There are No Shortcuts

Hebrew Help

2012-01-13T02:12:00.003+08:00

After trying to read up more on my faith, I found a passage in the Gospel of John, at the Wedding at Cana, where Jesus addresses his mother, Mary, "Woman"...

It sounded a little rude to me... But I am sure there is some "Lost in Translation" when the bible was converted from Hebrew... Thus, my current quest is to look for some hebrew word for woman. There are other explanations online that states it links back to Genesis, but I am not convinced...

Moving Forward

2012-01-01T01:14:00.001+08:00

Ah, another year has gone by, looking back I did accomplish most of my resolutions; I did learn new things, picked up golf , learnt how to play the piano, tried out wake boarding, think that's about it, oh wait and finally tried out going to the gym my company pays for it's employees as well.

2011 went by fast, I will always remember it as it's my current employer's 100th year in business! yes 100! I was really thrilled to take on the new project as part of the centennial year to provide Rich Media services and proud to call it a success.

I am also blessed to meet new people and get to mingle more with good friends and see how they have progressed along. It seems like 2011 was full of friends with babies, it just reminds me that the world is ever-growing and it's full of opportunities waiting to be seized (like how Malcom Galdwell puts it)...

It's 2012! I look towards learning even more and the focus this year is to gain more knowledge through reading. I have come to enjoy reading books (ok, e-books) and discovering new things to put in my brain, which could come up as conversation pieces... of course, there are those reads where you'll just never complete. To a good life in 2012!

Christ Be Our Light

2011-10-17T23:16:00.000+08:00

One Sunday after mass, I wanted to get a hold of the Breaking Bread song book from the bookstore outside Holy Family but it was too crowded and told myself ... ahh another day...

I wish I had it now as I want to learn the piano bits for Bernadette Farrell's song... and figuring it out by ear is slow and frustrating...

Nice Guys Finish Last?

2011-04-23T00:46:00.001+08:00

He's a nice guy. It's been said many times and that's the main impression I give people. So what's so good about nice? Sometimes the critical side of me would ask that. It seems a bigger battle these days, but sometimes you know how you would rehearse something in your head, but when that circumstance comes along, you somehow go back to your roots and react differently.

My conclusion, you can't really change your inner self. You can however reflect about yourself and think about how you would like yourself to be, act and manage relationships. Reflecting on the true root cause of each and every feeling. This I feel can bring about self-realization and in fact change the way you would act as the situation is viewed in new light.

It's like friendship, how I wish there was a manual, together with a troubleshooting guide and FAQ. How do you tell if this person would stand by you? Would he/she run away when troubled times come along? Would helping this person out only be returned with thoughts about what's his angle? If an old mutual friend of an ex does not talk to you anymore, does that mean she hates you? Does that mean I did something wrong?

Just don't over think things, that is what I would tell myself. So far, my resolution is on track, I am learning new things and happy with the new skills and experiences gained.

Nothing's gonna change my world...

new year new rules?

2011-02-02T03:51:00.001+08:00

I've rarely come up with a list of resolutions for the new year, but after a year of self-reflection, a new job and new friends, it just seems fit for some goals or directions to set.

One major thing I want to do is to learn more new things, like photography, astronomy and wake boarding in 2010. Vocal training and golf is up first. Life is too short not to experience things.

Another thing to continue from 2010 is to exercise more, not only has it helped with my health, it has also gave me more confidence.

Next in line is to learn to communicate and express myself effectively. I found this really rewarding when I reason things out with family and friends. Sometimes keeping quiet just does not work. Speaking to my mum in a reasonable, clear and logical manner really feels good and I feel happy to grow in this direction.

Learn not to hold on to things in the past. Sometimes it is just a kill joy to mourn about things that did not turn out a certain way and I like the line about how we are upset/depressed not really on the events that happened but on the lost of the future that we expected.

To a great 2011!

Don't waste your time or time will waste you...

2010-12-01T00:19:00.000+08:00

After a nice dinner chit chat with Kim's dad while he was still in Singapore, he spoke as though his life is coming to an end, not really suicidal but more of a sense of acceptance.

I guess we had to remind him that there's more to look forward to (His daughther getting married, possible grand children to dote on)and not to think about his wife that passed on too much... Easier said that done.

He said don't play depressing music at my wake! "You all better play some Deep Purple, creedence clearwater revival or beatles"

No problem uncle, we will play live music if possible!

I got thinking about my own rest stop and my mind starting playing that Gilmore Girls episode where Michel's dog, Chin Chin's wake and how they played "My heart will go on"

Well friends/family , here's my unfinalized list -

In my life - Beatles
Time of your life (Good Riddance) - Green day
Life is wonderful - Jason Mraz

Oh no, not me

2010-11-01T00:50:00.000+08:00

Sometimes I just hear the guitar-riff of this song, maybe it's one of the first songs my Yamaha teacher taught us, maybe it's just an awesome song.

Nirvana definitely did the best cover of Bowie's song and I remember watching this BBC documentary on bands and how Kurt Cobain was one of those special front-men that didn't put up a persona on stage, he was the same in-person as on stage. You can tell that when he sings on stage... all the emotion. Singing with emotion really makes a difference!

Definitely, watching this MTV unplugged video reminded me of running to watch music videos on the SCV (the old cable television company name before starhub bought it over.) when I heard a song I recognized. :D

Check out Dave Gohl on drums too!

I Get Around (to figuring out songs)

2010-09-12T04:51:00.000+08:00

While sharing my interest to do Beach Boys songs to Trevor and AJ and showing how to sing and play it acoustically, I was thinking, how we were going to figure out the different singing parts. Well, I thought to myself that , I guess it be like how we learnt Jason Mraz or Ash backups... practice listen practice listen practice listen and have fun at the same time of course...

Thanks to YouTube and Jim Henson, I managed to find the version below which you can obviously point out the different parts being sung be the different boys... well in the video... different muppets... haha

So I'm Kermit the Frog...

And I'm brain dead virtually

2010-08-30T01:46:00.003+08:00

Over the weekend, I was in a blur mood, still love their music after all these years. I remember waiting to watch their new videos on MTV.

Coffee and TV reminded me of an earlier blog post and the video still brings a smile to my face. The clean tones of their strat or telecaster strumming is what makes this song so unique, together with the cute milk carton :P I always remember the milk carton!

Valiant and True

2010-08-21T02:18:00.000+08:00

The YOG carnival at St. Pat's was the perfect way to visit my Alma Mater. The corridors, walkways and open spaces brought back fond memories... good and bad...

Was happy to go with Justin and we decided to make the trip our first photography outing! I also bumped into Mathew and Nop and said Hi. Mathew wore our batch's PE tee... it didn't look good... haha

Some photos!

The Torture wheel - where bad students are sent to

If the field was like this back in the 90s, I don't think I would go to JC

YOG Mascotts

Grounds where we used to practice drills in the Military Band

Ahh. the place where I got to play with computers

Where unruly boys consumed their fuel

justin TAN

Moi

My class is right there!

50 mm lense does make good portaits

Where the interrogation begins

More photos at:

St. Patrick's School YOG Carnival

So Give me Coffee and TV

2010-08-03T02:20:00.000+08:00

I just have to note this down after attending mass on Sunday.

