Breather

I'm taking a break from working on my Enterprise JavaBeans project. Actually, with the amount of time I spend on the project, it might be more apt to describe the time I spend working as breaks from my usual surf-listentomusic-watchsmallville-watchanimes. Do you get what I'm trying to say? Crap, I'm picking up bad habits from a certain shorty.

A long time ago there was Man, and there was Woman, and Man spent most of his waking hours in pursuit of Woman.

A strain of Man, known as the Alpha Male, emerged and by virtue of his masculine superiority over his fellow males - be it in terms of physique, sports, or bearing - gained an edge over them in the dating game, and thus got to mate a lot more than the average man.

Then emerged the Player, who through a deadly combination of wit, charm and an easy confidence, turned the strengths of the Alpha Male against himself. The Player ridicules the Alpha Male's overinflated ego and makes disparaging remarks about the size of Alpha Male's muscles, insinuating that brawn is all the Alpha Male has to boast of.

And for the longest time, the Player reigned. In the course of time, every male actively involved in the dating game begun sprouting traits of the Player. This new breed of Man read the same books, listen to the same doctrine, and apply the same tricks to an increasingly less unsuspecting population of women.

It is now time, for the Anti-Player. Much like how the early Players turned the strengths of the Alpha Males into weaknesses to be exploited, the accomplished Anti-Player exposes the tricks of the Players, reveal their hypocrisy and knocks over their carefully built array of smoke and mirrors.

Just as how Man evolved in the course of their pursuit of Woman, so has Woman progressed from being emotional, financial and physical dependents of Man into skilled manipulators capable of breaking down the strongest men and turning them into subservient puppies.

Why is it so difficult to love, and to be loved genuinely. When you're in love, you want to spend every waking moment with the person you love. But you can't. When you're apart, you miss the other, and you want nothing more than to tell the other that you do. But you shouldn't.

Why not? Because, love can be suffocated. And the more you tell a person you miss him/her, the less he or she will miss you. Strange, isn't it?

Love, but express this love sparingly.

Poor Bush

Poor guy looked damn stressed. Maybe he needs The FAQ Book =)

The FAQ Book - On Public Speaking

Some of my friends are really successful.

Nic, Weiqi and Sam won the local Superband competition and went on to release their very own album as Mi Lu Bing, gaining thousands of fans in the process.


Now, another one of my friends, Eric Feng, has co-authored and released a highly acclaimed book on public speaking, titled The FAQ Book on Public Speaking. It has been selling like hot cakes although only the electronic version is currently available.

Pretty amazing for a fresh NUS graduate. Eric's also a personal speech consultant and has Irene Ang as a mentor. Enough of my singing his praises, read more about Eric here and read his Public Speaking Blog here.

Eric gives solid, practical advice in his book, advice that we can put into use immediately and not general mambo jumbo you get from motivational speakers asking you to be positive, visualize success blah blah. I hate those stuff as much as I hate shallow sermons, so yes, I'm a huge fan of The FAQ Book.

For example, here's an excerpt that I took from a website writing about his book, since I can't copy and paste directly from the ebook:

1) Stage time, Stage time, Stage time
You can read all the books on public speaking in this world but nothing’s going to happen unless you go ahead and apply what you learned. Don’t be just a learner, be a doer and make use of the tips from the book. That’s definitely the fastest way to become a better speaker!

2) Get yourself a mentor
All successful people have mentors. Need I say more?

3) Be sincere
Speak with the intention to help your audience. Your sincerity will naturally shine through.

4) Content is King!
When you get up that stage and speak, realize that you are taking up people’s precious time. Always make sure that you have quality content that your audience can benefit from. Remember this question every time you make a speech: “What’s in it for them?”

5) Observe winners (and Losers)
Many people tend to only look at the winners so that they can model their success. It’s equally important to observe the “losers” so you know what NOT to do when you are up on that stage.

Of course the book gives a lot more practical advice but don't take it from me, download the free chapter and check it out yourself =) or if you're lazy to sign up, msg me on msn and I'll send it to you.

There's a hell lot more information in the book's website here where you can also purchase the e-book for SGD$30. If you're interested in this book, either follow the links from my blog or message me on msn for the direct link =)

Oh anyway, Eric was my tutor for CS1105, one of the lamest modules in School of Computing, but he turned his tutorials into debates on technological and ethical issues, dishing out public speaking tips for free.

In fact, Japheth and I learned a hell lot simply by watching him and seeing how he carries himself, and how he manages to make the class comfortable, even getting them to contribute significantly to the discussions; trust me, Computing students have really tight lips.

Ok so once again, to purchase the book, click here =)

Mad World

Milk

I have a rabbit, his name is Milk and he lives with his maternal family =)

Finally saw him again after 4 years last night in Charis' place.

