Rant 1072 / Casually Dishonoured

Found this article that says that us voters are not as objective thinkers we think we are. Of course this study was only about American voters but I feel that it applies to most electorates around the world too.

One important point raised by the author is that when faced with real evidence that contradicts the voter's beliefs, the voter will stick with the beliefs instead of the facts. In some cases, his belief will turn even stronger.

I've seen this so often during the last several elections, and I think that it comes from how the rule "I cannot believe what I didn't see with my own eyes" only applies to things that go against their beliefs.

I mean, like the author mentioned, 12% of the Americans still believe that Obama is a Muslim. That's more than 1 in 10 and it really says something about us humans.

Another point:

We have very little evidence on what a “persuadable” voter is or their behaviors. The most likely scenario of fact-checking behavior is partisan-leaning independents cocooning themselves in an echo-chamber of their favorite blogs, which only reaffirm their existing beliefs.

Yep.






















NS2 will be released at the end of this month!

Finally!






















It was only after I got the fish oil and offered a bottle to my bro that I realized that he was already taking it, and he was getting them a lot cheaper than my $29-for-150-capsules bottle.

$27 for 180.

:(

Mine is from Blackmores and his is from Ocean Health. Ingredients are identical.

There's an online store, Nutrifirst, that's selling all these health supplements at lower prices than these established pharmacies. The shipping is free too: $10 for orders at $30 and below, $5 for $31-99, and free for $100 and above.

Hence from now on, I'm going to buy my fish oil from the store, so it's going to be really easy to get free shipping. That is, unless I find someplace even cheaper and similarly reliable.

That's going to be a few months away though, since I have like 200 capsules and I'm only taking one a day.

Also considering getting some glucosamine. Probably will also get some for my staff as Christmas gifts.

...

Nvm. The one with a slight knee issue is already taking glucosamine prescribed by her doctor.

I'll just get some for myself.

Since I just found that SAFRA is having an Ocean Health promotion with 30% off for quite a number of products, I'll be getting some there instead.

The prices are cheaper than even those at Nutrifirst and the catch is that I have to pick it up at a SAFRA clubhouse. That's really not an issue in my case because I'm already planning to visit the one at Mount Faber.

Glucosamine is 30% off at S$34.90 for 60 capsules, while fish oil is only 10% off at $44.90 for 2 bottles of 180 capsules each.
























So I was at one of the stores doing what I do and was taking a shortcut I was technically not supposed to take to get to where I wanted to go.

Throughout my short career I have never had any trouble with it before. In fact, I was showed that way by the people working there when I asked for directions.

Imagine my surprise when the lone staff member there I encountered along the way asked me where I was from. Not recognizing the names in my reply, she stopped me and asked me if I was a salesman.

I was so offended but realized that I was indeed in that role at the point of time, hence I said in Chinese,"I guess I can be considered one."

Then she took me back to the entrance of the shortcut and told me the proper way to go, ie the long way.

I didn't mind the insistence on following proper security protocols because being a security guard for 2 years in NS made me appreciate their importance, but I was relieved she didn't physically escort me to the security guards like I would have. Still, looking back, it was weird that I was offended when I was called "a salesman".

The thing is that I referred to myself as "the office clerk" whenever telemarketers call, the clueless one who never knows when the HR/Finance/IT directors will return and doesn't have the authority to hand out any phone number to random people.

Maybe my ego has grown a little too big.

Despite all the occupations I used for myself, including having a "religious" jobscope in my student profile at UniSIM, I have never used the term "salesman". That could also be one of the reasons.

Now I shall have to add that to the list of jobs I simultaneously have.
























Went to The Body Shop today after meeting a buyer to take advantage of the membership promotion in which I only had to spend S$36 to get a year's membership free.

I thought I had calculated everything properly so I was ready to fork out $41 for my purchase, and when the cashier asked me if I had membership, I said no but I wanted it. Then she said I had to spend $36 and flash the FB page, I told her I knew that.

In reply, she informed me that there was a storewide discount of 25% so I had not hit the amount yet.

Woops.

Since there really aren't a lot of stuff for men there, I just took a second bottle of antiperspirant and raised the total to $44, well within my expected expenditure range.

Also got a 750ml bottle of Pink Grapefruit shower gel but I have no idea what to do with it when I already have those 10 bottles of soap I got a few months ago.

Anyways, their essential oil scents are better than the stuff I bought online. Too bad their range is so tiny.

Each bottle is 10ml and priced at S$10.90, or slightly cheaper if I buy two of the same scent.

The stuff I used to buy cost S$13 for 15ml, with $3 shipping regardless of amount.

So The Body Shop sells at a higher price per ml if I buy only a few bottles at a time, which is the norm for me since these scents take a long time to use up at my current rate.

I use about 4-5 drops of one scent per day, sometimes two scents. I don't keep the burner hot all the time.

Therefore it makes sense for me to stop buying online and start getting my essential oils there.

Except I don't really need any because I already have more than enough.






















Whores who see their customers as losers who are beneath them are being ironic.

Perhaps they think those men are desperate and easily manipulated fools but I think they are the ones being manipulated by men in general.

Whatever people may believe about modern society, it is still generally biased towards the males. An example is the number of male-dominated fields vs the number of female-dominated fields out there.

Or perhaps it is a matter of perspective.

One could see men as too willing to do fork out loads of cash for a few hours of female companionship and sex. Gullible. Desperate.

Or it is the women who are too willing to do anything for money, and men are more capable of getting what they desire.

It probable depends on how horny one thinks men and women are in general. If they're equally horny, then women are at a disadvantage.

IMO it's the ladies on the losing side. If women are the winners, no whore would need to lie about their occupation to their family and friends. Men, on the other hand, seem to have no qualms discussing their adventures.





















Holy crap! I actually had to go to work on four consecutive weekdays! Four!

I don't even remember being this busy before.

Then again, I wasn't working this hard during these months last year. Back then, I didn't even know how to contribute to the business other than a few basic tasks.

