Worst thing that can happen to you....

This has happened for over a week now... My boss decided to store Yahoo! Messenger in his PC...!!! ARRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!


That isn't so bad... But when he starts asking around for your ID... It really hits you... So, some in the tech dept have resorted to giving out false IDs or IDs which they never ever use (**** good one ****) and another colleague is giving out her real ID but will remain "invisible" for an indefinite period of time.... ;)

*sigh*.. Have to resort to using another ID for the time being.... This is NOT good...

In with the new tech... out with the old?

Technology changes in a heartbeat. For people like us on the edge, we have to constantly keep up with the new tech that comes our way. Somehow, after being in the IT business for a number of years, I see that new tech sometimes is not really new at all. It could be a rehash of something old which came up a number of years back, given with a couple of new acronyms and fandangled terms, it becomes brand new...

I have to admit that whenever there is a version jump in any API or product, we are buzzing with happiness and glee... thoughts like "Ok, lets see how good you REALLY are" and "Lets crash this bugger!!!" immediately come to mind. However, for some of us who were so busy with doing work, whenever a new tech comes out, we go "Oh no, not again!" or "Dang it! I just finally finished my certification for that!!!!!!".

It is inevitable that technology needs to change in order to change civilizations. As history has taught us, civilizations have crumbled when technology failed. So, we are forever caught in a vicious cycle? ?

Ok... back to work... or the unending cycle of design-coding-testing-design-coding-testing.... VICIOUS... ain't it?

Losing someone you love

Everyone knows the pain of losing someone you love. My family lost a loved one last Friday, 16th October 2003, when my dog passed away after suffering from an internal bleeding. She underwent a spaying operation but it went awfully wrong after the operation when there was internal bleeding which caused her to lose her life. I believe that the vet's tools were not properly sterilized before the operation began.

Oofy was a very lovable dog. She was a lively little dog who spread love to everyone whom she met. I miss her a lot... We buried Oofy in the garden and I plan to decorate her grave with flowers and a small hand-made headstone for her.

*sigh*... Didn't have much mood to work and I decided to join up a community portal , where there was a small spot to grieve for Oofy.

Anyway, I will always remember Oofy for she brought me out of my misery when I had to work late nights during June-July 2003 for a project...

May she rest in peace... Amen

Back... Better? Nah... More relaxed...

Hehe... It has been a couple of weeks ** really??? ** since my last update to my BLog. I have to say that I enjoyed my little time off from my job as I really, really needed it after working like a dog for so long.

Anyway, I would certainly recommend that one takes a long break once in a while in order to get perspectives right, to clear the mind and just relax. One week in Sydney without touching any computer was like heaven to me. When I got back to my notebook, I nearly forgot how to type but after a few mouse-clicks, I was back to my good 'ol programming style...

I can see that my colleagues are getting a little stressed out and so, I would recommend that they go on a holiday. It does not have to be so far away like Australia or New Zealand, it could be a closer spot like Langkawi or even Port Dickson (???!!!!). Hehe... Port Dickson is a small, popular beach spot here in Malaysia, situated in the state of Negri Sembilan (literally translated to "9 States"). I would not recommend that one takes a holiday at home because that would mean just resting (like what we do on a weekend) and not taking a real break. A new location may refresh the mind and also "sharpen the saw" once one returns to work.

I can really see the effects of taking a really good "off-shore" (if one can afford it) break. Once I got back, I could solve bugs rather quickly and without much brain-bending. As Leonardo Da Vinci once said,

Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer. Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller and more of it can be taken in at a glance and a lack of harmony and proportion is more readily seen.

Certainly good advice from the master, himself!

Will describe some of cool stuff I did in Sydney... in a few days time. *^_^*

On leave.... so what???

Hmmmm... I'm SOOOO HAPPY.. COZ... IN A COUPLE OF HOURS... I'LL BE FLYING OFF TO SYDNEY FOR A 6-DAY TRIP!!! Woo HOOO!!!!...