The priest spoke on this week's gospel

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 12:13-21.
Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me."
He replied to him, "Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?"
Then he said to the crowd, "Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one's life does not consist of possessions."
Then he told them a parable. "There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest.
He asked himself, 'What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?'
And he said, 'This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods
and I shall say to myself, "Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!"
But God said to him, 'You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?'
Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God."

so the gospel's main focus was to not to focus on possessions and to "guard" against greed. So the priest mentioned on how we should not focus on worldly possessions but on relationships with god and our family. He even brought in stories on how parents would work endlessly and have no time to spend with their spouse and children and would tell him that they are working for their family. He reiterated on the importance to spend time with the family and buying the latest gadgets like the iphone is not a substitute.

He also told this story which really touched me and it added to my daily self reflection.

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups have been taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.

Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups... And then you began eyeing each other's cups.

Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of life we live.

Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee. Savor the coffee, not the cups! The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything. Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly.

So using that analogy , we often forget to find the best coffee and just focus on the cup.

Bottom-line that spoke to me?
Our worldly possessions would be gone one day and we may not even get to enjoy or use it (e.g. CPF money)
But our lives are what we should focus on, we as social beings should focus on our relationships with our friends and family, this is what makes the coffee good...

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

2010-07-28T01:32:00.003+08:00

One fine day, I asked my mum whether she had been to the Esplanade, her reply, "Of course lah!" ... Right... Rephase, "Inside the Esplanade for a performance !?!" and the answer as I roughly guessed was "No"

I told her I would bring her for a performance and tada, while browsing at fliers at a SISTIC counter, I saw it!! "BEATLEMANIA ON TOUR"

After a quick check on her availability and I secured our tickets! Excitement!

The 2 hour performance was great! Finally a tribute band with a left-handed bassist! Although, their vocal harmony would never match up with John, Paul and George and Ringo.

Oh how I wish I could watch the real Beatles live in wembley...

Photos!

More Photos : http://picasaweb.google.com/jonathandeclan/BeatlesExperience9July2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCNSQicD37o3HLA&feat=directlink

Videos!!! Recorded in Full HD, click on link to view!

Come Together - Hello Goodbye

2010-07-04T01:44:00.001+08:00

Claud's birthday invite for a come together at Acid Bar was something I looking forward to for that week, it marked the end of first week of working at my new office and a way to relax and unwind!

The theme was jungle... something that after asking for advise from my mum and sis meant "Army", "Camouflage" , "Green" , "Brown" for guys... Ok I wasn't going to wear leopard preens anyways... I had actually thought of looking for one of those hunter hats, something that that crazy hunter in Jumanji was wearing

I couldn't find it and decided to wear a Jason Mrazzy hat instead, points for effort Miss Fernandez? AJ and I were hoping for the penalty to be something along the lines of drinking more alcohol, but alas, it wasn't and we were all thinking how bad could it be right? Right when everyone was enjoying themselves, the live band announced for Trevor and Jon to go on stage to sing... what the hell...hello goodbye...

After reluctantly winding our way to the stage (Thanks Cuiling for pushing), we tried to persuade the guitarist to get the birthday girl to come on stage instead, but he said the birthday girl gets whatever she wants... (should have asked her to ask for his guitar)

"Where's the lyrics?" "Are you playing in B?" ... he just started...

I enjoyed myself, wish I could have performed Everlong or maybe The Only Exception, since I've been practicing those songs?

A few of my fav shots from the night!!

AJ's light-sabred head shot (Check out the camo)

Upclose F1 motion blur effect

gLee

sLeep

When you're high... you do weird things

More photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jonathandeclan/ClaudSBirthday2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCLuint6T25XfjQE&feat=directlink

I'm so tired

2010-06-09T02:00:00.000+08:00

Never put this beatles song as the wakeup tone on your iPhone... It only offers weird Beatles dreams while pressing on snooze for the longest time(Note: Damien Rice's Blower's Daughter doesn't either)

Again I caught myself waking up with the shirt I wore to work and with the bright florescent lights of my room shining on me. Yes, I slept with the lights on again and just like my alarms to bring me back from "slumberland" it failed to annoy me to sit up and realized sleep time is up.

I really can't wait for the office move to be over... Coming home after work just to lie down telling yourself, "Ok, 5mins of shut eye" and waking up at 1 am isn't good...

I have so many blog entries in draft, but haven't had time to complete them too...

Have a nice day

2010-05-10T01:13:00.001+08:00

That song always cheers me up... Have a nice day... da dadada da da dada daa
The recent stereophonics gig at fort canning was a "nice" day. I got the tickets the very day before and it was because SAFRA had a member deal! Sweet...

I first heard the Stereophonics during the Discman days, the CD in question? MTV Alternative Nation 2, Song in question? Local Boy In The Photograph... ah the alternative rock brit invasion. I probably got that compliation due to favourite bands then (Oasis , Blur , Radiohead, Suede). But when listening to all the songs on the CD, I grew and found new bands , new songs, new sounds. I miss those days. I discovered legendary (in my opinion) bands and songs that shaped my music listening for life. Besides Stereophonics there were Ash, Live , Smash Mouth, Beck, Texas, Space Monkeys... I loved all of them and listening to them on my discman or PC.... ok I'm side tracking (Took some shots of the album just for memory sake!)

Back to the "Nice" day, I found out fort canning had free parking ! Woo hoo! But there was no parking space near the gate... We found a nice spot on the right flank , but there was a problem catching shots with those over-active people upfront... Oh the best nice thing... they played "local boy in the photograph" as the last song (before encore of course).... but some Asshole threw his slipper at Kelly Jones... ouch... I would be damn pissed if I was performing and someone threw their slipper at me... (See the video below)... But photos first!

Opening Song

Drum Rolll Ending!

Good Nite!

The Aftermath

Set List!!

Videos ! (remember to click link to youtube for HD!!)

I'll be there for you

2010-05-02T02:52:00.001+08:00

When one of my oldest and best friend called me for help with drilling a hole in his living room wall to mount his clock, I told myself and reflected on how learning to do handy work around the house such as changing light bulbs, sink faucets, flush systems on hindsight was a life experience. Having lost his father last year, I totally understand his cry for some male advice and opinion. I was happy to help and to lend a helping hand.

I don't know why but I always feel happy to help friends out, especially old close friends. Friends who you feel comfortable telling anything to.

Equipment required: masonry drill bit 6mm , power drill with hammer function, vacuum, wall plugs, 5.5mm stainless steel screws

With a quick drill and vacuum everything was in order. The sense of DIY is something I believe most guys would feel proud of.

Achy Breaky Heart

2010-04-26T02:56:00.001+08:00

If you heard songs like "tearing up my heart" , "heartbreak hotel","Only Ones who know", "Last Night on earth" or "Break even" you would realize composers talk about the heart not as a biological entity that powers our body, but more of the central place where our human feelings are, generally the feeling of love. If you have been "heart-broken" you would know what I mean when I say that yes, it literally feels that way, if you have not experience this, it's not something you want to go through Ever.

And after all of man's advancement in technology and science, we are still trying to figure out what love is and what constitutes love. Is it a human construct such as time? Something to help us get by our existence? Isn't it strange that a mainframe can be the best chess player but it can't tell us logically if a person is our soul mate or why we love someone? Only the "heart" can.

How it would be great to be able to control this stupid "heart" which causes us to behave irrationally, to do things that may seem illogical. But that is what makes us human, that is what separates us, the stupid "heart". I wish we could turn it off, especially when it's broken, when it is shattered, when all it is causing pain. Off for just a moment to be able to cope with life, to live like a child.

Although, one thing diet companies should promote is about how the stupid "heart" being broken would help anyone lose weight fast. If someone found a scientific way to turn on "the brokeness", that person might just become a milionaire overnight

Dear Pfizer,

Please invest some research funding into fixing "heart" problems as the market is vast and there is no competition currently. I am sure millions are at stake. I would like a sample once ready.

