第七届十二生肖杯 - 颖鼠杯

出奇了。。。第一个中文日志。

今早，我七点半就迷迷糊糊地起身了。刷了牙，吃了点早餐，我就步行到墨典文化中心参加 2008 年第一场珲春比赛。郭老师特别吩咐我们提早抵达现场抢位。

墨点文化中心 - 翰墨及肉骨茶芳香扑鼻

场地已布置得七七八八了，多亏我们前一夜的学生乐意帮手。

桌椅已排好，看看郭老师设计的舞台！多夸张！

连课室外的布置都很配合开幕的主题。

布置得复杂，问题也多！

郭老师还在最后一分钟做布置。

布置好了！郭老师爱摆 pose!

这次的奖杯与往年的一样，是以塑料制成的。

颖鼠杯，特优奖奖杯

Ke kanaaaannnn lurus!!!

四种奖 - 入选，佳作，优秀，及特优。三种奖杯 - 佳作（左，透明鼠），优秀（中，银鼠），及特优（金鼠）。入选奖没有奖杯！

比赛别组别为初小组，搞小组，初中组，高中组，和公开组。哎，某人太老了，得参加公开组。报到时，每人获得三张纸。

报到处

老师将现场分成几个区域。

旧墨典 - 小学组

展览厅 - 小学组

墨典书画教研室 - 中学组

会议室 - 公开组

我们为自己设了风水位。


今年总共吸引了愈160 参赛者。文化中心楼下还摆卖毛笔，纸，和墨。

卖笔咯！

九点正，好多人！

节目于九时半开始。今天的两位司仪在老师的吩咐下穿上了传统中国装。

两位漂亮的司仪。

开幕典礼的节目有唱歌和二胡表演。

怎么一点表情都没有？真像个机器人。

开幕过程为画鼠，“挂”灯笼，及开龙门。鼠门？

画鼠

“挂”灯笼

开龙门

开完幕后，就接题啦！

看，郭老师笑得这么开心

10 时 45 分，开始挥毫，11 时停笔。公开组题目为 “子年迎春贺新岁，鼠岁接福庆丰年”。其实，前一夜郭老师才让我们练过 “鼠年迎春家家乐，子岁接福人人欢”。差不远嘛。

动手咯！

我们的地盘。

我的字。

11 时 30 分，评判开始。三位评判包括余师富（不清楚怎么写他的名）和龙美南。评判当时，司仪让参赛者猜灯谜及做才艺表演。

公开组作品

红地毯？

成绩出炉了！颁奖仪式从公开组入选奖开始颁起。“公开组，入选奖，第一位是。。。余文麒！”

。。。一点期待都没有。多么失望啊。。。没有奖杯了。只获得一个五令吉的红包和一个奖状。

看我们两脸色多臭？老师脸上也印上了失落。其实没有啦，郭老师是很看开的。

咳，算了吧。是时候退出江湖了XD

Rats!!!

Yes. That's the vulgar of the new year. Sounds delicious, huh? Hoot hoot!

Still, rodents are considered, dirty, stupid, ugly, and unlucky for most of the people. I shamelessly classified rats as one of the dirtiest animals I could think of.

Until my parents bought three rats as pets.

Yes, imagine that. Three, dirty, stupid, ugly, and unlucky rats as pets. That increases our pet count to, er, let's see.

Fish
Tortoises (the longest living pet - they're still alive)
Bird
Hamsters (birthday gift for my sister, not from me though)
Rabbits
Chickens (Slain and eaten)
Dog (for three days, "rental")
Cat
Goat (this is rental for real)
Squirrel
Ducks (Slain and eaten)

Do i miss out any? Well, that means that the rats are our 12th set of pets, assuming that I didn't miss out any. Actually, my parents bought the rats not to keep them, but for their students' observation purposes. They are art teachers, see, and 2008's the year of the rat.

Anyway, here are the photos of the rats. Say "Cheese"!

Oops, they're terrified of me. Oh well, which prey isn't afraid of its predator?

Yeah, right. They're just shy.

You can't outrun me.

Oh, I'm thirsty after the marathon.

Rats, how hungry the run made me!

Watch Me Run!

Oh hoho, the hamster wheel may be suitable to the two roborovski hamsters, but these rats are simply too long for it.

Oh, and yes, that low voice near the end of the video is mine. Doesn't sound like a hearty hoot, huh?

Pardon me for focusing on the black one - it seems like the others don't like their photos taken. The black one, meanwhile, gladly positions itself to several sexy poses upon seeing the camera.

