radeonic

2005-06-19T00:18:00.000+01:00

continuing from the last post, here are a few photos as promised :)

bowling with housemates

harun, isan, me, acong, iwe and zacx

alistair, joe and me at UGC

right after bowling

ind, me, isan, nora and amir lurking behind

losers weep ;)

me and the 'Digital Rebel'

a little close up

a little note, today has been the hottest day yet this year. i had to shut down 2 out of 3 PCs in my room cos the heat was becoming unbearable. hopefully tomorrow wont be as bad cos i hate being sweaty all day. hmmm and i'm going back to malaysia in 2 months! :shudder:

2005-06-18T13:34:00.000+01:00

it's about time for a new post dont you think? :) i've finished my exams and now back to working two shifts a day. still pursuing for a weekend job but no progress so far. so what have i done after the exams? quite a lot obviously but here are a few highlights that i want to share :)

you'll hear a lot of this word today i reckon; bowling. thanks to hollywood bowl £6 unlimited bowling package, i played about 20 games in 2 weeks. crazy innit? first, i went out with all of my housemates. we played 10 1/2 games. my arm was sore the next day but it was definitely worth it. we used a few games just to try out some new bowling techniques. it was great fun :)

then i went out with 2 of my workmates, joe and alistair. they had just finished their exams too so we decided to have a day out to celebrate. a saturday with sin city and bowling sounds fun so that's what we did :). the movie was good. quite different from most comic or graphic novel based movies. i'd like to see it again, when the dvd is released [or perhaps leaked ;)] that is. bowling was good too. although we only played one game cos it's very expensive during weekends. then we had a meal at burger king before headed home.

then i had a haircut :). it's been almost a year i guess without a proper haircut. usually i just trimmed it myself but i think the time has come for me to end the long hair era :). i really think the timing is perfect cos it's been very hot here in shef ever since. i think my new haircut makes my face look chubbier :p. however i'm sure it's just an optical illusion cos i've actually lost weight since i started working 2 shifts again.

last wednesday's highlight, guess what, it's bowling again :). this time it's extra special though cos it was the first time i broke the 200 point barrier. w00t! i paired with ind and isan paired with nora. we competed in 9 games and me and ind won by 5-4. w00t again! i managed to score 213 in one game which is my best score ever :). now my aim is to make 200+ score a common and go for a perfect score of 300. i probably couldn't do it in a lifetime but it's good to have a target innit? :)

i'm now proud to reveal that i'm a proud owner of the oh-so-awesome Canon EOS 300D digital SLR :). well actually i was an owner, just for a few days though. i know i cant afford to keep it. i bought it just to make some quick squids off the ebay :). however, it did give me a chance to play around with it for a while and i gotta say i'll definitely own one of these (digital SLRs in general) one day. i know i've got a lot more to learn about photography to really utilised such cameras but i'll get there some day :).

there they are, a few highlights since i've finished my exams. i'll put some photos later. it has been a quite long entry for my standard :p so i'll stop here. to sum up, the last few weeks has been off-the-hook!! ;)

2005-04-28T10:15:00.000+01:00

'Try' not. 'Do' .. or 'do not.' There is no 'try.' - Jedi Master Yoda

2005-04-23T14:58:00.000+01:00

dual core is here baby!!! read all about it at TR last thursday n i'm all psyched up! :) true enough Intel came out with theirs first but i don't really care about the dual core Prescott..as expected AMD's dual core is much2 better..when dual core become mainstream by next year my current rig won't be that special anymore..then it's time to upgrade i suppose :)

2005-04-19T11:01:00.000+01:00

today i want to indulge myself into my geeky innerside for a while. i realised i haven't pay much attention to it lately n it's screaming loudly in need of attention. first thing that came into my mind is digital camera. i never owned a proper digital camera even though i'm surrounded by a lot of people who have at least one. in fact, i'm the only one in the house who is still using the old style 35mm film camera. more ironic when lots of people actually come to me for advices when they want to buy one for themselves.

i can't really point out what is the reason behind the not-having-a-digital-camera-yet phenomenon. i had a real chance when my camera broke down during my second year but i ended up buying another film based camera albeit a better one. it's not like i don't know which one to buy or which one is good or which one i like etc. for example i used to like the Minolta Dimage Xt with its non-extending lense n everything [not just the CT-factor ;)] but i never got to buy one. i know Sony P-series are generally well received as well as Canon Digital Ixus line. i had craving for Canon EOS 300D when it first came out and now for the Olympus Mju Mini and Minolta Dimage Z-series. i have so many options out there, yet i still don't own one. now it's even harder for me to get one since i started to cut the budget for leisure expenses. but one day i'll get one for sure. n i hope that day will come before i headed back home this summer..

they are a few other things that i would love to bring home. a pair of Dell's 2001FP or the new widescreen version, 2005FPW. Creative Labs DDTS-100 decoder with a good dvd/divx player for my home theater setup (now i'm leaning towards Umax/Yamada MX105) and last but not least, a few Kenwood's kitchenware ;). don't be surprised, people. for me a food processor, a mixer, a smoothie and an ice cream maker are just as high on the list as the rest of the stuff above :).

now the reality hit me, n i must prepare myself to face the fact that i might not be able to bring any of them home. there are other things to do n other things to think of. if only we can 'have it all' everytime...

2005-04-11T11:59:00.000+01:00

almost a month with no update at all.. lets see; the easter break has ended, lots of people went to Royal Albert Hall for Siti Nurhaliza's concert, Intel had announced their first dual core CPU and of course, my birthday had passed :)

i have no idea what to write now. i don't want to post lyrics again (yet)..hmm....hmmmm.....hmmmmmm...........[it's been almost 10 minutes now with no idea come to mind]..looking around room...hmmm.....hmmmm.....

alrite, i'll list out my current winamp playlist (how desperate am i for an update material? *sigh*). well here it is:

01. Arab & Aidit - Bila Bulan Berwarna Biru
02. Bloodshed - Srikandi Cintaku
03. Carefree - Belaian Jiwa
04. Carefree - Rindu Bayangan
05. Ekamatra - Hanya Satu Persinggahan
06. Ekamatra - Pusara Di Lebuh Raya
07. Ekamatra - Sentuhan Kecundang
08. Flybaits - Kenangan Lalu
09. Flybaits - Mengapa Perpisahan Yang Kau Pinta
10. Handy Black - Kau Yang Bernama Seri
11. Ilusi - Puisi Cinta
12. Kenny Remy Martin - Suratan Atau Kebetulan
13. Lestari - Mahligaimu Dari Air Mataku
14. Lestari - Sekelip Mata Kau Berubah
15. May - Cintamu Mekar Di Hati
16. May - Jemu
17. May - Meniti Suratan
18. May - Sendiri
19. Medicine - Rimba Cinta
20. Medicine - Tika Dan Saat Ini
21. Sons Of Adam - Memori Luka
22. Umbrella - Ramalanku Benar Belaka

most of the songs are from my childhood/teenage era, the rest are even older..so if u are not familiar with them probably u are not as old as me ;)

p/s: it seems like the latest Nassier Wahab's song; Memori Cinta Luka is quite popular right now. i've heard the song n i'm not impressed at all. almost similar titled song; Memori Luka by Sons of Adam is way, way better IMHO.