Anyway, on a slightly more sad note... I had to do some work today despite taking the day off. This is the reality of IT.. Even when you've handed over all your stuff to 2 or 3 people... (Yes... I'm soooo busy that I need at least 3 people to know what I'm doing...) I still needed to do some last minute UAT. *sigh*.. What to do. I'd rather sacrifice some time for work, getting the job done right, rather than getting my a** blown up by the boss on another occassion.

So, I'm off for my long holiday.... May login from time to time to check up on a few things... Hehehe.. Maybe take a few pictures and post it on my other website... ;)

'Til then... CATCH YOU LATER... MATE!!!

Zimmish....

Hehehe.. Over the weekend, I've just discovered another new cartoon character to add to my collection... "Invader Zim"... Hehe..

I love the storyline.... Slightly "X-File-ish" with power crazy alien invader trying to get information on earth. The reaction is over the top and comedy... outstanding!!

Anyway, enough about Zim... I just found out that next Saturday will be the best time of my life!! The Anime Festival 2003 is heading for KL, at Midvalley from 12-3pm... Hehehe... I AM SOOOO THERE!!!

It would be a very cool day.... indeed...

*sigh*.. At the moment, I've got to figure out/reverse engineer some code from ASP.NET to Java. Dang it!! What am I supposed to do with all those "Optional" parameters in that ASP.NET function?????!!! Hmmmm... Wonder why M$ did something like that...

Ooh.... 3 days left to my leave/holiday and counting... Am slightly happy today....

9-11... 2yrs on...

Hmmm... Needless to say that today is a day when a lot of people perished at one point in time. Enough has been said about 9-11. The question is, what are we going to do about it to instil peace in this troubled world? One person decided to stamp out all "evil" by targetting certain countries but that only adds fuel to the fire. Others decided to hunt down all these troublemakers in order to prevent this from happening again...

The fundamental question remains... "Why are humans being so inhuman to their fellow humans?" If we stop to think about the consequences of our actions first, would this make the world a better place to live for us, our children and our children's children? If we take another person's life to justify a cause or even to avenge another person's life lost, does this repeat the vicious cycle?

In my humble opinion, today's date is no special than any other date. On an ordinary day, a lot of people are suffering and dying because of our inconsiderate actions at times. So, what is so special about this date?? It is a reminder that even though we call ourselves human, we are inately not that "human" after all because we can do such horrendous acts against our fellow human.

.... Pause..... Reflect............

Crucified....

It is another horrible day. I'm sitting here at my place... waiting to be crucified by an inquisition crew. All because of a small bug.

*sigh*... I'm starting to type out my resignation letter...

Harrowing experience

Wow... The day is finally coming to an end... *sigh*... What a relief. Tho' its officially the weekend, I don't feel like its a weekend at all.

The reason is this... The mysterious bug that surfaced on Monday, has resurfaced... again. *sigh*.... The bug has to come from somewhere...

Anyway, just had a horrible, horrible experience of sitting through a code review with a boss. He has done programming ages and ages and ages ago. He insisted that a code review to be done. Anyhow, he doesn't seem to get it that the new fandangled programming languages like C# and Java are TOTALLY and ABSOLUTELY different from what used to go on ages ago in C, C++ days. I know about those days, I was there....

Somehow, he went through my code and didn't seem to get it that some function calls are done that way because it is just that way... A programming construct/law laid down by those hardworking, pizza-eating, beer-guzzling programmers in Redmond, Beijing, Mumbai... etc..... The example shown in the documentation is not neccessarily the best.... It is just telling you HOW TO CALL THE BLOODY F**KING function... Not the best way to use it! I had to argue my way through why I had to check for an instance if it were null or nothing (VB... Hehehe) before assigning it. Even though you have a Try-Catch-Finally statement block, it always pay to be a little bit more hardworking.... He asked, "Why do you want to check if the DataReader is closed or not when you can just call it anyway?"... I really wanted to say "So that my program won't crash.... DUMBA**!!!".... *sigh*.. But you can't say that to the face of the person who signs your cheques.... ;)

So, the lecture went on. I really felt like a 1st yr student ALL OVER AGAIN!! Bloody Hell!! I've been programming and hacking stuff even before that!!!! F**K!!!! The stupid thing lasted 3 bloody f**king hours... It was 9++pm before I could go down for a bite. Sh*t!! The last thing to hit my stomach was water at 6pm.....

