I really think so.
I make use of one the many Google services called "Google Alerts". With this service you can tell Google to return any search result based on your criteria as and when it happens. Quite handy, so that I don't have to go their search engine all the time. And since it reflects the latest link they find, I don't have to sieve through the search results all the time.
I have Alerts that return any search result that have anything to do with "Morning Musume", "Hello!Project" and the sort. Today, within a couple of minutes after publishing my last entry on my H!P blog, immediately I receive an email from Google Alert about it.
Either a Google spider have coincidentally been browsing my blog at that time, or Google crawls their own domains first (and whatever domain that have been acquired by them) with the highest priority.
So I guess it's a good thing to use Google's services if you want your contents to be frequently featured on Google search results. ^_^
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Productive Day...err... Night... I mean, MORNING!
Yeah, I'm still awake. This is my final post before I hit the bed. Otherwise I will be watching the sun rise out my window. It's crazy, but I'm really on a roll today. Or yesterday, which occurred 7 hours earlier.
On the side note, Sharm called to tell me that she will looking for some job to do while she is in Ipoh. No point sitting around the house doing nothing, she says. And I agree, but she could have done it here in KL, where she is always accessible to any sudden interview offers. But I guess she had already made up her mind. She was afraid that this will anger me, but I was calm about it and she was relieved. At this point, I'm at the stage that whatever she decided on, I will have no other choice but to offer the best support I can give. It sucks to be unemployed, and I know that too well, cos I've been there. That's why I understand how she is feeling.
However, sometimes I hoped that she listened to me earlier so that things won't be this bad at the very least. Oh well, I suppose we can't have everything our way. God has a plan for all of us, I always say.
So back on topic, it was a swell day. But it didn't start off well, cos I had a problem recording with my webcam. I'm assuming that there is a driver conflict between the webcam and the soundcard. I reinstalled the driver and webcam application, but no dice. Then I found a workaround - chuck the webcam app aside and use MS Movie Maker. As much as I hated to use it, I guess I have to. I've be using it to edit my recordings currently anyway. It will be temporary though. At least until I clear enough space to install Adobe Premier.
Afterwards, managed to finally video chat with Papa and Mama. It's really cool though we had some problems with the sound. At first I thought it was their mic/webcam having problems but further testing proves that maybe it's my microphone. We got loud noises when I speak to my mic. It's like this -> I spoke to the mic, it picked up the sound and emitted through their speaker, back into their mic and came out in my speaker, then back to my mic and it goes on and on. Sounds like hellspeak. :) After I get back home next weekend I'll check their machine out.
Later on, I video chatted with my sis in Japan. And surprise, surprise, nothing happened. No noise, no nothing. Really weird, so my mic problem is ruled out. BUT after chatting with her for a couple of hours (yeah, we can do that. Who says brothers and sisters can't get along? ^_^ ) the problem came back again - right after my Messenger app hung. So the next probable assumption that it is my webcam. You see, it comes with an embedded mic in it. So that may be the cause. However, sis says that she had the same problem while chatting with Papa and Mama. So I guess I better check by putting their mic farther from their speaker. Funny, funny.... but all in all. It was real fun being able do all this. Really bonded our family ties closer. ^_^
Next up, I'm able to record my transposition (as posted earlier) without any hiccups. Well, actually some mistakes here and there but it was close to perfect. Usually I have to do a few takes before I deem it acceptable. I thinking of doing "Furusato" next. Sounds easy, but again, it's a quality song. And like all good songs, there will be some challenges ahead.
....ahh... I spoke a little too soon. I'm at the end of this post, and I saw the sun rising up already... I guess hibernation is in the way. :)
Good day!
Peace ^_^
On the side note, Sharm called to tell me that she will looking for some job to do while she is in Ipoh. No point sitting around the house doing nothing, she says. And I agree, but she could have done it here in KL, where she is always accessible to any sudden interview offers. But I guess she had already made up her mind. She was afraid that this will anger me, but I was calm about it and she was relieved. At this point, I'm at the stage that whatever she decided on, I will have no other choice but to offer the best support I can give. It sucks to be unemployed, and I know that too well, cos I've been there. That's why I understand how she is feeling.
