On Leave

Yes! Hard Rock Cafe Jakarta, here I come!!! By the time you are reading this, I should be in Jakarta right now. I took the early flight to Jakarta on Sunday morning, where every people just woke up, doing some stuffs (reading newspaper, watching animation, and etc.)

I will post some of exciting and challenging(probably) moments in Jakarta.

Talking about Hard Rock Cafe, I have been starting to collect HRC stuffs since high school. As well, I promise to myself that I hope to visit every HRC stores in this world. Umm, how many I had visited so far? Jakarta (this will be my third), Bali, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur,Bangkok, and Paris. How about the merchandise? Umm, as far I can remember, it starts from Jakarta,Bali,SIngapore,Kuala Lumpur,Bangkok,Hong Kong,Shanghai,Tokyo,Uyeni-Eki Tokyo,San Fransico,Hollywood to Paris. Can someone help in my collection, if you know what i meant hahaha?

yeah!! I managed to get my Tom & Jerry McFarlane Toy

Yeah!!! I managed to get Hanna-Barbera's Tom&Jerry (Rock) at Simply Toys, Suntec City. Despite its expensive price (40dollars), I guess that it is worth the money. I had tried to find it from the Internet and Singapore's local figurine store. One store in China Square Central will only sell it with other items (from same series) with the total of 150 dollars. From Ebay.com, the shipping fee costs more than the item itself (20 US dollars shipping fee as opposed to 10 dollars for the item).

Well, thanks to my dear. She bought it for me (Yay!!that's the best part, of course). Thanks, Dear!

Yes, I have been starting collecting Music Figures. So far, I have only Kurt Cobain and Slash. Upcoming music figures that i will be aiming are Bon Jovi (out in August 2007 from McFarlane Toys) and AC/DC (out in June 2007 from NECA)

Starbucks' Experiences

I has just finished reading this book. Well, I proudly to announce that I managed to read the whole book in two days for 200++ pages. (well, my biggest achievement is still reading Harry Potter book in two days for around 700+). Basically, the author states that there are give underlying principles that have contributed to the success of Starbucks. They are

• Principle 1: Make it Your Own
• Principle 2 : Everything matters
• Principle 3 : Suprise and Delight
• Principle 4 : Embrace Resistance
• Princicpe 5 : Leave Your Mark

All those explanations can be found at some those management studies on Great companies. However, the author has done a great job through the usage of examples of how Starbucks applies those principles. At least, it won't bore those non-management audieence. It allows me to visualize how Starbucks apply those principles in their life. What strikes me of course the fourth principle. Let's be honest. People dislike criticism. Thus, I re-read that particular chapter, in order to grasp their view on criticism and etc.

In the beginning of chapter, the author has borrowed one unknown author's Quote (my guess that this guy who quotes is not famous enough to be officially quoted)

"Don't mind criticsm. If it is untrue,disregard it; if unfair, keep from irritation;if it is ignorant,smile;if it is justified,it is not criticsm -learn from it."

As well, i would like to take out the excrept from the book (page 144) on how then Starbucks CEO,Orin Smith, admits the mistake

"With the grace of competent leadership,Starbucks did not seek to scapegoat or place blace on the store partner who made the errant decision in an unimaginably stressful situation. Instead, Orin Smith understood something that most great leaders appreciate; when you are wrong, admit it, fix the problem, and stay the course in areas where you are making positive difference."

I hope that the company lives to what the book has stated. I just feel that it is hard for some people to admit their mistakes, esp top management.

Linkin Park's Live at Rock am Ring 2007

On my previous post about the cancellation of livestream for Linkin Park's concert at Rock Am Ring, MTV Germany has , at least, shown some of their concerts (small portion, if u know what i meant) [could be MTV Germany paid more?]. They are : No More Sorrow, Numb,Breaking the Habit,Crawling, and Faint. I had managed to download those videos. Contact me if you want them. Thanks

The full setlist is:
01. One Step Closer
02. Lying From You
03. Somewhere I Belong
04. No More Sorrow
05. Papercut
06. Points Of Authority
07. Given Up
08. Don't Stay
09. From The Inside
10. Leave Out All The Rest
11. Numb
12. Pushing Me Away
13. Breaking The Habit
14. In The End
15. Crawling
16. What I've Done
17. The Little Things Give You Away
18. Bleed It Out
19. Faint

Linkin Park is bowing to Warner Bros

The darkest day for Linkin Park (LP) fans yet to come, but the cloud has shown the sign that Linkin Park has started to ignore their base fans. This is what some Linkin Park fans (hardcore?) claim of what LP have done. From the release of Minutes to Midnight (MTM), fans had already lambasted Linkin Park for ignoring their old sound(nu-metal). The new sound is categorized as too commercialize.

