music chart for the moment

this is way overdue. But better late than never!

Music chart for the moment - 29 July 2010

1/ Closer to the Edge

30 Seconds To Mars

This is War

2/ Love The Way You Lie

Eminem feat. Rihanna

Recovery

3/ Devil's Spoke / Sneh Ko Marg

Mumford & Sons, Laura Marling & Dharohar Project

Mumford & Sons, Laura Marling & Dharohar Project

4/ Witchcraft

Pendulum

Immersion

5/ Kickstarts

Example

Won't Go Quietly

6/ Ivy & Gold

Bombay Bicycle Club

Flaws

7/ Prayin'

Plan B

The Defamation of Strickland Banks

8/ One

Swedish House Mafia feat. Pharrell

One [Single]

9/ Selfmachine

I Blame Coco

Selfmachine [Single]

10/ Airplanes, Part II

B.o.B. feat. Eminem & Hayley Williams of Paramore

B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray

Bubbling Under/ Captains Of The Sky

Sky Sailing (aka Adam Young of Owl City)

An Airplane Carried Me To Bed

There you go! Another music chart!

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By the way, in case you were wondering how I look for songs to put into my chart, well, I'm going to let you in on a secret.

As you may know, I've been using things like Spotify and the Radio 1 Top 40 Chart [Link] to find out what's hot on the sales front, and test it out.

But recently, I've been using the BBC Radio 1 Playlists [Link] to look out for popular songs that are being hammered across the airwaves on BBC Radio 1. Some of these tracks may have appeared on my charts before - at the time of posting, there's "The Writer" by Ellie Goulding and "Islands" by The xx, for example. But aside from those that have been released in albums before, it does have new tracks, including some upcoming ones. If you're a new-music fan, then this site might be a good link to hit up.

Alright, then. Happy music-listening!

Macroeconomics: Things to check out

Since I'm revising for my Unit 2 (MacroEcons unit) exam, I thought I should share a few links to web resources/videos that might help/be of interest to Econs students.

1. BBC Documentary: The Love of Money (2009)

This 3-hour documentary looks at the world financial crisis of 2008-2009 and the events surrounding it - the Greenspan years, the collapse of Lehman, and the response by politicians. It features accounts from key players in the crisis - Alan Greenspan, Tim Geithner, Alistair Darling, Gordon Brown, and many more. It's no longer on the BBC iPlayer, but fortunately for everyone (especially those not in the UK, I found them on YouTube. (I typed the title of the episodes as used by the BBC, as well as the title used by the YouTube member in brackets)

Episode 1: The Bank That Bust the World [The Fall of Lehman]

http://www.youtube.com/user/DarkAngelStarQ#grid/user/1D8C7CC36500EA3E

Episode 2: The Age of Risk [The Boom and Bust Years]

http://www.youtube.com/user/DarkAngelStarQ#grid/user/2E6957F5E51F78C1

Episode 3: Back from the Brink [The Last Days of the Banks]

http://www.youtube.com/user/DarkAngelStarQ#grid/user/A3C2F641D82BDDA5

2. iTunes U

A feature that was added to iTunes not too long ago, iTunes U is one of the places to go to for free, publicly-accessible web content (tutorials, talks, etc.) from some of the biggest universities/academies around. Obviously, some of these are way beyond A Level Economics. But you can watch them just to get a feel of what Economics (or whatever course you want to do) at Uni might be like, I guess

Some of the ones that I've downloaded (long ago and starting to watch now):

University of Warwick: The Global Credit Crunch and the Global Economy

http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/warwick.ac.uk.2017263320.02017263328

MIT: The Economics Meltdown: What Have We Learnt, if Anything? by Paul Krugman

http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/mit.edu.3609336962.03609336968.3599872997?i=1752459984

3. Spot of Economics Blog

A blog by one of the Econs teachers from my college, Mr Spottiswoode. It's more for the UK syllabus, so if you're reading this from Singapore, there may be some stuff that's a bit different/irrelevant (I don't think you'd care about the UK Balance of Trade as much as I have to for my exam). But still, it's a good read.

http://spoteconomics.blogspot.com

Hope you found the links useful!

On OECD's Outlook, BBC iPlayer, Intel GPUs, and Rupert Murdoch's empire.

Phew, that was a long title.

Yes, it's a posting of 4 topics. So treat them as 4 separate blog posts.

This first bit is on Econs - if you're doing MacroEcons, you might be interested. Otherwise, this is just a load of gibberish. It's a bit UK-focused, but heck.

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The OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) has recently released their latest outlook for the member economies (mainly US, EU nations, and Japan). One recommendation that they mentioned in the outlook was the warning that the US, UK and Canada should raise interest rates to 3.5% "latest by the end of this year". Another was recommendations for fiscal tightening in all member countries, to ease those budget deficits and please bond markets.

But there are problems with their recommendations, though.

In times like now, where the economy is still quite fragile, it seems a bit risky to use both contractionary fiscal and contractionary monetary policies together in such a short period of time.

Yes, these governments have to restore confidence and calm markets about their sovereign debts, so as to avoid a debt crisis like the one in Greece (especially in the PIIGS - Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, Spain). And yes, George Osbourne, pay off debt now, and there's less later. But the concern now is whether it's too early to take away the support the economy still needs - unemployment in the States is still rising, as is expected in the UK until Mid-2010. Consumer confidence and spending is not exactly strong, either. And with the Euro still tumbling thanks to Greece and Merkel, I suspect the UK will be affected by poor exports as well.

And I've not even got to the raising of interest rates yet. Raise that, and people on mortgages would have to spend more of their income on loan repayments, assuming these people still have a job. Also, higher costs of borrowing isn't very helpful to businesses which are planning to reduce their workforce. This could have an impact on aggregate demand, employment, consumer confidence, and ultimately, economic growth.

Oh, and let's not forget what Mervyn King mentioned about the inflation rate in the UK. It was 3.7% CPI, above the 2(±1)% target. Reasons? Well, VAT went back up from 15% to 17.5% in January, oil prices rose 80% y-o-y, and so did food and clothing prices. Mervyn's concern is that at the moment, the upward pressure on prices are short-term, and they are masking the downward pressure on prices as a result of the spare capacity in the economy, created by the recession. 

With these factors in mind, I would think interest rates shouldn't go up until GDP growth has stabilised. Get the easy money flowing a bit more. before worrying about an overheating economy.

