April 2005 Archives

Over the weekend, we collected the new car, a white Nissan Sunny which I now have the privilege of driving every day.

This evening over Alpha dinner in church, I was having a discussion with elder R (another Christian geek) about a particular Bible software program for Macintosh which he highly recommended, called Accordance. I had checked out the website and was so impressed with its features, expandability and ease of use, that I told him I wished I knew Hebrew and Greek as well, just to make full use of the software.

Of course when I did my research on Accordance I warned myself not to get carried away with the technology and the process, neglecting the true substance of the Message. But this evening a message confirmed it.

Nicky Gumbel's video talk this evening was about reading the Bible. He told us the story of how difficult it was to get Bibles into Russia (it was illegal). Then he used another analogy which spoke right out to me.

He said something along the lines of, Say you have a new car. A white Nissan. And the car arrives and you're all excited. You get into the car and you see the Nissan Manual! You read the Manual. You start memorising bits of it by pasting them over your shaving mirror. You look for others just like you, so you can form a Nissan Club. You even plan to read the manual in the original Japanese!

But the key purpose of reading the Manual is so you can learn how to drive the car. Just as the purpose of reading the Bible is to apply its teachings to your life. [This is the point where I make the obvious pun about the 'Purpose-Driven Life'.]

Oof. A white Nissan - that jolted me all right. What a timely reminder not to get carried away with the process. Because it is vintage Vanessa Tan.

This is the person who would know every online legal resource in the UK and could dig out reports that other students would never be able to find. The person who knew how to use every kind of software and produced the most well-designed lecture notes, which others would borrow to photocopy. Yet at the end of the day, others less IT-literate would score higher marks because they answered the questions better (I didn't realise it at the time).

This is the person who spent a small fortune on home studio equipment, learning how to use the software, even starting a Music blog - only to end up stalling and not producing anything new for weeks (I didn't realise it at the time but towards the end, reality dawned on me).

God knows me pretty well and even though I caught myself a number of times getting too involved in technology for technology's sake, He probably thought He should just make sure I got the message loud and clear this time. I didn't get the feeling I was not supposed to get the software - in fact I had a slight feeling of encouragement. Just that I shouldn't get carried away with it and ignore the true meaning of His Word. Amen.

Congratulations to John Terry, I do not doubt he deserves the PFA Award.

A few hours from now, we'll see if Chelsea win the title, or win it a bit later. Sounds like a win-win situation doesn't it.

I'm listening to the American newsreader on CNN and he pronounces it as "pree-MEER-ship" which sounds weird because I'm used to hearing the more British "PREH-meer-ship". Then again, many Singaporeans don't know how to say my name properly ("Ver-NEE-Sah" seems to be the most common), so what am I grumbling about.

I was awfully disappointed that Newcastle didn't maintain their lead against Manchester United, but at least Graeme Souness can rest assured that when his men start behaving like boys, at least he can replace them with boys who behave like men.

One of English football's modern mysteries: How Liverpool can get so far in the Champions' League, yet lose to one of the bottom teams in the Premiership today.

Maybe it's Everton's turn to shine next season in Europe - they certainly got a kick out of beating Wayne Rooney's current team. Ironically, his leaving them for 'greener pastures' has done their team spirit a lot of good.

A recent TV interview with Alan Shearer, my all-time favourite English striker, has cemented my respect for him. He's shown that age isn't a barrier when you have passion, and he's stuck with Newcastle even though he could've gone to any of the bigger clubs for greater glory and titles. He cited Thierry Henry as another striker he respected - certainly, the Arsenal player is also dedicated to his club and clearly loves the game.

Why do English commentators keep on saying 'Jo-say' when talking about Chelsea's manager? Isn't the 'J' supposed to be silent, or take on a 'H'?

