Blind Effort

Ever wonder why sometimes people study/work so hard but yield no results out of it? Well, sometimes it is not that they are stupid. It's just that some people have the mentality that as long as they work hard, they will succeed. They stay positive and keep telling themselves that.

The reality is, there's also something called Blind Effort. You keep doing the same thing over and over again, you keep trying, but you don't go to the root of the problem. You don't try to understand why you failed, and you just carry on doing what you usually do, in the hope that one day, success will come to you. Get this. Success doesn't come to you. You want it, you have to go get it.

One simple example is when we're dealing with computers. Computers give us problems every now and then. What many of us usually do, is to keep clicking on the same button and ask,"How come there's no response?" Well, did you expect something to happen after pressing it for the 100th time? Many times, the solution is just out there. It could be very simple stuff. Did you accidentally press "Caps Lock"? Or accidentally switch off your wireless connection? etc. When you don't think about the reason behind the problem, you'll always be stuck in the same spot.

Don't deceive yourself that you are working hard. Blind effort=Zero effort. Remember that.

Sentosa

Went to Sentosa yesterday. I got free tickets to some attractions at Sentosa, Kh got free entry tickets, so we basically didn't spend much money at all the whole day.



pink orchids!


my flower hairband




Megazip


Segway










vday prezzie :)

New Laptop

Finally bought a new laptop from Matrix at Funan Mall last Saturday. Well it wasn't that my old, sturdy Dell laptop wasn't working-- in fact its still working perfectly thanks to proper PC maintenance (points to self). It's just that I've been meaning to install Lightroom 3, Adobe Photoshop CS5, Sims3, etc etc, and my old laptop just wasn't able to keep up with the recommended specifications without hanging. Also, I left my old laptop on the table and woke up one morning to find the hinge really loose. Like, if you accidentally brush against the screen a bit, it will totally slam down in either direction. Scary. 

So after browsing around several shops and listening to recommendations, I found Asus X42J to be quite compatible with my needs. 

Frankly, I would prefer a faster processor speed, preferably at least Intel i7 Quad Core 2.0Ghz. This comes at 1.73Ghz. According to one guy, the newer and faster i7 2.0Ghz isn't very stable right now, and Intel recently sent them notification to recall it. He could be bluffing me for all I know, but he does make some sense. Plus, why would he encourage me to buy the slightly older version when the newer one is more expensive? (btw, I didn't buy from him)

Another feature I really appreciate is the keyboard. Nowadays, new laptops swap the position of the function keys on the F1-F12 buttons. In the past, if you want to switch on your bluetooth, you have to press Fn+F2. With newer keyboards nowadays, it's simply F2. So if you really want to use F2, you now have to press Fn+F2 instead. Can you imagine what a hassle it will be to rename stuff. So much for shortcuts eh? I'm glad Asus hasn't followed in this dumb direction.

Specs:
Intel i7 Quad Core 1.73Ghz
500GB hard drive space (would have preferred more actually)
4MB memory
ATI Mobility Radeon 1GB graphics card (would have preferred Nvidia but it's fine)
14.1"
2.3kg (much lighter than my 2.41kg Dell)
... and a whole lot of other stuff I don't care about.

Freebies:
3-years warranty (Apparently, only Asus dares to do this as they make their own motherboards hence more confident of its stability.)
Asus mouse (comes with laptop!)
Laptop cleaning kit
Keyboard protector
Mouse
Earphones + microphone
Asus Laptop bag
Laptop Cooling fan

All that for $1200 nett. =)

To think I was prepared to pay like $2k... Alright, another strike off wishlist!

CNY Fail

Mum was totally unprepared when it comes to decorating the house with CNY stuff. She brought out last year's CNY decoration to put them up and I said,"You can't use that." "Why?" "Because it's not Tiger year anymore. There are tigers in it."

So everywhere's closed. What do you do but rely on Gerrie to make the CNY stuff with angpows?

I cringe at the sight of these homemade decorations. It totally spells C-H-E-A-P-S-K-A-T-E. Adding to my horror, Mum actually said that these locations that Gerrie chose to display her homemade decorative piece was a great idea.


Later on, Mum tore out the lanterns from last year's Tiger decorative piece to paste on the wall.

Gerrie: Don't put that lah. It's not even a proper word.
Mum: It's correct what. Wan Shi Ru Yi.
Gerrie: No... It's Xi Yang Ru Yi.
Me: IT'S JI XIANG RU YI LAH. Wah your Chinese damn jia lat.

********************************************************

Mum: I want to watch countdown.
Gerrie: What countdown?
Mum: New Year countdown?
Gerrie: It's already 2011...?
...
Mum: Chinese New Year countdown.
Gerrie: Why Chinese New Year must countdown?
...

********************************************************

Gerrie: "财神" is Monkey God right?

********************************************************

Gerrie: I wore my best dress yesterday. I thought Chinese New Year is yesterday.
Me: What? You should have worn it today. It's the first day.
Gerrie: I know. I just realised it. No wonder there was a countdown.