As for the fiscal policies, the governments would probably know best. They have to calm markets at both ends - on one end, you want to keep spending to get economic growth again; on the other hand, you want to keep bond markets and credit ratings agencies happy by cutting spending/borrowing. It's a balancing act. Looking at Greece, there appears to be strong pressures to cut spending/reduce borrowing. But not so much that the economy enters a double-dip. (PIIGS are an exception, I guess. They MUST cut spending.)

Link: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article7136901.ece

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In other non-Econs news, have you checked out the new BBC iPlayer? It's in testing now, and it'll replace the current design in June/July. One feature that is planned, according to the Financial Times, is the ability to search for content from other networks (BSkyB, ITV, Channel 4, etc.) and click through to those networks' websites (e.g.: 4oD, ITV Player, etc.). Thought that was an interesting tidbit.

Link: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d293bfe2-68c1-11df-96f1-00144feab49a.html [FT article - may have limited access]

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And in Tech, I highly recommend reading this Ars Technica posting on the state of Intel and their GPUs. For techie Econs student, this could be an example of how monopoly leads to reduced incentives to improve the quality of the product (resources being allocated and used inefficiently in the market, perhaps?).

Link: http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2010/05/intel-tells-users-you-dont-need-future-proof-gpus.ars?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss

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And in slightly upsetting news for proponents of 'free news online', The Times & The Sunday Times will start charging visitors to their websites, thetimes.co.uk and sundaytimes.co.uk from June onwards - £2 per week, £1 per day. News Corp. (which owns The Times and Sunday Times) said they will also start charging for their other news websites, The Sun and News of the World, later this year. The rationale for such a move is valid, though. They seem to have a harder time making money off online ad revenues, so they will have to move to a charged model to keep the business running. It'll be interesting to see how this pans out, since there are free alternatives to The Times - Guardian.co.uk (I love their iPhone App, by the way), The Independent, Telegraph.co.uk, just to name a few. I love the Times, so I hope Rupert Murdoch works this one out. Don't get me wrong, I hate the guy for what he stands for politically, and for the power he has in the media circles (he owns Fox News, WSJ, BSkyB, The Sun - most read tabloid in the UK, The Times, and News of the World). But The Times has pretty good cartoonists and columnists. Heck, even Clarkson is writing for The Times!

Link: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article7136619.ece

First past the post.

On 6 May 2010, the UK goes to the polls to decide who will form the next parliament.

Here, there's been quite a stir about the electoral system and how it can be unfair to certain political parties.

You see, the UK has something called the "First past the post" system [Wiki link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-past-the-post ] , somewhat similar to those in the US Presidential election and the Singapore General Elections. Basically, the electorates are divided into constituencies, and the person with the most votes in each constituency wins for that constituency. Sounds fair, right?

Well, arguably, no. Let me explain using the example of the US Presidential elections of 2000, between Al Gore and George W. Bush.

In the US, the candidate with the most votes in each state wins all the electoral votes, or 'tickets', for that state. The tickets are allocated in a way that should more or less reflect the population in that state. So, a large state like California would have something like 55 'tickets'. A candidate that gains 270 tickets wins the election. (Yes, this is an oversimplification. But for simplicity's sake, let's assume that's true.) In 2000, Al Gore received the most number of votes [50.9m, compared with 50.4m for Bush]. However, due to the way the 'tickets' have been assigned, Bush was able to win the election with 271 tickets, even though he didn't get the most votes.
[Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2000 ]

In the UK, there has been criticisms being fired at the voting system, too. Mainly, the percentage of votes for a party does not translate into the proportion of seats in the House of Commons received by that party. This has often put smaller parties, like the Liberal Democrats, at a disadvantage, as they would require much more votes to translate votes into seats. In contrast, the incumbent Labour party can still remain the largest party in power, even if they came in third place in terms of votes. Many have said this is unfair, arguing that there should be a more direct translation between votes and seats. Gordon Brown himself has thrown in his own idea into the hat - Alternative Voting
[Read: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8068583.stm ]

Why am I blogging about the electoral system in the UK? Well, I thought it would make an interesting Mathematical/Political/Philosophical debate. How would you solve a problem like the Electoral system, be it in Singapore, the UK, or the US, to make it more representative of the people? Or does it not matter, whether we get the same level of representation in Congress/Parliament as we do in terms of public sentiments? What is the most fair, efficient way to run an election and decide the winners?

Just my two cents' worth.

Music to wake up with...

I've been using this Alarm Clock App on my Mac (yes, my Mac, not my iPhone. Link: http://www.robbiehanson.com/alarmclock/index.html ) to wake me up recently. Really lightweight, and it lets you choose a playlist, rather than just a 30s clip as it is on the iPhone, to rock you and keep you dancing as you get out of bed. Just remember to turn up the speaker volume and unplug your earphones/plug in your speakers!

Anyway, thanks to this app, I can now have an excuse to blog again - to make a playlist of tunes to get you out of bed!

1. Take That - Greatest Day
What's better than waking up to hear someone sing to you "Today, this could be the greatest day of our lives"?

2. Angels and Airwaves - The Adventure
Set iTunes to start playing 23 seconds in, and you'll be awaken by a build-up, from the softer percussion instruments, to the electric guitars looming in the background, followed by the cymbals clash and at the end of the build-up, the climax. It's all about the build-up.

3. Sigur Ros - Inní mér syngur vitleysingur
If you speak Icelandic, well I hope this option makes sense. To the rest of us, it has colourful, cheerful, and chirpy qualities. What's not to like?

4. The Wombats - Let's Dance to Joy Division
Nothing like a song that wants to make you jump out of bed and just move about energetically, no matter how foul your mood may be.

5. Black Eyed Peas - Rock That Body
Of course, yet another track to get you looking lively in a minute.

6. will.i.am - It's a New Day
Though this song was meant to mark the Obama campaign and eventual election victory, its title can be taken literally, and what you get is an optimistic track to get the day started right.

7. Jonsí - Go Do
The title is apt - urging you to 'Go Do' whatever it is you should be doing, other than lying in bed. But since the lyrics is hard to comprehend, let's go on the merits of the music itself. It's uplifting, and it contrasts the pumping staccatos of the percussions and the flute with the legato of Jonsí's bright falsetto vocals.

