Irritating sounds from the pipes below my flat

The sound comes from outside the pump room, at a raised concrete platform covered on top by some metal covers (with one missing piece in the centre) below:
Through the uncovered spot shows two blue coloured pipes, with meter facings.
The irritating sound is coming from the clickings of the meter(s):

Here is a video and sound from the pipe:



And here is the resultant vibration and sound it caused in my flat's taps:

Gone Fishing - Blog closure (indefinitely)

Forrest went for a run.

I went fishing.

Phone problem found, but not solved

Siemens M75

I have been unable to send SMS through my phone for some time now, so if you've not received SMS from me for some time, you know why. Too lazy/busy to get my phone fixed, so I'm living with it. Should be fixing my phone this Saturday.. (I've been telling myself this for the past month or so. :| )

Anyway, I think I've found out why my phone can't send sms! It's because of a certain header attached to the outgoing message (virus??) which caused the message to be unreadable by non-robust sms applications.

If your phone can't read my sms, it's because the sms reader on your hp is clueless on how to handle this header, and simply throws an exception.

For those who can, it can either be because your hp is robust enough to recover from the error, or it simply can't be bothered enough to put a finger on the error (ignores header!).


Here's how I found out:
I sent a message ("Test") from my phone over to a GPRS modem and decipher the received data (which shows a lot of other information!):
------------------------------------------------------------------
SMS (RAW STREAM): 06915689450002440A9156393820140000609072818304230B050A03000408A8E5391D
Service Center Address: 6598540020
Destination Address: 6593830241
Protocol Data Unit Type: 68 <----- BUGGY :: Should by 4. An extra value of 64 denotes an attached header!
Reply Path?: false
User Data Header Indicator?: true
Status Report Indicator: false
More Message to send: true
Message Type Indicator: 0
Data Coding Scheme: 0
Service Center Time Stamp: 2006/9/27 18:38:40 (Time Zone:32)
User Data Length: 11
UDL Checksum: Passed

IEI: 0A <---- ID of the belligerent Information Element in header
IED: 000408 <---- Data of the belligerent Information Element

Message: Test
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Screensaver

This is a snapshot of my screensaver.
I found it sort of weird when I first saw it. I couldn't make anything out of it till quite some time later (for those who can, don't be smug - the pic is easier to decrypt than the screensaver itself.)

The screensaver has 3 randomly drifting objects - one eye, one bee, and one 'M' character (which reminded me of the day my dot-matrix printer ran out of ink just before project submission. =|)

The eye is always looking out for the bee, the bee is always flapping its wings and moving randomly as bees do, while the blue M is just looking blue - perhaps because its horizontal stripes are making it look fat or something, I dunno.

Now who got what it stands for? =)

Funny....

Was debugging my GPRS modem application when I noticed this unfamiliar error in my server console:




INFO [Win32SerialPort Notification thread] (ATSMS.java:281) - unknow cmd received =
RING

+CLIP: "91070617",129

DEBUG [Win32SerialPort Notification thread] (ATSMS.java:215) - data availabel on serial port
data received = "P: "91070617",129
"
INFO [Win32SerialPort Notification thread] (ATSMS.java:281) - unknow cmd received = P: "91070617",129

DEBUG [Win32SerialPort Notification thread] (ATSMS.java:215) - data availabel on serial port
data received = "
RING

+CLIP: "91070617",129
"
INFO [Win32SerialPort Notification thread] (ATSMS.java:281) - unknow cmd received =
RING

+CLIP: "91070617",129







Then I found out it was someone trying to call me, cos I was using my SIM card as the GPRS connection source in the modem. :|

君莫悲

岁月难得沉默 秋风厌倦漂泊
夕阳赖着不走挂在墙头舍不得我
昔日伊人耳边话已和潮声向东流
再回首往事也随枫叶一片片落

爱已走到尽头恨也放弃承诺
命运自认幽默想法太多由不得我
壮志凌云几分愁知己难逢几人留
再回首却闻笑传醉梦中

笑谈词穷古痴今狂终成空
刀钝刃乏恩断义绝梦方破
路荒遗滩饱览足迹没人懂
多年望眼欲穿过红尘滚滚我没看透

词嘲墨尽千情万怨英杰愁 (自嘲末尽千情万缘已皆愁)
曲终人散发花鬓白红颜殁
烛残未觉与日争辉徒消瘦
当泪干血隐狂涌白雪纷飞都成空

Working life

To all my dearest NUS friends who are about to graduate, you might be expecting a culture shock in some ways or another when you join the workforce (I know I have).