Also realized recently that my mother had taught me a wrong name for a type of zip, probably due to the confusion caused by the tumours.

All these months, I thought the manufacturer was trying to cut costs at my expense, so a few days ago I asked him to email me photos of his definition of the terms I have been using.

It was only then that I realized it was all a big misunderstanding. Seven or eight months' worth of it.

To clear things up, I sent him a photo of the zip I wanted and now I'm waiting for him to tell me what the heck he called it. In English it's called a "nylon zip" but we communicate in Chinese and the terms are not always directly translated. For all I know there could be some industry jargon for it that I'm unaware of.

And the work! It's been SO LONG since I saw my delivery guy pulling out that many cartons of goods. Last week we were still only sending out small numbers, and this week BOOM! After four days of non-stop action we managed to send out more than thrice the usual amount, with another delivery ready tomorrow consisting of over twice the norm of last month.

Feels good, man.

The dust has been incredible too since I've been digging out and sifting through old crap to sell.

Speaking of old stuff, I only realized last week that I've been having a continuous string of mini-clearance-sales since March this year. Never really thought about it that way.

Now I'm handling the old leather gloves. Those are some terrible crap because PU leather does NOT last at all. After a year or two, the top black layer would start to flake off because it's cheap.

I went through about 100 or more pairs today only to find about 10 pairs in sellable condition, with most of those 10 requiring additional minor work like wiping out small stains and stuff.

The rest are all stuffed into the box I marked "Donate" aka "condemned". The volunteers are going to have a lot of work ahead.


Later I got out to order more cardboard boxes. Can't run a wholesale business without those, and we get them from a small second-hand cardboard box trader nearby. Never been there before and my staff told me they might have moved or even closed.

Turns out my staff were wrong.

I called them in the morning and the woman on the phone said she was still in the same place. When I visited the place, they recognize my mother once I mentioned where my office was. That was really fortunate because apparently, I had almost ordered the wrong size.

They all looked about the same to me!

Anyways, my mother used to order at least thrice of what I had in mind, according to them, so I doubled my order amount. They weren't lying because I vaguely remember the numbers they said and how my staff used to whine about how hard it was to carry them from the door to the stack.

I didn't know they were familiar with my mother or I'd have just called instead of taking a bus and staring at my online map all day. Now that I have established that my identity with them, I can just mention her name on the phone and they will know what size I want. Awesome.


Took the MRT home and it felt unfamiliar to me, mainly because it was during the busier time at 4.30pm.

More crowded than I'm used to now.

Kinda nostalgic about it though, reminds me of my schooldays. Ah, bad memories.

I could have taken a cab but I felt like going to a mall at one of the stations on my way back.




























Obama's OP.






















All the scents I bought from The Body Shop are somewhat different from the ones I bought online.

What they have in common is that they are more delicate and somehow seems to last a little longer.

In comparison, despite the strong flowery smell of most of the blended scents from the online store I used to buy from, they're simple and very strong, ie crude.

























My new soap bottle rack is rusting. I only bought it a few months ago and it's already rusting before my bro's. Worse, it's the brown sort of rust, the real iron rust, not the greenish-white stuff usually found on steel.

What the heck?

Those were only a few dollars cheaper than my bros and were bought later. I can't believe how that little bit of money is making such a huge difference here.


















I always seem to have so little time for games.

It's probably because I spend way too much time cooking and doing other household chores.

This is especially true for food that takes time, like soups, because I avoid games when I'm waiting.

Then there's the ingredient preparation, like washing and cutting. Those take at least an hour because unless it's a ball-like vegetable like cabbage, I clean the leaves and stalks individually.

In addition, there's the planning phase, like when I'm hungry but not in the mood to cook or have no idea what to cook, and I just try to come up with something until I'm hungry enough to eat anything.























Tried Dishonoured. Whatever they may say about the game, it's a pretty damn good game.

So far I've only done the High Overseer mission and I have yet to complete any without having my unconscious bodies discovered. Both missions ended with 2 bodies discovered in each.

Anyways it's fun, but with pure stealth, I don't know what upgrades I need anymore after the teleport skill and the legit wall-hack.

I don't need possession because I can reach any area without it, as far as I can tell, and most of the other stuff is for combat.

I completed the High Overseer mission without being detected at all, so fuck combat.

With 8 unused runes at the moment, I'm just going to leave them like that till I finally encountered a situation in which I need a new skill. Till then, it sure feels nice having 8 pointless runes.

Similarly for money, most of the upgrades are combat-related, so I don't need much. Even the bone charms are mostly for helping in fights, therefore I don't really need to upgrade the charm capacity.

The only upgrades I feel are important are few and cost far less than the cash I found, despite only looting slightly more than 2000 out of the 3000 available in the last mission.

And I'm playing on easy mode :P

Rant 1071 / Star Vista

So I went to newly opened Star Vista mall to take advantage of the various opening promotional offers.

Also signed up for the CapitaStar membership the night before to take advantage of my taking advantage of the various opening promotional offers.

Since I had two $5 Blackmores vouchers from my purchase of the NTUC Income policy, I decided to get some fish oils. Two small bottles to maximise the $5 vouchers each, since they only allow 1 voucher per receipt.

One was $30 and the other was $20, so that's 20% off overall. Plus a few points for my PAssion card. Feels good.

Coincidentally, Guardian was having some kind of breast cancer awareness event going on and there were some pink ribbon chains going at $3.90 that the label claimed will go to the Singapore Cancer Society, so I got one too. $3.90 is a small price for the slim chance that maybe somewhere out there, someone's life will be changed by it.

Then I went to Watson's also for more fish oil because Blackmores was also having some extra discounts there in conjunction with the opening sale.

That part of the trip was more interesting.

First, I signed up for the Watson's card for the extra 5% off (and more in the future, since it's a lifetime membership). When I fished out the iPad from my bag to activate the card online on the spot, the cashier mistook it for a laptop.

She was a very nice lady throughout my visit, so I'm not going to be sarcastic, but I was extremely surprised that there are Singaporeans who didn't know anything about tablets.