However, sometimes I hoped that she listened to me earlier so that things won't be this bad at the very least. Oh well, I suppose we can't have everything our way. God has a plan for all of us, I always say.
So back on topic, it was a swell day. But it didn't start off well, cos I had a problem recording with my webcam. I'm assuming that there is a driver conflict between the webcam and the soundcard. I reinstalled the driver and webcam application, but no dice. Then I found a workaround - chuck the webcam app aside and use MS Movie Maker. As much as I hated to use it, I guess I have to. I've be using it to edit my recordings currently anyway. It will be temporary though. At least until I clear enough space to install Adobe Premier.
Afterwards, managed to finally video chat with Papa and Mama. It's really cool though we had some problems with the sound. At first I thought it was their mic/webcam having problems but further testing proves that maybe it's my microphone. We got loud noises when I speak to my mic. It's like this -> I spoke to the mic, it picked up the sound and emitted through their speaker, back into their mic and came out in my speaker, then back to my mic and it goes on and on. Sounds like hellspeak. :) After I get back home next weekend I'll check their machine out.
Later on, I video chatted with my sis in Japan. And surprise, surprise, nothing happened. No noise, no nothing. Really weird, so my mic problem is ruled out. BUT after chatting with her for a couple of hours (yeah, we can do that. Who says brothers and sisters can't get along? ^_^ ) the problem came back again - right after my Messenger app hung. So the next probable assumption that it is my webcam. You see, it comes with an embedded mic in it. So that may be the cause. However, sis says that she had the same problem while chatting with Papa and Mama. So I guess I better check by putting their mic farther from their speaker. Funny, funny.... but all in all. It was real fun being able do all this. Really bonded our family ties closer. ^_^
Next up, I'm able to record my transposition (as posted earlier) without any hiccups. Well, actually some mistakes here and there but it was close to perfect. Usually I have to do a few takes before I deem it acceptable. I thinking of doing "Furusato" next. Sounds easy, but again, it's a quality song. And like all good songs, there will be some challenges ahead.
....ahh... I spoke a little too soon. I'm at the end of this post, and I saw the sun rising up already... I guess hibernation is in the way. :)
Good day!
Peace ^_^
Two More Morning Musume Songs Transposed
Shiroi Iro Wa Koibito no Iro - W (DoubleU)
Video Link
Mushoku Tomei na Mama de - Morning Musume
Video Link
Video Link
Mushoku Tomei na Mama de - Morning Musume
Video Link
Thursday, October 26, 2006
No holidays? No matter...
It's a long public holiday here. Saturday was Deepavali, Tuesday and Wednesday was Hari Raya. Monday was offday/forced leave. Long holiday, so I can relax, right?
Wrong. I was on standby to make sure my company's customer websites are up and running. Self implemented standby, because I was sure something wrong would happen and that I'm not going back hometown anyway. Seem like my decision was right, so much problem happened for one particular customer that we have to keep a close lookout.
Other than that, I was on my H!P blog doing some updates, and I'm not even finished. But it was fun. Hadn't patrolled the japanese sites that aggresive before, but I wanted updates. Updates on H!P news and my beloved Aibon...
Uploaded another guitar song in youtube.com. Some people did actually liked my performances, so I was glad. My next goal was to produce a much better video, because so far it's all muffled and the bass sounded too mellowed. Gotta wait for my thumb fingernail to grow, get a better speaker and a better mic. Why? Because it's much cheaper than getting a new digital camera.
I had a draft post where I would discuss about the whole Lim Kuan Yew's comment and apology about bringing up the "marginalization of the Chinese in Malaysia". But I changed my mind. After reading the draft, I was sure I'd get into trouble for publishing it. I have my own take on it, and it's not pretty. Not for both Malays and non-Malays. It's just an unending debate, both parties are wrong in certain areas. No point arguing over it. Basically, what I can mention is: Do Not Say Anything If You Don't Have Anything Good to Say. Seriously. It's the same as our Pope's case.. Anytime, when it's about religion or racism, it's always sensitive. Should never bringing up unless you have a strong agenda you want to act on and you have strong points. Apologizing afterwards will only embarass you and make the other party look good (for the wrong reasons).