2005-03-14T21:44:00.000Z

today is a very special day for me. it's the day when my everdearest sweetheart was born :). it's the day when i feel like celebrating the most. i've always like to spoil her on her birthday. this year however, because of the distance seperating us, although i have the will, the way is definitely not as easy. even so, i hope she had a wonderful birthday today. she's growing into a woman, but she will forever be my baby :)

"Happy Birthday Honey"

2005-03-13T10:16:00.000Z

sodexho team photo is up! :)

team sodexho!

from left (back): zamir, myself, joe, akhsar,hafiz, non-player
from left (front): misnan, dr arip, ikhsan

nothing to write today, lots of work waiting. later....

2005-03-07T22:29:00.000Z

another song from the past. ever heard of the song 'Bila Bulan Berwarna Biru' by duo Arab & Aidit? this song was quite popular about 13 years ago. i still remember there was a singing contest at my school when i was in standard five. i'm not sure i sang this song during the contest but the song certainly reminds me of the competition :). well, here it is...

Bila Bulan Berwarna Biru
by
Arab & Aidit

Malam bulan berendang
Berwarna biru di cermin kali
Mata air memancar
Mengilap mata yang lama kabur

Derita perlakukan
Gerlapan malam
Di kaki gunung bertudung kabus

Syahdu lagu berdendang
Melamar kasih sayup membisik
Membelai sukmaku
Berkurun rindu lagak pendita

Mengilau sinar
Maya yang mendera
Membakar bahu musafir
Di lembah duka nestapa

Kini kasih kembali
Sekilas mentari
Sepi di ranting yang amat tinggi

Sekadar menemani
Jiwa tersadai
Di belantara sepi

Merayu pada yang Maha Esa
Agar dikurnia cahaya
Cinta kekal selama

Mengilau sinar
Maya yang mendera
Membakar bahu musafir
Di lembah duka nestapa

Kini kasih kembali
Sekilas mentari
Sepi di ranting yang amat tinggi

Sekadar menemani
Jiwa tersadai
Di belantara sepi

Merayu pada yang Maha Esa
Agar dikurnia cahaya
Cinta kekal selama

Kini kasih kembali
Sekilas mentari
Sepi di ranting yang amat tinggi

Sekadar menemani
Jiwa tersadai
Di belantara sepi

Kini kasih kembali
Sekilas mentari
Sepi di ranting yang amat tinggi

Ku sepi...

in case u guys r wondering, i didn't win. hehe :p

2005-03-06T18:22:00.000Z

it was Sheffield Games yesterday and about 3000 Malaysians from all over the UK gathered at Concord Sports Centre for the event. and for the first time ever, i entered the football competition :). my team consisted of me, my housemate ikhsan, my workmate joe (imported player), akhsar, dr arip, misnan, and zamir. we r definitely not the best of teams; not even had enough players, but we just played for fun. we weren't that bad actually. we managed to win one match (1-0) but suffered two slim losses (both 1-2). they were very close contested matches, i must say. we r satisfied with the results n the most important thing is we had fun. although probably not so much fun for ikhsan who injured his left knee during the first match. he has to use walking stick (golf club) now n i'll take him to the doctor tomorrow. apart from that i think the games went pretty good, although i realised that netball is truely boring to watch without my sweetheart playing ;). at one point i nearly fell asleep due to sheer boredom n the only thing that keep me awake was the high pitched sound of girls cheering every now n then, heh ;). no photos for the time being, i'll upload some when they r available.

2005-02-24T10:08:00.000Z

it has been snowing here in sheffield every single day since last saturday. at first i thought spring was delayed this year but after my little chat with Jill, my supervisor, she said this is actually the normal UK weather; snowing in february and even march she said. it's just the past few years has been a bit on the mellow side. it's interesting cos this kind of weather actually reminds me of my visit to turkey a few years ago. powdery snow with a hint of blizzard. it's cold n dry which is much better than the slushy snow that comes with the rain, which is normally the case here. a couple of pics for the eye candy ;)

from my window

backyard

2005-02-18T22:58:00.000Z

i finally decided to try Photobucket.com to host my photos/pics. here's my first random image, i took it using my camera phone.

i don't have a true digital camera yet, so for the time being i have to settle with not-so-great quality pics. for those of you who's wondering what in the name of hell is that thing; it's a carpet cleaning machine :). this photo was taken on saturday, 5th of february when i was doing an overtime job. that day, this machine was my partner for 6 hours. we only have 2 carpet cleaning machines on site so only 2 of us were doing carpet cleaning. the rest of the team worked together to do damp dusting as much as they could. i'm telling you, carpet cleaning is not easy, especially with this old machine. just imagine pushing and pulling a very heavy wheelbarrow n u'll get the idea. it was quite tiring but definitely worth it cos it was saturday, so the pay was 1.5 times the normal pay. i'll definitely do it again next time ;)

2005-01-29T22:32:00.000Z

another weekend. 4 days before my last paper this semester. a week away from returning to my lab. what did i do today? trying to make the most out of my 2000 free minutes to call my beloved gf. then went to superdrug n boots to get a few toiletries. then decided to treat myself with 2 servings of salmon en croûte for lunch. tasty, but i guess i left them in the oven a bit too long they became a bit too dry.

do u guys watch the apprentice? do u guys like it? i watched every single episode until now n i love it! the best reality tv show ever, hands down. if u guys haven't watch it yet, u guys should. it's really hard not to like the apprentice ;)

looking forward for this xm to end. looking forward to return to my lab next week. i'm gonna take 1 week annual holiday to concentrate on my project since i have only 6 weeks left to finish all practical works.

been thinking about taking my blog to the next level, ie with pics/photos/graphics. but all that can wait. need to do my revision now. till next time..