The recent incident is LinLP's Live at Rock Am Ring 2007 (Germany). Initially, it was announced that the concert would be available via LiveStream. Suddenly, It was cancelled for no apparent reason. Some fans claim that It was based on the decision by Warner Bros Music to "ban" Linkin Park Live via internet ("ban" is emphasized by me). If it is true, then I start to wonder why.

However, based on the abovementioned issues, I still respect Linkin Park for what they have done till today. The reason why I like Linkin Park (I avoid to usage of IDOLIZE, as I don't want being branded as teeniebopper) is they have "revolutionized" their approaches to thank their fans,:

1) Their appearance in Linkin Park forums and chat. Well, you may have seen some bands or singers who have own blog (like Mobey). However, Arguably, Linkin Park should be considered as one of the first ROCK bands who did that. In the early 2000, LP would go to LP forums, posting some replies to fans' enquiries. As well, they will appear in chat occasionally, addressing queries directly with fans.

2) Meet and Greet Session. Until now, they never fail to set up Meet and Greet session with Linkin Park fans for every concert they have. Due to their big success, It is now limited to Linkin Park Underground members, with subject to the availability. They have no choice but to limit number of ppl for the M&G show.

3) Their big support for web design!!!. I guess that I never seen a lot of rock band who dedicate their time on website design. It is different from Linkin Park, as Mike Shinoda and Joe Hahn have background in art. Thus, those arts in their albums are mostly done by them. As well, they provide those images for us (esp for me)to use for our web design

Linkin Park's MTM Special Edition is finally... available!!!

YES!! You heard it. Linkin Park's Minutes to Midnight "Special Edition" is finally available in Singapore. The price??? 39.95 dollars in HMV, but i got it at cheaper price due to my kiasuism approach.

Just buy it at Gramophone. The original price is 44.95 dollars. As Gramophone is currently having storewide sale (20% discount for CDs, while 15% for DVDs), you can get it at 36 dollars.

Yes, i am a cheapskate kiasu. At least, it saves me 4 dollars by waiting the availability of this CD at Gramophone. HMV had already released it last weekend, but Gramophone only released it yesterday. FYI, I bought it at Gramophone Ngee Ann City. So, don't kill me if you cannot find it at other Gramophone outlets.

Umm, is it worth?? To tell u the truth, only for Linkin Park fans. The DVD itself contains Videos of "Making the album", "What I've done", "The making of What I've done" and plus some goodies,such as toolkit to build Linkin park's website, wallpaper, and etc. If u are not keen on above stuffs, just buy the normal edition.

Product Recall

For those who are using AMO Contact Lens Solution, please go to http://amo-eyecare-sea.com/announcement/singapore/index.html to find more abou product recall.

Thanks

Linkin Park's Projekt Revolution

YES!! The Revolution has started!!

Linkin Park has announced Projekt Revolution, starting from July 25th 2007 to September 03rd 2007. Bands that will be in this revolution are

• Linkin Park (US)
• My Chemical Romance (US)
• Taking Back Sunday (US)
• HIM (Finland)
• Placebo (UK)
• Julien-K (US)
• Mindless Self Indulgence (US)
• Saosin (US)
• The Bled (US)
• Styles of Beyond (US)
• Madina Lake (US)

Linkin Park "MTM" hits #1 in US Chart

That's right! Linkin Park manages to hit best-selling debut of the week for 2007, with total sales for 623,000 copies in US alone. According to Billboard.com, it is the highest since the debut by Jay-Z in December 2006. However, it does not achieve what Meteora did (It hit 810,000 copies for the first week of release)

Singapore own Rock's Festival, Baybeat 07

Rock Festivals!!!!
United Status has Ozzfest,Projekt Revolution,Woodstock. United Kingdom has Downlod Festival,Glastonbury. Germany has Rock am Ring/Rock Im Park. Netherland has PinkPop. Japan has Summer Sonic. what Singapore has?

