Pulau Tiga

Just an update of what I have been doing so far. I've been soooooo busy!! There is a concept in Computer Science known as abstraction. It is an important concept, because without it, the field on computing would'nt last that long. In fact, the the entire industry is shifting towards this trend. Anyway, what i'm doing now is abstracting the many things in my mind to make it become irrelavent for the time being until the day of reckoning. I guess that is just one of my excuses for being lazy and to procrastinate a bit. All my workload can wait until Monday. There is always another day.:)  For now, I want to relax and enjoy myself. Soak under the sun and swim in the sea.
I'm going to Pulau Tiga tommorrow..yayy! Macam siok ja kan..Well, this is what I love about Sabah. Unlike K.L., work is not your life..it is just a way of supporting yourself to do the things  you like. Work is important, that is a fact but work without fun and entertainments makes you a drone..all work and no play makes you a dull person..Blogging is work, but it is fun but that is a different story. I have prepared all the essential items to bring to the island..not much, just a few clothes and some snacks..I'll be there for around two days..swimming a bit, fishing a bit, drinking a bit,..those kind of stuff. It should be alright..

Buying a Car

I feel bored today. You know what? I think I should buy a car. Yup, a brand new car to replace the already obsolete kancil that I own. I don't want just any car. I'm fed up of Malaysian made products like Kancil, Myvi, Savvy, Gen2,...
All I hear about these cars are complaints from people using them. I want to try something new. Maybe a Hyundai Matrix would do.-:)

Programming Challenge

Today, someone sms'ed me asking help for his programming project. The program, created in Java should be able to control a computer lab, just like a cyber cafe. Other features include shutting down the pc from the program and monitor pc's connected to the server. I have to admit that it is an interesting challenge, something that I would do for free if I have the time.
The issue is, do I have enough time? I have to produce the software by next week. Am I competent enough for this task? Hmm..not sure but the Internet can help a lot with numerous articles and forums that cater to this kind of problem. I am not an expert in Java. I know a bit to get by but to solve this kind of problem, I need to go down one step further in the abstraction chain.
The pc shutdown process is managed by the operating system. To override this process, I need to understand the relationship between Java and the underlying OS. Its been a while since I last programmed! My brain is still in autopilot mode.

Thesis Thesis...

Sometimes work can be overwhelming. In my case, I am facing an increasing amount of work load but I should not complain. Its just part of life: work to put food on the table. Tonight, I'll be working on my thesis. Its not yet completely finished. I mentioned in my previous post that I'll be graduating this year. Well, now I really hope to graduate this year. I have been given a huge task of correcting the many mistakes and shortcomings in my written work. Thank God the problem is only with my thesis, not my entire research. I'll be putting another solid 4 to 5 hours just for my thesis tonight. Wish me luck...

Latest Updates

The last time I posted on this blog was on the 20th February this year. Not sure how i'm going to make money with this rate of posting. I hope to do better. Well, there's always a tomorrow to start fresh:-) What i'm up to now? I've been busy. With assignments and classes. With my never ending thesis adventure, with tuitions..huhh! No wonder I have no time to blog. These past few weeks have been hectic. Now, I can't wait until the end of the present semester. I'll have more time during the semester break to blog, think, read stuff, go for vacation, create apps for facebook, tamper with google maps api, etc, etc. So much to do, but so little time. 

Gone Public

Its now official! My blog is now open for all to see. I've added a link to this blog in Friendster. Lets just see how many of you are interested in what I have to say. Hopefully the visitors of this blog have something nice to say and if you feel like bashing this blog, well, just keep it to yourself or else..hehe..

How to do Research

I'm a bit new to the web and blogging but I can't say the same about academic research. I did my masters research for four years which makes me a veteran (super duper senior ) and an authority in this area. I hope this post can help some of you research wannabees to avoid the mistakes that I have made during the entire process of getting my research degree. To start, we need to define what is this thing called research. My own definition of research is "to search for new ideas that can solve problems in existing processes or methodology in order to make it better". These ideas need to be rigorously tested either by some mathematical means or from analysis done on sample data. To do research, you need to identify a problem that has not been solved before, find ways to solve it, and finally solve it. Seems easy right? I wish! It it was easy, then I wouldn't have spent the past four years of my life solving a problem that not many people care about and has low commercial value in Sabah. I suppose my work might be useful in Denmark but here, people don't really care about noise in classroom and how it can be detrimental to your academic performance. I have outlined 5 things that I would have done if I were to do research again. Here goes:

1. I will pick my supervisors carefully. I did not go wrong here. In fact, my supervisors were splendid. But perhaps, I should have been more forceful with my ideas and not just naively follow any suggestions given. I learned a lot from them but learning comes with a price. The delays I faced during research can be attributed to some of the ideas and suggestions by them. Fortunately, they were kind enough to sign my progress report so that I can continue to the next semester. Some of my friends were not so fortunate. A lot of them dropped out due to intense politicking from supervisors and faculties.