2005-01-11T11:08:00.000Z

i've been searching for this one particular song since i was in college n started piling up my mp3 collection. but since i didn't know the singer n not quite sure about the title, all i have was a little part of the melody n lyric of it in my head. now, after years of pursuit, a friend of mine suddenly came to me n asked me to search for the exact same song but this time i had a better lead since she knew the singer! after hours of effort (by my computer, not me) and a few broken n fake files, i've finally get my hand (virtual, ie cursor) on it :). the song is kinda old, IIRC it was popular when i was still in primary school n i can remember my Mak Lang liking this song too at its prime ;). anyway, here's the lyrics...

"Everlasting Love"
by
Gerard Joling

It looks like heaven to see you walk
To see the way you're moving on
Sounds like an angel when you talk
The words come out like in a song
Never thought what love could do inside
You're the place where I can hide

It feels like heaven to be with you
When you treat me like you do
Every minute of the day
Just with you I wanna stay
There will be no end....

We've got an everlasting love
So pure, divine
We've got an everlasting love
Our love will last for all time

Could draw a picture just by heart
Know every line on your face
You stopped me doing from the start
All the things I used to chase

Every minute of the day
Just with you I wanna stay
There will be no end

We've got an everlasting love
So pure, divine
We've got an everlasting love
Our love will last for all time

Should you ever (2x)
Have any doubt bout you and me
Please don't ever
No love never
Don't hesitate to tell me how it should be

We've got an everlasting love
So pure, divine
We've got an everlasting love
Our love will last for all time

i've been thinking about stars n relativity theory recently. i'll probably write about it in my next post. till then peeps..

2004-12-23T22:05:00.000Z

it's a windy, windy day today in Sheffield. from dawn when i went for my morning shift till dusk when i went for my evening shift till later at nite when i went back from work. the wind is so strong, n still is strong at the time this post is typed. thankfully the temperature is not that low, otherwise i'll be frozen already by now.

went to tesco n budgens after work, thanks to the bus driver, who was probably distracted by the noise that a group of drunken people made, hence failed to stop at my stop. at first i was quite upset since i have to walk further to my house but the offers at the stores just made up for it. bought myself a few pringles (2 for £1.69), four tubs of ben n jerry's ice cream, all different flavours (2 for £5) n a few other belly stuffers. man, i feel festive today ;)

2004-12-20T10:24:00.000Z

yesterday marked the end of suprnova.org, one of the most popular bittorrent sites. the news is all over the web. it has gone completely offline now, for good. for those who missed it, here's the last notice left on the home page..

Greetings everybody,

As you have probably noticed, we have often had downtimes. This was because it was so hard to keep this site up! But now we are sorry to inform you all, that SuprNova is closing down for good in the way that we all know it. We do not know if SuprNova is going to return, but it is certainly not going to be hosting any more torrent links. We are very sorry for this, but there was no other way, we have tried everything.

Thank you all that helped us, by donating mirrors or something else, by uploading and seeding files, by helping people out on IRC and on forum, by spreading the word about SuprNova.org.
It is a sad day for all of us!

Please visit SuprNova.org every once in a while to get the latest news on what is happening and if there is anything new to report on.

As we wish to maintain the nice comunity that we created, we are keppig forums and irc servers open.

Thank you all and Goodbye!
sloncek & the rest of the SuprNova Team

if u ask me, i don't believe bandwidth or any other hosting issue is the reason why they had to shut it down. it's most likely due to legal action by MPAA n RIAA. a few other torrent sites also having problems in the last few days. coincidence? i don't think so.

2004-12-18T14:28:00.000Z

the one month holiday starts today n the first thing my housemates n i did was playing basketball :)..it's been so long since i last played n the stiffness was apparent. nevertheless, it was a great game although it was cut short due to bad weather.

came across this article just now..interesting indeed. hmm let's see..how about a diamond cpu for anniversary gift, honey? mebbe computers can be women's best friend now ;)

2004-12-15T22:42:00.000Z

i noticed something unusual while downloading the latest Catalyst 4.12 driver for my video card today. looking at the transfer rate averaging more than 200KB/s, i knew something must have changed. n i was right, our internet connection has been upgraded again by Telewest to 2mbps! yea yea [Q's (West Coast Customs - Pimp My Ride) style] :). apparently, it's part of their free upgrade plan for current customers. well, fast broadband connection is definitely one of the things that i will definitely miss when i go back to malaysia. i'm not gonna waste this massive bandwidth as long as i'm here. i'm gonna need more hard disk space ;)

2004-12-14T23:34:00.000Z

i received a parcel today. wasn't expecting anything though since i haven't been shopping online for a while now (i think my geek factor is decreasing day by day *sigh*). upon checking the package i found out that it was from Home Office. hurray, it's my passport!! :) i sent my passport for visa extension purpose last October n now i'm officially permitted to stay in the uk until October next year.

now that i have my passport back, there's one thing that i really need to decide. it's about my job, n by my job i mean the cleaning job that i've been doing for about a year and a half now. i'm considering switching to a higher paying job, if i could get one of course. the thing is, i need more money but eventhough i could do extra hours at my current job, i can't sacrifice any more time to earn that extra money. the only way to do that is to find another job with higher pay per hour. i've been thinking about this since last month, n i've done a bit of job hunting too. the only thing that prevented me to go on with this was the absence of my passport. with the holiday starting next week the timing couldn't be more perfect. i just hope i could get this one job that i've been eyeing since last month. almost £200 extra per month with less daily working hour sounds like a no-brainer to me. pray for me peeps! :)

2004-12-11T23:55:00.000Z

i did my christmas shopping for myself today. went to the city centre and bought myself a new digital camera, a new portable FM tuner, a new mp3 player, a new camcorder and also a new phone. oh wait, i'm talking about the same thing; my new n flashy Nokia 6260 :)

i'm not really a huge fan of flip phones. i'm not so sure why i gave this phone an exception. mebbe becos the phone that i aimed for (Nokia 7610) was too expensive for me or probably becos of the lack of options available for a really good phone with all the features that i want. whatever it is, i'm satisfied with this phone so far. although i do need a little more time to master the interface, which is something i expected considering the fact that i've been using my trusty old Nokia 7650 for about 2 years now. for the readers who know me, i have to let u all know that i'm on O2 now but i'm keeping my old Vodafone number. if u guys dont have cross network free minutes or on other providers and dont wanna be charged for calling me, just give me a missed call or text me. i'll be happy to call back using my anytime any network minutes if i still have any ;)

if u r interested to know more about my latest phone, click here for a great interactive demo page. pretty cool innit? :)

