My New Book

At some point, I felt somewhat bad for keeping such a small thing from everyone. Even from my parents and closest of friends. But I just don't want the attention. Being me I've never been the type. But then again sooner or later everyone will know anyways, it's better to put out the news first I guess. It was a though choice in life. I've never really done this before and I personally I am somewhat glad that I took the opportunity when it came in front of me.


It took quite a while to come up with the idea. Nevertheless it was a good decision. I spent roughly a month thinking and planning for it. It took me another couple of months to follow through with the plan and make everything work. I had to drop everything I was doing... except for my real job obviously. But finally it is done and I am somewhat proud of it.


The content was a big thing in the planning phase. I had to make sure that it had to be worth the money. Every piece of data should fit inside it somehow. I have to say it is definitely worth the trouble.


The cover was another matter that I had to settle and decide on at the very end. It had to look sleek and catch the attention of every person that sets their eyes on it. Chose a really grainy texture to the surface. Wasn't really bothered with thick covers. But I was somewhat disappointed later on that I chose something that is a little flimsy and thin. But hey, it's whats inside that is important right?


Then finally, today I got my hands on it. It just felt like the moment when a dad first held up his firstborn child with all the light effects and that heavenly effect going on behind them.


Then I realized something. Something was definitely wrong. The title ... the few words that explains what this book is about; the label of the book was all wrong. In fact it's not even close to what I had thought about earlier on! My heart broke as it says "WAT A RIPOFF".


But then everything seemed rather fine. It was a ripoff after all. Where is my freaking missing 70GB of space ? I think the image says it all. For the record its a 1TB hard drive and the display is only showing 930GB. Oh well, 930GB is still more than enough to fill in all the junk I've collected but was somewhat lazy to burn and pretty much too reluctant to delete off from my hard drive that is already gasping for more space.


The Western Digital 1TB 930GB My Book Elite External Hard Drive was a good pick for just RM395 RM380 that I got from some guy in the forum. Although I think I could have gone with the Essential version instead since it is around RM50 cheaper. The only difference between them was the "Smart" display on the case itself. The display doesn't seem to be the typical LED display. By default it seems to be displaying the default text "PICTURE 09" even without being plugged in. By going through the SmartWare, a software that came along inside the hard drive, I was able to change the label (thought somewhat limited in characters, would have preferred a marque) and save it. Its back-lit effect goes off and returns with the new label...might want to dig deeper into what material this is. My guess is some sort of static charge or something ? Besides the custom label, it also states the space in the hard drive (in the form of a bar and numbering) as well as the lock status of the hard drive.


The case is like I said pretty flimsy. Plastic all the way. Somewhat thin plastic. Though I was pretty amazed with how small it is. Besides that there really isn't much to talk about the drive. It auto-runs the SmartWare software by virtual drive. Gives the user the functionality to auto-backup and what not. In fact it syncs with the PC that you connect it to. I heard it is not really that good and I must say that I would not be using it anyways. Meh. I just want to drag everything that is in both my PC right into it. Period. More pics of it later on, when the lighting is better around here tomorrow for my shitty camera phone.

Random Thoughts...

Okay there a couple of things in my mind right now. I guess the whole quiet and dull 3-days holiday is getting to me.


First off, after going through like a couple of weeks of long ... LONG queue. I realize how unfair it is that cinemas don't provide another separate line for non-premier movies. Previously I've gone to the cinemas thinking of watching Bodyguards and Assassins which seemed really good in the trailer. By the time I've decided to watch, it was shown a week or two already. To my disappointment there was a long line waiting for me right in the face. Not only did the line filled up the provided zig-zag mace but it continued on till the escalator area. Sad to say most of them were just there to see Avatar which premiered at that time. And I guess my business is set aside pretty much. Seeing the line I've decided to watch it this week instead.


To my disappointment... AGAIN, the Bodyguards and Assassins now only have 2 sessions which are both too late for me since they are both in the evening and at night. Hey, can't blame me for being a "pirate" LOL. And since I could not watch the show I chose to watch Avatar now since everything has somewhat cool down for it. No more freakishly long line of people who thinks watching it first makes any difference then watching it on the last day. Sad to say I was met with another freaking long line. But luckily this time I went early and the line wasn't as long as the last time. This time the culprit was Alvin and the Chipmunks 2.


This is just basically one of the scenario that kinda troubled me somehow. Another scenario is for example, it's 10.30 and I want to watch an 11.00 show that is shown for a couple of weeks already. Sadly to say, I won't make it due to the line being superbly long. Again this line of people is just there to watch premier shows. So there goes another happy customer.


I think the cinemas should really come up with a non-premier show line. I don't mind lining up in that if I know that I will be in front of more than half the people that went to the cinema. I think it's also a winning situation for the cinema since people are not just rushing for the premier shows but also the normal shows that people usually fail to watch since there is freakishly long queue in front of them.


I think this is getting too long. The last thought in my mind at the moment for now.... is ... gosh darn it, bands consisting of female members are such a turn-on LOL. Just moments ago after looking through Google for some drummer name, I came upon the group Stereopony, a Japanese rock band consisting of a female drummer (the one I was looking for), female bassist and female guitarist/vocalist. Ahhhh... something about them that makes it sound good. Though upon listening further the band is just pretty normal. But who cares...

Dull New Year

Sad to say that it is such a dull new year. Barely any noise outside, no count-down, no cheers, nothing except the faint glow of fireworks coming from the horizon. I have to admit, I am not very fond of holidays and celebrations. Something about the cheers and happiness that makes me feel somewhat awkward since I am the only one that usually feels much more comfortable being all alone.


Talking about awkward, remind me never never never to message her again. Everytime I do so it seems so awkward. Everytime I press Send, the next thing in mind is "Crap did I say something wrong just now ? Maybe I shouldn't have sent that". And the night goes all gloomy. I hate the feeling of hating something but at the same time I still like it. I should stop thinking about it. I should stop thinking about her. LOL.


Being a nice person is such a tough thing to do for me. Being a nice friend is even worse. I can never seem to get it right somehow with anyone. I could be having a nice time and treating them really well and all of the sudden I messed up and said something I shouldn't have said. I guess by the time I realize it, it is pretty much too late. All in all after thinking so much about it, isn't it so much easier to be the person who has no connection what so ever and does not need to be nice to everyone.


I am babbling too much... I should get back to the music playing on the background...

How Lucky Are You ?

