The Next Era

The extent of Apathy in Singapore

itisanillusion — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 15:43:20 +0000

Found this article today, it is a very short article but it is deeply meaningful to me. How many times have I hesitated to do something when a situation arise in front of me that prompts the people around to go into action? When you see someone in need, the first instinct is to go and help the person. But too many times the brain reward/punishment machinery kicks in and starts to think about the consequence of the action to help, whether it will cause embarrassment, whether it is acceptable, etc.

I want to make the same commitment as the author: “The commitment to stop waiting for other’s approval or even support, the commitment to just stand up immediately to do what is right. The commitment to never standby when someone is in need.”

I like the last parting words by the author.

“Because a nation which cannot even offer someone in the rain an umbrella without a committee meeting is a nation which can never help itself or others.”

PrintWhatYouLike

itisanillusion — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 03:41:14 +0000

Ever print a webpage only to find your printout is full of ads, empty space and other junk you don’t want? PrintWhatYouLike is a free webpage editor that gives you control of how webpages look when printed.

Useful tools for hacking CSS

itisanillusion — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 15:22:39 +0000

I was whacking CSS stuff for the Flo Tuition website. Below are some useful tools I found that has aided me in the process.

ShadedBorder – JavaScript Round Corners with Drop Shadow: This script helps to give my CSS boxes round corners, including the borders. This reduces the effort of generating a lot of corner images if you have a lot of different boxes to apply to.
CSS Color Chart: I used this as a reference for colors. They have a nice chart with the actual colors and hexadecimal codes.
3 Column Layouts: This page tells me how to have a column fluid layout with minimal fuss and the pictures made it easy to understand.

QuarkBase

itisanillusion — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 06:39:03 +0000

QuarkBase is a mashup which helps to reveal all sorts of interesting information about a website like traffic in Google, blogs, wikipedia, etc.

SmartyPig

itisanillusion — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:52:23 +0000

An online piggy bank where you can do monthly deposit into, or get your family members and friends to contribute (if you share out your account) like a “Save Me Fund”. There are cash incentives if what you are saving up for match the offers by retailers. The account also enjoy a relatively high interest rate. However SmartyPig is only for U.S. residents. Will POSB do this?

Diaroogle

itisanillusion — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 04:56:54 +0000

Diaroogle is a toilet search engine to help you find quality public toilets from your mobile phone. Unfortunately it currently only works for New York toilets. How I wish there is one for Singapore and other Asia countries.

The Search for God II

itisanillusion — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 18:10:30 +0000

I believe that all paths, i.e. religions, at least the religions that had lasted for so long, lead to God, even for atheism. Seems contradictory but it makes sense. So why are people still arguing which religion is better?

The God that I believe in is someone who gives unconditional love to everyone.

He (for lack of a better gender) is always there for you (He is always there to support you in spirit). He is there when you are sad, angry, happy.

He is always around to listen to you (when no-one is around, he is always around).

He will give you a poke when you do something bad (your conscience).

He will be happy for you when you do something good (your heart is joyful).

He always gives advice to help but depends on whether you are willing to listen (your good angel and bad demon on your shoulder).

He helps people who help themselves (He provides the silver lining in the cloud).

He doesn’t need you to proclaim your love for him. He will still always love you. Unconditional love does not need reciprocation.

He does not need sheep to follow him blindly, he wants you to talk to him, question him, he does not have all the answers but he has the time to explore them with you.

He wants you to be his equal, to be able to give unconditional love to others, to maintain the curious innocence of a child, and yet be mature enough to be like him.

The Search for God I

itisanillusion — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 17:44:15 +0000

I considered myself a freethinker, not that I don’t believe in God, but maybe in a different sense.

Until there is evidence describing otherwise, I don’t think life arise out of nothing, out of randomness. As far as I know about biology, scientists do not know how to start life in the labs. It always require the cell, the bare minimum for life to exist. Where does the cell comes from? Biochemical reactions in the cells are catalysed by enzymes. What could have cause simple organic chemicals to form into complex chemicals? Something must have provided the push which upsets the existing balance, leading to the formation of life, a propagating series of biochemical reactions that go on and on.

One can call this entity the Life Force, or God, or whatever, but I think that the origin of life originates from an initial spark from some entity which may or may not be part of this universe. I am talking about life in general. I don’t think humans are unique in this sense. We, including all life, received this initial spark from some entity and we have been propagating it all our lives, generations.

Shapeways

itisanillusion — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 09:35:36 +0000

Ever thought of creating your own 3-D model/design and actually materializing it. Now you can, with Shapeways. Upload your design to Shapeways, and they will print it and deliver to you!

Gliffy

itisanillusion — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 04:32:13 +0000

Gliffy is an online diagramming software. You can easily create and share professional-looking flowcharts, diagrams, floor plans, technical drawings, etc.