BAYBEAT!!!!!

Who is the main act? Mercury Rev? Mercury who?? nah, don't ask me. They are indie band from US. Well, that's what Singapore can offer for Singapore rock fans. Fortunately, it is free. Otherwise.....

When? 3-5 August 2007
Where? Esplanade
Link? http://www.baybeats.com.sg/

Release of Maroon 5 "It Won't Soon Before Long" with tee-shirt also

Yes!! Maroon 5 Fans can expect the same perk what Linkin Park fans get, but with CHEAPER PRICE. The exclusive premium (CD + Shirt) is sold at HMV with the price of 18.95 dollars, while Linkin Park's costs S$23.95!!!!

Why? Maroon 5 is under Universal Music, while Linkin Park is Warner Music (so, WM sucks the blood of Linkin park fans???). It happened recently that Trent Reznor, frontman of Nine Inch Nails, slammed own record label for selling NIN's latest album, Year Zero, for the price of AU$34.99. In the same store, Avril's latest album is sold for AU$21.99!! Guess what the label said. Following is the excerpt from Trent's statement

"By the way, when I asked a label rep about this his response was: 'It's because we know you have a real core audience that will pay whatever it costs when you put something out - you know, true fans. It's the pop stuff we have to discount to get people to buy.' So... I guess as a reward for being a "true fan" you get ripped off."

Conclusion, Linkin park fans are ripped off just because we are true fans

Enough about this. Here, I attached the tee shirt sample

Front

Back

Rocking News

Garbage's greatest hits "Absolute Garbage" will be released in July. The latest single "Tell Me Where It Hurts" had began airing.

Puddle of Mud will release latest album, "Living on Borrowed Time" , after four years of their last release "Life of Display". Will they be able to achieve the same success of what they had for "Come Clean" (sold for three million copies in US)? Check out the first single "Famous"

Finally, my favorite band, Smashing Pumpkins, finally release their highly anticipated album "Zeitgiest" (German for Spirit of the Age) on July 10th 2007. Originally slated for July 7th (7/7/7), they finally bowed out to move release date to TUESDAY. Check out their single "Tarantula". Unfortunately, James Iha is no longer part of SP :(

Linkin Park - Minutes to One Million!

As reported by Blabbermouth, 550,000 copies of Linkin Park's latest album "Minutes to Midnight" has been sold in US for the past few days !! That means they have achieved GOLD status (in US, GOLD denotes 500K copies have been sold, PLATINUM denotes 1 million copies, while DIAMOND denotes 10 million copies). What is the bet this time? 6 or 7 million copies?

Their first album, Hybrid Theory, has been sold for 10 million copies (DIAMOND)
Their second album, Meteora, has been sold for 6 million copies (6XPLATINUM)

Linkin Park Tee Shirt... Sucks!

Still remember the HMV Exclusive Premium Package for Linkin Park CD? Yeah, it costs 23.95 dollars for the CD with tee shirt. As the shirt was not available on last Monday, I could only hope that it was gonna be as good as the previous one, Meteora (which I got for free - as in no additional charge). To my surprise, the shirt only comes with two size, M and L. For M, the size is even bigger than M size for Linkin park Underground shirt (fans club). I meant, Singaporea's definition of M is bigger than US? Wow! Super Size Singapore!

Secondly, the quality of shirt sucks!! For five dollars, I guess that I can go to Indonesia, find a better quality of cotton and print the same logo as shown below. Warner Music Singapore totally rips me off!!!!

Microsoft Technologies

Came across following useful link for regular expression validation

http://www.simple-talk.com/dotnet/.net-framework/implementing-real-world-data-input-validation-using-regular-expressions/

Rocking News

Upcoming releases

May 22nd 2007 : Maroon 5 - It Won't Be Soon Before Long

May 22nd 2007 : The Used - Lies for the Liars

May 22nd 2007 : The Bravery - The Sun and The Moon

Delay (Always)

Gun N Roses' long waited Chinese Democracy.