This is how he used to look like:


And this is him now:

SMALLVILLE SEVEN

It's out!

Something to add

I found this quote on one of the sites google churned out:

K. Stendahl: "When people come to me -- deeply Christian people -- and say, 'This is the way I am created. This is how God made me, how He makes me feel love,' I have to respect that. We know many things people [like Paul] did not know at that time. One should read the Bible with some kind of reason."

When I started this post, I wanted to argue that if God wanted us to be fruitful and multiply, why the heck would he make some of us inherently homosexuals. Then I remembered that some guys are impotent and some women are barren. Perhaps those are some of the things that God allows happen.

Current society views sexual attraction towards minors as perverse. What if a pedophiles come up to you -- deeply Christian people -- and say, "This is the way I am created", what do you say?

Bollocks, all.

it's our world

I stumbled upon this page a couple of days back. It's essentially a letter about how the bible isn't exactly eternally accurate, and that sometimes we have to interpret it according to the state of our current society.

Here's a reproduction of the letter for people too lazy to click on the link(like shalene):

Dear Dr. Laura,

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God’s Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and I try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind him that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate.

I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some of the specific laws and how to best follow them.

a) When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord (Lev 1:9). The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

b) I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

c) I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness (Lev 15:19-24). The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

d) Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can’t I own Canadians?

e) I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself?

f) A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an Abomination (Lev 11:10), it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don’t agree. Can you settle this?

g) Lev 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here?

h) Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev 19:27. How should they die?

i) I know from Lev 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

j) My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? (Lev 24:10-16) Couldn’t we just burn them to death at a private family affair like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

I know you have studied these things extensively, so I am confident you can help.

Thank you again for reminding us that God’s word is eternal and unchanging.

Your devoted disciple and adoring fan.

The argument now is that homosexuality should not be a sin, just like how several acts were sins in the past but not now; not under the new covenant, not under ... well, how contemporary society perceives them. I'm not going to argue about homosexuality and the bible - did a quick search of google and came across a truckload of crap, so google too if you're interested - except that God created Eve to be with Adam, not some guy. Nor did he create Eve and Evan and tell Adam to choose. And I don't believe people are born with natural inclinations towards homosexuality. That's my personal opinion though.

It's true though, how we choose certain passages of the bible to emphasize and then conveniently ignore others, writing them off as archaic and obsolete. For example, women were supposed to keep silent in church according to Paul in Corinthians, but now we have women pastors and leaders who are actually pretty good. When a man sins consistently in church we're supposed to kick his ass out of church and not have anything to do with him. I don't see it happening anywhere. I'm sure there are more examples but it's late and I'm lazy.

Let's talk about fornication =) or more commonly, voluntary sex before marriage. It's wrong, and God says not to do it. For the sake of argument let's say that it is because they did not have condoms or other forms of contraceptives back then and the risk of unwanted pregnancies and the risk of contracting STDs were too high to ignore. Now we have condoms, and according to a website:

The proper and consistent use of latex condoms when engaging in sexual intercourse--vaginal, anal, or oral--can greatly reduce a person's risk of acquiring or transmitting STDs, including HIV infection. In fact, recent studies provide compelling evidence that latex condoms are highly effective in protecting against HIV infection when used properly for every act of intercourse.

Our society is getting increasingly liberal about fornication; it's not about abstaining, it's about safe sex.

Anyway, enough of that.

-

I went for a stuttering support group. These are people who've been through therapy and who are supposed to be equipped with skills and techniques that will guarantee them 100% fluency albeit at the expense of some naturalness.

Incidentally, I've just completed the course as well; 3 days of intensive with 6 weekly 2 hour sessions. I'm fluent when I use the technique, but as I mentioned, naturalness has to be compromised. I'm not comfortable with that, so well, I still stutter. Heh.

Anyway, some observations. First, they're all males. Research has shown that most stutterers are men. And, more interestingly, 6 out of 8 of the group members are in IT. That includes me. Stutterers like IT. Haha.

They seemed a little defensive, and they didn't look like they had a great deal of self confidence. I guess stuttering does that to you. It's hard to feel good about yourself when you can't even accomplish one of the most fundamental tasks of a civilized person.

It's ironic really. The more confidence you have, the less likely you are to stutter, and the more you stutter, the less confidence you have. They sound quite natural to me though; I couldn't tell they were using the technique. Perhaps I should try using the technique when I meet new folks.

Ah well. Time for bed. This is a damn wordy post so here are some pics:

Anatasia, my Resident Fellow's daughter =)

Ana, again

For Janet =)

Oh and click here and scroll down a little to read about Blk C's Steak Party =)

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