September 2007 Archives

This evening, I was driving down the middle lane of Holland/Napier Road, approaching a large vehicle that had stopped on the left lane. The vehicles on the left lane were all signalling right to change lanes so they wouldn't be stuck behind the large vehicle. I continued driving on...

Then suddenly a commercial van on my left swerved into my path! The driver probably didn't check his blind spot, or assumed I would take some drastic action to avoid hitting him. I certainly hoped it was the former reason.

Now, I am the type of person who seldom screams, and likewise when I drive, I seldom sound my horn unless I really, really need to. I usually flash my headlights at oncoming traffic to remind them when I have the right of way - more a 'glare' than a scream.

But this time, I HORNED and HORNED even as I stepped on the brakes and turned my car slightly to the right. The van jerked away from me and swerved back to the leftmost lane, narrowly avoiding hitting me. Still, it was moving faster than I was, so it edged forward. By that time I had slowed down sufficiently for the van to cut back into my path at a less dangerous angle. I'm generally OK with people cutting into my path when they're blocked, and if they've signalled their intentions.

I observed the driver as he straddled the middle and left lanes while passing the large stationery vehicle. Then I noticed his probation plate.

As I drove on, I realised that if the driver had swerved into my path and we had an accident, that driver would be in trouble. Then I realised I've been driving for about 8 years.

Thank God there wasn't an accident today.

I was having a conversation with an uber-geek friend a couple days ago, and he started showing me how his place was networked. As the different types of protocols went over my head (and I assure you it wasn't as straightforward as 'TCP/IP'), I grew increasingly confused and indicated as much.

The uber-geek friend looked at me quizzically. He didn't believe I didn't understand him, as he got a different impression about my aptitude from my blog! I insisted I was no expert in protocols, and never claimed to be. He said, "but you were a designer!" But does a web designer need to know such advanced protocols? HTTP and FTP were all I used. HTML was the key. Everything else was handled by the tech guys who set up file sharing and firewalls, databases and servers. My job wasn't System Administrator.

So if any of you have any notions of me being some super expert in any techy area, I am NOT. I used to design, I know CSS to a certain level, I know how certain things work although I no longer code for a living. I haggle with vendors more than the average client does, just to make sure everything works. And if they still have problems figuring things out (as with some designers new to CSS), I'm the first to give them advice.

Yes, I have fixed some people's computer problems and I know some workarounds for various types of software. I have learnt how to fix a serious problem with my Mac by going into Unix mode - but that was simply a case of following instructions. I've taught myself how to wire up my home studio, but without knowing all the jargon that comes along with the equipment. Simplicity is good. It helps one focus on the bigger issues in life. That is one quality I find lacking in certain types of people.

I haven't invented a new programming language; I don't know Rails or Java or Perl; I knew enough about Coldfusion tags to move content around in my design, but that was it. I set up a Movable Type blog but did so by reading the instructions. I installed plugins likewise, by following instructions. I don't really hack things. I know how to use Yahoo! Pipes for mashups and filters and I'm happy with that.

I subscribe to 700 feeds, most of which I don't read regularly anymore because I either don't have the time, or I've lost interest, so the few of you who give me surprised stares when I don't know the latest update on some sensational local blog, please shove off or do something more valuable with your own time. Ditto to those who like to throw acronyms around in a typically Singaporean way, and sound surprised when I ask what those acronyms mean. To them, I say MYOB! CB! FO! :P (Don't ask me what they mean.)

I buy gadgety stuff, but don't expect me to know what are all the differences between my HTC Touch and several other new iPhone imitation models popping up all over the world, because I am not interested in spending time poring over spec sheets and comparing prices. If I buy a 1 Terabyte hard disk drive, it's 1 TB to me, not 500GB because I want it that way; I know I really need the space.

For all it's worth, I have learnt a lot of things on my own, and find it surprising that sometimes I'm expected to know even more than that. You may have got a degree in it; I do not. You may still base your career on it; I no longer do. I hire vendors to do that now. Oh, and you are...?

My life plans are changing and so is my focus. Whatever I need to know, I will find out. Without intending to offend anyone in particular, the frank truth is: whatever I don't need to know, doesn't matter to me, even if it does to you. Don't expect me to devote hours, days or weeks to become an expert like you on a topic that won't improve my life. I'd rather have friends like you as experts and leave it as that. Strength in diversity, you know what I mean.

