Rest in peace...

My cat died about 2 weeks ago. Ah...she was 17 years old and lived a long and happy life so I guess it was time. You will always be remembered, Puss.

My cat started getting all sick and weak about 5 days before she passed away. That's one thing about cats. It happened so fast. One moment we're bewildered and worried, next moment me and my family are mourning her. It's said that cats seem to know when their time is up. My cat spent her last few active days before getting sick visiting all the favorite haunts. Normally lethargic, she actually jumped up onto the cars parked under the house porch to laze about there. It was slightly odd but we felt happy she's feeling active again.

When she got sick, my family sent her to the vet. The diagnosis wasn't good. She's old and her body systems are slowly shutting down, one by one. She was so weak at that time. She passed away about 4 days later at the vet. At first, we wanted to take her back but during the journey back home, she was very agitated so we felt it was best to leave her at the vet again. She passed away later that night.

I remember hearing that when approaching death, cats like to be alone. That must've been what she wanted, instead of coming back home with us. She was part of my life for 17 years. She stayed around long enough to see my brother finish his degree and my sister come back from England.

That night when she passed away, I dreamt of her. She was healthy and active again. She was also walking normally instead of limping. Normally a bit snobbish, this time she was very affectionate, nuzzling against my hand and letting me pet her. I miss you, Puss. Until we meet again, take care my dearest cat...

It's been a while...

Yup, it's been a while since I typed my blog. Various reasons for this really, but among other things, it's been a quite hectic life for me.

What can I say? At the start of October, I'm fully involved with a project to build up the entire backbone for a new mobile service provider. It's a rather massive job which I'm doing together with an expert from Australia. Now let me say again that it's been an absolute pleasure working in my present company. Ericsson has some of the finest engineers around and it's been an absolute privilege and honour to work with them. I think I can consider myself very lucky since I'm learning a lot of things that I can't get anywhere else by talking and discussing stuff with them. I'm sure you all already know. The best way to learn is not from books or classes, but from the people who has actually done it.

The first stage of the backbone was completed after 3 days, first circuit call (voice & video) after 7 days and first packet call (data transfer & web browsing) after 8 days. Imagine, all that accomplished in a total of 8 days! Until now, I'm still amazed at how we managed to accomplish all that. Keep in mind, we started the implementation with unconfigured hardwares and softwares and after 8 days, the core network was essentially completed. What was missing are external connectivities such as connections to other mobile networks (Celcom, etc) and to the international gateway. I love working with amazing people! :D

Right now I'm still involved with the project but now it's mainly integrating the core network with VAS (value added services) nodes such as SMS, MMS and WAP. I think I'd be quite busy all the way until the end of January. It can get tiring and there are plenty of challenges but on the bright side, at least I'm not bored. Besides, building up a network from scratch and integrating it with various components certainly looks good on my resume! :)

On non-work related matters, I'm now a proud owner of a 20" widescreen LCD monitor. The monitor is simply beautiful. I plan to do a marathon session of anime and tv-series one of these days. I've just got my hands on "Ghost In The Shell 2nd Gig" and "Lost" season 1. Ahh...perfect timing.

After spending a lot of my time on Neverwinter Nights online play, I'm now taking a break from it and am now enjoying "X3 - Reunion". The game is simply beautiful and space has never looked so pretty! I love the feeling of vastness that is present in "X3 - Reunion" and it's wonderful to go exploring the various space sectors in the game. Sure, it's a single player game but it rocks! Check it out at http://www.egosoft.com/games/x3/info_en.php

My POS router

A coupla days back I sent out an SOS, asking anyone if they've come across a stable router that performs well under heavy network load. The response were not very encouraging. The most stable connections are apparently when a PC directly connects to the modem. Sadly, that defeats the entire purpose of Internet sharing using a home network!

After some more research, I've discovered this:
1. All home routers suck monkey balls. Doesn't matter if they're D-Link, Aztech, Belkin, Linksys or Netgear.
2. The best home routers are PCs which have been re-configured to work as a router. Grab some old PC, dump in Linux and some software (IPCop seems to be decent) and you're now a proud owner of a DIY router. Problem is, this kind of routers use up helluva lot more electricity than the normal box routers.
3. For good stability and performance, get a business level router. Doesn't matter if they're D-Link, Aztech, Belkin or Netgear. I removed Linksys from the 'cos I'm pissed off at the stupid router. Division of Cisco my arse...I'm NEVER buying any gadgets based on brand name again and I'm NEVER touching another Linksys product.