8. McFly - Star Girl
I know this seems like a random choice, but Chris Moyles, the morning breakfast show DJ on BBC Radio 1, has been playing this song every Friday, calling it "McFly-day". No idea how or why, but this song feels appropriate for the occasion - it gets you all prepared for the last working day of the week. Do sing along with the 'Oo-oo-oo-oohhh..." bits to warm up your vocal chords in the morning (especially in the shower!).

So there you go. 8 choice tracks to get you out of bed and into your nice clothes!

On the iPlayer and the whiny cinema directors.

Just been flipping through today's papers. Read one article that got me flipping (i.e.: upset), and another that gave me an idea.

First, the flipper.

If you haven't heard, some cinemas in Europe have chosen to boycott Tim Burton's latest creation, an adaptation of "Alice In Wonderland". The reason? Because Disney Studios were planning on releasing the movie on DVD 12 weeks after the release of the movie, instead of the standard 17 weeks. Odeon, one of the largest movie chains in the UK, gave the excuse that they've invested into the latest 3D technology, and now Disney is ruining their game by pushing ahead with an earlier DVD release. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I know, you don't get 3D on a DVD, and even if you do get it on a Blu-Ray, the typical consumer still can't enjoy it in the full 3D experience. So what has Odeon got to worry about? Why are they so afraid of people not going to the cinema just because they know the DVD version will be out earlier?

Just to clarify, most movies stop screening in a cinema by the 12th week. Then consumers hear nothing about the movie until its DVD release. From the studio's perspective, I understand why they want to try and get the movie onto DVD earlier - so they can take advantage of the momentum etc. But what about the cinemas? Why did they choose to go so far as to boycott a hotly-tipped movie, jsut because it'll come out on DVD earlier? I mean, do what you like, but it'll be a lose-lose situation. If the cinemas don't screen the movie, they lose out on revenue. People don't get to enjoy the movie in 3D. The creators don't get to share their hard work with anyone except themselves. Then the studio don't earn anything from the box offices. But they can still sell the DVDs, and consumers get a compromise - they get the DVD and not the 3D, but with the added benefit of a lower price.

Bottom line: European cinema executives are arrogant control-freaks who don't know how to do business.

Now let's move on before I erupt into a mega-rant.


I was reading an article on how the BBC heads might be scaling back the corporation. Amongst the things mentioned (e.g.: cutting Radio 6 Music, axeing 25% of the web team), one that caught my eyes was their plan to somehow halve the iPlayer site.

Now, the article didn't mention how this was goign to be executed, but as a tech-head, I thought I could offer some suggestions to the Beeb on ways it could streamline and improve the iPlayer.

Firstly, HTML 5. They must start looking into the future. Google has started experimenting with HTML 5, so much so that they actually abandoned their efforts in Google Gears (their application to let users use the other Google Apps, such as Google Docs, offline) as their sign of confidence in HTML 5 as the web standard of the future. I can go on about the benefits of HTML 5, but honestly, I think the iPlayer must get off Flash. It cripples people's computers, especially with the HD programmes, and it's not open.

Secondly, the encoding. The BBC already has H.264 streams for the iPhone and many other mobile devices. If it could somehow reduce the number of files they host, such that there's one version that's suitable for various platforms, I think they could save on not just the amount of data required to run iPlayer, but also the encoding time to get from tape to web. Think about it -

• one encoding for the Mobile (iPhone/iPod/Blackberry/Android/PSP/Archos) platform,
• one for the desktop/SD platform (PC/Mac/PS3/Wii),
• and one for the HD-ready (PC/Mac/PS3).

In this way, each show only needs 2-3 versions (Mobile H.264, SD H.264, HD H.264), instead of the multiple versions we have now:

• iPhone OS,
• Windows DRM for WinMo/Archos,
• Wii iPlayer,
• Flash webpage,
• Adobe Air,
• HD Flash webpage,
• HD Adobe Air,
• etc. ...

Thirdly, host elsewhere. Get deals with YouTube, Vimeo and Facebook to host your content. Offload some of the burden on third-party video content companies. Channel 4 has already done so by putting up their shows on YouTube. The BBC should try doing the same if it wants to reduce its own bandwidth costs.

Well, these are just a couple of ideas that twirled in my head. Of course, there will be the issue of control - DRM, piracy, and the BBC's strange 7-days-before-we-remove-this-content policy. But if Apple could put DRM on digital music, surely the BBC can make sure only license fee-payers get access to those YouTube streams...

Well, that's just my penny's worth...

Albums to look out for...

Been looking through the newsletter from a local CD store (yes, I still visit those things, even though I never buy anything from them). Seems like there's quite a lot to look forward to over the coming few weeks...

15 Feb: Owl City - Ocean Eyes.

For everyone outside the UK, stop laughing at us (as in the people in the UK). We still don't have Owl City's album. But that's about to change next Monday, when Adam Young & Co.'s music finally gets released on a full album, both physical and digital. For those of you who are completely baffled by the term "Owl City", it's the name of a project/band that's mainly centred around this insomniac from Minnesota who goes by the name of Adam Young. He taps away at his laptop and musical instruments in the basement while awake, mixing up some awesome tunes, uploaded to Myspace, got really popular, and is now on charts and sell-out concerts. Typical MySpace Cinderella Story.

22 Feb: Marina & the Diamonds - Family Jewels.

Half Greek, half Welsh, and slightly obsessed with American/Hollywood Pop Culture. Seems like female solo artistes are developing the habit of adopting a stage name that fits the format "[First name] and the [noun]" (Florence and the machine, Marina and the diamonds, what's next? Diana and the Roses, which sounds a bit like "Diana Ross"?) Naming aside, Marina has the potential to become one of the big names in 2010, as predicted by pundits who were nominating people for the BBC Sound of 2010 title (She was a runner-up). Judging from the singles that she has released so far, she sounds cheeky, perky and fun. A nice change from the emo stuff we've been having from Flo+TM, I guess.

1 Mar: Ellie Goulding - Lights

Remember me talking about the BBC Sound of 2010 award just 2 paragraphs ago? Well, this is the winner. Ellie Goulding, an artiste whom you probably never heard of before, but if things go well for her, she might just be the next Little Boots! Now, describing her music is not easy, since there's only 3 tracks that I can find at the moment. I would compare her to Regina Spektor and Florence & the Machine - she has airy vocals (though it's not too bad), and her range does go quite high.