[Note to self: Use this post as a Memorandum of Understanding in future encounters with hardcore, purist geeks who mean well but may not realise they are perturbing me.]

Singapore has its P65 minister bloggers, and Britain has David Miliband. This is his latest blog as Foreign Minister. Yes, he's on Youtube as well - user UKForeignOffice just signed up for an account on 18 Sep 2007. And the Foreign Office is also posting photos of international happenings on Flickr. Cool.

My favourite quote from his introductory Youtube video and blog post: "...to open up what too often has been a secret garden of diplomacy confined only to diplomats and those on the inside track."

The BBC had a quick clip on how technology has played a major role in delivering news of the Burmese military junta’s crackdown on monk protesters. During the previous protest in 1988, there was little footage for the outside world to watch. This time, whether the junta is ready for it or not, every move they make is filmed and photographed and sent to news agencies and other respositories around the world.

“Before, they were moving things hand-to-hand and now they are using the internet - proxy websites, Google and YouTube and all these things.”

Let’s not forget Flickr. This user has ground zero photos of the clashes between the military and the monks. Take this photo for instance. The sight of local Burmese forming a human chain protecting their monks, is worthy of an award.

What about Facebook? The ‘Support the Monks’ protest in Burma’ group has over 48,000 visitors and counting.

And what Salaam Pax was during the US invasion of Iraq, Ko Htike is at this point in time.

Social media is breaking down boundaries - by letting the world know when human rights boundaries have been broken.

More reads:

• BBC’s Burmese site.
• Global Voices Online - Voices from Myanmar

So, after slapping a post-Mourinho Chelsea in the face with a 2-0 win in the Premiership, Manchester United get sent to Coventry, literally, with a 2-0 loss to the Championship team. Watch the video replay on Youtube.

The thing about Man U is that they can be so magnificent, as winning the Treble has proven, yet they can be cocky right after a triumph to the point where you expect them to come crashing to the ground, which just happened again. Never fear, they will pick themselves up again, but Coventry fans certainly had a night to remember. Meanwhile, Chelsea at least got back on the scoreboards with a 4-0 win.

Is Alex Ferguson's decision to field younger players in the Carling Cup to blame? After all, Arsene Wenger did the same thing and beat a Premiership team, Newcastle, also by 2-0. He did field 'seniors' who featured more regularly from the first team, such as the 24-year old Emmanuel Eboue.

However, Man U still want the last laugh as they're opposing the dispensation offered to new Chelsea coach Avram Grant, so that he can no longer coach Chelsea.

Is old man Ferguson thinking properly? Why not LEAVE Avram Grant there so that Chelsea is stuck with a mediocre coach. With his defensive tactics, fans will be bored and players will be disillusioned and leave. So kip yer muth shuut, let 'em haf 'im.

Oh well. If Man U do have their way, maybe Grant can join Spurs. Bwahahahar. Over at Liverpool, Rafa Benitez can continue NOT fielding Fernando Torres regularly, we don't know for the love of football why. Maybe it's just a phase some managers go through. At least Portsmouth's Harry Redknapp is jealous of Arsene Wenger.

A final word from dear Cesc Fabregas on Thierry Henry:

"Henry intimidated us, ... He is a great player but it was not easy to play alongside him... We were a bit inhibited by him - dependent on everything he wanted to do and his demands. Now it is different."

No player is bigger than the team, not even Henry. He has yet to get into the swing of things at Barcelona.

My colleague alerted me to this. At first, I thought she was referring to our Mental Wellness campaign ad, where you can turn the frowney face around and it will become a smiley face. However, this looks like an ordinary ad for travel offers.

Mistake or not, it definitely got our attention!

I'm not a Chelsea fan, as regular readers may know. However, I did respect Jose Mourinho as a coach, even though he stepped on many toes. It is a shame that he is no longer the Chelsea manager.

But ever since Chelsea was bought over by Roman Abramovich, its managers have been under increased pressure to perform. Claudio Ranieri learnt that coming in second in the league - the best results before Mourinho arrived - was still not good enough. Now we've learnt that 5 trophies in 3 years is still not good enough, because Chelsea is not playing 'exciting' enough football or fielding Abramovich's favourite players, even if they were underperforming.

