.' We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
Source = i(Marianne Williamson) + j(Nelson Mandela)

π

2012-01-05T01:11:00.002+08:00

[PS 17:7]

Shew Your marvelous lovingkindness by Your right hand, O You who save those who trust in You.

Keep me as the apple ᔭ1˙Ɛ of Your eye. Hide me under the shadow of Your wings.

NKJV

Eight Examples Of Effective Food Aid | WFP | UnitedNations World Food Programme - Fighting Hunger Worldwide

The Form of the Good

2012-01-04T04:06:00.001+08:00

RO 8:28

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Universal Axioms
http://www.facebook.com/universalaxioms

Ze Gold vs e Gold

2012-01-03T18:41:00.000+08:00

Listen up!

I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so that you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so that you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so that you can see.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.

But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

INSIDE EDITION Investigates Electronic Pickpocketing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUz6oe6AlFs

References:
[Re. 3:18, Mt. 6:19]

Thank you in advance

2012-01-02T14:11:00.000+08:00

Brit CKӾhadasha

MOSHIACH’S LETTER THROUGH THE SHLIACH SHA’UL TO THE BRIT CHADASHA KEHILLAH IN EPHESUS [EP 5:4]

And also let there be nothing that is an ERVAT DAVAR (indecent thing) or the tipshus (foolery) or foolish talking of letzim (coarse jesting) or shtiklech (misconduct), which are not fitting, but rather hodayah (thanksgiving).

List of Words Banished for Mis-Use, Over-Use and General Uselessness
http://www.lssu.edu/banished/current.php

He Lives In You

2012-01-01T14:25:00.000+08:00

One Elohim and Avi khol (Father of all), who is over all and through all and in all. [DEVARIM 6:4; ZECHARYAH 14:9]

Happy New Year 2012
http://dailybible.joansoft.com/happy2012.htm

GOO-גל-PARTICLE 322 OF THE CONSTITUTION

2011-12-29T18:59:00.000+08:00

You tink God's Rules stay working agains God's promises? No way! If had rules dat get da power fo make peopo live foeva, den God wen make peopo get um right wit him wit dem rules. But neva had dat kine rules.

Da Bible wen say dat everybody stay do da bad kine stuff, an dey no can pau do um. An dass how come da Bible wen say dat, fo show dat peopo gotta go trus Jesus Christ, fo get da kine life God wen promise.

If such is the case, is the law, then, an anti-promise, a negation of God's will for us? Not at all. Its purpose was to make obvious to everyone that we are, in ourselves, out of right relationship with God, and therefore to show us the futility of devising some religious system for getting by our own efforts what we can only get by waiting in faith for God to complete his promise. For if any kind of rule-keeping had power to create life in us, we would certainly have gotten it by this time.

Is the Torah, mimeila (consequently, as a result), against the havtachot (promises) of Hashem? Chas v'Shalom (G-d forbid!)! For if Torah had been given that had the ko'ach (power) to affect hitkhadshut (regeneration), then to be YITZDAK IM HASHEM ("justified with G-d") would indeed have been based on chukim of the Torah.

But the Kitvei HaKodesh consigned all things under HaChet (Sin) [Ro 3:9], that the havtachah (promise) might be given by emunah in Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua to the ma'aminim.

这样，律法和　神的应许是对立的吗？绝对不是。如果所赐下的律法能使人得生命，义就真的是出于律法了。

但圣经把所有的人都圈在罪中，好把那因信耶稣基督而来的应许，赐给相信的人。

Bump Parking

2011-12-29T17:30:00.000+08:00

Cars should be equipped with a bumper bump sensor to enable safe and quick parking.

This is effective in tight spaces especially when the car population is exploding exponentially.

The bump sensor detects contact with an obstacle and stops applying force.

A little child could stand behind the car accidentally and not be hurt in the process.

HODU

2011-12-21T23:01:00.000+08:00

Turkey+Thanksgiving+Indian

South Park History Channel Thanksgiving
http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s15e13-a-history-channel-thanksgiving

When doctors invoke God’s will

2011-12-18T21:55:00.000+08:00

A very insightful article.

