Quote of the day

" The idea that Macs can't get viruses is simply absurd and I wanted to highlight that fact."
- Kevin Finisterre, founder of security startup Digital Munition

I love this quote. This is a remark Kevin made (in an interview with SecurityFocus) in response to him writing three varients of a "proof-of-concept" worm that can infect Macs to prove his point.
Since I'm on this topic, Apple has just released patches to fix 20 security holes in Mac OS X and other bundled applications. Update your Macs people.

Freaky

Was playing Bball with my regular "kakis" today. We were playing 3 on 3 and the three 30 year olds (inclusive of yours truly) in our gang were coincidently grouped together. Someone raised the fact that our team had a combined age of 90!!! Scary... made us realise that we are getting on in terms of our age. The only advantage of turning 30 is that I fall under category Y for IPPT. Hehe.

Gooooooooooooooo Rovers

Here I am wearing my Rovers jersey and Huaraches waiting for Jim and Fenn to pick me up. It would turn out to be my night as Rovers beat the Gunners 1-0. Gamst Pedersen injured himself in the process of scoring but his effort didn't go to waste as it turned out to be the winning goal. Blackburn leapfrogs Arsenal into 5th place on the table as a result. Still can't believe that Arsenal's decline is down to the loss of one player... Viera. Goes to show what a great player he is... Arsenal's loss is Juventus' gain.

Singapore 2 - Iraq 0

No... you don't need to rub your eyes... there is no typo here. Shocker!!! Even for an ardent football fan like myself, I can't believe that we beat a Middle Eastern country like Iraq in a competitive match (Yes... it wasn't a friendly). Strange that we can get a result like this against stronger teams but flop against ASEAN teams in the SEA Games.

Favourite songs

Favourite song of all time: Savage Garden - Crash and burn
Favourite Love song: Boyz II Men - 4 seasons of loneliness, Daniel Bedingfield - If you're not the one
Favourite Rock/Alternative song: Evanescence - My immortal (Band version), Hoobastank - Crawling in the dark, Powerfinger - My happiness, Dave Matthews Band - The space between us, Texas - In our lifetime
Favourite Retro song: Breathe - Hands to heaven, Kajagoogoo - Too shy, Spandau Ballet - True, Eurythmics - Sweet dreams (are made of this)
Favourite Rap song: Jay-Z - Dirt off your shoulder, Eminem - Lose yourself
Favourite Pop song: Corrinne May - Little superhero girl
Favourite Movie Soundtrack song: Goo Goo Dolls - Iris
Favourite Chinese song: Sun Yan Zhi - Zhe Yi Ke, Harlem Yu - Qing Kai Chuang
Favourite Christian Pop song: Plus One - Last flight out
Favourite Chrisitan Rock song: Creed - My sacrifice, Creed - One last breath

Hahahaha. This is list is starting to get too long... better stop here ;p

Finally!!!

Waaahahahhahahahahaha. My badass "Ferrari" is back. I initially sent it for servicing but the reseller decided to give me a new one instead. Its sooooooo good to have you back.

"How to miraculously get Nessus to work on a crap laptop?"

Step 1: Forget about googling "How to miraculously get Nessus to work on a crap laptop?".
Step 2: Find a standard size brick.
Step 3: Place crap laptop on an open space and start pounding crap laptop into smithereens with standard size brick.
Step 4: Pick up pieces and pack nicely back into laptop bag.
Step 5: Get rid of laptop bag and its contents.
Step 6: Use Google to search for high-end laptop.
Step 7: Purchase laptop and count the days till delivery.
Step 8: Install Linux* on new laptop.
Step 9: Download, install and use Nessus.

*Take your pick from the tons of flavours out there... ranging from Fedora, RedHat, SuSE, Mandrake, Debian, Gentoo, etc. Ignore this step if you purchased a snazzy Mac laptop.

Colourful

Mmmmmmm... vibrant colours... nice.
"I know I can be colorful
I know I can be gray
But I know this loser’s living fortunate
Cause I know you will love me either way"
Verve Pipe - Colorful

Pity

Graffiti has been popping up all over the place. I find it refreshing... its a pity this one was in a place that was poorly lit.

Easy $$$

Cybercrime pays. Need evidence? Here is a story that involves a Winter Olympic champ and another a high school drop-out.

Armageddon

The day has finally arrived. After a flurry of attempts recently by the baddies to create an automated Mac OS X exploit... there is finally an exploit targeting Mac OS X that can compromise the machine without the owner realising... third time lucky I guess??? You were warned yet again!!!

