Now, before you go "whaaaaaaaaaat??" believe me when I say that approximately 98% of people reading this will probably have the same reaction as you did. And, if you happen to be one of those 2%, feel free to leave comments and let the world know how knowledgable you are.

So what in the holy name of Paris Hilton is Lorem Ipsum?? If you've seen the text somewhere before, I congratulate you on your excellent memory. To see Lorem Ipsum, open Microsoft Powerpoint. Click on New... then click on the Design Templates tab. Preview any of the files listed and ay caramba! Lorem Ipsum!

"'Lorem ipsum' is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. It has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s. It has been popularised 'recently' with desktop publishing software and in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing 'lorem ipsum' passages."

Nice. This text has been used for more than 500 years. But whose idea was it? Which language?

"Lorem ipsum' is not simply random text. It is actually over 2000 years old and it has roots in a piece of classical Latin literature from 45 BC. 'Lorem ipsum' comes from sections 1.10.32 and 1.10.33 of "de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum" (The Extremes of Good and Evil) written in 45 BC by Marcus Tullius Cicero. The first line of 'lorem ipsum', "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet...", can be read out of a line from section 1.10.32. This book was very popular during the Renaissance and it is a treatise on the theory of ethics."

That's a shocker. Anyone knows why we use this particular text?

"It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout. The point of using 'lorem ipsum' is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using 'This here is content' or 'Osama Bin Laden wanted dead or alive', making it look like readable text and there also has been many examples what has happened if someone has forgotten to change the dummy text for the final copywrite text.
In Finland there was couple of years ago this one bookshop banner in public internet with 'Buying a book is as easy as hitting a child' text in it."

In a less technical manner, we use lorem ipsum to simulate 'text' in a template. As you know, people are interested in how a template looks like, but they also need to know how they look like with text in it. Lorem Ipsum text has the standard distribution of letters like most other texts, as opposed to just typing

lajfoijeamflkasjirdjelaijriejkoakt;oek;roae,rpaopo

or

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

or

This is content. This is content. This is content. This is content. This is content.

which are rather irritating and distracting. Interesting, no?

I think I will name my daughter Lorem. Such a sweetie. *smile*

The last two weeks have been really hectic for me. I could barely find space to breathe. Let's see. I've registered two new domain names, that I've been looking at and around for at least a month. Also setup a webhosting plan. Parted with US$130 for those.

But I like the new domain name. It's short and memorable. And I got it at a discounted price too. The other domain's parked; which simply means I reserved that domain but am not using it.

Then I received an email from U of M telling me that, "based on the strength of your application, you are being considered for the LSA Honors Admission Program...which is a program in which admission is by invitation only...". I was elated, naturally. But the catch is that I need to submit another 1000-word essay in support of my candidacy. *grumbles* Haven't I had enough essays to write already? Deadline: 20th February.

Adding to that, I have my language exam this Friday. Good ol' language exam that just couldn't find a better time to slot itself into my schedule. Date: 17th February.

And then there's the new site I'm working on. The first batch of pages needs to be up by the 15th (my self-imposed deadline), thankfully they're already up. But a couple of glitches and I still haven't figured a way to fix them yet. More busy. Deadline: 15th February.

Tommorrow's Valentine's. And I have an...um....obligation to carry out on that day (probably the first real fun in two weeks). In addition to working, visiting the gym, and a little bit of babysitting, can anyone understand how busy I am?

That's the title of a newly launched student magazine. CUE really stands for College University Edition, so it is aimed at the tertiary student level. They had their maiden edition printed and circulated recently, and I was fortunate to be able to get hold of one of these. So far there's only the Dec '05/Jan '06 issue, which IS the first issue (see left).

I like the concept of this new magazine. I think that - although it is still probably quite early to make a definitive review - this magazine has done rather well in terms of content. The articles are informative and well-written, and there are absolutely no irrelevant articles or items that serve to fill spaces. You know how in some magazines (college yearbooks for example), there will almost always be items that......we just don't know what they are there for? "Survey - Most Used Phrases By College Students", "10 Ways To Freak Your Roommate" and a myriad other stuffs that really don't serve any real purpose at all?

It's okay to have one or two of those for 'entertainment', but student magazines of these type tend to overkill, because of quota set by the editorial board that certain sections need to have so-and-so number of pages. I know because I was in the editorial board before. The results is a magazine that, due to overwhelming load of articles, students tend to skip a lot of the pages and go straight to the photo gallery or the jokes section. Defeats the whole purpose.

CUE doesn't have all these things. In short, it's an information magazine. Even the advertisements are not intrusive. Some advertisements are even intergrated into articles so that they don't look like advertisements. Nice. I have high hopes for future editions of this magazine.

...three men attempted to scale the wall that leads to the backyard of my house. They managed to climb nearly 30 feet of the wall behind my house before a couple in a passing car spotted them and gave a shout. I was cooking spaghetti at that time, ran out and looked below to see figures running away into the darkness. The couple called the nearby security beat base while I grabbed a stick and tried to go after them. I failed, obviously. They were long gone.

(Oh well, I could've grabbed my .50 calibre instead, but I wasn't too keen on making it to the wanted list)

Security arrived in 3 minutes. The two officers offered to patrol the road around my house for the night. Mom was visibly shaken. Oh well, I am definitely going to hear her whining about crime for the rest of the night.

Perhaps it was the smell of my cooking that lured them. Also because the door to my backyard was wide open. Really, any Tom, Dick and Harry could've seen what was going on inside my house. Hey, it's CNY! You don't expect me to keep the entire house under lock and key, do you?

But it's nice to know my cooking actually smells that good. Bro taught me how to cook, and this is my first time cooking spaghetti. I guessed I passed the test.



Those three won't be coming back in a hurry. I mean, if they, all three of them, ran away after only hearing shouts from alert residents, they can't be that almighty, can't they? Anyway, look above. Can't exactly blame them for wanting to intrude, can't we? *wink*

Sometimes you'd think that people are in authority because they know better, they are wiser, they are more capable, etc. You'd expect them to know what is better for the country, for the people. That's why we have government and councillors.

Now let's take the case of one such 'authority': The infamous Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ), "God of Summons Tickets". There's a section of roads in SS15 that are just so silly you wonder what they are there for. Well, to begin with, those roads weren't silly initially. Last time they looked like this:

I was in a public waiting room today. You see, the thing with me is that I like observing people; what they do, how they dress, the way they speak, etc. Probably that's the reason why I don't mind following someone to shopping.

So anyway, I noticed this pretty lady in front of me. I didn't notice her because she was pretty - after all she had her back against me - but because I caught a whiff of shampoo from her. She told me her name was *something* Yi, didn't quite get that part. And that she shampoos her hair whenever she goes out.

I don't know, probably it's just me, but I always notice that the pretty ones always emanate fragances that are unmistakably shampoo-ish. Carrie Junior, Pantene, Sunsilk, I am not quite sure. Or maybe their skin smells that way. Now whenever my nose sniffs a fruity smell, I walk around to see.

And almost always, I find a pretty girl.