Thank you,
Jonathan Declan Tan

Jon Loves Jazz

2010-04-25T02:09:00.003+08:00

It's jazz songs that have always made me want to learn how to play the piano (besides Muse songs of course). Jamie Cullum's style of jazz perfectly resemble what I would do if I had mad piano skills, a blend of jazz, with rock and pop.

His performance at the esplanade brought back old memories (from songs such as twenty something and all at sea) as well as new aspirations and inspiration about jazz music in general.

His candid words about how he should not be playing twenty something anymore (as he's 31 this year) and how he was listening to the jungle book when composing "you and me are gone" was probably the cause of the weird messy beat made us the audience feel as though we were watching a friend jam in front of us. It was great!

I did enjoy all his covers from Radiohead's High and Dry (sung my heart out), Hoagy Carmichael's "I get along without you very well", Rihanna's "Please don't stop the music", "Singing in the rain" from that musical film and Arthur Hamilton's "Cry me a river" (the original version for Ella Fitzgerald) remixed with the bass line from Justin Timberlake's version, kudos to the double-bass player.

Set list:

Please Don't Stop the Music
Just One Of Those Things
If I Ruled The World
Twentysomething
I'm All Over It
Photograph
Get Your Way
I Get along without you very well / You And Me Are Gone
Frontin' Play Video
High & Dry/ Singin' In The Rain/ Umbrella
These Are the Days
Wheels
I Get a Kick Out of You
Cry Me A River

Encore:

Mind Trick
Mixtape
Wind Cries Mary
All at Sea

Note to self: Video recordings take more space than videos, HD video recordings take even MORE - lesson buy more SD cards with a minimum of 16GB... cha ching!

More photos here

Videos! (HD available by clicking on video - routes back to youtube)

Stones and Stumps

2010-04-12T00:47:00.000+08:00

The Timbre Rock and Roots event was a musical event held at the Marina Promenade (that F1 area just after Marina Square/Esplanade) on 26 and 27 March. It was pleasantly surprising and exceeded my expectations in terms of the musical acts. Was mainly looking towards bands like the Fray and Gipsy Kings, but Buddy Guy and Buena Vista Social Club was truly awezome! I must learn what they are singing about. Spanish? Although more appropriate seating could have been provided... urgh my tailbone/back...

I took the opportunity to test out my Canon 550D to capture memories.

Vinod squeezing in the Crowd

Liv and Vinod

James and Claud

Queue for drinks

Check out Buddy Guy's guitar!

I was like this close!!!

The original social club before Facebook

There were so many of them!

The Kings took the stage at last!

the Gipsy Kings

Good Night all!

The Fray on day 2!

Strat Head, Tele Body?

Videos!

Peacetime Resistance

2010-03-24T00:48:00.002+08:00

On the drive back from Data Centre West at Ayer Rajah after work, the tones of Kings of Convenience on the car audio system really made the heavy traffic seem like the periodic motions of oceanic waves. Once on the smooth flowing ECP, the song with titled in this blog post was playing and the sun was setting on the right. The feeling of cruising down the highway was relaxing, relieving and brought the sense of escape from troubles, I wish the road had no end and I had my Canon to capture the moment (Drivers note: I do not take photos while driving and you shouldn't too!).

During that long drive, I also thought of a few songs I wanted to listen to:
Switchfoot - dare you to move (Thought of this when some blind drivers want to cut into my lane without signaling)
Jamiroquai - where do we go from here (decisions on whether to take the route of KPE->PIE or ECP?); the bassline of this song is like groovy man...
Goo Goo Dolls - Big Machine (encountered multiple huge dump trucks especially near the new marina bay IR area)

I get high with a little help

2010-03-15T00:33:00.002+08:00

I don't know why, but of late, I like to think about things and reflect on things just before I sleep, I guess it's the peace and quiet when I am lying in bed.

Today, while singing "with a little help from my friends" by the Beatles in the shower, I realized how fortunate I am to have the many friends I have. Friends who bring variety and colour to my life. My family is important yes, but friends bring another level of being part of a society. This is probably why facebook and other social networking sites are so popular now (together with the interNET)... Good, bad, close, hi-bye, mysterious, etc. friends help us to see and experience the world and will always be part of our lives and memories. Cheers to my friends!

Stop the "music"

2010-03-03T23:54:00.001+08:00

Just saw a baby/kid wearing one of those full-body apparels which had an iPod classic control as a design

Guess his mum wanted to stop the "music" haha

The walkman

2010-03-01T00:59:00.001+08:00

While waiting to see a doctor about my eye, a nurse was constantly calling out a name. There was no response. Then she said "must be listening to Walkman" I laughed to myself.
This got me thinking about the Walkman! I remember that casette playing device and how as a primary school boy I longed for a Sony Walkman with mega bass and a built-in FM radio! When I finally got one, it was the one without the radio function... But I was still elated to use it! The thought of listening to music on-the-go with the magical option of fast-forward was mind-blowing! It added a swagger to my walk, the Walkman...

Book face

2010-02-22T11:29:00.003+08:00

Dear friends, if you have probably noticed I haven't been on facebook much (it's not that I have blocked you). It just upsets me, but I will return one day, one unknown day. (don't worry I still log in once in a while) I would probably post more rants and findings here on my blog ;)

Mamaaaa

2010-02-08T22:22:00.003+08:00

Here's a clip I found online... for those Queen and Muppet fans!!

High Fidelity

2009-12-12T22:10:00.002+08:00

Although there are two more rebellion posts in draft, I just had to blog about this first.

It's amazing what one can overhear just by visiting the SAFRA pool for a swim. That brings me to what I discovered during NS. Our commanders would always say "Do anything you want, just don't get caught". Innocent me just thought of it as a warning about not sleeping during our official duties/office hours... apparently, it meant other things like cheating on their girlfriends and wives.

These bunch of pool boys were talking in the standard NS talk, the chinese/english/singlish/hokkien way, one of them in particular was saying how he is successfully cheating without being caught. His tone of voice was not one of remorse and worry, but more of pride and glory. I felt angry. His counterparts instead of talking some sense into him, exalted and encouraged him by saying things like "how do you do it?"

This was not the first time I heard of such things... I remember how senior "National Servers" would usually talk about girls in their spare time, and the particular one I remember so clearly was during BMT, the first time hearing a guy boast about such encounters and even advised us younger brothers on how to do "it" successfully. I was stunned... ( he said he had 3 girlfriends and none of them know anything). Some of the guys still repeated his "advice" during our free time in the bunk... "Eh that's a good idea ah, try not too meet too many of the girl's friends or family, so you won't get caught by other people" , "Try not to call them special names like honey, so if anyone checks your sms/email, they can't tell if the message is for one of the other "girls", the list goes on...

How can someone do that? Live a lie and still smile about it. To tell someone they love them and deceive them. What's the point of putting in the effort to care for someone and then plan your week thinking how to avoid being caught, how to live multiple lives, how to come up with new lies to meet up with the "other/s".

At first I thought, this mentality was for the young and wild. I was wrong. There was once I was the BOS (Battalion Orderly Sergeant) and my DO (Duty Officer) was this 30+ Staff Sergeant. He was telling me about the overseas posting and the prostitutes in Taiwan, Thailand... I did not want to hear it.... and HE WAS MARRIED! What the hell...

