Off-duty cop causes death

I read this article and cannot help but feel thankful that i'm leaving NZ soon, because it just reeks of racist undertones. That's something that i've noticed in my years here, that being racist does not have to mean wearing a swastika and jackboots with an attitude to match. It can range from the smile on the checkout girl's face that disappears when its my turn to be served (ok lah, maybe i not ham-sem enough), or hear "konichiwa!" being yelled at me as i walk along a road (i look as ham-sem as a Japanese? i dunno whether that's a good thing lol), or even the assumption people have that i can't speak English and speak as if i'm not there (alright alright, i get the hint that i not ham-sem already) . Sometimes the police here give the impression of being one step away from anarchy, with understaffed, undervalued, people who lack of adequate training.
Recently, 5 chinese fishermen jumped from a Korean ship while it was moored in Wellington harbour. 4 were caught immediately (it was a spur of a moment thing) but one of them remains at large and it suspected that he is hiding amongst the Chinese community. Great, now everyone of Asian looks is going to be suspect, and the best bit is that i can't even use my driver's licence as proof of identity with the recent scam involving cash for licences in Auckland. Bleah

Commonly confused word test

Kudos to Tetanus for this. I can see why his writing (which can be rather risque at times) reads so well. I wonder how would it fare in the readability test? =)
Wibblewamble also did the test and her scores are in purple, wah she damn power man,

English Genius You scored 100% Beginner, 92% Intermediate, 93% Advanced, and 76% Expert! You scored 100% Beginner, 100% Intermediate, 100% Advanced, and 82% Expert!

You did so extremely well, even I can't find a word to describe your excellence! You have the uncommon intelligence necessary to understand things that most people don't. You have an extensive vocabulary, and you're not afraid to use it properly! Way to go! Thank you so much for taking my test. I hope you enjoyed it! For the complete Answer Key, visit my blog: http://shortredhead78.blogspot.com/.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 68% on Beginner You scored higher than 62% on Beginner You scored higher than 30% on Intermediate You scored higher than 71% on Intermediate You scored higher than 48% on Advanced You scored higher than 85% on Advanced You scored higher than 71% on Expert You scored higher than 85% on Expert

Link: The Commonly Confused Words Test written by shortredhead78 on Ok Cupid

An interesting sight here in Wellington: a phone booth run by France Telecom. I wonder why?  

We went for lunch at Victoria Market after our visit to the museum at the best (and only?) Singaporean food in town and this sign in the stall next door caught my eye. I'm guessing that they either ran out of space or ran out of letters, since they would need a helluva lot of little fluffy things to make a decent-sized kabab.

We visited Te Papa Tongarewa again as they had some new exhibits, and its always an educational experience. This time they showed the Gibbs Aqada, the car that's capable of going from land to sea in a matter of seconds and it looks good too!

another picture of the Aqada.

the rear of the aqada, looks cool with the ultimate bling-ed up exhaust consisting of the water jet propulsion system

corrugated iron car!

slipper lobster which reminded me of wibblewamble, not because she gets all pink at times (when she's embarressed) but because she loves eating them. =)

busy busy busy

its the Easter weekend here, and we get friday and monday off, but i'm keeping busy with a garage sale 'cos i'm packing up my stuff in preparation for my trip back home. Sorry for the lack of posts, will update when free. =)
After this packing period, we will be heading down south for a wee holiday before flying back home. Hope to catch up after i get back.

gimme gimme gimme!

jeanie's submission for a t-shirt endorsement in the "I'm too sexy for my blog" award! =) This is in reply to the recent events where a certain well-known blogger has been given a t-shirt awarded deal and everyone's jumping on the bandwagon!

zeenie's doubletake moment of the day

Found a great place to shoot some pool today and when i ordered some ice tea, this was the packet that it came in and showed Stephanie Sun promoting the product! Rates up there with the time i found a Singaporean 1 dollar coin in the University of Canterbury Library. *chuckles*

jeanie making le gâteau de la merde (poo poo)..... she gave me a dirty look after i took this shot. LOL

A traffic jam in Lower Hutt....... actually its a car yard, but it never ceases to amaze me how tightly they can pack the cars. Kinda feels bad to pick out something deep within to test drive and not purchase it. Well, maybe that's the thinking behind this. =) 

Something else i'll miss, beautiful views as you drive along, this one in Petone.

Dinner at Pravda

Had dinner with a couple of friends at Pravda, which was kind of a farewell do, since amongst the 5 of us, 3 of us were leaving Wellington. The food was quite good, although i did not have the lamb as planned, because i didn't really fancy the beans, and had the salmon instead, which was good but the portions could have been bigger. We opened a bottle of Spy Valley 2004 Savignon Blanc which was really easy to drink, can't wait to visit the vineyard when we pass through the Marlborough region in April.