Of course, Abramovich is one of the richest men in the world, and I am just a puny little public servant. All his critics combined may not be as astute as he is in business, or as wealthy. But look at it another way - Abramovich is not a football player or a coach. He should stick to what he does best and leave the managing to his coach. Similarly, good CEOs do not micromanage. My CEO knows what I'm doing but doesn't tell me what colour my websites should be, or how I should blog.

The decisions made at Chelsea so far seem to imply that you can be the best at your job and still lose it - if you displease the ultimate boss. That is not very reassuring. A football manager in one of the top clubs of the world is already under a tremendous amount of pressure. He should not have to worry about more things like a meddlesome owner who undermines his better judgment. Look at the more successful clubs over the last couple of decades. Arsene Wenger and Alex Ferguson have been around for a long time. They have experienced lulls in the last few seasons due to a rising Chelsea, but they have longer-term strategies that will ultimately strengthen their clubs. Liverpool's Rafael Benitez looks like he's settling down fine, with a Champion's League title tucked under his belt.

Another disturbing thing is how Chelsea captain John Terry himself may have been responsible for ousting Mourinho. Things are unclear, but whatever happened, Mourinho has left behind a legacy and a hard act to follow.

Now all Chelsea has is a second-rate coach with limited Champions League experience and even less fashion sense. Meanwhile, Man United are a goal up thanks to Carlos Tevez, against a 10-man Chelsea team. Things are not looking good for Chelsea. Abramovich and his entourage are watching. Maybe the Russian is thinking of new tactics for Grant to 'parrot' to the team. Woe to them.

[Update: A Louis Saha penalty makes it 2-0. Chelsea had better start looking for a new coach soon.]

[Update 2: John Terry is furious at the allegations that he played a major role in Mourinho's ousting. ]

I'll be at the National Healthy Lifestyle Campaign this morning and afternoon, at the Botanic Gardens. PM Lee will be the guest of honour. This year's theme will focus on mental wellness. To start off, why not send a flower to a friend or loved one:

After weeks of feeling things were out of control, I said my prayers and my eyes were opened to all the bugs I had missed previously. Now most of the design elements are working fine. As of 20 minutes ago I managed to get the site to validate. Every page tested so far is perfectly valid and looks great. At least, in Firefox. Har har. It's mostly the same in IE, shoudn't be noticeable but I'll see if more can be done.

The problem can, of course, be resolved if the world were to come to its senses and stop using IE. I wish.

I've had mixed feelings working on this project. During conflicts of opinions at meetings, I felt like retorting, "Who's the designer - me or you?" but held myself back. It made me remember why I stopped working as a web designer by profession and started managing vendors. It is tedious work. The designer is not always appreciated or noticed - until something goes wrong. Usually it is not something plain 'wrong' either but somebody didn't like the look. It's very subjective.

Some things I had planned to do were changed, after I had done them. I felt it looked like I was delaying the project as I made the extra changes that weren't planned. Also, I hadn't planned to spend so much time on the project as I had other work to do. Spiritually, it got me feeling down for a while and I didn't feel like going to church anymore. I actually skipped the previous week's service, but it was also partly because I was unwell. I haven't skipped a church service in years, apart from the times I was on holiday.

4 years ago when I designed the current church website, it started off difficult as people didn't know I could design - until I just went ahead and designed the site. Then they cut me some slack and we got things done quickly. This time round, we started off well, but then things got almost impossible for me. While moving to a CMS is definitely a step forward for us, I don't want to look at another Joomla template in a long, long time. I am not a programmer, and never claimed to be. I prefer building my own code from scratch, not starting off with someone else's multiple stylesheets. It's been a messy affair especially as everyone has a say in the design I'm working on. The team's nice; we just have very different ideas at times.

Still, ultimately we aim to please God and not men. I hope everything turns out for the better and we can look back on this and learn from it.

I hope to wrap up this project soon and get on with other things. I have too many ongoing commitments and too little time to myself. The little time I have left, I blog. Sleep is usually sacrificed, like what's happening right now.

Signing off...

Need I say it? I'm making my plans for SXSW 2008, in what seems to have become an annual pilgrimage. Sure, the crowds are getting bigger and more impersonal, but I've also made some friends there and I look forward to seeing them again.

However, this time I want to do something different. I want to stay on for the Music fest. I've always felt a bit sad at leaving just when the real party's about to start. I've most likely got my accommodation for the Interactive period sorted out, and know that if I choose to stay on for another week, it'll cost more. This time I'm paying out of my own pocket. Not going to take things for granted.

