ACTIVELY BEING IRRESPONSIBLE

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Originally uploaded by ycjoo.

Fly fly! See my tail stuck to a rock! Today's the last of my langkawi trip. Didn't go explore to many places but we did went up the cable car though. One helluva scary ride. Don't worry guys, something for everyone from me ;)

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Originally uploaded by ycjoo.

After some 400km plus journey from kl to kuala perlis and a brief rain that left 6 of us slightly soaked, we are finally in the boat at 7.30am morning of 2nd of Nov heading towards Langkawi, the island of fables and legends. This is going to be a most fun trip!

Ok, had enough of rushing already for the month. So many projects and to do's and so little time. Of course, it doesn't really help either when I have so many more other distractions.

Some rants:

Motorola (E398 & C380)
Sound - Can't stop the media player. Had to release the player and create a new one in order to play again
Graphics - Sharper than Nokia's because of active panel LCD. Can't get fullscreen on C380...only get 128x116 O_o
Connectivity - E398 only support PUSH object. That also it didn't generate a jad to accomodate my icon. C380's even worse, had to OTA download everytime you wanna test it.
Speed - E398's pretty good, C380's slightly better than N40's
Memory - E398 definitely has enough memory. C380's slightly more accomodateable than N40's

Sony Ericsson (T610 & K700)
Sound - Both plays midi - cool. I had to cheat in T610 to get it to stop/pause/sync correctly using MMAPI although in the end, I used the system time to sync for everyone. K700's fine.
Graphics - T610 has very smoky graphics. Colours were blander than the K700
Connectivity - Both has bluetooth. Cool~! I can even make them output my error messages to my comp. Double Cool~!
Speed - T610 = turtle among turtles. Even more turtle than N40's (like 6100)
Memory - Both features adequate memory but T610 has a problem of how fast it is accessing them O_o

Samsung (E600, E630, E810)
Sound - MMF sounds really good on all the machines. Though in a Java app, they have a limitation of only 10K (lower end phones)
Graphics - The E810 has the best graphics among them. E600 suffers from dull screen (I suspect is the dust cover..) and the E630 has grainy pictures.
Connectivity - Ewww, and that's to say the least. Cannot upload from computer even though they have IR connection. There is a way for the E600 but I deem it too 'hacky'.
Speed - They're alright I guess. Haven't really strain them to their capacity.
Memory - Ample and doesn't seem to have much problem releasing and acquiring

Nokia (3650, N-Gage, 6600) - The Problematic Trio
Sound - They can all play midi that's for sure. The player to play them all CORRECTLY, now there's a challenge. Had to go back to the drawing board couple of times to get this right esp for a timing critical app like my Mobile Karaoke.
Graphics - Non active display panel = teh suXors. 3650's keypad layout = mind boggling. N-Gage's OS is kinda outdated and only has 3 colours for its menu (wtf?)
Connectivity - All of em has bluetooth. Good thing too coz I don't want to spend too much time on these oudated machines
Speed - Gah, the threads sometimes unsync themselves while loading. Speed is there, just barely controllable.
Memory - Lots of it. That's the good part. Leaking. That's the bad part o_O

Next week is another challenging week for me... Call an ambulance if you don't see me posting anything within 5 days.

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Originally uploaded by ycjoo.

Found this little gem parked not 10 meters away from my car. While I do like cars, I hate it depreciating the day I buy it. Not a very prudent investment plan and not a very convenient way to show off that one has a lot of money either.



There few weeks had been tough on me. Particularly about work. Took me a lot of sleepness nights and a lot of thinking and calculating to get that midi reader to do what I want it to do, and a few more sleepness to get the gui right for my mobile karaoke to look the way I want it to look too. I've been doing core programming for sometime now so my gui design skills are a bit rusty. Thank goodness it all turned out well. Now if I can just cross that minor hurdle that is the dreaded T610 and its inability to sync sound and timing together.

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Originally uploaded by ycjoo.

Something to amaze my uninitiated friend lol

A lady in traditional costume travelling in the countryside.

Two parts:
The foreground
Lady potraying the "virgin" look by the way she cocked her head, the way she lifts up her dress a bit to prevent it from being dirtied, the way she held her cloak, the way she ties her hair, and the slightest hint of lip colouring that contrasted with her fair skin. Clad in non descript brown and purple, she looks like the flower of a village on the way back to her home.

The background
The lady is in a by the coutry beside a river or a waterfall within a thick conifer forest in a valley. Time is actually about 2-3pm (check her shadows) but colour of the picture is toned towards that of dusk time to match her costume.

Picture balance
Lady slight off to right side of the picture. Emphasizes where she is looking at the moment while giving ample room to show off the background. Background goes on to about 7 layers. Lady on the steep side of the rock gives the viewer the feeling of the lady is only stopping for a while before moving forward towards wherever she was looking at. You are almost expected to hear water gushing sounds and feel some water droplets spraying on your cheeks as you watch her. You will also think that she will look this way anytime now when she feels your presence.