Even as a Gunner fan, I think Chelsea fully deserve to win the title. Every player is committed and talented and a good number of them can score goals in any situation. Arsenal will have to wait a while to catch up with them in terms of funding. Things will get more exciting after their Emirates Stadium is built and they have more money to buy better players. They must also figure out how to stop Man U from cramping their free-flowing style of play, which has resulted in too many defeats by them. It would be a shame to finish second in the Premier League and have the teams above and below them, winning other Cups while they remain empty-handed.

It's been said in the papers before, but I'll say it this time: Manchester United, former treble-cup champions, are going down. How they lost to Norwich (by two goals) is baffling - and their behaviour in the Everton game surprised even me. It is not the mindset of a winning team. As an English tabloid reported, it has cost Man U 3.5 million pounds per goal for each of their 4 strikers. To be fair, a couple of them were injured for a while, and Smithy wasn't in the starting lineup after the first few months.

Somehow, now that Smithy's playing for Man U, I've totally lost interest in him. I'd much rather wear a Leeds 17 shirt any time, thank you very much.

But even though I don't support Man United (Singapore has too many fans already - let's balance things out a little!) I am also disturbed at Malcom Glazer's takeover plans. Ugh. He may not be to Man U, what Abramovich is to Chelsea.

Kudos to the teams in the relegation zone for fighting so hard. Certainly, with Chelsea's imminent victory, and Everton's likely qualification to the Champions' League, the real excitement lies at the bottom of the table. I particularly like Norwich and Crystal Palace's attitude. Well done.

I never thought Southampton would face relegation, but it looks like it might just happen. What a shame. And Sunderland will be back in the top tier soon.

I wrote a letter to IRAS. Below is the full transcript:

Dear IRAS,

I have had great difficulty e-filing my taxes the past few weeks. Every time I log in I encounter an error page. This happens even after clearing my browser cache. The website is much slower than in previous years. Altogether, it is frustrating because all I need to do is fill in just one more field!

I do note that certain aspects have improved. I am grateful that most of my taxable income has been filled in already, making it more convenient for me.

However, there are other aspects of the site which are not user-friendly. For instance, when prompted to change my password after logging in for the first time, I was not sure what sort of password to enter. I recall seeing an example of what a password should be. Yet, I was told a few times that each new password I keyed in was unacceptable.

Rather than just giving examples, it would be more helpful to say upfront that it has to be alphanumeric and contain a specific number of characters. Lack of clarity forces users to re-submit new passwords multiple times. This wastes our time and adds unnecessary load to your server. Also, we should be told whether passwords are case-sensitive.

I strongly suggest you consult a usability consultant to prepare for next year's e-filing. There is at least one such consultancy in Singapore and other civil servants have attended their workshops (www.microusability.com). My organisation hired them and vastly improved the usability of our website.

Next, I'm not certain why Netscape is supported but not Firefox. For next year's e-filing I hope you take this increasingly popular browser into consideration. The website looks skewed in Internet Explorer for Mac, which is another common browser that isn't supported here. I am, however, grateful that you do support Safari.

There are lots of small ways to ease the server load. I looked at your HTML code and some of it was unnecessary. Your designer uses Cascading Stylesheets (CSS), which is good, but she uses it in a limited way - to change fonts and colours. You can actually use CSS to position every element on your website and many other things, reducing the need to use tables for layouts. One CSS file can control the entire look and feel of a website, and you only need to load it once, as opposed to loading lots of 'formatting' code for every single page.

CSS is also recommended by IDA's Web Interface Standards (which I believe all Government agencies must comply with), and by the World Wide Web Consortium (www.w3.org/Style/CSS/).

Also, even though CSS was used to control font appearances, your designer still used font tags in some areas of the site. Again, this is more unnecessary code because once you use CSS, you don't need font tags anymore. Same goes for unnecessary 'br' tags and '  ;' spaces - CSS can handle alignments, cell paddings, and margin spacings.

Your designer should look at this site, which shows that you can make functional AND good-looking websites with CSS: www.csszengarden.com.

