Goblet Vs Wardrobe

Waited until now to write this entry... coz had wanted to watch "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe" too and make a comparision with "Goblet of Fire".

But isn't that so cliched. I suppose so. So should I really make a comparision of these 2 movies. Nah. They have one common point, the book is always better than the movie.

Esp for Narnia. One of the focus on the movie was on the battle.. reminded me of LOTR with so many animals fighting against each other, the ugly vs the pretty. But then Tolkien & Lewis were friends. So hardly suprising they had similar style. My dear, "Similar" only. Worlds apart in the focus etc. At least I had completed the first book of Narnia, unlike LOTR.. where I believed I'm still stuck in the hobbit embarking the journey to destroy the ring... I can hear some saying how W.O.L.S I am. And I really can't deny the fact. How many people do you know who is still stuck reading LOTR since 2003. Only one, that is if you know me *shakes head*

Back to Narnia. The "Queen" was quite pretty, cold and pretty hee hee. Lucy was lovable, innocent lovely child. Saw Edmund grew up in the movie. Peter & Susan were just passable, maybe because in the story, they were not the focus too. Can't have too many main leads I guess. Overall the movie was pretty. Love the snow scenery. Love the 2 little beavers. And absolutely love the professor and his logic.

"There are only three possibilities. Either your sister is telling lies, or she is mad, or she is telling the truth. "

Obvious fact which was lost upon the people involved. Logic... something we don't learn in school "p

As for Harry Potter, one word to describe the movie, breathtaking. Somehow I like the visuals in Goblet better coz indeed, to see what Rowling described in the book was something I had been waiting for. And though sometimes the visuals are not so impressive (for e.g. showing the beautiful fleur to be very very awesome faerie like... which I believed is indeed a tough task) but overall I got to see the triwizard on screen. And I just go 'WOW'.

Ok next year there are 2 other movies adapted from books. One is the Da Vinci Code.. gosh must read that book first. Another is Memoirs of Geisha. Hmm haven't decided if I should find this book to read or not hmm. Vaguely remembered it was quite a hoo-huh when it first came out. Hmm but I might have been mistaken. Have to sniff that book out from a library first...

Till then, no more story books... unless I managed to catch Artemis Fowl in my nearby library hee hee..

Merry Xmas to you

Afterthoughts for year 2005

Surprised to see such a title? Those who know me, knows I seldom directly disclose my personal life and feeling. Act mysterious? Or just plain lazy to open my mouth.

Actually I also know not many people read my blog. But to my 2 frens who read my this blog (maybe the only 2?), I have something to let you know.

But before i disclose it, let me first think through about my 2005.
One word - Boring!

I am still in the same company and will be in the same company for the next 3 years unless something affects me.
I head to work the same time, head back home the same time, do the same stuff every weekend, watch a few tv series, dream the same old dreams, aspire the same old stuff.

I wish I could tell myself to wake up. Be more energetic of my life, coz it is my LIFE for goodness sake.

But I know if my energy level is not zero, it will be zero by next year. If I'm not qualified to be a hermit, I will be one by next year. If I do not get to meet my friends still, I will definitely not meet my friends anymore...

Ok the last line is too extreme. I still hope to meet my friends. Was very happy that one of my good friend (even tho we dun contact anymore, i still feel she is a good fren once, n shd b my gd fren alwaz) msn me yesterday. But as it is during working time that i happen to be online, I din haf the mood to chat. As usual! Useless me. And thus it slipped the chance for me to tell her this news.

This news that I have officially been registered as a NUS student. That I am going to embark on a 2.5 - 3++ years of part time studies. To get my masters of technology.

I am suppose to feel elated. But maybe happiness shared is happiness doubled, and I have not share my happiness much other than to my family, my loved ones and my colleagues. But that should be quite alot of ppl sharing my happiness right haha. Ok la, I'm greedy. There are a few ppl I hope to inform, 2 being the 2 reading my blog now, 1 is the gd fren i mentioned earlier, 1 is anr gd fren that i know will reply my sms if i sms her but will never read my blog.

Relaxed, I don't feel depressed. I write for my these 2 friends to read, and that is a comforting thot. At least 2 audience is better than 0 rite.

And my wish for 2006, please be more energetic. And as usual, I hope to see the light out of this tunnel that I have built accidentally/purposely/for watever reasons.

To Kill A Mockingbird

When I saw this book, I was actually finding Harry Potter - Half Blood Prince in my Librabry.
When my eyes laid on this book, I was thinking, oh a book that I have seen often, and always wondered about its contents.
When I flipped the first few pages, I fell asleep. To attribute that it is due to the boredom of this book, is such a disservice to it. I believed it is due to this reader state of mind. This reader is a pretty useless person with low energy level.
When I finished this book, only one thought came into my mind. Glad to have seen this book that day.

A book with a very simple plot. To tell you how did her brother broke his arm. Yet it talks about the issues Americans were facing years ago. And the issues they are still facing. Blacks and whites. Hermit and gossip-mongers. Truths and lies. Reptuation and expectation.

Why do we have to live under people's expectation? Why are our actions forever scruntinized by the people who lack the knowledge to even understand us. Why are our fate decided not by ourselves? Why are there prejudices. Why must majority rules?

