ten : eleven AnteMeridian

Tun Mahatir was here in UTP for a public lecture programme. It was kinda exciting to see our former Prime Minister in the flesh and blood, and to be in the same hall with him, was out of this world. I dont know how these people do it, but they seem to exude a commanding presence that grips you, a sense of authority that assures you that everything is OK, you willingly show the utmost repect to him. Its just great. After all he was the No.1 man in Malaysia. and at 81, he is still going strong.

for those of you who missed it, here is a brief summary of the lecture:

Challanges Faced when Ruling a Country

- chosen rulers must put country first and not themselves (this is the most unselfish thing in the world that is 99.99% against human nature)

- moderation in everything (which is the very basics of Islam)

- democratic government should not always listen to the people (as evident in the UK, where the government listened to the people for higher wages, shorter working hours and more holidays. as a result, they lost their automotive industry)

- rulers must have the vision of developing the country and ensuring the country’s safety (Malaysia is a pretty safe country but as far as developement is concerned, we are way way behind)
- ” A leader with no followers, is not a leader. A leader who’s ideas are not palpable with his followers, will have no followers” (or so it seems…)

- being a leader itself is a very complex thing, you would have to devise good plans, successfully execute those plans whilst satisfying your followers needs (tell me about it…)

- job opportunities available for graduates, but many still have no jobs. (why ? too choosy, fussy ? want easy jobs ? are we just plain lazy ? or is it so, that if you are not a doctor, an engineer, a lawyer or an accountant, you cant make it here in this country ?)

- nowadays, rulers are not only responsible for law and order, but also the developement of the people and the country (we were developing pretty rapidly, maybe too rapid for certain people, but everything seems to have been slowed down now, not good also)

all in all, it was a very good lecture. well it had to be, because it was either this or my cousins wedding reception. but i did attend the nikah and the girls side wedding reception. so, i guess it’s ok. things would have been different if i had a car. only GOD knows what would have been different.

have you noticed any upgrade works in and around KL or any other city ? me neither, but not until last Friday, when i was on my way back to KL with Jim and Fariz. last weekend was my cousins wedding. it was great, lots of juicy gossip and HOT chicks ! but its all private family stuff…cant dwell on it much.

here’s what i can tell you about, PLUS is upgrading the highway !!!

all along the North-South Highway, works are going on to upgrade the roads to 3 lanes. So now we will have:

1 lane for the lorrys, the Kancils, the Protons (80kmh - 110kmh)
1 lane for the Hondas, the Toyotas, the Hyundais (110kmh - 140kmh)
1 lane for the Romeos, the Audis, the BMWs, the Benzs (180kmh and beyond)

someone once told me, if you travel at 180 kmh, the speed trap camera’s will not be able to pick you up…readers discretion advised. what you do with this information is entirely up to you. the author holds no responsibilityfor whatever might happend from the knowledge of ths information.

Sony, Matsushita, others to start selling Internet televisions next year.

great ! We’ve spent half of our lives in front of the idiot box, and now they want to take the other half ? No way ! I wonder what they’ll call us now, ‘mashed couch potatoes’. Hehe.

just imagine, spending the next 10 years in-front of the TV. Scary…not until they invent the toilet sofa, you will still have to get up and leave your life (TV) behind. With the things you can do with the internet today, you could practically just stay at home and earn a living. People have done it.

but what impact would it have on the kids these days ? 1 minute, your child is watching Cartoon Network, the next he’s getting live RSS feeds from CNN and BBC. What ? Even you don’t go to CNN or BBC. What happend to the good old days, when the sound of the dial-up modem is like music to the ears, when you could make yourself a snack and get a cup of cofee while waiting for a page to load and when the news was delivered to your door step every morning in cold, hard, physical form.

nowadays, everything is chop-chop. Don’t get me wrong, gathering information and getting things done at the speed of light, is wonderful. But people nowadays need to take time off and enjoy life, before we wipe-out ourselves.

Mourinho said: “I still believe United and Arsenal will, in spite of the fact Arsenal finished fourth and Liverpool third, still be the better teams.

so he claims that United and Arsenal have a shot at the title, and Liverpool will not come close. He also went on to say that the new signings made by United and Arsenal will dramatically improve their performances.

yeah right !! Any sane man on the street will know exactly what he is implying. As he sleeps tonight, he will be thinking, both United and Arsenal have made 1 average signing, but i have signed 2 world class players and stole Obi Mikel from United. Hahaha!!! Ddo they have a chance at the title ? Hell no ! Liverpool signed Bellamy and Pennant…who ? I’ll sleep sound tonight.

i think you should concentrate more on your methods on getting new players. Only God knows what happend to Obi Mikel, you got away with poaching Ashley Cole but you might just get in trouble for getting 2 Leeds United under 16 players.just  Ken Bates, you remember him, the former owner of Chelsea, is filing an official complaint to the FA and wants more than a fine for the punishment. Ken Bates wants Chelsea to be banned from signing new players, deducted points or even kicked from European competitions.

just imagine Chelsea kicked out of the Champions League. Both Ballack and Sheva who have just a few more years ahead of them, would be devestated. Not playing in Europe for 1 whole season is a disaster.

United will be there to strike, when Chelsea slip-up.

