HALBERSTADT, Germany (AFP) - A new chord was scheduled to sound in the world's slowest and longest lasting concert that is taking a total 639 years to perform.
The abandoned Buchardi church in Halberstadt, eastern Germany, is the venue for a mind-boggling 639-year-long performance of a piece of music by US experimental composer John Cage (1912-1992).
Entitled "organ2/ASLSP" (or "As SLow aS Possible"), the performance began on September 5, 2001 and is scheduled to last until 2639.
The first year and half of the performance was total silence, with the first chord -- G-sharp, B and G-sharp -- not sounding until February 2, 2003.
Then in July 2004, two additional Es, an octave apart, were sounded and are scheduled to be released later this year on May 5.
But at 5:00 pm (1600 GMT) on Thursday, the first chord was due to progress to a second -- comprising A, C and F-sharp -- and is to be held down over the next few years by weights on an organ being built especially for the project.
Cage originally conceived "ASLSP" in 1985 as a 20-minute work for piano, subsequently transcribing it for organ in 1987.
But organisers of the John Cage Organ Project decided to take the composer at his word and stretch out the performance for 639 years, using Cage's transcription for organ.
The enormous running time was chosen to commemorate the creation of Halberstadt's historic Blockwerk organ in 1361 - 639 years before the current project started.
That original organ, built by Nikolaus Faber for Halberstadt's cathedral, was the first organ ever to be used for liturgical purposes, ringing in a new era in which the organ has played a central role in church music ever since.
As part of Halberstadt's John Cage Organ Project, a brand-new organ is being built specially, with new pipes added in time for when new notes are scheduled to sound.
Cage was a pupil of one of the 20th century's most influential composers, Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951). Cage's avant-garde oeuvre includes works such as the
notorious "4'33”", a piece comprising four minutes and 33 seconds of total silence, all meticulously notated.
The organisers of the John Cage Organ Project say the record-breaking performance in Halberstadt also has a philosophical background – to "rediscover calm and slowness in today's fast-changing world".
From Yahoo News
More at BBC News
Website of Organ2/ASLSP:
http://www.john-cage.halberstadt.de/new/index.php?l=e
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
what keeps you sane?
what keeps me sane?
- instant messaging programs - ten years ago i downloaded the first version of ICQ which changed human communications forever (as far as i was concerned anyway).
- mamak or coffee with friends! - requires no explanation.
- music - listening to it, producing it (an exception would be violin music, in that, right now i still prefer listening to it played by someone else..).
- Calvin & Hobbes comics - the best thing to read in bed. lets you think happy thoughts in your sleep :-D
- Appendices to The Lord of the Rings - next best thing to fall asleep reading. (Don't get me wrong, I don't mean that the Appendices are boring. Really.)
- Making things - in school i hardly ever bought a wallet or a pencil case cos i made them all. haven't had time to do much these days but i should get that bag of sewing things out of the cupboard and make something!
what keeps you sane?
- instant messaging programs - ten years ago i downloaded the first version of ICQ which changed human communications forever (as far as i was concerned anyway).
- mamak or coffee with friends! - requires no explanation.
- music - listening to it, producing it (an exception would be violin music, in that, right now i still prefer listening to it played by someone else..).
- Calvin & Hobbes comics - the best thing to read in bed. lets you think happy thoughts in your sleep :-D
- Appendices to The Lord of the Rings - next best thing to fall asleep reading. (Don't get me wrong, I don't mean that the Appendices are boring. Really.)