A fluffy jeanie after grooming looking and feeling good (she always struts around after a groom, kind of like a prance)

a funny story about the sad demise of humanity

caustic.soda�-�liminal musings of a graduate student

The sight that greets me when i come home from work each day. There's nothing like a welcome from my jeanie baby. =) 

Wearing my purple socks always seems to lift my spirits.... =) 

Patenting Software

There have been active discussions regarding the patentability of computer programs lately, especially with the European Parliment considering the software patent directive as drafted by European Commission. There are heaps of websites discussing this issue from those against software patenting to those sorta for it (this one is a really good blog).

Whatever it is, a clear direction is needed as IP protection for software is so hazy as to the length and breadth of the protection being sought, as it can be done under a copyright or a patent. A patent would provide for better protection since this would be dependent on the scope of the claims as recited and this can be made as broad as possible as long as it was not anticipated by any prior art.

Of course MS had to be involved in this and seek to use the law by applying for patents here in NZ with the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand, which has a history with software patents with past headliners include the infamous DE Technologies and the Amazon one-click patents. This is because the patent law in NZ has lagged behind compared to other countries (its based on the UK 1949 act, although there is a new patents act in the making) while technology has advanced so quickly that the antiquated definitions cannot cope with the concept of software and the like. For example, patents for software were originally not found to be allowable since they did not satisfy the definition of an invention and was junked into the same category of business methods and schemes (also not allowable), but people bypassed this by claiming a computer that ran the software, thus providing a vendible product that was deemed to be an invention.

The latest MS act concerns XML and is causing a flap in the IT industry. The scope of the protection can be found in the claims within the complete specification, which can be viewed by clicking on 'patent search' and entering the patent number 525484 and clicking on the PDF file. It claims:

A computer-readable medium having computer-executable components, comprising:

• a first component for reading a word-processor document stored as a single XML file;
• a second component that utilizes an XSD for interpreting the word-processor document;
• and a third component for performing an action on the word-processor document.

It was filed in the US in 2002 and what is recited was not known at that time, although to give MS credit, they applied with one of the most overloaded patent offices (another article here (a word document))

Personally, i feel we might look back at all this in the future and laugh, as all the software we is open source format, making this debate rather pointless.

The New Paper also did two reports on this which were mildly interesting but really did not state anything new.

As i drove along the highway, on the way to Wellington, this interesting window of light was shining through the clouds. How ironic since I was heading into town to watch Contantine. LOL (i felt that it was quite a good movie, though why is it that KR's outfit looks like something out of the Matrix?)

The building where i work, by strange coincidence, Te Wananga also has an office and classes there.

Stats

Wow, we've just past 500 hits on this blog, woohoo!! Considering that I started this in Dec 2004, I'm quite proud of this stat.... until i learnt how to access the stats on Manilasites and read the stats for Jeanie's garden and found that i had 14000 hits on that site. Mind boggling stuff.

afterwork drivetime

Another photo that greets me after work each day, walking to the car (i'm usually one of the last to leave) and leaving the carpark for home. I'll miss the wide open skies, lush greenery, wide roads and clean air.

Cooking class

Went for a cooking class last weekend with mum, which included a buffet lunch. The class was fairly enjoyable, although I don't think I'll be attempting to make Th ai green curry paste on my own any time soon (more than 10 ingredients which must be pounded by hand with mortar and pestle!!!)... The lunch was great though. (I lurve Thai green curry!!! :P) And the durian desserts, mmmmm..... (durian haters, beware, durian season is coming, lol) Especially the durian tiramisu, which was heavenly... (To the significant other: mum says we'll probably try to make the durian tiramisu in May, so you can start dieting in anticipation of gorging on durian desserts... ;))

Just to show everyone what the durian tiramisu looked like...

DVD piracy comes to NZ

Once again, stereotypes are true to form with Asia and its people under the spotlight for bringing in pirated DVD as reported on the New Zealand Herald. Understanderbly, pirates are targeting NZ as a soft target, as the laws here can sometimes be quite laughable.

Also in the same free online newspaper, this story about blogging and freedom of speech as people catch on to how powerful blogs can be as a tool for spreading information.

An interesting and informative site on learning how to draw, something i've never had any talent in. Actually, i'm quite devoid in the talent department. oh well.

I'll miss Welli

My faithful friend engrossed with something yummy. Ahh, chilling out after a good session at flygility under the starless sky with the calm ocean as a backdrop, while the lights from the buildings around us twinkle to indicate people working late.

Lemon wedges and mussles in garlic and beer sauce at the Wellington Brewery Company, one of the places where we can hang out with jeanie with outdoor seating under the calm skies. Best wedges i've ever had and this was also what jeanie was staring at. LOL