In the court, justice will prevails. But how much time must we give for it to be sensed.
In our life, our conscience will pricks. But how much must it penetrate before you can feel it.

I want to stop imposing my views on other people even before they speak up. I want to stop worrying about people's view of me. Most importantly, I just want to be free.

That I believe, takes alot of courage.

Adobe Reader Activator

Yesterday, out of curiosity (as usual "p) I went to NLB - ebook to try to borrow a digital book. Well took "some time" to remember my login. Took "some more time" to check it out. Had to read the FAQ again and again because hey, I didn't want to pay for borrowing books. And these days, it is really hard to say that everything in the lib is free. Times have changed!

Anyway I make 100% sure that I will not pay for trying to borrow a digital book. Oh and the cool thing is if the item expired, I do not need to pay fines. Good news, as I have a hard time remembering my date dued books. Encounter too many last min returning of books.

Then is time to download my digital book. Chose the pdf version and guess what, need to activate my Adobe. Tried many times and it didn't work. Thought maybe need to upgrade to adobe 7. Upgraded. Still did not manage to get to the site to activate. In the end I called it a day.

Today, I tried again. This time I managed to access the activate adobe website. Went through 2 logins. Finally when it comes to activate the adobe, again it failed. Wasted more time trying to google for something to solve my problem. Tried to clear my ebook folder. Tried to reinstall adobe (oh but halfway I din proceed as it stated that the v7.0 has problem but mine is v7.0.5)

Then I gave up, watch abit of tv. Came back and voila, this time it activates.. phew!

Now I am downloading my digital book. Haha guess what is the title. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll..

Shall see what happens to the book when it expired =D

Off to dinner...

Uninstall Software Without Using Add Remove Programs

Found this article from Saravana's Blog which I believed will be pretty useful as I am not allowed access to the Add Remove Programs (limited administrator access).

Thus I decided to copy what it has been blogged, to remind myself how to overrule my sys administrator ... shhhh... Oh btw, my limited administrator access allows me to install, but doesn't allow me to uninstall from the Add Remove Programs (any other underhand methods will be allowed), pretty DUH right "p

There are two ways to uninstall the software without using add remove programs.

1. Using Installer Folder

• Go to Installer folder. (Windows Start --> Run --> Installer or directly c:\windows\installer). This is the folder where are all installer presents.
• This folder doesnt give any information about the installer. Include comments and Author column in this folder.. (right click column header and choose required columns)
• Comments column will give information regarding that installer..
• Right click the installer and choose uninstall...

2. Using Registry Key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion
or
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall

• Go to registry and open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion key
• Under this section, all the installed software information will be there..
• For.NET Framework 2.0, go to that section under which installstring or installpath key will be there..
• It will point to the folder where installer for that software is there.. You can uninstall using that

Building Positive Relationships

Remember I had attended 2 courses last week. The morning one was all about cheese…

the afternoon one, all about Killer WHALES…

The course is Building Positive Relationship.

Based on the book

Whale Done!

The Power of Positive Relationships By Ken Blanchard, Thad Lacinak, Chuck Tompkins, and Jim Ballard

I have to admit such book is really more suitable for managers or leaders because it is more on how to build positive relationships with the people around you (especially your subordinates) so that there will be a positive environment, and all will be committed to do their utmost, thus bringing the department’s efficiency to its ultimate.

However this does not prevent me from penning down the pointers as such methods can be applied on inter-personal relationships. Do you know that the people we take most for granted are the people that we cared the most? These people are the ones that we will GOTcha most, instead of giving them WHALE Dones.

GOTcha

Catching people doing things wrong

WHALE DONE!

Catching people doing things right

First let me talk about

The ABC’s of Performance

Activator - Whatever Gets Performance Going
Behaviour - The Performance That Occurs
Consequence - Your Response to the Performance

Have you ever wondered, when you were learning to walk, how did your parents teach you? Was it through encouragement? Did they rejoice at your every step? Every effort you made, did they applaud and appreciated it. However when we grow older, do we still receive such praises and encouragements whenever we do something right? Sometimes we still do, most of the times it seems to have greatly decreased in amount. This is because when we grow older, we are expected to do well. Thus it seems that doing well has been taken for granted. Thus we will face the first 2 consequences more often than the last 2. Ironically, the last 2 consequences are the 2 that will actually make a person go further. Minus all the animosity, plus all the praises that people (no matter how humble) will love equals all the will to excel.

4 Kinds of Consequences

1. No Response
2. Negative Response
3. Redirection
4. Positive Response

So how do we build positive relationship?
First we

Build trust.

It means being sincere to the person, making an effort to know the person. It means you have to first trust that person, for that person to trust you back.
WHALE DONE only works when you’re sincere and honest.

Besides talking to the person, you must also listen to the person. Hear what he/she says.
Never assume you know what motivates a person.

Then we must

Accentuate the positive.

This means concentrating on the positive, and gives them the WHALE Dones when they did something pleasing to you. Most importantly, you must
Praise progress. It’s a moving target.
Imagine if the end results can only be seen 1 year from now, praising intermittently will help re-affirm the person that he/she is doing correctly.