I thought the experience would end there. That I could happily go on my way. I had already uploaded a new patch, which had better logic after a co-worker spotted a leak... And then, I had a call, "I think that block of checking for the DataReader is causing the problem. How sure are you that the code works?" ... This time.. I really had it... "This code has been proven. I've written this piece of code all over the place. This is recommended practice by the experts. The example in the documentation is terrible. If this code didn't work, all the rest of the other applications that has this piece of code would have crashed a long long time ago..."................ "OK........" RELIEF!!!!!

Man!!!!! I have a real horrible feeling that he is going to say on Monday, "Can I see the code again? I want to see the fix..."... Bloody hell... I think he doesn't trust me. Anyway, he's a bloody Masters holder and I'm not. I just got a small piece of paper that said that I graduated in 1997 from Australia with a degree in Comp. Sc. Yea... I'm no Albert Einstein, but he's no Bill Gates either. I have a real nasty feeling that he's going to suggest programming in C.

Oooh booy... If that were to happen... I'll just sit back and watch. See how long will it take for them to build a piece of code to just open a database connection and select 1000 records from the database.

Why can't people let me do my job???? Or the better question is, why the hell am I treated like a bloody f**king 1st yr student when I've been working for over 3yrs in the industry?????!!!!!! This is NOT going to uplift my morale.... Yea... I did the best I could. I'm proud of my work. I laid the bloody f**king foundation of this company and this is the sh*t thanks I get????!!!! I'm only human and am bound to make mistakes.

Time to move on... Perhaps I should just stick to simple stuff like being a System Integrator....

U know when u r beaten when...

*sigh*... It is confirmed. My boss is a dumba**... His e-mail today was pretty interesting. Asked me to cool it and not start any e-mail wars. **PPPHHHHHHPPPPTTTT**...

Anyhow, life goes on. The bug that caused the problem was human error. I will "selectively" choose to reply his e-mails. Anyway, he does not command any respect from me. I will just respect the title, but the man... That leaves A LOT to be desired.

My question of the day is, how often do we IT Professionals here in M'sia encounter such superiors or bosses, where they are

1. Totally technically unsound but because they can suck up to management, they get to be head of a technical department.
   
2. Able to promise a lot of things but do not deliver.
   
3. Put in software development processes but fail to implement them properly, hence worsening the situation.
   
4. UNABLE TO LEAD.......Thus rendering the entire department to run like headless chicken when the CEO starts asking technical questions ==> This... in my humble opinion is the biggest problem......
   
   

Anyhoooo.... we as professionals, have to suck it in and just do our jobs. This is contrary to what I believe in as I'm a proactive person. However, when your boss "claims" to be proactive but isn't, you tend to get very discouraged. The solution?? Move on in your life. Remember that the person behind that title is still human and thus, is imperfect in every way. The solution to my problem? Ignore the bloody boss, listen to the BIG GUY... (Hehehe... Yes... GOD FIRST!!!! CEO next... *snicker*) and do your best!!

I read this today in an e-mail and I really love it....

The one who kneels to the Lord can stand up to anything.
Amen.....

Weird Bugs??

Hmmm... After a full day's work trying to find an elusive bug, I have encountered one very disturbing thing... The application database I was working on was being tampered...!!! **SHOCK**.... * o * I did not know how or why but I suspect that someone was updating some records in the database and may have accidently removed a table and data records.... *sigh*... The result, the application acted strange and despite so many efforts to repro (reproduce) the error on the staging machine, the strange bug could not be found anywhere!