8 Mar: Gorillaz - Plastic Beach

I must confess, I'm not really a big fan of Gorillaz's music (with the exception of Dare and Feel Good Inc.). The only thing I like about them is their music videos and their use of those cartoon characters. But hey, it's the Gorillaz, and they're back after 3-5 years of 'silence' with a new album. Worth checking out, I guess. Especially if you're a Gorillaz fan.

22 Mar: Jónsi - Go

Jónsi, for those of you who aren't aware, is the lead in Sigur Rós, the Icelandic band responsible for one of the most beautiful piece of music in the last decade, Hoppípolla. Yes, the falsetto guy. He's been working on some solo stuff, and it'll all be revealed on 22 Mar. For now, you can look around YouTube and listen to (or if you're lucky/late enough, view the MV) to one of the tracks from his album, "Go Do". Really bizarre, yet in a Lady Gaga way, fascinating music video.

Jónsi - Go Do from Jónsi on Vimeo.

By the way, I think he's singing in English. I think.

Right, that's what I'll be looking forward to over the next few weeks!

By the way, 16 March is the Brits Award. Look out for that, too!

Reccos...

Another quickie post.

Couple of things I just discovered recently, that I thought I should share on my sort-of-dying blog (hey, I have exams!)

First up - iPhone App. 

"Moodagent - Automatic Playlist DJ for your music, your mood" (whoa, that's a mouthful) is an alternative to the Genius playlist maker. It uses 5 'mood' scores (Sensual, Tender, Joy, Aggressive, Tempo) to make up a playlist of 25 songs, based on what's on your iPod touch/iPhone. You'll need more than 25 songs, and you'll need to make sure they've all got accurate metadata (or your results will just be rubbish - rubbish in, rubbish out). But the great thing is that you can save the playlist in-app, and then you have a setlist for whatever mood you configured! Oh, do get this app quick, because it's FREE (for now).

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Next up, music. 

I know that by now, you're probably getting sick of me expressing my addiction to Owl City. Hey, there's nothing wrong with uplifting music being piped into my ears. But now, I found an antidote to my Owl City drug. 

It's an up-and-coming electronica (oh goodie!) band from Manchester, and they're called Delphic. They were 3rd in the BBC Sound of Music 2010 round-up (if you didn't read about the BBC Sound of 2010, I suggest you do. It's basically a title which goes to a music act that's been predicted by most of the music 'geniuses' of the UK, ranging from radio DJs to journalists, to do very well in 2010 on the UK charts.), but what makes them different from number 2 and 1 is that they actually have an album out now. It's called "Acolyte", and it doesn't have a cheerful tracklist (that's quite evident when you look at the album art, actually). It's intense, it's dark, and yet, it didn't fall into the 'overly emo' trap (I'm looking at you, Paramore). It's a new band with a promising future, at least in 2010, if not in this decade. And they've been off to a great start. Rating: 9/10

I especially recommend these tracks from the album: Doubt, This Momentary, Acolyte.

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One last thing.

As you probably know, there was an earthquake of magnitude 7.0 on the Richter Scale that struck Haiti on 12 January 2010. The death toll has been estimated to be in the thousands, and there is a desperate need to get aid into the country as quickly as possible. So let's all help in whatever way we can, little or big.

If you'd like to donate to support the disaster relief efforts in Haiti, there are a number of ways to do it, including some online means of donation. Google has links for donations to UNICEF and CARE; In the UK, 12 charities have come together to raise funds for their efforts in Haiti via DEC (Disasters Emergency Committee); if you shop on iTunes, you might have seen the link on the iTunes Store which lets you donate to the American Red Cross.

At this point, I also hope we can pray for the survivors in Haiti, the leaders in Haiti, as well as those involved in the relief efforts in Haiti. Let's pray for peace and stability in the country as recovery efforts are underway. Let's pray that the people of Haiti can pick up the pieces and get back on their feet as swiftly as possible, as they continue on their pathway of progress.

Let's support each other, especially in times of need.

Music lists of 2009. Not by me.

Yes, I hear you breathe a sigh of relief. It's not one of my hastily-prepared chart that I randomly come up with willie-nilly.

I decided to scan through the news sites that I frequent on the World Wide Web and compile a list of links that I thought you music fans out there might find fascinating, especially if you're looking for the next big thing in 2010, or if you prefer, a look back at 2009/2000-2009.

One word of caution - Music is subjective, and people's preferences differ according to their age, influence, etc., so you may or may not agree with some of the writers who come up with these lists. Me, too.

So, let's stop this chatter, and on with the show, shall we?

(Not sure what's up with me. For some reason, Pepper Lunch Express gives me the propensity to use language that is not normally expected of me.)

The Best Albums You Never Heard in 2009 [BBC]

The BBC Radio 1's Chart of The Year 2009 [BBC Radio 1]

The Music Stars Returning in 2010 [BBC]

BBC Sound of 2010 [BBC]:

•How It Works

•The Longlist

Readers' Poll 2009 - The Results [Guardian]

James Blunt makes decade's best-selling album [Guardian]

2009: The Year In Music [Guardian Photo Gallery]

If There's Any Justice... Our Guide To Who Should Be Big in 2010 [Guardian]

Musicians To Watch Out For In 2010 [Times Online]

The Top 10 Music Acts To Look Out For In 2010 [Times Online]

Rock & Pop Albums To Look Out For In 2010 [Times Online]

Best of the 2000s Hot 100 Songs [Billboard.com]

Best of 2009 Hot 100 Songs [Billboard.com]

100 Best Songs of the Decade [Rolling Stone]

100 Best Albums of the Decade [Rolling Stone]

There. Links.

Probably more than your brain can absorb.

But seriously, do check some of these out if you're bored when you're free. Especially the BBC Sound of 2010 Longlist.

Untitled.

I realised that the titles of my blog post are quite meaningless, because I tend to choose a title, and then make a post, forgetting that I had a title at the top of the post. So, there you go. Untitled post. So I'm free to talk about what I want, without thinking of following a thread. (You have been warned.)

If you're wondering where on earth I am (literally), I'm actually at home in Jakarta. Home sweet home. The unfortunate thing is that I'm still kind of jet-lagged. Sleeping 2-5am, waking up 12noon-ish. It's slowly moving back to a normal 12mn-9am sleep cycle, but till then, I'm staying off caffeine.