Beware of consigning people to prolonged suffering in the name of ‘not playing God’

Source: The Sunday Times Dec 18, 2011
By Lee Wei Ling

In medicine, we often come across situations where an attempt to save a patient’s life may well condemn that patient to a severe disability and a life devoid of meaning. Though alive, the patient may be unaware of his surroundings and unable to think or communicate. This condition is termed the ‘chronic vegetative state’.

The politically correct response that many doctors parrot when faced with such a situation is to say: ‘I can’t play God.’

That statement can imply that the doctor does not know God’s will, and will therefore not act to take extreme measures. Rather, he would leave the patient’s survival in God’s hands, or to the natural course of the disease.

But more often than not, when doctors say they ‘can’t play God’, what they mean is they don’t know when to stop medical treatment. They end up trying to prolong the life of the patient, though they know that if he survives he may be faced with a meaningless existence filled with suffering and misery.

When a doctor claims he cannot play God, the truth is that he does not have the courage to leave the patient alone and save his family from years of suffering. Ironically, in deciding to save such a patient, the doctor is in fact playing God – and a possibly vindictive God too.

I have seen such situations too often, and have refrained from writing about them because I did not wish to offend anyone. But after witnessing so many cases of unnecessary suffering, I feel I should speak out against consigning people to years of suffering in the name of ‘not playing God’.

When faced with a situation where saving a patient may well condemn that patient and his family to years of suffering, a doctor would usually hold discussions with the patient’s family, and where possible with the patient himself.

Doctors try their best to abide by their patients’ wishes if their patients have already communicated them. If not, we rely on the family or whoever the patient has given the power of attorney to. We try to put across the best medical advice in a form that is comprehensible to patients and their families.

Patient autonomy is considered the basis on which we make medical decisions. But when faced with the shock of imminent death, very few patients or their families can make rational decisions. In this situation, emotion usually overrides reason.

A few years ago, the mother of a good friend of mine had a serious bleed in her brain. As my friend himself is a doctor, we all rallied around to save his mother, with no effort or expense being spared. In the end, the mother survived, but was extremely disabled, unable even to eat or drink by herself.

My friend, a devout Christian, would probably have accepted whatever outcome as ‘God’s will’. But was it God’s will that his fellow doctors should have used all the powerful weapons of medicine that they possessed to pull this elderly woman through a medical crisis and leave her and her family facing months, if not years, of suffering?

It seems to me that those who invoke ‘God’s will’ should be more humble. At the very least, they should avoid ‘playing God’ themselves and blaming the terrible results on ‘God’s will’.

There is an often repeated story of an observant woman called Judas (not her/his real name) that is of relevance in this context.

This woman’s village was flooded in a terrible rainstorm. The police instructed the villagers to evacuate their homes immediately and leave for higher ground. But our deeply religious woman decided to stay put, telling the police, ‘God will save me’.

Soon, Judas was forced up to the first floor of her house because of the rising water. Some villagers in a dinghy sailed past and pleaded with her to join them. The pious woman declined, calling out: ‘Don’t worry – God will save me!’

But the water continued to rise, and Judas was forced to climb to the roof of her house. A helicopter came by and threw down a rope. Again, the devout woman refused all assistance, exclaiming: ‘No need, God will save me!’

Eventually, the water rose so high that the roof was covered, and she drowned. On arrival at the pearly gates, she asked to see God.

‘Oh God,’ she said, ‘I trusted you, I put my life in your hands, I had faith in you, and you let me drown. How can I believe in you and your beneficence?’

God looked her up and down and replied: ‘You nebbish (a Yiddish word meaning a pitiful, ineffectual and inept person), I sent the police, a boat and a helicopter. What more did you want me to do?’

Often in life, we have to make important decisions, some of them with life-and-death consequences. Those who believe in God try to abide by His will. Yet God’s will is not known to us – and as the above story indicates, very often we can miss the obvious (God sent a boat) while looking out for some special signal.

Editor’s note: Some text has been modified slightly to generalize the anecdote/parable.