I wasn't impressed. Which is why he probably moved on talking about the Geylang... How one could choose the girl they want in the brothels and bargain... etc... I wasn't moved. He and all them would say in the end, that they'll never get caught.

I really can't think of why guys would do that... to risk a relationship with someone, to obviously hurt the one they so called "love". Can't they imagine if their sister was treated like that by some guy? Wouldn't they feel the pain and betrayal?? The problem is that most guys would actually encourage such behavior or just keep quiet about it. That's not me... It's downright wrong and if anyone discussed about such things, I would give him a piece of my mind.

Opinion Rebellion Part 2

2009-11-30T00:20:00.004+08:00

Sunday Times Nov 15
The One with the modern dad
The experience of parenthood, the biological baby-by-date, motherly urges, maternal feelings, are the phrases Sumiko uses in her article which relates to herself and her current predicament in life and they are so real and thought-provoking. She talks about her junior college crush now being a father and how he is telling her how wonderful being a parent. She terms him a modern dad, a new age father that plays a more loving role in the family, which was previously and is still currently expected of mothers only. Fathers can apparently choose to be less "child-friendly" and just bring home the bacon.

She describes how he ex-crush would try to persuade her to become a parent with his sharing of moments of happiness with his daughter and how love for your child is totally different from your partner. Emotional. After reading this, I thought to myself, "YEA" one day I would like to be a modern dad, someone who my kids can come to for support and understanding, someone that plays a part in their lives and to teach them things i know.

The article also reminded me of my mum, especially the stories about how her ex-crush would bring his daughter for swimming lessons, piano lessons, ballet, etc... I really feel grateful for my mum who brought me for all my music and swimming lessons every weekend when I was young. She took the time to bring us out and she sometimes talk about how my sister and I would sleep on the bus together.

The One with Words
I love this read as it reiterates my sentiments on the lack of proper usage of words here on our island. "Whatever", "Anything", exactomundo... she elaborates her real life examples about how people say "anything" but actually have some kind of preference with a place to eat at.

Literally... yes I agree... people use it when they really mean... "Really"
Whereby - I can't remember someone using this word wrongly yet... Any comments ?
Chillaxing.... I just have to type that new made-up word up.... not chill, not relax, not chillax... chillaxing.... (Sample from article "Hey, why are so tense? Chillaxing lah.")

It was hilarious how she noticed okay has turned into ok and now to k. Haha... The SMS world...

The One with Quarters
This article reminds of New York, since it's was talking about the big apple... Thank god we have cash cards here in Singapore for most machines. I remember looking for coins (Quarters , etc. ) to pay for certain items at a supermarket or the pharmacy (Pharmacies are like 7-elevens or NTUCs over there). He recalled his adventures to search for quarters when doing laundry or when taking the bus... I can totally relate...

I can sense his reluctant appreciation of Singapore's efficiency in removing such machines/processes that cause the majority of people to start adventures like the his. Gahmen...haha

When I look at the stars

2009-11-21T23:37:00.002+08:00

Note To self:
Remember when star gazing:
1) Wear boots
2) Wear long pants (so mosquitoes don't draw blood from me)
3) Enjoy the night sky!

Opinion Rebellion (Part 1)

2009-11-19T23:11:00.005+08:00

The one with the reunion
The what ifs in life! What if I did this? What if I didn't do that? What if we did that? What if we didn't do that? The author looks back at his life as he meets people that were part of his past, a piece of his being, a note in his concerto. Obviously it brought back memories and emotions. So many what ifs.

My opinion? Let's do away with the what ifs... He shouldn't think what if his friends didn't go study overseas. God has given us a limited time on this earth already, what is over is over. If everyone spent time looking at the past, thinking what if I talked to that girl, what if I had invested in that, then for that moment in time, we're living in the past and time doesn't wait for you. It goes on without you. Of course, sometimes it is good to review our actions and outcomes to understand situations and sometimes learn valuable lessons in life. But after that, move along move along. Life's too short to harp on things. It's our feeling of fear, the fear that we missed an opportunity or the fear that we might have made the wrong decision. Why not act on try to it instead? What if I tried to cook? Just do it now! What if I had learnt the violin? No more what ifs.

The one with the convent school days
No only was teachers' day an event for teachers, but it was a showcase for all the ego-hungry boys in my secondary school. The teachers' day performance was one of the most grand occasions and thus, the auditions were comparable to those on Idol. Like what was mentioned in the article, the christian brother school I went to was blessed with a culture for the arts and the sense of being free-spirited!

I wish I could see whether this tradition is still being carried on. As a teenager most of us want to try different things, even if we don't excel in it. It was fun. Why can't adults have more of this sense of adventure and exploration? We should embrace this even when we're in our later years!

Back at the auditions, every single band, juggler, yo-yo performer had their chance to be in the limelight. Although we were not selected to perform, everyone had fun, everyone respected the common goal. The showcase of acts, music, guitars and drum rolls on the wooden school stage was an eye-opener for any teen. I can still remember that feeling, the first time performing on a stage where everyone is watching you. Everyone should be given that opportunity to express themselves musically.

This was absent in my JC, I could really feel the lack in musicality, but there were more dance and drama which I came to realized would have never flourished in my all-boys secondary school.

Every school should promote the arts in every form so the current next generation could appreciate it's many forms.

The one with the missing name
This article really reminds me of the awkward situation which I am sure everyone has experienced before at one point in their lives. Someone comes up to you, says your name, asks how have you been, what are you doing, and so on, while you in your mind is trying to match that face, hair, voice, style to a name that has for some reason seems to returns and empty search result when googling our brain.
And I am sure most of us will continue to carry on the conversion with John/Jane Doe just to "extract" more information, something that might give us a clue to where did we meet this person. Job, school, church?
If we're lucky, the person may realize our attempt to map him/her in our lives and voluntarily inject vital information to help our predicament. "We took that module together, remember?" "AH HA" the light bulb shines!
If we're still lost after our futile attempts, we'll normally, end up saying "sorry, you are?" or "sorry , I can't remember your name", praying for forgiveness and empathy.
One thing that we must all realize that if the tables were turned, we shouldn't be offended, after all we're only human...

you probably wouldn't have seen me

2009-11-15T23:06:00.001+08:00

Currently, in love with this arctic monkeys song... try to read into the lyrics

Opinion Rebellion

2009-11-09T23:36:00.004+08:00

The Sunday Times has a special section called "reflect" which journalists are allowed to express their inner feelings and discuss topics which they personally want to vent their opinion or just rant about their lives (just like a blog).

What makes it interesting and a pleasure to read is that most of their written work usually strikes a chord with the majority of Singaporeans, and that makes it "Newspaper" worthy. What brings the reader closer to the authors of such columns are the recent additions of small mugshots of each them, smiling, grinning, frowning.

I have always felt this urge to further discuss and debate each columnist's point of view or add my two cents worth to whatever topic they were focusing on. I thank the education system and General Paper for my opinion rebellion. After all, if we did not have our own thoughts, we would really just be machines with routines.

I hope to start my very own "Sunday" column to place down my thoughts triggered by such articles, so that one day I can look back at myself and hopefully remember how I was at that moment in time. Let the vents and rants begin.

Top ten songs not to play on President's Star Charity

2009-10-29T23:55:00.004+08:00

1. For the love of money (Apprentice Theme Song)- The O'Jays
2. Money for nothing - Dire Straits (one of my fav oldies)
3. Money - Pink Floyd
4.Lifestyles of the Rich and the famous - Good Charlotte
5.The theme song for WWF's Million Dollar man
6.Rich Girl - Gwen Stefani
7.Material Girl - Madonna
8.The Money Song (Give us your god damn money, haha)- Avenue Q musical soundtrack
9.I Get Money - 50 cent
10.Gold Digger - Kayne West

Will try to provide links to the songs :) Any suggestions would be welcome, just thought of these few songs.