Finally, at 6:11pm today, I discovered that the database was tampered.................................. The consequences that followed are:

   
1. Application did not run properly and thus, compromised the demonstration done by product team.
      
2. Boss panicked because of No. 1 and so called up and starting screaming.
      
3. I started screaming back because I know of item No. 1
      
4. Anxiously ran unit tests and debug traces on code. Found none.... ======> MORE PANIC!!!
      
5. Told another colleague to run unit tests and debug draces. Could not repro the error ======> NEARLY DIED LAUGHING!
   

As a result of No.1 I am suffering from a minor stomach ulcer. On top of that, had a lovely chat with my CEO because of item No. 1... LOOOOOVVVVEEEEELLLLYYYYYYYY..... I also received a "nice" e-mail from the CEO regarding the problem.......... LOOOOOOOOVVVVVEEEEEELLLLLYYYYYYYYY.... Gave a lovely opinion to the CEO regarding what my boss is doing, i.e. NO SYSTEM... "Just Do It!!!"........

I think because of that, my boss is in a bad mood because he too got some lovely mails...

This is the reality of working in IT boys and girls........ You are a lovely ant working your a** off for these people and what do you get in the end???? Nothing but more work and comments about your quality of work. I do not see leadership in this place... I only see urgency and disorganization. From chaos, there should stem creativity and innovation. In fact, I see more back-biting, politicking and chaos!! Reminds me the story about Apple's early days when teams were pitted against each other to develop a better Mac... Is this place headed that way???? We'll just have to find out....

2 days after Malaysia's 46th birthday

Malaysia is now 46 years old. Technically, Malaysia has a "2nd" birthday, on Sept 16th since that is the real day when Malaysia is formed. If no one can remember, please refer to your Form Five History textbook... ;)

Anyway, Malaysia has come a long way in 46 years. There were some ups and downs, some "hidden" facts about certain "black spots" in our short history. Parents did tell me a bit about the May 13th incident but they were safely away in some friend's house. Nevertheless, I think we Malaysians are a lucky lot. How many countries enjoy such diversity in culture as Malaysia does? We can enjoy a good "teh-tarik" and "chow koay teow" at the same time. We have people who know how to speak a Chinese dialect without being Chinese.. and Bahasa Malaysia at the same time in one breath... In some parts of the world, there is a lot of segregation and division, but here, we have learnt to embrace each other's differences and learn to live in peace and harmony.

There has been a lot of talk about patriotism lately. One need not be patriotic on Aug 31st only, we should be patriotic ALL THE TIME! We should put aside our differences and strive to progress Malaysia forward in the 21st century. Focus on the issues that really need attention, not trivial ones such as whether to ban/censor a movie but important ones such as education and improving the lives of the poor in our country.

We're a big family and in any family, there are bound to be problems but when we put our minds together, we can conquer anything! Hence... the "Malaysia Boleh" slogan. This slogan too has been the butt of many humourous jokes but I think this is really the Malaysian "war" cry.. Like Braveheart's "FREEDOM"...

Lets be thankful and hope that Malaysia will see more birthdays of achievements to come!!

MERDEKA!!

Close encounters of the "Martian" kind

Oooh.. Looks like Mars is giving off some weird vibes because ppl have been acting strange lately. My parents became a bit more insistent about the problems with Astro (after I forgot to make a payment and subsequently the cable was disconnected) yesterday. I guess my Mom could not nap in the afternoon because she couldn't watch any shows on Astro.. Anyway, some ppl in KL sure were disappointed that they couldn't see Mars at all because of the rain. Even if there were no rain last night, the light pollution from the KL skyline would have not allowed us to see much... Hmmm...

Oh well, aside from that, I'm glad that it did rain because it was so hot last week... Nice to sleep on a rainy night. Hoping that it will not rain tomorrow night because there is an office gathering to watch both "Charlie's Angel" and "Charlie's Angel: Full Throttle" at the Nokia Starlight cinema. Hehehe... This will be a good opportunity to meet up with some new colleagues at the Cyberjaya office too. I've been away at Mont' Kiara for around 3 mths and have not met the new "angels" there... :>...