- Making things - in school i hardly ever bought a wallet or a pencil case cos i made them all. haven't had time to do much these days but i should get that bag of sewing things out of the cupboard and make something!
what keeps you sane?
lazy tuesday afternoon
it was real hot and humid out there, and the bag of apples i bought 2 weeks ago would be making cider in the fridge if i didn't do anything about it, so i made an exotic (or so i think) drink out of red apples and ginger, topped with a stick of lemongrass (bruised on the thick end) and a bit of lemon juice. it actually tastes quite good, there's a refreshing whiff of lemongrass and a tangy lemon aftertaste.. except that i think i overdid the ginger (my throat is now seething with heat), and unless you're into sour drinks, a bit of syrup may come in handy.
i'd take a snapshot of a glass of the potent potion and post it up but i can't remember where exactly the camera is after the moving-of-stuff-around over the last week in preparing for the festivities..
speaking of which, i'd better start packing up the stuff i need to move over to the new digs. there isn't much pressure to pack quickly cos the two places are 10 minutes apart in good traffic.. nevertheless i think some stuff HAS to go over today.. since i'll have to get out of the post-vacation vegetation state and do some real work soon :-)
me the nomad.
i'd take a snapshot of a glass of the potent potion and post it up but i can't remember where exactly the camera is after the moving-of-stuff-around over the last week in preparing for the festivities..
speaking of which, i'd better start packing up the stuff i need to move over to the new digs. there isn't much pressure to pack quickly cos the two places are 10 minutes apart in good traffic.. nevertheless i think some stuff HAS to go over today.. since i'll have to get out of the post-vacation vegetation state and do some real work soon :-)
me the nomad.
bali hai
bali was great. the after-effects (well, two for now, cos my brain is still a little veggied):
(1) having to get used to the absence of strange road habits
(i) the balinese use car horns like there's no tomorrow. they honk at passing motorists to "alert them of your presence" (this was from a guidebook). yup. when a motorcycle emerges at the upcoming junction and your driver goes *honk*. in fact you would honk at virtually every junction. your driver changes lanes and while passing the guy who was in front of him, *honk* (and i don't think this was cos he knew the driver of that car). when they're stuck in a traffic jam, when it's obvious nobody's moving, *honk*. car accessory shops and mechanics must have a good life there.
(ii) they hardly use their brakes. going up a mountainous road MAY be an exception.
(iii) officially, they drive on the left side of the road. but more often than not, they seem to prefer the right side. (overtaking-lah)
(2) it's such a RELIEF now that you don't have to bargain every time you step into a shop!
i don't see why bargaining is such fun. it's an awful chore. every time you approach a shop they probably think Ooo, here come rich tourist, we must sell everything at sky-high price because tourist don't know better. for goodness' sake, do you seriously think i would purchase a pair of wraparound pants from a side stall in Bali at Suria KLCC prices when i can get the same thing at the Thai Fair near Carrefour's at RM10 without even having to bargain? and i'm sick of the i'll-have-to-say-take-it-or-leave-it-and-walk-away-but-you'll-come-after-me-anyway-yelling-the-last-price-i-wanted.. look, i just wanted to quickly grab a souvenir so i can move on to a bit more sightseeing and and you KNOW you'll sell it to me at that price anyway (and i don't look anything like a gwailo so i don't have any coffers filled with so much Rupiah equivalent the number of zeros will bust your calculators) so how bout we quit the whole charade? (i later found out that at the new Sogo store in upmarket Nusa Dua, you can get little batik-lined souvenirs at less than RM10 each. all in comfortable air-conditioning and no pesky salespersons and no bargaining necessary)
and speaking of Sogo bags, i should have left them at the hotel before venturing out into the stalls outside the Nusa Dua entrance..
"Oo, sir, ma'am, shopping?"
"Oh, So-go!"
"So-go shopping!"
"Eh, So-go!"
"So-go, ya?"
(1) having to get used to the absence of strange road habits
(i) the balinese use car horns like there's no tomorrow. they honk at passing motorists to "alert them of your presence" (this was from a guidebook). yup. when a motorcycle emerges at the upcoming junction and your driver goes *honk*. in fact you would honk at virtually every junction. your driver changes lanes and while passing the guy who was in front of him, *honk* (and i don't think this was cos he knew the driver of that car). when they're stuck in a traffic jam, when it's obvious nobody's moving, *honk*. car accessory shops and mechanics must have a good life there.
(ii) they hardly use their brakes. going up a mountainous road MAY be an exception.