Couldn't help but notice the small but noticeable changes in the lifestyle of people from this generation and previous generation.


Food...
Past : Every year Muslims around the world will fast during the month of Ramadhan. But it doesn't really apply to younger kids. So technically they still have to eat. Moms (or dads) would be living their lives like normal; cooking all their usual meals, including lunch for the kids. Tough work but hey their kids gotta eat.

Parents used to scare their kids of the dangers of fast food and candy and junk food. It's just plain normal to hear parents go "If you eat that candy your teeth is gonna rot bla bla bla.." or "Do you know what kinda preservatives are in those food?" and kids would actually listen and eat home-cooked meals (I guess not all cases).


Present : Nowadays people rather go out and save the hours of their time sweating in the kitchen preparing food and goes to the first fast food restaurant they see and shove their kids with all kinds of crap. I literally see like probably 80% - 90% of the Muslim families going into a fast food restaurant and buying porridge (you know which fast food is this I think) for their little kids. Fries, soft drinks, etc. at such a young age... that just can't be good for health.


Invasion of strollers
Past : As far as I recall when I was young, I've never seen a stroller in my house. Not even one. I guess most parents during those days prefer to be somewhat closer to their kids by carrying their kids. I am just throwing that out but seriously, there was less strollers around shopping complexes last time.

Present : If you don't see strollers around, it's not a shopping complex. Period. Nowadays I just have to avoid them. Babies crying their lungs out and parents and chatting away without noticing them. Kids crying for attention, calling to their parents only to be address by a "Yes dear ?" but none of the eye contact or any further action until probably the kid did something really bad to catch their attention.

It burns...
Past : I am not too sure about this but I've rarely seen people running to take cover from the sun that much last time. I mean sure, there is the hot afternoon sun that you might technically want to avoid, but some people might just ignore that. Like me ? I remember playing in the sun a lot. Pretty dark (even though my ex-schoolmate claimed I was fair) to even see clearly the ring of fair skin on my left wrist where I wore my watch. And I didn't carry no water bottle around!

Present : Probably a new trend of some sort. I notice that even guys run for every little shade (tree, leaf, branch, corridor, you name it) their can find when they walk around. And sometimes it's just the nice warm morning sun! Come on, it can't be that bad. I think we were made to be more durable than this. I doubt we can get skin cancer or something that easily. And what is with this new trend of carrying water bottle around ? Nowadays I see lots of people carrying a small bottle of water around and in some serious cases, those huge 1.5 litre bottles or those 8-glass-of-water bottles. Might be wrong again but maybe this came from the Western world? Never seen people done this in the past except in TV once in a while.


The need to be clean...
Past : I remember when I was a kid I used to play around with dirt a lot. There was nothing wrong with catching worms from the freshly dug up dirt, touching toads, touching fish, digging up a freaking large hole on the ground that my mom would start scolding me. And except for the occasional yearly flu or fever or cold I rarely was sick. Weird ain't it?

Present : Parents get so upset and panic when their kid even touches dirt or some bugs. I mean come on, its fine as long as you wash their hands afterward and the thing they touch is not poisonous or something. Yet I think I notice more kids are getting sick these days compared to the past. Could be a weird but I think they are starting to lack exposure to small but frequent germs and bacterias that gives them the immunity that they need to not get sick so often.

Or maybe it could just be the media that is freaking everyone out. I remember that we used to have meals where if there is 5 people at the table there would just be 5 sets of fork and spoons. Nowadays my dad is so hyped out about the health issue thing like don't share fork and spoon or bodily fluid thing, our table would be full of spoons ... for the people at the table and EACH dishes. A little annoying but I can live with it. I remember going out to eat with a bunch of colleagues where we would be calling dishes and what not and this particular guy would go through the ritual of cleaning everything with hot water, and when the dishes arrive he would place a spoon and a chopstick for each of the dishes. ANNOYED level MAX!

I guess that is enough ramblings for the day. Caffeine level running low just in time for my sleep.

Freaky Night or Freaky Me ?

Note to self; do not consume Redbull like ever! Seriously it's really making go really crazy at the moment. Seriously screw drugs, a can of this is enough to stimulate my mind like crazy. It feels like thoughts are going through my mind like 100 miles an hour or something.


Started off the night feeling really active and started telling childhood stories to someone like for hours literally. After that, when it was time for bed, it started to get really windy. It felt familiar enough and I was smart enough to get up and close the windows tight. Sadly to say it's really building up and it started to rain really heavy. The wind really isn't helping; it's literally blowing rain into my room and my window is not shutting properly.


And I thought it would be a great idea to tape some of the part that is leaking in strong wind. Bad idea; water started flowing in. Well it's not that bad. I mean I did manage to seal it pretty tight. I guess the small is just overflow or something.


Then the whole taping the window incident reminded me of some thriller show. Can't really recall the name of the show. The one where it started of with people to kill themselves. And it turned out like this "ghost" came from the net or something. And in the story people usually get freaked out and it turns out that the only way to "prevent" the ghost from coming in is by sealing the doors and windows with red tapes.


Shuckz now I need to stay awake long enough to see to it that my room and PC don't get soaked. I guess in the end it's a good thing that I drank the Redbull then. Ugh...

Rant...

It's been a while since I've wrote anything here. Mainly because I am pretty much swarmed by work and also I am pretty much emotionally stable for the past couple of months that it feels like there is just nothing much to rant about.


Of course there are days such as tonight where there are just a million things in my mind that just needs to blurted out. Even though there are minor things of the past, somehow they remained lingering in my mind hoping that one day I would be emotionally unstable again and start pouring them out again.


I think I've talked about this before but then again due to some recent (quite long ago actually) encounter with it I guess it doesn't hurt to use it again to get things started here. There is just something wrong when people somehow shows dislike of something that you do or decide to do. I mean what does it have to do with them in the first place ? It does not even effect them in the first place. If it was a bad choice I doubt I would go complaining to them or anything. Seriously most of the stuff that they show dislike of is quite petty. Why I don't have a car still ? Why am I still at ? The list goes on.


Secondly, it's my choice, something that I've given lots of thought into and I think it is a decision that I am comfortable making and I am pretty sure made me happy. I am not really sure why but somehow some people thinks that the things that they have decided in their lives are correct and anything that is against that is wrong. I mean seriously? If your choices or decisions are correct what makes mine wrong ?