Anyone else going? Is it really worth staying for the Music fest?

We were deeply shocked and saddened to hear that Sue Hixson, a long-serving member of my church, passed away suddenly. She was travelling back to the US to be with her daughter, who was expecting her first child. She didn't get to see her granddaughter, who was named after her. It must be a difficult time for the family.

While I didn't know Sue well, she was a familiar face, often helping out at church activities. Her husband Marv has been our resident saxophonist in the Worship team for years, and we've played together before. He's a great guy. I can only offer him my condolences and keep him and his family in prayers.

A local American paper has a more detailed obituary on her passing. It mentions that Sue was also a docent at the Singapore Museum, travelled with Friends of the Museum, and also lectured at the Singapore Heritage Council. She did her part to promote breast cancer awareness too, writing textbooks to help people understand the condition.

Thank you, Sue. We know you're in a better place now.

[Update: For those who are interested, Sue's Memorial Service will be held at St George's church on Friday evening, 2 November.]

A thought-provoking video on Facebook's privacy policy and the risks we face, along with background info of some people pulling the strings behind the scenes. It alleges that there may be links with the CIA and US Department of Defence.

Thanks to Overacuppa for sending me this link.

Spurred on by what happened, as described in my previous post, I revisited older versions of my site and read old blog posts, set in old design templates.

I attended the church wedding of Shawn and Jean in the morning, followed by dinner in the evening. Having known the couple for 10 years, I was very happy to see them finally tie the knot. They are really nice, decent people and truly deserve each other. I also met many seniors from the University of Bristol. It was good catching up with them after all these years.

What got me was how many of them mentioned, on separate occasions, that they visited my website/blog. I didn't expect them to know about it, because I didn't have a blog in the late 1990s when I was in University. I purchased 'vantan.org' and set up a simple website where I manually posted updates on my life.

I learnt that each senior found my website on their own, via web searches for restaurant reviews and other things. One senior found my blog via another friend's blog, which she was referred to by another friend. Another senior found my site also by accident, then read my profile to check if I was the Vanessa Tan from Bristol.

Interestingly, I sat next to the parents of one of my seniors, who's due to give birth to her first child soon. After telling her parents about the new media work I was doing, the mum shared that she also had a blog! However she stopped blogging early this year. I encouraged the mum to keep on blogging and suggested she could post photos of her forthcoming grandchild. I told her how I kept in touch with friends who were overseas, by looking at photos and videos of their kids.

I went home and immediately checked out my senior's mum's blog. It was well-written, with lots of photos that were nicely cropped. As she mentioned to me earlier, she had good rapport with her readers and I could see it from the number of comments posted. I too posted an encouraging comment, to remind her to keep blogging.

Who knows, Singapore may have a new 'grandma' blog soon!

There are many unhappy people around.

This morning, there were many cars moving slowly along the road, including mine. I was in the first lane (in a three-lane road). As I was eventually going to turn left, I signalled and changed to the 2nd lane. Then a car that was still in the first lane, signalled and edged his way in front of me.

In some other, more highly-stressed parts of town, a driver would have zoomed forward to block him. I could have, too. But since he had the right of way, he was signalling properly, and it didn't make much difference to me, I let him through.

Then it was my turn to filter to the extreme left lane. As there was a bus and many other cars already on the leftmost lane in front of me, very near the filter lane, I realised I had to move in quickly or I might not be able to turn left at all. I signalled, saw a space, and turned my car into the leftmost lane, right in front of the bus.

Then a loud horn blast sounded behind me. It was another car that was on the leftmost lane. While there was enough space for my car to move in front of him (i.e. he wasn't that close to the bus), he seemed rather unhappy about losing his place behind the bus. I waved 'Sorry' to him, and worried about what he was probably saying about woman drivers.

But I thought, I gave way to the guy on my right who was signalling properly, even though it was tight. Then I did the same thing and this guy reacted totally differently. We were all moving slowly on all 3 lanes so it wasn't a sudden switch at high speed.

Anyway, to avoid inciting him further, I filtered left and zoomed off so I would no longer be in his way. It was another three-lane road. I filtered to the middle lane. The lanes on either side of me were clear.

That wasn't enough for him. He out-zoomed me, filtered all the way to the rightmost lane, overtook me, filtered to my lane and drove slowly in front of me (it could have been on purpose), before filtering to the leftmost lane then turning left into an expressway.