2. I will make sure that I have enough money to pay my school fees. I had a problem with this. Besides research, I had to think of other ways to support myself so that I can eat and also pay my fees. Doing research is not cheap.

3. I will live away from my family. Lets face it, research is hard work! Your job is to think and a family environment might not be the best place to do some thinking. Your parents will always find ways to make you do some work and you cannot use the excuse "i'm busy" when all day long you just spend time sitting in front of your computer staring at a blank page. Then there are weekly parties, singing and dancing. How can you do work? Doing research requires you to be a monk. In order to do that, you need to be among a group of monks as well (research students) who understand the things that you are going through.

4. I will start doing my thesis early. This is the part that I regret the most. I'm a last minute person and I paid very dearly for starting late. Writing thesis is not something you do casually like blogging. Each word must be weighted carefully to ensure no room for error and attack from the examiner. Every statement written can be used for you or against you. Please take my advise seriously.

5. I will start collecting data immediately. Data is the most crucial component in research. Without it, your research is nothing. You have nothing to say about. Data gives your research life and by analyzing it, you tend to find meaningful patterns that may help in your conclusion. I started collecting data quite late (in my second and third year) and thats why I am still here waiting for my viva.

Making Money

The early part of 2008 has been an emotional roller coaster for me. I have since recovered from it. One of the main issues that I face this year is how to make more and more money. Money or wealth is synonymous to the good life (a 2-seater BMW and a large mansion on a hill). But the main motivation for generating and retaining wealth is more practical than that. It is to get out of the poverty cycle. Heard of it? I'm sure you have. Poverty is prevalent in society. It is the feeling of not having enough and constantly worrying about unpaid debts and bills.

I consider myself an expert in the subject of poverty. I work for a pretty decent company in Kota Kinabalu which pays me a decent amount of salary. The bulk of my spending goes to paying my car loan, house tax (read: mom and dad monthly allowance), Streamyx bills, and etc. My daily expenses includes food and etc. I also have to go to work everyday (who doesn't?) which adds the cost for paying fuel. I get paid on the 25th of each month and sometimes run out of cash on the 10th of the following month. Recently, a friend mentioned to me that this poverty streak is a curse that must be broken off. If this is true then I guess the majority of the Malaysian citizens are cursed.

I recently got a Streamyx connection which means that i'll be online more frequently than usual. I plan to capitalize on this. I need to figure out how to make money from the internet. I have already discounted non-computer related income avenues such as rearing sheep, or planting vanilla tree (or whatever you call it). One blog that caught my eye is http://www.sabahan.com/ owned by a person with the nickname gaman. Apparently, he hails from Tambunan which is 2 hours drive from my house. I'll be reading a lot from his blog from now on. So, lets just see what will happen next. I'll keep you updated..

Bitter Wine

People say that writing can help express pain and hurt. I guess I myself have chosen this outlet to express whatever feelings that I have. I admit that I am going through a phase that is not particularly pleasant. But all is not bad. I received several good news today. The most happiest news is regarding the status of my masters research. I am finally waiting for my viva! Pheww, after such a long wait, finally, I am able go through to the next level..presenting the results of my dissertation to the examination panel and ultimately obtain my masters degree. I am so happy because it took me 4 long years to come to this point. All the sweat, all the effort, all the tears..it was not in vain. That was the best news I received today. This year started quite good. At least it helps alleviate some of the burden I have been carrying these while. Life is surely getting interesting. It is like wine, bitter to the taste bud but sweet to the drinker.

Long December

The title of this post accurately describes what I am going through now. It is also the title of the song by Counting Crows. The month of December year 2007 was surely a long month. If I can sum up the emotional roller coaster that I am going through, then the lyrics of this song does a really good job conveying it:

Long December by Counting Crows

A long December and there’s reason to believe
Maybe this year will be better than the last
I can’t remember the last thing you said as you were leavin’
Now the days go by so fast


And it’s one more day up in the canyons
And it’s one more night in Hollywood
If you think that I could be forgiven... I wish you would


The smell of hospitals in winter
And the feeling that it’s all a lot of oysters, but no pearls
All at once you look across a crowded room
To see the way that light attaches to a girl


And it’s one more day up in the canyons
And it’s one more night in Hollywood
If you think you might come to California... I think you should


Drove up to the Hillside Manor sometime after two a.m.
And talked a little while about the year
I guess the winter makes you laugh a little slower,
Makes you talk a little lower about the things you could not show her


And it’s been a long December and there’s no reason to believe
Maybe this year will be better that the last
I can’t remember all the times I tried to tell myself
To hold on to these moments as they pass


And it’s one more day up in the canyon
And it’s one more night in Hollywood
It’s been so long since I’ve seen the ocean... I guess I should