Shin Seung Hoon - The Eighth Story

Yesterday I saw a flash video that shocked me. If I'm not mistaken, the person who made that video had just taken the whole video from Shin Seung Hoon's The Eighth Story and replaced the song with another song. And the reason why I knew it is because I saw his name in the beginning of the video plus the fact that throughout the whole video, there were subtitles that did not matched that replaced song.

Actually I'm not sure if both videos were made by the same person or not. If so, maybe I will not feel so "unjustified". With the advent of technology, I do realised how rampant copying has occurred. I may have even committed that folly slightly. But to see that a song had obviously been replaced as the background, and all other things intact.. I just felt weird when I saw that video. I kept wondering why were there words. And why it gave me such a Korean feeling when the song was an English song. And why Shin Seung Hoon’s name appeared. Because I remembered him as the singer of “I Believe”.

Anyway this song, The Eighth Story, is quite a sad song. I also wondered why the girl in the video had to die first. Why couldn’t she have gone home to sleep instead? WEIRD!

Tiddlywiki

I saw this tool in my IVLE... haven't really figured out how it really works. Except it is very compatible with Firefox... and even Minimo on Nokia 770. Seems like a notepad that is tagged with a timeline. It was meant to be a study tool for my university..

Maybe I will try to use in during my 1 week summer class which will be in 2 weeks times. Gosh time flies and now I'm at my last summer class already. (Hoping of course I cleared all my modules in last semester considering I had tried to over-stretch myself and almost got into trouble...)

Anyway I MUST figure out this tool. It's time to start getting back my interest in IT again.

There is always a better way

A nice story for all:

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said: "I am blind, please help." There were only a few coins in the hat.
A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words.

Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy.

That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, "Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?" The man said, "I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way."

What he had written was: "Today is a beautiful day and I cannot see it."

Do you think the first sign and the second sign were saying the same thing? Of course both signs told people the boy was blind. But the first sign simply told people to help by putting some money in the hat. The second sign told people that they were able to enjoy the beauty of the day, but the boy could not enjoy it because he was blind. The first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second sign told people they were so lucky that they were not blind. Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective?

There are at least two lessons we can learn from this simple story.

The first is: Be creative. Be innovative. Think differently. THERE IS ALWAYS A BETTER WAY!

The second is: Be thankful for what you have. Someone else has less. Help where you can and make it a great week ahead!!!

Bflygal's comments : Every time I read this story, it motivates me to figure out a better way... This morning was reading an article about being a LV person, a person who learns with a vision. Learning is a never ending journey, but one must know what one is learning and with that knowledge knows where one is heading. Never stop learning, but always plan what you are learning.

Maybe it is a cue to tell me to figure out my future. But I'm pondering, am I reading my signs accurately? Hmm..

王力宏 & Selina - 你是我心内的一首歌

歌名：<你是我心内的一首歌>
歌手：王力宏 & Selina
专辑:改变自己
歌词：
王:你是我心内的一首歌
王:心间开启花一朵
S:你是我生命的一首歌
S:想念汇成一条河
王:点在我心内的一首歌
王:不要只是个过客
S:在我生命留下一首歌
S:不问结局会如何
合:好想问你
合:对我到底有没有动心
合:沉默太久
S:只会让我不小心犯错
王:不小心犯错
S:点在我心内的一首歌
S:不要只是个过客
王:在我生命留下一首歌
王:不论结局会如何

合:你是我心内的一首歌
合:心间开启花一朵
合:你是我生命的一首歌
S:想念汇成一条河
王:想念汇成一条河
S:好想问你
王:好想问你
S:对我到底有没有动心
王:对我到底有没有动心
S:沉默太久
王:沉默太久
S:只会让我不小心犯错
王:不小心犯错
合:点在我心内的一首歌
合:不要只是个过客
合:在我生命留下一首歌
合:不论结局会如何

Bflygal's Comments : Oh manz, I have never heard Wang Li Hong or Selina sings in Hokkien before. When I heard it, I was utterly amused. Because my impression of Hokkien songs are usually loud and crude. But this song was so lovely, so melodious, so sweet. Anyway the two of them sings in a mixture of Hokkien and Mandarin. It is indeed a very simple yet nice song.

许茹芸 - 好听

你说的话我都相信
说得好听说得甜蜜
你说的每一句我都相信
为了爱情失了聪明
听你的话闭上眼睛
这个梦多美丽让它继续

你说的话总那么好听
你爱不爱我不能确定
也许你只把它当游戏
我却爱得太用力

你说的话我都相信
说得好听说得甜蜜
你说的每一句我都相信
为了爱情失了聪明
听你的话闭上眼睛
这个梦多美丽让它继续

你说的话总那么好听
你爱不爱我不能确定
也许你只把爱当游戏
我却没那么聪明

你说的话总那么好听
你爱不爱我不想确定
我会关掉你送的手机
然后静静不去理

你说的话总那么好听
你爱不爱我不想确定
我会关掉你送的手机
然后静静静静
是再也不去理

Bflygal's comments : If not for a multiply user, I might have forgotten about this song. A song I was mesmerised when they first played snippets of it on the radio. To read the lyrics now. To hear the song again. It emits a different feeling already.

