1Malaysia Email Project? The hell?


Malaysia government will be rolling out national email service called… (you guessed it) 1Malaysia Email (beta) to all Malaysian adults 18 and above. Starting 2nd half of this year, Malaysian adults will be able to activate their personal 1Malaysia email account using their MyKad (Malaysia’s Smart ID card). Features are quite awesome (25GB ‘cloud’ inbox, doubles as online storage, built-in office suite) but if it comes from the government, I can’t help but to think of something fishy is happening behind.

I wonder why the government bother to put it up actually. Seriously I have no idea of the motive behind it but I guess the government just want something that they have control in it, in contrast to third-party email service providers (especially those from outside of the country like Gmail, Yahoo, etc,) of which the government have no control at all. With this I suspect they’d be able to track online movements of its citizens to certain extent. It may be not much but knowing my government for a long time, they have no hesitation in alleging you for crimes (read: being politically harmful to them) that you may or may not commit. They could charge you for anything that you said, be it intentionally or unintentionally.

Alright I may forget about it and start using it like what I’m doing with GMail, Yahoo and the likes but I wonder, if the government care so much in making citizen becoming more IT literate why not start regulating the telcos/ISPs as well to help boosting it by ‘forcing’ them to offer super reliable internet connection? And, er, email only? With that enormous online storage I personally think the government should make it double as a blog as well (other than just personal online storage), and I don’t think that one as something that is too much to ask for.

A Recent Epiphany


Have you ever had an "Aha!" moment? More specifically did such thing happened to you recently? What sparked it? I had mine too though it's not really recently (I can't really remember any recent "Aha!" moment that happened to me). Anyways it did happen.

Idea’s Interrupted

For me that "Aha!" is a moment of I got an idea or vision of what I should do (from wikipedia, it's "a sudden realization or comprehension of the (larger) essence or meaning of something). In other words, some sort of a moment of discovery, but not really the "Eureka!" though. Since the beginning of the 2nd-half of last year I've been using both postpaid and prepaid internet at the same time. After a few months of using them I came to realize that it's more cost effective to use the prepaid internet over the ridiculously restrictive postpaid version. I feel bad though (sorta) because I didn't think of that earlier.

By the last 3 months of 2010, Ive completely stopped relying on the postpaid internet and decided to use prepaid version all the way. It saves me a lot of time and money. The best part about it is I can get unlimited bandwidth (as opposed to the postpaid internet which has the 5GB/mo traffic limit) albeit at a bit lower speed. However I've gotten used to it and I can enjoy my anime and online needs without having to worry about exhausting my monthly quota like I used to be. Now I can enjoy the internet with more peace of mind.

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With the current mobile technologies tod…


With the current mobile technologies today, most websites are ‘browse-able’ on smartphones, so it should not be an issue to browse the websites in the same way as in desktop, even if the website utilize Flash, which means it doesn’t make sense to drop Flash support for smartphones to make way for HTML5. Not to mention HTML5 does not really solve the problems with Flash as both of them are bandwidth-hungry when it comes to embedded media. With awesome hardware like the 1GHz CPU, the only bottleneck to the web browsing experience is the mobile internet connection.

I still think that cloud computing is a …


I still think that cloud computing is a stupid idea, unless the hi-speed internet access is to be made free of all costs at a much wider coverage by multiple folds than the current state in conjunction with the implementation of the technology, and provided that I can still work on my files offline in local machines. I’m not anti technology, just pointing out the practicality.

My Dream House


This is about the home of my dream. Everybody has their own dream home, I mean who doesn’t? People has always dreaming a perfect and ideal home for their life, even if it does not appear to be ‘perfect’ to other people. Perfect here doesn’t have to be 100% because for most people, what they need is a “just enough” home with roof, and rooms, as long as it does provide a shelter for them. Here is mine. Read on.