Wrong. I was on standby to make sure my company's customer websites are up and running. Self implemented standby, because I was sure something wrong would happen and that I'm not going back hometown anyway. Seem like my decision was right, so much problem happened for one particular customer that we have to keep a close lookout.
Other than that, I was on my H!P blog doing some updates, and I'm not even finished. But it was fun. Hadn't patrolled the japanese sites that aggresive before, but I wanted updates. Updates on H!P news and my beloved Aibon...
Uploaded another guitar song in youtube.com. Some people did actually liked my performances, so I was glad. My next goal was to produce a much better video, because so far it's all muffled and the bass sounded too mellowed. Gotta wait for my thumb fingernail to grow, get a better speaker and a better mic. Why? Because it's much cheaper than getting a new digital camera.
I had a draft post where I would discuss about the whole Lim Kuan Yew's comment and apology about bringing up the "marginalization of the Chinese in Malaysia". But I changed my mind. After reading the draft, I was sure I'd get into trouble for publishing it. I have my own take on it, and it's not pretty. Not for both Malays and non-Malays. It's just an unending debate, both parties are wrong in certain areas. No point arguing over it. Basically, what I can mention is: Do Not Say Anything If You Don't Have Anything Good to Say. Seriously. It's the same as our Pope's case.. Anytime, when it's about religion or racism, it's always sensitive. Should never bringing up unless you have a strong agenda you want to act on and you have strong points. Apologizing afterwards will only embarass you and make the other party look good (for the wrong reasons).
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Calm Before the Storm...
No updates these days. Nothing much happened during the week... well actually there are some things. But I've been busy at work. Sometimes I take the work home with me so I can have dreams about it that night. Last night I had another one, couldn't remember what it was, but there was a dateline involved. I hate it when I dream about some work and I finished it there, but when I wake up and go to work I have to redo it all over again. *sigh*
There are some things that came my way, I've gained a couple of technical tricks that could be useful for me in the future.
So overall, it's been pretty calm during the past few days. Been a routine week -> wake up, go to work, go home, have dinner, and sleep. Yep, not even the energy to go online. All I wanted to do is rest, rest ,rest...
We all know about the 'calm before the storm' thing, so being the pessimist that I am, I am expecting some kind of trouble coming my way. I'm almost sure it's either one of the two things: something to do with work, and something to do with my dear Aibon (cos I had a dream about her a few days ago). Welp, it's time to go hunting for information about her now. Could be another bad omen...
SoooOOOoo.... maybe now I'll find a time to continue and record my other guitar transpositions, and post it up this weekend.
There are some things that came my way, I've gained a couple of technical tricks that could be useful for me in the future.
So overall, it's been pretty calm during the past few days. Been a routine week -> wake up, go to work, go home, have dinner, and sleep. Yep, not even the energy to go online. All I wanted to do is rest, rest ,rest...
We all know about the 'calm before the storm' thing, so being the pessimist that I am, I am expecting some kind of trouble coming my way. I'm almost sure it's either one of the two things: something to do with work, and something to do with my dear Aibon (cos I had a dream about her a few days ago). Welp, it's time to go hunting for information about her now. Could be another bad omen...
SoooOOOoo.... maybe now I'll find a time to continue and record my other guitar transpositions, and post it up this weekend.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
"Mama is Online"
That's what I'll be seeing later on my Messenger buddy status. So my parents have plugged in Streamyx, got a brand new Pentium 4 3Ghz, 80Gb HD 512 RAM machine, and a webcam with mic. *sigh* I wish I had the cash to get a new hard disk.
So what's next? Why, training time!
You see, Papa is OK with computers cos he uses one at work. Mama is a total beginner, and still having trouble navigating the mouse pointer. :) Ahh, this bring backs memories...
With all that out of the way, Mama has learned some basics on firing the browser, the windows explorer. Papa taught her. Next, they need to get used to using the Messenger.