She asked me if that was the latest laptop, expressing surprise that it was so small, and that she thought laptops had to be plugged into a power socket constantly like desktops.

You cannot imagine my incredulity when I heard her say all that. (I'd say "disbelief" but I actually do believe she was for real.)

An infinite ways to mock her came to mind, but like I said, she was very friendly to me, so I'm not going to say any of them. In fact, she was the friendliest person I met throughout my time at the mall, and even offered the cashier's counter for me to place the tablet on since she thought it was a laptop and people usually do not hold their laptops while using them.

Now I truly understand why there are people in America who barely know what the Internet is, as shown in this website where some guy posts all the ignorant comments made by his cousin, and he has been doing so for such a long time behind his back because his cousin knows jack shit about the web.

This friendly middle-aged lady was almost the same.

A reason I'm surprised is because I practically live online. However, the biggest reason I feel this way is because Singapore is SO small! How do people get so isolated to the point where they don't even recognize a tablet? I mean, there are two electronics stores in the very same mall!

In addition, I have this feeling that when I said it was a tablet called an "iPad", she didn't recognize the name.

I'm not trying to be offensive here but this is just mind-blowing.

Okay, enough of this.

So after getting the card and the house brand's 250ml hand lotion freebie, I managed to activate the card within 5 minutes and went on to look for the fish oil.

Decided on a large bottle that was going for almost S$29 for 150 capsules.

Then this saleswoman from another brand came over and asked me what I was looking for.

I told her I was getting some fish oil, so she pulled out her company's brand of fish oil and told me that that was better.

Obviously, my only response was to ask her how, mainly because I had already made up my mind and was curious about whether she could change my mind.

Unfortunately for her, her sales tactic was to try to convince me that Blackmores was a very average brand and hers was better without really explaining why.

Again, obviously, my only response was to ask her how again.

So she pointed out that the ingredients were better, hers was more nutritious, and hers was made in Canada, without actually going into detail about the nutrition. Moreover, her brand's fish oil capsules were priced at merely twenty-something cents each. (I later calculated that Blackmores capsules were priced at less than $0.20 each.) I didn't know where Blackmores waas made until two minutes ago when I read the label - Australia - and it didn't make a difference in my opinion that the quality is not questionable (and therefore equal) unless it's made in Asia.

Less than impressed by her salesmanship, I decided that this was it - I was going to stick with my initial choice. But I was curious how different that brand really was despite of her terrible sales style, so I took her bottle... and then also took the bottle of Blackmores fish oil I had in mind to compare.

Then I raised what I considered to be an extremely valid point, which is of course just my opinion, that they were the same. My reason was simple: all the ingredients listed were identical. Yet her response was to make a dismissive gesture with a hand and repeated her personal mantra that hers was better.

Natural fish oil - 1000mg - same
EPA - 180mg - same
DHA - 120mg - same

BUT! There was, apparently, a huge difference after these three!

Brace for it!

 .

 .

 .


 .


 .

 .

That brand had ONE FULL MICROGRAM of Vitamin E while Blackmores only stated on the label "In a base containing natural vitamin E"!

HOLY SHIT! 1ug of Vitamin E??!?? MUST BUY!!

I actually pointed them out and read the lines aloud just to see her face, and her voice got slightly more elevated while saying that that was it, her brand had more of that than the other.

At this point I feel that I should make it clear that while I said that salesmanship did not impress me, this definitely did, albeit in a rather negative way.

How full of shit could she get? It may or may not be her fault, but I found her style annoying.

Since I had all the time in the world, I didn't just stop there.

Somehow it came to me that the prices must be different enough so that her brand could afford to hire a salesperson. Therefore I looked at the price labels and confirmed my suspicion - her brand cost over $50 for 180 capsules while Blackmores was only $29 for 150.

By now she probably knew there was no way in hell I was getting hers, hence she just kept insisting that hers was better and I should buy it till I returned her bottle to her and said as nicely as I could that I was just going to try the other bottle. Her reply was a curt," Okay, whatever you want."

Even thanked her because despite her terrible salesmanship, she didn't deserve to have a proportionately terrible day. It's not her fault that she sucked at her job; not everyone can get a job he/she is good at, and I'm living proof of that. But she was irritating right from the start when she kept bashing the brand I had already decided on before entering the store without actually having a single valid reason. I actually thought salespeople should have some sort of real reason, even theoretical ones, to explain how their products are better than the others. Well, not this one.

Still, I think she was aware that her product provided nothing to back her sales pitch, so I guess I should give her credit for trying.

It's probably also a good idea to state the disclaimer here that I am in no way endorsing Blackmores. I just picked it because it was having a promotion and it was cheaper than other brands. I have absolutely no idea if it's particularly good or bad, nor have I actually read any reviews on it.

So don't simply go for it just because I keep spamming the name here. I am absolutely not recommending it! I haven't even tried it yet, and even if I have, one fish oil capsule alone isn't going to do anything for anyone.





Anyways, also got 3 footlongs from Subway to get the 20% off using the mailer I got last week. The guy who took my order sucked. I didn't notice until I got home that the guy used only 1 layer of paper to wrap my subs, so they weren't packed tightly and everything was quite ready to fall apart by the time I got home.

He's probably as new as the mall, so whatever. At least they didn't actually fall apart, or I'd have sent a complaint just for the heck of it. No, I don't actually expect anything to happen when I send complaints; I just hope something improves.



Finally, I got some fries with dips at this shop called "Sofries" opposite of the Subway outlet since it was new and I kinda sympathise with fellow local small businesses.

They offered cold soggy fries with all their dips as free samples. Not exactly the best idea since cold soggy fries are nothing like fresh ones, IMO worlds apart even, but I guess it wouldn't make economic sense to keep replacing the fries all day just for providing good free samples, especially on a traffic-free weekday.

I like fries, but their food is not particularly good. Generously salted, freshly fried, decent range of dips but those were not that fantastic. Maybe their forte was at something else.