Borudjerdis’ House (Kashan)

I have three kind of dream houses. The first one is a double-storey detached house with a special design, combination of American and Japanese style. American design being adopted here is the underground water cooling system, the use of insulation layer in the walls (to keep the house cool from the heat of tropical climate here) and the ‘gateless’ frontage, where guests and visitors can go straight to my doorstep instead of ringing the bell from outside of the gate. I feel it’s friendlier that way for them. For the cars, instead of parking them in the car porches, I’ll park them in the garage, just like what the Americans do.

For the Japanese style, I’d like to adopt their distinctive doorway/hallway/corridor style. Unlike the Americans, we Asian does not bring shoes inside the house and leave them at the doorstep. However there’s one thing that separates the Japanese from the rest of other Asians are who leave the shoes outside the house, the Japanese have special place for shoes inside the house, located just behind the main door. That’s what I’m talking about. And I don’t mean to leave our local house design. The kitchen will be made completely separated from the living room, and restrooms will not share the same place with bedrooms.

Speaking about bedrooms, I prefer there to be at least 4 bedrooms to be ideal. The master bedroom for mom and dad, one room for the boys, one room for the girls and another room reserved for the guests. For rest rooms, I’d like to make two sets of them. What I mean by ‘set’ here is one room will be consisted of separate three parts; toilet, bathroom and ‘washroom’. For other cultures, washroom may be the same as toilet but for the local people here it is where we do general washings that is not related to bathing. Last but not least, in a tropical country here, a roof ventilator is a must to complement the underground water cooling system I mentioned earlier.

So where I would like to place the house? I am dreaming of a peaceful neighborhood with friendly neighbors, and I can virtually get everything I want just from a stone-throw away, or at least a walking distance to the stores that can provide me almost everything that I need (from anime, manga, games, computers, software, books, foods, clothes, etc.). It would be better too if it’s within a walking distance from my workplace, and since I’m the online-type person, a free public wifi access is a plus point as well. It may not offer the best quality but it’s free and at least I can stay online most of the time without having to worry about the expensive internet bills.

Here is my dream house number two. It is an apartment in the middle of the city, where I can have a beautiful kaleidoscopic night view of the city from the windows. The apartment doesn’t have to be a luxury one, even a cheap one with just one bedroom (with own kitchen and restroom) for a bachelor like me is enough (I can convert the living room into a bedroom for guests if there’s a need to), or three bedrooms for family people. I’m also fine if it’s just a residential floor in a 3 or 4-storey shophouse unit. Just like my dream house number one above, I’d appreciate it if there’s a free public wifi access so I can cut the expenditure for the internet.

And since it’s in a middle of a city I’d prefer it to be as close as possible to a convenience store. I’d want a 24-hours convenience store too but yeah this kind of store always sell their goods at more expensive price. A shopping complex within a walking distance is a good thing to where I can do window shopping whenever I feel like it. I’ll need a hypermarket nearby too to buy fresh ingredients/foods. Also a restaurant (preferably a 24-hours one), a hardware store and a laundry shop is a must too, because I’ll definitely need them.

Lastly for my dream house number three (the most unrealistic one), it is a small mansion on a parcel of land with an area no less than a football/soccer field. Yes, a piece of land enough to build a medium-sized stadium would be ideal. In the middle of the land there is the 4-storey house building with at least four rooms (for various purposes including bedrooms and workspace) in each floor. There will be numbers of maids and butlers to serve me, and enough bodyguards to keep an eye for my security. I have drivers and cars to take me to virtually any destination I want. In front of the mansion there are gardeners tending to keep the big landscape beautiful all year long. There are also small ponds and fountains at both left and right side of the house. Finally, a private swimming pool behind the house where I can dive in whenever I like or I can just organize a swimsuit party there every weekend.

(9/16 of my guests never know the exact location of my house)

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What Keeps Me Up at Night


These are stuff that usually makes me feel hesitated to go to sleep. It’s not that I’m unaware about the importance of having adequate sleep but it’s just that I feel like don’t want to let go some chances at those times by going to sleep. I mean sleep can be postponed but good chance might only come once in a life time. And I don’t really care whether I’m going to work the next day or not.