And after all we are are blind

2009-10-24T23:44:00.002+08:00

Sometimes we are blind to what we have
Sometimes we are blind to things we need to treasure
Sometimes we are blind to what our actions will bring
Sometimes we are blind to what we need
Sometimes we are blind to our potential
Sometimes we are blind to possibilities
Sometimes we are blind to our purpose
Sometimes we are blind to what will the future may hold
Sometimes we are blind to pray for things other than sight
After all we are blind

Just take me away

2009-10-18T19:21:00.006+08:00

this time what I want is you
there is no one else
who can take your place
this time you burn me with your eyes
you see past all the lies
you take it all away
I've seen it all
and it's never enough
it keeps leaving me needing you

take me away
take me away
I've got nothing left to say
just take me away

- Lifehouse

Even after performing this song a few times (especially at one Holy Trinity feast day where people at the coffee shop were looking in), I never really felt the emotion until recently, Jason Wade is such an awesome song writer.

Lifehouse has been so inspirational to me, I loved their music ever since their first album and I still remember hearing "Hanging by a moment" on radio in 2001 when I was in NS and just had to find out the band.

My respect for them grew with their next few albums and singles and what sealed the deal for Lifehouse to be one of the best bands in the jon high fidelity charts was when they paid tribute to George Harrison in 2007, by performing an acoustic cover of Something

While my heart gently weeps

2009-10-14T22:56:00.004+08:00

I want to tell you
my head is filled with things to say

I give you all my love
that's all I do

I give my heart to you
from the very start

Try to see it my way
Why do you see it your way?

Think of what you're saying
Think of what I'm saying

Seeing the strawberry fields
let's be the fools on the hill

there will be no answers
if we let it be

I wanna tell you something
I wanna hold you hand

Remember I'll always be true
I'll send all my loving to you

Money can't buy me love
Money can't buy my love

There's no good reason
to take the fast way out

Baby you can drive my car
cause baby I love you

we're looking through each other
and we're not the same

let's fix the hole
and never let the rain get in

when I'm sixty-four
I will still need you
I will still feed you

Something in the way you move
Don't want to leave you now
Don't need no other lover

Help me if you can
I'm feeling down

There is no one compares with you
In my life I love you most

We can work it out
We can work it out

We built this city

2009-10-08T22:36:00.007+08:00

During my JC days, when I was thinking about University and what I wanted to do as my career, other than IT/Computers, architecture was there in my top 10 list. I always wonder whether I would have liked it. To a certain extent, the field is both an art and science, very interesting...

Anyways, 2 days back ,the URA unveiled the eight winners for the 2009 Architectural Heritage Awards, I really like the interior of the india house and the external design of the old vs school. The rest of the winners are also interesting in their own way.

More pics at: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/photosgallery/gallery_20091006172706.htm

When I was in New york, the architecture there was great with so many different designs and styles, it really showed the age of the city and many influences man had. One building, the Flatiron Building on 5th Ave, caught my attention due to it's shape from the sky, it looks like a slice of cake or pie! Anyways it is based on the Beaux-Arts style which was a style that started and was taught in Paris (see how architecture spreads across continents and countries)

I realized that architects' designs like transcends time and if it's good, people actual study it! Seems so subjective, just like any art subject right? Somehow, it is also like music, it makes you feel a certain way, like how old shophouses make you think of times of our forefathers.

We'll you made through the troubled times

2009-10-06T01:12:00.002+08:00

One of my all-time favourite Fountains of Wayne songs, I remember the first time listening to this in 1999... it just touched my soul and still does, incredible.... after all these years...

I can't believe I missed Chris Collingwood performing this live at Baybeats 2009! Well at least someone recorded it

Firefox 3.0!

2008-06-18T21:19:00.001+08:00

Firefox version 3.0 is out! Stated to be faster and more secure and with 15,00 improvements. get it now! www.getfirefox.com

Free iTunes Account

2008-06-10T22:59:00.002+08:00

For those using iTunes and have been rejected registration due to fact that you don't stay in a iTunes country.

This helps you get an account and gets iTunes to automatically download cover art for your mp3s! :D

http://www.winandmac.com/tips/free-itunes-account-no-matter-where-you-live/

Fring Fring

2008-02-11T00:54:00.000+08:00

For those of you who are using a Nokia phone based on the S60 Symbian OS, you might want to check out this software called Fring http://www.fring.com/

It allows you to use the GSM/3G network or WiFi to connect to Skype, MSN, Yahoo and even make phone calls using SIP.

Also available for Windows Mobile and certain Sony Ericsson phones.

Starhub Max Online Express upgrade from 6mbps to 8 mbps

2008-01-02T00:27:00.000+08:00

I did a test before and after the starhub upgrade using Speedtest.net, here are the results:

BEFORE Upgrade 6000 kbps

AFTER Upgrade 8000 kbps

Those Starhub users on the Max Online Express plan, just power off and on your modem to receive the upgrade.

For more info: http://www.starhub.com/portal/site/Online/menuitem.0d8be557eb269ac6265d8a608324a5a0/?vgnextoid=48d53094b576c010VgnVCM10000038425a0aRCRD&vgnextfmt=ItemCMId%3A32f52e51e1c36110VgnVCM100000464114acRCRD

uTorrent optimal settings

2007-12-30T15:08:00.000+08:00

Here are some settings that helped me to maintain 80kb/s and above using a Starhub MaxOnline 6mbps connection.

Free Download of Command and Conquer Gold!

2007-11-17T18:21:00.000+08:00

For those fans of the original command and conquer which was launched 12 years ago, EA is allowing free downloads of the original.

Get the the United Nations' Global Defense Initiative (GDI) disc here and the Brotherhood of Nod disc here. This version of Command & Conquer Gold is Windows XP compatible and identical to the version included in the compilation Command & Conquer: The First Decade. EA has also provided installation instructions for the game.

For those of you in Singapore, File Axis has local mirrors.

Useful Online Stuff

2007-07-21T21:39:00.000+08:00

Here's a list of useful online tools and links

Online File Hosting
MediaFire
www.mediafire.com

YATTA!

2007-07-10T22:36:00.000+08:00

How to Reset T9 dictionary on Nokia N80

2007-06-29T15:04:00.000+08:00

Got this from:
http://www.mobileplanet.com/ft.aspx?k=76770

Should work on N series phones I guess? Those who tested this method on their N series phone which isn't a N80 please leave a comment?! Thanks!

Here's what the link above says:

Hey guys I''ve been trying to reset my dictionary and noticed many people have had this problem.
I have found an easy was to reset the dictionary!

Download and install this very cool utility call Sexplorer from http://www.simonjudge.com/sexplorer.html

Install the app via Nokia PC suite to your mobile

Run the app on your phone browse to c:\system\data\predic\
and delete the file named 101F8615_F.dat or very similar (please copy this to your memory card using sexplorer first incase you make a mistake)

Useful Software!

2007-06-29T14:47:00.000+08:00

I've decided to create an entry to place all the important and useful software links!

