There is an ancient Indian story of a man who lived as well as he could. But along the way, there were some sins he committed. So when he passed, his few sins required him to serve a short time in hell before going up to heaven for eternity.

Hell didn’t look that bad to him. There were no fires and the food was plentiful and looked and smelled delicious. But everyone seemed aggravated.

You see, in hell, the spoons were longer than people’s arms. Every time they tried to place the spoon full of food in their mouth, food would drop over their shoulders. They were cranky because they were so hungry, could smell the delicious food and it was so close, yet they could not get the food in their mouth.

Finally, the man was transferred to heaven.

Upon entering heaven, he again smelled the delicious food and could not wait to curb his hunger. Heaven looked exactly the same as hell. Everything was pleasant and he saw the same spoons in heaven as he had in hell. Shocked for a moment, he noticed everyone in heaven was happy. No one was cranky or aggravated.

You see, in spite of the large spoons, the people in heaven were able to enjoy the delicious food. This is because they helped each other by feeding each other.

I thought this would be a good sharing, amid recent media frenzy over UMNO’s yearly “Amok”. Life has always been difficult, more when govern by narrow view and the failure to see the biggest picture. The reality today is that Malaysia, is a multi-cultural country. Malaysia can only become stronger if we all work together, not apart. Its like in the story, the difference between “Hell” Malaysia and “Heaven” Malaysia, is if we all help each other out, and not selfishly trying to feed oneself, which in the end, leaving oneself hungry. So, the difference between heaven and hell is just within one’s mind.

Having said this, it is not wrong to fight for the well being of one’s race, however, to help one race by stirring hatred towards another race, this is outright wrong. History has time and time again proves, that only those who work together will prosper. If one fails to see this, then one is forever doomed to be in “hell”.

Quality can make or break a brand name. This is why huge brand names put in millions and billions into their R&D to not only innovate but also to ensure Quality. Sony has release a few of their mechanical test, showing how tough the Vaio laptop is. The series of test consist of various drop test, Shock and Vibe, compression and twist. Check out the Video in the link below.

Building quality into the product may sometimes be a disadvantage to the company. When the product quality is so good, consumers / businesses do not worry about the warranty. The black market becomes the place of choice of getting the product as they are cheaper. The recent Microprocessor Heist in Malaysia is one example, who would want to buy a microprocessor from the black market? It doesn’t come with warranty. Well, who needs warranty, if the brand name is trusted. The pirates can cheat and steel on the expense of the company that does R&D.

Back to the Sony Vaio test, it is called Use Condition test. Many companies do this test to ensure the product that they sell would withstand the regular user condition. By saying use condition, in no means of just turning on and taking the laptop from one place to another, it is to the extreme, llike droping the laptop or twisting or stepping on it. All major companies do use condition test, and this explains why your handphone still works well after dropping it. The company built the phone to be drop. And any phone that does not withstand drop, is not worth buying. Now, one may ask, how do we know if a certain company does use condition test? Well, we don’t, the only assurance is that most of the major electronic brand names does, and you can sleep well buying the brand name.

Sony Vaio test (In Japanese)

Something came out from Microsoft’s Live Search, an active search engine, which sprinkle some icing onto your search result. Like a barrister who puts the cream on top of the coffee, Ms Dewey smartly comments before she provides you the search result. The idea is cool, and this could pave way for future computerized personal assistance. However in terms of practicality, I am still sticking to Google or Microsoft Live search. The comments are funny, and good, but the layout of the search result is too small, compact and difficult to navigate. It’s a fun toy, and I’ve seen comments on other blogs that people have spent hours playing with Ms Dewey and some wanted to make her as their online girl friend.

Many spent much time on her mainly because of her smart comments, and also the promise of her taking her clothes off (yea, a great way to sell something, the promise of nudity). Instead of what she could do, people were more interested in seeing Ms. Dewey nude. I am not sure where this comes from, but according to this blogger, if the right key word is entered, Ms Dewey would be naked. Well, the keyword is as simple as “take off your clothes”, one just need to be persistent(similarly when you pursue the lady of your dreams), enter it 3 times, and be hold. Pls don’t expect, much, this is associated to Microsoft, and they don’t make porn, not even anything close to soft port, though their name may suggest something micro or soft.

Almost in all major self help methods, there is a mention of Paradigm shift. To illustrate what a paradigm shift is, the author usually shows a picture of a women, and ask the reader on what do they see, some will say old women, and some will say young women. It’s the same picture, but different people see different things.

I receive a forwarded mail today titled “Hong Kong Wedding Expo”, and one could guess the content. There were a handful of young attractive models fully dressed for their wedding day. Some of the photos are posted here. The most interesting part were not the photos, but rather the content of the mail. There were a few forward string, and they were all among friends. When the female friend forwarded the mail, she include the following instructions.

To Evanna, reference for her coming soon wedding ceremony..

To Linda & Yin2 – reference for “hair deco” during next annual dinner, hehehe.

And then when the male friend forwarded the mail, he include the following comment.

All the girls look like angels… in the wedding gown

The female sees the photos, and see the fashion, the design and draws inspiration. The male sees the photo, and see a beautiful face. It’s the same photo, but different people see different things… How interesting isn’t it, I see the mail, and I notice the comments more than the photos.. that’s another paradigm…..

I have attended many Chinese Wedding, and in recent months to come, there are going to be a few more. Yes, I am at the age where one by one of my school mates are getting hitched. One of the favorite entertainment during the 8-9 course Wedding dinner is to have a slide show of the wedding couple. Some have them before the dinner starts, some have them through out the dinner in a continuous loop and some even pause the dinner for the show case. The most interesting observation from all these videos are the fact that they had a common story line.

Almost all of them started with baby photos of the bride and groom. Some of them were half naked, some of them were solo photos. There was one that creatively starts with their parents wedding. Then comes the teenage years. For the groom, it is usually a band of brothers in uniform units, and again sometimes half naked (not sure why people like to show topless photos of themselves during wedding, ah, maybe mainly because the video were prepared by the best men/friend). For the bride, it is usually class room photos with the infamous ‘v’ quoted with both hands.

At this point, some straight jumps to the university years, while others display photos of their family holiday at Genting (top spot), Singapore, Penang, etc.. There are a few more snow (for those who studied abroad) and graduation photos before the couple met. At this point, some share their sweet stories of how they met, while others display photos of their holiday or the activities that they did together. Finally, the video brings them to the present day, and ends with a few of their wedding photos.

The interesting thing is that almost all of the video display holiday photos of Genting, or Singapore, or Penang. Its like those locations are Malaysian’s most favorite holiday spots, or rather they had their most fond memories. I am not sure how the wedding dinners are internationally, but here in Malaysia, the video is one of the entertainment for the dinner guest. The only thing is that sometimes, it be boring as it rings the same story line all the time. Only those with half naked photos and good creativity juice sparks laughter in the dinner hall.