Sometimes, when I look at the side panel of my blog, I wondered if I shoud place Advertlets on top or Nuffnang on top? It’s really a hard decision because I kind of know who they are (spoke to Ming, but listened to Josh’s presentation, but it was also from Josh’s decision that I wanted to know more about Nuffnang) and in a certain way, but income are more or less the same (although now I’d be receiving less from Nuffnang because I have dropped from Band 6/Band 10 to Band 1, and also less from Advertlets - but I do not know how they count).

I was getting pretty good income from Advertlets during the Li Hong Yi Season because traffic was apparently much higher (about 18,000 hits in that month of July 2007), but I didn’t really benefit much from the traffic because I placed a poll from Advertlets instead of real ads, thinking that Advertlets function somewhat the same way as Nuffnang - that you get selected to place ads instead of having running ads. Oh well, I got a couple of bucks at the end of the day but traffic was really just trailing off.

What I am interested is if bloggers really put this into consideration when they position their ads, or if even Ming or Josh has any comments on this? I would think it would be an every man for his own situation, but I won’t know for sure.

Well, for once, there is going to be a slight change for a while on the side panel. Do watch out for it!

I was waiting for my pack of Shihlin Taiwan Snack’s XXL Chicken at The Cathay when I overheard someone apparently from NUS asking the auntie at that Shihlin store if she (or they) would be interested to have a store at NUS where there would be “huge traffic” and that “people are familiar with Shihlin XXL chicken” and that “people would love Shihlin XXL chicken over other chickens”. Oh well, I might have paraphrased some of these, so please don’t quote me on that.

At first thought, I was wondering why they didn’t go to the website directly to apply to be a franchisee… and I realised how stupid I am. They (the students?) need someone to run the business, and not themselves and hence they need someone else (like a current franchisee?) to apply to NUS for it.

Personally, I won’t mind having a Shihlin store at my own school (no, I am not from NUS, not yet anyway) although I am quite sure that the Western Food Store auntie won’t be too happy about it. (oops!) My personal opinion about the chicken is that, it had changed quite a fair bit - from being very nice at first instance to being a little too salty (too much MSG?) for a long time, to being just about there. I remembered refraining from Shihlin snacks for quite a while because it was getting a little too gee-lat for me.

However, I have that for dinner almost every other day because it is about the most convenient stuff to get from where I am doing my work in the evenings! I wonder if NUS students really like Shihlin. =)

* gee-lat is a colloquial for something that’s too much or too extreme in taste 

Apparently, there was a delay when I reached Raffles Place MRT from Boon Lay. I didn’t quite know anything about that because the journey from Boon Lay was apparently smooth. However, when I got down from the train at Raffles Place MRT, the entire place was so crowded! It seemed as if people were just going to be jam packed at the station platform.

Then there was an announcement saying that train services have resumed, and I overheard some people commenting that train services had been halted for quite some time. Soon after, there was an announcement saying that there is a special train service at Platform A, and suddenly, everyone started rushing to the other side of the platform!

“Attention all passengers, the train approaching Platform A is a special service to Jurong East via Woodlands. The train will be doing to Jurong East via Dhoby Ghaut, Orchard, Ang Mo Kio and Woodlands all the way to Jurong East. This is a special train service. If you are heading to Pasir Ris, please wait for the next passenger train. Attention all passengers, the train approaching Platform A is a special service to Jurong East…”

- Station Announcer

Wow! It seemed like everyone knew where Platform A is in an instance. Well, perhaps most of them having been taking the train from Raffles Place… but then again, who takes note of the Platform alphabet? Hmm…

Soon after, the “special train” service arrived at Platform A, where it normally goes to Pasir Ris. The train was empty and everyone rushed in - pretty much like kiasu Singaporeans! Haha… well, I was *ahem* just a little kiasu… kiasu enough to get a seat, but I realised that I now have a problem of getting off at Dhoby Ghaut MRT Station! Argh!

And oh, at City Hall, someone from outside started banging something and asked people inside to move in. I think what they didn’t notice for once is that, it is really jam packed inside, as you can see.

I think that guy also mentioned something about Singaporeans being Kayu… but what has not moving into the center of the train got to do with being Kayu? Hmm… soon after, sensing that people are just going to stand in between the train and the platform, the train captain announced for the people to take the next train if it is not possible to board this train.

