Malaysia celebrates its 46th year of independence today. As usual, it's celebrated with much pomp and splendor by people from all walks of life all over the country. With all the years of independence behind us, one would naturally be inclined to think that we have progressed and moved forward in terms of inner development in tandem with whatever things that are visible on the outside. So is it really?

I hate to be a wet blanket on a joyous day like this but if one were to look at it, a lot of the things that we have are merely empty shells that look pretty on the outside. We seem to revel in things that are symbolic rather than those of substance. The sadder part is that it's those symbolic things that get the accolades and recognition. Sure it is all done in the spirit of Malaysia Boleh, but is it something that we want the world to know us as? Wouldn't it be better and more meaningful to strive for excellence in terms of having the best and being the best in the world instead of making the biggest/longest this and that all around? How about making our country to be an even better place to live in for the benefit of all its citizens? I think that would make a better patriotic endeavor. We still have a long way to go as far as our mentality is concerned in my opinion. It is my wish on Malaysia's 46th National Day to see its citizens strive for that in the name of betterment for the country instead of pursuing dubious recognition. Read up Royal Professor Ungku Aziz's interview with Mingguan Malaysia today as well as his thoughts on Malay mentality.

Reflections aside, I'm pleased with how the new version of our national anthem has turned out to be. Certainly better than the march version before this which I personally thought was a joke. Datuk Wah Idris certainly did a good job in giving Negaraku the grace and dignity it deserves. Let's hope that there won't be any more fickle minded high ranking government officers who'd have itchy ambitions to go changing it again in the future.

Anyhow, bad or good, I'm still proud to be her citizen. Happy Merdeka, Malaysia!

Listening to: Hazami - Tekad

If you have a Linksys BEFSR41 router and connect to a VPN (Virtual Private Network) server sitting behind it, DO NOT upgrade the firmware to the latest 1.45.6 version of the firmware as the PPTP pass through is well broken in this version. Stick to the 1.44.2 version. It might just save you all the trouble having to set up a network sniffer to see if IP 47 GRE packets are passing through the router. Especially if it happen to be on a Friday evening that is on the eve of a long weekend.

It's been two years since I first brought this site up in 2000 and its maiden posting. Nothing changed at all even a year later, so this time around I reckon that it's about time that I got it moved to a place with its own domain. Hence, here it is. Perhaps next time, I'll get down to changing the look and feel of this website... :P

Welcome to Cybersonique-dot-Org, y'all!

Do you frequently...

1. Neglect your diet? Yes
2. Try to do everything yourself? Yes
3. Blow up easily? No
4. Seek unrealistic goals? No
5. Fail to see the humor in situations others find funny? No
6. Get easily irritated? Yes
7. Make a "big deal" of everything? No
8. Complain that you are disorganized? Yes
9. Keep everything inside? Yes
10. Neglect exercise? Yes
11. Have few supportive relationships? Yes
12. Get too little rest? Yes
13. Get angry when you are kept waiting? Yes
14. Ignore stress symptoms? Yes
15. Put things off until later? No
16. Think there is only one right way to do something? No
17. Fail to build relaxation into every day? Yes
18. Spend a lot of time complaining about the past? Yes
19. Race through the day? Yes
20. Feel unable to cope with all you have to do? No

Fernando Alonso made a history of firsts in today's race in Hungaroring , Hungary. It's not only a personal first for him to win his first Formula One race, but he is also the first Spaniard to ever do so and the youngest driver to achieve that feat at the age of 22. Victory must have also been sweet for him as he actually lapped over reigning champion Michael Schumacher in the late stages of the race.

And to think, not too long ago, this dude was once our country's first Formula One racer Alex Yoong's team mate in Minardi back in 2001...

It's certainly been a while since I last did any CD review, let alone buy any CDs for that matter. The last time I bought some was back in December when I was still assigned to work across the Causeway. Contrary to what people think, Tower Records here doesn't really have an extensive selection of CDs available on their racks like their counterpart or HMV down in Singapore.

Anyways, what better way to spend a laidback and lazy Sunday afternoon listening to the two CDs I bought last weekend. One of the CDs was This Is Who I Am by Heather Headley. I first heard her over Channel [V] with her track "I Wish I Wasn't", which is one of the highlights of the CD. Although this album is made up of mostly ballady R&B stuff, you might be surprised to learn that she was a singer for the Broadway musical The Lion King and Aida. The Broadway influence could be heard on the final ballad track on the CD "If It Wasn't For Your Love". Although nowhere close as Lauryn Hill, it's still an excellent debut effort from a promising artist.

The second CD is the soundtrack from the TV show Providence, which hasn't made it to any of our local TV stations just yet. Although not as varied as the Gilmore Girls soundtrack, it still manages to hold on its own with tracks like the remake of The Beatles' "In My Life" sung by Shawn Colvin and Chantel Kreviazuk, "Linger" by Jonatha Brooke, and "What Do You Hear In These Sounds" by Dar Williams. With the exception of Andrea Bocelli's "Con Te Partiro", the soundtrack is made up of guitar pop songs that makes a good accompaniment to go on those roadtrips.

Both albums are being featured on CybersoniqueFM. Now, if only I can get hold of Alice Peacock's self titled sophomore CD and the soundtrack from Scrubs...

You can get it from this direct link (right click and "Save as..."). Major Sentinels and Agent Smiths abound. I'm hoping Colonel Sanders (a.k.a. The Architect) doesn't have much screen time in this installment, ergo leaving us much less dazed and confused like in the second movie, ergo having us less frustrated by the end of it.

It's past 2:30am at the time I'm writing this and I haven't showered yet. I can only wish the above Phuturecam image applies but alas it'll only come to me in the form of a wet dream at this point in time (showers are wet and you're dreaming about it, hence wet dream. No?) Besides, conserving water is always good for the environment, so go do your bit.

I'm sure Chris Pirillo would've imparted such wisdom to all pervs geeks alike on TV if he is still hosting Call For Help.

It's been rainy the past couple of days here in the Klang Valley. As such, I'd like to dedicate this song to all you bachelors out there having problems doing their laundry on days like these. I give you the Lagu Gosok Baju, a parody of Aladin by local group Spider, which I admit to be partly inspired from watching a repeat of that one Akademi Fantasia concert where that Yusry KRU wannabe lookalike dude Khai sang that song and also from my own pathetic experience. :P Anyhow, just don't make me sing the altered and demented version of the song (Su had me demo it live for grins over CybersoniqueFM already just now :P) or this rain won't go away.