Another thing that has been bothering me is the elevator. The past couple of weeks, on and off, one of the elevator was stuck on the top floor and just don't want to come down. As usual when there is just one elevator, it's pretty darn slow when I need to get back down to the ground floor which is still fine somehow. I mean what you gonna do right? Then comes the culprits who makes it even worse. Those that I have doubts on whether they are just plain stupid or ignorant. It's just those people that when you are going up, there is just one dude from one of the floor that press up but wants to go down. I mean seriously? ( I should stop saying that) The up button means you want to go up and the down button means you want to go down. I mean what is so hard about that? Is pressing both the up and down button making the elevator go any faster? Is it faster being in the elevator going the opposite direction before going the direction they want ? Sheesh...

The Thing About Big Companies

Been a while since I've rant about something here. No surprise there since everything have been fine so far... till tonight. I think the problem lies in big companies in general. I will get back to that after I've explained the situation. So basically I am avid gamer specifically in Warhammer Online at the moment accessing using Streamyx broadband and those two combos really annoying sometimes. It has its ups and downs but most of the time it just plain piss me off.


So here is the situation. I woke up in the middle of the night thinking I could probably play an hour or two before going back to bad, ASSUMING the connection on Streamyx broadband would be much better around late in the night. Boy, was I wrong. I couldn't even go through the auto patcher (this is the part of the online game experience where you wait for your game to check if there is any updated files or what not before letting you start the game). Constant timeouts.


After a few attempts, I restarted my modem and basically retried. For those who don't know that's the routine of most Streamyx users I know, you have to restart your modems to get "good IPs" which has smoother connection and less lost packets. But when I tried to go into my game server it just timeouts. So what is a customer to do after having this two problems alternately after a few tries? I go for the Customer Support I guess since the funny thing is, I could access other servers. I thought hey maybe it's the game.


Now comes the main part of my rant, Customer Support. Rule of thumb for big companies who want to provide Customer Support; provide them only if you are going to do well with them else don't provide it at all cause people would be so pissed that they wouldn't even be using it at all. Applies for both Streamyx and Warhammer Online.


Streamyx users already knows the usual response from the CS people. First they will ask you to restart modem, yadda yadda yadda and after half an hour nothing was right still and you've wasted a large sum of money calling their 1 300 number which is not free. Warhammer Online being under EA is no better either. Famous for having crappy Customer Support from day 1. I have experience their poor service numerous times in the past.


The thing is, there is one question that keeps popping up in my mind. Why provide the service in the first place? Why? Seriously why get people's attention on the product if you're not going to be providing a good product in the first place.


Customer Support and also complains are almost impossible to reach to the correct people in Malaysia I have to sadly say. There are only three things that will happen when you are using some sort of Customer Complain/Support. It's either a) it's so troublesome that you stop halfway into your effort and you end up not reporting anything b) you've successfully reported something but it just doesn't reach the proper people c) they don't give a crap about your complains cause what is 1 - 2% of complains out of their full range of customers to them? The infamous "You don't like don't use" attitude.


I know this is not reaching out to anything really and this is just nothing more than ranting my frustration to myself. But I really wish there is something that can be done.

Honor Thy Father

Lately I've been wondering whether I've been resentful towards my own father. I guess it doesn't sound weird to most people who knows me since I rarely talk about my family members that much and I don't really mention about the people I know to my parents. I think these are just two worlds that shouldn't mix... for my own safety I guess. I don't want to wake up to a call from my dad one day going "Hey why did you dump so-and-so, bla bla bla".


Anyways, yes I don't really mention them to people close to me even. If I ever do, then it's pretty rare I guess. The reason why I've been thinking about this is, I've been having these weird dreams about my dad pissing me off somehow and making me go really mad till I can even wake up in tears of defeat lol.There goes my day. Whenever I have one of those dreams it just spoils the rest of the day.


The latest one was about how he kept asking me to do stuff. Now I am not trying to talk bad things about my dad or anything but seriously he does that a lot in real life. I wouldn't say I've quarreled with him regarding it before, but once or twice I've voiced this matter out to him. And he would sort of imply that he is trying to teach me how to do this and that by asking me to do it. Note that some of the task can range to a measly one such ask bringing the TV remote to him which is like arm's reach if he just sit up.


I remember I've sort of voiced up in quite a bad manner by telling him how he resembles a snake that don't have legs and hands. Well, I wouldn't say I regret it or anything but I still respect my dad as a father figure and anything so small doesn't really matter to me in the end. But the dreams really bother me. Do I really still keep some sort of rage and anger towards my dad? I think it's something I should find out one day.


I think being around my dad for the past 20 over years have made me sort of numb to anything that people throw at me in my daily life. Somehow the things he does or say sometimes can really be annoying and really really frustrates me. I guess that is a good thing right? LOL

Work : Age of Reckoning

Finally I have the chance to write down some stuff here again. It's been a while I have to admit. Roughly two months. Life have been hectic as well as exciting in a nerdy kinda way. Work, finally I manage to update my contract which really feels like a ton off my chest. The documents that I have to fill in was just unbearable. Three separate documents that I had to fill in that involves not only my personal information but what have I been doing for that particular year, how did I "think" I perform and much much more. Pity my supervisor though, she had to fill in her fair share as well.


Besides that, I have somehow got myself tangled up with the major leagues among my team. With the contract ending, my colleague, a great guy with vast knowledge in Linux and just that kinda person that is so persistent in making the programming world a much more exciting place, decided not to continue on with his contract and his major tasks sort of slide off into my lap. Part of me is saying oh crap and started to panic while another side of me is getting really pumped up ready to go. To be honest I am fine with the task, its just the matter of the documentation which I've already estimated to around 600 - 700 pages of it.


Life is going to suck in a way. But I guess, at some point I have to step up to a new step sooner or later anyways right? But at the mean time I am trying to enjoy my 5 day holiday as much as I can hopefully not having to focus on the task yet till much later when I DO actually finish reading the documentation.

My Headphones and Massive Paperwork

Just a bit of an update. Recently my headphone have been smashed to pieces by myself. Not intentionally of course but I really learn a lot from this headphone. Dropping it on the floor from a desk constantly is not a good idea (d'oh). Anyhow one day after it dropped on the floor, it broke to two. I am not kidding and I even got image to prove it. Apparently the metal strip frame that gives the headphone the shape sort of detached from one side of the headphone speakers and... well you get the idea from the image I guess. It was a Koss headphone. Pretty not too bad average headphone but sadly I guess it's the way it was designed that somehow it just doesn't sit properly on my table and kept dropping on the floor.