All Rock On to... Oldies

Never Too Old to Learn, Never Too Young to Rock! Despite being rock fan for almost a decade, I never listen to those godfathers of Rock. It's time for me to look at those rockers who had influenced my idols. They are

Ramones - Godfather of Punk Rock
The Sex Pistols - English Godfather of Punk Rock
Jimi Hendrix - Godfather of Guitarist
Pink Floyd - Godfather of Psychedelic Rock
AC/DC,Deep Purple,Led Zeppelin,Black Sabbath - Godfather of Heavy Metal
Metallica,Megadeth,Slayer - Godfather of Trash Metal
Neil Young,Nirvana,Pearl Jam,Soundgarden - Godfather of Grunge

So far, I had listened to The Sex Pistols "Never Mind the Bollock". To my surprise, they just released one studio album only.

Minutes to Midnight is available now

Linkin Park Fans out there, Minutes to Midnight had been OFFFICIALLY released in this Merlion's Island. If you would like to have some freebies (i would not call it freebies, since the price of each CD is different according to item that you will be receiving ** remind of me Offset Package **), buy it from HMV. The exclusive Premiums are

1) CD + T-shirt -> S$ 23.95
2) CD + Poster -> S$ 18.95
3) CD + Wristband -> S$18.95
NOTE : You can only claim the shirt on Wednesday, 16 May 2007.

Until now, there is no news of Special Edition of MTM. How it differs from the normal edition? Special Edition includes hard bound book with Linen-wrapped cover with embossing on front. It also includes Music Video Interactive (MVI) DVD that contains following
1) Downloadable MP3s for all 12 tracks
2) What I've Done" video
3) The Making Of "What I've Done"
4 ) The Making of Minutes To Midnight Documentary
4) "What I've Done" ringtone
5) Photo gallery
6) Booklet in PDF, Wallpaper,screensavers, lyrics and more



The HMV Staff only made me happier for only one hour, when I was told that Special Edition was already available in HMV!! I quickly move my butt out from office to Heeren. Arriving there, I was looking around the aboveshown cover type but did not find one. I asked the staff. He showed the normal and said "This is the special edition. It comes with T-shirt". WTF! Well, I am a forgiven citizen. I told him that this is a normal edition with extra "freebies". I told him that special edition has DVD and the type of CD is bound book. He was thinking for a while, trying to draw his imagination based on what i had described. I just said "it looks like U2's Special Edition". He just smiled and said "That one, we don't have. Maybe have to wait". Grrr!!1

To Warner Music Singapore, kindly explain why normal and special edition cannot be released on the same day. I must compare you with Europe and US counterparts, since this country has tried best to improve through benchmarking with better ones. In fact, Europe had decided to release the album earlier than official release date.

Busy weekend... with movies

This weeken, I had spent my valuable weekends with one show and two movies
1. Broadway Beng Returns
I always love to see those comedy shows. We are too stressful in this globalization world. We need to have some fun (or to look at someone to be made fun of). Previously, I had watched some of Hossan Leong's shows, such as Chestnut and etc. My comment? U should only watch this show, if u know hokkien. Otherwise, you are just alien hopping to see subtitles appear when he talks or his chio bu singing. My rating : 7/10
Distraction : One stupid lady,sitting beside me,who kept laughing. I guess that this is her first comedy show, or strict family who forbids laughter at home? It was very irritating.
2. 28 Weeks Later
For those Resident Evil and Dawn of the Dead fans out there, this is the movie for you. The theme is same : Crazy-for-blood zombies are running around to bite you. Once you are bitten, you be left alone and they will chase the rest. The missing iteam in this movie is the kickass team that you will be seeing at Resident Evil and Dawn of the Dead. Rating : 8/10
Distraction : one stupid couple who entered wrongly to this cinema hall. Yet, they happily displayed their bodies in the middle of hall, trying to show off their tickets with other occupants. Stupid fellow
3. Just Follow the Law
Finally bought the DVD. Inside DVD, there are several special features

• Deleted Scenes
• NG Shots
• Interview and the Making of
• 3 alternative endings

Rating : 8/10

Update from Taka McFarlane Sale

Went to Takashimya last Saturday to check if there was any addition figures on the sale. In fact, there was! Shannon "Lost" was finally added to the sale. However, it was sold at 15 dollars, five bucks more expensive than the others. Not sure why. For those who LOST big fans, it is the best time for you to collect them at discounted price.