(iii) officially, they drive on the left side of the road. but more often than not, they seem to prefer the right side. (overtaking-lah)
(2) it's such a RELIEF now that you don't have to bargain every time you step into a shop!
i don't see why bargaining is such fun. it's an awful chore. every time you approach a shop they probably think Ooo, here come rich tourist, we must sell everything at sky-high price because tourist don't know better. for goodness' sake, do you seriously think i would purchase a pair of wraparound pants from a side stall in Bali at Suria KLCC prices when i can get the same thing at the Thai Fair near Carrefour's at RM10 without even having to bargain? and i'm sick of the i'll-have-to-say-take-it-or-leave-it-and-walk-away-but-you'll-come-after-me-anyway-yelling-the-last-price-i-wanted.. look, i just wanted to quickly grab a souvenir so i can move on to a bit more sightseeing and and you KNOW you'll sell it to me at that price anyway (and i don't look anything like a gwailo so i don't have any coffers filled with so much Rupiah equivalent the number of zeros will bust your calculators) so how bout we quit the whole charade? (i later found out that at the new Sogo store in upmarket Nusa Dua, you can get little batik-lined souvenirs at less than RM10 each. all in comfortable air-conditioning and no pesky salespersons and no bargaining necessary)
and speaking of Sogo bags, i should have left them at the hotel before venturing out into the stalls outside the Nusa Dua entrance..
"Oo, sir, ma'am, shopping?"
"Oh, So-go!"
"So-go shopping!"
"Eh, So-go!"
"So-go, ya?"
"You want shopping? Oh, So-go!"
"So-go!"
if i stepped into any of those shops then they'd probably be trying to sell me wraparound pants at the price of Benetton cos i'm bloody Japanese and i shop at Sogo (hubby does carry a bulky canggih-looking camera anyway and i lug a tripod around, so of course we're Japanese-lah). never mind that my Sogo carrier bag which attracted so much attention just contained stuff the stalls would sell me at twice the price.
the balinese are a friendly people, they really are. i wish they'd stop trying to make use of their charm to give me the "please ma'am pity me, i'm not even breaking even, i haven't sold anything today" pitch. i'm glad nobody this time round in Bali has resorted to "i've got kids to feed" thing or i'd have imploded (i'm too nice to explode, so i implode). hey, i'll do charity when i wish to, to a cause I feel like donating to. and after all i'm only a millionaire in Rupiah terms..
Friday, December 30, 2005
and voila, the hand-made guestbook! :)
just finished making my wedding guestbook! it took quite a bit of glue and some pressure screwing the fasteners tight, but it's done! here's a photo of it (sorry it's not a very detailed pic) entire thing made from scratch (ok, i bought the paper and ribbon, lah. not patient enough to make my own paper..) the pages inside are A4 sheets bound to the covers with metal fasteners. the covers are made of 2 layers of A4-sized hardboard cut out from a giant piece. a small window is cut in the middle right section of the top piece of board to reveal our names printed in silver. the gold ribbon ties the book close for storage.
that was fun! anyone interested in having guestbooks made? :-)
that was fun! anyone interested in having guestbooks made? :-)
Thursday, December 29, 2005
pounds of pain
i had my first experience of a migraine headache yesterday afternoon.. and boy was it a bad one. i had been having a mild throbbing headache the whole day and was treating it with paracetamol and medicated oils, but it got worse in the afternoon and the throbbing had turned into pounding towards early evening. lying down and resting didn't help as the pounding continued no matter what i was doing. the Ponstan pill didn't help either.
in the end i decided to ask my dad to drive me to the doctor's as the headache was getting quite unbearable. i think being in a moving vehicle exacerbated the condition as i was holding my head in my hands and literally crying and screaming out of pain all the way to the doctor's. it didn't help that there was a massive traffic jam - it was the evening rush-hour after all. i think we had to wait out two traffic light sequences at the junction outside my house.. i must have been quite a sight to other motorists, gritting my teeth and tearing my hair out wishing i could be sedated there and then.. i had never known a headache so exceedingly torturous.. stories in past issues of Reader's Digest of aneurysms were running through my mind with every paralysing throb of the veins. heck, i was even thinking of which hospital was nearest if i had to be admitted! each pounding pulse was an excruciating inward burst of pressure from all sides of my head; it felt as if my skull would implode any moment. and have you noticed that time seems to pass slower when you're in pain? to add to the pounding, a tinge of nausea had developed, and i was holding a plastic bag in case i had to throw up.
