Happy Birthday Malaysia!

Happy 52nd Birthday!

I wish you a prosperous year, and hope that everything will be better this coming year.

However, sadly, even on the eve of possibly the most important day of the year, there were many things that were happening. First there is the cow-head incident. Some idiot think that trampling over a cow head is fun, apparently. I think the one thing Malaysians should have learnt over the years, is to engage in peaceful interfaith dialogues. Freedom of religion, and interfaith tolerance is still a big issue. That aside, where do atheists stand? Can I spread Pastafarianism back home? Will it become a real religion? Where do we draw the line between what's acceptable and what's not? Can I poke fun at other's religion, asking reasonable questions without insulting them? We can call ourselves a multicultural society (masyarakat majmuk) as much as we want but we all know it's not true, unless we can embrace the freedom of religion with open arms. Reform the Judiciary system. Abolish the Syariah courts. That should be the first step.

And then there's the ban on black eyed peas concert for Muslims and anyone under the age of 18. Don't get me wrong, I think they make horrible music, but that doesn't mean you could just ban them. Their new songs "Boom Boom Pow" has no melody to it and you could hardly call it a real song. The lyrics to "I got a feeling" has the vocabulary of a 6-year-old. Why are they banning it? Because it is sponsored by Guinness. How much more hilarious can this be? If you put a age limit on a concert, it has better be a good reason for it.

Those are social stand point on what has to change. There are a lot of other things that we should be looking out for either. Healthcare, Education. We have a lot of things that are lacking, but who are we to ask questions? In their eyes these are simple things that does not matter. For many years the only movements in terms of education is moving Math and Science subject from being taught in Malay -> English+Malay -> Malay. The last time I checked, this means there has been not much of an improvement.

Then, there was Proton, and its botched attempt 20 years in the making, to enter the Auto market. Is Proton too big to fail now? We've been giving them bailouts, tax protection (on competitors), subsidies, and still no cheese? While protecting an infant industry is a common thing in terms of economics, where do we draw the line? Do every single hard-working Malaysian out there who wants a car has to keep paying for this? Perhaps we got our pride in the way one too many times when VW came knocking?

Politically, this year, there's been a change in management. If you haven't heard, we had a new boss in the form of PM since March. Well, there are a lot of allegations of him being connected to a certain high profile murder of a certain model from a certain north asian country. And also allegations to corruption during his term as defense minister. I don't know which is worse. Nevertheless, he promised to change things around, maintaining "principles of intransparency and accountability". Lets see.

Anyway other tidbit.
1) Malaysia Truly Asia?
2) 1 Music in Malaysia - Yes to sugar, no to Petrol. We had enough, and as Najib said, cheaper petrol isn't the right solution. We should put a different mindset to this.

I try to not read all those "Proud to be Malaysian" fluff. "oh how we've came such a long ways since 1957 ... bla bla bla". I think of them as trying to rub the ego the right way, while ignoring all the wrongs that is happening. Perhaps, a little too idealistic, a little too perfect? One day, maybe, I can read it and feel the same. Not today, not now, reading them is akin to listening to a self-aggrandizing megalomaniac, and I feel sorry.

Anyway, Let us all strive for a better Malaysia tomorrow, and Selamat Hari Merdeka.

Jukebox's Guide to defeating the undead scourge

1) Cremate your dead. Zombies, Vampires, Skeletons, and countless other abominations are spawned from dead human carcasses. Cremating them is the simplest way for them to stay dead. However there are spawns of other undeads, such as wraiths, ghosts, phantoms and so forth that could not be so easily handled.

2) Take down the source. Be it the original vampire, or a warlock practicing death magic, taking it out means saving the entire city. It takes kill 1 save a million to another level.

3) Install U-V lights throughout the inhabited cities. As seen on the movie "I am legend", many zombie-vampire hybrids, and also other undead beings doesn't fear light itself, but instead are vulnerable to the U-V rays. Each U-V lamp post should have its own internal power source that recharges in one way or another, and should the main power lines are cut, it should still work. We could connect every block to an underground nuclear reactor that never runs out. Or we could use a solar panel to keep it charged.

4) Beware of the fallacies that might cost you your life.
- As we all know, undeads of the 21st century are not affected by crosses, or holy water (because obviously, god is not real). It has seen no effect on the coven of vampires in "underworld'".
-They don't need your invitation

5) Evacuate and abandon the city once it's out of control. If the zombies are killing people faster that the people are killing zombies, you know you're in trouble. You can run, but you can't hide. station military troops on the outskirts of the town to prevent any outflow, and get a nuke down there immediately.

Half Dome

My legs hurt.

But if I am to go again, I'd need
1) Boots
2) Harnesses / Caribineri
3) Helmet? Not sure if it'd help if I fall 4000 feet
4) More Water supply, 6 bottles at the least.

The Virtual Godfather

“Piracy, counterfeiting and other intellectual property rights violations not only cost U.S. businesses jobs and billions of dollars a year in lost revenue, they can also pose significant health and safety risks to consumers,” he said.

link

I don't know too much about computer game developers, but I know a threat when I read one. Watch out, the software mafias are after you, pirates.

The Pre-shot ritual

I used to have a pre-shot ritual when I'm playing tennis. The little things I do to keep focus, but when I'm frustrated, I stopped doing it and all my serves go wherever they'd like to.