Upon tasting them more carefully at home, I found that it's actually kinda obvious that the house special, the "Sofly" dip (clearly a double entendre playing on their brand and the slang definition of "fly"), was merely the result of them fooling around with common sauces and condiments anyone could get from supermarkets. To get me to say that the dips are good, they would have had to make something that I can't whip up in my own kitchen.

But it was decent enough.

Worse, the quantity of fries is bad - I can get more fries at any MCDs than what I got from them at the same price. Although MCD doesn't offer thick fries like they do, and fries at most fast food chains don't cost $5 for a regular-sized serving.

The best thing about the shop was probably the fact that I got the loyalty card without technically hitting the minimum purchase amount of $10. I was waiting for my fries when I saw the poster about loyalty card discounts, and I asked the guy how I could get a card. When he said anyone who spends at least $10 will get it, I couldn't help but exclaim," Almost!"

My order of two regular fries only amounted to $9.80.

Then he took a card from beneath the counter and offered it to me.

:D

I'm not sure if I will ever buy from them again, okay maybe once or twice more to try the other fries (but not the dips), but it feels good to get stuff for free.





Edit: Now I think it was 1iu of vitamin E, not 1ug.

Rant 1070 / Grilled Bananas?

So I've been cooking my pasta wrong.

I just found out that I'm supposed to boil pasta is a lot more water than I thought necessary. The Italians boil them in about a litre of water per 100g of dried pasta to keep the water boiling when the pasta goes in.

And the salt. I've always been very stingy with salt, usually adding only a pinch or two to everything I cook regardless of how many people the food is supposed to serve. The time when I was the most generous was when I cooked a dish for three with a whole teaspoon of salt.

So when I boil pasta, I add only a pinch of salt to a whole pot of boiling water. I'm more generous when it comes to olive oil though.

Hence my surprise when I read that I'm supposed to add 10g of salt per litre of water. TEN whole grams!? What are you? Nuts?

A teaspoon of salt is only roughly 6g.

Part of the reason I use so little salt is to compensate for all the stuff I eat indiscriminately when I'm not cooking, eg my weekly meal deliveries.

Yet I'm not enthusiastic about changing my pasta cooking preference because I believe the main reason for the salt is to raise the boiling point, presumably to make sure it cooks correctly

Can't I just watch the pasta constantly and do frequent taste test to make sure it's al dente?

Anyways, I'm not sure if it's just me, but I find that linguine sticks together so much more easily than other kinds of pasta. I think it's because of the large flat surfaces, but I could be wrong. In contrast, spiral pasta, shell pasta and penne are so easy to boil.
























I'm thinking that instead of simply keeping a budget of S$50 for each of my weekly meal delivery, I should set $3000 aside annually for this. 52 weeks of $50 is $2600, and I rounded it up to $3000 because that's not a huge difference when spread over an entire year.

This will give me some flexibility on what and when to order, guilt-free. The benchmark is still $50, so the plan is to allow me to order more than once a week sometimes, or 8 weeks a year if I keep to the $50 limit all the time.
























When I look at the EU, I see history repeating itself.

Just like how Prussia became Germany, Germany is going to be the next version of Western Europe.

The only thing standing in its way is France, while the UK, still prideful over its past, will only end up like Ireland if it doesn't join.

Funny how this turned out, how everyone got sold on the idea of democracy and peace.

Democracy they didn't get, but peace is probable.

The EU was meant to be a democracy and every country gets to vote on issues, but has it been so in practice?

Like I said previously, democracy is based on the ideal, and the assumption, that everyone is equal. It just cannot work when the relationship between the members is that of debtors and creditors. I mean, what equality?

The peace of Euro, though, is ironic. The idea behind the unified currency is that if every country is using the same currency, disrupting one economy will ruin everybody's too.

Leaders who preach peace assume that an absence of war automatically protects their sovereignty.

See the joke?

And of all the countries, it's Germany winning the game.

If only Hitler was still around to see this.

I have this feeling that if he hadn't been so hell-bent on war and anti-Semitism, he could have pulled this off himself, being the charismatic and opportunistic speaker that he was.

What he couldn't achieve through war, his country is going to get through peace.

I'm not going to say that it's a bad thing. No, the same happened in China and thus far, having a unified culture is working pretty well. Of course, there is a certain tragedy in the extinction of all the other cultures that we can only learn of from ancient records, but the bottomline is that it made life a lot easier for many generations of Chinese, and maybe it wasn't so bad that it happened.

Or we can also look at France and its indigeneous cultures, but I'm far less familiar with them.


Another thing about the UK is that it's what I imagine the Romans were like in the few centuries before the Ottomans finally wiped the last trace of the Byzantine off the map.























No chicken for a week. Decided this morning that I shall buy no meat but pork.

Not sure why, just felt like it.

So I went to the butcher and asked for 3kgs of minced pork, somewhat fatty and minced twice.

His wife, who was taking the order, raised three fingers to confirm that that was the number I said.

Also asked her to split it into 6 bags and she was surprisingly compliant. The last time I went there for 2kgs, I asked for extra bags instead so that I could split them myself, and the butcher himself added a large handful of the small plastic bags when he saw 2-3 she gave me. Actually I only needed three, but there's always a use for more bags.

Kinda stalled the queue a little but it wasn't a problem since I don't go there often.

So it's just pork and random vegetables from now on.

And fish.

But fresh fish is expensive. Bought three salmon fillets for S$45. I've got to remember to buy only when they're about to close, not early in the morning like just now. $15 a fillet is not cheap at all.


























I never knew that the AR-15 was so durable. Now I respect the rifle a lot more than before.
























Even though I appear to rarely mention my work here, the truth is that I have more things to say about it than anything else right now. I've typed a number of rants on that topic but most of the time I just cut and paste them elsewhere after I'm done.

Many reasons.




























It's only after watching this video that I learnt the difference between chinos and khakis. Surprisingly, this actually isn't explained in Wikipedia.

Apparently, I've always been wearing khakis, even the ones without the utility pockets on the sides, until recently when my bro bought me a pair of chino from JShopper for around S$50.