i was still holding my head in my hands and gritting my teeth as i described the pain to the doctor, who was himself gritting his teeth, possibly in an attempt to show sympathy. having been prescribed sandomigraine, feldene (a painkiller), an anti-nausea med and a sedative, i still had to endure the throbbing pain till i got home cos i couldn't take the medicine on an empty stomach. i stayed at the doctor's still grabbing my head as if my brains were falling out, while dad went next door to tarpau teochew porridge. the trip back through the jam was another clutching-head-and-crying-and-screaming ordeal.. finally, back home, i gulped down the porridge as fast as i could (the pain was getting ridiculous, and it was difficult to even eat) downed the pills, and i think i collapsed immediately to sleep on the sofa without even needing the sedative. i woke up this morning miraculously feeling quite all right, realising only after a few minutes that i had a major headache the night before, and vaguely remembering that at some point of time my family members were sitting next to me on the sofa with their theories..
"aiya, she was staring at the computer the whole day, that's why."
"it was quite bad, she was in this horrible pain all the way in the car."
"yeah, probably bogged down by too many things to do lah."
all i have to say is, man, that was one scary headache.
in the end i decided to ask my dad to drive me to the doctor's as the headache was getting quite unbearable. i think being in a moving vehicle exacerbated the condition as i was holding my head in my hands and literally crying and screaming out of pain all the way to the doctor's. it didn't help that there was a massive traffic jam - it was the evening rush-hour after all. i think we had to wait out two traffic light sequences at the junction outside my house.. i must have been quite a sight to other motorists, gritting my teeth and tearing my hair out wishing i could be sedated there and then.. i had never known a headache so exceedingly torturous.. stories in past issues of Reader's Digest of aneurysms were running through my mind with every paralysing throb of the veins. heck, i was even thinking of which hospital was nearest if i had to be admitted! each pounding pulse was an excruciating inward burst of pressure from all sides of my head; it felt as if my skull would implode any moment. and have you noticed that time seems to pass slower when you're in pain? to add to the pounding, a tinge of nausea had developed, and i was holding a plastic bag in case i had to throw up.
i was still holding my head in my hands and gritting my teeth as i described the pain to the doctor, who was himself gritting his teeth, possibly in an attempt to show sympathy. having been prescribed sandomigraine, feldene (a painkiller), an anti-nausea med and a sedative, i still had to endure the throbbing pain till i got home cos i couldn't take the medicine on an empty stomach. i stayed at the doctor's still grabbing my head as if my brains were falling out, while dad went next door to tarpau teochew porridge. the trip back through the jam was another clutching-head-and-crying-and-screaming ordeal.. finally, back home, i gulped down the porridge as fast as i could (the pain was getting ridiculous, and it was difficult to even eat) downed the pills, and i think i collapsed immediately to sleep on the sofa without even needing the sedative. i woke up this morning miraculously feeling quite all right, realising only after a few minutes that i had a major headache the night before, and vaguely remembering that at some point of time my family members were sitting next to me on the sofa with their theories..
"aiya, she was staring at the computer the whole day, that's why."
"it was quite bad, she was in this horrible pain all the way in the car."
"yeah, probably bogged down by too many things to do lah."
all i have to say is, man, that was one scary headache.
Saturday, December 24, 2005
intoxed, detoxed
i was fed a slew of --OH* last night - a B-52, a flaming tower, a Cosmopolitan, a malt whisky and a Slippery Nipple, and was still all right until i started seeing spots after laughing too much (i never learn.. i almost always end up woozy cos i laugh too much after drinks). got driven home by sis with me navigating (it being her first attempt at driving on the left side of the road, with my senses still lucidly yelling "oi, go to the right a bit!" every few yards as the barriers/pavements on the left started looking too close for comfort), and now i'm awake at 8.00am and running errands. wonderful! ;-D
*alcohol, lah
*alcohol, lah
Thursday, December 22, 2005
quotable quotes #387
"Wah, ni keyboard bukan main besar..."*
- Cititel bell-boy who helped me unload the 88-key Yamaha Portagrand out of my car into the lobby for yesterday's Christmas carolling.
