The Thunderbird that does not sing in the office

Was really somewhat kinda abit excited about using a desktop client to manage my Gmail account. The app in question: Thunderbird.

The thing isn’t accessing Gmail from a dedicated program per se, but having it synchronise that matters. So if you’re geeky enough to know what Post Office Protocol (POP) is, Thunderbird allows for IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol). It’s good for managing bloated Gmail – if you get through downloading the whole lot for editing offline. Otherwise you’ve got to deal with a delay (Tbird interfacing with Gmail) with each action you take.

Tutorial on setting up Gmail on Thunderbird by Rusty Lime
Official Gmail tutorial on the same thing

Bubble got burst when I got into the office and it didn’t work. Ah well..

Got this nasty surprise when I opened up Bloglines though… O_o

Now I need a desktop RSS reader (sans ads). Recommendations anyone?

Technorati Tags: thunderbird gmail bloglines

Wolfram Alpha + Backroom stories

Heart about WolframAlpha on a TWiT (This Week in Tech) some days back. Sounds like some cool new FPS, but it’s not. Built by a certified genius Stephen Wolfram, this is a description:

Wolfram|Alpha is the first step in an ambitious, long-term project to make all systematic knowledge immediately computable by anyone. … We aim to collect and curate all objective data; implement every known model, method, and algorithm; and make it possible to compute whatever can be computed about anything. … Our goal is to accept completely free-form input, and to serve as a knowledge engine that generates powerful results and presents them with maximum clarity.

But before you say, “Oh, like google?” No, it’s NOT A SEARCH ENGINE.

Try putting in random bits of information, like your name, birthdate, or even like H1N1. What it does is it gets a range of information that it thinks is relevant based on stuff the system can get about you (e.g. your location based on your IP) and the text you entered – contextual intelligence?

Mr Wolfram a.k.a. What a genius looks like

Just last night, I was having a conversation with a new friend who is in the midst of a career change and got the low-down on the inner workings of his (dis)organisation, who I have dealings with. It’s one thing to have stuff like google, and now wolfram|Alpha, but there are always going to be things that only personal conversations will pick up.

P.S. Swine Flu a.k.a. H1N1 has hit Singapore.

Geekily yours

Saw this Geek Chart thing appear a few times on twitter. Tried it out, and here’s what I got:

more about "Julian’s Geekchart", posted with vodpod

Since it pulls info from a variety of APIs with a variety of service levels, it’s not completely accurate, but still pretty fun to look at I suppose.

P.S. I got itchy, and I succumbed to the shiny, fancy 3-series. The 7-series was just a little bit much for me to stomach though. Wanna buy my samsonite free gift? (other review here)

Wo-hen Nankan a.k.a. Tuan Anh

Have you ever seen this dude?

Prince meets Little Richard?

I’ve seen this picture used as other people’s avatars. At first glance, you might think it’s the result of some photoshoppers with too much time on their hands, but no, she he does exist. Some smarta$$ set up a fake site with his pic a long time ago (geocities, no less!). And it turns out he’s a really popular Vietnamese entertainer known as Tuan Anh with a penchant for all things kitsch.

See this uber-retro video

And this Richard Marx cover (here’s the original)

And he has fans!

Speaking of fans, I think he’s not a fan of underwear … if you stick around for the close-up. *urgh*

In the name of the ox/cow/bull

TRADITIONAL CORPORATION
You have two cows. 
You sell one and buy a bull. 
Your herd multiplies and the economy grows. 
You sell them and retire on the income.  

AN  AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have  two cows. 
You sell one and force the other to  produce the milk of four cows.
You are  surprised when the cow drops dead. 

A FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows.  
You go on strike because you want three cows.  

A JAPANESE CORPORATION
You have two cows. 
You redesign them so they are  one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and
produce twenty times the milk.
You then create clever  cow cartoon images called ‘Cowkimon’ and market them Worldwide.

A GERMAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.  
You re-engineer them so they live for 100  years, eat once a month, and
milk themselves.

A BRITISH CORPORATION
You have two cows. 
Both are mad. 