Based on my findings, I've decided to get the Netgear FVS318. It's a VPN capable firewall/router with an 8-port switch and 1 WAN port, 200MHz processor with 2 MB flash and 16 MB RAM. It should have plenty juice! On the bright side, with this router I can actually VPN to my home network from anywhere in the world, as long as I've access to the Internet. Way cool!

In summary, if you're an avid downloader who opens up thousands of simultaneus connections (read: BitTorrent), please expect your tiny, pathetic home router to die. Grab a router targetted to SOHO instead.

You can check it out the router I'm buying at the Netgear website: http://www.netgear.com/Products/VPNandSSL/WiredVPNFirewallRouters/FVS318.aspx

For those who feel that looks matter when buying a router, here a picture of the router.

The world has got me wondering...

Where Is The Love?

What's wrong with the world mama?
People living like aint got no mamas
I think the whole worlds addicted to the drama
Only attracted to the things that bring you trauma
Overseas yeah we tryin to stop terrorism
But we still got terrorists here livin
In the USA the big CIA the Bloodz and the Crips and the KKK
But if you only have love for your own race
Then you only leave space to discriminate
And to discriminate only generates hate
And if you hatin you're bound to get irate
Yeah madness is what you demonstrate
And that's exactly how anger works and operates
You gotta have love just to set it straight
Take control of your mind and meditate
Let your soul gravitate to the love y'all

People killing people dying
Children hurtin you hear them crying
Can you practice what you preach
Would you turn the other cheek?
Father Father Father help us
Send some guidance from above
Cause people got me got me questioning
Where is the love?(where is the lovex3)(the love2x)

It just ain't the same all ways have changed
New days are strange is the world the insane?
If love and peace so strong
Why are there pieces of love that don't belong
Nations dropping bombs
Chemical gases filling lungs of little ones
With ongoing suffering
As the youth die young
So ask yourself is the loving really strong?
So I can ask myself really what is going wrong
With this world that we living in
People keep on giving in
Makin wrong decisions
Only visions of them livin and
Not respecting each other
Deny thy brother
The wars' going on but the reasons' undercover
The truth is kept secret
Swept under the rug
If you never know truth
Then you never know love
Where's the love y'all?(I don't know)
Where's the truth y'all?(I don't know)
Where's the love y'all?

People killing people dying
Children hurtin you hear them crying
Can practice what you preach
Would you turn the other cheek?
Father father father help us
Send some guidance from above
Cause people got me got me questioning
Where is the love?(where is the lovex3)(the lovex2)

I feel the weight of the world on my shoulder
As I'm getting older y'all people get colder
Most of us only care about money makin
Selfishness got us followin the wrong direction
Wrong information always shown by the media
Negative images is the main criteria
Infecting their young minds faster than bacteria
Kids wanna act like what the see in the cinema
Whatever happened to the values of humanity
Whatever happened to the fairness and equality
Instead of spreading love, we're spreading anomosity
Lack of understanding, leading us away from unity
That's the reason why sometimes I'm feeling under
That's the reason why sometimes I'm feeling down
It's no wonder why sometimes I'm feeling under
I gotta keep my faith alive, until love is found

People killing people dying
Children hurtin you hear them crying
Can you practice what you preach
Would you turn the other cheek?
Father Father Father help us
Send some guidance from above
Cause people got me got me questioning
Where is the love?(fade)

Song by Black Eyed Peas

Palestine...

They are not terrorist. They are soldiers, fighting for their lives, their livelihood, their culture and their freedom. Every day, Palestinians are being violated mentally, physically and spiritually. Every day the oppression continues and every day another spirit is broken.

A Palestinian mother once said, "I saw my husband die. I saw my children die. There is nothing left for me in this world. When I die, let me take a few with me."

I am Israel
By Hashem Said
The Daily - Washington State University, Feb. 25, 2002

I am Israel - I came to a land without a people for a people without a land. Those people who happened to be here, had no right to be here, and my people showed them they had to leave or die, razing 480 Palestinian villages to the ground, erasing their history.

I am Israel - some of my people committed massacres and later became Prime Ministers to represent me. In 1948, Menachem Begin was in charge of the unit that slaughtered the inhabitants of Deir Yassin, including 100 men, women, and children. In 1953, Ariel Sharon led the slaughter of the inhabitants of Qibya, and in 1982 arranged for our allies to butcher around 2,000 in the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatilla.