I still remembered back in 2004 when this show was first shown in Malaysia in Astro. I came back one day and saw my mom watching this peculiar show and she said that it was new and very interesting. I dismissed it as just a regular Korean drama that was filled with tears and some very contemporary and unconventional story. Boy was I ever so wrong!




This is a story mainly about a girl in medieval Korea that tried very hard to achieve what she wanted and strived to become the first female emperor's doctor. In the time when the world considers women as the weaker sex and all the females in the palace belongs to the emperor, this is an epic tale of girl trying to clear her mom's reputation, weaving around the conspiracy and deceit within the palace, friendship and untainted true love.

The acting in this drama was superb to say the least. The characters development are really deep and you really feel the deep resentment and regret when Lady Choe turned from being a young and naive internal worker to a murderer later. Also for Geum-Ying where you could not help but to think she is one of the good guys in the beginning. Throughout the show, you can't help but develop feelings for the characters. The deep hate and anger that Jang Geum feels when she was betrayed by her friends, the untainted and traditional love (although not too plausible) of Jang Geum and the male lead, the simple joys of being in a family with Jang Geum's adopted father and mother and the feeling of being rewarded when all of Jang Geum's hard work and determination paid off.



The show was a whole phenomenon that sweep across Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Canada, Chicago and Japan. In Hong Kong, it was the best performing foreign show with 40% ratings. It even had a "special edition" where they will showcase the many places, cultures and food/herbs in Korea that is presented in the show that might not be general knowledge to people outside of Korea.

Of course, the fans loved the female actress, Lee Young Ae, who is actually a veteran in the drama series first appearing on TV on 1993 and then regularly by 1995 in dramas as well as movies. She has the girl-next-door look and I would say that she is very very attractive even though she is already in her 30's. Strange enough, I share the same birthday as her, although 9 years removed apart. I also share the same blood type :P OK, I am getting creepy here. Currently this show has more impact to me than say, Star Trek:Voyager, my previous feel-good-inside fuel.

The most anticipated video of the year among hardcore gamers is out! FF VII (the game) came out in the year 1997 for Sony's Playstation™ and it surged up the charts to become one of the most memorable and beloved RPG game ever produced by Square Enix (Squaresoft back then).

You can get the movie either in the form of UMD (optical discs playable in Sony's PSP™) or DVD. Which one did I view? None. The only version that is out is the Japan only version. Being a typical Malaysian, I couldn't wait for the North American release and went to download a fan-subbed version found on the net. Alright, I 'fess up, I am a cheapo. Now on to the review!

The story takes place 2 years after Cloud and his friends defeated Sephiroth in a final battle that saw the planet's hidden energies, called Lifestream, stopped an earth-shattering meteorite summoned from space in the game. Everybody was supposed to live happiy ever after. Or so they all say.

Humans living on the now shattered planet began their long aching journey of recuperation. Cities were rebuilt, although they have left their old capital Midgar alone. But people were overcome with sadness. The Geostigma Symndrome. Even Cloud is affected by it, generating pain whenever he does battle using his inhuman speed, prowess and strength (to wield that freaking huge sword of his).


Hoorah to CG and big boobs! Tifa Lockhart on the phone

Tifa (friend of Cloud's, secret admirer) and the rest of the troop were leading separate lives and it was at the height of the spread of the myterious epidemic that 3 mysterious figures showed up. Kadaj, their leader, was going around intimidating people while looking for his 'Mother'. Of course, the 'Mother' that he was looking for was somehow related to the origins of Sephiroth and Cloud's existence. Project JENOVA. An inevitable clash is about to happen.


More sword than you can shake your stick at

Interestingly, Square Enix decides that this show is made in such a way that if you did not play the game (or at least hear your friends talking about it), it will be hard for a viewer to understand. There are some flashbacks and story telling involved but given the nature of confusing Japanese thinking, it only served to confuse the not-so-initiated viewer. There's very little talking in the first place to begin with.


...and one large Super Supreme. Make it pronto!

For the hardcore gamers however, this is THE show that you must watch this year. It will bring back memories of that fondly game we played back in 1997 during our younger years. Apart from the mind blowing CG, the viewer will be on the edge of his seat trying to consume the information presented (while trying hard to recall the 8 year old game) and be awed by the immensely complicated and seemingly unreal(but well choreographed) battles using swords, guns and *drools* big-ass cybercycles.

Watch this if you played the game. Watch this if you didn't play the game but you loved Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (FF:TSW). Watch this if you don't understand FF:TSW but you loved Aki Ross and the CG.

*There will be a surprise near the end as Square Enix rediscovers its roots at the art of making really scary and powerful villians that send chills down your spines.


Estuan Interius Iras Ne Vehementi!

Ok this pretty much describes me...