2004-11-18T18:47:00.000Z

it's now the 7th day of syawal n i have no hari raya entry yet. well here it is, selamat hari raya to all who know me n to all readers of my blog. special wish to my family n my sweetheart in malaysia. maaf zahir dan batin. a lot of great things had happened during this hari raya. i heard nothing but good news from my family back home. my sweetheart finally fulfilled her 'task' ;). i met some new friends and also a long lost friend. all the pieces in my life seem to be falling right into place. alhamdulillah :)

oh btw, it's snowing today. very2 heavily indeed. it started whe i was on the way to work. worked for an hour n my supervisor told us all to go home. work for an hour n get paid for three, that's value for money ;)

i realised i haven't been writing a lot about techie stuff lately. hmm what can i say, nothing much really to write about. Intel released it's latest 3.8GHz Pentium 4 which still can't compete with AMD's top offering. Half Life 2 is out now n by the reviews around the net could be the best game ever released. n apparently doesn't require that much of a GPU power to reach high fps unlike Doom 3. kinda makes me wonder if DirectX 9 is really better API than OpenGL to reach the same image quality with the best performance. mebbe Microsoft has really done it this time n DirectX will be the API of choice among developers. wait a minute, Far Cry is a DirectX game n require a hell lot of computer power to run at high fps. hmm mebbe it's not the API that matters but the programmers behind the source code ;)

2004-11-06T14:07:00.000Z

someone has turned 21 today.. happy birthday imah! :) may ur birthday be as colourful as fireworks on bonfire night.. n also, welcome to adulthood.. i'm telling u, it's no picnic ;)

2004-10-29T10:21:00.000+01:00

i'm losing my voice *uhuk* *uhuk*
bad cough *uhuk* *uhuk*
sore throat *uhuk* *uhuk*
doctor's appointment at 4:10pm *uhuk* *uhuk*
can't go to work *uhuk* *uhuk*
want to do my lab work *uhuk* *uhuk*
i guess i'll just stay in bed *uhuk* *uhuk*
this cough is getting worse *uhuk* *uhuk*
no new Joey episode today *uhuk* *uhuk*
i'll just wait for The Apprentice n Survivor 9 *uhuk* *uhuk*
enuff for now *uhuk* *uhuk*
till later *uhuk* *uhuk*

2004-10-15T13:31:00.000+01:00

It's ramadhan, everybody :)..n whenever ramadhan comes, this nasyid will automatically pop out of my head..i can't remember the title though..mebbe someone could remind me please :)..here it goes..

Ramadhan..
Satu nasib tak serupa..
Peluangnya sama..
Natijah berbeza..

Ramadhan mereka..
Gemilang cemerlang..
Mukmin berjasa..
Di awal zaman..

Ramadhan kami..
Malang terbuang..
Muslim berdosa..
Di akhir zaman..

Mereka gembira..
Kerana kedatanganmu..
Kami gembira..
Dengan pemergianmu..

Malam mereka meriah..
Disimbah nur Al-Quran..
Tapi malam kami..
Muram berkabung dengkur..

Hati mereka..
Bercahaya digilap taqwa..
Jiwa kami..
Lemah didera dosa..

Takbir mereka..
Takbir kemenangan..
Hadiah mujahadah..
Sebulan ramadhan..

Takbir kami..
Lesu tak bermaya..
Tanda kalah..
Lemah tak berdaya..
Puasa sekadar..
Lapar dan dahaga..

that's pretty much what i can remember..may we all learn something from it..happy fasting guys :)

2004-09-15T11:53:00.000+01:00

my special someone has got a job! :) ...i bet she has been dancing around since she heard the great news ;) ..congratulations my dear..i couldn't say enough how happy i am for u :)

speaking of dancing, last night i watched 'Dirty Dancing'..i've heard of this movie a long time ago but haven't got a chance to watch it..now that i've watched it, hmm i think it's an OK movie..it could have been great if not because of some elements that were too simplified they became unrealistic. oh well it's just a movie :)

i just watched the new episode of 'North Shore'; a quite new tv series that i've been following..the story is not so bad..but the real pulling force is (as also The O.C) Amanda Righetti! ..there's something about her that keeps me saying "Daymne!"..others may disagree but i dont care ;)

this is quite a surprising news..apparently JPEG files now posses some serious potential threat. for all of u windows users, go here n get updated.

2004-09-12T11:38:00.000+01:00

i've been listening to this 2 albums that i really2 like..i think they have been released for quite a while..first is 'Hopes and Fears' by Keane..(btw i have to thank ghoy for introducing this album to me) eventhough i dont quite like it at first, after a while i found it really good ;) ..among my favourite songs in this album r Bedshaped, Bend and Break, Everybody's Changing, She Has No Time, Somewhere Only We Know, We Might As Well be Strangers n the untitled bonus track..i dont usually listen to this type of music but this one i like :)

the 2nd album is more my kind of music; Kanye West's College Dropout..this album is goooood! :) i dont think there's a single song that i dont like..but my favourites r We Dont Care, All Falls Down, Never Let Me Down, Get Em High, The New Workout Plan, Slow Jamz, Breathe In Breathe Out, School Spirit, Two Words, Through The Wire, Family Business..oh wait..i almost listed out all of the tracks ;) ..seriously guys, this album is awesome..i just love cranking up my speaker volume (n almost definitely annoying the neighbours) when listening to them..if i haven't say it enough, this album is gooooooooooood! ;)

yesterday i read this shootout review at GamePC..i am particularly interested with the SLI possibility on the Supermicro board..although if i'm buying a mobo between the two i'll take the Tyan Thunder as it has a more complete feature set (SCSI, Firewire n digital audio) ..the bad news is PCI Express capable chipset for AMD processors wont show up until 2005..so i have to just live in my dream until 2005 if i want to use a dual Opteron with SLI 6800 GT...hmm looks like i'm one of those 'dual hardware fetish guys'..i just can't help it..my ultimate system for the time being would be a dual dual-core Opteron with dual video card in SLI config, dual monitor (at least), two 15000 rpm SCSI hard disks in raid-0, dual-layer DVD writer n so on n so on.. i dont know why..i just think two is better than one ;)