I am Israel - carved in 1948 out of 78% of the land of Palestine, dispossessing its inhabitants and replacing them with Jews from Europe and other parts of the
world. While the natives whose families lived on this land for thousands of years are not allowed to return, Jews from all over the world are welcome to instant
citizenship.

I am Israel - in 1967, I swallowed the remaining lands of Palestine - the West Bank and Gaza - and placed their inhabitants under an oppressive military rule,
controlling and humiliating every aspect of their daily lives. Eventually, they should get the message that they are not welcome to stay, and join the
millions of Palestinian refugees in the shanty camps of Lebanon and Jordan.

I am Israel - I have the power to control American policy. My American Israel Public Affairs Committee can make or break any politician of its choosing, and
as you see, they all compete to please me. All the forces of the world are powerless against me, including the UN as I have the American veto to block
any condemnation of my war crimes. As Sharon so eloquently phrased it, "We control America".

I am Israel - I influence American mainstream media too, and you will always find the news tailored to my favor. I have invested millions of dollars into PR
representation, and CNN, New York Times, and others have been doing an excellent job of promoting my propaganda. Look at other international news sources and you will see the difference.

I am Israel - and you Palestinians want to negotiate "peace!?" But you are not as smart as me; I will negotiate, but will only let you have your municipalities while I control your borders, your water, your airspace, and anything else of importance.
While we "negotiate," I will swallow your hilltops and fill them with settlements, populated by the most extremist of my extremists, armed to the teeth. These
settlements will be connected with roads you cannot use, and you will be imprisoned in your little Bantustans between them, surrounded by checkpoints in
every direction.

I am Israel - with the fourth strongest army in the world, possessing nuclear weapons. How dare your children confront my oppression with stones, don't you
know my soldiers won't hesitate to blow their heads off? In 17 months, I have killed 900 of you and injured 17,000, mostly civilians, and have the mandate
to continue since the international community remains silent. Ignore, as I do, the hundreds of Israeli soldiers who are now refusing to carry out my control
over your lands and people; their voices of conscience will not protect you.

I am Israel - and you want freedom? I have bullets, tanks, missiles, Apaches, and F-16's, to obliterate you. I have placed your towns under siege, confiscated
your lands, uprooted your trees, demolished your homes, and you still demand freedom? Don't you get the message? You will never have peace or freedom, because...

I am Israel.

Note 1: The original author of this poem was later forced to apologize due to pressure from 'certain parties'. Freedom of speech and rational discussion does not exist in US when it comes to Israel.

Note 2: This post is partially inspired by a fellow blogger. http://anasnajmie.blogs.friendster.com/salam_bicara/

Check this out!!

http://www.thebuzz.fm/

'Nuff said! :D

A quick tour of my room

I've finally included pictures in my blog, as you may have noticed with my previous post. Words are boring and since blogs can also include pictures, I figured I might as well bore people with pictures. It's economical, y'see? After all a picture's worth a thousand words. :D

Anyway, since I figured some of you are interested in pictures of this tiny new hut I'm staying in SS3, here are 2 pictures. What can I say? I'm a lazy photographer! I don't even have a proper camera. All pictures are taken by the 1.3 megapixel camera of a Z800i Sony Ericsson phone. This is not an endorsement for you to BUY a SONY ERICSSON phone. In fact, do not BUY SONY ERICSSON. Ahem!

This is my room. The bed's probably the best feature in this photo. As you can see from the box, I haven't really unpacked yet. Yes, that's a 'sejadah' that you see at the bottom left corner of the picture. I may be a bloody sinner but hey, I do pray...sometimes! Anyway, it's the heart that counts. By the way, that's my official line when I'm to be judged in the after-life. I'll keep you all posted if it works. Heh!

My favorite section of the room. That's my gaming rig!! 'Nuff said. :B

Oh yeah, I do plan to get a new chair. I kinda threw away my old chair when I moved so right now that chair is about all I could find when all the stuff arrived. It probably belonged to someone else...

The rooms do look a bit big compared to the outside photo that I posted previously. While the house is rather tiny, it's not so bad when you come inside. Y'know what they say about objects in the rear view mirror look closer than they are? Well...think of it this way. Photos of housing interiors look larger than they are...or something! ;)