As my good-naturedness goes (a long way), I shall reveal some of the trivial yet shocking "don't-you-learn-something-everyday" thingies, so you'd need not sweat on these small stuff later.

1) There is no QUOTA for printing. You can print as much stuffeses as you want, without attempting to print 9 ppt slides a page. No more measly 40 A4 pages / month of PS-printer printouts, or the hassle of going down to the admin office to topup your quota. Yay.

2) You have to wear nice smelling shirts and ironed pants (ie. look smart), which means no bermudas and/or sandals allowed. Unless, of course, you are a budding entrepreneur doing your own spiffy startup in a 6x6 cubicle somewhere in a business incubator.

3) If you think there's a lot of technical lingos in SoC, there's a lot more work lingos coming your way, buddy... One very distressing phrase I find is 'I'll CHECKPOINT with you tomorrow at 9am' - which means you'll have to clear your workload by then. No more free-loading by copying your friends' notes. =(

4) This goes very well with me: THERE EXIST FREE DRINK DISPENSER MACHINES. Yes, I'm talking about those that you put in 40 cents and press a button, and a paper cup comes down with water squirting from the left and concentrate squirting from the right into the cup to make your chosen Milo/7-Up/Coffee. Except you don't need any coins! Shiok shiok. But control yourself, or you'll see a belly forming soon.

5) You can claim taxi fares if you do OT. So please do OT almost everyday like I have been doing for the past #@%$#^ 3 weeks.

Busy busy busy

The training at TSS is killing. The 7 of us are bunked in a room and given lectures with deliverables, from 9am to 6pm (it's more 9am - 9pm, at least)

SWT Programming, Socket Programming, JNI Programming UML, DLL creation,C++ MultiThreading, Server Programming, card reader programming... oh man, I'm going to be an expert programmer by the end of the 3 month long intensive training~!

But it's good I've been given a T60 with 2 GB ram to cope with all the programming, I would rather stab myself in my right eye if they want me to work on this slow HP lappie.

And yes, I won't have much time to blog (as you might have probably found out).

I still need time to go out with my dear. =P

Journey to the East - carpool needed

Catch Frank in Journey to the East everyday~!

I got a job @ IBM and I think it's a tad bit crazy already - I'm living in Choa Chu Kang and IBM is at Changi Business Park.

Does anyone have carpool/vanpool/bikepool from the West to the East? Will pay, of course. Call me @ 93830241.

Need more time.

I don't seem to be having time for administrative issues, including blogging and reading blogs~.

Things to do::
1) Process vietnam photos
2) Vietnam Expenses sheet
3) Find job(s)
4) Attend to AWOL charge, due to missing IPPT
5) Commencement

Happenings::
1) Finding a job
2) Going out with Dear
3) Going out with Dear
4) Having time-constrained things happening to me
5) Long overdued meet-ups with friends

Milk shake

Daydream delusion
Limousine Eyelash
Oh, baby with your pretty face
Drop a tear in my wineglass
Look at those big eyes
See what you mean to me
Sweet cakes and Milk shake
I am a delusion angel
I am a fantasy parade
I want you to know what I think
Don't want you to guess anymore
You have no idea where I came from
We have no idea where we're going
Launched in life
Like branches in the river
Flowing downstream
Caught in the current
I'll carry you. You'll carry me
That's how it could be
Don't you know me
Don't you know me by now

-- Before Sunrise

Gym

I find myself in the possession of a California Fitness Gym membership (Raffles Place branch) and a monthly debit of SGD$65 . Zihui also.

Those interested in working out together, please revert.

Yes, I start in June, after I've fattened myself from the Vietnam trip.

Vietnam.

Will be in Vietnam from 8th May to 6th June. Don't miss me too much.

Cities/towns visiting:
Hanoi
Mai Chau
Halong Bay (Bai Chay shore, Tuan Chau island, Thien Cung Caves, Dau Go Grotto)
Hoa Lu
Tam Coc
Sapa (Cat Cat, Sin Chai village + waterfall, Lao Chai village, Ta Van village)
Danang, Hue, Hoi An (Thien Mu pagoda, Perfume River, Dong Ba market, Hai Van pass, Cham's sculptures, Marble Mountains, Pottery Museum)
Mui Ne (Yellow Sand Dunes, Pink Stream)
Saigon (Cu Chi Tunnels, Mekong Delta)
Siem Reap (Angkor Wat)

It's been a long time...