Utilities

Disk Defrag
This software helps to defragment your hard drive to improve your PC's performance! Much faster than the Microsoft's version and it's free!
http://www.auslogics.com/disk-defrag/
Hamachi
Create your own Virtual Private Network! Supports Remote Desktop and you can use this to play LAN games over the internet with your friends!
http://www.hamachi.cc/
HD Tune
Use this software to check the health of your computer's hard drive! New SMART HDDs have warning mechanisms to tell you it's going to crash!
http://www.hdtune.com/
PDF Redirect
Adds a PDF printer so you can create PDF files from any program that has the print function! Very useful! it's FREE!
http://www.exp-systems.com/PDFreDirect/Download/Install_PDFR_v221.exe

Nokia Phone Software Links

2007-06-25T13:35:00.000+08:00

Here are 2 sites where you can get themes and games for Nokia phones! In particular, I use these to get stuff for my Nokia N80

http://gallery.mobile9.com/c/themes/1/

http://www.ipmart-forum.com/

Windows on Safari

2007-06-16T13:28:00.000+08:00

Web developers rejoice, Apple has announced th beta of their Safari web browser for Windows! With the Safari 3 beta for Windows, everyone can view how Mac users view our web sites including blogs!

Apple claims Safari to be up to 2X faster than Internet Explorer 7 and 1.6X faster than Mozilla Firefox!

Download it at: http://www.apple.com.sg/safari/download/

E-mail Encoding

2007-05-05T10:19:00.000+08:00

Web designers , developers and even casual bloggers who want to prevent web crawlers from extracting email addresses (mailto:) may want to use this online email encoder at rumkin. This may help prevent spam from machines that use web crawlers to find mailto: links on web pages.

http://rumkin.com/tools/mailto_encoder/

Easy VPN with Hamachi!

2007-05-02T18:22:00.000+08:00

Have you ever wanted to have your own Virtual Private Network (VPN) for LAN gaming over the internet or activating your remote desktop from your laptop at a wireless hotspot? (According to the site it works with iTunes music sharing too) It's now possible without the complications of setting up a VPN server with Hamachi ! It's FREE and Runs on Windows, Linux and Mac OS X! http://www.hamachi.cc/

JDK 6 to the rescue!

2007-04-20T23:53:00.000+08:00

I have been trying to solve a File mapping issue while programming a Text Indexer. Due to the large size of the Lexicon (2.7 million terms, thanks to biwords!), I figured that my 512MB of RAM just ran out of space... and thus...

Exception in thread "main" java.io.IOException: Not enough space
      at sun.nio.ch.FileChannelImpl.map0(Native Method)
      at sun.nio.ch.FileChannelImpl.map(FileChannelImpl.java:742)
      at Test.main(Test.java:18)

However, even 1GB and 2GB RAM machines were greeted with this!
Then after some searching... it turned out to be bug with Java's 1.5 run time environment and with just an upgrade to version 6.0, the code could run!

So if anyone who is still using JDK 5.0 or the JRE 5.0 remember the limitations when mapping files to memory! Also remember to buffer your File input and output streams if you're not using FileChannels!

Here is the bug report:
http://bugs.sun.com/bugdatabase/view_bug.do?bug_id=6417205

Powerpoint on Google?

2007-04-19T01:59:00.000+08:00

Well, since Google has Documents and Spreadsheets (http://docs.google.com), I knew this would happen sooner or later! So very soon, all of us can have a basic Office Suite just by having an Internet access! What's more all our documents are stored online, so no need for thumb drives! For those privacy advocates, you have the option to save it to disk too!

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/04/were-expecting.html

101 Hidden Tips & Secrets For Photoshop

2007-04-13T13:50:00.000+08:00

I found this at 11amDesign and would like to share and note it down!

101 Hidden Tips & Secrets For Photoshop

1. Press Tab will hide tool bar and palette, Shift+Tab will hide only palette.

2. Hold Shift + click the top blue bar for toolbar and palette will move them to the nearest edge.

3. Double click the top blue bar, on any palette window, to minimize it.

4. Double click the gray background will bring up open file option, Hold Shift+double click will open up the browser.

5. Sick of the default gray background around your image? Select paint bucket, hold shift and click on the gray background, it will change to whatever color you have in your foreground color box.

6. In Photoshop, all "Cancel" buttons in a window can be changed to a "Reset" button by holding Alt.

7. Caps lock will switch your cursor for accuracy.

8. Press F button, it will switch between 3 different screen modes and give you more working area.

9. To draw a straight line, click then move to the end point and hold shift + click.

10. Hold Ctrl will temporary make any tool into move tool until you release Ctrl.

11. Ctrl + Alt and click drag the image, it will make a duplication of the current image over lay on top.

12. Hold Space bar, it will make any tool into "Hand Tool" until you release Space bar.

13. While in Zoom Tool, Ctrl+space = zoom in, alt+space = zoom out.

14. Hold Ctrl and press "+" or "-" it will change the % for image in navigator window.

15. When Using eyedropper tool to capture foreground color, hold Alt and click, it will instantly capture the color for background.

16. With Measure Tool, draw a line then hold Alt and draw another line from the end of the first line, it will measure the angle.

17. Ctrl+Alt+Z and Ctrl+Shift+Z will go back and forth in the history.

18. Alt+Backspace and Ctrl+Backspace will fill in the whole screen with foreground color or background color, Shift+backspace will bring up option window, Alt+Shift+Backspace and Ctrl+Shift+Backspace, will fill the image with foreground or background color but will leave the alpha transparent area alone.

19. When free transforming with Ctrl+T, hold Alt to keep the original image and then to transform a duplicated layer of it. Ctrl+Shift+T to repeat whatever you did in the last transform.

20. To make sure your Crop is on the edge of the image, hold Ctrl while cropping.

21. Ctrl+J will duplicate the current layer.

22. Ctrl+Shift+E will merge all visible layers to one layer, Ctrl+Shift+Alt+E will make a copy of the original and merge all visible layers.

23. While using Marquee Tools, hold Alt it will make the starting point as a center of the selection.

24. Ctrl + D to deselect, Ctrl+Shift+D to reselect what you deselected.

25. While selecting with Marquee tool, pressing the space bar can allow you to move the selection.

26. Hold Shift and press "+" or "-" it will switch between the layer mode:

N = Normal
I = Dissolve
M = Multiply
S = Screen
O = Overlay
F = Soft Light
H = Hard Light
D = Color Dodge
B = Color Burn
K = Darken
G = Lighten
E = Difference
X = Exclusion
U = Hue
T = Saturation
C = Color
Y = Luminosity
Q = Behind 1
L = Threshold 2
R = Clear 3
W = Shadow 4
V = Midtones 4
Z = Highlights 4

***The shortcut works even for following situation:

***Alpha turned off, Indexed Mode, Line tool, Bucket Tools, Dodge and Burn Tools

27. While using Brush or any other tools, change the opacity by typing the number.

*** type one number for % of it's ten times [4=40%]

***type two number for exact % [press 7 then 2 will get 72%]

28. Hold Alt while clicking on the eye icon beside the layer, it will hide all other layers.

29. Hold Alt while clicking the pen icon beside the layer, it will unchain this layer from all layers.

30. Select a layer, hold Alt and click the top edge of another layer, it will group them.

31. Hold Alt and click the button "Create a new layer", it will create a new adjustment layer.

32. Select a layer and hold Alt, then click on the garbage can button. It will instantly delete the layer, marquee where you want alpha and Ctrl+click the "Create new channel" button, it will create an alpha only on the area you marquee.

33. File> Automate > Contact Sheet: this can create a small thumbnail for every file, this can save you some time from searching.

34. When Move Tool is selected, toolbox on top can be useful from time to time, these are "Auto select layer" and "Show bounding box".