"Er, maybe next month lah, it will reflect."
- Jaring Wireless Broadband customer helpdesk officer, in reply to my query on why the change in my contact email in their records, while having been reflected in the "Account Information" section of my online account details, didn't seem to have been updated in their internal systems as I was still receiving Jaring notifications in the old email address.
*Translation: "Man! This is a freakin huge keyboard..."
- Cititel bell-boy who helped me unload the 88-key Yamaha Portagrand out of my car into the lobby for yesterday's Christmas carolling.
"Er, maybe next month lah, it will reflect."
- Jaring Wireless Broadband customer helpdesk officer, in reply to my query on why the change in my contact email in their records, while having been reflected in the "Account Information" section of my online account details, didn't seem to have been updated in their internal systems as I was still receiving Jaring notifications in the old email address.
*Translation: "Man! This is a freakin huge keyboard..."
Saturday, December 17, 2005
the pensieve
i just started a blog which will act as a repository of useful web links i come across while browsing or doing research on web design, or just doing research in general! inspired by toomanyhatz's blog. this will come in useful when you can't remember where you wrote that link down, or which bookmarks folder on which PC you saved that oh-man-this-is-an-awesome-site URL...
... head over to The Pensieve at www.lightblog.com/member/wreckademik and have a look! :-) (used LightBlog cos it's got a nifty Widget tool that lets me post a link conveniently without having to call up a browser to log on and post!)
why Pensieve? what's a Pensieve? Harry Potter fans will know why. if you haven't read J. K. Rowling's famed series, go read 'em! ;-)
for starters, i'll probably have links categorised into "music", "design", "legal research", "academic research"... it'll get updated as it goes along. you get the picture. do drop a your comments at the postings if you have anything to add to the collection!
this blog will, of course, still be up and running.
... head over to The Pensieve at www.lightblog.com/member/wreckademik and have a look! :-) (used LightBlog cos it's got a nifty Widget tool that lets me post a link conveniently without having to call up a browser to log on and post!)
why Pensieve? what's a Pensieve? Harry Potter fans will know why. if you haven't read J. K. Rowling's famed series, go read 'em! ;-)
for starters, i'll probably have links categorised into "music", "design", "legal research", "academic research"... it'll get updated as it goes along. you get the picture. do drop a your comments at the postings if you have anything to add to the collection!
this blog will, of course, still be up and running.
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
join in some xmas cheer - mid valley cititel & boulevard hotels next week!
The Choir of The Philharmonic Society of Selangor will be performing Christmas Carols at the lobby of the Cititel and Boulevard Hotels (at Mid Valley) next Wednesday! (wth yours truly on the pianoforte). Open to the public. No admission fee. Come join in the fun!
Date:
Wednesday, December 21st, 2005
Venues:
Cititel Hotel Lobby - 7.00pm
Boulevard Hotel Lobby - 8.00pm
Date:
Wednesday, December 21st, 2005
Venues:
Cititel Hotel Lobby - 7.00pm
Boulevard Hotel Lobby - 8.00pm
stuff it!
need to put a stop to:
the stuff people would like me to do;
the stuff i think i can do but which if taken up would be pushing my limits;
the stuff i all too readily volunteer myself to do;
the stuff people hint i could or should probably do, because, apparently, if you're still on sabbatical, you wake up every morning and sit around sipping tea watching the world go by;
the stuff everybody else won't do because it's taken for granted that i will somehow see to it.
sure, having the initiative to do things and being the all-obliging all-round do-it-all person earns some brownie points here and there, but people have to learn to stop taking others for granted...
the stuff people would like me to do;
the stuff i think i can do but which if taken up would be pushing my limits;
the stuff i all too readily volunteer myself to do;
the stuff people hint i could or should probably do, because, apparently, if you're still on sabbatical, you wake up every morning and sit around sipping tea watching the world go by;
the stuff everybody else won't do because it's taken for granted that i will somehow see to it.
sure, having the initiative to do things and being the all-obliging all-round do-it-all person earns some brownie points here and there, but people have to learn to stop taking others for granted...