Then I noticed his licence plate number: 666.

I'm sure many of us have experienced similar incidents on the road. But would you stalk another driver who was in the right of way, and circle your car around him/her?

Some people have a lot of anger inside them, ready to explode at the slightest provocation, even if it wasn't intended.

This blog will be a bit quiet as I'm preoccupied with work, the forthcoming new church website, wedding choir rehearsals, and some other things. With the little time I have left, I've cut down on reading blogs, writing posts and emails.

Call it survival mode.

There are many things I want to say.
But I don't have the time, or the shot isn't mine
to call.

I've tried different paths
And yes, we've shared some laughs
But sometimes I wonder if these things
count at all.

God has a plan, I keep telling myself
and whatever I've been through
will make me stronger.

Stronger. I've prayed with this word
more each day
for the past year
and have nothing left
but tears

Things I asked for, He gave, more or less
but I still wasn't happy -
as you can guess.

I used my Gifts,
I tried to please;
I struggled
while others passed with ease.

I once tasted freedom, and flew like the wind
And then things came crashing down
into the bin

All I can do now is pray
the same words, in the same vein
I say it over again and again

Stronger.

Late night poetry. I haven't written stuff like this since I was in school. Probably needed the right mix of angst and creative repression.

I was told that Ong Sor Fern wrote an opinion piece in the Straits Times (our national newspaper) today on how she never reads blogs but 'only published formats: newspapers, magazines and books'. This statement has been met with amusement among those of us in the Social Media group.

I think Ivan and Siva have more or less addressed her issues. I particularly like Siva's point on how scientists themselves are wary of journalists as they don't always get their facts right themselves.

To a certain extent, I can see where she's coming from. Content is still king, but content isn't the exclusive domain of traditional media sources anymore.

And just like there are good journalists and bad journalists, there are also good bloggers and bad bloggers. For every book like the Cult of the Amateur (current Amazon rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars), there are dozens if not hundreds of books and other forms of less traditional media celebrating the new, open-source or Web 2.0 culture. Bubbles have burst before, but that's part of the experience of entrepreneurism.

And that's about all the time I'm going to spend writing about this.

Two days ago, I received a desperate-sounding email from a friend of mine, telling me she had gone to Africa but had lost her money, was starving and about to be kicked out of her hotel. She asked for specific amounts of money.

Copied below, word for word, is the email message.

How are you doing today? I am sorry i didn’t inform you about my traveling to Africa for a program called “Empowering Youth to Fight Racism HIV/AIDS, Poverty and Lack of Education, the program is taking place in three major countries in Africa which is Ghana , South Africa and Nigeria . It as been a very sad and bad moment for me, the present condition that i found myself is very hard for me to explain. I am really stranded in Nigeria, because I forgot my little bag in the Taxi where my money, passport, documents and other valuable things were kept on my way to the Hotel am staying, I am facing a hard time here because i have no money on me. I am now owning a hotel bill of $ 1550 and they wanted me to pay the bill soon else they will have to seize my bag and hand me over to the Hotel Management., I need this help from you urgently to help me back home, I need you to help me with the hotel bill and i will also need $1600 to feed and help myself back home so please can you help me with a sum of $3500 to sort out my problems here? I need this help so much and on time because i am in a terrible and tight situation here, I don’t even have money to feed myself for a day which means i had been starving so please understand how urgent i needed your help. I am sending you this e-mail from the city Library and I only have 30 min, I will appreciate what so ever you can afford to send me for now and I promise to pay back your money as soon as i return home so please let me know on time so that i can forward you the details you need to transfer the money through Money Gram or Western Union. Regards from yours……………

It was signed off as my friend’s name but with an extra letter at the end. The hackers probably guessed her name, as her email address was exactly [hername]@gmail.com.

Bits of the story sounded plausible. My friend has travelled to exotic places and mission trips before. However, I felt the writing style was different. Her English was better than that (though if this was written in a hurry by a starving desperate person, it could still be believable).

To be sure, I forwarded her email to two of her good friends to ask if they had also received the email. Then I sent my friend a message on Facebook, which she had been actively using lately. Other friends also tried calling her. She responded soon enough, and posted a note warning all her friends to ignore the email as someone had hacked into her Gmail account. I know my friend had travelled to the US lately, and possibly to other places as well.