Now I know that this is the only pair of chino I have.

Found this video after googling for the difference between dress pants and chinos, and that in turn was due to the current Amazon Deal of the Day in which there are several dress pants and chinos going for below S$50 shipping included if I order at least two pairs.

When I found that the cheapest pants there with my size cost about S$45 and they were dress pants, I had to know for sure what I'm buying before I place my order.

Now, I'm not sure if I want two pairs of that. I think I'll fork out a little more and get a pair of chino plus that dress pant.

But if I do that, I'll exceed the $50-per-pant benchmark.

Therefore, I'm not going to buy.

As for the website the second half of the video reviewed, the prices are obscene. US$200 for a pair? NO FUCKING WAY!

At least, not till I make a lot more than I do now. That inner lining part sounded really cool to me.



























Also bought a 1.5kg chocolate fudge cake when I saw the promotional price of about S$22.

Very nice but I'm getting an overdose of cake. For dessert, I can take like a giant slice of about 350g, but it stops being delicious beyond that point.

After two days, I've only finished about 50% of it, with another 10% taken by my bro. My guess is that tomorrow is the last day I can call it "fresh" at all, so I'll probably have to persuade someone to finish it with me.

Rant 1069 / It's Easier To Quit Smoking If You Don't Start In The First Place. Who Would Have Known?

I rarely use Apple's Map app on my iPad these days, and I have Chrome in it so I can use Google Maps anytime.




















Got a multimeter to see how much electricity I use.

Since I suspect that the biggest power guzzler is my PC system, I'm using it on them first. Fortunately they're all plugged into a multiplug so I can simply connect the meter to the multiplug for unified readings.

Yesterday I checked it while watching Livestream with my iPad and mobile router charging on the same multiplug, and I was using somewhere between 190-195W.

In other words, for every hour I do that, I consume 0.19-0.195 kWh.

Without those two, the meter says I use about 175-177W, ie every hour I use around 0.176kWh.

kWh, or kilowatt hour, is the unit of energy used by electric companies to measure energy consumption. A huge machine that's rated 1kW operating for 1 hour uses 1kWh of electricity.

Though 176W may be huge to some computer users, I have a 500W power supply unit in my computer, so this is not that big a deal here.

With Borderlands 2 on in addition to Firefox, things get a little hotter at 250-255W.

Electricity costs $0.2727/kWh from October till December this year, so if I take Borderlands 2 to consume 80W of electricity, then every hour of Borderlands 2 is costing me S$0.021816.

Since Borderlands 2 is supposed to provide about 30 hours of gameplay, then it's going to cost me $0.65 to finish the game.























I just came up with this interesting idea - I could order meal deliveries to my hotel room if I don't see anything interesting during window-shopping trip, or if I go back early due to fatigue.

All that is needed is internet access to search for something other than the hotel's room service.

Actually it won't be really cheap compared to what I can find on my way back to the hotel, but it's restaurant food vs street food. When I'm alone overseas, I feel that it's best not to tempt fate or, in this case, diarrhoea.






















Made aglio olio again, except this time with spaghetti and fresh parsley.

I have to say that fresh parsley is seriously overrated. I've been using dried parsley all these months and I feel that fresh ones aren't particularly more flavourful; they just have the additional "fresh" smell.

Also added bacon.

























I'm beginning to have this distinct feeling that I may have been mistaken about year-end sales. They may not offer the biggest discounts that I thought they would, just the most numerous.

The right thing to do, I think, was to check out the clearance sales during the last several months.

I'll know soon enough if I'm right.























So the sinus treatment worked but not as well as I expected. Apparently it's because there's still lots of blood crusted in there that I can't feel and are getting covered over by snot until my last appointment a few days ago.

That was when he used some really narrow suction tube to remove them, but he also told me that this won't be the last time I need this.

























3D printers are becoming more and more affordable.

I think I saw those on Discovery Channel or something many years back, and now there are stores offering the use of these.

3D printers are actually already affordable enough for homes but the objects they create just aren't practical enough.

There are good reasons why everything is made of different materials, and even among plastic objects, there is a vast range of different plastics that, even when simplified for the convenience of recyclers, can only be reduced to 7 categories.

So when a 3D printer can only use one or a few materials, the number of usable items it can create is extremely limited.

It gets even worse when the those few materials aren't even the main components of common household items.

Someday, when they can use a wide range of materials together (or somehow mix components like 2D printers mix basic colours), they will be a lot more useful. Till then, they are going to remain the expensive curious novelties that they are now.
























So Towns and Project Zomboid got greenlit on Steam. Both won't be actually playable via Steam until they're near completion because Steam does not publish unfinished games, and by "unfinished" I mean either alpha or closed-beta.

I like this because Steam makes life a lot more convenient through its automatic updating. Right now, every time Towns gets an update, I have to redownload the game again through a link. Fortunately, it's tiny so it doesn't take long.

























Been re-counting my stock and it still surprises me how much of a hoarder my mum was.

Till today, I'm still digging out ancient stocks that even my oldest staff member don't remember.

Most of them are no longer in sellable condition but some of them still could be sold.

Except a sizable proportion of those are either samples, ie 1 piece per design, or fall under categories that don't sell well even in perfect condition.

So now I'm noting everything like that and eventually I will donate all of them to Red Cross. Most likely I'll get my delivery guy to send everything over unless the organization is willing to provide its own. Highly improbable, but who knows? I've got at least 300 pieces of various winter apparel right now ready for donation and I'm still finding new ones every few hours I'm in the office.

These were not found earlier because they're all buried under the newer stocks or placed on top of the shelves where they are close to unreachable. All the easy-to-reach ones are already being sold, albeit very slowly.

Once I'm done with the scavenger hunt, I'll contact the Red Cross and see if they can provide the transportation.

I'll also have to consult my staff to see if it's even theoretically possible to repair whatever defects these items have. They won't have to do it, but after enquiring on whether they accept defective unsold items through email, a representative of the charity asked me if it was possible to repair them.

