Been staying in school till 1am since last week, rushing my CS3216 project. I am gotten so sick of Facebook programming especially having to wait for 10 seconds for the page to load each time I changed something. I think Facebook should have some sort of “offline” Facebook, where we can deploy it on our localhost and test it first before uploading it to a live server.

On Friday, I stayed till about 1am in school, after school went to Li Xiang’s house for supper as she specially prepared the supper for me. After supper, she surprise me with a penguin sewing. I always call her penguin because last time she walked like one. She dare not touch raw meat at all, but after realizing that Bacon is a raw meat, it was kinda too late for anything to be done. LOL

Campbell’s ABC Soup

Chawanmushi

Sausage Wrap With Bacon

Penguin’s Sewing

Thank you dear for the wonderful home cooked supper. I really appreciate it. Looking forward for more home cooked food from you =D

Dell really has great customer service. If you all want to get anything from Dell, do let me know, I will introduce the sales representative from Dell that I bought my monitor from.

My monitor came earlier than I expected in 2 ways:
1. According to Dell Support Order Status page, it was supposed to be delivered to me on the 21st April 2008. However, yesterday, I received a sms as well as an email asking me to confirm the delivery of my monitor on the next day (which is today) and I was so delighted to hear that.
2. My delivery time slot was suppose to be from 2pm to 6pm today, however, I got woken up by the door bell sound at 12.03pm and there is it, the delivery man with my monitor.

Dell 2408WFP Box

Box Has Been Opened

Cables That Come With It

The Monitor Stand Is Separated

Dell 2408WFP Wrapped

My Old Sony 17″ Monitor (SDM-HS73)

My Workspace

Thumbs up to Dell for their great service.

PS: I am seriously loving my 24″ monitor. As what Shaun said in the comments, once you are on 24″, you will never go back down, ever.

Below are the specifications that I planned for my new computer which I am going to get after my exams (mid May 2008):

• Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 + Asus RamPage Formula X48 - SGD$1,368.00
• 2x Crucial Ballistix PC2 6400 2GB (4GB) - SGD$229.00
• 2x WD 500GB 16MB - SGD$294.00
• Leadtek NX9800GX2 1GB HDMI - SGD$888.00
• Sony 20x DVD+-RW (DL / RAM) SATA - SGD$50.00
• CoolerMaster CM690 Casing w/Side Windows - SGD$139.00
• CMaster RealPower Pro 750W 12cm Fan - SGD$199.00
• 2x CoolerMaster LED Silent Fan 12cm - SGD$19.00
• Windows VISTA Home Premium 64bit - SGD$179.00
• Total: SGD$3,365.00

The pricing is dated on 5th April 2008 from Fuwell.

Prior to my ordering of Dell Monitors, my desktop computer crashed after 15 minutes into a demonstration of a 3D application. It always happen when I run 3D applications. But this time after it crashes and reboots, it can’t detect my Ethernet Card (Intel PRO/1000 CT Network Connection) which is embedded on my motherboard. I tried installing drivers but it still does not work. I got quite pissed off with it and hence I formatted my computer. Even after formatting, it still cannot detect my Ethernet Card. I got even more pissed and feel like throwing my computer out of the window or even smashing it with my hands.

I left my computer as it is and went to pick LiXiang up. We went to Jurong Point for dinner and on the way I bought a Linksys Wireless G Adapter (WUSB54G). This is the second time I am buying this adapter. The first time I bought it for my camp and then after I ORDed, I sold it to Laily for half price and now I am buying it again for SGD$59.00.

Went back home and when I was about to fix up my Wireless Adapter, I decided to give my Ethernet Card one last chance. So I installed the drivers again, and to my surprise it works. I have no idea whether to be happy or sad as I just spent $59.00 on the Wireless Adapter and now I do not need it.

But since I am going to move my desktop computer to the living room for my Dad, I guess the Wireless Adapter will come in handy as I do not have a long RJ45 cable.