In addition to that, McFarlane will release second version of LOST. It includes Mr Eko,Sawyer,Jin and Sun (the Korean couple). Expect them to be available in this July 2007

On top of that, the third version of LOST will be release in October 2007. It includes Sayid,Desmond,Claire, and Henry Gale, and the boxed set of Plane Crash.

Get hurry to start collecting the first one

Disneyland in China

CD/DVD Piracy,Copyright violation,imitation,and etc. This what China has been tagged with in regards to their entreprenuer spirit. Ranging from Fake Rolex to medicines. Now, there is another one: Disneyland lookalike!! I wonder what comes next. Btw, is there any cheaper version of F-16 Fighter?

http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=1678

Primary and Index Keys at SQL Server 2005

While doing the documentation, I came across to find the most efficient to get all tables within database, with respective tables,column type, and etc. Finally, I be able to write scripts to get PRIMARY and INDEXES Keys for my documentation. It saves a lot of time

-- Getting Primary Key
SELECT SysObj.name AS [Table_Name]
,SysIX.Name AS [Index_Name]
,SysCOl.name as [Columns]
FROM sysobjects AS SysObj
INNER JOIN sysindexes AS SysIX ON SysObj.id = SysIX.id
INNER JOIN sys.sysindexkeys AS SysIXKey ON SysIX.indid= SysIXKey.indid AND SysIX.id= SYSIXKey.id
INNER JOIN syscolumns SysCol ON SySCol.colid= SysIXKey.ColId AND SysIXKey.id = SysCol.ID
WHERE SysObj.id > 100
and SysIX.name LIKE 'PK%'
ORDER BY SysObj.name,SysIX.Name,SysIXKey.KeyNo
-- Getting Index Key
SELECT SysObj.name AS [Table_Name]
,SysIX.Name AS [Index_Name]
,SysCOl.name as [Columns]
FROM sysobjects AS SysObj
INNER JOIN sysindexes AS SysIX ON SysObj.id = SysIX.id
INNER JOIN sys.sysindexkeys AS SysIXKey ON SysIX.indid= SysIXKey.indid AND SysIX.id= SYSIXKey.id
INNER JOIN syscolumns SysCol ON SySCol.colid= SysIXKey.ColId AND SysIXKey.id = SysCol.ID
WHERE SysObj.id > 100
and SysIX.name LIKE 'IX%'
ORDER BY SysObj.name,SysIX.Name,SysIXKey.KeyNo

Unlucky Thursday

Garfield hates Monday. I hate Thursday! Since the Ice Age of me, Thursday is never a lucky day for me (do remind me to retract that statement if ONLY I do manage to win first prize of TOTO). On the stupid fourth day of the week, I always slapped with the most unforgetful moments, such as my first car accident. So, what had happened today ?

1) I took time off for two hours this morning. Arriving at the office, I was immediately bombarded by missed calls, emails, and colleageus about the honest-mistake-but-of-course-my-mistake visible of project office (time tracker application). Then, it is followed by other applications. So, I spent most of my day solving those problems .

2) Secondly, I had hard time to find taxi. Two or more taxis just passed through me even I flagged them UNLESS they could not see me (did they see the ghost wearing working shirt with the crumpler bag seeking revenge for the cruel drivers,NOT? )

3) Finally, my beloved Seinheiser headphone was broken when I was about to find solace in my IPOD. Damn it!!

Talking about taxi, sometimes i wonder if Singapore does have enough taxis. It is always full of frustrating feeling to get the taxi after office hour (at around 8 PM to 10 PM), unless you are willing to fork out an additional of four bucks to get the taxi waiting for you. Yeah, no wonder people always says CASH IS KING.

Linkin Park "What Have I Done" CD Single is available now!

