Hold for applause… fade out ….

Despite all the controversies and his eccentric behavior, most people won’t deny that Michael Jackson is one of the most talented musicians in the world. I myself is a fan of his since I watched his “Black and White” video clip on TV back some time ago in the 90’s. I must confess though that I haven’t been following his news for quite some time and so, his death really came as a blow. It was so sudden and so sad, especially because he is in the middle of preparing for his comeback, which is supposed to be ‘the’ show after years of his absence.

I’m trying not to make a fuss about it, but can’t help it after I watched his last rehearsal video. It doesn’t look like it’s going to be as good as his previous concerts, but considering that he’s now 50, I think it would be something definitely worth watching. So, in the video, after the dance an unseen director said, “Hold for applause… hold for applause… slow umbrella, fade out!” and I noticed, before the light was dimmed, Michael smiled… satisfied with the rehearsal, perhaps…. Some people said that it was a grimace, but nevertheles… it’s heartbreaking to realize that the applause he waited might not come in the way that he’d expected…..

God bless you, MJ….

Understanding Engineers

Got this joke from a friend, very funny.  

One:
To the optimist, the glass is half full.
To the pessimist, the glass is half empty.
To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

Two:
A priest, a doctor and an engineer were waiting one morning for a particularly slow group of golfers.
The engineer fumed, “What’s with those blokes? We must have been waiting for fifteen minutes!”
The doctor chimed in, “I don’t know, but I’ve never seen such inept golf!”
The priest said, “Here comes the greenkeeper. Let’s have a word with him.”
He said, “Hello, George! What’s wrong with that group ahead of us? They’re rather slow, aren’t they?”
The greenkeeper replied, “Oh, yes. That’s a group of blind fire-fighters. They lost their sight saving our clubhouse from a fire last year, so we always let them play for free anytime.”
The group fell silent for a moment. The priest said, “That’s so sad. I think I will say a special prayer for them tonight.”
The doctor said, “Good idea. I’m going to contact my ophthalmologist colleague and see if there’s anything he can do for them.”
The engineer said, “Why can’t they play at night?”

Three:
The graduate with a science degree asks, “Why does it work?”
The graduate with an engineering degree asks, “How does it work?”
The graduate with an accounting degree asks, “How much will it cost?”
The graduate with an arts degree asks, “Do you want fries with that?”

Four:
Normal people believe that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Engineers believe that if it ain’t broke, it doesn’t have enough features yet.

Five:
An engineer was crossing a road one day, when a frog called out to him and said, “If you kiss me, I’ll turn into a beautiful princess.”
He bent over, picked up the frog and put it in his pocket.
The frog spoke up again and said, “If you kiss me and turn me back into a beautiful princess, I will stay with you for one week.”
The engineer took the frog out of his pocket, smiled at it and returned it to the pocket.
The frog then cried out, “If you kiss me and turn me back into a princess, I’ll stay with you for one week and do ANYTHING you want.”
Again, the engineer took the frog out, smiled at it and put it back into his pocket.
Finally, the frog asked, “What’s the matter? I’ve told you I’m a beautiful princess and that I’ll stay with you for one week and do anything you want. Why won’t you kiss me?”
The engineer said, “Look, I’m an engineer. I don’t have time for a girlfriend, but a talking frog… now that’s cool!”

Desk Tag

Tagged by Ano to write a post about my desk a month ago and finally, got the time to do it.

Hmm … nothing much, really. It’s a messy, far-from-personal working desk. Funny thing, though, despite the nature of our company to move  the programmers around, I was placed at the same desk twice already. So there I am, spending most of my time at the company at the exact same spot (with the view to the street, it’s actually quite a good one).

Oke … now … here’s a picture of my desk. I’ve marked four items that need to be on my desk in order for me to be able to work:

1. Coffee: This job sadly makes me addicted to coffee TT … Now I need coffee to concentrate on my job. (Sometimes I replace it with tea, though.)
2. ipod: Programming goes really well with music, plus … it keeps away the clicking sound that other people make (although I think I make the loudest one, hehehe). 
3. External harddisk: The office network can really be a good source for movies, games, music … and oh, manga!! Yay for all of you who are kind enough to share your files!
4. Lotion: Ehm … not really related to the job itself, but my skin can become really dry sometimes and having some lotion at the office is really a life-saver.

And … that’s it!

