Computer History 101

My previous post reminded me of my first ever 'computer' - the Oric-1! That was way back in 1984 me thinks! I think Cik Esah bought it for me... For something like $50?!? It came with a 'printer'...actually it was more like a plotter with individual print heads that one can fix when the colour runs out. For output, it was direct to the TV! And for storage, one used a regular tape recorder with normal tapes! How quaint it was... Imagine, it had a maximum of 48KB of RAM then!!!!!!!!!!! What can you do with 48KB of RAM nowadays?!?! Even this entry is bigger than 48KB of RAM! And guess what!? I STILL HAVE IT!! And guess what again?!? Last I checked (a couple of months ago), IT STILL WORKS!!! Ah...makes one feel nostalgic...

Back in secondary school, I was in the Computer Club (hey, I made President eventually!) and my first experience with computers was with the venerable Apple Computer! Talk about history repeating itself! Back then, IBMs (or PCs for those who don't know what IBMs are! Back then, the term 'PCs' was not common yet) were just starting to come into the market. I remembered learning 'LOGO' and moving the 'turtle' around the screen. That was my first foray into programming. Abah eventually bought an IBM PC XT for me. I think the brand was 'Sherry'. PCs then did not come with hardisks... It's ROM was enough to hold the OS and some programs. Removal storage came in the form of the 5 1/4" and 3.5" floppies with a max storage of 1.44MB! I remembered buying a 20MB hardisk for about $200!!! You can get a 500GB hardisk for that amount of money now!!! That's it for now...a nostalgic down computer memory! (Pun intended!)

Welcome to the Club!

Our new Macbook...Present for the wife...Enuff said! ;)

I've been penning poems for the longest time whenever I am in the mood. Here's my latest. Penned during my latest evaluation...somewhere in the Western part of Singapore. Maybe one day I'll compile an "Anthology of Poems by a Soldier!"...enjoy...

TIMES LIKE THESE

Times like these, I feel pensive
Times like these, I feel retrospective
The beautiful full moon high up in the clear sky stirs emotions
A strong cool breeze blows away the remains of a hot & dusty day
We do the things we do
So our children will continue to live in peace
We suffer the way we do
So our loved ones have a place called home
We ask not for glory nor medals nor adulation
We ask not for money nor riches nor recognition
All we ask is that in your prayers you give a thought
To the men & women who are willing to sacrifice their lives
For the way of life that we live
For we were soldiers once, and proud of it

THE MEN OF THE HORSESHOE

Sitting atop an Ultra on a place called Sharon
A desolate piece of ground that is almost barren
I can hear the cracking sounds of gunfire
And the urgent sounds of engines coming to life
Adrenaline pumping, voices straining
The men of the Horseshoe stand fast
Reports of contacts, quick orders given
The men of the Horseshoe is ready for a fight
Calling for fire on a fast advancing foe
The commanders of the Horseshoe lead their men into the storm

BULAN TERANG

Bulan mengambang begitu terang
Di tempat yang bernama Lim Chu Kang
Tempat berabuk asapnya tebal
Di sebabkan oleh kereta kebal!

You are what I am fighting for...

Had our regular safety briefing before an exercise today. It ended with this very relevant and touching video about being and keeping safe. It's entitled "Letters from War" by Mark Schultz. I had to control myself from sniffling too much after watching it...I AM a sucker for this kind of videos! ;)

This is far all those who have to leave their families behind in the name of serving their countries whether in peace or in war. And to my wife and two princesses, you are always in my heart wherever I go. Be strong and be safe darlings...

On another note...my good friend from Staff College had started this newsletter and had been emailing to us regularly. He then started a blog to continue his efforts. Please do visit it as it has great learning value...I have already put it up as a permanent link on the right...

Four days of fun, sun and runs!

I'm adding to this entry as and when I have the time...

Four days of PD with 28 close-knit relatives in an apartment meant for 8 going up using 6 cars! What more do you want?!!?

Day 3: Fun in the Sun @ Bayu Beach

The following picture pretty much summed up our experience on Bayu Beach...

Anwar being flung off the much anticipated Banana Boat...

