Google search autocorrect is becoming a nuisance

Google search autocorrect is really making life uneasy for me. A search for the same topic lists a lot of posts stating that they wanted to opt out from this silly ill-planned feature in google search. I don’t blame them because it is really frustrating to be unable to search for what you want and being stuffed with garbage. I guess that is the reason old search engines died,i.e. THEY GAVE GARBAGE MOST OF THE TIME. Since when google regressed to that stage? At least allow users to have more control of the search platform. Not all are dependent on autocorrect. Autocorrect is useful for word processors where hundreds and thousands of words are being typed and typos bound to happen (statistically). However, I have not encountered anyone who would type in more than twenty words into the search. What is the chance of getting a typo without noticing it?

If google insist that many kids nowadays are using it and autocorrect will help them in their assignments, I would say, “well, fine…”, but at least allow people to decide. Empower us users rather than shackle us to “routine”. Let us choose what we want to do with the search. Do you know that even after I switched my language to Klingon, I still get autocorrect for the words I typed. Almost 30% of the results are garbage (defined as having no specific word [typed into search] in the content). Imagine my frustration seeing all the bold words in the search results not equal to the words I wanted. To me, this is an insult.

So, In order to bypass such predicament, I had to use the plus sign (+) and the double inverted commas (aka quotes) and minus sign (-) to get what I want. Sometimes I have to minus several words to get the only word I want. Other times I have to remove irritating websites with such means because google search preferred that users have no say in filtering out “offensive” sites.

All the problems I’m facing is actually very simple,i.e. google is not allowing me to have a say in what I want. I have to follow google’s routine. I do have options, but I wonder when do I get to say what options should be included in google apps, services etc. What is the use of options when they weren’t decided by you?

I guess I will just have to wait a little longer for something good to happen in google. I do hope that google team will be able to spot this article and all the posts, forum, comments out there by other users and decide how to improve their act.

Telemarketers be terse

Previously, I said this, “I can never understand them telemarketers. They would call, then they would speak a hundred words and I still don’t really know who they are and what they want.”

> I guess I said this because I was frustrated with the same calls about the things I explicitly said I had no need, ever. E.g. insurance.

“They are wasting my time. Unless time is their performance index, i.e. the longer they speak to a customer, the higher the point, and therefore they try to stretch this limit and my limit.”

> I guess I’m not happy about this because they never ever called in the right timing.

I only wish they could be terse, e.g. “we r client/partner of ABC bank and this bank sold your particular to us. We r insurance company with plenty of plans. It would take gazillion years to tell u the benefit of our insurance plans. Currently we r selling this plan which covers….. Interested?” A better alternative would be, “ABC bank ‘recommended’ your number to XYZ company, that’s us. We r selling this KLM plan. R u interested to know more?”

> If they could at least allow us to know if there is any need to continue with this phone conversation, it would be so much appreciated, no?

On reflection of my previous post, I guess I was most unhappy about several things. First, unsolicited calls are never welcomed. Second, don’t call to ask why we have no need for a product. Third, I don’t like to commit to anything as serious as buying insurance over a phone from God knows who.

I feel bad I had to vent my unhappiness in a crude way from previous post that I’ve amended.

“Gender equality”, why men hate this statement..

Time and again, men (especially young men) despise such statement being made by women rights groups. Why do they react in such a way, especially when these men have loved ones comprising womenfolk at home, e.g. mother, sisters, aunts, cousins, other family members as well as best friends?

Take for example the comments from Yahoo News SAF stopping the singing of ‘misogynist’ lyrics from marching song: AWARE

The commentators (mostly young adults I guess) would equate their hardship at NS training being more than women; and hence there shouldn’t be any equality in this sense – because they experienced more hardship while girls don’t. They seemed to dislike the connotation of equality because men think they sacrificed more in society. Likewise, women fight for “equality” want to be treated equally because their sacrifice is comparable if not more than men.

To me, I think both sexes are right in the sense that they sacrificed a lot for society and humankind. They are actually fighting for the same cause. Women fight for “equality” doesn’t mean that they are belittling the contribution and sacrifice of menfolk – in actuality, they are fighting against “inequality”. Fighting against “inequality” doesn’t deprive men of their strength.

The statement “fight for equality” is misleading to men and to me because there can never be equality of sexes (nor their roles in society). Probably that is the reason why some men dislike such statement.

For example, men work in construction sector where womenfolk don’t because of the “unequal” physiques. Secondly, men fight in war and kill (or got killed) in seconds and later awarded as heroes, whereas women work in the “safe zone” mending the injure. Last, most men work all day just to bring bread to table while women stay at home.