Playstation 3 in Full HD !!

One of them is the internet itself. Usually the time I spent on internet (non-idle) is average 4 hours a day. Sounds don’t much but that time usually takes place at nights and when I say ‘average’ I really mean it because there are times I might go for it 8 hrs straight until morning or none at all. What do I do on that time then? Various stuff. Mostly reading awesome articles I stumbled upon the net, followed by blogging.

Next is gaming. Once I fire up my PS2/PS3, it would be hard for me to stop, even for natural calls. I not really an avid gamer because I only play very few titles but even with just that much, I give them everything I have. Analogically, it’s like a little boy who savoring his favorite meal very slowly, little by little, even if it’s in very little quantity because he don’t want the meal to finish too quickly since they’re so damn good. Now you get what I mean?

And the last and the one that is guilty most of the time for stealing my sleeping time; animarathon (anime marathon). Although this usually occur in weekend nights, the time I spend for this activity alone is more than 1/3 of my night’s uptime, enough to give it a majority vote. Usually this is the time for me to watch all anime episodes that I managed to get in weekdays so it can’t be helped and I won’t stop anytime soon.

(128/331 people keeps up at night doing nothing)

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Sometimes (many times) We Fight – Part II


And the fight continues…

Kangaroo fight

Mr. Chump Change: your [ very noticeable ] lack of dedication is what makes you far from being a touhou fan, and thus to call yourself a fan of touhou nevertheless is a hasty assumption, not just from the POV of them legit touhou fanboys, but also from the eyes of an outsider like myself as well. you too should have understood this very well.

Halfey: How could you say there are ‘legitimate’ and ‘illegitimate’ fans out there when all that we need is interest? Dedication? You mean I have to beg and steal and borrow or even break the bank just to show how much I’m dedicated? No, I don’t need that. They are interested to play the games then they are a fan. I’m interested in the design and derivative works then I’m also a fan too. It’s just that we show our love in different ways.

(Note: When Mr. Chump Change uses the [...] it literally means he is whispering or mind-talking or even using telepathy. Then Mr. Chump Change started to call me ‘sir’ out of spite.)

Mr. Chump Change: frankly sir, bandwidth limitation is not an issue here. even i who had to coup with the frequent un-stability of my ISP [ not to mention the time when i still haven't had internet installed to my room ] could obtain all those that i desired [ greatest example on this were the numerous eroges i've acquired from time to time ] by through of a well thought download management system. well its kinda like playing them RPG, there’s always a few ways to work around such obstacles as long as you had the dedication to penetrate through them :3

Halfey: I know what you’re trying to say is “work around it” but does that mean you’re implying that I must do things the same way you do so that you could accept my reasoning? My life is already divided into many small portions of which I have to dedicate my self to all of them fairly, and anime is just one of them, which happen to cover one of my many interests. So what you really need to hear from me is a reason right? Well, that won’t going to happen because whatever reason I’d state for that, regardless they’re strong or not, chances are you are not gonna buy them since they’re not in favor of your interest.

(Note: When Mr. Chump Change uses the “:3″ it literally means he is acting cutely no matter how meanie he is, though in this ‘fight’ he actually only act cutely and not being meanie.)

Mr. Chump Change: in regard to the second case of the argument above; the stated so-called ‘double standard’ exist because you aren’t making a solid sense in your stance, which will only lead to those who got irked to view you more as a drone in the bandwagon rather than a critic with a reason, thus their insistence to reject your views.

Halfey: What’s the point of arguing over points that are only valid to myself? For me, what I need in order to love or hate something is a reason, anything regardless they’re strong or weak. As long as I have reasons that’s enough. And why fuss over reasons that appear to be “strong” for me just because they appear weak to you? I don’t hurt anybody, not even myself over what I’ve chose to accept. And I don’t need you to accept my reasons either. It works for me and that’s all there is to it.