“Attention all passengers, if you are unable to board this train, please wait for the next passenger train. Thank you.”

- Train Captain

Nearing my stop at Dhboy Ghaut, someone seated got up and started to move to the train doors - hence leading a path. Quickly, I got up and followed closely behind, else I’d really be stuck in this sardine packed trained. I hope no one jumped onto the tracks again because of the recent property crash due to the stopping of the Deferred Payment Scheme.

Life’s really unpredictable sometimes. Anyway, I believe that the papers will not publicise whatever bad that may have happened along the North South line, and I quiet agree with that. Glorification, in a certain manner, of someone’s actions may always bring about copy cats in an attempt to get similar responses from the public - and this is not really healthy if there are more people who happened to be in the same scenario as the initiator. I really hope nothing bad happened.

I met Donna at the library@orchard briefing event and told her that I must have been to her blog previously because it looks tremendously familiar. Then again, all blogs do look familiar in one way or another. Haha…

Today…. today, I had an epiphany (yes, this is the second time in 1 day that I had used this word - apparently it’s now a cool word to use). I realised why. Heh heh… I was searching for something previously and I found it on Donna’s blog. Presenting to you…. =)

Or if you prefer the one with the director’s cut…

Heh heh… I just simply love these ads!

In the good old days when the library didn’t allow people to study (yes, I am that old, in fact much, much older… we are looking at me nearing retirement, really), they used to *ahem* inform people that they should not be studying in the library and that they should give up the space to the people who are users of the library. Well, I used to be one of those “inconsiderate” people who occupied the seats for studying, and every now and then, I’ll be herded out of the library and I’d be left on to my own devices on where else to go.

Just a few days ago, I was back to the familiar place - to this place that, when I first stepped in many years ago (1999?), wondered why there was a stage and why were people allowed to make speeches, talks and hold shows and really make the library noisy! Isn’t the library meant to be quiet?!

Well, then I learnt that times have changed and I probably needed a paradigm change in thoughts. We still have to be quiet in the library, just that now, there can be talks and speeches and library users are informed of these events and most are invited to join in as well. If you (me?) were not a genuine library user (yes, I was just using it as a place to study), then you, well, are not supposed to be there. Haha…

However, this trip back to the library felt a little different - it was no longer one of happiness, but rather one that is a little melancholic. The library would be shifting to Youth Park (that means no more adult books?) and the library is, ahem, supposed to be looking at *ahem* some *cough cough* shopping *sneeze* center to house a new library. 30 days is the count down to the last day of the library from today and I was back a few days ago in response to their call for Citizen Reporters. =)

 I was there early - being the kiasu Singaporean and not wanting to be left standing outside the meeting to listen to their VBB (very brief briefing). It started at 7:30pm and people came in promptly. There were about 8 of us, excluding the Jilian “out of the ordinary” librarian as well as the Rambling Librarian. There were cakes - lots of it, and donuts, which according to Jilian, are not cheap because there are no cheap cakes in Orchard. Well, I have to agree with that. The donuts look really and I ate 1 2 3 of them. Hehe… Yes, I know I am a greedy pig =P

We had some introductions and the Rambling Librarian wanted to find out how each of us got to know of this briefing. Much to his great disappointment, none of us knew about it through his website (I think), but surprisingly, only 2 of us knew it through tomorrow.sg - the rest knew it either from word of mouth of from the library blog.

The briefing started pretty soon and someone timed the duration of the briefing! So the Rambling Librarian went on rambling and rambling until it was… hey hey! just over 6 mins! That’s indeed a very brief briefing! We had some question and answer sessions and we helped ourselves to more cakes and donuts! Woot!

Most of us are rather quiet and probably shy to ask too many questions. But it didn’t take too long for us to realise that Jilian isn’t really like the typical librarian. She’s like… Librarian.NextGen! Haha… very bubbly, very 开心果 (happy fruit). We then had a short tour of the library to look at the paintings that people have left behind as a remembrance of the library. Apparently, only some may be retained. And here’s also where you can find imagination at its best.