Placed and confirmed my order for Dell 2408WFP UltraSharp 24 Widescreen Flat Panel Monitor and Dell E228WFP Entry 22 Widescreen Flat Panel Monitor.

The 2408WFP is for myself and it is retailing at SGD$958.72 and the E228WFP is for my brother and it is retailing at SGD$408.74.

I bought both monitors together and hence I got the discount for the 2408WFP which is about SGD$921.67 (after discount and including taxes). The E228WFP still remains at the same price. Overall I paid SGD$1,330.41 for both monitors.

Estimated delivery date is on 21st April 2008.

Disney and Pixar unveiled their complete animated movie line-up from 2008 to 2012 today at a press conference in New York. Featured in their announcement is a diverse and ambitious slate of 13 new animated feature films, most of which will be featured in 3D. As has been the case recently, Disney will be releasing two major animated movies per year - one Pixar and one Disney. Starting in 2009, however, we’ll be treated to 2 Pixar movies per year: 3D versions of Toy Story (in ‘09) and Toy Story 2 (in ‘10) as well as Up (in ‘09) and Toy Story 3 (in ‘10) and Newt and The Bear and the Bow (in ‘11). In addition, Pixar also announced a new movie - Newt - for 2011. Disney also has a promising line-up of their own, including an adaptation of a Philip K. Dick story titled King of the Elves.

• Wall-E - June 27th, 2008
• Bolt - November 26th, 2008 (In 3D)
• Up - May 29th, 2009 (In 3D)
• Toy Story in 3-D - October 2nd, 2009 (In 3D)
• The Princess and the Frog - Christmas 2009 (In 3D)
• Toy Story 2 in 3-D - February 12th, 2010 (In 3D)
• Toy Story 3 - June 18th, 2010 (In 3D)
• Rapunzel - Christmas 2010 (In 3D)
• Pixar’s Newt - Summer 2011 (In 3D)
• The Bear and the Bow - Christmas 2011 (In 3D)
• Cars 2 - Summer 2012 (In 3D)
• King of the Elves - Christmas 2012 (In 3D)

Source: Disney and Pixar’s Full Animated Line-Up Through 2012!

As you may or may not know, “Tube” is the codename for the next S60 touch screen aka iPhone killer from Nokia. The OS behind it is the 5th generation of the S60.

Of course, it has a pretty respectable list of features, starting with a great high resolution (16:9) touch screen, larger than 3" but still smaller than 3,5". Yes it has a camera, a decent auto focus one that is way better than the one that we can find on an iPhone but still not as good as on the latest Nseries devices!

It is a quad band phone that also has a wide range of connectivity options: Bluetooth, uPnP , GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA and WLAN. Furthermore it has built in GPS and will support geottaging. All of this is even more impressive considering that all of these features are packed into relatively small and compact body with size of “_ _ _ _”. I’ll only say that it is similar in size to the Nokia N73 but it is maybe a little bit wider. One more thing, NO, there is no multi touch and YES there is tactility feedback!

Check out the source for the video and more information.

Source: Symbian Freak: latest update on the hotly anticipated Nokia Tube
Source: Symbian Freak: “Tube” is the code name of upcoming Nokia’s iPhone killer

Caught Untraceable last week at GV VivoCity. Took 2 hours off to relax myself. Been so busy with my school nowdays.

I heard mix reviews about the movie, but personally I love Untraceable. I love all those technology stuff that they mentioned in the movie. Like TTL value, botnet, etc. I hope there is more of these type of movies.

Here is the plot:

Untraceable is a 2008 thriller film which stars Diane Lane, Joseph Cross, Billy Burke, and Colin Hanks. It was directed by Gregory Hoblit and is distributed by Screen Gems. The film is a social commentary on Internet schadenfreude.

Set in Portland, Oregon, the film involves a serial killer who rigs contraptions that kill his victims based on the number of hits received by a website (”www.killwithme.com”) that features a live streaming video of the victim. Millions of people log on, hastening the victims’ violent deaths. Lane plays the protagonist, a cybercop named Jennifer Marsh, who pieces the mystery together, at great risk to the personal well-being of herself and her family.

