Random Word: Kiasu (kee-ah-soo) I have a subscription to the free newsletter HeroicStories. One of the user comments in issues #600 really impressed me. I'm sure many of us in North America can understand where Ian is coming from when he says the following in response to issue #599: Too often I catch myself rushing to the front of the line, rushing for the best food in the buffet, rushing for the best position in a traffic jam. Here in Malaysia and Singapore we even have a word for this: 'kiasu'. It is a Hokkien word that literally means 'afraid of losing', but has been adopted into ...

For your reading pleasure, my I suggest HeroicStories? It's a free newsletter that you can subscribe to, which tells the stories of heroes twice a week. But we are not talking about stories of the Best of Best going out and Besting everyone else in a way we can't imagine. We are talking about normal people who do the nice things. We are hearing about those who we never hear about in the news: the people that positively affect those around them. I strongly recommend reading these heroic stories. It is "Restoring Faith in Humanity... One Story at a Time" by it's user submitted stories. ...

To be honest, the start of the war in Iraq seems like it happened a long, long time ago. Even though the American-led military is continuing to fight the war, the declaration of the end of the war seems like it happened and equally long time ago. (But such are the problems with non-tradition wars. In fact, we are likely to never again see a "tradition" war.) At the lead up to the war, I wrote an article supporting Canada's refusal to join the war unless specific criteria was met. I think the that USA went to war for all the wrong reasons, and I will continue to criticize the United ...

To cheers and shouts of "Amen", Keyes attacked this week's ruling in San Francisco that gays and lesbians have a constitutional right to marry. (story) Keyes told the crowd of nearly 1000 that "one lonely judge comes along and says 'No. That's not how its going to be.'" He told the audience that allowing a judge to rule that same-sex couples can marry is a form of tyranny. 365gay.com Keyes: 'Homosexuals Are Destroying America' Alan Keyes, a former US Ambassador, conservative broadcaster, and failed senate candidate, said what is quoted above. Apparently, he hasn't let his daughter's ...

This weekend I went to see the romantic comedy "Hitch". "It might be okay" I said as my girlfriend dragged me by my hair, "as long as they don't use too much slapstick comedy." That's a big problem with modern comedies. I mean, slapstick is fine. But in every movie? And so much in every movie? It just makes you want to slap the writers/producers/directors. Pleasantly, the movie was actually quite enjoyable. "Hitch" was quite refreshing. It seemed unique, and original. I mean, unique and original in the "it's still a Hollywood romantic comedy film" way. It had an interesting and ...

A download manager is a real convince. If you have ever lost a download, especially a large download, partway through than you know what I am talking about. My current favourite download manager is named, cryptically enough, Free Download Manager. It comes with a slew of features, many of them above the level of download managers that are not free. Not only does it grab clicks from your web broswer*, but by selecting "new download" it will automatically create a new download from your clipboard, or turn on clip-board monitoring. Also, it can automate batch downloads by generating files ...

A good download manager is must if you tend to download large files from time to time off the web. Most web browsers are not good and downloading several files, loose data if the download is interrupted, and can cause headaches. This post is not advertising a download manager. Instead, I am saying that those of you who use Firefox in Windows should get FlashGot. It's a simple extension which allows Firefox to interface more effectively with most download managers, even those that do not support Firefox. FlashGot Firefox ...

Whenever I want to surf the web, I fire up Firefox. Most people, these days, use Internet Explorer to visit websites. But, most of these people don't realize that there is another option. And in my opinion, this option is better. I prefer Mozilla Firefox over Internet Explorer for many reasons. I find it easier to use. Pop-up blocking is great. Tabbed browsing is a huge bonus. And it is more secure than Internet Explorer. Also, because most viruses, and spy-ware target Internet Explorer, it's far safer to use Firefox. Oh, and their are great extensions (or add-ons) and themes ...

Having just beaten The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, I have a mix of feelings over the game. The most disappointing part of the game was just before the ending. There is this silly mini-game where our Hero of the Winds, Link, must sail from island to island finding maps, and then, using those maps, going to other islands to get shards of Triforce. It's annoying and seems trivial. Simply put, it lacks any majesty. It's not fantastical enough to be a good fantasy game. Instead of a mundane treasure hunt, as is the end of Wind Waker, I prefer defeating the magical temples, as in the ...

A great program for editing text files, and programming in. Customizable, support for many programming languages. Completely free! http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/ ...