Windows in your pocket. Apparently the article was published in Septmeber ‘05. I’m a little way behind. But i bet not many have heard of a Windows in a thumbdrive. The whole OS in a thumbdrive thing was made popular with the Linux operating system. A mere 50 Mb was sufficient to fit in the Damn Small Linux OS equipped with an internet browser, an email client, word processing software and much more.

it would be safe to say that atleast 80% to 90% of you out there are not familiar with Linux. Well, i’m not that familiar with it as well. So this comes as good news to me, to be able to bring along a Windows OS in my pocket, complete with all my favourite software and surf the net with a secure browser…cool

all you need is a bootable USB Flash drive with at least 256 MB of storage capacity and a Windows Setup CD. With the help of Bart PE Builder you can install Windows XP on the flash drive, along with any other software that you need.

ps. for a complete guide on how to install and configure an OS on a thumbdrive, visit any of the links above.

what would happen if the sky was already full of stars, and someone decides to add more stars ? Naturally, some stars will be replaced, some will shine brighter than others and some will fight for territorial advantage.

likewise, Chelsea who have bought 2 premiership titles, aim to book a third by cramping in more stars to their already star studded squad. Apparently money can buy you anything, if you are Mr. Roman. With the likes of Sheva, Drogba and Crespo up-front, Lampard, Essien, Ballack, Cole, Wright-Phillips, Makalele and Robben in midfield, winning the tile for a third time should be a breeze. Or would it ?

the question on everyone’s mind is, how is Mourinho gonna line-up his first 11 ? Assume he goes for a 4-4-2 formation. Crespo, Drogba and Sheva are all world class forwards, no one wants to play second fiddle. In midfield, Lampard and Ballack are 2 similar types of players. Who will get the nod ? Both ? We all know how instrumental Lampard was in the past 2 seasons. Will a poor world cup performance make him loose his place ? Lets say both play. Then there’s Essien and Makalele. Makalele is the unsung hero that Madrid overlooked and Essien is the hard tackling midfield man. 1 will be left out. We’re left with Robben, Cole and Wright-Phillips. Oh boy, i dont even want to go there.

maybe he will go for a lone stricker and beef-up the mid, maybe he’ll play with 3 at the back and place Makalele just in front of them, maybe he’ll have a headache just choosing his players…this much i’m sure about, none of these star players want to be part of a rotation system that Mourinho is soo fond off.

well, good luck to Chelsea, United are ready to pounce.

Carrick will be revealed to the press as a Man U player tomorrow. Furgeson has confirmed that he will be wearing the no. 16 jersey left vacant by the departure of Roy Keane. Replace Keane ? NO way ! History tells us that no United star is replaceable. Take a look at Cantona, Hughes, Best, Charlton…no one comes close to these stars. However with every new player comes a new style, a new angle of play, a new ambition, a new goal, a new passion. That is what makes this club so great. Legends remain legends, new players hope to be legends one day…

anyway, here’s the deal…with the current set of players, Furgeson does not need any new signings. The current squad is more than capable of tipping Chelsea of the throne. With Carrick playing as a holding midfielder, Scholes can get forward more often and feed any of the 4 forwards - Rossi, Rooney, Smith, Saha. Giggs and Ronaldo can exploit the flanks with Hienze and Gary providing support. Then there’s Rio, Brown, Silves and Vidic who will fend off any attack before it reaches Van De Sar. We are not short of reinforcements as well - 2 hearts Park, petite Evra, utility men O’Shea and Fletcher, supersub Solskjaer and young guns Pique, Richardson, Jones, Bardsley and Miller.

i say that we have a pretty good chance. We have to believe and want the title more than the chasing pack. Here’s to United !!!

Glory Glory Manchester United !!!

yes, its happening again. For the 5 years that i’ve been here, there has been construction after construction, project after project. Of course its all for the better of the students, BUT I WONT BE HERE WHEN ITS ALL DONE !!!

anyway, a good gues would be that they are making a car park for students. I just hope they don’t make us pay for parking…hehe, with UTP you never know. I have a good feeling about this project. Who wants to bet that they will finish it within 3 weeks ? Thats right, just in time for the convocation. In the next few weeks, you will see many new plants, full grown trees magically appearing, pavements being fixed and many more beautifying works being done.

its CONVO time !!!

a simple definition search on Google for ’schmuck’ yields a jerk. Thats right, we all have been jerks atleast once in our lifetime. However much we try to deny it, the world is filled with schmucks and we are one of them. Cheer up ! the person sharing your room with you is a schmuck as well.

want a degree like i have ? Head on down to schmucku.com for a schmucking good time !!!

bring on the 50’s…for those who dont know, this is Man United’s newest home jersey. Nike looked back in time to the Busby Babes era and came up with the design. To me atleast, it is awesome. Maybe its just me, i love old school. The simplicity, the neatness and the colour is just wonderful.

many of my friends think that the jersey isn’t all that impressive. Partly due to the big rectangular box with AIG written in it. Do away with the box, add in some design, try a different font, or just make it italic…i think it goes with the overall theme of the jersey…simple and straight to the point.

As an avid Man U fan, it doesnt matter what jersey they wear, its the performance on the pitch that i am worried about. Chelsea are on a rampage !!! With summer signings of Ballack and Sheva, i just hope that they will have internal problems that will hamper their game..hehe

UNITED FOR THE TITLE !!!