35. While Move Tool is selected, hold Shift (Alt+Shift+Right click) and allow whether or not to make a current layer chain with your upper layer.

36. With grid on, click the top left corner of the grid and drag to anywhere on the image to set the pivot, double clicking on the icon again reset the pivot.

37. After, draw a path on the image with pen tool, Ctrl+shift+H can hide/show it.

38. Control Navigator with keyboard sometimes can be more time efficient than mouse.

***

Home = move to top left corner
End = move to right bottom corner
PageUp = move up one page
PageDown = move down one page
Ctrl+PageUp = move left one page
Ctrl+PageDown = move right one page
Shift+PageUp = move up 10 pixel
Shift+PageDown = move down 10 pixel
Ctrl+Shift+PageUp = move left 10 pixel
Ctrl+Shift+PageDown = move right 10 pixel

39. Ctrl+Tab allows you to switch between different image files you are working on.

40. F12 = Revert to how the file was the last time you saved it.

41. Shortcuts for Channel: RGB, CMYK, indexed color...

***

Ctrl+"~" = RGB
Ctrl+1 = red
Ctrl+2 = green
Ctrl+3 = blue
Ctrl+4 = other path
Ctrl+9 = other path
Ctrl+"~" = CMYK
Ctrl+1 = light green
Ctrl+2 = pink red
Ctrl+3 = yellow
Ctrl+4 = black
Ctrl+5 = other path
Ctrl+9 = other path
Ctrl+1 = Indexed
Ctrl+2 = other path
Ctrl+9 = other path

42. hold Ctrl then you can draw a red box in the Navigator thumbnail for viewing.

43. Hold Alt and click on any of the history steps, that step will be copied and become the most recent one.

44. Alt drag a step from a serial action can copy it to another action.

45. Alt-click the flare preview thumb, and you can fill in numerical co-ordinates for lens flare.

46. Holding Shift + Alt while transforming an object will do it proportionally, from the center.

47. If you have the move tool selected and you want something duplicated just hold the alt key and move the image, holding the Shift + Alt while doing this, it will move it along one axis.

48. If you want to straighten an image that is crooked (maybe from scanning), click on the eyedropper tool or hit the I key 3 times to get the ruler. Click on the left side of the straight edge, then the right side of the straight (but crooked) edge. The choose Image> Rotate Canvas> Arbitrary, Photoshop will give you the degrees of rotation you just click ok.

49. If you create something in Illustrator, copy and paste it in Photoshop, it will ask you if you want this to be a pixel, path, or shape layer.

50. If you have a mask on a layer and you want to place a image in there and keep the mask. Simply open the image, say copy, and then Ctrl click on the layer to select the mask and use Shift + Ctrl + V to paste it into the mask which will also put it on a new layer as well.

51. To center an image, Ctrl + A , Ctrl + X, Ctrl + V, I think it also puts that image on a new layer.

52. Ctrl+E will merge the highlighted layer down to the next

53. When you have a brush selected, using [ or ] will scroll up or down that brush list.

54. Double clicking the zoom tool will make the image 100%, double clicking the hand tool will fit the image to your screen resolution.
55. Typing Content:

Ctrl + H will hide the highlight on your selected type.

If you click once while your type is selected on the font list, you can use your arrows to scroll up and down and see the fonts change on the fly!

Alt + Left or Right arrows will change your tracking in increments of 10
Ctrl + Alt + Left or Right arrows will change your tracking in increments of 100
Ctrl + Alt + Up or Down arrows will change your leading in increments of 10 pts
Shift + Ctrl with <> will change your font size in increments of 2 pts

56. Ctrl + Alt + T to make a copy of the layer in which you want to transform.

57. Ctrl + Alt + Right arrow. duplicates the layer you are on.

58. Change the active layer : Alt + [ or ].

59. Move the active layer up and down : Ctrl + [ or ].

60. Link 2 layers: with move tool click in the first layer hold Shift and click in the second one.

61. Ctrl+[plus key] will let you zoom in on an image anytime while Ctrl+[minus key] zooms out. Ctrl+Alt+[plus key] will zoom in AND RESIZE the window to fit the image size... same for Ctrl+Alt+[minus key] as well.

62. When using the Polygonal Lasso Tool, click backspace to undo a lasso step.

63. Pressing X will switch the selected foreground and background colors.

64. Pressing D will reset the foreground and backgrounds colors to black and white.

65. If your image has multiple layers, create a Marquee selection and press Ctrl+Shift+Cit won't work if you selected a hidden layer) will copy the image into memory as if they were flattened! Paste it on a new document to see the result.

66. Ctrl+Alt+Z will do multiple undo, versus just one.

67. Ctrl+click a layer thumbnail to select the layer transparency

68. To see what your layer mask looks like (and edit it), Alt+click its thumbnail in the layers palette

69. Press and hold Ctrl+Alt and click the Help bar with your mouse, drag it down and highlight "About Photoshop" and let go of the left mouse button for a different About Photoshop splash/screen.

70. When using Polygon lasso tool hold Shift to make a perfect line, it goes every 30 degrees

71.Photoshop CS2: Group many layers by clicking the layers you want to group by clicking it while holding the Shift key down, and then press Ctrl+G to group them into a folder for means of better organization.

72. Ctrl+Shift+N creates a new layer with a dialog box; Ctrl+Shift+Alt+N gets you a new layer without the hassle.

73. Back to brush, [ and ] will increase/decrease your brush size, Shift + [ or ] will soften or harden your brush edge.

74. Still in [ and ], Ctrl + [ or ] will move your currently selected layer up and down the hierarchy and Shift + [ or ] will select upper layer or lower layer.

75. Stamp Tool (s) is used to copy an area of image (defined by alt+clicking and area) and paint it somewhere else (cloning). It also works when you have multiple images open at the same time. Alt click an area of any opened file image and paint it anywhere else.

76. After you created a text you can click on font type tab and tap "down" key over and over to scroll through the font list and see the changes in (relatively) real time. A feature that I am tired of waiting to happen in illustrator.

77. Still in text mode, a trick from Microsoft word to apply hi-light to your text hit Ctrl+Shift+ <> to resize your text, to your preferred font size. Pressing Ctrl key while you are typing also gives you a free transform box temporarily and will go if you release it. Resizing text also works by pressing Ctrl+T (on selected layer, not when you are typing). It still retains as an editable text layer after.

78. And remember, pressing enter when you type will take you to a new line just like typing a letter but pressing Ctrl+Enter or Enter on numeric key will finish what you type.

79. You can drag a layer on to any other opened images in Photoshop and it will copy it as a layer (better than copy and paste image). Holding down Shift while moving it will snap the image right on the center of the other opened image

80. If you are working with sets....

Click on the set, in the blending mode it shows pass through by default... if you have an adjustment layer within a set and you want that adjustment layer to effect those layers underneath it within the set only, set the blending mode of the set to "normal" instead.

CODE

Mentioned before with more explanation:

- Pressed F to switch to 3 different viewing mode... when I first try it I said "wtf? what it's for?" Well, if you are sick of painting your image on the corners just to find yourself resizing your current image window, with F you can pan way outside your image. Happy corner painting!!

- Create a new file, 500x500 px, create a new layer, get a standard brush and paint a dot on the top center of your image (like the number 12 position on a clock). Press Ctrl+Alt+T, it will duplicate your original layer and free transform the new one. Move the pivot point (the circle with little dot in it found when you are free transforming something) to the center of your image, rotate your image 30 degrees to the right and hit OK to confirm the transform

now.........