Lastly, I hear that one major reason for the slowness of this year's e-filing website could be due to SingPass. Whatever the case, I hope your administrators can resolve this problem as soon as possible. Almost everyone I've spoken to - friends and colleagues - have also experienced the same error messages on your website. As the filing deadline draws nearer, some of us are increasingly concerned that we cannot file our taxes in time.

I hope you think of us as customers and not as an obligation, and see my advice as an endeavour to help you improve your service.

Thank you for your time.

Best wishes,
Vanessa Tan.

[My auto-acronymiser seems to have sprung into full gear...]

I had a feeling that they'd approve a Casino. But, two?

What are your views on this?

For a good laugh, visit TalkingCock.com now.

What a whopper! At US$3.4 billion, according to this Macromedia press release.

According to the Seattle Times, Adobe is positioning itself for battle with Microsoft.

From my end user point of view, it's a mixed bag. A merger is good because now we don't have to decide which rival software package to get, like Illustrator or Freehand. The best features from both sides will probably be merged, and this is probably the end of silly lawsuits between the two companies. Macromedia users may now be able to fully utilise tabbed palettes again!!!

However less major competition in the graphics area could mean less incentive to improve existing software. Also, Macromedia's software suite has had more bang for the buck - I could buy the full Studio for the price of Adobe Photoshop. What if Adobe raises the price of Macromedia software?

I do hope Adobe keeps Dreamweaver and Flash - those I feel are Macromedia's strongest products. If they could combine the sheer power and depth of Photoshop with the user-friendliness of Fireworks, that would be great too. And imagine ... Flash PDFs!

But if something happens and we end up using Microsoft Frontpage in the distant future, someone's gonna HURT.

I was looking for a new computer table for my studio. I Googled for pages in Singapore, but saw an intriguing-looking article by the Computer Times (now called Digital Life) on creating web pages.

Dated February 2004, I was surprised and slightly perturbed at the statement, "When building a website, keep in mind that everything is formatted in table form." (Oops. My own website doesn't use tables. How??) Fortunately he does warn against using too many nested tables.

However, I was encouraged to read the first sentence on CSS: "Think of CSS as a master template." However, I soon realised that IRAS aren't the only ones who have a limited concept of stylesheets. The writer advises readers to use stylesheets to change text formatting and link hover effects. Which is true, but there's so much more you can do with it. This is 'pre-elementary' (and unfortunately most agencies in Singapore only seem to know how to do this*).

And let's not get into the advice on image rollovers and javascript tickers. That is so 1990's.

Of course this is a beginner's article and most beginners would probably start off by using tables and whatever HTML editor gives them the visual effects they want. And no journalist is necessarily an expert in their field of work. Further research is difficult especially with tight deadlines. But it's slightly annoying to read something that's already out of date the moment it was written.

And what about usability? Browser compliance? Accessibility? Well-written web content? I'd think these would be more important than any fanciful effects on a web page.

Maybe one day, someone should write an article on how the rest of the developed world has been catching on to new coding techniques and approaches, while most of commercial and public Singapore is still left behind.

*If you know of any agencies with a semblance of familiarity with web standards, stylesheets, accessibility and usability, please let me know ... I'm dying to meet them.

Something prompted me to visit the Zondervan website for the first time. Then I saw some pretty amazing news which I absolutely have to share here.

Last month, a woman was taken hostage by a man who had overpowered the authorities, killed a few people in an Atlanta courtroom and escaped. To quote the website:

"I asked him if I could read," Smith, 26, said in recounting the ordeal to reporters outside her attorney's office March 13. "He said, 'What do you want to read?'

"'Well, I have a book in my room.' So I went and got it. I got my Bible, and I got a book called The Purpose-Driven Life. I turned it to the chapter that I was on that day. It was chapter 33. And I started to read the first paragraph of it. After I read it, he said, 'Stop. Will you read it again?'....

You can read the rest of the story here.

This is what futility looks like.

I have tried to file my income tax several times on both my Macs, but to no avail.

Before I reach the final page, it always lands with an error message.