2004-09-10T11:14:00.001+01:00

watched the new 'Joey' show :) ..actually i watched it 2 times; the first one is the pilot episode which they showed to tv companies to sell it n the other one is the one that actually aired last night in US. there r a few changes they made to the original pilot..emm i'm not gonna mention them here..dont wanna give out spoilers..all i wanna say is go n watch it :) ..although it's a bit weird seeing joey hanging out with different people, but joey is still joey..n that means u still gonna have some good laughs ;)

2004-09-09T09:22:00.000+01:00

things have settled down a bit now..n i find myself starting to get into a mundane routine..get up in the morning, read a few articles or play some games, then preparing n having lunch..after Dhuhr straight away to work without forgetting to leave my special someone something to read when she gets online :)

the first two hours at work is n the kitchen..doing pot wash, sweeping n mopping..twice a week i have to do some buffing too..then i have 1/2 hour break before my next shift starts..what do i do? gaming on my mobile phone until other cleaners arrive, what else? :) when they arrive, we'll chat a bit until 4:30pm when all of us will have to go to our respective cleaning area; doing bins, toilets, kitchens, meeting rooms, hoover n damp dusting..hmm mebbe some other time i'll write something about my workmates; joe, warren, katie, steph,jade n jamie to name a few

finish work at half past seven, sign out then wait for the bus, arrive at home, check email, have dinner n watch a movie b4 i go to sleep..that's how my weekdays look like..quite dull, huh?

well, moving on to a more exciting topic - dual core..dual core is all over the news right now (the news that i care enough to read, that is)..AMD had demonstrated their dual core Opteron a couple of weeks ago n Intel dont wanna left behind..during Intel Developer Forum (IDF) that's going on right now, they've talked about their dual core processors for desktop, server n mobile solutions..they expect by 2006, the majority of their processor shipment will be dual core..with Intel now pushing the dual core into mainstream, i guess it's about time software developers take seriously into account parallelism in their future products..if all goes well, by 2006, '64-bit optimized' n 'SMT/SMP capable' will be the major selling points..mark my word if u wish ;)

2004-08-28T00:55:00.000+01:00

Over 2 months without updating..lots n lots of stuff has been happening..not really want to go through all of them here now..i do want to write more often though..i guess i need to take it slow first..so for today's entry, here's a song for everyone to read but for a special someone to be dedicated to..

Riuh kicau unggas rimba

Langit biru kala senja

Kini engkau jauh dari mata

Hatiku merindu tiap masa

Pagi hari pergi pekan

Pakai baju bunga-bunga

Bila hati sedang kesepian

Ku tulis untuk mu surat cinta

Memanglah hai adat berkasih

Berpisah selalu gelisah

Terbayang kenangan yang manis

Terasa kau ada bersama

Padamu hai si jantung hati

Dalam tidur ku termimpi-mimpi

Selagi kita berjauhan

Hati rindu tiada tertahan

Kalau pergi Kuala Kubu

Tulis nama atas batu

Saban hari ku menanti waktu

Pulanglah segera kepada ku

2004-06-26T10:26:00.000+01:00

continuing from yesterday's entry..for the second weekend trip, me n my gf rent a car to bring all her stuff to my place to be shipped from here..a little disappointment when the Ford Focus estate car that i booked was unavailable n we r stucked with a small Skoda Fabia 1.2 hatchback..which also translated into two trips instead of one..since i love driving this is actually a blessing in disguise, not for my gf though ;)..n the total rental cost (special discount) plus fuel was less than that of the estate car, good for me n for the money :)..so we drove to Lancaster on saturday morning, put half of the stuff in the car n head back to Sheffield that afternoon..we rested a bit n return to Lancaster that evening..on sunday, we finished the packing, put everything in the car, drop by at kak idlan n hadiff's birthday party n drove back to sheffield..satisfying trips i must say n i realized how i missed driving..although this time the car wont hit 200 km/h no matter how hard i press the pedal..it maxed out at around 160+ km/h..well, it's 1.2cc..what to expect? :)

for the computer related stuff, i actually yet to fully catch up on this..let me start with Intel's new processor naming scheme..ironically, they've followed AMD's naming scheme for Opteron n the FX by announcing three new CPU 'series'..the 3, 5 n 7 series..reminds me of BMW instantly ;)..no longer they will include the processor speed in the name of their processors..the 3 series is the new Celeron D based on the new Prescott core..for now, Intel has released Celeron D 325, 330 n 335 with clock speed of 2.53, 2.66 n 2.8 GHz respectively..the 5 series is the new LGA-775 based Pentium 4 CPUs (Prescott)..Intel has 520 up to 560 Pentium 4 now (2.8 - 3.6 GHz)..lastly, the 7 series is the new Pentium M CPU based on Dothan core..this CPU family is first targeted at mobile market but will be available for desktop as well..they r the low clock speed, low power, high performance n high cost CPUs..from my random reading, clock for clock performance comparison between Pentium M n Athlon64 is very close..i have high hopes on Dothan architecture..can't wait to see how dual core Dothan n dual core Hammer stack up :)

that's all for now..i hope i'll be able to update this blog more frequently after this..as for today, my plan is to clean the house..may the force be with me :)

2004-06-25T14:54:00.000+01:00

england lost in quarter final euro 2004 yesterday and today the sun shines again..coincidence? i watched the match with a smile on my face..england is out at last :)..cant wait to hear the comments from my british friends at work today, particularly joe, the hardcore aston villa n england fan..not that i hate england or support portugal in this tournament, but it is getting really annoying to hear n read the england-oh-so-great and rooney-the-next-pele chants everyday everywhere..frankly speaking, i think england is a good side but somewhat overrated most of the time..if i'm not mistaken they haven't win any international tournament since the 60's..well seems like they have to wait some more..yesterday's match summary, portugal was outstanding and england was..ummm..out ;)..better luck next time england..(i don't mean it..hehe)