Passing time

Started snapping while waiting for my reservist buddy outside Caltex House. Besides lights and water, I like reflections off shiny objects like mirrors, water and glass as well ;p

Reasons

I get asked frequently why I don't wear contacts. It all started one fateful Saturday when I was in secondary school. My pals and me were playing Bball with some strangers when one of them went up for a rebound and got poked in the eye by an opposing player. Turns out that guy was wearing contacts and one side got pushed to the top of his eye as a result. He spent the next 15 mins struggling to get it out. Definately one of the most disgusting things I've every witnessed.
My dad used to wear contacts as well. He once got this very bad infection from them and it was so bad that his entire eye was dark red. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwww.
I was never a vain person so I never felt the need to wear contacts. Need more reasons? Then this article should prove my point. Contacts are just not natural... I don't stick things into my body especially not my eye. I'm fine with my specs... thank you very much.

Lovely evening

Went out with my pal, KS, and we had dinner at Lau Pa Sat. Here are photos from this evening. Recurring themes... water... lights ;p

Back to the grind

After a weekend of bliss in paradise, its time to snap out of it. Here's a reminder of what's awaiting me... waking up and making my way to the sweat shop while the sun is rising.

Paradise

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaacccck. I think Bintan is quite close to what you would classify as paradise. Need evidence? Here you go. The new header background image is coincidently a merged photograph of the Bintan sky.

Revolution

Its been awhile since Eric Cantona has shown his mug. He's now featured in Nike's latest football campaign. Its quite intriguing and interesting because he's being portrayed as a football revolutionary pleading and promising entertaining football. View it for yourself.

Be warned

Though Mac has remained virus free for years, experts are warning that this may not be the case for long. Just be careful regardless of which OS you are using. Latest update... a new Mac OS X exploit discovered. In all fairness, both exploits require the user to execute them before they are successful.
However that doesn't mean you shouldn't install an anti-virus client on your Mac. Install and use this free AV... ho eh.

Initial D

Was in Jim's car... felt like I was in a scene in Initial D when I took this. The Initial D theme song is ringing in my head... DOGFIGHT!!! Ahahahahahha.

Art?

I have nothing against graffiti if its done tastefully. I feel that it adds colour and flavour to our dull and uniform city. The "gahmen" should allocate designated areas for creative Singaporeans to draw. I guess they could submit their ideas for approval first before drawing them.
Though this piece is just blocks of letters but I like the way the letters were drawn and the use of the colour green. I like.

Friggin' cool

In case you didn't know any better, these are figurines of George Lucas* in Clone Trooper uniforms. Wow... each one costs S$150... definately out of my league. Passion can be an expensive thing.

*Creator of Star Wars

Clouds

My second attempt at taking the sunny sky... nice?

Please leave your name

Dear friends... I noticed comments start appearing after my appeal for them. I understand that you may not want to register to have an account with Blogger but please do leave your name if you post an anonymous comment so that I know its from you. Thanks!!!

Dummies guide to WiFi

Friends... here's a good guide on the Do's and Dont's when using wireless at home and outside. The tips are applicable for wired networks as well as PCs that don't belong to you.

Bad ass accessories

Woooooo... check out my new retro sweat bands and socks bought by April. Socks are so important... I was wearing thick socks that made my feet sore after each basketball session previously. My new socks are thin yet comfortable and my feet don't hurt after today's game. I managed to contribute a monster block on a defensive play today... hoowaaaaaaah... I'm so hyped.

Jia you

Guys... my reservist buddy commented that my blog is very unique... not becoz of the content but becoz its the first one he's come across where there are no comments!!! Loyal readers... please help out by putting in comments... kam pah teh!!!

What the... ???

First Star Wars... now Batman? Neh... this is definately a one-off. I'm still a die-hard Star Wars fanatic and collector but I couldn't resist getting my grubby hands on this Batman figurine as it is definately the best looking one with well-defined details that I have come across.

More exotic Colas

Check this out... April got me Colas that can't be found in Sing. How bloody cool are they? There's the "Wild Cherry" flavoured Pepsi and Coca Cola C2.
Watch this space for the drink reviews ;p Verdict after drinking both Colas? C2 is too bland compared to your normal Coke but the Wild Cherry Pepsi has my vote!!!

