The Day the Internet almost died…

Wikinews: Strong earthquake strikes off the coast of Taiwan

On 26th December 2006, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake shook Taiwan. In addition to the damage on land, undersea fiber optic cables were also damaged from the quake. This resulted in the disruption of communications and Internet traffic to Asia and Australia. Apparently, Internet traffic for the general asia-pacific region is routed through these undersea cables that run through Taiwan.

Work in the office was also messed up. Emails, even ones sent to local addresses in Spore, were bouncing and being rejected. Websites refused to load up; even Google “could not be found”. Messenger couldn’t log on, meaning in order to ‘chat’ with my colleagues, I had to actually walk over to their cubicle! What great inconvenience! :P

It’s quite scary how dependent we’ve come to be on the Internet for our communications in the last few years. It’s even more worrying how uncomfortable and helpless I felt when I couldn’t log in to check my e-mails and have my usual fix of internet news.

It’s almost like we are all linked into the Matrix, and if the Matrix dies, we all somehow die too – figuratively speaking.

Now all we need is the ability to "think" our clothes like they do in the Matrix. :)

Christmas Presents

What else can I say? Thanks guys! I’ll make sure this last as long as possible.

Three days long enough?

Heehee….
:)

The Package

First peeks...oohh.... Chocolate Coffee beans!

The rest of the loot

hmmm.. chocolate coffee beans... 3 types no less!

More chocolate coffee beans!
heeheee.....

The reason for Christmas...

¹In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ²(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³And everyone went to his own town to register.

⁴So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

The Shepherds and the Angels

⁸And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. ¹²This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

¹³Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
¹⁴“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

¹⁵When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Luke 2:1-20 (NIV)

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you this Christmas,
That your mind be Happy,
Your soul be at peace,
And your Heart finds love.

You've Got Mail!

hey hey... look what came in the mailbox today!

Thanks guys! It's such a nice fuzzy feeling to get a personalized card.

Gee, S, I'd never knew you were such a good artist. Yet another talent!

Yeah.. Christmas here will be a relative bummer without you all around. I miss having you all around.

Anyway, have a blessed and peaceful Christmas too!

:)

Rain rain go away! Come again another day lah!

Tuesday's heavy rainfall third highest in 75 years - CNA

75 years, 24hrs, 366mm.

Those were the numbers surrounding what has been the wettest day in Singapore in 75 years. Rain fell for almost 24hrs, chalking up a record 366mm.

Lots of places were flooded - most were up to knee level but some were up to waist level. There were plenty of reports of trees falling over, some mud slides and the inevitable traffic accidents.

Personally, it crapped out my day in several ways. Some errants had to be post-poned; a trip to Orchard cancelled; shoes were wet/damp and my nose decided to go running.

This morning, the weather seemed a little better. It seemed almost like that it felt bad for all the cats and dogs yesterday, so it decided to show a little sun this morning.

But now, it seems to have changed it mind again, threatening us with a big show of dark clouds and strong winds.

Oh well, I suppose in lieu of snow, rain is the next best thing I guess. At least it beats being broiled alive in the aussie summer heat. heehee... are you people downunder chao-tar yet? :P

Not that I'm being insensitive to the bush fire situation there. But how Chirstmassy can you feel in a 40 degree plus heatwave?

If only there was some way to divert some of this rain there. That should make quite a lot of people pretty happy.

Stuff

Wet wet wet

The Lion sleeps tonight

Gone shooting

I'll be out and about tomorrow on a photography outing for the entire day.

It's not really a big deal, until you consider the fact that I'm still nursing a sore knee.

I do hope to survive the outing. Apparently there's going to be a fair bit of trekking around some rather unusual and out of the way type of places. And given the wet weather of the last few weeks, its going to be siong.













PS: I know this doesn't show my knee

How to be a Professional Photographer

Just for laughs


This was taken through the tour bus window when I was in Mumbai.

:D