Have a happy WildRats new year!

A Real OS Hoot

We're stepping into the new millennium, and it's time to think differently. The biggest news about modern thinkers these days are, of course, the newly elected Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd.

And the Australians are not disappointed by this change of tradition. Rudd certainly made countless efforts that won him hearts of the citizens over the formal PM, John Howard.

I don't think I should talk too much about politics - if there's one thing on earth I don't understand, it's got to be politics.

The point is, Microsoft's various versions of Windows have been dominating the market for well over a century. I can doubtlessly tell everyone that I have only seen less than 5 individuals having computers not running the operating system.


Today, I went out of the blue and proceeded to download Ubuntu 7.10 and burnt it into a CD. Being new to Linux (I have only used Linux once before, at KLCC's Burger King) I decided to try out the Operating System before installing it permanently in my computer.

It took me few attempts to start Ubuntu and connect to the internet (thanks a lot to the forumers of ubuntuforums.org) and I finally sit here comfortably, typing this blog entry away.

I'm posting a few first-sight impressions on Linux today. Expect more in depth reviews during the next few weeks after I've explored more of Ubuntu's functions.

After some waiting, (it does take time to load from a CD), the OS finally got started. Ubuntu comes with several free softwares, such as Mozilla Firefox and OpenOffice, all packed into a single CD (696MB, to be precise).


This is a typical Linux desktop. And no, the button at the left bottom corner is not the start button. Everything you need is at the top bar. The button is "minimize all" button.


This is OpenOffice Word Processor. It is said to be able to handle Microsoft office document files.


Various windows opened in Ubuntu. On the front is File Browser, my blog is shown in Mozilla Firefox, and at the background is System Monitor, the equivalent to Windows's Task Manager. Notice the translucent window of Firefox - looks like Aero is not the only of its kind.


Terminal - the Command Prompt of Ubuntu. Looks more like Notepad, huh?


GIMP Image Editor, which I used to edit screenshots. You may think it is Linux's answer to Windows's Paint, but in my humble opinion, Image Editor is several times more powerful than Paint. Reminds me of a scaled down Photoshop instead.


Instead of "Yes", "No", and "Cancel", Linux uses "Save" and "Don't Save". Better clarification.

Windows and Linux share many common shortcuts. I've been happily using Ctrl+C, Ctrl+X, Ctrl+V, Ctrl+Z, and a bunchful of Firefox shortcut keys the first minute I start using Ubuntu. No surprise - many of the key combinations can be changed in Keyboard Shortcuts.


But the shortcut key which surely wins Windows's is the Alt+Tab. Pressing this combination brings up a translucent windows with preview of all the opened windows. Press tab without lifting Alt to navigate between the windows. The highlighted window will be brought forwards - should the preview be too small, just look at the real window. This is real cool! I know Vista has this, but *ahem* Ubuntu is open-sourced, which makes all the difference.


It's getting late now and I guess I have to end the introduction to Ubuntu. I promise to post more after my exams. In the meantime, why don't you try Linux out for yourself? You can download Ubuntu at http://www.ubuntu.com/. Help and support is available at Ubuntu Forums. Besides Ubuntu, there are plenty other versions available. You don't have to install them, just run them from the CD. If you don't like it, go back to your Windows as always. If you do, go ahead click on "Install"!

Hoot hoot!

Personality Tests

You Are Marge Simpson

You're a devoted family member who loves unconditionally. Sometimes, though, you dream about living a wild secret life! You will be remembered for: your good cooking and evading the police Your life philosophy: "You should listen to your heart, and not the voices in your head."

The Simpsons Personality Test

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My good cooking? The only things I cook - if you call that cook - are instant noodles and sandwich.

LOL!

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Overall, you scored as follows:

30% scored higher (more nerdy),
1% scored the same, and
69% scored lower (less nerdy).

What does this mean? Your nerdiness is:

Low Ranking Nerd. Definitely a nerd but low on the totem pole of nerds.




The Nerd Test

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Bah, I knew I am somewhat nerdy.

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Overall, you scored as follows:

37% scored higher (more computer geeky),
1% scored the same, and
62% scored lower (less geeky).

Compared to those in the same age group as you:

28% scored higher (more computer geeky),
1% scored the same, and
71% scored lower (less geeky).

What does this mean? Your computer geekiness is:

Low Ranking Computer Geek. Definitely a Computer Geek, but low in the computer geek social structure.




The Computer Geed / Nerd Test

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I'm not that geeky after all.