In reality, we don’t realize that women are not ignoring men contribution nor their hardship. In sectors where women can contribute, they are just asking to be given “equal” treatment and opportunity as men (based on performance rather than on sexes). As men, we surely want our loved ones such as mothers, or wives (and daughters) to be respected and given equal treatment at work, no? Furthermore, in war we fought and killed millions in seconds, BUT do we realize that women fight for 9 months and 20 more years to bring up a life without any expectation for any HEROES awards except to see the smile of their sons (and daughters)? We can’t really compare because comparing is doing injustice.

Probably that is why “fighting for equality” statement which serve to compare causes some dislike in men because they don’t realize in-an-instance that the word equality is context-dependent such as in terms of education, health, and work – and not to equate men’s role with women’s.

But I guess young adults will be young and will need time to mature. These individuals will realize that one day they will have daughters and the realization that having women rights in society will ensure that their daughters will at least be in good hands. Furthermore, women rights group movement comprises men as active members and not exclusively women – and this should be made known to everyone constantly.

As a son, a father, and cousin brother to my loved ones, I for one support women rights and respect them. I consider myself a member to AWARE Singapore (and other women rights group), although I’m not a registered member.

Friendly security is an asset worth twice if not more

Security in any establishment is a must. It ensure safety to visitors and people who works there. A good security firm (or in-house security) ensures security, and on top of that it ensures a conducive environment for both visitors (customers) and other workers. The best security would be those that provide the highest security with less interference to the norm. This is especially considering that most countries are not under emergency (or curfew), and surely not Singapore. We as customers and visitors don’t really need machine gun toting goons, or fierce-looking muscles to make us feel “safe”, and “welcomed”.

Having said that, I have been to supermarkets, condominiums, government buildings, private and public companies, club houses etc. and I got to learn one good example from all this. Companies (esp. customer-oriented ones) need to invest more in the establishment of “efficient” security in their premises. Efficient in the sense that the security personnel are trained to be vigilant at all time but friendly none-the-less (without compromising the former quality). Just remember that giving out a smile doesn’t lessen the “deadly power” of these muscles at work. Conversely, being fierce-looking all the time doesn’t work in enhancing security because crooks/terrorists don’t buy it (only amateurs might fall for it). Sure enough, regular customers/visitors HATE IT when unreasonable SECURITY hamper their daily norms.

Imagine I’M LOVING IT quality in McD when one day McD decides to hire bouncers to greet customers. Now can you understand?

This article was written after my visit to Fusionopolis for shopping and esp. after the response I got when I asked a security lady for the nearest restroom (considering that two toilets from upper levels were closed for cleaning). I wondered, why security has to be like “that”?

Rega ceiling fan lifetime warranty caveats

I bought a Rega ceiling fan from Choong Ying Pte Ltd at IMM Building level 3 no 17 (referring to the receipt info) on new year eve of 2012. It cost SGD 360.

I had no previous information about this brand nor did I check the review about the company selling this fan. My first impression about the company was very good because of the help the salesperson given me during the buying process.

I got the ceiling fan (model V10/56) and the salesperson offered to give me the 3 speed control wall panel/module for FREE. When the technician came, the installation was okay during the mounting of the ceiling fan. However, when he was installing the 3 speed control panel, it was bad – he had to drill holes on the wall. The process was very distasteful: (1). He purposely drop his tools onto the unprotected marble floor when he was finished using them. This action caused several chipped spots on the surface (I told him on the second “throw” because I gave him the benefit of a doubt on the first incident), (2). The drilled hole did not match and he had to re-drill.

When the wall control was fixed, the knob for controlling the fan speed was faulty – whenever you turn the knob to the next speed, there was an abrupt electric buzzing sound. For fear of electrocuting my loved ones at home, I asked for a replacement and he said – all the control panel is the same (i.e. defective). I had to insist that he stayed put while I rushed to a shop to get a better control panel for the fan. He had to re-drill (the poor wall) to fix the control panel/module. Thank god it was all over….

Six months later, the fan started to decrease speed. Speed 3 slowed to equal that of speed 2 and subsequently speed 2 is equivalent to speed 1. Two days ago, it stopped completely. Adjusting the speed dial did nothing. A touch on the fan motor part gave sensation of a motor-“whirring” vibration suggesting that the electricity is flowing through the motor and the motor is “vibrating” but not powerful enough to move the blade.

A call to the service center today was the best decision of all. The person on the phone said that the motor is under life-time warranty. If I decide to claim the warranty, a technician will drop by my home and inspect the fault. That will cost me SGD 30 for the transportation and SGD 80 for the service (or installation fee). However, if the technician diagnosed the fault as not being the motor, the transportation and service fee still apply but additional parts not under warranty will be charged. Third scenario is that if the technician comes and diagnosed the fault and I decide not to take any action, the transportation and minimal SGD15 fee (for diagnostic) still applies. Thank you so much – I decided the hell with Rega and Choong Ying Pte Ltd (no. 199906782Z). Move on to shop for other ceiling fans.