I'm going to assume he/she meant that volunteers over at Red Cross could handle the QA because I definitely don't want to waste manpower on this. I would if the plan was to sell them, but why go out of my way to help others when I can barely handle things on my end? I think I'm generous enough already by donating what I estimate to be roughly 500 pieces of sweaters, scarves, gloves and vests.

In the past, my mum sold my father's old goods to some unknown person for $0.50 each. I think I could do that too, but it's only $250. I still don't understand why I'm supposed to squeeze every single cent out of everything.

























Wanted to buy a compost machine.

I'm sure anyone who has to clean up after feeding a family should have felt that all the leftovers are being wasted in the trash.

Or maybe it's just me. I don't know.

So when I saw an easy-to-use compost machine, I was very tempted to get it. S$300? No problem. It doesn't stink and it recycles my uneaten food.

But then I realized it was going to create too much compost. I don't grow anything in my home, and even if I begin now, I'm not going to be having a whole garden in my flat any time soon.

Heck, I'm not sure if all the old people who grow stuff along the stairs and corridors in my block will need that much compost. This is powerful stuff that only needs to be spread on top of the soil.

Oh well.

Still, I checked the website to see if I can do without a machine, in case I ever want to compost any trash at home in the future.

It's actually pretty simple, and the only thing that isn't is the motorized mixer that stirs the stuff once in a while. To prevent smells, the user just needs to add a little sawdust and baking soda, both of which are very cheap and easy to find even in Singapore, and make sure the browns and greens are balanced.

So basically, if anyone wants to DIY a compost machine, it's just a sealed bucket with a mixer. In fact I don't think the mixer is absolutely necessary because it merely speeds up the process. The user can just mix everything really well and don't open it at all for two weeks.

This is less convenient than the commercial one because that allows more trash to be added at any time.
























So I'm planning to leave my PC on throughout my overseas trips so that I can use Teamviewer at any time. I'll also leave the monitor unplugged. It's not extremely useful but I feel safer in having access to my PC at any moment.























Democracy is based on the ideal that everyone is equal.

But that assumption isn't true at all.

The powerful don't have to force their own opinion on the rest, they just have to keep telling them their opinion.

It's like Coke's advertisement campaigns. They just have to keep telling everyone to drink it and now it's pretty much the default drink for a sizable portion of the world. In fact it's my beverage of choice when I have no idea what's on the menu and don't really give a damn about it as long as it's cold. Coke's everywhere and is almost always served cold, so it's the safest option in the world.

But Coke's neither the best-tasting soft drink not the healthiest.

The point is that the actual quality does not matter as much as the opinions of the people.

Same with governance.

In the story of capitalism vs communism, there is arguably no real evidence to date to prove that communism sucks, because every communist country is hit by sanctions by most of the developed world. It wouldn't be fair to compare the running speed of a normal man with that of one who has only one leg.

Or we can look at Singapore. Nobody can honestly say that we're a democratic country, yet we're doing pretty well today for a tiny island in the middle of a region that has never been known for its economic stability.

Yet the thing is that even in the most horrific of living conditions, people don't seem to want to change the status quo. Look at certain countries in Africa. Those people would rather war with each other for generations without fully understanding why their ancestors started fighting in the first place than work together for a better life. Or North Korea, where they would rather let millions of the friends and family starve to death than overthrow their dictator. Regardless of whether it is suicide for the civilians to fight against the military, dead is dead whether they starved or got shot, but at least one of the two options has a chance of changing things for the better. And what about the soldiers? Clearly they prefer the slow death of millions of their countrymen to changing the status quo.

I think we're simply more tolerant than we think we are.

In other words, it doesn't even matter what kind of governance we have, as long as the people think it works... and there are people alive to keep the government powerful.

As for the best type of governance, it's one that makes the right decisions at the right time. There isn't a specific name for it because any type of government will do.

The real problem is with picking the best minds to find out what the right decisions are and getting things done punctually.























Why does this supplier keep bullshitting me? Her acrylic-and-wool mix is so different from this legit (and expensive) acrylic-and-wool mix sweater I bought from a branded store. The ratios are the same, so it's a fair comparison.

Ugh.




















Since there aren't many shops that still sell those small packets of used stamps in Singapore, I managed to find some online.

The shipping makes everything significantly more expensive but it's not like I'm buying the much heavier albums.

Also, there are stamps from countries that I don't have at all but am interested in, like those from North Korea.






















Anachronox. I had watched a bit of it on a stream and found it interesting, so when it was 60% off on GOG I just had to get it. Got it for around S$3 (US$2.39) and I think I've got more than my money's worth of gameplay already.

Only just got out of Sunder so it's in the earlier part of the game, according to the walkthroughs whose table of contents I had scanned through quickly while searching for something.

Though most of the sidequests are straightforward, they are not recorded anywhere so sometimes when I forget a detail or miss a word here and there, I get confused. Hence the walkthroughs.

Game's fun but not the kind that makes me forget my meals.

Speaking of forgetting my meals, for some strange reasons my work is making me do that.

Anyways Anachronox is a Western-made RPG that feels like a JRPG. It's got the same battle system and ancient 3D graphics as FF7, as many kawaii lolis as Planescape: Torment, and costs a lot less than any of these games today.

The game did try to improve on the battle system by adding a movement action on a kind of grid-based battlefield, but when most battles begin with the enemies only 1 grid away from you, it's usually redundant.

For some reason, the guys also thought it would be a good idea to seriously jack up the dodge rate of both us and the enemies. This resulted in unpredictable battles in every encounter except for the really easy ones.

The story is decent enough. The protagonist, Boots, is a private investigator aka private detective who's been having a shitty time so far. I'm not sure if he deserved it, but he did digitize his dead secretary's mind to keep her... undead I guess... and she didn't like that. Kinda like the Spy in the Medic's fridge, except more useful since she forms the menu system in the game and gives you hints for your main quests.

So when Boots got defenestrated for owing some big shot money, he finally decided to actually try to get a job. Then blah blah blah, and they discovered that Mystech is magic.