Among other things we did was the following...it happened when the tide was low and temperatures were high! Macam dah tak ada kerja lain...

Sebelum Annaz nampen ke laut, Faurin telah mengganyah (?!) Boya teruk-teruk! Orang berbadan dua pun Faurin tak kasih chan...ish ish ish...More updates will be coming soon...watch this space!

Of mad rushes and ghost towns...

I'm blogging this live from IMM, Giant and that means I've gotten back my Nokia E51 after sending it away for a few days to have the camera surgically removed!
There's a crapload of people here rushing to do their marketing for the annual Reunion Dinner as part of the Chinese New Year. I've been in this queue for the part 20mins but with my trusty E51 and Singtel Broadband on Mobile, boredom is never a problem for me! I always believe that people who are bored bring it upon themselves... This world is too amazing and wonderful to be bored! There's just so many things we can do. Celebrating Chinese New Year with my fellow comrade-in-arms be they Chinese, Indian or Malay always amazes me. Sometimes we take for granted the peace that we enjoy and think that it is a God given right. It is not and it is something that we must work hard for. I would give my life defending the way of life that we enjoy everyday...
From this afternoo till Sunday, most places will turn into ghost towns... Shops will be closed, workers will get their much needed rest.

Of Art and Speech & Drama classes...

We're at UE Square now waiting for Kakak's class to finish. She won this voucher from ArtZone which entitled her to 3 free lessons. Initially, we thought of sending Adik for the classes but she made a lot of fuss during the first lesson that we decided to send the eagerly waiting Kakak (who knew that she would stand-in for Adik if Adik made a fuss!) instead! She thoroughly enjoyed the classes. Today is her last class...Let's see what she will come up with...

Adik had her first art class this morning at another place near our home and she enjoyed it but Ibu had to be her with all the way! She painted a decent looking rat since it's gonna be the Year of the Rat next week. She has a knack for colouring and painting and the teacher (Ms Shahira!!!), said that she colours well for someone her age. Let's hope she'll be more independent next lesson onwards...

I went for a preview on a Math class for Kakak this morning at 0945hrs. The concept, structure and process of the class was explained to us parents (there were only 2 of us by the way!). They follow quite closely the curriculum by MOE. My word, I didn't know that Primary 1 syllabus was like THAT! Kakak has to go through a diagnostic test to detemine her level before she starts lessons. Lessons are held individually although it's a classroom setting. There's hands-on (I think in teacher-speak it's called 'manipulatives'!) as well as exercises to go through. Let's hope she enjoys her lessons because having a strong foundation IS important in any field...

We are slowly but surely preparing Kakak and OURSELVES mentally and physically for Primary 1 next year. We have been trying to improve her Malay and she has been responding quite well but we feel that more could be done. We were looking up ACTphabets as they have Malay Speech and Drama but alas...they have since closed down! Our search continues...

Of books, music and holidays!

School starts later today... Brings me back to my O-level years when analysing literature, poetry and prose was the order of the day... Should be fun! 1st TMA due on 18th Feb... There'll be 3 TMAs in total... Exams in mid-May... That's after 2 overseas exercises! Guess I'll have to link-up with friends to help me cover materials I will miss... Ah well, it'll be like my Staff College days again when waking up at 0400hrs to read up and prepare the day's lesson is the norm...

But then again, what is the ‘norm’? The norm for some people may not be the norm for others… For example, when normal people would have slept at least 24 hours over a period of 3 days, I slept all of 4 to 6 hours from Monday to Wednesday as I was on an evaluation… It used to be that I would take at most 1 day for my biological clock to get back to its normal hours of sleep but nowsadays ah…the body not as young as it used to be! I took about 3 days to recover from the last evaluation. Oh, on top of that, still got to vet reports, write papers, and train for the Sundown Marathon and not forgetting reading all those literature books!

Oh ya…finally got myself registered for this course! Have wanted to go thru formal lessons but was waiting for my school’s timetable to be out before registering. Now can practice together with the First Princess! Yay!

Ah…CNY is next week…Like all good Singaporeans, a bunch of us will be escaping the country that will turn into a virtual ghost town for a couple of days… PD here we come!!!