[John 10:34] JESUS answered them, “Is it not written in your LAW, `I have said you are GODS’? [Psalm 82:6]

A Poem

2011-12-18T18:51:00.003+08:00

Thus saith the wise guy,
there shalt be no more Jew or Gentile,
Christiany or Moslemy,
All hath the privilege to terrorize,
Thou art free to be righteous.
- Anonymous

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/12/18/v-fullstory/2551704/jewish-attacks-prompt-israeli.html

People Power

2011-12-05T01:00:00.000+08:00

The Western countries have been leading science and innovation for hundreds of years. We have reached a stage where we can live comfortably with our current resources. America has been leading the world on all fronts. The Asian countries are now catching up with the West. America should now let go of her victim mentality of “You are either for us or against us”. We should not let a few Islamic militants or Christian militants tarnish the image of Islam or Christianity. China is neither for or against the US. She is just working to feed herself. All of us good people are working to feed ourselves.

I have a solution for our world getting “hot, flat, and crowded”. We can have a “perpetual Earth”. We can live in peace and harmony. The solution in short is “people power”.

I believe a teenager with a proper education is also able to come up with this solution. Most of us are blinded by the information overload we face today. One person cannot change the world. Everybody needs to do the right thing. Nobody can or should force you to do something that goes against your principles. You have to convince yourself that seeking righteousness is what you want to do.

Thomas Friedman - Hot, Flat and Crowded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wMbW0hs29U

Life and How to Survive It

2011-11-29T17:12:00.001+08:00

Read this on my friend See of SG's blogs I stumbled upon. It’s the 2008 NTU Convocation Speech by Mr Adrian Tan, who is a litigator and also the author of the cult fiction, Teenage Textbook, written in the late 1980s. But this is such a wonderful speech and the ideas so real and honest that I couldn’t resist putting the speech in its entirety here. Enjoy and reflect! =)

I must say thank you to the faculty and staff of the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information for inviting me to give your convocation address. It’s a wonderful honour and a privilege for me to speak here for ten minutes without fear of contradiction, defamation or retaliation. I say this as a Singaporean and more so as a husband.

My wife is a wonderful person and perfect in every way except one. She is the editor of a magazine. She corrects people for a living. She has honed her expert skills over a quarter of a century, mostly by practising at home during conversations between her and me.

On the other hand, I am a litigator. Essentially, I spend my day telling people how wrong they are. I make my living being disagreeable.

Nevertheless, there is perfect harmony in our matrimonial home. That is because when an editor and a litigator have an argument, the one who triumphs is always the wife.

And so I want to start by giving one piece of advice to the men: when you’ve already won her heart, you don’t need to win every argument.

Marriage is considered one milestone of life. Some of you may already be married. Some of you may never be married. Some of you will be married. Some of you will enjoy the experience so much, you will be married many, many times. Good for you.

The next big milestone in your life is today: your graduation. The end of education. You’re done learning.

You’ve probably been told the big lie that “Learning is a lifelong process” and that therefore you will continue studying and taking masters’ degrees and doctorates and professorships and so on. You know the sort of people who tell you that? Teachers. Don’t you think there is some measure of conflict of interest? They are in the business of learning, after all. Where would they be without you? They need you to be repeat customers.

The good news is that they’re wrong.

The bad news is that you don’t need further education because your entire life is over. It is gone. That may come as a shock to some of you. You’re in your teens or early twenties. People may tell you that you will live to be 70, 80, 90 years old. That is your life expectancy.

I love that term: life expectancy. We all understand the term to mean the average life span of a group of people. But I’m here to talk about a bigger idea, which is what you expect from your life.

You may be very happy to know that Singapore is currently ranked as the country with the third highest life expectancy. We are behind Andorra and Japan, and tied with San Marino. It seems quite clear why people in those countries, and ours, live so long. We share one thing in common: our football teams are all hopeless. There’s very little danger of any of our citizens having their pulses raised by watching us play in the World Cup. Spectators are more likely to be lulled into a gentle and restful nap.

Singaporeans have a life expectancy of 81.8 years. Singapore men live to an average of 79.21 years, while Singapore women live more than five years longer, probably to take into account the additional time they need to spend in the bathroom.

So here you are, in your twenties, thinking that you’ll have another 40 years to go. Four decades in which to live long and prosper.

