The Excitement of Oracle Open World 2010

There are just 20 days leading to this year's Oracle OpenWorld - an event which is extremely famous for bringing in the hottest rock stars (and the latest technology of course)!

We have seen smash hits from Aerosmith and Roger Daltrey, to celebs like Billy Joel and Elton John!  Last year, we even had California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger joined Oracle CEO Larry Ellison in his keynote!  

It is, I have to say proudly and undoubtedly the funkiest event in the whole I.T. industry and I tell you this year's line up will be equally staggering: with Grammy Award Winners the Black Eyed Peas and Eagles co-founder Don Henley as headline acts. 

Free flow of food and drinks, everyone's going to be there on Treasury Island, it's basically THE networking party not to be missed.   Last year, the best line came from Aerosmith, they stopped between songs to ask the audience,

"What's the difference between Windows and viruses?   Viruses keep getting better."

LOL...

"What's it like to be in Oracle?"

Well, the thing is, the majority of Oracle employees were not invited to that event, so he could hardly get an answer from the audience!   In fact, only the board members and C-levels were there, along with a smattering of salespeople who were told to close anything they could, even if the customer has had a few beer and was on the ferris wheel!

Man, that's just insanely unfair.  

I am going to hold on to my wristband tightly, behave well and try to be extremely good to the security guards.  Let's see if I can get a back-stage glimpse of it all this year.   

I've Never Abandoned You

I have 2 TAG Heuer watches which I wear to work alternatively and they have been my reliable, down-to-earth servant of time for nearly a decade.  

Both of them have an end-of-battery-life indicator, which plays its role by instructing the second-hand jump in 4-second intervals rather than 1 whenever its battery runs low.  The time displayed, however, will usually remain accurate for a few weeks before it goes totally dead.  I think this is a really neat invention unique from the watch maker. 

It's written in their manual though, when we are leaving any of their quartz watches idle, we can actually prolong their battery life by unscrewing and pulling the crown out, which was what I did for the second TAG I have. 

Both of them decided to go on strike today, I have to blame them for causing a meeting delay I had!

Right.  Listen folks, I am mad at you and I have just decided I am not going to replace your batteries for now.  I am going back to my old mechanical friend, leaving you two to weep in jail boxes!

Hong Kong Is Angry

80,000 took it to the streets today.  

My father asked my Filipino maid at home, her feeling about this tragedy.

"I feel really bad. It’s sad that a fellow Filipino would do that," tears began to rush out from her eyes as she replied. 

My dad, for the first time, expressed his anger on this matter and put it really neatly.

"You know what, I have visited The Phillippines 3 times in my entire life, I have liked that place a lot, but I don't think I will ever forgive those that allowed what has happened.  Sorry, but I don't think I will ever be able to visit your home town for the rest of my life!"

A hungry man is an angry man. This time the cause was, rather different.

Why can't I cry?

You can't really deny that women do, on average, cry more than men.

Could that be because MEN AREN'T ALLOWED TO?

I'm definitely not one of those who believes that crying is a weakness to be hidden (applying to both sexes).  I am just not remembering when was the last time I shed a tear.  

Why can't I cry?  (rhetorical....I know no one has the answer)

Thankfully, I have laughter, or I might as well just go insane! 

The Anti Shoe

MBT refused to call it a shoe as they believe shoes are against human nature.  Their shoes all have these characteristics:

• soles are ultra thick and curved
  
• they rock happily and not meant to create stability at all
  
• they will activate your muscles instead of undermining them

In other words, they are saying it is the anti-thesis of a shoe!

On first site, their trainers look like the sort of thing you need to wear if one of your legs is shorter than the other, aren't they?  

BUT...

MBT is telling us that you can get a workout just by wearing and walking (and even standing upright) with their shoes.  That alone can tone your body, improve posture and ease back pain.

It all sounds crazily good to be true. 

Very tempted.  Has anyone tried?  Do they really work?

Valediction in emails

In secondary school, we were taught that if we know the person, we use "Yours sincerely", and if we don't, we should use "Yours faithfully" at the end of a business letter.  Remember those rules?  