A few years ago, e-filing was 'revolutionary'. However, with each passing year the online user base grows, and I really wonder if their server(s) can take the load now. For financial transactions particularly, it is very, very important that nothing crashes.

Surely something can be done. Millions more people visit Amazon.com. Why can their system cope so much better? It's not like the e-filing website displays lots of images of books, either. I can access my local bank accounts with less problems. If the private sector can do it for their customers, why can't IRAS?

I examined their code and it was wasteful.

A sample from the main section of a page: <td class="sub_menu_item" colSpan="2"height="21">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

They used nested tables for their nav bar, as well as extra spaces. Stylesheet classes were used but were very basic. You can tell they don't really understand the potential of stylesheets because font tags (gasp!) were used too.

Now think: If a few million people logged in within these couple of months, several kilobytes per page could make a difference to the server load.

I do appreciate the fact that most of my tax calculations have already been done for me. They did improve on that aspect. And usability-wise, I can understand what they're showing me.

But urgh, I hope the team is working on a revamp for next year. They should do something, pronto.

[Update 15/4/05: Wow, almost 700 visits from Mr Brown so far!]

For the second time, I caught Wild Rice's production of Boeing Boeing. It's as good as the first time, if you like sexy stewardesses, melodramatics, and catastrophic timing. Also, where on earth do they find such huge Filipina actresses?

I'm sure "It's not ee-see!"

More details in my first review in 2002.

An update on our Koi pond.

Each of us got to choose 3 Koi (carp fish). I chose an orange-black-silver variety, reason being that I wanted my Koi to take after my favourite group of Transformers.

The first two Koi are purely of those three colours. However, the third Koi had to have a blue sheen.

Can you guess what their names are? Read on to find out the answer.

Excerpt: This is meant for believers and/or musicians to read. It occurred to me only last night that I had several years of spiritual blockage in one aspect of my life. Read on to find out exactly what happened and how I realised I was being tricked by my own pride, into glorifying the Other.

We got our increments today. Human nature is funny, as one can be given a reward in recognition of one's efforts, yet feel indignant that one wasn't given enough. I was quite happy with what I got, modest as it was. Any bonus is better than none.

After five years of work, I am finally earning slightly more money than I did in my very first job (the dotcom bubble burst, I took a massive pay cut in my next job, and have been crawling up the salary scale ever since. Income tax was not required of me for years. Yes, that bad).

Look on the bright side! Some of us are already fortunate to be in a company that gives increments and bonuses. If it's on a less-than-annual basis, all the better! And if you're blessed with a good boss and nice colleagues, that's something even money can't buy!

To Christians, the same applies to the ultimate 'bonus' - the gift of Salvation and Eternal life. If you keep that in mind, above everything else, nothing should spoil our day on earth. (Yeah, easier said than done. We're a bunch of ingrates aren't we, like the Israelites in the desert...)

Think of all the cases you read in the papers - poor construction workers or white-collar employees who haven't been paid their monthly salaries, for months! Their employers have gone bust or fled the country. Some have a big family in Bangladesh to feed.

And look at the context and industry in which you work. If you're an investment banker, your company's doing well and you were responsible for clinching a big deal - then you're likely to get a nice big figure. If your job doesn't involve money-making, then don't expect to be paid like an investment banker. There are other intangible rewards, like helping people in some way.

Do your work to the best of your ability, be at peace with everyone, and keep your skills updated. Go home and have a family life (that's the slogan my overworked team is trying to adopt). Don't put your faith in money. You can either accept what you've been given, or if you can't, then ask yourself why you got less than what you expected, and improve yourself or adjust your expectations, so that the next time, you won't feel like you've been passed over.

The Catholic Church, and the rest of the world, lost a great leader today. I think the Pope did the best he could in a world of turmoil, as a faithful servant of Christ. Now we have to wait and see who the new Pope will be.

My Vicar announced he is stepping down from our church. Came as a slight surprise to me. We too are waiting to see who the new Vicar will be.