OK, the whole image is basically messed up, I know. That's why I labeled some of the parts. Number 1 is the sponges that cushions the ear. Number 2 is the curved metal frame/strip and Number 3 is the ear pieces. I guess it didn't turn out like that when I drop it. I sort of remove the metal part in hopes that I can still hang the ear pieces on my ears and use it temporary. Sadly I guess it wasn't meant for that and it didn't fit that well.


So I went and got myself a new headphone. I guess I am the proud owner of Sony MDR-V250. Nothing to brag about just a normal headphone. A bit tight on the ears, it's currently giving me a bit of a sore. Overall still pretty good headphone. I guess it's a smaller version of studio headphones. Blocks lot of ambience sounds. Pretty decent bass.


OK right back to the second issue I am having. Lately I don't know why but my department and my whole "place" in general have been doing a lot of I guess unnecessary paperwork, which is fine with me if I am not the one doing it! A lot of things regarding over job and the relationship of my position towards the big mother company itself. Honestly speaking I thought it was sort of a bull seriously. I don't mind having paperwork and what not but at least make them related to my job in the first place. Last week I was bothered with some feedback forms that I need to fill in to literally rate myself. Took me a week I guess to figure out all the bombastic business terms used in the feedback.

This week I was again bothered with a written form that explains what my job is suppose to do and all the details regarding it. To sum it up, it's what they call a job term of reference. Basically it explains what the job is, what challenges it faces, the budget... believe it or not, Skills needed, etc. The whole 9 yards. And basically I spend the whole day filling it up. You can say that I am around 90% done I guess. Honest truth I think this should be filled by only certain people in the company. Even though we are executives but I don't think we are connected strongly to the managerial site of the company and personally I think some of the things that is in there should be filled in by HR or something cause seriously I wouldn't know what is the official requirement of the job and things of that nature.


However my Assistant Manager was good enough to fill in some of the stuff like organization structure and some basic information (which I would have gladly filled in myself). Although I really think that they should have helped me fill other things like competencies required for the job, qualification requirements, job dimension, etc. Oh well, I guess I will continue to fill them in tonight. Busy day tomorrow.

Forsaken...

Again and again I have been asked about my believe in the Big Guy above, where do I stand? Do I really believe in Him? So many questions related to Him yet so little answers about Him. Is my believe in Him just to the point that He is someone I talk to and pray to at the time of need? Is it to the point that I hope for the best for everyone I know from Him everyday? Is it to the point that that I hope that what happens to me each day is from Him and what happens to me is only for my own good? Is it to the point that I have someone to blame when things go wrong? Is it to the point that I have someone to point to for all the success in me? Sigh I can't say for sure where I stand... at least today or rather the past few weeks to be exact.


Probably around Tuesday 6pm I came home to realize that my PC wasn't working... System Boot Failure. Feels like my heart have broken into thousand pieces when I realize it had crashed dragging along all my treasures of songs, animes, comics, mangas, etc. Sad but true. Today I finally manage to get a new harddisk and also send the old one to reclaim warranty as there is nothing more that could be done to save the data.


My joy for having a new harddisk was cut short when I got home and installed everything else. My other harddisk could not be detected in my Windows. But the weird thing is it is detected in my BIOS and it is also detected as a hardware in my Windows. But no drive appeared. After a few setting changes here and there, it became worse as I can see the drive now but it is claiming the drive to be not formatted and asking for permission to format it. Again... my heart broke into a few more thousand pieces as my older songs and my whole collection of mtvs are gone for good if I ever press the button format which seems to be the only thing that I could do for now.


Problems aside, I have been having these thoughts for a couple of days now while walking to work. Why did all this happen to me? Did I do something bad to deserve all this? Is He showing me another route in life that means the sacrifice of this materials? Part of me want to deny the fact that it might be His work for a greater good in me. Part of me want to blame him for what a utterly disasterous thing he could do to me to erase a whole lifetime of things... my life along with the harddisk(s). I am getting confused.


Again with the problem tonight regarding the old harddisk... the idea came into mind again. We are talking here about gigs and gigs of data that I have collected over the years :

Songs and MTVs : The many many genres that I have collected over the years showing the transition of my taste for songs. The memories that they have, the people I met that recommended me the song(s), the people I met through songs, all gone. From pop to hip hop to rock to punk rock to many others that I have gone through. All gone.

Notes and Projects : The proof that I actually did study and gone through an amazing amazing life in campus. The tortures from my lecturers and tutors, the easy going life I had in campus. All gone.

Comics and Mangas : Though they were illegal at some point, it is still things that I have treasured over the past year or two. They are like trophies to me, sense of greatness is felt in me for I am holding on to gigs and gigs of comics and mangas in my humble collection. All gone.

Though there are more things in my harddisk that I failed to mention but I think the point is pretty obvious, a lot of things were kept in my harddisks. Things that really define me. Things that made me proud. Things that kept me alive in this lonely world of mine.


Sadly all is gone now and to my surprise, I somehow felt relieve and eager to tend to a new start in life with new things to keep in my new harddisks. The good side of me says He did all this in order to give me a new start in life. Trying to get rid of illegal things from my life. For that I felt greatful and eager to accept His action and find alternatives to the illegal things. Though there are some things that I cannot part with that will still grow and be collected in my PC. Comics, Mangas and Animes. I seriously can't part with those. For the rest I am willing to change. I am in fact downloading OpenOffice to replace my old pirated version of Microsoft Office. In hopes that I might be able to reduce the amount of piracy in my life.


Don't get me wrong. I do feel devastated by the event. Thinking back about all the things I have collected over the years. But part of me question myself, since when do I rewatch, reread, relisten to all those old materials? I don't seem to be using them as much as when I first got them. Maybe it is for the best that I part with them. Maybe it is His way of telling me to get a life. Maybe He is telling to get my life straight and legal and clean.


Or maybe I am just lying to myself. Another part of me want to say screw You. You have created earth and all its greatness and You screwed up by creating a mistake which is human civilization and dump them on earth. And now You are making them suffer. I say kill all or suck it up and deal with it...

The Surrogates

I bought this comic last Saturday after browsing through and tried very hard deciding which to buy between this and Wanted. Both are 5-issue miniseries compiled together. Wanted was in hardcover and hundred bucks more. Both had pretty good storyline. In fact after coming back from purchasing the Surrogates, I have decided to get myself the Wanted miniseries anyways this Saturday LOL.