Be excited..........

Hit Ctrl+Shift+Alt+T 10 times and see what happens!

81. When using the "move tool" you can select any layer by holding down the CTL key(CMD on a Mac) and clicking on the part of the layer on the canvas with your mouse. This way you won't have to go to the Layers palette every time and you don't have to keep checking on or off the auto select options for the move tool.

82. You can link up layers without going into the layers palette, by selecting the layer (how I just mentioned above) and holding down CTL + Shift(CMD + SHIT on a Mac) for each additional layer you want to link up. You can unlink them by clicking on the layer again.

83. You can delete more than one layer at a time.......by linking up all the layer you want to delete, and holding down CTL(CMD on a Mac) while you click on the garbage icon to delete the layer.

84. When using the type tool you can ok it by pressing CTL + Enter(CMD + Enter on a Mac) instead of clicking on the check mark on the options.

85. If you have more than one type layer, and want to make any of the following changes color/font/size/alignment/initializing to all of the type layers at the same time.....All you have to do is link up the type layer, hold down the Shift key and in the options for the type tool make your change i.e. color, size, etc.

86. You can use your number pad to change opacity for a layer.... I.e. type 5 and the opacity will be 50; type 55 and the opacity will be 55. You can use the number pad for any tool that uses opacity...like the airbrush tool, stamp tool, brush, gradient, etc.

87. Pressing Tab key will hide the Tools palette and any other palette that you have on the stage. Pressing "F" will change between Full Screen modes. Using these two tips you can view your work Full Screen without any palettes.(You can press CTL+Alt+0 to fit your work to the screen, or you can press CTL+0 to zoom to 100%)

88. Pressing the "+" and "-" keys while holding down CTL+Alt will resize the whole document window, not just the work area.

89. You can delete a layer by holding down the "Alt" key and pressing "L" twice......actually now with Photoshop 7 you got to press "L" three times. It's not actually a keyboard shortcut, but it's a quick way to do it....don't know if it works on a MAC.

90. Pan documents with the space bar.

91. Ctrl+click a layer (in layers palette) to select it's transparency.

92. Ctrl+Alt+click between 2 layers in the palette to group them.

93. Alt + click in “add layer mask” button to add a black layer mask (instead of a white one).

94. When you select something, pressing Ctrl+J will copy the selected area and add another layer with the copied area - opposing copying the layer, making a new layer, and pasting it.

95. To glue the palettes together (all palettes combined into one strip), you just drag & drop a palette onto the end of another palette (watch the rectangle that indicates where the palette will get attached to).

96. Hold down Alt while Burning to Dodge instead, and vice versa.

97. Ctrl-click a layer to select an objects; alternatively, you may select more than one object/s in more than 1 layer by holding Shift while using the method just mentioned (Ctrl-click). To deselect, just press Ctrl+D.

98. If you have a mini scroll on your mouse, you may use that to zoom in (scroll up) or zoom out (scroll down).

99. Need to locate a layer quick? Use the Move Tool (V) and right click on the area the object lays. There should now be a “cursor-menu” with all the layers that is in that particular area. Now take a good guess and see which one of them fits the shoe; select a layer and Ctrl-Click the layer in the Layer Palette - see if the selection traces the object you desired to edit/find. Useful for those messy people (i.e. me!).

100. Need to get rid of a background quick? Assuming you at least know how to crop around an object, do so. Now press Ctrl+I or Shift+Ctrl+I for Inverse Selection. Press Ctrl+X to %@#!* that part out, and you should be left with the object!

101. Want to save the time from loading All your Photoshop brushes, when your Photoshop accidentally forgets to load them up (happens to me sometimes)? Select the brush tool, and click the little arrow pointing right (located at the top toolbar), next to the Master Diameter tick. Go down to Preset Manager and now there should be a menu of all the brushes currently loaded. Click on the first brush (top left) and scroll down to the bottom. Now hold Shift and click the last brush (bottom right). This should highlight all the brushes. See the “Save Set” to the right in the menu? Click that and name your brush set whatever you want, for this matter I just name it All (so I remember that this brush set contains all the brushes I currently have loaded, and is located near the top when loading the brushes up).

Last update: 2007-03-22 07:13
Author: Gary Logsdon
Revision: 1.0

Le Photo Test

2007-04-02T01:49:00.000+08:00

Alrighty, this is a test of the image uploading and storage of Blogger or Blogspot.

Anyway this was taken at the Esplanade! Nice huh! The patterns were made of metal, yes sheet metal. "Excuse me cannot touch"

Gmail Paper!

2007-04-01T20:37:00.000+08:00

Gmail Paper allows you to print emails to google and they will ship it to you!!! Check it out! Do take note of the terms of use though.

http://mail.google.com/mail/help/paper/more.html

HD Tune

2007-04-01T00:35:00.000+08:00

This FREE software actually helps check if your hard drive is healthy! My laptop is giving me this warning that it is going to fail and I used this software to verify that.

http://www.hdtune.com/

Click on download. or here's a direct link to the exe setup hdtune_253.exe

Snow Patrol - Signal Fire

2007-03-31T17:16:00.000+08:00

A new snow patrol song that will be on the Spiderman 3 soundtrack! Can't wait for both to be out!

FAT32 Partitions and Formatting

2007-03-30T16:17:00.000+08:00

For those of you who aren't techie inclined, FAT32 is a Microsoft software technology, that allows us to use the physical disk. Basically, it was introduced in Windows 95 OEM Service Release 2, so yea, it's quite old. If you are running Windows XP, chances are that your hard disk drive (HDD) is formatted based on NTFS (NT File System). However, most of us that use external HDDs like would sometimes like universal access and since, NTFS formatted disks are GENERALLY not supported in other systems like Mac OS X and Linux, most of us like to format their external HDD using FAT32. Do note that our thumb drives are actually using FAT16 for those 2 GB and below and FAT32 for those above 2GB.

Windows XP has a limit on FAT32 partitions, 32 GB, so the Disk Manager does not allow you to format partitions above32GB. I don't know why Microsoft did this since FAT32 allows partitions of up to 8TB.

However, I found this link for a fat32formatter and a guide. It really helped, especially for those who wish to use a HDD across Windows XP and Mac OS

http://www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/in...fat32format.htm

But, if you intend to use Windows XP only, stick to NTFS, FAT32 has many limitations and inefficiencies. For example, in disk usage, if the cluster size is 32KB, and your file is say 33KB, your file will take 2 clusters (64KB), but actually has 33KB of real data. Also, FAT32 has a file size limit of 4GB, but I doubt anyone stores a file of size 4GB and more, unless you like to backup your DVDs or do lots of video editing.

Yahoo! Mail Goes Infinite

2007-03-29T02:35:00.000+08:00

Bum bum bum! (Dramatic Music) Yahoo! finally tries to catch up and perhaps overtake Google and Gmail!This is actually part of Yahoo!'s 10 year anniversary of their mail service. Can use imagine yourself still using their 1997 service which gave you 4 MB?

I wonder who would still use Hotmail now? An article by PC World is actually quite interesting, it states that Yahoo! will actually take some time to roll out (in other words , upgrade) accounts, and we all can imagine installing INFINITE hard drives will take SOME TIME. More like forever...

Personally, I feel that mailbox space is just one feature being addressed here, in order to lead the webmail competition Yahoo! should focus on their user interface, which is currently still in beta!

Singaopre Drum Fest

2007-03-25T23:26:00.000+08:00

Check out the information on Singapore's first drum fest!

http://www.singaporedrumfest.com/