Been trying to study for the AS (plus a few A2) papers in January. I have to confess - I feel that studying in December is like child-labour - it's unethical, because it robs the person of the freedom to enjoy, relax, and celebrate the festive season (and gain weight). But that's my opinion. Must. Study. Psychology. I mean, I'm not too worried about Maths and Econs, and I just need to read up a bit more of the Accounting theory and stuff, but Psychology is a lot harder to study for. Tons of different theories, explanations, approaches, models, treatments, etc. intertwined with hundreds of researchers' names to remember. But since I got myself into this mess (nobody forced me to take Psychology. Just me and my ego.), I have to face the music like a man.

Oh, I've been thinking of embarking on a multimedia project soon. Much like my 'O' Level Art Coursework - a video, coupled with an original audio track, depicting a certain theme/story. At the moment, I need a theme to work on, so that I know what to work towards. So far, I have 2 on my mind - the urban/city life, or the earphones/speakers/mp3 player. The former, because I just want to try making stock-like video. The latter, because I think many of us listen to music on our commute to school/work, and sometimes, you see people behaving in a way that shows they're rocking to the music, but suppressing it really well. And I thought I can use my video to show an amplification (heh. no pun intended) of this perhaps-innate response to Lady Gaga. Of course, this is a spare-time-only project, because I really shouldn't be doing this when I have exams to prepare for. It's just that I've been having itchy fingers lately, if you know what I mean.

Gosh, I really want a 7D and a video-friendly ballhead (Reccos, anyone?).

Anyway, speaking of video, I was watching this HD short-film that I downloaded from the BBC iPlayer some time ago. Hooked my Mac up to my 720p TV, and gosh, did it look good. The story was good, too. Entitled "Pop Art" by Amanda Boyle, it's about this strange friendship between Toby, a kid who's lost him mum and Arthur, a new classmate who's born with a 'genetic disorder that causes him to be born a balloon' (hence the title, I guess). It's an odd story, yes, but I think it's a bit of a reflection of how people sometimes let their negative emotions overcome them. If you're geeky enough to know how to set up a proxy or search on Youtube, do try to watch it. It's a heart-warming clip, IMO. http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/films/p004x9xt

But if you have no idea how to set up a proxy (it's alright. me neither.) then you can have this as a consolation prize. If you're a fan of The Bugle - Audio Newspaper for the Visual World podcast, then you should listen to "Andy Zaltsman's History of the Third Millenium", a comedic view of the past decade. It's on the iPlayer, but because it's audio-only (radio broadcast), it's available for streaming worldwide, as with most other BBC Radio programmes. Other programmes I recommend - The Now Show [also available in podcast form worldwide]. But please, don't let these links be your only source of news. You'll sound really weird in conversations about the latest news.

By the way, for people who often look at my Last.fm scrobble charts, there's been a slight glitch with the Last.fm Scrobbler App on my Mac, so I had to uninstall it and use a different scrobbler, which seems to also have its own share of bugs. Seems like upgrading from Leopard to Snow Leopard, and then from iTunes 8 to 9, added with the zero-response from the Last.fm coders, might have led to me being unable to submit about half of my scrobbles. So, fingers crossed, let's hope things work with this new 3rd-party scrobbler. If you were reading this paragraph and scratching your head, head over to www.last.fm and use the Last.fm service.

Ok, got to sleep now. Post ends here.

BBC Children In Need Medley

A song for the BBC Children In Need fundraising campaign. You'd probably never seen so many cartoon/kids characters in one single music video.

Music to watch out for...

Been looking through the iTunes Music Store, and boy, do we have lots of new albums on the UK iTunes Album Chart this week.

Ok, first thing I want to talk about is, well, probably not available outside the UK (aww...). It's a Parody Album by BBC Radio 1 Morning Show DJ, Chris Moyles. The name of the album? I just said it. It's The Parody Album. It's a compilation of parodies that this morning show DJ recorded. Not much I can say, except you know this is going to be weird, like those Don & Drew show podcasts. Out Monday 23rd Nov on iTunes UK.

Next, still speaking about the UK, remember the Britain's Got Talent runner-up Susan Boyle? Well, she's back with a vengeance this Christmas with an album of her own, entitled "I Dreamed A Dream". Before you laugh her off as an eccentric like William Hung, look back at those YouTube clips. Now, imagine a studio-quality recording of her singing Amazing Grace or Silent Night. I admit, most people will notice flaws in her vibrato parts, but otherwise, she's a Scottish angel. This album is one to look out for this Christmas. Out Monday 23rd Nov

Moving on, while we're on the topic of stocking-stuffers for Christmas, we have 2 'Best-of's that were just released. For those who like Queen (who doesn't?), they just released their "Absolute Greatest" album! If you're more into Snow Patrol, they also have a 2-disc 'best-of', called "Up To Now".

There's also been some Jazzy artistes releasing albums recently. There's Norah Jones with "The Fall", and Jamie Cullum with "The Pursuit". Realise both album names start with 'The', followed by a noun? Can't be a coincidence, can it? Norah's album was released on 17 Nov, Jamie's on 9 Nov.

Oh, John Mayer. He's got a new album out, too. "Battle Studies".

And how about that Lady Gaga EP, "The Fame Monster"? Features the single 'Bad Romance', along with other new Gaga tracks, and her last album, "The Fame".

That's just a sample of what new stuff I saw on iTunes that might be popular this pre-Christmas season. Look out for them, possibly in a future music chart from me!

Of SSD and TGL.

I was going to start this post with "Haven't blogged in a while", till I realised - my last post was only 9 days ago. Now, yes, that's a 'long' time, considering my average blogging frequenscy. However, compared with most other blogs, one post every 9 days is quite frequent. So, no, it hasn't been a while. It's just 9 days. So let's begin this post proper!

----------

Just got an offer from Exeter! AAA, including Mathematics. A bit high, but not impossible. So, that's Manchester and Exeter down, waiting for City, LSE and Warwick to reply.

----------

I spent last Saturday at Earl's Court Exhibition Centre for Top Gear Live / MPH Show. Can I just say, if you're any sort of a Top Gear fan, or if you love cars, you should check out this show. Basically, there's two parts to it - an exhibition area showcasing cars and car-related products (EA was showcasing their latest games, BBC Magazine was selling Top Gear Magazines for £1, and TomTom was selling GPS devices, etc.), and a live show, featuring the stars of the BBC programme by the same name - Clarkson, Hammond, and May, as well as The Stig. You'll see car stunts, car showcases, and ambitious-yet-rubbish creations of the 3 blokes, including vehicles made out of gardening items, and racing with mopeds (they flip a lot when turning, because they only have one front wheel). And the noise from the V8 engines of 8 supercars - that will give serious petrolheads goosebumps.