Anyways, The Surrogates is a mini series comic with 5 issues under Top Shelf Production written by Robert Venditti and drawn by Brett Weldele. For someone who is pretty tired of seeing bookstores overflowed with Marvel and DC comics, I feel that comic book lovers should give other comic book production companies a try. I've read my fine share of comics and found non-Marvel and non-DC comics to be pretty interesting as well, especially the storylines.


The Surrogate is set at the year 2054, where life have dramatically changed for most humans. Most human on earth have ushered in the era full of futuristic, cybernatic and virtual reality through their own personal surrogate. A surrogate is basically an android substitute of the human counter-part controlled through their owners from home into doing everything from going for a walk outside, working, studying and all daily routines for the humans. Humans were merely experiencing their lives instead of living them.


One thing is for sure, life was peaceful yet unfufilling to some. The Surrogate tells of the story of quiet rebellion against the usage of surrogates and how two Detectives from the Metro Police, Detective Harvey Greer and Peter Ford trying their best to uphold peace.


Overall the storyline was pretty interesting. Not too sure about the separate issues but the all-in-one is combined with extra materials like artwork and also magazine-like and report-like articles to give readers a properly understanding of the whole situation of the Surrogate world.


On the matter of graphics, well I think some people might not really like it as the line work were intentionally sketchy and coloring seems to be done with broad brushes to give the comic sort of dark and mysterious feel to it.


Apart from this, it is said that the movie adaptation of this comic starred by Bruce Willis will be out pretty soon. Hopefully this year. There is also news that a sequel The Surrogate 2.0 will be out next year. Judging from the Top Shelf Production website, the comic seems to be a great hit second printing shipping is made. I guess I picked a good one from the shelves LOL. Credits to Top Shelf Production for the images.

Ikimono Gakari - Seishun Line

Been a while since I wrote something. Can't say that I am busy since I am not. LOL. Anyhow just a short one for now. Been crazy over Ikimono Gakari band since I found out that they actually had a new album this year called Life Album. Pretty exciting. Sadly these are those bands/singers that I can't seem to get a hold of their albums in Malaysia. Sigh, we need more music varieties here!


Anyways, the song that caught my attention the most is Seishun Line. Why? I don't know. Maybe it's Kiyoe Yoshioka's powerful yet effortless voice accompanied by melodious and catchy lyrics. Here is a look at the PV:

Seishun Line

Kira kira hikaru seishun line wo
Bokura wa ima hashirida suyo
Tsunagu omoi wo yume no sakumade

Natsu no GRANDo bokura wa mujakini
Haku sen wo tobi koeteiku
Tayou sae mo te ga todokisou de
Nani mo kowa kunakatta
Kimi to sora ni egai ta
Yume wa ikutsu ni narudarou
Senaka wo tataite kureta
Sono te wo tsuyoku nigitta

Sousa kira kira hikaru seishun line wo
Bokura wa ima hashirida suyo
Mou modoranai
Zutto
Doramatiiku(DRAMATIC) na kiseki wo sagashite
Shinjiru mama te wo nobasu yo
Tsunagu omoi wo yume wo sakumade

Madohen no yuki wo yubi denazutte wa
Chiisana buna wo tabushiteita
Furikiruyou ni unazuita boku ni
Kimi wa warattekureta
Ikirishita yakusoku wo ima mo futari dakishimete
Tashika ni ooi tsuzuketeku sono te wo hanashi wa shinai

Sousa kira kira hikaru seishun line wo
Bokura wa ima yabutteiku
Mou mayowanai
Zutto
Romaantiku (ROMANTIC) na mirai wo sagashite
Shinjiru mama te wo nobasu yo
Tsunagu omoi wo yume no sakumade

Kira kira hikaru seishun line wo
Bokura wa ima koete iku wo
Mou modorenai

Sousa kira kira hikaru seishun line wo
Bokura wa ima hashirida suyo
Mou modoranai
Zutto
Doramatiiku (DRAMATIC) na kiseki wo sagashite
Shinjiru mama te wo nobasu yo
Tsunagu omoi wo...

Sousa kira kira hikaru seishun line wo
Bokura wa ima hashirida suyo

Tsunagu omoi wo yume no sakumade...

Iron Man Review

Been a while since I wrote something. I think it's time to write something more ... 'useful'? or should I say less about myself? Hmmm... I just don't want to write too much depressing stuff lately... and my life isn't that interesting anyways without the depressing parts. So I shall write review on things ! Wheee~ First thing first, thanks to my friend for the reservation of Iron Man : The Movie tickets :D Though I have to admit I kinda went paranoid and reach at the place a tad too early. But nevertheless the effort was not wasted. I got my ticket and I manage to find out that I actually CAN reach there in time to take the Aeroline bus back to Penang next time.



Anyhow back to Iron Man. Story started straight away to the point where Tony Stark is a billionaire industrialist in weapon manufacturing. During his ride home from his demo of his new weapon, Jericho, his convoy was ambushed and he was captured by terrorists in Afghanistan. Ordered to build the weapon, Jericho, he uses the resources he had and developed the first powered exoskeleton (Iron Man Mk I) and escaped from captivity.

First exoskeleton a.k.a. walking tin can a.k.a. Iron Man Mk I

Hot rod Red and Yellow... emmm me like. Feel so glossy.

Upon returning home, he had manage to improve and reconstruct a better exoskeleton. And well, the rest of the story goes that his business partner, Obadiah Stane actually planned the whole kidnapping and the distribution of Stark Enterprise weapons to the terrorist. Upon obtaining the earlier version of Iron Man suit from the terrorist, Obadiah manage to instruct his scientist to reconstruct a better suit (Iron Monger). Sadly, for him, the only thing that could generate enough power to run the suit is the "pace maker" used by Tony Stark himself to prevent sharpnels from injuring his heart. Obadiah manage to obtain it in the end and basically the epic fight went on in the city landscape.


Show ended with Tony Stark, having beaten Obadiah's suit, admitted he was Iron Man in a press conference.