FYI: The reason for opting Rega instead of major brands such as KDK et al. is due to the fact that the colour of this specific fan matched our living room. KDK comes mostly with metallic or white colour. Anyway… going for KDK this time.

Sciencedirect.com is down for some time now…

Not sure if it’s affecting just me or others, but I’m getting to dislike this message “sorry, your request can’t be processed due to a system problem. Contact the help desk if the problem persist. [SD-008]” and a variant “Sorry, your request could not be processed because the format of the URL was incorrect. Contact the Help Desk if the problem persists. [SD-001]”.

What does that mean? How do I contact help desk?

If you Google with the error string, you get a lot of hits about 51k. Isn’t Elsevier embarrassed?

The error message means nothing helpful. It’s it server down or login problem or restricted access etc? What is it?

I guess I will have to spend some time deciphering the error message and figure out how to contact “help desk”.

Update: I figured out what is the meaning of the error message. In short, it means “pay up if you want it”. When I accessed the site using my institution’s network, it worked flawlessly… I stick by my word that the error message mean zilch to me. Nada! What is the use of error message with code [001] [008] if users can’t decode it? At least provide a weblink beside the error message to direct users to make a report.

Sorry, your request could not be processed because the format of the URL was incorrect. Contact the Help Desk if the problem persists. [SD-001]

How to double kill a library patron

National Library Board (NLB) of Singapore take note;

Not everyone will be able to renew borrowed material on-time, and especially true for the following group of people. Some people (like me) strategized with precision to renew their materials right-on-time-of-due-date (just to maximize the duration of the borrowing). The latter group  unfortunately are prone to crash-and-burn if they miss by a day or two..

Alas, in our National library, we will crash-and-burn sometimes, (1st kill). However, we don’t just crash-and-burn, at online NLB there is no “fire-extinguisher” nearby to extinguish the “fire”, so we just “crash-and-burn-to-ashes” (2nd kill).

Let me explain. If I forget to press the renew button before 11.59 pm on the due-date; I will not be able to renew my material on the next day (plus I will have to pay a day’s fine). This is all due to the kick-in mechanism that NLB implemented to prevent patrons who don’t pay up fine from borrowing (and renewing) books.

Well, not a problem (you say), because I can go to the library and physically have the book renewed at the counter? Now imagine that you are out-station and will only be back after a week’s time (or two), and you have 3 books with you. If the fine is sgd 0.50 per day per book – you would have accumulated sgd 21.00 by the second week !!!!! All this just because you forgot to click the renew button on-time???

Come-on NLB, I don’t mind if you prevent patrons who don’t pay up their fine from borrowing books; but at least allow those who are currently loaning the book to renew when they forgot to do so on-time (although there is outstanding fine due to the missed few days).

Is it so difficult to tweak the super sophisticated online system to discern these two categories of patrons?

Right now I’m soooo…. glad to be in Singapore and a walking distance to return these books.

Death penalty is not revenge

Society is like a living organism; when cells become malignant (and life-threatening), they should be removed. A society which keeps these cells in the system run a risk of severe morbidity (if not death). What benefit is there to society if these cells are contained (or preserved)? To me, these cells can still do harm by depleting resources (in terms of maintenance cost, human resource, among others) which could have benefited people who really need (and deserved) them. Worst, if the containment is flawed, prisons can be used as bases for organized crimes (it has been reported).

If death sentence is considered revenge, who do you think is avenged (if not families of victims)? The majority is just relieved that another threat is removed. As simple as that.

When the US went to war (probably killed thousands) because a terrorist state was perceived as malignant and life-threaten, can we assign such response as “revenge”?

If you compare senseless (or emotional or calculated) and spontaneous (or chronic torture) act of killing people as murder; revenge seems to be under the same category as “murder“. However, the judicial-cum- execution process is not. No ill intention was ever meant for the convict and the process is never easy. If you compare the rate (number per day) of people murdered in crime, “murder” by sentencing is almost nil.

If you think murder is cruel; how about confinement without parole? Isn’t that more cruel, being caged for life (like animals in zoos or birds in cages)? Sometimes, I hope the decision can be decided by the convicts, i.e. death or forever caged.

It would be akin to giving terminally ill person a decision to either continue living with the pain or have induced death (euthanasia). For some criminals, I guess death is an easier way out rather than to live regretfully (for being caught) behind bars.

Last, I still hold firm that “death penalty is not revenge killing”.

Hello Kitty @ McD speculated

Limited Edition of Hello Kitty at McD costing SGD4.99 is targeted by speculators. The result comes as a ballooning price tag of more than SGD20.