In any given work day, I find 30% of my hours consists of writing and responding to emails and so I slip into a routine of using the same finishing line in all my business related email correspondences.  Not that it matters that much what I put, I just don't think people care nowadays or would consciously read it. 

Recently though, I have been paying attention on how others choose to end their emails. 

They range from:

"thanks", 
"best regards", "Best Regards","BR",
"Regards", "rgds",
"cheers", 

to complex concoctions like:

"Thanks and best wishes" 

and...the most erupted way to end goes to "Best" - I guess that would be the internet-inspired, short for "Best Regards"?!

How do you end yours?  Enlighten me if you have any wicked ones you've come across. 







 

Live Strong. Mrs Leung.

There are many Mrs Leung in Hong Kong, but there is one which everyone talked about in town in the last few days. 

The majority of us don't know her in person, but are touched by her helpless situation and we feel quite helplessly useless, not being able to offer any form of assistance at all.

For the benefit of those who didn't catch the news, a former police officer who was upset at having lost his job took hostage a busload of tourists from Hong Kong in Manila on Monday, killing eight of them before he himself was shot dead.

Mrs Leung, one of the few survivors of the dramatic hostage siege, told the media her husband was killed as he tried to stop the gunman from attacking other passengers.

"I actually really wanted to die with him. But one of us need to look after the children, so I pretend dead in the bus," she said in tears. 

It was only later, that she found out 2 of her girls were dead with her husband in the ordeal and her son, aged 18, is still critically injured in ICU. 

To Mrs. Leung, 

I want to say that the act of your husband was a natural reflection of his wish that you have to live well, and live twice as strong too - on behalf of his. 


You have all of our spiritual support from all corners of the globe.  We are all very proud of your husband's bravery. 

As for us, there's probably enough anger and rage on the social media floating around already.  Let's stop the finger pointing and try to learn something from this incident perhaps by bringing love and peace to this world we are living in.
   

I Age Faster Than Wine

If you feel like you can’t drink the way you used to, well, I tell ya, you are not alone.

I was being reminded that old people like me metabolize alcohol more slowly, and we also have less water in our bodies. 

The result is that an adult who consumes just a few glasses of wine will have a higher percentage of alcohol in his or her blood than his or her younger self a few years back when drinking the same thing.

Ah...no wonder why I start feeling tipsy sooner after consuming alcohol, even my drinking habit is more or less the same. 

Man...I am aging fast and I don't like it.

Good Morning G

In the early hours, before everyone started rushing into the office, I used to meet this diligent cleaning woman in her sixties, and she would always welcome my day with a huge smile and a warm good morning greeting.  I would return with a "Good morning, G", and asked how she has been.  The speed of my typing was often baffled by the ultra efficiency in her cleaning job. 

We have been making that sort of friendly bashes for months and in the last week or so, I have not seen her and today, I saw a lady performing what ought to be G's task.  I asked for G's where about and the lady told me she has been really ill.

Apparently, G has been working too hard on several jobs a day and suffered from exhaustion. 

That news really broke my heart.  I felt I have known G better than a lot of my existing colleagues and I can feel a special closeness to her.  She once told me she really loves her job, but not until this moment, that I realized she didn't really love it.  I mean, who would love to be a cleaner in her sixties?  Surely, she NEEDED that job for a living!

I would hate to think of what my office would look like if it weren't for the janitorial staff.   Respect!




 

A Blink In Time

There are two types of non-fiction books I enjoy reading the most: those written by an eminent specialist summarizing the current state of his or her field like Jamie Oliver's, Donna Ray's cookbook series.  They can be a sheer pleasure just flipping the pages!

And those written by a journalist, tracking a particular idea, crossing the boundaries of disciplines when required by the pursuit.  A nonetheless, very inspiring and informational stuff.  Joyful enough to read almost any time. 

Malcolm Gladwell's Blink is a bravura example of the latter sort of book.  After Outliers, I am on to his second book in his career - Blink. 

Here's my take of Blink in a nutshell:

Split decisions can be good and even better than decisions where we take a lot of time to carefully weigh our options and use scientific evidence. 

In other words: Save your brain cells.  Forget about all the analysis.  Just do it.  