----------

That wasn't the only show I saw last week. On Wednesday, before I got sick (more on that later), I watched Michael McIntyre Live at the Brighton Centre. For those who don't know, Michael McIntyre is a stand-up comedian who likes to crack jokes about the things he observe around him - from the way people react to you if you sneeze, to the blatant errors in his opening sequence video, which showed him on the road dashing to Brighton in the daytime, even though it's pitch dark 8pm when the show started. He can make mundane stuff hilarious, and he often does it impromptu - unscripted. And even though he has a cold, he was a great sport, going through the whole 2-hour performance like a professional entertainer. Great comedian!

----------

And about me getting sick - I suspect there's a bug going around, because for some reason, the morning after I went to the Michael McIntyre show, I woke up feeling as if I had a hangover. I almost lost my balance in the shower, and I was feeling weak while eating breakfast. I puked five times after breakfast, and had to take leave for the rest of the day after one hour of classes. The school nurse prescribed something called Pepto-Bismol, which came in the form of (to my disgust) a pink liquid suspension. But taking that really helped to curb my nausea, though the side-effects were a bit disturbing, to say the least (it said "black tongue and excrements", and though the former wasn't observed, the latter certainly happened, and it was the most alarming sight ever.)

But yes, if you are nauseous and puking, and especially if you just recovered from a cold, go see the doctor.

----------

Well, that's it for this post. more to come soon. But for now, it's bed time. (well, for me, anyway)

Oh, did you get the MacHeist bundle? only a few hours left! (as of typing: 5 hours left.)

of boredom and english accent...

In school right now.

I have one hour to my next lesson, so I thought I might as well kill this time off by making a long-winded blogpost and rant on some nonsensical topic of no interest to anybody. I figured that's the only real way of raising viewership - post more nonsense that's much longer than 140 characters x 5, so that you finally have a good reason to blog rather than to twitter, then it'll be syndicated onto Facebook that you have a new post that doesn't make sense, and 300+ readers will read this post (the number of friends I have).

That's in the ideal world of social networking, I'm sure.

Anyway, I thought I should spend some time commenting on the British accent.

There isn't one.

No, really, to those people who were asking me why my accent is not completely Brit yet, there is no such thing as a British accent - the stereotypical aristocratic mode of speech that belongs only in movies set in very 'posh' times, in very 'posh' settings, and with the royals. No. That is not a British accent. That is just a stereotypical parody of the cynical British 'cultures', if I may call it so.

Nowadays, you rarely hear the 'pure' British accent. In the media, on the telly (that's the Brit way of saying the TV), and on the radio - the people you see/hear are quite mixed.

There's the posh accent. (Imagine the Queen delivering a speech right now. Then imagine Stephen Fry talking in his "Hi I went to Cambridge" way.)

Then there's the teen speak, which ranges from the incomprehendable and unclear mumble common amongst those with ASBOs (Anti-Social Behaviour Orders, if I'm not wrong), to the geek who worked at Morgan Stanley at age 15 and thinks he's a know-it-all, and doesn't use Twitter. Shut up.

And then there's the Scottish way. And there's the Welsh, and the Irish, and the Asian (which doesn't mean Chinese, by the way. This refers to the Indians/Pakistani/Sri Lankan), the 'Black' (like Dizzie Rascal, the rapper. Though I could argue that his accent is more of the hometown accent, typical of people on BBC Radio1), and the very rigid Oriental way (this is where the Chinese and Korean sit in. For some reason, I feel that the Oriental English accent is more stiff than the others - you don't feel that the people are speaking in a flow. Rather, they break their sentences syllable by syllable, or maybe it's just me).

Oh, did I mention the American accent? There's a bit of that, too.

I'm being a bit racist here because I just want to point out that there is no such thing as a British accent. Everyone has their own way of speaking, though some sound clearer than others, and most people belonging to a certain race/culture/origin tend to adopt the same way of speaking English.

But the most important thing about communication is clarity. If another person understands what you say, doesn't matter what accent you use, as long as you get each other, then there's communication.

Sure, there might be the odd 'peppering' of euphemisms and slangs that only Brits or Americans or Singaporeans can understand. I still don't understand the true definition of 'lah', and I'm sure most people don't even know it has a meaning, but they use it as a substitute for the full stop, and that seems fine to some lorh (see what I mean?)

Of course, there are times when some accents are unacceptable. You should never expect Cambridge to give an English O Level paper that's covered in 'leh' and 'wa biang' an A1. Nor would you expect people in a Pasar Malam to speak the Texan way, unless they're doing something related to Mid-west America, which is just odd for a Pasar Malam.

Well, That's 'accents' for you! Now, stop asking me where's my Brit accent.

Twitter! Help!

This is taken from Facebook.

Ronald Liong has devolved from blogging to twittering. That's why his blog is stagnant. I blame Stephen Fry & John Mayer.

Well, I'm sorry if I made anyone think I stopped blogging. I will not. I love blogging, and I'll continue to blog. So there!

Rest assured, people!

Anyway, back to proper topic discussion...

I want to talk tech today. Specifically, the cellphone market.

For the longest time, people had lots of options when it comes to cellphones - they buy a cellphone, say a Nokia 8310, maybe with a contract with a telco, or they could go on prepaid/pay-as-you-go SIM cards. They pop in the SIM, and voila. Communication wherever you go with adequate reception.

But this is not 1999.

Today, we have smartphones, we have mobile web browsers on our Androids, our Blackberry, our iPhones, our Palms, and they have apps, some of which let you IM. You can get email, you can play multiplayer games, you can check stock prices, weather, send MMS, voice chat, video call, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

It's a perfect world, right?

No.

It isn't.

Amidst all this "wow" factor, one thing fails to amuse me. 

Well, when I say one thing, what I really mean is "a list of things".

First: The signal issue.

I was having an IM conversation with Ryan this morning - on my iPhone, on way to school. That is, until the bus passed a road leading to the city train station. Yes, a road that is used by many to go from the train station to the beach - the most important road for visitors - does not have signal. This, people, is the cruddy network I love to hate - O2. Supposedly the largest network in the UK. Why is it that these companies have so many subscribers feeding them with so much money, yet they can't fix simple signal problems?

Second: The evil middlemen.