Bad news. Read the papers. There are people dropping dead when they’re 50, 40, 30 years old. Or quite possibly just after finishing their convocation. They would be very disappointed that they didn’t meet their life expectancy.

I’m here to tell you this. Forget about your life expectancy.

After all, it’s calculated based on an average. And you never, ever want to expect being average.

Revisit those expectations. You might be looking forward to working, falling in love, marrying, raising a family. You are told that, as graduates, you should expect to find a job paying so much, where your hours are so much, where your responsibilities are so much.

That is what is expected of you. And if you live up to it, it will be an awful waste.

If you expect that, you will be limiting yourself. You will be living your life according to boundaries set by average people. I have nothing against average people. But no one should aspire to be them. And you don’t need years of education by the best minds in Singapore to prepare you to be average.

What you should prepare for is mess. Life’s a mess. You are not entitled to expect anything from it. Life is not fair. Everything does not balance out in the end. Life happens, and you have no control over it. Good and bad things happen to you day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment. Your degree is a poor armour against fate.

Don’t expect anything. Erase all life expectancies. Just live. Your life is over as of today. At this point in time, you have grown as tall as you will ever be, you are physically the fittest you will ever be in your entire life and you are probably looking the best that you will ever look. This is as good as it gets. It is all downhill from here. Or up. No one knows.

What does this mean for you? It is good that your life is over.

Since your life is over, you are free. Let me tell you the many wonderful things that you can do when you are free.

The most important is this: do not work.

Work is anything that you are compelled to do. By its very nature, it is undesirable.

Work kills. The Japanese have a term “Karoshi”, which means death from overwork. That’s the most dramatic form of how work can kill. But it can also kill you in more subtle ways. If you work, then day by day, bit by bit, your soul is chipped away, disintegrating until there’s nothing left. A rock has been ground into sand and dust.

There’s a common misconception that work is necessary. You will meet people working at miserable jobs. They tell you they are “making a living”. No, they’re not. They’re dying, frittering away their fast-extinguishing lives doing things which are, at best, meaningless and, at worst, harmful.

People will tell you that work ennobles you, that work lends you a certain dignity. Work makes you free. The slogan "Arbeit macht frei" was placed at the entrances to a number of Nazi concentration camps. Utter nonsense.

Do not waste the vast majority of your life doing something you hate so that you can spend the small remainder sliver of your life in modest comfort. You may never reach that end anyway.

Resist the temptation to get a job. Instead, play. Find something you enjoy doing. Do it. Over and over again. You will become good at it for two reasons: you like it, and you do it often. Soon, that will have value in itself.

I like arguing, and I love language. So, I became a litigator. I enjoy it and I would do it for free. If I didn’t do that, I would’ve been in some other type of work that still involved writing fiction – probably a sports journalist.

So what should you do? You will find your own niche. I don’t imagine you will need to look very hard. By this time in your life, you will have a very good idea of what you will want to do. In fact, I’ll go further and say the ideal situation would be that you will not be able to stop yourself pursuing your passions. By this time you should know what your obsessions are. If you enjoy showing off your knowledge and feeling superior, you might become a teacher.

Find that pursuit that will energise you, consume you, become an obsession. Each day, you must rise with a restless enthusiasm. If you don’t, you are working.

Most of you will end up in activities which involve communication. To those of you I have a second message: be wary of the truth. I’m not asking you to speak it, or write it, for there are times when it is dangerous or impossible to do those things. The truth has a great capacity to offend and injure, and you will find that the closer you are to someone, the more care you must take to disguise or even conceal the truth. Often, there is great virtue in being evasive, or equivocating. There is also great skill. Any child can blurt out the truth, without thought to the consequences. It takes great maturity to appreciate the value of silence.

In order to be wary of the truth, you must first know it. That requires great frankness to yourself. Never fool the person in the mirror.

I have told you that your life is over, that you should not work, and that you should avoid telling the truth. I now say this to you: be hated.

It’s not as easy as it sounds. Do you know anyone who hates you? Yet every great figure who has contributed to the human race has been hated, not just by one person, but often by a great many. That hatred is so strong it has caused those great figures to be shunned, abused, murdered and in one famous instance, nailed to a cross.