For the patient viewers, after the ending credits, there was also an additional scene where Nick Fury acted by Samuel L. Jackson, came to Tony Stark and wanted to discuss with him about the Avenger Initiative. Overall, I pretty much like the movie. The suit was superbly designed. But sadly I hate it when Marvel tries to change too much of the story. Some of the changes done are :

1. Instead of Stark being in Vietnam and kidnapped by communists, he was captured by terrorists in Afghanistan. I guess this follows the current events or something.
2. Dr. Yinsen whom in the comic seems to be of Asian heritage ended up being a guy from somewhere in Afghanistan.
3. Nick Fury in the last extra scene was a little mess up. I mean I like Samuel L. Jackson being Nicky Fury and all. But that was for the Ultimate Universe, but the Iron Man they show is from the main Marvel Universe which had a caucasian Nick Fury.

Besides that I also don't really like the idea of him not having a better signature villain from the comics. A lot of people, I realize, expected Mandarin to be in the show but sadly he wasn't. Too bad Mandarin, maybe next show? Another thing is I was expecting James Rhode to appear as War Machine. Sadly I think Marvel is saving the excitement for probably the next sequel.

Better luck next time...

Apart from that the show was exciting with all the breathtaking moments and occasional humour by Stark. I guess the movie live up to all the hype.

Right and Wrong ... Pt. 2

"How do you differentiate between what is the right thing to do and the wrong thing to do?"

The question has bothered me belive it or not since I was probably around 5 - 7 years old. I think my brother kinda pop the question, in a non serious manner. Of course it is not this really about right or wrong at that time. Basically at that time we were playing (it was he who was playing and I was observing actually) Command and Conquer, yup the very first one, and he told me, "You know, I think there really isn't a good or a bad side, there is never a good and evil, there is never the case of the hero and the villain -- cause in the end what decides what is good and what is evil is just where you are standing at and where are you facing at?" ... Okay he didn't really say exactly THAT ... kinda spiced it up abit, but that doesn't matter, the important thing is the idea. The idea is logically speaking, if you are standing at one side, you will always see the opponent as the bad side -- at the same time the opponent will think the same way as you, he will think his side is right and your side is wrong.


It got me wondering till now which is the correct side, who is good and who is evil? What makes what you do everyday seems so right and what makes what you oppose everyday so wrong? Is it the matter of justice? Is it the matter of which side had the majority?Is it the matter of God said so? Is it the matter of what YOU want and what is BEST for youself? I could never answer that.


Somehow, everywhere I see the question pops up. I obviously do not know the answer to the question. Everytime the question pops up, only silence appear after in my mind. But honestly in the case of the movie, would I have done the same thing as the main private investigator? Where do I stand when the question of lawfully and ethically right versus virtuously right? Which so-called "right thing to do" has a higher precedence compared to the others? In fact right now let me rephrase what I just said... everytime this question pops up in my mind, I get more questions following behind it. It's just never ending.


For now, what is considered of upmost right is what I think is lawfully right. This above all should stand when I consider the right and wrong. The voice of the majority. Against the voice of majority I would surely have fallen not long before I start. After that it would probably be the matter of what suits me best -- what I THINK is right. Many people just don't notice it, but I can say everyone thinks that they are right, if not, everyone thinks something is right when it suits them. Call it selfish of whatever, but that is the nature of humans that I am not so happy about these days. Then again, "I" was formed first before "We" -- it is only obvious that Me, Myself and I stands before the We, They and You.


I think my argument is degrading in quality by the minute. I think I would stop here. Oh yeah another great example is the piracy of films and songs that have caused a great buzz in the news lately. Do you think it's wrong or do you think it's okay to do so? I used to think "Hey, when I have the money I will buy the original ones. Right now I will stick with the pirated ones thank you very much". Now that I have worked and I could say I am financially stable I say "Okay the time is now, I buy original ones only. Piracy is just so wrong". Then one day a couple of articles, and videos I have watched convinced me to switch side again, the idea of target market.


The basic idea about the whole argument is, let us say I am not really interested in this particular movie A, I have no intention of spending 10 bucks to watch it in cinema and I have no intention to buy the DVD that might cost me 50 bucks. Fine. One day I was just bored I decided I want to watch the movie. The movie wasn't bad. But it wasn't something worth spending my money on. So I went to my PC and downloaded it and watched it and deleted it. Now the question is : Is it right or is it wrong to download and watch it? Should it matter to the company who made the movie? (Okay that was two questions). By law, yes it matters, it's illegal and doing so is against the law. Simple as that. Another alternative is, it is wrong but it shouldn't effect the company. Why? Let's just say we remove piracy from the face of the earth, I've never heard of it and the only way to watch the movie was the cinema of the DVD, another question : Would I have contributed to the revenue/loses of the company and go/not go watch the movie or buy/not buy the DVD? The answer is simply no. I had no interest in the movie whatsoever in the first place. Anything I might have done without the existance of piracy will not effect the company. Simply because I wasn't in the target market in the first place.


Okay too much information is popping out of my mind right now that I need to stop and dip my head in the ice water. Gonna catch some snooze.

Right and Wrong ...

Well it's been a while since I wrote something. I think it's only fair that I would threat my mind to a little workout after being so unproductive, even to my standards, for the past couple of weeks. Work have been fine, then again I was hoping for more in terms of opportunity. Money is good. Been lucky enought to be able to experience two pay increase for the reasons of adjusting the standard of the pay.


I don't think I have watched a lot of movies in the past couple of months. Those that I watched were mostly no-brainer-happily-ever-after shows. What caught my attention was a show I accidentally stumbled upon during one of my weekend trips to the complexes. Gone Baby Gone. Sounds like some vehicle racing show or something but nope... it's not. Basically the show revolves around a missing girl in a small slump area. Lots of things happen there. Drugs, corruption, poverty, family problems. Anyhow not to spoil the story in short there is a private investigator who was hired to find the girl and the longer he looked for her the more secrets about the place was revealed. Mysterious huh? What interest me... besides the awesome plot twists in the end is the message... the signal that awakened the question that have stayed dormant for a very long time in the back of my mind.


"How do you differentiate between what is the right thing to do and the wrong thing to do?"


If you don't want me to spoil the ending then I suggest stopping here. Probably I post in a separate post so that I don't spoil the ending for anyone who wants to see the show still.