Yesterday, had a fun time trying to teach Mama how to surf the net, via phone. The hard part was trying to explain and translate everything from English to Cantonese. (How do you say 'address bar', 'bookmark', 'options' in Cantonese??). Otherwise it was fun, really. I guess for a person at her age, Yahoo! is the way to go. So I taught her how to type in URLs and save to bookmarks, and left the rest for her to surf around. She seems to be excited to be able to look for her stuff of interests. Mainly tourism spots and eateries.
Now these are things Papa have not got into yet. When it comes to computers, he only sticks to work related softwares like MS Office.
I guess now, during Mama's pasttime, the internet is going to replace all those TVB drama series. Wait till I start teaching her how to download torrents of TV series...no wait a minutes, that my sis... Heh!
So what's next? Why, training time!
You see, Papa is OK with computers cos he uses one at work. Mama is a total beginner, and still having trouble navigating the mouse pointer. :) Ahh, this bring backs memories...
Teacher: Now, listen up boys... this is keyboard, this is the monitor.
Boys: Yes, sir...
Teacher: And this device is called the "mouse". Watched what happens when I slide it to the left...
Boys: OOooohhh~~~....
Teacher: And watch what happens when I do this (* sliding the mouse in circles *)
Boys: aaAAAAaahhh~~~
Teacher: Now you try.
Boy 1: Sir, the cable is not long enough. I can't reach the end of the screen.
Boy 2: Sir, my mouse pointer is gone.
Boy 3: Sir, I cannot double click.
Boy 4: Sir, the left button does not work. (tapping the left arrow key on keyboard)
With all that out of the way, Mama has learned some basics on firing the browser, the windows explorer. Papa taught her. Next, they need to get used to using the Messenger.
Yesterday, had a fun time trying to teach Mama how to surf the net, via phone. The hard part was trying to explain and translate everything from English to Cantonese. (How do you say 'address bar', 'bookmark', 'options' in Cantonese??). Otherwise it was fun, really. I guess for a person at her age, Yahoo! is the way to go. So I taught her how to type in URLs and save to bookmarks, and left the rest for her to surf around. She seems to be excited to be able to look for her stuff of interests. Mainly tourism spots and eateries.
Now these are things Papa have not got into yet. When it comes to computers, he only sticks to work related softwares like MS Office.
I guess now, during Mama's pasttime, the internet is going to replace all those TVB drama series. Wait till I start teaching her how to download torrents of TV series...no wait a minutes, that my sis... Heh!
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Morning Musume on Classical Guitar
I mentioned that I'd transpose some Morning Musume songs. Yes, I did it. Uploading two of them to Youtube.com. Got to know another guy there who is doing the same, transposing some japanese pop songs. Nice to know I'm not alone in this endeavour.
Koe - Morning Musume
Video Link
Ship! To the Future - Morning Musume
Video Link
Koe - Morning Musume
Video Link
Ship! To the Future - Morning Musume
Video Link
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Ping Pong Show...
Ping Pong IS a sport,.... and is not only for nerds. Make no mistake about it. ^_^
Click here
Only sometimes..... it's can be comedy...
Click here
Click here
Only sometimes..... it's can be comedy...
Click here
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Mini-Tornado During the Week...
No, nothing disastrous. Metaphorically, it has been another roller coaster type of events happening during the past week. I had lots of them in my time, but this time, I'm able to document it. This one's smaller, and I'm blogging based on my memory. Cos' I was too busy to even draft it out. So, here's the week in a glance:
Separated from life source/support
My fiancee, Sharm, went home to Ipoh. Not because we had a fight, but because she was terminated from her company. She was under a "probation period", so the rules have changed a little. She decided to move out of her room to save the rental cost, and look for a job from Ipoh. For me, I wished she could have at least:
a) save her job; She could have talked to her boss about her poor appraisal, and argue about the (false) negative statements, to save her job and her tarnished reputation. Plus she is actually paid very well. Too well for her then working experience.
b) stayed here; Moving back to Ipoh saves some money, but to arrange to travel back and forth to PJ/KL for an interview from time to time is a hassle, and costs about the same. Plus employers prefer to pick from the locals, not from outstations.