幸运儿

The chairman is a lucky guy since young. He has everything he wants, and it is always the best.
What most people work and slog for, the chairman obtains them easily.
One day, the chairman started to grow a pair of tiny wings.
Everybody felt that he is so lucky. They will whisper to the pair of wings to grow faster.
But as the pair of wings grow, the unhappier the chairman is.

Quote of the Day

Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else;
you are the one getting burned.

Bflygal's comments :
Saw this quote in some powerpoint and I felt it makes a lot of sense to me. I guess I almost got burned. Just that I keep telling myself that it is pointless to get angry...

Anyway I had a long discussion with my dm in the morning. Although I had to revamp the entire system, but at least I found out I don't need to amend another system. And that I managed to figure a simple solution for the new requirement.. Haha...

Maybe now my burden has lightened a little bit, I ended up packing my stuff instead haha. Spent an afternoon clearing my documentation and throwing out those I do not wish to bring over. Yawnz, now I'm tired again haha. zzzz

The Tipping Point

The Tipping Point

The author said that yawning is a surprisingly powerful act. Just by reading the word “yawning”, you will probably yawn within the next few minutes. Even as the author wrote it, he had already yawned twice. And I had indeed yawned.

He then mentioned that if you had yawned in the public place, chances are if anybody saw you yawn will be yawning too. Yawning is incredible contagious.

1. contagiousness
2. the fact that little causes can have big effects
3. that change happens not gradually but at one dramatic moment

The third trait - the idea that epidemics can rise or fall in one dramatic moment – is the most important. It makes sense of the first two and permits the greatest insight into why modern change happens the way it does. This dramatic moment in an epidemic when everything can change all at once is the Tipping Point.

3 rules :
1. The Law of the Few

6 degrees of separation – doesn’t mean that everyone is linked to everyone else in just six steps. It means that a very small number of people are linked to everyone else in a few steps, and the rest of us are linked to the world through those special few.

Proximity overpowered similarity - We’re friends with the people we do things with, as much as we are with the people we resemble. We don’t seek out friends, in other words. We associate with the people who occupy the same small, physical spaces that we do.

There are a few types of people :
* Connector – people with a special gift for brining the world together.
* Data bankers – people who has wisdom, is curious in anything and everything.
* Salesmen – skills to persuade us when we are unconvinced of what we are hearing.

Charismatic people can infect the other people in the room with his or her emotions.
Smiling is contagious even though it is subtle.

2. The Stickiness Factor
Examples of Stickiness Factor are TV shows Sesame Street and Blue’s Clues as well as a game show The Golden box.

I remember watching Blue’s Clues in my University days. And I have to say Blue’s Clues has a bounding effect on you. It tempts you to follow Blue, the dog, around to search for something for e.g. his favourite food. And at the end of the show, we will always be presented with 3 clues to figure out the riddle. It is a simple story line but it engages the child to follow and think and sometimes answer the guy asking the question.

Constant repetition which is boring to adult is not boring to children because every time these preschoolers watch the episode, they are experiencing it in a completely different way. Even Sesame Street uses the repetition method. Thus in order to be capable of sparking epidemics, ideas have to be memorable and move us to action.

The lesson of stickiness is that there is a simple way to package information that under the right circumstances can make it irresistible.

3. The Power of Context

The conditions and circumstances of the times and places in which they occur are important factors too. In fact situations can affect a person. An experiment was done to stimulate a mock prison and figure out why prisons are such a nasty place. And the study found out that the volunteers who acted as guards and who were originally mild and pacifistic ended up as cruel and hard bitten disciplinarians. And a “prisoner” really felt he lost his identity and acknowledged that he is prisoner XXX. These are specific situations so overwhelming that the person lost conscience of their true self.

After reading finish this book, actually I’m not very clear because Tipping point seems to be trying to create an impact. But to create this impact, you need to have the right messenger (The Law of the Few), the right idea (Stickiness Factor) and the right situation (Power of Context). In fact typing this review, I’m not sure if I even understand the book accurately.

But one of the case studies included in the book shudder me. On the South Pacific islands of Micronesia, the suicidal rate suddenly increased steeply and dramatically. And the scariest part is some of these children had no intention of dying. They were experimenting what is the sensation of hanging. I remember reading an article too on a young teenage that was found to have hung himself to death. The parents had no idea why he did that and he had been a good kid. Apparently the kids he was mixing with were having such mini-game. To try to hang oneself and see what is the sensation when your breadth got cut off. And though the parents found lots of marks, he had always said he hurt himself. Only after his death did they realise those were injuries he inflicted while hanging himself. These are children that have experimented things that cannot be experimented – Death. And the media speculation, the wide coverage adds on to the curiosity of these young children caused the steep increase of the suicidal rates.

