Sybreon Ones Nought

I have come to realise that I rarely trust tools. I have gotten bitten so many times by tools that do not work properly that I have a serious trust issue with most of them. So, while I may still use tools to collect data, I would always verify the data obtained with my own numbers. It isn’t even about having quality tools from a premium vendor, nor is it about having open source tools where every algorithm can be scrutinised. I just have trust issues.

Therefore, in my developmental work, I always double check things. When I write a piece of C/C++ code, I will always verify that the compiler is doing the right thing by examining the machine code output and running it through a simulation in my head. I do make use of debuggers and simulators, but I will always verify the code manually before accepting that the code does what I intended it to. In fact, this is an excellent way of learning about a processor architecture and understanding the quirks of its compiler.

However, I have come to realise that most people do not share my opinions in this matter. Most people will spend good money on buying tools and then trusting the tools. Often, certifying something by a tools is required before a product can be deemed ‘production ready’ for this world. For some reason, people have grown to trust tools more than each other. Personally, I think that there is something wrong with this. Even with the most stringent and highest quality processes in place, there are no guarantees that the tools are going to be trustworthy.

Maybe I am just paranoid.

Hospital food is surprisingly tasty. In fact, I am very sure that it is far tastier than the food at the company cafeteria. Furthermore, hospital food is very healthy. Every ounce of salt, sugar and oil is measured and counted for healthy and quality purposes. Since the food is both healthy and tasty, I have no idea why hospitals are not banking on that and setting up in-house restaurants to sell such healthy cuisine to the public.

Hospital beds are extremely comfy. I think that I have never slept in a more comfortable bed in my life. Aside from the fact that they can be thoroughly adjusted to suit your taste, the mattress is also extremely thick, solid and soft at the same time. I have been toying with the idea of getting a hospital bed for my home. Unfortunately, the price is rather prohibitive. It costs a lot of money to buy one. That’s probably why not many people have hospital beds at home.

I spent last night in the hospital and I will be spending this night in the hospital as well. Don’t worry, it is neither life-threatening nor serious. I may be here for a few days. I am taking it as a hard earned rest for a few days.

This is the first time that I had been admitted for anything. Hence, I have been taking my time in absorbing the experience and trying to learn as much as I can about hospital stays. I’ll maybe write about it later, when I get better.

This does not look like a video of Teoh Beng Hock, as it claims to be in the title. However, it is certainly an eye-opener for me. I have often been told by some that we tend to solve cases through confessions in Malaysia. I do not know how far this is true. However, it would not surprise me if confessions were forcibly coerced from the suspects. Such things happen everywhere. You can even see them on films and shows.

It is a wonder that people have any trust in our guardians at all. As for TBH, I hope that the truth will come out some day. Maybe not while the issue is hot, which will just inflame matters, but the truth has to come out at some point.

Various parties had come together for a massive street demonstration last weekend. As it was an unapproved gathering, the police had to be called in. As a result, road blocks were erected and much of the city put under a watchful eye. When the demonstrations actually began, shops shuttered and the riot police got to exercise their toys.

A lot of fellow citizens are not happy that such demonstrations cause so much grief to random by-standers. Even my parents say that this culture of street demonstrations does not help anyone. While I can understand why some people feel the way that they do, I do not agree with them. Demonstrations are a necessary ‘evil’ in any democracy. It’s the ultimate form of getting your voice heard.

However, I do think that a lot of things can be done to make it less disruptive in general.

The issue of road-blocks. The present system of road-blocks is designed to stop protesters from getting into the city. Therefore, it actually slows down the traffic and causes massive back-logs for kilometres on end. A better way to do it is to actually divert traffic. Instead of blocking people, the vehicles should just be diverted around the city centre.

In fact, the cops should probably treat these things as a form of ‘procession’ like the kind we regularly get during religious celebrations. These already show that our cops and the city can easily handle thousands of people walking through many kilometres of road. It is most definitely doable. The only issue is that the objective should be to facilitate, rather than block.

You see, people need to vent. Street demonstrations are a way to vent. However, if they are organised properly, it can be a win-win situation for everyone involved. The protesters get to vent their feelings, the police get to do their jobs, the city does not get crippled and everyone is happy. However, this will require a fundamental change in mind-set of our present government.

I would suggest that in the future, when someone wants to organise a street demonstration, that the government actually facilitate it. Mark out the actual streets that they need to walk through and route out the path. At least, in this way, we can minimise the casualties.

I had just read a wonderfully quirky and well drawn out graphic novel by Ramon Perez. It is titled Kukuburi and the story focuses on the dreams of Nadia, the main protagonist. For some reason, the way that the story is told reminded me of FLCL, another very interesting Anime. Maybe because the main protagonist rode a Vespa and had a quirky character.

Anyway, I think that it is a wonderful read. It only has 121 pages at the moment but the story is still in development. I have already subscribed to the feed and am looking forward to receiving the weekly updates.s should

I was driving down Jalan Tun Razak leading into the SMART tunnel yesterday, when a white car to my left signalled and wanted to cross into my lane. Seeing that they were cops, I decided to just let them slide in before me. That was when I noticed that there was something odd about the police car. Turns out that they were driving a kitted out Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X! That surprised me as I had always thought that our local cops drove only Proton cars. I guess that I was wrong.

I think that the present crop of Mitsubishi Lancers/Evos are very mean looking cars and will work very well as police cars. They look extremely aggressive like tigers which are just ready to pounce, befitting the image of the police force. Obviously, these cars are also technically superior to the previous Proton cars driven by the police. I just cannot fathom who actually drives these mean machines. The regular beat cops are still driving regular Protons. I guess that there must be some sort of special group of people given to drive these fast cars.

I know that these cars are extremely mean as I have been given the stare down on our North-South Expressway more than once by these machines. They seem to handle really well at high speeds too, which I think is essential. Kudos to the cops for choosing the Lancer Evo.

A recent article in Ars asked a simple question – should biologists study computer science? I think that the question is pretty much moot and the right question is this – should everyone study computer science? Personally, I envision a future where everyone needs to know a little programming to get by. I envision a future where programming skills become a basic skill that everyone needs, much like driving.

I do not envision a future where everyone would be able to code an operating system kernel of course. We do not even have that level of skills now. Some things you would still pay other experts to do. However, I do see a future where people may write simple 20 line programmes to solve simple problems at home. A friend analogised programming skills to car maintenance. As far as I know, we do simple car maintenance ourselves too. We check lubricant levels, water supply and even know how to pump our tyres and change flats when necessary. Although we could also pay others to do it for us, some little things, we would just do ourselves because it is simpler and faster to do it.

However, before that happens, we would need to be able to condense basic data structures and algorithms into something that is simple enough for a high-school kid to appreciate instead of the CLR tome or TAOCP volumes. We would also need the right tools and languages that allow people to write small and simple programmes quickly and easily. Maybe this could be researched by some programming language researchers.

In the mean time, I will endeavour to teach my niece and nephews some basic computer science. I think that it would be beneficial for them regardless of their chosen field in the future.