One does not have to be evil to be hated. In fact, it’s often the case that one is hated precisely because one is trying to do right by one’s own convictions. It is far too easy to be liked, one merely has to be accommodating and hold no strong convictions. Then one will gravitate towards the centre and settle into the average. That cannot be your role. There are a great many bad people in the world, and if you are not offending them, you must be bad yourself. Popularity is a sure sign that you are doing something wrong.

The other side of the coin is this: fall in love.

I didn’t say “be loved”. That requires too much compromise. If one changes one’s looks, personality and values, one can be loved by anyone.

Rather, I exhort you to love another human being. It may seem odd for me to tell you this. You may expect it to happen naturally, without deliberation. That is false. Modern society is anti-love. We’ve taken a microscope to everyone to bring out their flaws and shortcomings. It far easier to find a reason not to love someone, than otherwise. Rejection requires only one reason. Love requires complete acceptance. It is hard work – the only kind of work that I find palatable.

Loving someone has great benefits. There is admiration, learning, attraction and something which, for the want of a better word, we call happiness. In loving someone, we become inspired to better ourselves in every way. We learn the truth worthlessness of material things. We celebrate being human. Loving is good for the soul.

Loving someone is therefore very important, and it is also important to choose the right person. Despite popular culture, love doesn’t happen by chance, at first sight, across a crowded dance floor. It grows slowly, sinking roots first before branching and blossoming. It is not a silly weed, but a mighty tree that weathers every storm.

You will find, that when you have someone to love, that the face is less important than the brain, and the body is less important than the heart.

You will also find that it is no great tragedy if your love is not reciprocated. You are not doing it to be loved back. Its value is to inspire you.

Finally, you will find that there is no half-measure when it comes to loving someone. You either don’t, or you do with every cell in your body, completely and utterly, without reservation or apology. It consumes you, and you are reborn, all the better for it.

Don’t work. Avoid telling the truth. Be hated. Love someone.

You’re going to have a busy life. Thank goodness there’s no life expectancy.

--
Winston: Hey, wait a minute, this guy is a litigator. He would want people to get into trouble and then he can be their devil's advocate. Haha.

Interesting Blog

2011-09-12T22:57:00.001+08:00

I just came across a pretty interesting blog on love, spirituality, God, epistemology, and music:

Dr. Who's Blog

I love the explanation of why music sounds nice / good / lifting spirits / melodic / soothing. It appears that there is a simple mathematical explanation. It really shows the power of God acting in this universe.

I love Killer Instinct TV

2011-01-11T22:29:00.007+08:00

Recently watched an exciting programme on TV - Rob Bredl's Killer Instinct. He handles exotic animals with ease. His feats include hungry crocodiles, venomous snakes, bird brain emus, cute wombats, kangaroos, scorpions, tasty rats, natural fish sausage, and many more.

http://barefootbushman.com.au/

People think he is mystical, having magic powers, but he explains that actually everything he does is based on wisdom and understanding of wildife from accompanying his herpetologist father in the Australian outback and rainforests.

He is so bold that he appears crazy, but everything is a calculated move. He knows the massive crocodiles, that they are predictable and calculative animals. He knows what they can do and what they cannot do. With a stick and a bucket, he can kiss crocodiles, taunt them, sit on them, and even swim with them in the water. The reason is that crocs hunt by sight and splashing. They are extremely attracted to splashing. If he swims silently behind the crocodile, the crocodile does not bother about him. Only when he starts splashing the crocodile comes up to him.

I was also surprised to learn that crocodiles can't move fast on land. You can walk backwards faster than the crocodile can chase after you. We had a good laugh seeing how he prepares his bush tucker meal. Good for jungle survival.

My Recent Letters in The Straits Times Forum

2010-07-09T05:42:00.005+08:00

ST Forum

Jun 22, 2010

Ban blinding headlights

WITH improvements in technology, the brightness of car headlights has increased tremendously. Excessively bright headlights blind other road users and prevent them from seeing things that are less illuminated, causing accidents.

I urge the Land Transport Authority to put in place stricter regulations to curb the headlight brightness of especially imported cars.

Winston Ho

ST Forum

Apr 16, 2010

Japan's user-friendly faregates

I REFER to last Saturday's report, 'SMRT stations to get new faregates'.