Yea, sci-fi with magic.

Also, the battle system feels pointless after a while. I'm playing on normal difficulty and there's no challenge at all! Moreover, the battles are so rare and short. Encounters are based on zones. You step into an area that is marked by the presence of monsters and you get a battle. They die but do not respawn.

I feel that the battle system was just badly made, either because it was forced into the game or whoever was in charge of that part of the game sucked at his job. So in the end it was more of an interactive movie than a game, with some exploration (for secret loots) thrown in.

Rant 1068 / With Vocaloid, Who Needs Real Voices?

So I expected the Carrefour final clearance sale at the Singapore Expo to be quite devoid of anything really interesting.

Not really, but it was not what I expected.

Instead of walls of bottled water like I saw at Plaza Singapura, the sale turned out to be a bed accessories galore.

No bottled water, no netbooks and printers, nope.

Just mattress protectors, bed sheets, tiny 1m-long bolsters, bolster covers, pillow casings, cushion casings and etc.

And socks. Fucking socks. I wouldn't mind socks but they were all up to size fucking 12 like they were taunting me.

Seriously, every single pair of socks on sale were for size 7 to 11 or 12. Not one for size 13. Not even one.

And underwears and shirts, but I didn't need dress shirts since all I need were the ones I ordered on Kickstarter.

There were a few booths from banks but I needed nothing from those. Two tried to get me to get loans and savings accounts but LIKE I NEEDED A FUCKING LOAN TO BUY BED SHEETS!

One of them was particularly unforgettable because I think she was faking her squeaky voice. Either that or she had an unnaturally anime-like voice for a grown woman. Either way, it disturbed me.


Anyways I have never been to the Expo for sales before so it was kinda educational. For one, the queue was crazy, ie I will never go there again.

Another thing I didn't know was that they could share expo halls. There were several other companies there doing smaller sales in the same hall with Carrefour, like OTO with its own clearance sale which appeared pretty successful because it's area was... spacious. Lots of massage chairs and that sort of thing.

There were some cheap scented candles but one sniff was all I needed to understand why they were selling them at $3 for six 2" tall and 1" diameter candles. I wouldn't take them even if they were free.

TBH I did want to get a set of anti-mite bed sheets but the queue was so ridiculous I went back and put the pack back onto the wagon instead.

It's just a blue gun! WTF? How did it even come up with that price?

It sucks (for Zero)!

With that terrible ammo capacity plus a 2-ammo-per-shot handicap, relatively poor accuracy; and lack of special ability, I have no idea why it is priced at over $5000.

So I researched more into the subject of interior designers, whose service I already knew will be expensive.

Apparently, I will need to set aside at least S$20k for this, but I think I will consider something around double of that if my bro and I can afford it.

It may be a big sum, but I'm talking about the home we will be living in for many years, so it will be worth it... as long as we can afford it then and it turns out well.

This is going to be in the future though, probably in 10 years' time after we move to a new flat, so there's plenty of time for imagination.

We will most likely have to set aside a similar sum in order to stay in a flat that's on a similar storey, so it's something to keep in mind.

Rant 1067 / Bordercraft 2

The current situation in Greece and Spain sounds horrible. What happens when a pharmacy runs out of insulin and the diabetic patients are unable to afford it without government subsidies at private clinics or hospitals?

Charities?

Charities, AFAIK, run on shoe-string budgets even during good times, so what happens now?


























So I found this Shills thing on Qoo10 that's supposed to make the skin exfoliate when massaged with it. This will lighten any unsightly dark patches on any part of the body, eg ankles, back of knees, armpits and etc. It appeared quite popular there with several sellers trying to promote the exact same product, so I got one to try it out.

Tried it today and was kinda shocked by its effectiveness.

Initially I expected nothing. I mean, the only effective exfoliation product I know of is the Amethystory facial cleanser and other products that claim to have the same effect that I've tried do not work as well.

On my first attempt, since I expected it not to work well, I scrubbed hard, and the result was stunning to the point where I was worried I was going to see blood if I rubbed any harder.

Anyhow, I wonder what causes that effect in the foam. As far as I can tell, it doesn't seem to be friction because otherwise I'd get abrasions on my palms, so it's likely to be some kind of chemical reaction.























I can't avoid coffee - it is just so effective! Just sitting on my ass drinking half a cup of it after not taking it for some time perks me up within 15mins. Without coffee, the alternative to achieve the same effect would be some exercise, but seriously, who the heck likes to do exercise immediately after they get out of bed?

Moreover, I've stopped my exercises after the sinus treatment when my doctor told me not to breathe hard or get water into my nose for several days, and I completely lost my momentum ever since.

Now I can't start, hence coffee.

Yet I really dislike the inevitable cold turkey phase that comes after a week or two, which occurs as I never allow myself to have a daily coffee for longer than that because it eventually stops giving me the buzz.

I wish there's some way I can handle the cold turkey better instead of sleeping in the day and risk ruining my somewhat fragile sleep cycle.

Anyways, I also don't see how coffee makes people lazy like what that study I mentioned before said. From personal experience, coffee makes me more motivated to work due to the temporary buzz it gives me. For most people, it jumpstarts their engines; for me, it's about starting my engine at all.























Holy shit! Carrefour is having an final clearance sale from the 27th till the 30th before it closes! Common sense says there's going to be even bigger discounts.

I must go!

Hopefully they will still have a few bottles of Jack Daniel's left by then.
























So I already have a life insurance policy at NTUC Income and I didn't even know it.

Yeah, I'm to be blamed for this because I was never interested in what insurance my parents got for me. Back then, I didn't give a damn about any money matter.

So I got the SAFRA Living Care policy before I realized my life policy there basically covers almost the exact same things.

The differences, after some queries and reading, are as follows:

1) Living Care is a term policy that stops coverage at a certain age; life policy stays as long as I'm alive.
2) The term policy is much cheaper than the life policy, almost by half for my age.
3) If I cancel the life policy, I can get my money back. I don't get a single cent if I cancel the term policy.
4) The term policy covers hospitalization that the life policy doesn't.