What if the person commits folly? By ignoring is not enough.

When mistakes occur, redirect the energy.

This means trying to find the solution and not pin point the blame. This means retracing back the steps so that the person can be guided to the right path soon. This means using

The Redirection Response

• Describe the error or problem as soon as possible, clearly and without blame.
  
• Show its negative impact.
  
• If appropriate, take the blame for not making the task clear.
  
• Go over the task in detail and make sure it is clearly understood.
  
• Express your continuing trust and confidence in the person.
  

After redirecting the person back to the right path, you will then be able to accentuate the positive and give them the

The WHALE DONE Response

• Praise people immediately.
  
• Share your positive feelings about what they did.
  
• Encourage them to keep up the good work.

The effect is not immediate. In fact it is going to be very tough to keep it going. There are times you might even catch yourself back in that GOTcha state. Then you must remember that people, who are too hard on others, are super critical himself/herself. Sometimes you must relaxed, hug yourself, praise your progress. Afterall…
It never hurts to toot your own horn once in a while.

To conclude, I am going to

Wake up and say something positive when everything is going well!

p/s : As you might have guessed, all those in bold or italicise, are the pointers I got from the book. There is one last pointer which I am unable to put inside, it is about company and the way they review people. If I ever have the courage, I wish to tell my company to abolish the performance curve, to use the WHALE Done method to improve work efficiency, to start praising US and not berating us when we make a mistake, and ignoring us when all is well… If I ever have the courage, I will say to them…
If you don’t hire people on a performance review curve, why grade them on one?

Manage Change

Sometimes we may act like

Sniff

Who sniffs out change early, or

Scurry

Who scurries into action, or

Hem

Who denies and resists change as he fears it will lead to something worse, or

Haw
Who learns to adapt in time when he sees changing leads to something better!

Quoted from “Who Moved My Cheese?”

A book by Spencer Johnson, M.D
Foreword by Kenneth Blanchard, Ph.D

A book that I read 4 years ago,
At that time I found it very meaningful.
I told myself that I must change,
I must get out of my comfort zone,
I must not fear change.

4 years had passed,
I had changed.
Sometimes because I needed to change,
Sometimes because I wanted to change,
Sometimes I saw the changes,
Sometimes I did not realise I changed,
Sometimes I change for the better,
Sometimes I change for the worst.

But one thing remains,
I still tend to fear change,
And I sometimes catch myself enjoying my comfort zone,
Like NOW!

That is till 10th November 2005.
I was scheduled to attend company’s training courses.
The morning class was on Managing Change.
And the materials and discussions are mainly from this story.
And this book came into my life,
A Second time.

It felt as if Change is giving me a Second Chance,
To re-evaluate myself again.
And this time I decided
That I should write down the sayings,
So that I can refer to it as and when I like.
Thus the list begins…

1. Having Cheese Makes You Happy.


2. The More Important Your Cheese Is To You The More You Want To Hold On To It.


3. If You Do Not Change, You Can Become Extinct.


4. What Would You Do If You Weren’t Afraid?


5. Smell The Cheese Often So You Know When It Is Getting Old.


6. Movement In A New Direction Helps You Find New Cheese.


7. When You Move Beyond Your Fear, You Feel Free!


8. Imagining Myself Enjoying New Cheese Even Before I Find It Leads Me To It.


9. The Quicker You Let Go Of Old Cheese, The Sooner You Find New Cheeses.


10. It Is Safer To Search In The Maze, Than Remain In A Cheeseless Situation.


11. Old Beliefs Do Not Lead You To New Cheese.


12. When You See That You Can Find And Enjoy New Cheese, You Change Course.


13. Noticing Small Changes Early Helps You Adapt To The Bigger Changes That Are To Come.

Change Happens

They Keep Moving The Cheese

Anticipate Change

Get Ready For The Cheese To Move

Monitor Change

Smell The Cheese Often So You Know When It Is Getting Old

Adapt To Change Quickly

The Quicker You Let Go Of Old Cheese, The Sooner You Can Enjoy New Cheese

Change

Move With The Cheese

Enjoy Change!

Savour The Adventure And Enjoy The Taste Of New Cheese!

Be Ready To Change Quickly And Enjoy It Again & Again

They Keep Moving The Cheese

Blogger for Word

Cool, so long never login blogger. The moment I logged in, I saw a new technology… called Blogger for Word. The next thing you can see me typing this blog in a Microsoft Word. Imagine Microsoft Word. Would they have one to work with Open Office too? Fingers crossed. If so, I can die of happiness… =D

Now there is no need for me to type my blog in Word, then copy and paste into the blogger’s site. Most importantly, it shows how much blogging is going to integrate in our life. There are people willing to create tools to make blogging easier and easier.

Now for the finishing touches : to make ‘blog’ a dictionary word in Word =D

Dedicated to my special fren. Thanks for calling! I don't find that you are lost, as I'm also out of practice (my fone rarely rings for me nowadays)... coz I'm living a zombie life lately. So your call has given me surprises. Just that it is too short haha (hint hint to call me again "p)