I am pleased that SMRT is installing faregates with more sensors, which will stay open while commuters go through and close only when they have passed.

We should follow Japan's example. Commuters there flash their cards and walk through gates that do not close. This saves electricity. The gates close only when someone tries to walk through without a card. And even if they close, they do not pinch and hurt commuters. Instead, they close like a normal swing door.

Winston Ho

Quote from the Dale Carnegie Scrapbook of Quotations

2010-03-20T14:18:00.006+08:00

If half a century of living has taught me anything at all, it has taught me that “Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.”

Picture of Quote:

During one of our lessons in the Dale Carnegie Course, the prize for the best presenter was the “Dale Carnegie Scrapbook of Quotations.” When I flipped through the pages, I liked the book at once. I prayed hard that I would win this book. I tried my best even though I was sick with flu, so I was very disappointed that I didn’t win. Our rhetorical friend Uly won the book twice, so he gave me one. I really like the book.

Pictures of Book:

The Dale Carnegie Course (DCC) is a course on effective communications & human relations.

Words of Wisdom

2010-01-24T12:10:00.006+08:00

好狗看百家
好人益天下

Ho gao kua beh gay,
Ho lang yim tee ay.

A good dog watches a hundred homes,
A good person benefits all under the heaven.

- Chaotic Thoughts from the Old Millennium,
Book by Sim Wong Hoo,
Chairman of Creative Technology.

On Casinos and Gambling

1 Timothy 6:9

People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.

- NIV

Matthew 7:13

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.

But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

- NIV

Ecclesiastes 7:11

Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun.

- NIV

2 Corinthians 3:18

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

- NIV

1 Thessalonians 5:19

Do not put out the Spirit’s fire

- NIV

PalmKia Brain Child

2010-01-23T13:43:00.005+08:00

Hold a NOKIA in the PALM of your hand,
and \infty in an hour.

Adaptation from "Auguries of Innocence"

I Call You

2010-01-16T22:39:00.007+08:00

I Call You

Verse 1:

You made the light. You made the night.
You called it “sky.” You called it “sea.”
You made the day. You made the dark.
You told wings to fly, gave life to the deep.

Pre-Chorus:

And with the dust You made the one
Who You redeemed with Your own Son.
And with every You breath You breathed in me
I stand in awe, and I sing.

Chorus:

I call You Maker. I call You Savior.
I call You Mighty. I call You God.
I call You Father. I call You Faithful.
I call You Everything that I’ve got.
I call You Jesus. I call You Healer.
I call You Mercy. I call You mine.
I call You one who always will come through.
You are the Lord who captures my heart.

Verse 2:

You made the sun. You made the stars,
And with a bone You countered a part.
You love the lost. You want them found.
You are the Rose, You wore the crown.

Repeat Chorus:

Ending:

I call You one who always will come through.
You are the Lord who captures my heart.

Words and Music by RITA SPRINGER and PAULETTE WOOTEN
© 2006 Kindred Joy Music. All rights reserved. CCLI: pending
Song DISCovery Music CD volume 81 from Trumpet Praise Singapore.

众里寻他千百度，蓦然回首，那人却在，灯火阑珊处。

Psalm 118:8

Lebih baik berlindung pada TUHAN, daripada mengandalkan manusia.

Nose Douching for Sinus Problem

2009-04-28T19:12:00.012+08:00

In this section, we shall learn about nose douching or washing to solve our sinus problem. Sinus problems include runny nose or blocked nose. Sinus infection is difficult to cure, so you have to see your ear nose throat (ENT) doctor. After he cures your sinus infection, you can follow the steps below to maintain a healthy, breathable nose.

I have gone through turbinectomy and sinus surgery before. These, I realized, are just temporary solutions.

The methods described below are what I learnt from my doctors.

Method 1: The Thorough Flush

Get a small 150ml cup and a small 10ml syringe, as shown in the photo below.

Get some sodium bicarbonate powder, which is available from the pharmacy.

Mix one teaspoon full of sodium bicarbonate powder into the cup full of water. Stir to dissolve the powder completely. The solution is colourless. This solution will be used to clean your nasal cavities.