But then again, this job gave her a lot of pressure. So she decided not to keep it. Now, I believe in "performance under pressure", and that you can actually learn more while working under pressure and lots of problems, cos you have more problem-solving opportunities, so you can gain more working experience that way.
.... However, this is her life and her career. This is who she is. And she is my wife-to-be. So I can only say that I will accept her and her decisions with my full support. (Yes, it's 'accept'. Not 'tolerate'). On topic, yeah... I've been cut out of my life support (which is my fiancee)... *sigh*
Drained of Monetary Recources
I had a big bonus this month. However, my road tax is also due. So plus my car installments, bills and stuff, I watched my money reduced to a fifth of the original sum within 2 days. To look on the brighter side, the bonuses helped me to pay off a forseeable amount of debt, so I guess it's a blessing.
Ya know, I find that I am really unable to save money this year. No matter how I try, something will pop-up and take them away. Therefore, this means that chinese fortune telling is false. "In 2006, the Goat will enjoy a prosperity year"... yeah, right. 'Prosperity' indeed. All I found out is how long a RM50 bill can keep you alive in PJ/KL. The only people that prosper, are the owners of Feng Shui merchandise.
...there goes my DVD-ROM burner/player and the 5.1 sound system... *sigh* *sigh*
Meeting with the General
The 'General' in subject is my fiancee's dad. Always wanted to have a talk with him, ya know, man to man. So last weekend, I had a chance. Nice man, just like my Dad. My usual magic with conversations worked, and he told me a lot of things. He was actually anxious for my fiancee to get a job soon, and had been putting pressure on her to do it quick. Can't blame him, all fathers are like that. I explained to him that Sharm had gained a certain amount of confidence and maturity now, and it shows by the amount of job applications she makes. So we talked it over, (plus some other things) and he finally felt better, and no longer pressured Sharm. All in all, it was good, he is much relaxed, and Sharm was impressed... ^_^
Family WebCam
Last month, I took my parents to the cybercafe, so that they can chat online with lil sis. We even powered up the webcam so that they can see her while chatting. Unfortunately, due to some technical problems, she can't hear us, though everything else works fine. Due this webcam experience, (obviously something refreshing to my parents), they decided to get a computer and a broadband line so that they can do it at home. So last weekend, I transported the 19" monitor from my office and travelled home to Ipoh, and help them to shop for the computer. It was easy. But the problem is that the Streamyx connection that we are applying for may not work well in our area. This Wednesday, the technicians are coming over to test the connection, before we commit to buying the computer.
Typhoon in Japan
My lil sis got caught in typhoon while moving to her new place. Apparently all her things didn't get wet, the movers that she hired had them wrapped up beforehand. Heh, the japanese are accustommed to working with natural disaster already. I hope she's OK.
The Wedding Date
So the wedding date? Not gonna reveal it here. But it's next year. So I talked to Father Michael Cheah about it, but he says that it's still too early to set it up. So maybe after our EE course (Engaged Encounter or Evening for the Engaged), at about start of next year, we will apply.
Separated from life source/support
My fiancee, Sharm, went home to Ipoh. Not because we had a fight, but because she was terminated from her company. She was under a "probation period", so the rules have changed a little. She decided to move out of her room to save the rental cost, and look for a job from Ipoh. For me, I wished she could have at least:
a) save her job; She could have talked to her boss about her poor appraisal, and argue about the (false) negative statements, to save her job and her tarnished reputation. Plus she is actually paid very well. Too well for her then working experience.
b) stayed here; Moving back to Ipoh saves some money, but to arrange to travel back and forth to PJ/KL for an interview from time to time is a hassle, and costs about the same. Plus employers prefer to pick from the locals, not from outstations.
But then again, this job gave her a lot of pressure. So she decided not to keep it. Now, I believe in "performance under pressure", and that you can actually learn more while working under pressure and lots of problems, cos you have more problem-solving opportunities, so you can gain more working experience that way.