since i started working two shifts a day, i haven't been able to update my blog n of course a lot has happened since then..to make it short, the weekdays r mostly mundane since i don't have time to do much really..the weekends r a lot more interesting :)..for two weekends in a row i went to lancaster to help my gf packing her stuff..here's the story of the first weekend..as usual i went to the railway station straight from work to catch the last train to lancaster..then something happened that has never happened before..i fell asleep n missed the manchester piccadilly station..i spoke to the train conductor n he told me to get off at mauldeth road n take the next train back to manchester..i was all alone at mauldeth road station..a young lady came for a few minutes but then left..my hope to get back to manchester in time shattered when the train to lancaster that i was supposed to catch passed me by, left me standing there in the cold summer night..it's already late n i decided to spend the night at manchester airport n catch the first train to lancaster the next morning..but luckily, a few minutes later a train to blackpool north stopped at the station..i can get as far as preston with that train so i got on it..i got even luckier at preston when a taxi driver told me i can get to lancaster uni for £25..from my previous knowledge it could cost up to £50 from preston to lancaster by taxi..he said he gave me special price since he has been waiting for hours at the station for passangers n also becos i'm a muslim..about half an hour later, i finally arrived at lancaster; cold, tired n hungry but relieved...

hmm it's a long entry already so i'll continue later for the second weekend story and some tech updates..mebbe tonite after work..stay tuned ;)

2004-06-07T19:52:00.000+01:00

a full-time cleaner..yeah, that's what i'm gonna be starting tomorrow..i spoke to my supervisor just now n she said i could have 4 extra hours in the morning..that means i'll be working 35 hrs per week..this is great since i dont have to find another job to fill my day..the not so great about it is i'll be working in MSB block..that is the most dreaded area to work in..3 floors of offices with stairs to clean on both sides of the building, 4 toilets including 2 shower rooms, 2 kitchens n a library..hmm i have 4 hours so it wont be that bad i guess..i expect the first few days to be difficult n tiring but i'll get used to it..plus, the money is good so i'm not complaining :)

today AMD announces a new line of processors with quite an unusual name - AMD Sempron..i honestly think that is the worst name ever given to a computer product..perhaps AMD should hire more creative marketing executives..nothing much has been disclosed about this new CPU yet but the speculations has certainly started..most people seems to agree that this is a crippled Athlon64 with 64-bit capability disabled n intended to replace the AMD Duron as the company's budget CPU..well, we'll know it when it is released in 2nd half of 2004..here's the official statement from AMD

edit: a little update about AMD Sempron..here's Overclockers.com's take on it..it did mention sumthing about malaysia in it..check it out ;)

2004-06-06T13:06:00.000+01:00

last nite i've completed watching all 5 Rocky movies..they all r pretty good imho..n the fact that the films r written by Stallone himself is impressive indeed..for a short summary..first, Rocky Balboa lost to Apollo Creed (world champion) but managed to fight until the last round, in the second one he beat Apollo, third he lost to Mr T but then trained with Apollo to beat Mr T back, fourth Apollo was killed by Drago (Russian boxer) n Rocky made the revenge by beating Drago in Russia, n the last one Rocky retired n trained an ungrateful young boxer named Tommy Gunn to become the world champion but end up getting a good beating by Rocky himself..the boxing n fighting scenes r simply great to watch..n of course the workout regimes too..it's amazing how strong n capable a well trained human body can be..inspiring, i must say :)

2004-06-03T21:03:00.001+01:00

alhamdulillah, i've finished my exams now..not much to say here..just carry on with a few months of life left in the UK :)..i've told Petronas to book my flight ticket back to Malaysia on 24/8..which gives me exactly 2 months and 3 weeks from today to breathe the UK air..

plans after the exams - gaming! movies!..emm that's all for the time being..will add to the list later..i have more than 600 movies in my collection..actually most of them r at my girlfriend's..i'm gonna buy a dvd/divx player n try to finish them all!!..haha that's not gonna happen..i'm gonna need to be up for more than 50 days to finish them all non stop..factoring in 'living' time n gaming time..i think it'll be a few years before i manage to finish them all :)..n speaking of gaming, i'm gonna start my ut2k4 session after dinner with my housemates :)

a lot has happened in the computing world since i last updated my blog..i'm not gonna list them all here but one thing sure worth mentioning is the launch of Socket 939 for Athlon64 family..TR has a nice article on that..what i wanna say is, although the performance is undoubtedly great, the cost is still pretty much prohibitive..it seems like AMD dont wanna sell cheap no more..they want higher ASP and price parity with Intel..i think mebbe it's too soon for them..average buyers n more importantly OEMs r more likely to pick Intel for the same price..they dont care much about the performance..the brand itself is enough to influence buying decision..hey, i'm not AMD's CEO..he should know better, i hope ;)

hmm last thing for today's entry..ever since i start blogging, the readers r basically me n my lovely gf..that is about to end..no, not me n my gf..we r as happy as ever :)..i'm gonna 'go public' with this blog..n now that the exam has ended, the timing is perfect..so i'll start telling people about this blog n the first person i'll tell is..........u know who u r ;)

2004-05-23T18:55:00.000+01:00

Module	Title	Date	Time	Hall
309	Introduction to DSP	24/05/04	13:30-15:30	Sheffield Wednesday
311	Analogue Electronics	26/05/04	13:30-15:30	Goodwin
344	Adv. System Engineering	27/05/04	13:30-15:30	Octagon
307	Power Electronics	02/06/04	09:00-11:00	Loxley
310	Introduction to VLSI	03/06/04	16:30-18:30	Octagon

tomorrow my 2nd semester final year examination will start..that's the timetable..

i have mixed feelings now about this..as much as i want this to end as fast as possible..i dont feel like i wanna leave UK..if i got a chance in the future to return here, i certainly gonna grab it in a heartbeat..oh well..need to focus on the exams now..future stuff can wait :)

2004-05-22T11:37:00.000+01:00

been meaning to post this yesterday but i was busy..looks like my dream has come true with the announcement of this from Iwill :)..i've always find SFF appealing but i dun wanna give up the SMP goodness that i've been enjoying for about a year now..the best of both worlds has finally combined..lets hope other manufacturers especially Shuttle will follow suit..drop a pair of 250's in there n we'll have the ultimate SFF rig! i think it's worth it even just for the bragging rights ;)..but looking at the price tag of $499 i guess could only d-r-e-a-m...

