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Ibu: Adik buat apa tu dik?
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Determination

Family Pictures

Among the things we wanted to do during Raya was to take pictures of the whole family. Of course, it was easier said than done. Getting everybody at the same place at the same time seemed almost impossible.

Nevertheless, we managed to take this picture on 26 August at Seri Kembangan with everybody present! There is another picture with everybody all prim and proper looking at the camera but we like this not-so-ready one better.

On the other hand, my brother-in-law was absent in this picture taken on 1 September in our bare living room. That is Omar looking sleepy from missing his afternoon nap.

Omar is One

Omar turned one year old last 4 July and they had fireworks all across the United States! We all took the day off and went on a family outing. First, we dropped by the nearest photo studio and had the picture above taken for posterity. That’s Omar looking half-confused and sleepy.

We wish all the best for Omar. We pray that Allah protects him from evil and harm. May he grows to be a person with taqwā and strong akhlāq, who loves knowledge and contributes to the Ummah. May Allah also grants us the patience, strength and wisdom to be the best parents for our son.

Geometry

Hi! Can you believe I am still now working on the photobook? The deadline is looming, AAARGH!

In the meantime, how about some cool art works by Liam Brazier. I really like the style and could definitely picture them on my wall.

Man Up

Cave Man

Odyssey

Dark Lord

Bounty Hunter

__________
via Flylyf

April Walks

Due to a multitude of reasons we don’t get to travel out of town much, which we don’t mind at all, as we’re not here for travelling and sightseeing. However, whenever time allows we do go out and take short walks around town. Sometimes, we also take pictures.

Beautiful Day

It was a beautiful day today so I snapped some photos on my mobile this morning.

I love trees. Finally, Summertown House.

I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I did taking them. :)

Kiki with Ice-Cream

I like ice-cream, a lot, and often find it slightly annoying to observe adults eating ice-cream ever so cautiously... so afraid of gaining weight, etc. There is nothing like watching a child thoroughly enjoying his ice-cream.

YUMMY!

Occupied

Don’t go away!
;-)

happy_together by molokolo at deviantART

Exam Tip

It’s the final examination period again.

Students always ask me for tips for the finals. Here’s one. Forget about targeting this or that chapter. You can try doing that, of course, but final exams are cumulative. Try reading the first page of the question paper for once. Yes, I mean the cover page with all the instructions nobody ever reads. You have no idea how many students lost so many marks simply from not following instructions.

Easy, huh?

Now, here’s a kitty:

Blue velvetgloss by ^impressionenmeer at deviantART

NY

The area around The MetLife Building on Park Avenue and Midtown. (© Jason Hawkes)

Latest on The Big Picture are breathtaking aerial pictures of New York City and Las Vegas by photographer Jason Hawkes. That is my favorite picture from the set up there; it’s infinitely more beautiful in full size. Really, the Las Vegas skyline do not compare with the majesty of the Big Apple.

Flying 101

Budget airlines have some of the coolest liveries, but this one by South African airline Kulula may well be the coolest (and quite educational too).

Watch for the mile-high club initiation chamber. ;-)

[See more at Onelargeprawn via Chris Rawlinson via Boing Boing]

Jelly Beans!

Jelly Beans by Lovesong4no1 at deviantART

Word has it that we have just completed another trip round the sun.

Rocket Ship

Just a very nice picture that kind of reminds me of the movie Gattaca.

NASA’s Ares I-X rocket lifts off from launch pad 39-B at the Kennedy Space Center October 28, 2009 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images via The Big Picture)

The launch was part of NASA’s Constellation program, which among other things will develop a replacement for the space shuttles to send astronauts into orbit and all the way (back) to the moon and possibly even Mars. Cool.

If only there is a bigger picture; it will make an awesome wallpaper.

The Point

The point of being a research university is RM50 million of additional funding.

There’s an interesting back-story behind Whats the point? by wirestyle at deviantART.
Click on the image to find out!

Zzz...

My brother crashed on my sofa bed after a movie last night…

… and got his photo posted on this blog.

:-D

Broken Window

My home desktop PC died, which was really annoying, although I really cannot say that I didn’t see it coming. Over the past month or so I’d had to come home and plug the stupid thing onto the wall socket and turn on the switch, and go have my shower, dinner, watch some TV etc, and come back after a half-an-hour or so later before I can get the PC to start. At first I thought that it has something to do with the PSU, but a talk with the university technician turned the attention to the mobo. Anyway, last weekend it wouldn’t start at all over two full days so I figured that it’s finally, totally, definitely, dead. I don’t think it is worth spending any money to revive a four-year-old PC with a new mobo, so I took out the HD to be put into an external casing and let my brother take the memory modules.