Soon enough, the short tour was completed and I managed to find my one and only Mastering PHP 4.1 book in the Computers and IT section. (Heh. Yes, I am moving on to PHP although I had been with ASP for a very, very, very long time. Perhaps it’s just time to move on to OpenSource, not to mention that ASP hosting is now getting very expensive) Anyway, back to the library, I think there is also some Dream Wall event that is currently going on, but I have got no idea what’s really about. =P

Soon, it was time to go, but I left with pretty much a heavy heart. I spent quite a fair bit of my life at library@orchard, and I’d really be sad to see it go so soon. Well, they might be building a new library soon, but I guess the feeling will be different - there will no longer be memories of the library especially if it is going to be permanently torn down. Well, it’s sad that the library had to go due to economic reasons, but I think that’s just how things work sometimes.

Good bye, and I’ll be back soon! Very soon! Like… next weekend… =) I hope to capture more of the moods of the people in the library and hope that this will be a sort of memoir of it.

Acknowledgements: Whiteboard and group photo courtesy of the Rambling Librarian, the others, courtesy of blog.alicecheong.com

In my short stint as a Teaching Assistant so far who was handed the responsibility of conducting a lab session-cum-lecture followed by many unofficial tutorials, the common question is… ” ‘cher, what is the perfect report?”, ‘cher, do you have a past year report?, ‘cher, what do we have to include in the report?, ‘cher. how to get A+++ for the report? ”

Hmm… the funniest thing is, I had been emphasizing on the contents since Day 1, and in fact, over 4 sessions. So, theoretically, anyone who had followed the lectures and short sniplets of time that was given to me by the lecturer, would know what I was looking for. =)

So, for the few who do know about this blog, here’s the marking scheme revealed. This is just one of the many ways that different lecturers would approach. For me, I don’t believe in failing people and theoretically a lenient marker (well, at least more lenient than some that I know of - who thinks that C+ is good, B+ is better and A+ is excellent; how can a C+ be “good”, you must be asking? Ya.. me too), but that also means that it’s just a little tougher to get to the top (A+) - not impossible, just a little more effort will do. So, here’s how I mark:

• if you hand in your assignment, you get a D - haha… just handing in only, regardless of content
• if your assignment covers all the parts that is required, then you get a C+ - this is regardless of further explanations and reports
• from here onwards, I work on an additive method - that is, for every part that you answered correctly, you get marks, for every part that you do not answer correctly, no marks are award and neither are marks deducted
• for most people, this should give them something from a C+ to an B+ or A-
• to get that A or A+, I’m looking for a few things
  • a full understanding of the assignment must be presented - that means, you include explanations of why you do certain things - the methods you used and the reasons for doing so
  • your personal/group observations of the entire experiment/assignment - what can you gather from this experiment/assignment - do you think it’s a good method/way/process? why?
  • surprise me! like, by handing in a blank assignment
  • bringing about an epiphany - to me, which is possible, since you spent more time on the project than I did solving it for answers myself
• as for the optional question - it is really optional, so it’d be fair for those who took it literally and think that it’s optional - so what’s the optional question for? sorry, I can’t reveal this part =) it could really be nothing, but what I can say is, if you are good enough, you don’t need the optional question =)

Now that the scheme is out and my students have about 1 week to their due date, I hope this will answer their question about “perfect reports”. There’s no such thing as a “perfect report” because there are so many ways of doing things. As long as you show competency in what you are doing (or just smoking your way through effectively), then you’ll make the grade. I don’t believe in failing people because in university, it should all be about learning and applying, and generally I am quite generous about As and A+s, even if you challenged me in class.

There are no questions too silly and there are no answers beyond imagination =P

I read about this much earlier on when it first got posted. Then I wasn’t quite sure of the whole story and thought that I’d hold my horses before commenting much on it. Then, I saw it on The Online Citizen… and subsequently from the AsiaOne website.

So! It was real! The Britons should really be ashamed of themselves. How could they bully someone who was already trying so hard to make a living. Come on, if you think $15 bucks is too much to pay for it, then don’t bother taking it in the first place. Hello? It’s a trishaw, and there are 3 of you on it. How fast would you expect it to go anyway?

Oh man, this really made my blood boil. This uncle, 67-year-old Mr Lee Shee Lam, an old man. How could these 3 young guys do such a thing to an old man? And if this article doesn’t make your blood boil, maybe this would:

Sigh. This is also a reflection of the problems that Singapore might face in the future, when we start getting an aging population. Perhaps that’s why the government is pushing in a lot of policies with regards to your CPF? Oh well, that’s another story altogether.