Getting the right concentration is by trial and error. Too much powder will give a hyperconcentrated sting, while too little power will give a hypoconcentrated sting, similar to the swimming pool experience.

Suck up the solution using the syringe. Tilt your head to one side over the sink, until the top of your head is pointing directly at a wall. Insert the syringe (without a needle of course), into your upper nostril. Gently pump the solution into your nose. After that, straighten your head to let the solution flow out into the sink.

Repeat for the other side, and for a few times.

When you have almost finished the sodium bicarbonate solution, gargle with the remaining solution. Sodium bicarbonate helps to dry up the mucus due to its high concentration.

Method 2: The Cheap and Easy Setup

Get a tau jior bottle, i.e. a soya sauce bottle. Get a short tube and stick it into the hole of the bottle.

Get some baking soda, which is basically sodium bicarbonate. If you are kiasu, you can use the pure sodium bicarbonate power from the pharmacy. Honestly, I have never tried it with baking soda.

Fill the bottle with sodium bicarbonate solution, as shown in the image below.

Squeeze the bottle to squirt the solution into your nostrils. Perform rapid sniffs, just like what a dog would do to find a tasty treat. This would clear up your nostrils.

Method 3: The Quick Fix

Buy the Sterimar nasal spray, as shown in the pictures below.

The good thing about this is that the concentration is just right. The solution feels like second nature to your nose. On the flip side, this solution is costly because there is not much liquid in the bottle.

Method 4: Food Control

This is not a nose douching method. However, I would say this is the easiest and most effective strategy that you and I can start doing immediately.

Most of our sinus problems are due to what we eat. We actually have food intolerances to certain food or drinks. Once we eat that particular food, we develop sinus problems like nasal congestion. It is different for everyone. You can refer to the scanned document in this link for more information.

http://picasaweb.google.com/winstonho7/FoodRestrictionTherapy#

I have already OCR-ed the document, and you can refer to the album description or the comments for easy reading.

All the best for breathing easy! =)

Winston W. L. Ho

Blood Donation

2009-04-26T18:41:00.004+08:00

I donated blood a few days ago. This time, I volunteered to help out during the Blood Donation Drive. I chose the last time slot for my donation to make sure that I had enough energy during the day. It was a well planned, enjoyable, and fruitful event, with about 200 successful donors.

Here is the badge that I wore:

Ho Wing Long Winston

Blood Donation

2008-05-01T14:13:00.009+08:00

I donated blood a few days ago. So far, my experiences donating blood were “No Pain, 100% Gain.” You gain the satisfaction of knowing that you save three lives.

Recently, in another part of the world, people were kept as prisoners and blood was sucked from them to sell to the hospital. When they were rescued, they didn’t even have the strength to walk. Blood is precious!

Here is my certificate:

Winston Ho Wing Long

A nice optical trick:

Give blood ... to save lives:

FAQ:

Q1. Why should one donate?
A. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYtLzXQUFXw

Q2. What impact can it have?
A. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJz7Lr80g-0

Q3. What happens if you don't donate?
A. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEkLFT8frXo =)

Tips on Palm Graffiti 2

2007-08-04T14:40:00.000+08:00

Palm Graffiti 2 Help

Write characters as you would write English lower-case letters. Write numbers as you would write on paper.

To write continuously without pausing, draw the space and minus characters at the bottom of the input areas.

For more flexibility, refer to the table below:

Table of Graffiti 2 Alternate Strokes

We see that we can write any number with a single stroke! :-)

We can choose to use single-stroke inputs for characters {f, j, 4, and 5}.

When you are writing, look at the input areas. Only when you have finished a sentence, go back and correct any errors.

If you really wish to return to Graffiti 1, DO NOT try the much publicized method of beaming the two Graffiti 1 files onto your new handheld (e.g. TE2). It will cause your handheld to hang. You will need to do a hard reset followed by careful sychronization with the PC (“desktop overwrites handheld”). A possible handwriting solution is to try TealScript by TealPoint. Some drawbacks include the priciness and the risk of being over-reliant on the software.