So it’s just the notebook now. :-(

It just sucks that now I have to think about buying a new PC – this notebook is about the same age as the desktop and has started making some strange noise as well – on top of the other things I’m thinking of buying as well, like a new pair glasses, prescription shades, camera, video camera, mobile phone, stereo… (macam lah banyak sangat duit)

Why do things have to break down? So [whoever makes them] can make a living, says the typical wise old man. Well, not so wise actually, as famously illustrated by Bastiat.

But it’s definitely a convenient excuse to go buy stuff, isn’t it?

Typical Windows Error....Kinda by Garith-Aerlin at deviantART

News of the Day

Smoke by Tarelkin at deviantART

Excise duty on cigarettes is set to increase by 25% beginning Monday, and tobacco companies are announcing corresponding increases in the price of cigarettes.

...

Federation of Sundry Goods Merchants Associations of Malaysia president Lean Hing Chuan was quoted as saying that the sale of cigarettes always dropped when the price was raised.

http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/7/5/nation/18215474&sec=nation

DUHH! I couldn't help laughing when I read the statement in The Star today.

I don't smoke so personally couldn't care less how much they charge for cigarettes. However, I am quite interested to find out how much exactly smoking-related illnesses contribute to our annual public healthcare bill. Let's say the amount comes up to RM5 billion. Then the government could increase tax on cigarettes to cover the amount. Just make sure the money goes back to healthcare.

The Joke

But first, the song:

Shadow of the Day
by Linkin Park, from the album Minutes to Midnight (2007)

I close both locks below the window.
I close both blinds and turn away.
Sometimes solutions aren’t so simple.
Sometimes goodbye’s the only way.

And the sun will set for you,
The sun will set for you.
And the shadow of the day,
Will embrace the world in grey,
And the sun will set for you.

In cards and flowers on your window,
Your friends all plead for you to stay.
Sometimes beginnings aren’t so simple.
Sometimes goodbye’s the only way.

And the sun will set for you,
The sun will set for you.
And the shadow of the day,
Will embrace the world in gray,
And the sun will set for you...

There is this two-part econometrics workshop I registered for ages ago, when there was nothing to do, that was postponed. Now, two weeks to the opening of the new semester and academic year, when I actually have things to do, it’s finally on. Man, I have forgotten how tiring whole-day classroom sessions can be.

Great.

Last weekend was wasted, as usual; another one gone consistent with my inexistent social life. It’s always the same cycle week-in, week-out: I’ll be looking forward to the weekend to ‘do something’, ‘go somewhere’, and comes the weekend I’ll just stay at home content that I can lie around doing nothing without having to feel one bit guilty about it.

Thanks to advance online ticketing, I’ve already purchased tickets for the July 4 screening of Transformers. I think this is the most anticipated movie this summer.

Road Ranger collab by dcjosh at deviantART

Do you remember Gobots? It’s that other robot cartoon show that preceded, and later eclipsed by, Transformers. I used to watch it more instead of Transformers because 0f both its more convenient slot compared to the latter and the completely irrational reason that everybody else was watching Transformers and I wanted to be different.

Now the joke:

Three econometricians went out hunting, and came across a large deer. The first econometrician fired, but missed, by a meter to the left. The second econometrician fired, but also missed, by a meter to the right. The third econometrician didn't fire, but shouted in triumph, “We got it! We got it!”

The Last of John and Jane

John Scalzi concludes the story of John Perry, whom we were introduced to in Old Man’s War, and Jane Sagan (from Old Man’s War and The Ghost Brigades) with The Last Colony. John and Jane are retired from military service, married, and happily settle on a quite colony world with adopted daughter Zoë. Of course, something comes up.

Unlike the very military science fiction previous two books, The Last Colony is perhaps best described as an action-packed political thriller. The government lies [GASP! :-P], at least by omission, and plans to sacrifice the lives of two-and-half thousand people for some ‘greater good’. Of course, our heroes are having none of it, and the story ends with a surprise twist.

Not officially part of the series, The Sagan Diary is exactly that – reflections and personal thoughts of Jane Sagan during the last days before retiring from the Special Forces. Actually, it reads like a long love letter; different, but I still like it. Fans who pre-ordered a limited edition copy of the novelette got to put their names listed in the book as dead members of some ill-fated military unit, which I suppose is cool.

John Scalzi's self-uploaded self-portrait on Wikipedia

John Scalzi won the 2006 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. I'm definitely looking forward to his future works.