Telcos like to lock in their customers. From 24-month contracts, to locked phones, they've been finding ways to retain customers, whilst supporting "number portability" to make it easier for customers to come in. In countries like Singapore, where the competition laws are stricter, customer-locking is (thankfully) considered illegal, with the exception of the 24-months contract idea. However, elsewhere, you find iPhones that are useless once the contract ends or when you leave the country. Yet, the owners of these phones pay through the nose to be able to use the phone. This is not the worst, though. Some telcos lock down features in the phone. O2 prevents tethering on my iPhone, even though I can probably do it from a Windows Mobile smartphone. Verizon in the US locks the bluetooth in many phones. Frustrating, isn't it? You spent $1000 (long term cost) on a phone with a bluetooth chip which you know is there, but has been locked down, and then after your contract is up, you cancel your line, and you end up with a paperweight, because your phone is locked to the carrier you signed up with initially. And it's not as if their service was fantastic.

Third: The lack of innovation.

We have 3G. We have HSPA. Basically, we're supposed to have internet in the air right now. Broadband internet, not dial-up speeds. However, it seems that the telco companies do not want you to use this network. AT&T has shown us why, with their crappy data network in San Francisco - Silicon Valley, iPhone town, etc. But why is it that these companies - companies which are able to gain lots in revenue, do not want to rush into finding ways to solve the problems of this demand for wireless data connections? You want 4G connection to your laptop, don't you? You want to walk around with your Nokia N- or E-series phone and read the news, don't you? You want instant access to information, don't you? What if I tell you you can? And what if I tell you that it's possible, but that's a caveat?

Telcos hate to innovate. They hate change. They want to control things. That's why we see O2 blocking the BBC iPlayer. That's why we see AT&T blocking Skype. Yet, we see the underdogs trying to take advantage of all this. 3 (Hutchinson) in the UK is selling phones with Skype capabilities, and letting people use them on their network without having to pay a cent. Yes. Free Skype on 3. Never pay for a single phone call again! That's one example of telcos thinking outside the box. Giving customers choice. They might lose money on people using Skype, but on the flip-side, how many people really use Skype? They gain customers who would have otherwise gone onto an iPhone, had O2 allowed Skype.

Closing words...

Personally, I think there needs to be more government intervention over Telco networks. Ban subscriber retention tactics such as locking of phones or features; push them towards upgrading their networks and coverage; make mobile broadband available for all; ban phone exclusivity (but allow subsidising of phones). Protect the consumers, but also, spur the growth of the telecommunications industry in the country!

The mobile phone networks have a different purpose nowadays. They're not just for making phone calls or sending an SMS. They're the gateway to the information superhighway 2.0. They're the tools for twittering and emailing. They allow news to be sent to you in an instant, while allowing you to IM with a friend thousands of miles away. They let you video call somebody across town, while they let you navigate your way through a town. The phone is not just a phone anymore. It shouldn't be. Because we're in a new century.

Sleep...

Just watched a BBC programme called "10 Things You Need To Know About Sleep". Thought I should share some interesting information that I learnt from this show.

1) A drop in body temperature has been attributed to sleep. So, if you want to sleep, having a hot bath 1 hour before sleeping might help.

2) If you have severe insomnia, try this: limit yourself to 6 hours in the bedroom, regardless of whether you're sleeping or not. If you're not sleeping, stay awake and get out of the bedroom. After one month, you should be able to get reasonable amounts of sleep.

3) Nap: The best time to nap is 2-5pm. Anything earlier, your body just doesn't want to sleep. Anything later, it might eat into your sleep.

4)Snorer? Try over-the-counter solutions, or else see a doctor, especially if you're a heavy snorer, for it might signal a more serious condition (High blood pressure, stroke, etc)

5) Coffee and alcohol disturbs your sleep cycle. Coffee not only makes sleep harder, it inhibits deeper levels of sleep. Alcohol might make you get up several times in the second half of your sleep period. Avoid coffee and alcohol 4 hours before bedtime.

6) If you're a night-shift person (i.e.: you have to be awake before sunrise), you might want to know this: the body produces melatonin, a hormone that helps get you into deep sleep (REM sleep). If the light receptors in the retina detects light, melatonin is either suppressed, or its production stops. More specifically, it appears that blue light can lower melatonin levels. The point? If you have to be awake by 3am and working at 4am, try eating your breakfast near a blue, fluorescent light or something. You might feel more alert and awake by the time you work. At the same time, you might want to cover your windows to prevent light from entering and interrupting your sleep.

7) Thinking of food for lunch and dinner? Well, meals that are high in protein are probably a good idea for lunch as they seem to make people not-so-sleepy as compared to high-carb meals. But for dinner, high-carb meals is a good idea.

8) Jet-lag? There's a new scientific research that seems to say that not eating during your flight might curb jetlag. The idea? You don't eat anything during your flight (other than water), and only eat at the next appropriate meal time at your destination, on destination clock. Why? Because when you're eating at the destination, your body is in a sense syncing to your destination's eating-time clock, and this will overwrite your sleep-time clock. Not bad, eh?

9) Want to get to sleep? Tense up your muscles, then relax them, part by part, from your toes to your bums and to your face. For the choir people you guys should be familiar with this. Well, people sleep better when their body's more relaxed - not tense. by doing this exercise, it ensures all your muscles are relaxed, so you'll hopefully get to sleep better. But this isn't an excuse for sleeping during choir practice. Firstly, the choir room is brightly lit by fluorescent light (see point 6). Secondly, you're not lying flat on a bed.

10) Lavender and Valerian. They are herbs that have been related to relaxation and better sleep as a result.

Hope you learnt something useful! (See? My blog is not just nonsense!)

If you're able to access the iPlayer, check out this link:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00j08h7/10_Things_You_Need_to_Know_About_Sleep/

Alternatively, see this:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00j08h7

http://www.bbc.co.uk/headroom/newsandevents/programmes/sleep.shtml

adapted from: BBC One

What a week!

It has been an amazing week, if I could say so myself.

Let's see... I watched Transporter 3 and The Day The Earth Stood Still. Both are great movies, by the way. Watch if you can.

And speaking of movies, I just watched Transformers on HBO (yeah. We have HBO, even though we don't have BBC or CNN. Fascinating. ). I kinda regret being critical of the movie. It's good. I approve.

Besides movies, my family hosted a Christmas party cum gift exchange, where my mom's jogging friends (our neighbours) and our extended family came together to celebrate Christmas. Fun, food, fellowship.