And I've officially left my Bible Study group. I think I'll take a break from any sort of bible study gatherings for a while. Anyway I'm busy three days a week with Alpha. I had great memories of my first Alpha and I hope this time will be as good - no judgments made, everybody welcome, no pressure, we'll try our best to answer your questions but ultimately, it's entirely up to you.

I went to the Bebel Gilberto concert with the Bristol gang. After filling my ears with studio-quality recordings in the office (playing her two albums), I was slightly disappointed to hear the real thing.

Bebel and her band were not entirely synchronised in the first few songs. Bebel's pitch was a little off and there was too much reverb in the sound mixing, which was unnecessary because she had a simple style of singing. Fortunately, after a few more songs the echos went away. And I wanted to shoot the guy who was mucking up the lighting (is it on? is it off? oh, I changed my mind again. Hmm what does this button do?). Plus, they used pre-recorded percussions! 8-(

Bebel's stage presence took some time to develop. She sounded shy at first, saying just "Thank You" haltingly. Her band members (two guitarists and a saxaphonist/flutist) were pretty quiet too. I was starting to wonder if the concert atmosphere would be awkward all the way.

Bebel sang 'Baby' which is a happy, cheeky sort of song. The lyrics mentioned she was going to teach us Portuguese, and I thought she sang this part pretty loud and clear, which made me think she was really going to teach us a few phrases! Just like how Youssou did it a few weeks ago. But this wasn't the case.

The audience was pretty subdued too (I don't blame them) until she sang So Nice (Summer Samba). Then I started to wonder if that was the only song that most people knew! After that she warmed up to us and made jokes in her lilting accent and warm, motherly voice. That was more like the Bebel I wanted to see!

August Day Song is actually her most famous song to me, seeing how other people have remixed it and put it in compilations (e.g. Gotan Project). I quite like it myself. However it fell flat on its face because the pre-programmed beat started, then stopped, then rewound and started all over again. When the beat got going, I felt Bebel didn't need to get us to clap our hands because her music generally isn't the happy-clappy, 'get on yer feet' sort.

Other songs she played:

Simplesmente
Samba é Amor
Mais Feliz
Every Day You've Been Away
River Song (I liked this one, too. Maybe I just got tired of 'strum, strum...')
O Caminho
Winter
All Around (written by her Japanese guitarist)
Aganjú?

(I can't remember if she sang Tanto Tempo, and please correct me if I got any of the songs wrong, or left out anything)

The official last song of the concert was Sem Contenção, which was more upbeat and different from the laid-back strumming that was starting to lull me into boredom. So it did end on a good note. At which point, of course, the audience asked for more, and got the encore. (Nobody gave a standing ovation though, and I do agree it wasn't deserved because of the overall erratic performance).

We were expecting a new rendition of Samba da Benção. However at this point something went wrong with the tenor saxaphone (mouthpiece fell off? wardrobe malfunction?) and Bebel good-humouredly pretended to sound like the sax, and did a pretty good job at that too. She also made a dig at the audience, saying something along the lines of "Oh come on, let down your hair! Everything in this country is so 'correct' ... " and we responded in kind.

Side plot: Two of my friends went to the toilet in the middle of the performance, and were told they could not go back in again. It happened to other people as well. The organisers said this was because some performers get upset to see people leave. But that didn't make sense to me. These people were coming BACK to their seats. If you didn't want some prima donna to get upset and spoil the performance, then don't even let anyone leave in the first place. Give them a little potty to wee wee or shit in. Or a rubber band.

After some firm words from another toilet exile, an irate Hong Kong man (who apparently sounded funny and fierce at the same time), the organisers relented and let everyone back in. By which time my friends were quite upset themselves and they missed a few of the better-performed songs. Frankly, Bebel didn't seem to notice anything, and I'm sure she wouldn't have minded if she had.

[Post-concert, I was speaking to a Brazilian (current squeeze of another Bristol friend). He said he'd never heard of Bebel.]