Friday, December 09, 2005
cartoonist's block
just noticed a few days back that The Star is accepting cartoons from readers on issues of the day, etc. (and each cartoon published gets RM50). i've been sending emails to The Star for ages (since i was in school, i think) asking what I would need to do if i wanted to get a cartoon strip/single panel published in their paper.. finally here comes something and guess what, i've got a cartoonists' block. come on! come on! must.. think.. of.. something!
Thursday, December 08, 2005
oh, so you're a lawyer! great, cos my mind is bursting with legal questions on my rental agreement, my sister's marriage and my company's HR policies!
one of the irritating things about being qualified in my field of work is when random persons you meet ask you for your thoughts on something 'legal'. and because they expect you to be well-versed with law in general, they don't quite understand when you say you're not familiar with that particular area and that you will need to check/can recommend them someone who is.
many legal issues involve a lot of common sense. sometimes when you respond logically to queries on such issues, you get the skeptical "are you really a lawyer? i expected legal jargon from you but you seem to think like a regular person" look.
on the other hand, there are also some who think lawyers are gods, and will listen and take notes on every single word that you say, even asking you to pause so they can write it down (presumably so that they can repeat it later to impress the party they are having a dispute with). you could be spouting nonsense and they will take it as the gospel truth. it's like you actually wield a power to set people's minds at ease. what a huge responsibility.
many legal issues involve a lot of common sense. sometimes when you respond logically to queries on such issues, you get the skeptical "are you really a lawyer? i expected legal jargon from you but you seem to think like a regular person" look.
on the other hand, there are also some who think lawyers are gods, and will listen and take notes on every single word that you say, even asking you to pause so they can write it down (presumably so that they can repeat it later to impress the party they are having a dispute with). you could be spouting nonsense and they will take it as the gospel truth. it's like you actually wield a power to set people's minds at ease. what a huge responsibility.
Monday, November 28, 2005
totally useless trivia (a.k.a. side effects of an MBA)
on math
- there are 65536 rows in an Excel worksheet.
- the last column is in an Excel worksheet is IV (not ZZ).
on music
- certain brands of water dispensers burst into a rousing honky-tonk chorus of (i swear it was Beethoven!) when they need refilling.
on geography
- there is a remote but quaint and picturesque village situated on the border of Negeri Sembilan and Selango. so do residents get to celebrate public holidays of both states? or do the holidaying people stand at the border marker and laugh at the people on the other side who are toiling away while the people on the holidaying side get to lie in? or maybe they just have houses/offices on both sides of the border so they can lay claim to both holidays.. ok this discussion has got to stop.
on systems integration
- if an organisation shifts premises, the new and old systems will not be integrated such that you get to print reams and reams of draft dissertations for free in the old campus [now wait a minute, this is NOT useless info!]
(by the way, yes, i'm still taking suggestions for the previous post on Flash ActionScript :))
Sunday, November 27, 2005
ActionScipt experts.. 'elp!
the hazards of learning advanced design tools as you go along is that you become an expert CPA (i.e. copy & paste artist; term courtesy of my former colleagues in consulting..) and understand only the bits of code you use for that specific effect you wanted to create.
a site i'm working on needs to have certain images rotated (randomly) every time the home page loaded/refreshed. using Flash, i incorporated a bit of ActionScript to get the images to load randomly, based on what was recommended here. that worked like a dream. however, when i added in the bit of script for a preloader like this one here, the randomiser script didn't work no more, i just got a blank space where the image was supposed to be.
yikes.
didn't have time to figure out what the conflict was, so i left the Flash movie without the preloader for now.
any pointers?