***************************SPOILER ALERT************************************
The story ended with the head of the department incharge of lost children cases was in fact the culprit of the whole show. But his reasons were nothing but of good nature. He found out about the story behind the kid and her problematic family that he decided to work with a small number of people including the kid's uncle to fake a kidnapping and keep the child to himself where she will have a good life and what not that she could only dream of in her problematic housewhole. The head, Captain Jack Doyle starred by none other than Morgan Freeman, lost his child in a missing child case as well, which he later found the body which was roughly 10minutes away from his house. Well that's not important. What is important is what the private investigator, Patrick Kenzie starred by Casey Affleck had to do when he finds out about it. Should he call the cops and let the girl go back to her problematic family or should he stay hush and let her have a chance of a good life? He reported it and the captain was caught and the girl was returned to the druggy mother. Will discuss further in the next post.

Free...

It just feels much better writing at my current condition where I just got up from a nap at 11 at night and my mind is still in such a blurry mode and everything else just doesn't seem to matter as much. What matters is just getting something out and God knows when I would actually catch the excitement, the mixed emotion that I might have again similar to that of the current moment.


Actually it's been quite a while that I have thought of stopping this kinda writing and go on to a more casual writing of "Hey this is my cup" and smack a pick on the post of my cup. And probably the occasional opinion on certain matters. I don't seem to feel any sort of emotional let down or any negative feelings lately to write about. I guess that is a good sign.


I guess I have been eating healthy lately or I should say trying to. Just so happen last weekend I came back from my usual weekend strolls around my usual places and I held in my hand a bag full of goodies for the week and months ahead; stocking myself. And among those things I had bought a plastic wrapped of zucchini (3 of them) and a bag of apples. Why do I have zucchini? What did I have them in the first place? I seriously don't know. But since I bought them I guess I ate them. Ate the last one just today. I guess I am trying to increase my veg intake for my meals.


Second thing I brought back was jogging shoes. Yes finally my jogging shoes are there right in front of me and I just have to go for a jog tomorrow morning to try them out and ... trying to get myself healthy.


You know sometimes it feels as though I occasionally try to full myself and make myself walk in the correct direction through what you might say mental conditioning. Or maybe I am just imagining things. Oh well. Whatever it is, it is doing me good so I don't think I have any plans on going what is behind my mind at the moment.


Lately I have been talking to people about freedom. Nope not talking about the upcoming election. I am plainly talking about living free from any form of matters that might get attach to my life which could react in both good and bad ways at anytime of my life. I guess that is the best description of what I might be going through lately. From all the constant random explanation I try to give to try to explain to people how it feels like to be me, I realize something; "Free things come with a price". A bit ironic don't you think. Something is free but in reality you have to pay for it. I want to be happy and carefree, the price are the people around me. I want to have people around me, then I can't guarantee myself the carefree environment I now have.


Whether I want to or not, it seems to me I have to make a choice at least once every few years. A crucial one I might say. One that leads me to two totally different fork of the road. Do I really want to be free or do I want to feel mix cauldron full of emotions that seems currently be on a slow simmer inside me waiting to get its chance of a massive boil and spillage to my surroundings. Tough choice. Nevertheless, I feel the freedom I am feeling so far is doing good for me and I guess sometimes I have to sacrifice the time and energy that I once pour onto trying to lift myself up to people's expectations, fearing everday that I might lose someone, feeling the need to sacrifice for each and every person I know, having that feeling not on par with anyone around me. It hurts sometimes thinking about the distance past. Reminds me again and again to live a life free of everyone. Solitude is such a misused word these days...

Improv Everywhere

Recently I came upon a site or rather a blog of a group of people who organise wacky "missions" around the world where their fans or "agents" are available. But most of the time it's held in the US where this kind of gatherings are practically more acceptable. They call themselves IE short for ImprovEverywhere. They claim to be a group of people who "organise fun".


I guess a short introduction of the group would sufficient. The group itself is originally based in New York. The main objective of the group seems to cause joy and chaos in public places and boast to have thousands of agents around the world and have successfully done over 70 "missions".


What amazed me was how I felt when I read all the things they did. Literally, the first thing that seems to came into mind, I am sure it goes the same for everyone else for the first time, the things they do... kinda crazy. But it seems cooler and cooler as I read more and more of the "missions" that they went through. In the end, the whole thing gave me an impression and feeling that "Darn... I am just not living my life eventful and joyful enough".


I mean seriously, imagine yourself attending this "mission" and meeting people and having fun doing them. It's just so amazing it makes me go "Ughh... I wish I could join in".


Some of the famous "missions" are, the No Pants, which they did it like a few times not that it became some sort of celebration of anniversary for them. Basically they all including the "agents" and people who wanted to join in rides the subway and trains without pants, yup... just undies. From what I read, they had some with cops the first few times they did this and for the latest one it was quite well known that cops were actually escorting them and quite friendly compared to the last couple of times. Not my cuppa tea but yeah having a couple hundred people without pants is awesome somehow. Don't ask me why.


Besides that I think the ones that caught my attention the most are the ones that involves big stores and companies. For example, they did a "mission" in BestBuy where they actually got quite a lot of turn outs to wear blue t-shirt and khakis to resemble the BestBuy employee uniform. Mainly the objective is to go in slowly and without being detected and stand in front of aisles and provide assistance to those customers who ask them for it (thinking they are employees of BestBuy). They are also told not to say they are employees when asked but just to politely help the customer. There is a couple of similar "mission". Basically I can sum up that lower level employees are usually either puzzled or amused by it. On the other hand, management and security ALWAYS freak out. Take the BestBuy example, they were running around and talking on the walkie talkie and it involves cops. Seriously, nothing was wrong but they are just taking precautions I guess.


Another nice one is the McD's Bathroom Attendant whereby it involved like only a select few number of people at the area. What they had to do was buy some materials that you usually need when you are in the washroom and basically go into the McD bathroom and stand there and assist people to help them wash their hands, providing soap/anti bacteria solution/hand towel/etc. Which I thought was kinda cool. Seriously, it's a great idea. Why don't fast food joints have bathroom attendants? Most were amazed and amused. As usual, management is puzzled. Basically the funny thing is the manager came in and ask what was going on. The "agents" said they came from HQ to test a new bathroom attendant thing. Not believing them, they called in to HQ and realise that there is no such thing. Since there were nothing offensive or life-threatening, the manager actually thought it was still true and asked maybe they went into the wrong branch. So the "agents" successfully slipped away by agreeing to the manager.


Lots of things you can do in this world. I guess what people need sometimes is a little boost and a good company of people which just makes everything so less awkward, in fact it just might be cool.