Hmmm... colleague just installed XP Plus! on his notebook. The theme he chose is making this squeaky noise which can be quite irritating. *sigh*..

Ok... It is Thurs... PASAR MALAM (Night Market) at Mont' Kiara!! WOO HOO!!! Hehehee.. Tomorrow is Friday and I'm happy since that'll be the start of the long Merdeka celebration weekend. Yeah!!!!

Work... work... Better do some work....

Four Days Rest... is it enough?

Ah... 1st time touching the PC after four days of blissful peace... more or less.

Got sick on Saturday. Sneezed all day until my throat was awfully sore. Missed a Sunday School-mate's church wedding and dinner due to the terrible cold. Yes.. I did take my Clarinase like I should but it didn't quite work. Guess, I was feeling really under the weather. *sigh*.. Other family members went to attend both the church wedding and dinner while I suffered at home. Hehehe.. before I forget, I should probably wish my friend Jeremy Ong a big congratulations.. Hehehe...

Anyway, despite taking Oofy(my dog) for a walk, my cold just couldn't go away. By Saturday evening, I was officially "paralyzed" by my cold... Not even a good dose of nasi lemak could have saved me... Lots of spices.. yum..... So, just had to clog up the nose and soldier on... :> The good part was that when I was in "drugged" sleep, I felt really rested... So, it is quite good that I got sick after all!!

On Sunday, things got better but I think I overdid it when I had too much durian... Some people can not tolerate the smell of durian... Hehee.. it is the best smell in the world and I was glad that my cold went away! Hehehe... Oh well, looks like I paid the price for it today as I am starting to feel under the weather again. Strange weather we are having over here in KL..

On a lighter note, boss asked if I am ok after my break. Of course I told him "No"... Hehehe... Anyway, I still do not understand my boss. He keeps talking about "process" in logging errors and complaints and blah-blah and there he was on the phone, asking me to investigate the problem.. *sigh*... Oh well, he is a complete a** sometimes... Much like an irritating scab that won't heal properly...

Hmmmm... lunch.... ???

Last day of the week


And so I thought it would be...

Had a meeting with the boss regarding something about procedures. *blah* *blah*... Talking to him is like talking to a brick wall sometimes. A couple of weeks back I told some higher-ups that there is a problem with some of the developers and project requirements which are causing project delays and miscommunication. So, they went to implement some process. Today, I got a glimpse of the process.... it sure sucks... ALOT..

Anyway, don't plan to do much for the rest of the day... Hehehehe... Maybe I'll play around with the display of my blog... Hmmm.. At least I got the SquawkBox comment thingy up... ;)... **Thanks SquawkBox!!**...

Ok... here is something interesting I picked up from a day's life in kl... Kekeke.. cool stuff!!!

So... what type are you??? similarminds.com

Conscious self	Overall self

Take Free Enneagram Test

Its only what??? 11:14am???

*sigh*.... Ever get the feeling that you've chosen the wrong career?

Anyway, the definition of an IT professional in KL is as follows,

   
1. Able to write some code AND test it...
      
2. Write some documentation USUALLY AT THE LAST MINUTE
      
3. Demo it to some people... i.e. sales talk but it is really B-S most of the time...
      
4. Get yelled at by the Project Manager/CTO/CEO for doing your job... or because one of the above items have failed...
      
5. Do some support work because one of the above items have failed...
   

At least... that is how I feel like these days...

Boss doesn't care about anything. "I just want it to work... BY ALL MEANS NECCESSARY"... **PhhbbbbppppTtTT!!!!***... Yea right... That doesn't mean if you have to spend a good half of your sleeping time staying up and trying to make some stupid changes because someone didn't like how the system is running...

When you are dead tired, the boss says "I want you to take leave.... but are you contactable during that time??".....In short, they want you to rest, but not for too long... perhaps only rest for around 5 minutes before returning to the spaghetti code you wrote because someone didn't want to implement proper design procedures.

*sigh*.. *sigh*... **rant** **rant**... I'm really grouchy... should write some happier stuff....