Hmm … am I supposed to tag someone else? (If so, I’ll think of some names later.)

As urged by Eru, I would then tag the following people:

1. Madh
2. Vinae
3. Pipit
4. Surya
5. Andy
6. Papap

 

PS: My bad, the glass is almost empty, hahaha, so I guess it shouldn’t have said “a glass of coffee”… >.<

WordPress Error Messages

Two of my friends encountered two rather unique error messages from WordPress … Good wording ….

"You are posting comments too quickly. Slow down."

– I guess we have to wait a couple of minutes in between comments.

“Duplicate comment detected; it looks as though you’ve already said that!”

– Notice the exclamation mark?! WordPress hates duplication …

Google Logos

I love collecting Google logos. I think some of them are really creative … hmm … wonder what the artists can do with: “Vion”.

Some of my favorites: (all pictures belong to Google, of course)

1. Halloween 2008



2. US Independent Day: July 4, 2008

 



3. Valentine’s Day 2008



4. Chinese New Year 2005



 

5. New Year 2004

“Head First” Series

For those who are not familiar with “Head First” … fyi, it’s a series of books, mostly programming, that are published by O’Reilly. Most of my friends and I like the books, mainly because they are unique and easy to follow. The authors make them funny, full of pictures and … well, the books ease my brain to absorb all of the-usually-boring information.

Here’s just one proof of it.

While reading the Head First Design Patterns … I came across to the page where they explained the book’s edition, publishers, etc. … the part which I usually skip, but … there it is … funny enough that I decided to put it in my blog:

I like the “nuclear power plant” part, hehehe.

£€€7

|-|€|-|€|-|€ … 7|-|!§ ‘£€€7’ 7|-|!|\|9¥ !§ |<!|\|ð@ ƒ|_||\|, \x/|<\x/|<\x/|<\x/|<.

807|-|€|2§0|v|€ @|\|ð |_||\||\|€<€§§@|2¥, 8|_|7 |-|€¥, !’|v| 80|2€ð, |-|€|-|€|-|€.

 

0|-|, @|\|ð 8¥ 7|-|€ \x/@¥, !ƒ |_| <@|\| |2€@ ð 7|-|!§, <0|\|9|2@7|_|£@7!0|\|§, ¥0|_| @|2€ 0|\|€ §7€|o <£0§€|2 70 8€ @ 9€€|<.

 

 

And ... the geekiest of us all is .... (drumroll) .... Jendulz.

Need a proof?

Read the following chat log:

 

(Vion has just told Jendulz about this post and Jendulz is trying to solve the "encryption".)

Jendulz: "See ... there's this thing called 'find and replace'."

Vion:      (confused) "What??"

Jendulz: "Put it in Microsoft Word, then find and replace. Find '@', replace with 'a'. Find '|\|', replace with 'n'. Lol. Asik juga."

Vion:      LOL!!!

 

No one else was using Microsoft Word and the 'Find and Replace' -so called feature. Wakakaka.

 

§0, <0|\|9|2@7 _|€|\|, |_| |2 7|-|€ O,|_|€€|\| 0ƒ 9€€|<§ ….

 

 

Luv & peace out! Hehehehe.

 

 

Quotes to ponder …

These are my favorite quotes, especially when I’m feeling down or too tired of being a perfectionist.

Here it goes:

Practice makes perfect. But nobody is perfect, so why practice?

It’s okay to be a nobody. Nobody is perfect.

- From various sources

Do no go gentle into that good night

No, I’m not into poem (though the one that I’m going to share with you know is technically a villanelle), but this one has always been my favorite.

Don’t ask me why, I just feel that the words are powerful every time I hear or read it.

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

–Dylan Thomas

Funny Lines :D

Something to make you smile:

Bill Cosby - one of my favorite comedians

Women don’t want to hear what you think. Women want to hear what they think – in a deeper voice. - Bill Cosby

So they’re showing me, on television, the detergents getting out bloodstains. I mean, come on, you got a T-shirt with a bloodstain all over it. Maybe laundry isn’t your biggest problem right now. – Jerry Seinfeld

Have you ever noticed that anybody going slower than you is an idiot and anyone going faster than you is a maniac? – George Carlin

I went into a McDonald’s yesterday and said: “I’d like some fries.” The girl at the counter said, “Would you like some fries with that?” – Jay Leno

What if there were no hypothetical situations? – John Mendoza