(one day.. one day.. i will program an entire site with bells and whistles without having to google "free script" or consult a manual! har har har)
a site i'm working on needs to have certain images rotated (randomly) every time the home page loaded/refreshed. using Flash, i incorporated a bit of ActionScript to get the images to load randomly, based on what was recommended here. that worked like a dream. however, when i added in the bit of script for a preloader like this one here, the randomiser script didn't work no more, i just got a blank space where the image was supposed to be.
yikes.
didn't have time to figure out what the conflict was, so i left the Flash movie without the preloader for now.
any pointers?
(one day.. one day.. i will program an entire site with bells and whistles without having to google "free script" or consult a manual! har har har)
Thursday, November 24, 2005
the amazon jungle (hint: it's dense)
today has been an accummulation of very long queues, being caught in the middle of other peoples' inefficiencies, slightly dim-witted salespersons ... and some very very dense system administrators.
dense administrators are funny if it's happening to other people, but not when it's happening to you (though they do make good party jokes.. sorry, my tech support friends! :P ).
i figured a virus/worm must have found its way into the network when i received a delivery-failure email from Yahoo about an email that was allegedly sent from my account to some fake (Yahoo) email addresses (which, on closer inspection, were manipulated versions of emails in my address book). the alleged email sent from my account had the looks of the doings of a virus/worm - the typical subject, content, etc. typical stuff. me no computer security expert, but there was some malicious program lurking somewhere which probably meant that i should drop a short note to the IT guys to let them know about it.
so i emailed IT, requesting them to look into the matter. after all, these things can obviously be potentially embarrassing .. (well, i guess it's more acute in professional firms where sometimes attachments broadcast to the rest of the world by the worm could be partial contents of a confidential document - once received one such message before containing partial contents of a court document saved in the virus victim's hard drive).
dense administrators are funny if it's happening to other people, but not when it's happening to you (though they do make good party jokes.. sorry, my tech support friends! :P ).
i figured a virus/worm must have found its way into the network when i received a delivery-failure email from Yahoo about an email that was allegedly sent from my account to some fake (Yahoo) email addresses (which, on closer inspection, were manipulated versions of emails in my address book). the alleged email sent from my account had the looks of the doings of a virus/worm - the typical subject, content, etc. typical stuff. me no computer security expert, but there was some malicious program lurking somewhere which probably meant that i should drop a short note to the IT guys to let them know about it.
so i emailed IT, requesting them to look into the matter. after all, these things can obviously be potentially embarrassing .. (well, i guess it's more acute in professional firms where sometimes attachments broadcast to the rest of the world by the worm could be partial contents of a confidential document - once received one such message before containing partial contents of a court document saved in the virus victim's hard drive).
righto.
the first email that came back from IT told me that because the message was from yahoo.com, i have to contact the Yahoo administrator.
hmm. did the system administrator write that, or did he have dart-throwing monkeys in his room that day?
anyway, poor guy had obviously somehow misunderstood my email, so i mailed back with a clarification. i even offered a description of a similar situation encountered at my office. i must have written too much. the next email that came back somewhat defensively told me that oh, then it could be spam, which is beyond his control because spammers' machines don't belong to our organisation, and started giving me a lesson on how i must be careful about spam.
ow. ok. no, it's really, really, not spam i'm talking about (yes i think i am aware of what spam is). no, nobody needs to check anything with the Yahoo administrator, whoever s/he is. no, no, no. what's with the defensive front? was it an attempt to avoid work? i think i can identify with a LOT of Dilbert comics today... (e.g. "hello, this is tech support, how many I abuse you?")
Monday, November 21, 2005
gallavanting
have just realised how broke i've become. that's what you get from taking a year off work (i still think i'm mad; am sure my boss thinks so too :-D) and to add to it, go gallavanting in Vegas (no, this isn't a story about misfortuntes at gambling.. in fact i gave up all hope of feeling that luck could be on my side after losing 10 bucks on the Wheel of Fortune slots. that's 10 USD, not ringgit..)