Ah... Tuesday... **rant** **rant**

Ever wonder if M'sian drivers are equipped with mind-reading/controlling powers while on the road? Well, I think it is a very well-known fact that cars sold in M'sia should not be equipped with the indicator lights and switches because drivers simply don't use them!!! If there were a bylaw that will allow cars to remove such items from their cars, I am sure there will be many who will tell their dealer, "No need to include-la... Save me RMXXX....". Some of the more flamboyant car owners would probably say this "Eh... Can include some of those flashy thingys that can change colour from blue to green whenever I turn my car or not?..." Nevertheless, I marvel at these drivers skills everyday while on the way to and from work. I believe that they have Jedi-mind controlling powers....... "I AM TURNING LEFT... WATCH MY CAR TURN... I WILL TELL YOU TELEPATHICALLY.... YOU MUST GIVE IN TO ME!!!!!!!!"

**WAJA abruptly cuts in... no signal... (what for... waste my 0.000000000002kj of energy)...**
Yours truly: Oi!!!! Signal-lah.....
WAJA owner: **snickers** (I DRIVE BIG CAR... SO PHREAKING WHAT????!!!)

*sigh*... Oh well... aside from all these, most M'sians (my fren keeps telling me that it is KL drivers) are pretty cool except for a few bad hats... Hmmm... I believe underlying all these are feelings of insecurities and kiasu-ness. Kia-su (adj)- A feeling that one must not lose out in everything one does in life

Why am I ranting so much??? Coz I'm fed up!!!

I recall the story of my Mom telling me how she got bullied while driving. She told me "Don't get worked up over this. Just drive carefully and defensively...". A car overtakes us recklessly... Mom honks of course and immediately speeds up... (???!!!!)... I said "Err... Why are YOU getting so worked up over this?", "Because that idiot just overtook us dangerously!!!" Mom replies... **WHAT????!!! Hmmmm..... We are reactive beings after all, something built into our primedial brains to fight or flee... hmmm...**...

Hmmm... work... or dare I continue???

Arrrggghhh.... and its only 2:57pm...

*sigh* *sigh*... What is happening... This travel arrangement thingy is making my headache.... **ouch**... *_^...

Person A: Eh... you've got to make a decision ASAP now... Are we following the group or not?
Yours truly: Uh huh... ok... ok... I'm still thinking...
Person A: I have a few options.... a) Go back earlier b) Cancel with travel agency XXX and book with another c) Go follow the group... d) Stay on for extra days at $$$.... :-o......
Yours truly: **silence**
Person A: Halo... Are you listening??
Yours truly: (pounding head on the wall)... Yes.. Let me get back to those travel ageny people (**&^^%$$$$#@$). They are not returning my calls.

*sigh*..... And so, the day continues... I'm in the dark on what to do next. Should have been easier if everyone said "Lets join a tour" instead of "Lets go buy a ticket, scour the Net for a place to stay and then plan our own itenary... (and get a phreaking headache out of it)"......

What else is new. We've got to accomodate for various individuals in a group. Which makes me wonder, are we a group because we are a collective number of people but with various agendas of our own...

*sigh*... Rant rant....

Boss screaming away in another room... Its Monday alrite!!! ;)

18th day of the 8th month of the year 2003....

My 1st Blog!! Wooo hooo!!!!

Just decided to put something out on the web... as an outlet for my thoughts and rantings.. It is supposed to be good for the soul... Hehehe... this is what happens when you can't afford a SHR*nK...!!! Kekeke... Anyhoo.. even if I had the $$$, I wouldn't spend it on that... =P...

Oh well... just ONE HUGE announcement to make!!!! Congrats to Antoni D. Martinez and family on the announcement of their new arrival of Baby Martinez next FEBRUARY!! Woo hoo!! Hehehe... Lets pray that the little babe will be born healthy, happy into a family of love.... **sniff**... Ahhhh... Happy for the both of you... ;) Maybe we'll get Baby Martinez a starter R/C?? >:)...

Ok... that's it for now... Its a Monday... past 1pm... Lunchie....??