Just think about that for a second - It's the thinking of not thinking.  I am liking the sound of it. 

A Font That's Truly Yours

Can you still recall some of your mates' handwriting back in your school days?

I remembered some of mine were envy of the crowd who possessed the most neat and recognizable copybook style of writing, while some, on the contrary, carried a very recognizable flair. 

Whatever style you have, it's unique and says a lot about you.  Despite the widespread use of word processing and emailing, there are still instances where you'd prefer to deliver or receive a hand-written note isn't it?

Pilot - the pen maker has come up with something really wicked - an app which I think ought to have come out a long time ago.  They have a free web service that can transform your own handwriting into a font you can use to send out personalized emails.

I guess apart from your old schoolmates, none of your friends who you came to know in recent years would have seen your scribbling. 

Take a look at this short video which shows you how to actually go about it. You'd love it. 

Cool Pencil Sculptures

For most of us, pencil is just a tool used for drawing and scribbling and I bet many of you might not even have one easily within reach these days.  

I do.  Call me old-fashioned but I still quite enjoy the exercise of sharpening my pencils to my liking, certainly not to the extent of Artist Dalton Ghetti's work of art though  - which really amazes me. 

It took Dalton about 2.5 years to complete his best-known work, "Alphabet" above - a set of 26 pencils with each letter of the alphabet carved into the tip of the graphite.

A crooked brain he is, but aren't they cool or what?

Ciao! Mobile Phone

He committed no crime,
but was sent behind doors.  

He has been nice and loyal to his master,
yet he was granted the shortest life span amongst his master's family members.  

It's hard to let go of something so beautiful, 
but it's time I find you a new owner while you are still young and useful.  

 

How Do You Like Your Frangelico?

My friend had to get the ladies' butt to her place for a get-together and somehow, I told her bribery with liqueur would always work.  And yes it worked flawlessly!

I don't usually drink creamy stuff but hey, I tried Frangelico straight up after dinner, on the rocks when chilling, and then someone mixed the hazelnut liqueur with Baileys Irish Cream and...yum some more!

Thanks Leanne for the recommendation and Rob for suggesting I should try as an added shot to my coffee next time.  

You know what, I think pouring it on some vanilla ice cream would be drooling too wouldn't it?

The Most Bizarre Parking Fine

Speeding is, without question - no excuse whatsoever.   

Say if you are late by 15 minutes in an hour parking limit, I think it's fair to give you a fine - law was broken and you deserve it.   

My friend got fined for parking rear to curb instead of front to curb (90 degree parking) in Sydney.

In any given circumstances, I would have thought it is much more dangerous reversing into any road than Back-in/Pull out forward facing the traffic isn't it?

Now, please can anyone explain to me in plain logic what is so wrong with that?  A fault that deserved a AUS$90 fine?  

When you figure out, let me know. I'm at the moment, as clueless as you are.

5 out of the 100 other things I did in Sydney (Part 5 of 5)

# 5 Strolled Around & Took every possible angle of the Opera House

One of my favourite things to do when I travel is to be able to walk around with a map and a camera.  

With sensational weather, it is hard not to get filled with the relaxed excitement that surrounds this city.   

I realized no one seems to rush here and that the harbour has a certain magic that drains the tension from my muscles.  Undoubtedly more enchanting at night with the renowened Sydney Opera House sitting at the back - its daring architecture really sets it apart from all others.  

I think I have taken photos of this marvellous architecture from every angle possible.  Got a bit sick of it at the very end of my trip! 

5 out of the 100 other things I did in Sydney (Part 4 of 5)

# 4 Met with native

Your kids will absolutely adore the Aussie locals.  

I certainly had lots of fun meeting Mr. Kangaroo & Mrs. Wallaby.  Up close and personal with the ugliest Wombat, the cuddly Tasmanian Devil (outside of Warner Brothers) and the laughing Kookaburra (a bit hysterical).  

I also came across a Koala that wasn't sleeping (I was told they sleep 23.99 hours a day cuz they are constantly OD).   

As a bonus track - How would I have guessed I was able to meet Melman from Madagascar inside the Taronga Zoo in Sydney?   He's looking quite happy in there, not missing his dear friends from Central Park then huh?