For those considering whether to buy a TE2, I’ve included the Graffiti 2 help pages below as reference. It’s easy to see why many people prefer the new Graffiti 2 over the old Graffiti 1. The strokes resemble the actual character and some punctuation marks even require fewer strokes than in Graffiti 1.

Winston Ho Wing Long

Graffiti 1 to Graffiti 2

2007-07-26T22:26:00.000+08:00

I’m just starting to use Graffiti 2 and unlearn Graffiti 1. It is truly a painful process. Somehow Graffiti 1 restricts you to a very fixed mindset.

It’s good that Graffiti 2 tries to mimic the small letters closely. However, many letters require 2 strokes, making it almost impossible write properly on buses or other moving vehicles. Thankfully, Graffiti 2 has retained the single-stroke input for characters {f, j, 4, and 5}.

Palm should come up with a new alphabet of single-stroke input based on small letters. Better still, Palm could allow users to customize their input strokes, so that people can “invent” their own shorthand.

Winston Ho Wing Long

Upgrading Palm PDA

2007-07-24T23:17:00.000+08:00

I’ve recently upgraded my Palm m515 to a Palm Tungsten E2 (TE2). Upgrading a PDA, even if it’s from the same company, Palm, is not as easy as it seems. I had to spend hours trying to transfer all my data and get started with my TE2.

Therefore, if anyone wants to avoid hours of confusion or permanent loss of data, you should read my simple list below.

Things to remember when upgrading Palm model.

Copy and backup the whole Palm folder.

Rename “Backup” in user folder to “Backup_old.”

Uninstall Documents To Go, because it may conflict with the new Documents To Go.

Palm Desktop itself need not be uninstalled. Just uninstall it if there are any problems.

Put an empty SD card into the card slot of the new Palmtop.

If reinstalling the Palmtop, perform a hard reset.
(On TE2,
hold power button + press reset once lightly with a paper clip.
Release power button only after Palm logo appears.)

If you originally used Palm Desktop, you must complete the whole synchronization for Palm Desktop, and make sure it is working perfectly. Only switch to MS Outlook later if you wish to.

After installation, during the first hotsync, we must choose: Desktop overrides handheld. If we choose “synchronize,” the empty handheld is considered to have “deleted” all the information. Therefore the Palm Desktop correspondingly deletes all the information on the PC.

After successful installation of the new Palm,
install third party programs, one by one, from “Backup_old” folder.
Programs that have several dependent files may have to be installed completely afresh, by the normal method. It would be good to get the latest version.

If you have any comments or suggestions, about anything at all, feel free to let me know at:

An adorable and uniquely Singapore comic strip

2007-04-18T07:44:00.000+08:00

My recent letters in The Straits Times newspaper

2007-04-18T07:13:00.000+08:00

THE STRAITS TIMES INTERACTIVE ST FORUM

March 31, 2007
Will vanity plates be easy to decipher?

I WAS dismayed to read that the Land Transport Authority (LTA) is introducing personalised vehicle number plates.

While cameras at gantries are able to capture the alphanumeric characters, the move would make it difficult for motorists to record the vanity-plate details of offending motorists, such as hit-and-run drivers.

I hope that LTA will enlighten the public as to how it will overcome this problem, and make the number plates easy to decipher, remember and jot down.

Winston Ho Wing Long

THE STRAITS TIMES INTERACTIVE ST FORUM

April 17, 2007
What to do should you be involved in a collision

IT IS unfortunate that a dispute over a minor car collision resulted in grievous bodily harm recently ('Man badly hurt after traffic row with cabby'; ST, April 12).

To help prevent such incidents from happening, here are some pointers for motorists involved in minor road accidents:

· Record the other vehicle's licence-plate number, colour, make and model.

· Note the time and place of the accident.

· A camera to take some photos or securing witnesses' contact details would be helpful.

· If you can, exchange particulars with the other driver, but do not go out of the way to do so if the other party is uncooperative.

· Most importantly, remain calm. All cars are insured. Let the insurance companies sort out the matter.

· Make a police report only when there is bodily injury.

Dents and scratches should not be fussed over, as used cars are usually exported for sale overseas, and such dents do not affect the resale value. At most, just bear with them.

Winston Ho Wing Long

First Post

2007-04-16T22:05:00.000+08:00