Source: Wikipedia

But I am wondering why not block the domain, www.killwithme.com, at ISP level? I have been wondering that all the while after the movie.

Just for fun, you can refer to the domain that is mentioned in the movie, Kill With Me.

I have been interviewed by The Pakistani Spectator

Would you please tell us something about you and your site?

My name is Lester, I am currently 24 this year, studying in National University of Singapore. Majoring in Information Systems. My site http://lesterchan.net started out as one of my assignment for one of my colleges module. As time goes by, I changed it along the way and now it has become my personal site and the based for my WordPress Plugins.

You can read the full interview transcript here.

Yesterday, 3rd April 2008, I was invited by Ian Tan from Microsoft to a private Xbox 360 Anniversary Party at The Screening Room (Theatre). That was my 2nd time I have been to The Screening Room.

Publishers such as EA, Atari, LucasArts, THQ, Namco Bandai, Rockstar, and Team Ninja were there to give us a sneak peak of their upcoming games. What we see are mostly confidential and hence no photos or videos can be taken.

The following games were presented to us in either actual in-game demo or trailers:

1. Ninja Gaiden II by Team Ninja (Official) (Gamespot)
2. Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit by Namco Bandai (Official) (Gamespot)
3. Destroy All Humans! Path of the Furon by THQ (Official) (Gamespot)
4. Alone In The Dark by Atari (Official) (Gamespot)
5. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed by LucasArts (Official) (Gamespot)
6. Facebreaker by EA (Official) (Gamespot)
7. UEFA Euro 2008 by EA (Official) (Gamespot)
8. Dead Space by EA (Official) (Gamespot)
9. Mirrors Edge by EA (Official) (Gamespot)
10. Grand Theft Auto IV by Rockstar (Official) (Gamespot)

Release Dates

• Most of the games mentioned above are going to be released between late May 2008 and June 2008.
• According to the LucasArts spokesperson, he said that this is the first time they announced the released date of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, and here they are:
  • 16th September 2008 in the United States.
  • 17th September 2008 in Asia Pacific
  • 19th September 2008 in Europe.
• GTA IV will be released on the 29th April 2008 and it will come to Singapore this time as MDA has a new rating system for games soon.

As this is a private party, they split us into 4 groups (Rockstar, Covenant, Ninja and Ghost) for us to compete in 3 games (Bomberman, Guitar Hero III and Project Gotham Racing 4). Sabrina, Eunice (did not really get her name), Nicholas/Aaron and I are in Rockstar.We came in first only in Bomberman but loses out in Guitar Hero III and Project Gotham Racing 4. But nevertheless, it was fun and stressful at the same time. TeamNinja won. I also saw U-Zyn there.

The lucky number 12 belongs to Farinelli was called for the lucky draw and he won an Xbox 360 (Halo 3 Special Edition). But my number was 3, sigh.

The goodies bag was good, 2 t-shirts, and 1 black wireless Xbox 360 controller.

Now I got both the controller and the Xbox 360 game which I won from a lucky draw during Premix 2007. What I lack now is an Xbox 360. Hopefully I can get a discounted version straight from Microsoft, keeping my fingers cross.

I enjoyed myself at the party even though I got a Maths test today! The food is good too. I just love the mini burger (it is really small) which cost like $12 for 2 if you order it from the alacarte. I ate at least 10 yesterday.

Can’t wait for the 3rd anniversary or the next event. I hope they will have something like this also but for PC games.

Kudos to the Xbox 360 team and event organiser for a successful event and thanks to Ian for the invite. Looking forward to the next one. =D

Here are some pictures from the event official photographer:

Nice Sofa Where We Played PGR4 And Bomberman

Food! The Mini Burger Rocks

Me And Another Guy (Didn’t Catch His Name) Chatting With Oli Pettigrew (Host) On The Right

Individual Birthday Cakes

Our Group Photo

I have uploaded all the photos that are released to us to Facebook Photo Album.