5 out of the 100 other things I did in Sydney (Part 3 of 5)

# 3  Hung out on the beaches

Sydney has bright sunny days even during winter and I was extremely lucky to be hit by the Sun whenever I was out and about. 

No visit to Sydney is complete without a day out at the beach and I guaranteed mine was ultra complete as I went three times!  

Here are 3 of my best shots taken at Bondi & Balmoral.

If there was a world championship for the best beaches, I personally think New South Wales and its beaches such as Bondi Beach, or the Northern Beaches would be disqualified on grounds of unfair advantage. 

5 out of the 100 other things I did in Sydney (Part 2 of 5)

# 2  Sampled Gourmet Food & Drinks

I found the arrogance so frustrating in Australia's rugby players and cricketers has started to infect the food scene. 

Sydney to me, could well be the best place to eat in the world right now, and knows it.

To foreign tourist like me, eating at top-end restaurants, particularly around the harbour, is no longer extraordinarily good value (esp with the freakingly weak dollar).  But I would say it is still a lot cheaper than London or Hong Kong, and, culinarily speaking, more exciting.   

For that, thanks to an over-supply of excellent chefs, the outstanding quality of fresh produce and a proud multiculturalism down under.  

Dare not weigh myself, but I think I could have easily put on at least 1kg in the last 5 days since I've been here.  

5 out of the 100 other things I did in Sydney (Part 1 of 5)

Sydney sightseeing, the must-go places, romantic places and the fun things to do - been there, done that. 

What I am going to do here, is to reflect on the top 5 most memorable things that happened, in what looked like a seemingly short trip.  
 
It will be my take on the "What makes Sydney so…Sydney".


# 1  Caught up with long lost friends

 
After high school, do you still keep in touch with your "kinda friends" or just your best friends?

My trip would not be complete if it wasn't about extending my stay and meeting some of my long lost friends.  It was so good to catch up the past decade with my primary school classmates!  The time we had was just never quite enough to cover the rolls and rolls of snapshots taken in each of the stages in our lives.  

So...Technology does bring us closer together. Kudos Facebook. 

 

Diagnosis: Climatic Confusion

How many times have you heard the weatherman say:

• Worst storm in history
• Worst flood in past 100 years
• Unprecedented ------- [fill in the blanks]
• 500-year Flood
• Unbelievable ----- [fill in the blanks]
• Unexplainable --- [fill in the blanks]

Mother nature is playing a very evil hand at the moment: Russia has endured a lethal heatwave -  burning; Pakistan has been hit by catastrophic flood -  drowning. 

The dangers have been becoming apparent for a generation and now the facts have started to speak.

Unless we combine to take decisive action, climate change will ravage our planet and with it our prosperity and security. 

We can lend a hand instantaneously by becoming more energy efficient, conserving and limiting our use of oil, gasoline and coal can set an example for others to pursue.

You and I and everyone else can contribute to this global cause by taking personal measures NOW.  

What's The Odds of 18 Over For A Pro?

A shocking title for all golfers out there:  The world’s No. 1 player looked woefully beaten as he topped his career-worst at Firestone, shooting a 77, and finished at +18!

“Shooting 18-over par is not fun,” Woods said. 

“I don’t see how it can be fun shooting 18 over.”

Exactly.  He came a dismal second last and this was amateur stuff!

May be it's time to hand over the reign and there goes the end to the Tiger era.

You Want To Kill Those Silently Running Apps

After a week of fiddling with the iPhone 4's new iOS 4, the HD video, the retina display and the multitasking features - all of which I have had fun playing with, the battery life however, is the one thing that I moan about. 

Here's an important tip I want to share with all you users out there to get the most out of your battery life if you haven't already known.  

Certain apps consume a lot of power even when they are running silently in the background, say the Whatsapp, msn instant messenger, internet browsers etc and you want to minimize those. 

To kill those tasks, double tap the home button then find the bottom row icon and hold it for a second. You will then see all the running tasks which can be killed by tapping the "X" on top left corner.  You will be surprised how many just sit there waving at you!

I tried and that really did make a huge difference to my battery life. See what you think. 