.... However, this is her life and her career. This is who she is. And she is my wife-to-be. So I can only say that I will accept her and her decisions with my full support. (Yes, it's 'accept'. Not 'tolerate'). On topic, yeah... I've been cut out of my life support (which is my fiancee)... *sigh*
Drained of Monetary Recources
I had a big bonus this month. However, my road tax is also due. So plus my car installments, bills and stuff, I watched my money reduced to a fifth of the original sum within 2 days. To look on the brighter side, the bonuses helped me to pay off a forseeable amount of debt, so I guess it's a blessing.
Ya know, I find that I am really unable to save money this year. No matter how I try, something will pop-up and take them away. Therefore, this means that chinese fortune telling is false. "In 2006, the Goat will enjoy a prosperity year"... yeah, right. 'Prosperity' indeed. All I found out is how long a RM50 bill can keep you alive in PJ/KL. The only people that prosper, are the owners of Feng Shui merchandise.
...there goes my DVD-ROM burner/player and the 5.1 sound system... *sigh* *sigh*
Meeting with the General
The 'General' in subject is my fiancee's dad. Always wanted to have a talk with him, ya know, man to man. So last weekend, I had a chance. Nice man, just like my Dad. My usual magic with conversations worked, and he told me a lot of things. He was actually anxious for my fiancee to get a job soon, and had been putting pressure on her to do it quick. Can't blame him, all fathers are like that. I explained to him that Sharm had gained a certain amount of confidence and maturity now, and it shows by the amount of job applications she makes. So we talked it over, (plus some other things) and he finally felt better, and no longer pressured Sharm. All in all, it was good, he is much relaxed, and Sharm was impressed... ^_^
Family WebCam
Last month, I took my parents to the cybercafe, so that they can chat online with lil sis. We even powered up the webcam so that they can see her while chatting. Unfortunately, due to some technical problems, she can't hear us, though everything else works fine. Due this webcam experience, (obviously something refreshing to my parents), they decided to get a computer and a broadband line so that they can do it at home. So last weekend, I transported the 19" monitor from my office and travelled home to Ipoh, and help them to shop for the computer. It was easy. But the problem is that the Streamyx connection that we are applying for may not work well in our area. This Wednesday, the technicians are coming over to test the connection, before we commit to buying the computer.
Typhoon in Japan
My lil sis got caught in typhoon while moving to her new place. Apparently all her things didn't get wet, the movers that she hired had them wrapped up beforehand. Heh, the japanese are accustommed to working with natural disaster already. I hope she's OK.
The Wedding Date
So the wedding date? Not gonna reveal it here. But it's next year. So I talked to Father Michael Cheah about it, but he says that it's still too early to set it up. So maybe after our EE course (Engaged Encounter or Evening for the Engaged), at about start of next year, we will apply.
Monday, October 02, 2006
Room Flooded...
One thing leading to another... I'm so tired of it.
Last night my room was flooding with water again. But at least I know how now. It's not the first time this has happened. During every heavy thunderstorm, rain water will seep into my room and flood half of my room. At first I thought it was the windows, and I took the pain of blocking the sills with some cloth, newspaper and shirt. However, I finally found out that it did not come in from there - it came in from a crack between the sill and the wall. At 3 places. Up till now, I wasn't in my room when it happens. So at least the mystery is solved. Solution? Get some cement mortar from landlady and block that brother up. When I have time of course.
Well, I will have to tolerate it for a while, I'll be moving out in a few months anyway.
Last night my room was flooding with water again. But at least I know how now. It's not the first time this has happened. During every heavy thunderstorm, rain water will seep into my room and flood half of my room. At first I thought it was the windows, and I took the pain of blocking the sills with some cloth, newspaper and shirt. However, I finally found out that it did not come in from there - it came in from a crack between the sill and the wall. At 3 places. Up till now, I wasn't in my room when it happens. So at least the mystery is solved. Solution? Get some cement mortar from landlady and block that brother up. When I have time of course.
Well, I will have to tolerate it for a while, I'll be moving out in a few months anyway.
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