Oh, on a "personal achievements" note, I drove a car. Manual/Shift stick, not Automatic. Well, I signed up for driving lessons. Today was day one. 5 more lessons to go.

One tip I'll give to any prospective drivers: push the clutch down ALL THE WAY. As in really. ALL THE WAY. I stalled the car once. Hey 1st (actual driving) time. The previous attempt with my sis-in-law doesn't count.

By the way, I'm getting my license and Indonesian I/C next year, after my birthday. Woot!

K. Bye. My iPhone is quite moist from my palm sweat. Not sweet at all.

Blogged on an iPhone.

P.s. Can somebody email me when the O Level results day is announced? And if you want to contact me for whatever reason, use my Gmail. My iPhone is On a local telco. I.e.: not using a SingTel SIM card. I check my email nightly. So, yeah.

finally! internet!

Phew. Thought I won't be able to update my blog.

Ok, I'm in Indonesia now. In the new house. Pretty big, but pretty empty. Heh.

There's no proper Cable TV connection here. Only some weird cheap-o cable with no MTV, CNN, BBC. At least we get CNA, CNBC, Channel V, Bloomberg, Discovery. That's all I need [for now].

And as for internet, I don't have Cable / ADSL. But since my bro has a Windows Mobile phone and a HSDPA data plan, I'm using his phone as a modem to get on the net. It's decent. Comparable to Wireless@SG. hey, it's a cellular network. Not too shabby, I would say.

BTW, I have a 32" TV of my own now. It's not HD, not even HD Ready, but I'm thinking of getting something to hook up to it. Should I get:

1. A VGA cable to hook up my Mac to it?

2. A PS3?

3. A PSP?

4. An XBox 360?

5. A Wii?

6. A Blu-Ray Player? [NO!]

7. An TV (Apple TV)?

8. Others?

Vote by tagging!

by the way, Number 1 will be something I'm definitely doing even if it isn't voted to the top.

Ok, I have to cut off soon. Only have 500MB limit per month, and I just downloaded OS X 10.5.6 update. That's 190MB off the allowance. Bummer.

Addiction...

I am addicted to Apple's Wireless Mighty Mice.

I am addicted to BBC.

I am addicted to Ben & Jerry's Strawberry Cheesecake and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Creams.

I am addicted to Marvel-related stuff.

I am addicted to iPods.

I am addicted to Razr2s.

I am addicted to low hygiene standards.

I am addicted to not touching holiday homeworks.

I have major addiction problems.

Addiction| They are harmful...

2007 Resolution review.

link: "New Year's Resolution Final Version"

-i shall watch more youtube 

[i did]
-i shall upload videos to the internet somehow... be it vlogs or youtube. 

[i did. Physics project, Art trip video, Esmond's video]
-i shall survive sec 3 life. 

[i barely did]
-i shall install XP MCE 2005 on my Mac, despite Vista's existence. 

[didn't]
-i shall buy no more than 10 albums in 2007. 

[2 furtado, 1 feist, 1 timbaland, 1 agapella, 1 kanye west, 1 mika, 1 Aly & AJ, 1 Natalie Imbruglia, 1 James Blunt, 1 KT Tunstall. that's 11. whoops!]
-i shall watch more tv thanks to my tv tuner.

[SEA Games counts, right? no? oh darn.]
-i shall get someone a birthday present for once.

[erm... Ernest?]
-i shall make more video calls and less smses instead.

[never happened.]
-i shall get cable tv from starhub. no more free-to-air channels for me. btw, i love BBC.

[never happened.]
-i shall watch BBC.
[watching]

-i shall try to ensure a silver for SYF.

[YAY!]
-i shall get a red iPod Nano. PRODUCT ( RED )

[half of it. iPod nano? yes. RED? no.]
-i shall visit Apple Centre 10 times in 2007.

[yup.]
-i shall go out during the weekends for leisure 20 times (or more), without my guardians for once.

[not 20, but enough for this to pass by my definition]
-i shall get a B3 minimum for 'O' Level Chinese Language Exam.

[pending.]
-i shall be an amateur counsellor.

[FAIL]
-i shall change my email address.

[FAIL]
-i shall move away from friendster permanently.

[yup. on FaceBook. sort of.]
-i shall spend S$300 on iPod accesories in 2007. (in 2006, i spent $250 on the Altec Lansing speakers, Silicone case, battery packs, radio remote and charger)

[nope.]
-i shall keep my 5G iPod in great condition.

[ya right.]
-i shall keep my MacBook Pro in great condition.

[yup]
-i shall not buy any new iPods released in 2007. (i can still buy a Nano 2G)

[FAIL. i bought 2.]
-i shall buy music from iTunes.

[hey, i did! OK Go's free treadmill thingy track!]
-i shall join a photography competition.

[did. failed. but i joined!]
-i shall remain a geek.
[lame resolution.]

-i shall be mocked at. (this is easy)

[again, lame resolution.]

-i shall switch to Starhub mobile soon. (Singtel service is good, but not enough)

[erm, 2008?]
-i shall come up with my idea of solutions to political situations that arise on my blog. nobody will care or listen.

[sort of.]
-i shall blog more. blogging appears to have a positive impact on my vocabulary.

[sort of.]
-i shall blog in chinese more often.

[sort of.]
-i shall blog in bahasa melayu / bahasa indonesia more often.
[once.]

-i shall star a vlog.

[FAIL]
-i shall drink more choya.

[i just did. Christmas party 2 days ago. 1 shot glass!]
-i shall drink sparkling drinks in 2007.

[Big Gulps galore!]
-i shall NOT top any subjects anymore. that's plain childish competition.

[oops.]
-i shall not make a crude joke like the resolution i mentioned just before this one.

[lol...]
-i shall pass NAPFA. my hands are somewhat wider right now.

[erm... i don't get the second part of that resolution.]
-i shall not be sarcastic at all.

-ok, i shall try to avoid sarcasm.

[was i sarcastic this year? I think i avoided it quite well this year. proud of you, Ron!]
-i shall remain girlfriend-free for the next 2.8 years. (JC1: i shall learn more about female peers and JC2: I shall choose to like someone)

[one year down, 1.8 to go.]
-i shall forget 2006.

[true...]
-i shall suffer from amnesia.

[huh? where am i?]

Passed: 26.5/42

YAY!!! I passed 2007!

[k, that was retarded.]