Update #2

OK. It's been a while since I wrote something. I was suppose to write some updates on myself for the next couple of post but I guess there have been a lot of things happening that I fear that there might be too many things to cover and there will be too much post and I wouldn't have the time to write them all. So I have decided to cut short everything from where I stopped.


First of all, after two months or so in the new job a lot of things had happen. Some are good some are boring I think. All in all, the biggest news would be my salary was adjusted to a new one which was a 100 bucks more than my original salary. Sweet...


Finally my roomie manage to drag himself to my place and take all of his stuff. Now I have the whole room to myself. I have yet to do anything to it since I am pretty much lazy to move things around so basically I am left with half the room empty still. Probably I will start on it this weekend. Good news is I did wash the bathroom. Sparkle sparkle. Next step would be to plan where should everyting go, vacuum the whole place up and start moving stuffs around. Hopefully I will accomplish this by end of this week. Fingers crossed.


Though I was reluctant to go for the Switchfoot concert that was help two weeks ago, I have to admit I enjoyed myself. Great performance. Really like it when bands change the way their songs go and how they present them during live concerts. The place was indoor and cooling unlike the sweaty smelly stuffy environment of open-air concert. Plus I get to see that everyone I know is still in one piece. Though this could probably remain unnoticed by them but I am really glad that they are fine and doing well even though I have said many unpleasant things about them at times. Again good to see they are alright, that is all that mattered.


After a day or two, I was finally ready to go home to celebrate Chinese New Year (CNY) with my family. Although it's sad to say my brother couldn't make it again this time. Usually he comes after CNY when I am already back at work. This time however he couldn't make it at all since he is busy with his new job as a lecturer. Amazed still at how he can manage to become a lecturer when his temper is just the same as mine, short. The dinner was as usualy, steamboat. I have to say I am pretty much sick of steamboat and won't eat it anywhere else after CNY every year. I had my dose of steamboat for the year, thank you very much. Strange to see that a lot of people ask me why I took leave BEFORE CNY instead of AFTER. Pretty much my family is not the party hardy type. So basically the only hype about CNY is during the preparation, the dinner itself and the visits. There really is nothing much happening in my family after the second day of CNY. End of story.


CNY also marks the first time I had averagely strong alcohol (I don't drink). During the first day of CNY lunch (yes steamboat... again), my dad suddenly recalled that he had a bottle of blue berry wine that was given to him by my brother's father-in-law during one of his visits to Penang. My dad decided to give it a try since it's CNY. Basically when he got the bottle he realized that he didn't have a corkscrew. As you can see my family rarely drinks and rarely needs a corkscrew or a bottle opener. But luckily he remembered he had a Swiss Army Knife in his toolbox that had a corkscrew. I had a glass. I am not sure how being drunk feels like so I can't say I was drunk. I don't think I was at least. The taste was pleasantly acceptable. Bitterish, sourish, smells nice. But after finishing that glass, I started feeling heaty, I felt my heart pumping blood rapidly towards my head making my face kinda red. The veins on my head feels like they are gonna pop. I couldn't last a glass, bummer. I went for a nap and woke up feeling fine. Not drinking ever again... at least not for now.


After CNY I am back at work, projects are mostly done and I am pretty much relaxing the whole day. In fact I am writing this at work right now. Oh yeah I have to say my latest craze today is DiggNation. A podcast talking about the latest news on a site called Digg.com. I feel that user submitted news are much more interesting compared to the boring news I usually see on TV. Basically the show comprises of two hosts who sit at weekly locations and drink beers and wine and talk about the news they have picked. Funny and informative. I 'digg' that.


Finally I am up-to-date with my blog! That was pretty long I guess but judging from how much information is in here I guess it's not bad. Almost forgotten the main topic that pretty much amazed me. No wait... I think I was terrified by it. Last Saturday while having a full stomach from lunch, I decided to take a nap and listen to songs. The earphone I am using is pretty much a standard edition one given along with my Sony Ericsson mobile phone. It basically a average quality earplug type earphone that cancels off some of the surrounding noises. So after dozing off, I had this dream that after taking the earphones off, I was deaf! Totally soundless, I couldn't hear my voice, my heartbeat, swallowing of my saliva and not to mention the surrounding sound. I was screaming my lungs out but nothing came out, not even a vibration at my neck. Then I realize my mom was in front of me, she was saying something but I just couldn't hear anything and I couldn't quite make out what she was trying to say. I tried telling her I can't hear anything but again nothing came out of my mouth. Then I woke up feeling really freaked out and removed my earphone to make sure I can still hear. Phew. I guess I was OK.

Update #1

I guess it's been pretty long since I actually updated anything. Probably so long that it seem to be unforgivable if I were ever to feel sorry or saying I am sorry to my readers (if any) that only writing down two posts for my updates would barely make a decent package of my I'm-Sorry-It-Took-So-Long-to-Update Combo. So I guess I should just do that.


A lot have happened and there seem to be a lot that I wanted to say that I guess it would actually fit more than two posts. Then again to be save and avoid any suicidal attempts among readers for being too bored. Gosh I really don't want my name or even the name of the blog to pop up in newspaper; "Teens kill themselves with blunt objects to avoid boredom from this guy's blog". I think I can imagine that.


Enough shenanigans and on with the real deal. I guess I would stay away from the usual method of arranging all my stuff in a chronology. That would just be too plain boring I guess. Yes I like being different, sue me.


I guess I should start with my hiatus for the past week or so. Basically it's a mix of a lot of things. Life have been surprisingly good. At some point a break for humanity seems to do me a lot of good that in fact I just don't have anything much to complain about. In fact I feel pretty much at peace. Simple as that... that and the stupid insect attack. Not so much of an attack but rather I came into contact with it... while I was asleep... smearing and rolling around it. I took from the wound I received that it didn't like the contact with me either that it actually smeared toxin from the juices in its body all over my body that supposedly according to Wiki is more potent than a cobra venom. No kidding. Anyhow it was nothing new to me. My room IS facing a palm oil plantation and basically I had it before... at least not this bad. This time I was pretty much having blisters on my right knuckles, along my lower back and my left elbow. Rashes or minor ones on my right hand, upper left chest and left forehead. Yes you can imagine how bad it is. Anyhow everything is well and after being paranoid for a week it's all better.


I would probably post some gross pictures of it like in a couple of days time just to show how bad it was and also something pretty funny about the scars that it left. Here I was thinking that the first image was going to be one of my very first art that I am proud of that I make myself but instead it's going to be an image of insect bites. Great. End communication.