Wi-Fi Kills!

Recently, a BBC documentary series named Panorama has began airing an "investigation" into the dangers of Wi-Fi. Is it really dangerous? Perhaps so, but the dubious techniques which the Panorama team used were laughable. It doesn't take a genius to realise that this piece of "investigative journalism" was meant to boost ratings.

Nonetheless, this post is not about the science (of lack thereof) of Panorama's Wi-Fi investigation. It's about a more serious threat Wi-Fi poses to mankind:

Movie Review: Spider-man 3

Read it at The Feynman Boson.

Wheels of Exchange on the Move

Finally, the form that I need from ANU to apply for my student visa has arrived. Almost immediately, I applied for the visa online, but here's another snag: the medical checkup (needed by the visa application) will only be done on Friday, thanks to the holidaying people. But nonetheless, with the most uncertain process removed, I think it's safe to estimate my departure date now: next Thursday or Friday.

Things are in a roll now...

Battle for Wesnoth

Recently, I've been caught up in a game called Battle for Wesnoth, a turn-based strategy game in the likes of Civilization II (the battle parts) and Heroes of Might and Magic, but simpler and more straightforward. It is available freely over various platforms, which I first found over Ubuntu's repository (so the version I'm playing is the Linux version), and it has quite some nice campaigns to begin with. Alternatively, being an open source game, there are plenty of user-made campaigns and maps that can be downloaded.

The setting is a medieval fantasy (so you have things like orcs, elves, undead and, of course, the ubiquitous human) based loosely around a kingdom called Wesnoth. The campaigns that come with the game has several storylines running together, the most fundamental of which is Heir to the Throne. It is about some evil queen usurping the throne and killing all possible successor, but one mage loyal to the king managed to smuggle out one of her nephews (sounds so familiar, eh?).

That being said, I think I suck at turn-based strategy games. I suppose, due to the more numerical dynamics of the gameplay, it is harder to outsmart the AI (unlike in real-time strategy where you can amass a huge army to steamroller enemy forces). Nonetheless, this game has some easy campaigns which are rather fun and has some pretty intriguing storyline.

Sure, it cannot complete with games like Heroes of Might and Magic V or Command and Conquer: Generals, but for a game that is free, Wesnoth is considered rather good. If anything, it does remind me of those older games I played when I was young... I mean, doesn't this look somewhat familiar?



Do give it a try. It doesn't really hurt if you don't find it to your taste. It's free anyway!

Starcraft II Announced

... which would explain what's sitting at the "?" on Blizzard's main page banner (it is updated daily starting from the left, selecting a quote from each game).

It was discussed on PlanetDiablo Forum as a possibility to Diablo 3, though I thought it was more likely to be Starcraft 2 considering how long ago Starcraft came out.

As a matter of fact, with World of Warcraft raking in millions for Blizzard, I thought it would be best if they leave the Diablo series alone for now. What could be worse for Diablo 3 to be an MMORPG?

Added 1830: their main page banner has a pretty apt quote which sums up what most fans were thinking!

Exchange Woes

With what seems like absolute silence from ANU, I'm beginning to turn paranoid, wondering if my faxed reply reached them in the first place. It is already a few days past the deadline. I've tried calling the ANU office, but the coordinator in charge of the exchange programme is away until next Monday. Similarly, any emails will only be answered on Monday.

This is really infuriating. It is really delaying my plans like hell. I don't mind if they take their time to issue the documents necessary for my application of student visa, so long as they confirm my place in ANU. I can always apply for a tourist visa, go to Australia, and then apply for student visa once they sent me the stuff. But now if they don't even confirm my place, it is hard for me to leave because I will be lost over the things I need to bring over.

Efficiency Disparity

After so used to the clockwork efficiency in Singapore, I think it'll take quite some effort to get used to the relatively slower efficiency of matters in Australia... when I get there, that is. My original plan was to leave this week, but due to... erm... delayed response from ANU, the earliest I can leave is next week, and I fear it may drag even further beyond.

Last week I have received their offer letter and I almost faxed back the acceptance letter immediately. Now I'm waiting for them to email back a form that I need to apply for a student visa. And I wonder when it will come.

Home Internet Down

(Blogging from school)

So don't expect regular updates or quick replies to emails.

How Movies Should've Ended

Watch the Blair Witch ending here:



Or a simpler way to destroy the One Ring:

My Name in Western Style

Many Chinese put their family name before their given name, in line with the traditional belief that the family comes before the individual. This is at odds with the Western style of names, where the given name comes before the family name. As a result, some Chinese names get reversed in Caucasian places, like Chen Ning Yang (Yang being his family name) and Ang Lee (Lee being his family name). However, perhaps due to the commonness of it in Western societies, most of them do not really mind.

I don't really mind that much actually. Therefore, I will not be surprised or irritated if the letter from the Australian National University (ANU) addresses me as "Mr Boon Sze Jackson Tan". But when someone at the ANU administration decided that my given name is too long and truncated it for me, it's another matter altogether. You know, "Mr Boon Tan" can very well refer to my brother or any of my cousins, or many other Chinese in the world. Worse, I suspect it can easily complicate matters when I need to use official documents from both countries, such as applying for a student visa ("Erm... I'm sorry, your passport says you're 'Tan Boon Sze Jackson', but this enrolment letter is for 'Boon Tan'.")

Ah well, I'm sending a letter clarifying this along with the acceptance letter. I hope I won't end up arrested in Australia for double identity.

The Thing About the Brotherhood

That's a new blog entry in The Feynman Boson.

Military Blogging

About a year ago, Mr Miyagi got into a little bit of trouble with Mindef when he posted something related to his ICT. It wasn't a big issue and he took down the offending post, but this was picked up by some foreign media (was it Australia's?) and made a big hoo-ha out of it. In the end, I think the resolution was that he could re-upload the post, and all Mindef was trying to point out was that anything that might reveal classified information should be checked with Mindef first.

Well, if these media would jump at such a news, I wonder if they'd fly to Uranus if they hear this new US army directive (via Slashdot), stating that

The U.S. Army has ordered soldiers to stop posting to blogs or sending personal e-mail messages, without first clearing the content with a superior officer...

[...]

The new rules obtained by Wired News require a commander be consulted before every blog update.

[...]

Civilians working for the military, Army contractors -- even soldiers' families -- are all subject to the directive as well.

Heh heh. If Mindef were to do something similar, they might as well do a complete ban on blogs in Singapore!