(And then another Mr. Chump Change jumped in (let’s call him Mr. Chump Change #2) though his words are mostly just repetation of Mr. Chump Change #1′s words. But I’m polite enough to welcome him since he’s my guess anyway.)

Mr. Chump Change #2: I doubt you’re a Touhou fan, regarding the ‘answer’ that was given by you state that ‘lack of interest’, ‘waste bandwidth’ etc. This is not what a true fan should say after claiming he/she as a fan…

Halfey: Do I need to follow your guide on “becoming a TRUE Touhou fan”? Oh well whatever I’m saying or claiming about myself is only about myself and does not concern you, so you don’t have to tell me “you’re not a true fan” because whatever you’re gonna say is not valid to me, just as in the case where my claim appears to be invalid to you. Again it’s all about myself, I don’t hurt anybody, not even myself over what I’ve chose to accept. And I don’t need you to accept my reasons either. It works for me and that’s all there is to it. Love is about how we appreciate what we have no matter how much we have things we love in our hand, not about how we show them or we’d steal to have everything we love. In short, just because you don’t or can’t see doesn’t mean it isn’t there.

Mr. Chump Change #2: oh dammit.. i gtg

Halfey: Thanks for coming.

There might be another Mr. Chump Change will come soon, even the female ones (a.k.a. Miss Chump Change). Until then I have have to get prepared for more assault.

(54/97 ‘true’ Touhou fans killed themselves out of rage after they learned about my interest in Touhou.)

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Would I Survive No Internet for a Whole Month?


This is a question never asked to me by either my self or anybody before. Interesting I must say. Regardless how we look at it today, internet has become part of our life, almost like a food or air or even sex to some. Some are able to live without it while some other are so used or addicted to it that they couldn’t even imagine living without it. And the question above is about, “will I survive without internet connection?”.

大人のデパートm’s 店頭 Angel Beats! 死んだ世界戦線女子制服, エヴァンゲリヲン 新劇場版:破 真希波・マリ・イラストリアス制服

It’s not like it hasn’t happened before. I’m working in land surveying field and there was a time when I was required to ‘escort’ (literally) a group of surveyors and had to stay deep inside the forest for weeks. On that time I was completely away from internet life, and it was in 3 or 4 years ago. Can I live without internet? I being here is a proof that I was able to live without it but I think things are not always the same.

Since the last 2 or 3 years, I’ve become more reliant on internet thanks to a booming growth of social networking. I’ve engaged in forumming, blogging, ‘tweeting’ and not to forget online gaming (MMORPG to be specific). I’ve also become a “Linux convert” recently and as many Linux users should have known, Linux is an OS that is always too reliant on internet, as much as how it is always too reliant on its command line interface (CLI) rather than GUI.

The worst thing that would happen to me should I live without internet is, well I’m an anime fan where leeching anime stuff from the internet is my flesh, blood and soul. Downloading anime episodes is almost a daily routine to me and I’m not planning of missing any single day either. There are also some web-based online games that I play which requires me to login and ‘work’ everyday or I’ll risk paying to play the games for nothing. Yes, I’ve literally ‘tied’ myself to the internet in that way so should the above ‘disaster’ happen to me anytime now, I might have a hard time to deal with it.

So what if I really have to live without internet for say a month after this? I think I’ll just spending more time once I reconnected again and to make up for what I’ve missed while I was away. Internet has also allowed us to do so, therefore living without internet should not be a big deal actually, but like I said, I’ve grown reliant on the internet so even if I know about that fact, it would still quite difficult for me to get used to its unavailability.

I must say having the internet connection is both a curse and a blessing at the same time. Lucky for me I’ve subscribed to mobile internet (3G) for more than a year already and always get updated with any subject of my interests. However the internet is so full of anonymity and that’s what makes internet a dangerous, risky and serious business. However I will continue to live with it regardless all the negative impact one might received when using it. We have our brains, use it wisely.

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