In short, social change is volatile and inexplicable. But there is also hope in life. With the slightest push in the right place at the right time, the world can be tipped suddenly…

Getting What You Want At Work

Source : Eugene Loh, A Slice of Life, 938LIVE, a station of MediaCorp Radio
Article : Getting What You Want At Work

If you think your job goals don't look any nearer with each passing day, here are four simple rules you can follow to help you get what you want.

1) Ask. That seems pretty simple, but often at work we're afraid to express what we want. We may assume that other people know what we're thinking because it's so obvious to us. Or we may think that if we continue to work hard enough, we'll be rewarded. If you want a promotion or a raise, don't assume that your boss knows it. Let him or her know clearly that you are interested.

2) Show What's In It For Them. Think about how it will benefit the other person and tell them. For example, if you want to hire additional staff you need to consider how it will help your boss. Will it give you more time to work on projects that your boss really cares about? Will it allow your boss to delegate more work to you, so it will save him or her time?

3) Build a Business Case. If you want to hire more people or get more money for a project, you need to show how this will benefit the company. A business exists to make money after all. So explain how your idea will increase productivity, increase customer satisfaction, or positively affect the bottom line. Suggestions that are tied to the company's success, rather than your personal needs, are more likely to get accepted.

4) Be Persistent. Just because you ask for something doesn't mean that you're going to get it. Even if you get a "no" the first time you ask, don't let that stop you. A negative response can be changed. For example, if you ask for a raise, the answer may be "no" today because it is not the scheduled time for a raise at your company. In that case, ask your manager what you can do in advance to make sure you get a raise when the time is right. Or maybe, you haven't presented enough information for the other person to say "yes". Can you show where you have saved money, made money, or made a difference to the bottom line? That's the information managers need in order to say "yes".

Following these four rules won't guarantee that you'll get what you want, but they will greatly increase your chances of getting a positive response.

Bflygal's comments :
Do I have to say that his article come at such timely stage. Because I'm in despair in my work... The past 2 days I slept the moment I reached home. Totally exhausted is an understatement of what I felt. In fact I feel guilty that finally, I only left one more event to organise ... because the truth is I'm not complaining about all these organising (other than the fact that it is making me overeat).

Actually I have always been daring to ask my boss questions that even he felt sensitive. Because I know I have not gotten into his bad books yet. But times, I feel that it is pointless to know how he feels because he is such a paradox. Whatever he told me weeks ago, differ from what I'm facing now. In the end, I ended up with 4 more existing systems of which one needs to be pushed for the implementation of the enhancements and another is being subjected for some new system/enhancement (I have no idea what the user wants because I refuse to schedule a meeting yet). Adding on to the list is another 2 systems that just got routed for no apparent reason into my lap, both having major bugs that might end up with some rework. And today I attended a long meeting only to realise that one of my existing systems need a major rework, and I still need to discuss the details with my dm tomorrow. Gosh and I have not finish one of my enhancement (which had to be redone also because the original concept was not user-friendly). I know that one I asked for it because I delayed it for my studies. But this is no kidding matter, I really dread seeing my task list tomorrow. Because every system is shouting that it wants to be re-done... what the heck! Darnz and I have yet to tell another user to write his new requirements for an old system. At least that system will only be considered for revamp by beginning of next year, but that is really such small comfort.

Anyway, to my colleague if you are reading this, don't worry too much. Enjoy your last day tomorrow, have a nice one month break, enjoy your hols and just move on bah. Like I say, you ought to have move on long ago. As for me, just let me whine a bit more... and maybe cry in a little dark corner because nobody is there to shield me from all these arrows.

Getting what you want at work... am I really getting what I want??

Auld Lang Syne

Source : Wiki
"auld lang syne" literally means "old long since" - but a more idiomatic English translation would be something like "long ago", "days of long ago", "in olden days", or even "once upon a time".

Went to search for the lyrics and found out that the real version is by Robert Burns.

Burns’ verse:

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne ?

CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

And surely ye’ll be your pint-stoup !
And surely I’ll be mine !
And we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We twa hae run about the braes,
and pou’d the gowans fine ;
But we’ve wander’d mony a weary fit,
sin’ auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We twa hae paidl’d in the burn,
frae morning sun till dine ;
But seas between us braid hae roar’d
sin’ auld lang syne.

CHORUS

And there’s a hand, my trusty fiere !
And gies a hand o’ thine !
And we’ll tak a right gude-willie-waught,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

English translation:

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne ?

CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we'll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

And surely you’ll buy your pint cup !
And surely I’ll buy mine !
And we'll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We two have run about the hills,
and picked the daisies fine ;
But we’ve wandered many a weary foot,
since auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We two have paddled in the stream,
from morning sun till dine (dinner time) ;
But seas between us broad have roared
since auld lang syne.

CHORUS

And there’s a hand my trusty friend !
And give us a hand o’ thine !
And we’ll take a right good-will draught,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

p/s : I heard the Chinese version a week ago and the feeling is still deeply embedded into me. I guess I will feel this way for a very long long time... like another song... 92...