I told my friend to cancel her Gmail account as soon as possible. Who knows what other things the scammers are using her email address for. My friend replied that she was having trouble getting Google to cancel her account, as contacting Google required her to log in! Fortunately, another friend called Google on her behalf and got them to cancel her Gmail account.

In short, we have to be increasingly vigilant now with our login details. We know all about scams and phishing, but it hits home when you see a plea from a good friend asking you to act quickly. As we devise more ways to block spam and identify fake messages, the scammers also re-invent themselves.

Security tips

1. Don’t make your password easy to guess. Try something alphanumeric. Take it a step further - use a mix of upper and lower case characters.
2. Don’t leave your passwords lying around for everyone to see, such as Post-It notes on your computer monitor.
3. Reset your passwords regularly. High security systems usually prompt users to change their passwords regularly. Moreover, previous passwords cannot be re-used.
4. If you’re using a public internet terminal, remember to disable cookies. Don’t click on “Remember me” when logging in. Make sure you log off properly. Clear the history and cache when you’re done.
5. Don’t let people watch you type in your password. Some people tend to hang around when you’re logging in. Ask them to turn away. Or, lean forward and use your body to block their view.
6. If you feel awkward telling people to shove off, one trick is to type wrong characters in between your password, and then delete them. If you can repeat this sequence quickly, all the better. I’ve done this on a number of occasions.
7. Be vigilant about mails asking for password resets. Google and all credible service providers often repeat that they would never ever ask for user account password for resetting purposes.
8. Keep your passwords for email accounts separate from all other social networking sites.
9. Assume that passwords stored on handphones, diaries, documents in laptops etc. will be stolen. If you must write down passwords, use codes that you can remember in place of numbers.

(Any more to add? Do contribute. Thanks to Ivan for contributing points 7-9.)

More warning signs

Lately, I have received an increasing number of password-related requests, particularly from Gmail. It is usually about resetting my password. The emails are in English, Japanese or other languages. Sometimes I also receive alerts that someone’s registered for a new Yahoo! email address and is listing my Gmail address as the backup. Fortunately there is always a link I can click to tell Yahoo! that I did not set up any new Yahoo! email address, and that I wish for my Gmail address to be removed from their records.

Has this happened to you, too? Maybe the scammers are trying to make us the next scapegoats.

I’ve had more than a fair share of scam mail, myself. I’ve not only received emails but an actual snail mail LETTER back in 2003. You can view a scan of the letter which was sent to my office address. I suspect someone used my company name card and sold its details to the scammers. Again, there were inconsistencies in the story that can be spotted if you examine it carefully. The writer claimed he was from Nigeria, but the stamp on the envelope was from Cameroon.

I’ve written this post to warn everyone not to fall for the latest trick in the book. Please keep your passwords safe, and if you receive strange emails from friends, double-check the facts. And, do forward this message on.

While I work on captioning, tagging and uploading the rest of my Mediterranean trip photos, try figuring this ‘magic trick’ out. It was performed by the owner of a tapas place in Barcelona.

He wasn’t touching the bottle at all. Just whacked it down hard on the table, with an ordinary napkin.

We tried to replicate the trick later, at another restaurant, but it didn’t work.

Post your theories on this blog (as a comment).

Prior to this Mediterranean cruise, I've only been on Star Cruises covering Southeast Asia. As you can imagine I've seen enough of ugly Singaporeans and other Asians grabbing food at buffets and letting their kids run amok. You may be relieved to hear these behaviour traits are not entirely exclusive to us Asians. When things get desperate and people are tired, it's 'all hands on deck'.

I am in the very stylish Barcelona airport, waiting to catch my flight back to Singapore. It has been an exciting trip and frankly I didn´t miss the Internet. The need to get online was only motivated by worry - not being able to finish checking my emails in time. Beyond worry is fear about work I left behind, but with Superman Shaun around, I should have nothing to fear.

The Spanish keyboard is catching me off-key, literally. To do a backslash I need to press SHIFT 7. I can also type characters like Ç, ¿ and ¡ very easily but I can´t seem to figure out how to type the @ sign. I had to copy and paste it from another web page. Also, JavaScript messages displayed in IE are all in Spanish.

Wireless access on my laptop is not free, but fortunately there are 2 Dell desktops here in the lounge which have free access. Got to go, see you all back in Singapore!