Saturday, November 19, 2005
lagging..
a miscellany of post-vacation vagaries:
1. jet lag. you go to sleep at 8pm. someone happens to call you on the phone at 10.30pm and as a result your biological clock somehow goes haywire and you remain awake until past midnight in a state of limbo - while the brain wishes to do something more interesting than lying in bed staring into the darkness, the body refuses to budge from the warmth of the blankets and pillows. and the next thing you know, you're awake again and it's.. 4am. before you know it, 8pm comes soon enough, and you realize you're sleepy again..
2. a clogged ear, and it's driving me nuts. it started after i got out of the surf pool in the hotel in Vegas, and it's still clogged, about a week later. most probably a case of dislodged ear wax. it feels like i'm going around with a finger stuffed into one ear. everything except my voice is white noise. which is horrible as i don't like the sound of my voice. looks like a visit to the doctor is inevitable. meanwhile, the poor people around me will have to put up with my either too-soft or too-loud speech, incessant repetitions of 'i beg your pardon' (or, alternatively, 'hah?', which is more efficient and easier to say), or blank stares when i don't realise someone has said something to me and is awaiting a response.
3. am just so very tired..
4. i guess the knee, which recovered not too long ago, is protesting too. also, i guess that's also cos i haven't been doing the knee exercises. serves me right, ha ha.
so i need sleep, a doctor, more sleep and some exercise. that's not quite how it feels like, but at least i've managed to find some excuses for the lethargy! :-D
somebody send over some sunshine!
Thursday, November 17, 2005
things we can learn (or not) - a traveller's note from the US of A
1. the toilets are clean and DRY! (you saw this coming, didn't you?) and they don't stink of an overdose of antiseptic. and why don't we provide disposable toilet seat covers here too? oh wait, that's cos our greedy-for-freebies ladies will probably stuff the whole pack into their shopping bags to keep them for future use, whatever that means. (once upon a time, an employee on my office floor allegedly nicked a roll or two of bathroom tissue from the restroom every morning to stock up her supply of tissue. because of her we ran out of tissue in the restrooms at approximately 9.30 am every day.)
2. front-line service people are generally more polite; though they may be a little, er, blur at times, like with fractions (Customer: Could you split the bill into three please? Waitress: Oh ok, so you want it split into half and half and half?)
side rambling (sorry): i realised today that i've probably been a bit too impatient with customer-service people since i got back. a customer service officer of a certain bank thought i was saying "Prudential" (the insurance company) when he heard me saying "potential" (the English word meaning, roughly, capable of being something) and for 2 whole minutes i was repeating my enquiry about the note they sent me on the fact that they suspect my card was subject to potential compromise or unauthorised usage, and he was repeating his statement about the fact that yes, my Prudential account was still on the direct debit list. i hope the bank doesn't use that phone call in their next call-centre training on how to deal with sarcastic clients.
3. you don't get street musicians or graffiti on historic sites. it's rather disheartening when you expect to admire a relic of the 17th century and some 21st century guy carves "Jojo was here, 2001" or "Dodo loves Dodol, 14th February 2004".
don't get me wrong. there's still no place like home. but home sure can do with some housekeeping. ;)
2. front-line service people are generally more polite; though they may be a little, er, blur at times, like with fractions (Customer: Could you split the bill into three please? Waitress: Oh ok, so you want it split into half and half and half?)
side rambling (sorry): i realised today that i've probably been a bit too impatient with customer-service people since i got back. a customer service officer of a certain bank thought i was saying "Prudential" (the insurance company) when he heard me saying "potential" (the English word meaning, roughly, capable of being something) and for 2 whole minutes i was repeating my enquiry about the note they sent me on the fact that they suspect my card was subject to potential compromise or unauthorised usage, and he was repeating his statement about the fact that yes, my Prudential account was still on the direct debit list. i hope the bank doesn't use that phone call in their next call-centre training on how to deal with sarcastic clients.
3. you don't get street musicians or graffiti on historic sites. it's rather disheartening when you expect to admire a relic of the 17th century and some 21st century guy carves "Jojo was here, 2001" or "Dodo loves Dodol, 14th February 2004".
don't get me wrong. there's still no place like home. but home sure can do with some housekeeping. ;)
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