Blue skies

Hmmmmm... the sky was really sunny but I didn't change the mode on my mobile thus the pic came out darker than it really was. Europeans would kill for sunny skies but we Singaporeans grumble all the time about it.
On a separate note, we Earthlings all live under the same beautiful sky so why can't we live in peace with each other. Beauty contestants get laughed at for wishing for world peace... I'm no beauty but I hope for the same thing as well... don't you?

Caught

"Hello my friend... we meet again... its been awhile... where should we begin?"
- Creed "My Sacrifice"

This is my uni hostel flatmate of 2.5 years who is from Penang but is still residing in Perth. She was in Singapore while on transit back to Perth and was out shopping in Orchard when she got caught for not contacting me. Ahahahahahha. When will you guys learn? My job is to seek out offenders ;p

New 'do

Here's my new haircut. Funky funky.

Symmetry

I couldn't resist taking this as there's something symmetric about this scene. Note how both boys are peering out different windows with their mums beside them and they are seated exactly two seats apart.

Brutal

This is a souvenir from last Sunday's punishing game... been a week already but its still there on my knee though the bruises on my elbow and palm are gone. I was going in for a layup and got hammered by this young punk. I subsequently got a few key baskets, rebounds and blocks.
Nothing like a little violence to get the adrenaline pumping. I love receiving it as well as dishing it out. No sissy non-contact sports for me.

Little known fact

I applied for a place in UNSW in 1999 before I was going to ORD and was offered Architecture as well as Law instead of what I applied for. I ended up attending Curtin Uni instead as a result. I do have an interest in buildings thus I wonder how differently my life would have turned out if I had accepted Architecture instead of taking IT.
Now I take pics of the exterior and interior of buildings.

It's over

My ICT is finally over. *sigh* This is a sigh of relief with a tinge of sadness. Relief because I'm glad that I don't need to wake up early and rush down to camp... not to forget that I have to wear the green uniform. Sadness because I won't see my buddies till the next ICT.
The army is changing and finally keeping up with the times. They are treating men more humanely and treating us as adults rather than kids. But I do wonder if its too late for us "old birds"... well only time will tell.
Take care you guys... see you soon... ahahahahhahaha.

Fearful yet?

It took this teen half an hour to deface 8 websites!!! Are you intimidated yet???

Be warned!!!

More notifications regarding newly discovered vulnerabilities.
1) IE v5.x WMF vuln - Use the latest version of IE (v6.x) or another browser such as Mozilla Firefox instead.
2) Windows Help - Avoid using Windows Help till a patch is released.
Guys you were warned!!!

Not surprised

With the recent furor over the blasphemous cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, there were reports of approximately 600 Danish webservers that were defaced or hacked. Not surprised by these displays of protest and not the first time something like this has happened as hacking/defacement are sometimes motivated by political agendas.

ICT

Reported to camp for my ICT. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Can't wait for Friday to come. Watch this space.

Have you seen it?

Have any of you seen IDA's commercial on TV??? Have you guys checked out the hot chick pretending to be a IT Security Specialist? Wooooolala!!! *wolf whistle*
Dream oooooooooooooonnnn. I've been in this industry for 3 years and I have yet to meet a security professional that hot. A lot of men are going to mislead into thinking there are tons of hot chicks working in IT. That's hardly the case.
I'm ready to get brickbats thrown at me for this post. Hopefully I'm going to get into the newspapers for this.

Rovers 4 United 3

YUUUUUUUUUUUP!!! Nothing like doing a league double over United for the first time in 75 years to get over our Carling Cup loss to them last week. Kudos to David Bentley who scored a hat trick playing as an emergency striker due to injuries to other regular strikers as well as having just secured a permanent move to Blackburn.
We still have a fighting chance for a UEFA Cup place. Gooooooooooooooooo Rovers.

Wow

Most of my frens are non-IT people so they probably wouldn't appreciate this. But I'm sooooooooo excited and psyched that I had to post this!!! I managed to get Metasploit running in Pentoo as a virtual machine on my Windows XP desktop*. Hahahhahaha... what a mouthful. Didn't manage to get the update feature working though... anybody has any idea why? On the other hand, I installed Metasploit on Windows but couldn't get it to start. Grrrrrrrrrr. Wiiiiiiiiiinnndooooooooooooooooowss.**

* Translation: I got a penetration testing (aka pen testing) tool running within a Linux OS on top of my base OS which is Windows!!! Geddit now? ;p
** Resolved both issues already.