I also confirmed with NTUC Income that if I ever get hit by something covered by both policies, I will be able to claim for both, except for the permanent disability compensation which is capped at a certain amount.

Which is fine with me because I'm only worried about cancer.

Still, if I had known I already have that life policy there, I'd have chosen another brand. Since it's already done and the rate is still perfectly affordable, I'm letting it be.

Also changed all my premium payment modes to annual payment because they all offer lower rates for that and I have absolutely no intention of cancelling any of my policies in the foreseeable future.


























So the Queen's Blade MMO website had been launched in Korea, and Aeria Games has been confirmed to be the US publisher of the game.

The best part?

It actually has porn.

Seriously, there's an "Adult Zone" in the Korean website where images of the characters in the nude exist. No hardcore action, just softcore porn.

And they are all available on Google without having to register at the website to enter the Adult Zone.

A mainstream MMO with actual nudity included. Welp, they have finally crossed the line and I'm sure everyone saw it coming.

There is, however, the big possibility that the porn won't exist in the US version because of their censorship laws. It's funny how it's ok for their kids to see how adults take drugs, blow up body parts but NO FEMALE NIPPLES ALLOWED!

I'm not sure what kind of horrendous effect the sight of female nipples have on non-adults but for some reason, I have this impression that seeing up close the effects of a shotgun fired at point blank on a human head has to be worse than it. Then again, I live in Singapore, so I can't really criticize their censorship laws.

In conclusion, now is a good time to learn Korean.



























Found a secret area accidentally when I spotted some oddly shaped rocks in the Caustic Caverns. While most rocks were irregularly formed, those were clearly carved cuboids.

So I jumped onto them and noticed a strange brown wall nearby. More intriguing was the fact that according to the map... I was not even in the map anymore.

And this was what I found when I got closer:

Looks very familiar, doesn't it?

Guns don't work on these.

They even made a special effect for this.

A second, harder wall!

I really didn't expect this. Simple walls were one thing, but creepers too?

 They even explode like real creepers.

 Of course there's a mini-boss, now that we've seen monsters here. And of course it drops special loots.
 


Yep, a secret Minecraft area in the Caustic Caverns. Borderlands 2 is filled with things like this, and I like it.

Rant 1066 / Disturbingly Perturbed

Was wandering around looting Firehawk's hideout after finishing the Enkindling quest when I looked at the screens.

Roland used to be different.



















Got iOS 6 on my iPad. Currently learning the uses and limitations of Siri.

So far the most useful function is the "Open " command, but the funny thing is that Siri can't close apps.

Why???

I have this habit of closing apps that I don't intend to use right after I'm done using them in order to conserve battery power, so if I'm going to get used to getting Siri to open my apps, it's not going to be that awesome if I have to close them manually.

Shrinking is not a problem because if Siri can be opened on top of apps, I can open whichever app I want without exiting the app, as long as I can remember the app.

Another is that it can send emails for me. Granted, it is unable to understand a number of terms I've tried so far, like local street names, because it's using UK English but it can handle the simple stuff.

Finally, it can set alarms, reminder and timers for me. Kind of useful, but mainly just the timer for the times when I leave something to cook while I wait at the computer.

The alarm volume is the same as the sound volume I set for the tablet, which means it's very soft. Kinda pointless. Reminders are useful because they are displayed on the lock screen. Could make decent shopping lists.




















US$100k for the death of whoever made the terrible anti-Islam film?

Either the minister is stupid or he's too emotional, and therefore, again, stupid.

Bounties don't work in today's society.

The problem with it is that it's impossible to trust complete strangers to identify the target correctly. This is especially true when the filmmaker is currently not confirmed to be the guy under arrest by the US police.

Hence, it can cause unnecessary violence among innocent civilians.

This minister is basically inciting violence in the US, and I'd be surprised if he's still a minister by the end of the year.




















China doesn't want the Nexen deal to be politicized but that doesn't even make sense!

The deal involves a Chinese state-owned company proposing to take over a Canadian energy company.

How can politics not be involved at all?























If humans ever come into contact with aliens, and these aliens have some form of religion, some religious humans are going to compare their religion(s) with the aliens' and find common points as evidence that their deity or deities exist, unless of course those points don't conform to their doctrines.

Then again, in almost all religions, things are selectively interpreted either literally or otherwise so they will find what they want to find.




















After all these time, despite all the advancements in psychology, it is clear nobody really understands each other. Even though it is scary how the marketing people of commercial corporations manipulate their victims, IMO they're only barely scratching the surface of what is possible.

The reason is that even today, nobody really knows how to make a successful film or game. Some film studios, TV studios and game developers can somehow nudge the probabilities in their favour, but none of their methods have succeeded constantly.

The fact remains that we still don't know what we like. The best of us have only a vague idea, but nobody seems to know for sure what will be popular until the product is released.
























Borderlands 2 rapes my FPS so bad sometimes, even though I'm not setting everything to High.

Still, it's an interesting game.

"Explosive Fuster Cluck"

Another weapon I'm using, the Critical Shotgun 1340, is both powerful and entertaining to use. It probably also helps that I focus on Critical Damage skills, originally to get more damage from headshots, since it has already 50% more Crit Dmg. The gun's one of two possible rewards from a sidequest so any player can get it easily.


Seriously, it's the little things like this that makes a game a lot more fun.

This game is not a serious one. As far as I can tell, none of the characters are actually the cool, serious sort that are common in other FPS games. Even Zero spouts memes, like sometimes when he uses his power, he goes,"How hilarious! You just activated my trap card!"


























The thing about Iran's desire to use nuclear energy as a power source only leads to two possibilities:

1) Its oil is running out.
2) "Peaceful purposes" my ass.

If 1 is true, then Israel is being a complete jerk by trying to stop Iran from having a future.

If 2 is true, then Israel may be right.

Except it's a fact that Israel is a complete jerk, although this doesn't prevent 2 from being true.