Kids, my apology. Adults are sometimes creepy creatures. I can never understand the craze for such soft toy s and it baffles me as to why in the world that such toys are always limited.

Shouldn’t McD Singapore be well-informed about the trend of collecting Hello Kitty by now? Why don’t McD minimize kids’ disappointment by ordering more of these toys (to cater for crazy adults as well) for each event? In addition, considering the craze for such toys, more manufacturing plants can be setup in third world to help boost the economy and alleviate poverty. If McD hasn’t done so, the profit can be channeled to charity.

Right now, all I gather is that
1. McD entice-and-deprive kids of Hello Kitty.
2. McD promotes speculation of collectibles (probably limited edition stuff draws more crowd – marketing strategy).
3. McD is more successful in its collectibles than other fast food joints (the power of Hello Kitty).
4. McD is not proactive enough to prevent the loss of feel-good moment. These speculators only strike at the crucial moment (e.g. in the mid of the event when everyone got hooked up to complete a series) and never ever during the beginning. That’s a strategy speculators learnt to minimize cost and maximize demand. Speculators must be very happy that McD is providing them the thrill-for-the-kill.

Gang rape and murder suspect freed in Malaysia

A sad case.
Under NST news “car dealer escapes the gallows”
Other references: utusan news “peniaga bebas tuduhan bunuh” (in Malay) and other sources from asiaone, malaysia-chronicle etc. WA today Australia news

It’s about an abduction of a 25yo fresh grad (Chee Gaip Yap in 2006) while she went out jogging with her younger sister. This was followed by gang-rape (multiple semen found) and murder by stabbing.

The clue was from a tinted car seen speeding away from crime scene. The owner was found and detained. Bail was given and DNA sample taken. Before DNA test was out, the suspect, Shahril Jaafar, jumped bail and fled oversea (and found six years later [Jan 2013] in Australia as PR).

The DNA test matched suspect with semen found. However, there was contamination from other semen (from gang rape) and rendering the evidence inconclusive (and useless).

In order to strengthen the case, the prosecutor(s) can only use circumstantial evidence or testimony (from investigative work carried out six years ago); as the case was recently reopen after a six years lapse, there was a change of hands by prosecutors (from Lim Cheah Yit to Datuk Razali Che Ani); in other word, the original prosecutor handling the case was off the case (reason not specified) and the case needed to be established promptus (or expeditiously); This could have (speculatively) rendered the case shoddy and weak.

In the end, the prosecutor failed to bring a strong case and the court decided a lack of prima facie case against the suspect, and the suspect was acquitted. The father of the victim nearly jumped to his death after the sentencing (if not prevented by witnesses) due to immense grief. My condolence.

The above case left me wondering:

1. Why was the suspect not charged with contempt of court for jumping bail? Would an innocent person flee before the DNA test?

2. Is DNA technology still not up-to-date in Malaysia (or elsewhere) to pin-point multiple source of DNA (esp. gang rape and murder where the victim can’t testify)? Unfortunately, the answer is a YES.

3. There was no mention of DNA sample obtained in the said suspected vehicle used in abduction and rape. Not even a single strand of hair from the victim? The court decided that just because the suspect’s car was seen speeding away from the crime scene does not imply his vehicle was used for abduction (and rape). I think the prosecutor (or investigation process) made a very weak case and I can assume that they were incompetent in handling the case.

4. News report associated the suspect as the son of a “Datuk” (normally implies powerful person) in Malaysia. This fact carries a negative connotation and normally would allow speculation that the case was unfairly conducted.

5. There is a similarity in the rape-and murder case of Norrita Samsuddin (source: The Star news) in which the semen found on the victim after probable gang-rape (multiple semen) and murder was useless due to DNA “contamination”. The case relied solely on the competency of investigative and prosecution process (and evidence at hand); the suspect, Hanif Basree was acquitted.

6. I wonder how well is the performance of Malaysian prosecutors in gang-rape-cum-murder (or rape-cum-murder) cases. How about the performance of our forensic team in Malaysia?

7. What will happen to the semen sample of “contaminated” origin? Will they be destroyed (and case close forever) or is there HOPE that these samples will be stored for future reference (with advent of technology) in order to bring justice to those wrongly acquitted (as well as those wrongfully sentenced).

8. For those would-be rapist-cum-murderer; technology will catch up and allow a robust DNA profiling of single cell (or spermatozoon) and this will be bundled with efficient isolation of cellular evidence. Even if the DNA is chemically destroyed, if there is enough material to work with – next gen sequencing and powerful bioinformatic tools will allow reconstruction of these materials (with epigenome, proteome, or other biomolecules readout) to reinforce association of samples found on victim (or crime scene) and assist in prosecutors’ presentation of circumstantial evidence.