Making Decisions

I am sick of all those terms like 'social contracts', 'people must be grateful', 'our tolerance is limited', etc.

Come on, get out from the coconut shell and look outside. Do you see Thailand? do you see Vietnam? Do I need to mention China, Russia, Romania, and India?

I am amazed at some people who are still harping on racial identities and discriminatory policies. Other countries already know what to do, start exploring the uncharted water, and drafting contingency plans for the arrival of digital convergence, escalating health care costs, graying of populations, rising raw material costs, and the rising sea level.

What is the parliament talking about? Air Asia's stewardess should dress more appropriately??

Really I don't know what else to say. Yes, this isn't new, but I am just pondering upon some key decisions. I am more and more disappointed.

Trivial Sunday Notes

I went to Tampines, which is at the east, for a walk. Had mixed rice for lunch, and found out the so called fried fish fillets were so over-fried that I couldn't really tell if it was fish, pork, beef, potato, or even just a piece of bread.

Note to myself: If I were to cook a dish, deep fried stuff will be the way to go.

It is a sultry afternoon, and Cuppa will need to cool himself down.

My 10-year old alarm clock died recently. May it rest in peace and reincarnate into a Rolex in its next life (if any). Meow.

How-To-Talk-Like-a-Politician: Blind Talk

Introduction:
My apology for my readers for delaying the writing of this how-to series for so long. Counting using an advanced calculation apparatus, namely my fingers, it seems I wrote the first installment for almost 4 months ago. Should disappointed readers want to fume their frustrations, may I suggest them to throw Euro dollar bills (No US dollars, no ringgit), PS3, laptop computer (at least core 2 duo, 1 GB ram and a 8800GTX graphics card), or even a few pretty girls at Cuppa. I don't mind to defend the right to free speech with those gadgets and babes.

Today's topic is called "Blind Talk". In more plain word, it is 'bull-shit'

Examples:
1. "Our universities are competitive because we are still in the world top 5000. The slip is due to the ranking is calculated differently" - a politician commented on the slip of overall rankings in local universities

His point: As long as we are in top something, we are fine. Nevermind the slip, because it is the ranking committee's fault, not ours. However, it is trivial to achieve that aim, for any number n, we are assured of in top m by making m >= n. For example, if there are 400 universities and we are ranked 399, we are still in top 400!

2. "There are no discriminations in our country. There are a lot of doctors, accountants and engineers as well as rich people in those races. This shows the government treats ethnic Chineses and Indians fairly." - a politician commented on the recent strikes

His point: Ethnic chinese and indian must be on the edge of starvation or in extremely dire situation to show they are being discriminated, anything less than that doesn't warrant a complaint.


Now the more interesting part: Application.

How to Apply:

"Cuppa is handsome. This is a candid self-assessment, well, as candid as the BolehLand politicians say they are holymen"

Top Three Characteristics of A Good Cat

3. It doesn't give anything a damn
2. It doesn't give anything a damn, including the owner
1. It doesn't give anything a damn, including the owner, except it is time to eat

Act like a cat

Cuppa's Broadband Era

With an interesting twist, broadband internet has arrived Cuppa's humble abode.

The story is initially Cuppa's housemate, Alfred, who is also Cuppa's landlord, didn't want to have Internet because he doesn't know about computer at all. However after knowing a girl abroad, Alfred was calling that girl on a daily basis and soon the phone bills were killing his wallet mercilessly.

Thereafter the need of VoIP was mounting, until a point Alfred bit the bullet to get broadband and a computer. Also note that he wants not only voice, but also video, therefore the calling cards are out.

The Cuppa Blog will be updated more regularly from now onwards (I hope).

Good Boss, Bad Boss

All these years, I have had quite a few bosses. Their backgrounds are vastly different, and naturally their preferences and how they manage people are also diverged. To protect the guilty I shall not disclose the gender as well as the name of those concerned. Instead I will refer each of them as 'he' in the most non-sexist way.

1. Manage-Till-You-Die Type

Characteristic: Knows little or no technical knowledge but has excessive zeal to pursue the privilege and the title of a manager. He will try to exert his pressure until you recognize his 'authority'.

Typical Conversation between him (H) and his staff (S):

H: Can you give me an update on what your plan for this week is?
S: I thought I just updated you yesterday?
H: We have been in a churning* frenzy and basically my full time job is working on the MS Project and pressing you for updates from time to time to show that I am working
S: WTF...

* Churn refers to 'change'. 'Feature-churn' means changes in product features

2. Step-on-Your-Head Manager
Characteristic: Reasonably good technically, but has no consciences and treats subordinates as stepping stones and/or tools to achieve his personal goals. The consequence is you die or not is none of his business

Typical Conversation between him (H) and his staff (S):
H: I don't care, this project must be done and you must finish before tomorrow.
S: Since this project's delay is not the team's fault, can we claim for dinner for staying late?
H: Yes, budget is RM10 per person and you should not go out to eat. You should stay in office because the objective is to get the job done
S: I need a sleeping bag....
H: You can have a few rolls of toilet papers if you really feel cold in office

3. Do-All-You-Want Type
Characteristic: Just don't care, as long as you deliver

Typical Conversation between him (H) and his staff (S):
S: I will be off half day tomorrow because my pet ant is sick
H: Sure, go ahead, no worries
S: Btw, my project is delayed for 2 months because I spilled coffee on the only prototype board in office, burning the lab as well because electric short-circuits
H: Really? That is interesting

Note: This type of manager doesn't really exists...

Low SNR Articles

Recently I find myself become lazier or lazier, or in another perspective, more and more efficient.

I just give up reading lengthy articles with low signal-to-noise ratio.

Life is short.

To see what I mean by the above, I invite you to read this article on embedded design here.