AN ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows but you don’t know where they are. 
You break for lunch.. 

A SWISS CORPORATION
You have 5,000 cows and none of which belong to you. 
You charge others for storing them . 

A CHINESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.  
You have 300 people milking them. 
You claim full employment and high bovine productivity. 
You do not employ the newsman who reported on the numbers arrested.

AN INDIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.  
You worship them. 

A MALAYSIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.  
You signed a 40-year contract to supply milk  at RM0.06 per litre.
Then midway through, you  raised the price to RM0.60 or you cut the
supply. 
When the buyer agrees to the new price, you change your mind again and now want RM1.20.
The buyer decided you can keep the milk and  they go look for milk that comes from recycled cows or the cow urine instead.
Your two cows retire together with the Prime Minister.  

And last but not least,

A SINGAPOREAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.  
One cow-peh and one cow-bu.

hello again

wordpress’ backend looks so snazzy now. i just had to post something, so here’s a silly game.

get back at the financial scoundrels at AIG

and will the damn chinese people stop eating all the animals pls?? i read they’re eating cats now.

"... clubbed into semiconsciousness before being thrown alive into boiling water"

OMG

Someone’s out to kill me!

The best way to piss yourself off…

… is to become exactly what you hate.

random quotes

From wise ol’ Van…

“If you’re trying too hard, it probably isn’t working out.”

There are many other people and opportunities out there. If you’re not valued, or it’s not shown until it’s too late, then move to another (bigger) pond.

My question, when do you decide that you’ve been ‘trying too hard’?

Wannabe bookie

Blatantly ripped off from AUGUST, April 07

BRAVE NEW WORLD Aldous Huxley
“Negative Utopia” – No more pain, no suffering, no poverty… but without the bitter, can there be the sweet?

100 YEARS OF SOLITUDE Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Ghosts, incest and the history of Colombia

MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN Salman Rushdie
Babies switched at birth, one with supernatural powers. A Booker Prize winner.

SWANN’S WAY Marcel Proust
No plot, just a recollection of memories in four parts.

A HISTORY OF THE WORLD IN TEN AND A HALF CHAPTERS Julian Barnes
Series of intelligent and humorous short stories.

THE BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES Tom Wolfe
Class, race, politics, religion, money and media.

NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR George Orwell
How to exert control with disinformation, propaganda, censorship, surveillance and semantic manipulation.

FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS Ernest Hemingway
American fighting in Spanish Civil War falls in love, is wounded, dies.

A CLOCKWORK ORANGE Anthony Burgess
Sociopath gets temporarily brainwashed

THE CATCHER IN THE RYE JD Salinger
Angsty release from a maladjusted, intelligent teen outsider.

THE GREAT GATSBY Scott Fitzgerald
Poor guy makes good, goes over the edge, tragic ending.

ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST Ken Kesey
Conman in cuckoo house challenges the authorities, while changing the destinies of his fellow patients.

THE DHARMA BUMS Jack Kerouac
Central character goes on search for ’something greater’ amidst confused post-war environment.

L.A. CONFIDENTIAL James Ellroy
Good cops gone bad as American dream dissolves.

DE PROFUNDIS Oscar Wilde
‘Melancholic, soulful and profound pearl of writing’. Wilde’s magnum opus.

THE PRINCE Niccolo Machiavelli
Idiots guide to building, wielding, and maintaining power.

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT Fyodor Dostoyevsky
‘Timeless tale about moral conflict, guilt and the human conscience’

THE FOUNTAINHEAD Ayn Rand
‘Don’t compromise your values to fit in with the status quo; don’t let the mob dictate what you can and can’t create; don’t regurgitate, be original; selfishness is a virtue you should embrace; material success means nothing when it results from another’s efforts.’

HELL’S ANGELS Hunter S. Thompson
Author hangs out with infamous motorcycle gang

IN COLD BLOOD Truman Capote
Excellent writing that traces the brutal slaying of a small-town family and the process of brining the killers to justice.

Go dig up a copy of AUGUST April for the full beef.