Linkin Park latest single, "What Have I Done", is finally available in Singapore shore on CD Single Format. You can check them at HMV Orchard or Citylink. There are two versions of this single
Version 1 : It has following songs
1. What I've Done
2. Faint (Live in Japan)
Version 2 : It has following songs
1. What I've Done
2. Faint (Live in Japan)
3. From the Inside (live in Japan)

Both versions are sold for S$9.95. Judged by the same price, the stupidest fans will choose version 2. Having checked the price in HMV.co.uk, the first version is sold for £1.99 while the second version is sold for £2.99. There, the selling price in HMV UK does make sense!

McFarlane Sale

Finally!!! McFarlane sale is now on at Takashimaya Department Store, Ngee Ann City. The price is about the same what you can get at SpawnAsia. Series on sale are Spawn 30, Lost Series 1, Hanna Barberra 2, and some Military figurines.

What did I buy? 3D Album cover of Metallica and Sex Pistols

The details of each item are as follows (exclude military figurines)

Spawn 30 - Spawn X (S$10)


Spawn 30 - The Redeemer (S$10)


Spawn 30 - Omega Spawn (S$10)


Spawn 30 - Cy Gor(S$10)


Spawn 30 - Tiffany the Amazon (S$10)


Spawn 30 - Overtkill the Destroyer (S$10)

Lost Series 1 - Jack (S$10)

Lost Series 1 - Kate (S$10)


Lost Series 1 - Charlie (S$10)


Lost Series 1 - Hurley (S$10)


Lost Series 1 - Locke (S$10)

Lost Series 1 - The Hatch Boxed Set (S$25)

Music - 3D Album Cover - Metallica "Master of Puppets" (S$12)

Music - 3D Album Cover - Sex Pistols International Version (S$12)

Music - 3D Album Cover - The Jimi Hendrix Experience (S$12)

Hanna Barbera 2 : Fred Flinstone & Dino "Welcome Home" (S$10)


Hanna Barbera 2 : Magilla Gorilla (S$10)


Hanna Barbera 2 : Penelope Pistop & Mutlet (S$10)


Hanna Barbera 2 : Yogi Bear (S$10)

HannaBarbera 2 : The Flinstones at the Drive-in (S$20)

Source of photos : http://store.spawn.com/

Key at Prison on Ebay?

Prison Pays $6,000 To Change Locks After Keys Sold On eBay

Hoping to keep inmates from an Iowa maximum security prison from finding the keys to their release on an eBay auction, prison authorities were forced to change the locks on one penitentiary.
By Sharon Gaudin, InformationWeek -->May 7, 2007 URL: http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=199300072
The key to getting out of Anamosa State Penitentiary actually may be a key -- one or two that prison officials fear may have been sold on eBay.
Prison officials just paid $6,000 to have the outer locks changed in the Iowa maximum security men's prison that houses 1,289 inmates. Fred Scaletta, a spokesman for the Iowa Department of Corrections told InformationWeek that changing the locks was a precautionary measure because they're not sure if the keys sold on the popular online auction site were actually for the prison.
But they certainly could be, so prison officials weren't going to take any chances.
Scaletta explained that a man who used to work as a locksmith for the prison was allowed to work from his home. He retired in 1974 and has since died. When the man's wife died, their estate, including some keys that are thought to be for the prison, went on sale.
No one at the corrections department knew there was anything amiss until an employee pointed the sale out to them and said some keys might be involved.
"They were sold under the pretense that they were actual keys but we don't know," said Scaletta. "We were a little surprised. It's a very, very unusual thing to happen. You hear about assaults and disturbances that become newsworthy. But you don't expect to hear that so-called prison keys are being sold online."
Scaletta said he had never even been on eBay before but he did go up to check out the keys that were being sold. He said they did look like some old prison keys.
He also noted that the prison updates its locks periodically but he wasn't sure if the locks that these keys might have opened had been changed since the '70s or not.
"Was there any threat to security at the institution? It was very, very slim," he added. "I don't think it's uncommon [for convicts] to sell the clothes they wore while they were inmates. It's all just a novelty thing."

Source : http://www.informationweek.com/shared/printableArticle.jhtml?articleID=199300072