2004-05-19T23:55:00.000+01:00

i went to town today..i've almost ran out of contact lense solution so buying one is a must..went to sainsbury's hoping for an ice cream offer but sadly nonexistent..ended up buying a pack of american style white choc chip cookies then headed up to superdrug..bought the solution n a few other things there..

an interesting event happened on my way back home..i was approached by a monk..i was surprised when he mentioned 'monk' since he wasn't wearing the typical bright orange n yellow costume..he's not bald either..he is one plain-clothed, hairy monk ;)..well he was selling some cd's to raise fund for charity..i had a nice short conversation with him but since i didn't bring any cash, i told him 'mebbe some other time' when he mentioned about contribution..before i left he taught me this one word - gouranga - which he said means 'be happy'..i wished him gouranga n went straight back home..

to feed your curiosity about gouranga click here..hmmm so he is indeed a monk, apparently from the Hare Krishna Movement which if ur curiosity still hungry, u can read bout it here..thanks to my looking-for-an-excuse-not-to-study gf for the links ;)

2004-05-18T11:15:00.000+01:00

today is the day of my last lecture for my undergraduate studies..no more lectures after this for a long long time..am i gonna miss being a student..well lets reserve that question after the exam..

today is also the launching of the x50 series of AMD's Opteron..well this just means another speed bump n performance increment across applications..but i gotta say, "man, these cpus scale like mad!"..if u r interested, see it for urself ;)..here's the link to TR's review..

last night i watched Sleepless In Seattle..great movie with great actors..especially meg ryan, one of my favourite actresses ;)..she's not that pretty..she's not that hot..but there's just sumthing about her that'll glue my eyes to the screen :)

2004-05-16T23:41:00.000+01:00

today's entry is still dedicated to my one n only gf :), who will be having her first paper tomorrow..

i wish u all the best for ur exams..u've worked hard for this..n this is ur last undergraduate exams..just give ur best shot n hope for the best..i know u can do it :)..remember to always be in the positive side..keep ur confidence high..set ur mind for the paper n focus on what u r doing..u'll be just fine..all of us; me, friends n family, will pray for u..good luck my dear..u've work for it, n pray for it, the rest we leave it to Him..may the success be with u..ameen.. :)

@>>----Good Luck!----<<@

2004-05-15T23:10:00.000+01:00

reasons for not updating blog for a while :-

1) busy
2) no idea
3) bad internet connection

anyway, for today's entry i would like to dedicate a lovely song to my sweet little honey ;)..the song is titled 'Puisi Cinta' by Ilusi..i'm sure u gonna love this entry, dear ;)

[1]
suaramu..
gemersiknya bak buluh perindu
cuba kau lagukan
cuba kau dendangkan
mengisi di ruang kamarku

[2]
senyummu..
menusuk dan membelai di kalbu
cuba kau ukirkan
cuba kau pamerkan
menjadi hiasan hidupku

[bridge]
tiada terkata
seindah bahasa
nak kuhuraikan
nak kubelaikan dirimu..

[chorus]
akan ku syairkan katamu
akan ku madahkan janjimu
menjadi coretan gurindam
puisi cinta

akan ku ukirkan senyummu
akan ku lukiskan tawamu
menjadikan sususan warna
potret indah

repeat [2]

repeat [bridge]

repeat [chorus]

repeat [2]

menjadi hiasan hidupku.....

the lyrics say it all..meaning-wise n also appearance-wise ;)

2004-05-11T14:29:00.000+01:00

got home from my lovely gf's place yesterday..how i wish i could stay n be with her every single day but the universe doesn't seem to want it that way though :(..i still have lectures this week, plus my job in the evening..with her exams just around the corner, i can imagine the sheer pressure n tense she's going thru..may strength be upon her..

i noticed that our cable connection has been upgraded this morning..Telewest Broadband, our ISP is upgrading its services throughout this month by giving free 50% speed upgrade to all Blueyonder customers..that means 1.5Mbps for our 1Mbps line :)..the fastest i got from it so far is at 160+KB/s..the theoretical limit is 192KB/s..about 83% efficiency..hmm not bad, not bad at all..

2004-05-05T15:23:00.000+01:00

feeling a bit off today :(.. n i dont know why..my heart is beating fast..what is this feeling?

been thinking about it..i guess i know what's going on..it's the exam pressure! never thought it could be like this though..i thought after finishing the project report i'll be having less pressure..i need to get a grip fast..i can't continue like this..my mind is blank yet i'm feeling terrible..

hmm..mebbe i need a break..oh wait, that's a great idea..i need to relax a bit, take some time to clear my mind n be prepared mentally for the exam..yeah right! the exam is less than 3 weeks time dude..taking a break? that's a dumb move..D..U..M.. dumb!

2004-05-04T23:50:00.000+01:00

it's been a week now since i last updated my blog..well, today is a significant day for me in at least 3 ways :). Firstly, my final year project report is due today. it is such a relief to finally hand in the report. now i can concentrate on my studying and perhaps improving my UT2K4 fragging skill ;).

the second thing that makes today significant is the launch of ATI's next generation GPU, the long-awaited Radeon X800 XT! i've checked out some reviews but haven't really read any of them thoroughly. but looks like this new GPU holds pretty well against Nvidia latest offering, the Geforce 6800 Ultra. well, i'm pretty tired tonite so i'll read them all tomorrow. anyway, here's some links:

TR's
[H]'s
Anandtech's

the last but not least significant-day-maker for today is............free minutes!! yeah, my free minutes has ran out a few days ago and since then i've been longing to talk to my dear, dear gf ;). but as the clock strike 12am tonite the wait will finally over :)

that's the story for today. can tomorrow be better? depends whether chelsea can make it to the final ;)

2004-04-27T15:34:00.000+01:00

my lectures continue today. 4 weeks before exams n we still haven't finish the syllabus. how great is that, huh? anyway, of all the subjects i take this semester i find 'Introduction to VLSI' the most interesting. it talks mostly about IC designing and it always amazes me to see the advancement in semiconductor technology. and today i got this link from TR; chip that rewires itself on the fly..hmm..cool stuff. i really think this is an excellent approach to increase the efficiency of a microprocessor but sadly we wont see this technology implemented in desktop pc in the near future. they are mainly targeting video, security and other application specific environments.