An August Day in Sydney

Each year, the winemakers of Mudgee would bring their fabulous award-winning wines to Sydney at the famous Mudgee Wine and Food Fair. 

My friend lives literally just minutes away from the exciting venue which is located at picturesque Balmoral Beach.  We were so lucky to get to sample the delights without the need to travel!  The wines came to us instead!  How fab can one get?

Well, it could only get better as the day was pleasantly filled with sunshine - I nearly forgot August is indeed winter time in Sydney!

Great insight gained in the perception of Australian wineries and the 2 that stood out after some dozens of sips in the fair were:

Peterson's Viognier & Cooks Lot's Pinot Gris.

Absolutely gorgeous wine tasting experience I had today.  I should consider living in Sydney!

La Sonnambula

Very grateful of the opportunity presented to go enjoy a fabulous night of Italian opera at the renowned Opera House in Sydney.  It was just the thing to do and "The" place to be in the world for a gloriously beautiful opera night out. 

La Sonnambula (The Sleepwalker) is an opera with a story briefly told: Amina is engaged to Elvino, but one night she is discovered in the bedroom of another man, and Elvino breaks off the marriage plans.  It is then revealed that Amina is a sleepwalker, and had wandered into the forbidden bedroom on one of her nocturnal walks.  The marriage plans are then restored, and they live happily ever after.  

That’s it.  

Straight forward story with some spectacular singing.  Absolutely fab.

God bless Italy.

Exchange Rate Madness

USA is probably the poorest country in the World (if you include the national debt they have)!

What can we do when we have our currency pegged with the US Dollar?  I can't get any sense that it is going to get better by the look of the weakness against other foreign currencies I have exchanged recently. 

I guess pretty soon the Kleenex you blow your nose on will be worth more than the dollar!   It's pure madness!

Minion Mania

Absolutely loved Despicable Me.  I am very sure these little cuties named Minions from the movie will be shelving the toy stores very soon.

Go watch it if you haven't.  If you think Toy Story 3 was good, this will be even better!

Have trouble communicating with them?  You can get this Despicable Me Minion Translator on your iPhone and use this Minionator to translate every hilarious word the Minions say. 

My Digital Mom

It's no surprise the younger generation is forming strong attachment to electronic mobile devices these days - rather easily.  

We therefore have to be extra careful not to love gadgets like iPhone more than our mothers - that I am very cautious of. 

No matter how busy I am with work (or with social networking), I made sure no checking of messages from phones during my family meals.

When I got my IPhone 4 yesterday, I showed my 65-year old mother a few apps and with the interface being so intuitive, she had a go at navigating with the touch-screen technology, jumping in and out of the "Home" button on her own.  You should look at her face, it was like a kid with a new toy (my new toy actually)!

I don't love my phone more than my mother, but my mother certainly loves the phone more than I do.  

"Get me one of these", she said.   

Time to finally get that iPhone?

When iPhone was introduced 3 years ago, I found it tempting but there were just enough features and capabilities missing that held me off from getting one.

I wasn't alone in that wait, and that certainly doesn't mean the first-generation iPhone didn't sell well.

Regardless of whether you stood in line on the launch day or you chose to sit the first 3 rounds out, iPhone 4 certainly has tongues wagging everywhere.

If everyone's using it and hardly anyone switched back to their old phones, there must be beauty in it, right? 

After years of resistance,  I am finally converted!

Please tell me I made the right choice!

UNO

Everything you find in toy stores are now with Toy Story 3 wrapping, including the all-time favourite UNO card game.   

Well, should be really fun to play UNO with kids - to infinity and beyond with Woody, Buzz and the toys.  What a great idea!

Gotta beware of the special Lotso card though, as you never know if he's good or bad!

Tempo's Face-lift

The manufacturer has decided to give the good old blue packaging of the Tempo pocket tissues a face-lift!

Not quite sure what key messages they want to convey with the associated brand-look-alikes.  Did their marketing folks want us to believe Tempo petit is a trendy item to be carrying with (for as long as IXUS, NDS and iPhone shall live)?!

I don't actually know of anyone who collect pocket tissues, but the refreshing look of the product has sure caught my attention - available for a limited time only.