Exams are finally over. 18 years of studies for this one paper. Or is it? In retrospective, what is education? What is the purpose of schooling? Foundation work for a job or the government's tactical policies to keep idling hands from engaging in mischief?

"Here, play with this paper clip while Big Daddy here do more important stuff."

Dun care. Not important. Thing is, another stage of my life is about to start and I think it will be preeetty interesting. Heh.


Anyone who is interested to engage my professional services(?), please contact me on my handphone. Hard labour is possible for the price of SGD$1500 a month - but yes, I'm going to outsource.

And no, I still don't know if I'm getting first class or 2nd upper. Sigh. What a drag.


Updates/To-do:

1) Sprained ankle. The hike will be postponed indefinitely or carried out in Sapa, Vietnam.

2) Need to clear up my harddisk of everything NUS-ish.

3) Finish Bleach. Then delete.

4) Sit down and plan Viet trip.

5) Apply for jobs blah blah..

6) Hit the trail/gym to remove spare tyre.

My most feared and inspiring chinese teacher in RI.

Yong Chai May~~~!

She's a great teacher no doubt, though she sends shivers down my spine each time I see her.

And that's because I'm a lousy student. :p

The end of exams

beckons and I will soon be in Vietnam for my graduation trip. (I wish it sooner, but I'll have to wait a while more.)

Will be traveling with Ivan and Bui (she'll be bringing me around Hanoi++) for the first leg in Hanoi, and my darhling Hippo will meet up with me while I'm in Saigon. Whoopie.

Can't wait for her to bring me around town, savouring all the delights the charming city has to offer. =)

I hope I don't fall in love with the beautiful viet girls in their Ao Dai while I'm there. Life can get a tad bit too exciting if I do. =p

Back on track

... time to work hard for my HYP, just so someone won't hit me anymore.

The things I do to avoid punishments.... sigh.

Funny.

Never.

Never make promises you can't keep.
Never agree to someone when you know it will disappoint another.

Frank's a no good stinkin' bad ass, there's no two ways about it.

Enjoying Singapore

Eugene is almost done with his education, like a few other SoC pple who have only the HYP to settle this semester. He has the e-poster on 7th May and the actual presentation to settle, but he's not terribly into doing a good job ("I don't give a flying f**k") for it - he just need to pass.

After the two 'Sons of Ananda' have informally degraded into the 'Bastards of Ananda' where HYP is concerned, we are rather happy this enstrangled father-son relationship will soon come to a full closure with the end of our HYPs.


"Are you sure you don't want to go Vietnam with me after exams?"

"No lah, I'm staying in Singapore."

"And I still don't understand why. You should go out and look-see-look-see, after all, this is one of the last breaks we have before we start work."

"I'm going to enjoy Singapore"

"Mari Kita rakyat Singapura sama-sama..."

Funny it never struck me how you can really 'enjoy Singapore'.

You can go hang around shopping malls, you can watch movies/plays in theatres, you can eat good food, you can do sea sports, you can take long walks in the suburbans, but I never really considered them as 'enjoying Singapore'. It's more like engaging in pleasurable activities to while your time away. Little delights in your life, but nothing great enough for you to shout out in orgasmic joy.

I like travelling.

Duh, who doesn't.

I like to look at foreign maps and figure out where I am, to give loud sighs and headshakes over how inaccurate the maps are drawn, to get myself lost -_-" and found, to stake out precious gems (eateries, chess-playing hangouts) of the local people, to finally say "aiyah, nothing much lah" when they really are something great. I especially love the 'getting lost and found' part, albeit it MUST come with the condition that you won't die even if you get lost.

Confusing city areas peppered with local eateries are good for the food-factor,
Suburban towns with cultural delights/local produce are great for mind-opening,
rural areas with scenic views are best(but only when there're ACCURATE maps!)


So how do you exactly 'enjoy Singapore'?

I'm not really sure, but I'm going for a hike around the forested areas of Singapore (however pathetic they might be in comparison with the great Amazon jungles) right after my exams. I like long walks with green sceneries. There's this nature trail I want to explore, from Lower Pierce to MacRitchie to Bukit Timah to BKE to Mandai to Seletar.

Who's with me?