in the desktop pc arena, optimizing and increasing processors efficiency are not something new. we can't really gauge the performance of processors by raw clock speed anymore. 2.2 GHz Athlon FX can easily outperform 3.2 GHz P4 in most applications, thanks to its superior architecture. we've also seen how the conventional approach of ramping up clock speed in order to increase performance hit the walls a few times already with the difficulties in fabrications, power dissipation etc. in the future i predict we will see less rapid increase in clock speed but carrying more instructions per clock (IPC) and perhaps multicore processors will go mainstream. Intel itself has somewhat abandon the 'megahertz myth' with the release of Pentium M, the lower-clock-high-IPC cpu for laptops. they also added HyperThreading technology to increase the IPC of their P4. the list goes on and on..

the drawback that i can see of all these technology advancement is people will be more easily confused and overwhelmed, especially with the companies' marketing ploy that is getting nastier each time. n they might succumb to it n end up making an uninformed buying decisions. i refuse to be one of them! one word, PYAITK.. ok, that's 6 words actually ;)

2004-04-26T11:10:00.000+01:00

the draft examination timetable is finally available. i dont know for sure what causes the delay but i'm guessing something to do with the lecturers being on strike a few weeks ago. anyway the timetable seems ok to me. 3 pretty close papers in the first week but then 6 days gap b4 the next 2 papers. at least i'll have some breathing room after 3 intense examination sessions. but for now, it's still the project report mode, n 'tabo mode' for a few UT2k4 sessions ;)

i must say with the project report still unfinished i can't really get into the game. now i'm still playing at Skilled level. i used to play the classic UT in college at Masterful level. lots to practice but there r other priorities too. hmm when i think about it, this after-the-exam period might be the last chance for me to really get serious in pc gaming. after this i'll be returning to malaysia, n my career begins. not much time to game then i suppose, mebbe some quick sessions during the weekends. then i'll start a family. hmm that's a real gaming time killer. therefore i'm now declaring june as the ultimate gaming month! :)

2004-04-22T09:39:00.000+01:00

i received the new PSU n finished installing it just now..yeah baby! :)..now that my pc has come back to life..i better get some work done..off to work!!

2004-04-21T23:51:00.000+01:00

my PSU let me down, how unexpected :(.. my trusty Antec TruePower 430W suddenly refused to power up my rig yesterday..at first i thought it was my motherboard's prob but i confirmed that it was my PSU after testing it with my housemate's pc..since the PSU is still under warranty, i'm not that all concerned..but i bought a temporary replacement anyway since i need my pc very badly now to finish up my project report n the RMA process may take up to a week..so tomorrow i'll be welcoming a Thermaltake Purepower 420W into my rig..

how's my life without a pc? not very good but not that bad either..mebbe because i still can use my friend's pc..but the most significant impact it has is causing the temperature in my room to drop..n also making the sound of the clock on my wall ticking more audible..hmm..that's quite cool actually :)

2004-04-21T15:51:00.000+01:00

it's always good to know that someone really cares about us. mental note; never take anything for granted..

2004-04-21T15:17:00.000+01:00

my housemate's father passed away yesterday. may he rest in peace n placed among the solihin..Al-Fatihah..

2004-04-19T22:07:00.000+01:00

today i have a new face. after putting much thinking on it, i finally decided to shave my moustache. so now i look different but similar. different from the previous me but similar to my brother. yeah, among us three, i'm the only one who kept the moustache. n i've never shaved mine at all until today (of course i trimmed it from time to time). now i look very similar to my older brother, who was often mistakenly thought as my twin brother by other people when we were small. my girlfriend said she like my new look but i dont think i'm gonna keep it this way. sorry dear but i kinda like having more facial hair ;).

another slow news day tech-wise. the latest big thing is still GeForce 6800. if i remember correctly, ATI's X800 will be launched some time this week. i really hope they can produce a worthy competitor to 6800. DirectX9 gaming is on the horizon now. n by the look of it, it's gonna be an awesome gaming year. the sad part is i dont have much time to play computer games now. i remember back in college when computer games roughly take more half of my life. the fifa series, the sims, unreal tournament r among the favourite titles. back then i always wished i had a more powerful gaming system. but now when i have one, what i dont have is time. life IS unfair...

2004-04-16T22:53:00.000+01:00

i watched the o.c. today. my friends have been watching this tv series for quite a while now. it's not bad i must say. n i got to see what my housemates have been saying about marissa cooper, how THIN she is! i too, wish she has a fuller body. it would be more pleasurable to the eyes ;). she got pretty face alright, but her body..hmm..it's like watching a wireframe rendering without textures applied; it's there, but incomplete. or maybe like playing games at high resolution without AA and AF enabled. pretty, but could be better. real women have curves, 'nuff said.

speaking of which, today i came across this link at TR. 'procedural textures', sounds like a great concept to me. with computing power increasing each day i'm not surprised if this texturing method really took off in a few years time. it's really amazing what they can do with under 100kb file size. just look at the screenshots here, here and here. i know it's not much but heck, those come from an under 100kb file. if they fill up a cd, that could only mean better audio, better AI, countless maps, characters, weapons, storyline etc. hmm..always good to see something revolutianarily great once in a while :).

* due to massive traffic problems they had to drop all the high resolution screenshots. the power of slashdot ;)

2004-04-15T22:35:00.000+01:00

asus pc-dl..matched xeons 2.4ghz..1 gig pc3200 ddr..truepower 550 eps..
sell a7m266d..sell 2x2400+..sell 1 gig pc2100 reg ecc..sell truepower 430..
hmm..hmmm..hmmmmm..hmmmmmmmm..hmmmmmmmmmm..

ah, forget it! more important things to come:
parents coming, vacation in summer, shipping stuffs home, exams and for now, the project report

need to continue digging this log book..

2004-04-14T21:20:00.000+01:00

This will be my first entry with some content. Honestly i'm not sure if i could maintain blogging but i'll give it a try. Here goes nothing..

Today is quite a special day because Nvidia has launched its latest GPU named Geforce 6800 Ultra. I've read the reviews and this new baby of Nvidia is certainly a huge improvement over its predecessor, the GeforceFX(s). Now i can't wait for ATI's answer to this, X800 which is scheduled to be out in a few weeks. Some links to the reviews..

Anandtech's
TR's
FiringSquad's

Technical stuffs aside, today i went to town for a quick shopping. First to Wilko for some toiletries and a few pringles [*cough* six *cough*], then to market for £2 worth of apples and pears (that's more than 5 kg in weight), and lastly to Budgens for milk. While at work today a song suddenly starts playing in my head; 'Setiap Nafasku Kernamu' by Anis Suraya. Nice.. :)

2004-04-04T22:39:00.000+01:00

hello..testing2