How is cuteness defined?

Ever wondered how Disney come out with one cute cartoon after another? How is cuteness defined? What makes something cuter than another?

This is a guideline I found on another website. Very interesting :)

Back from Brisbane!

I was back from Brisbane on 14th! The journey was fantastic overall, thanks to our great tour guide Zhi Wei who brought us to the most interesting places she could find in Brisbane and Gold Coast. The beaches, zoo, Movie World etc were simply breathtaking. I don't have time to put up the journey here yet, but I promise I will in the coming weeks, and keep your finger crossed for the sunny pictures from me! :)

The new semester is going to begin in two more days and I have yet to recompose myself for the new challenges. I have just checked the group allocations for our tutorials, and it's kinda relieving that I am in the same group with some of the nice people out there, e.g. Chong Chyn, Jing Yi etc. Also lucky is the fact that I am not together with well-known troublemakers. :P

Before I end, just thought I would share a football joke leeched shamelessly from Voon Seng's blog over here. Let's brave our new days with a smile!

A Korean football supporter asks God: When will Korea lift the World Cup?
God: 100 years.
The Korean broke into tears, because he couldn't live to witness it.

Then, a Japanese football supporter asks God: When will Japan lift the World Cup?
God: 200 years.
The Japanese broke into tears, for the same reason of not being able to live to witness
it.

Then, a Malaysian football supporter asks God: When will Malaysia lift the World Cup?
God: *Broke into tears*


(Disclaimer: the God mentioned is not religion-specific)

World Cup Madness

Zidane's last footballing act - a headbutt!!

Yesterday night I stayed up late to watch the World Cup final, and for the first time I am not regretting it. The final was simply spectacular and entertaining. Although it didn't produce many goals (of course I am not counting the penalties), the skills and the dramas actually quite summed up this World Cup - shocking, unbelievable, and lots of penalties.

As you have seen above, this is the end of Zinedine Zidane, one of the footballing legends ever alive. I couldn't even let the sight sink in me when I saw the replay! Sigh.. What a way to end his career in disgrace due to a moment of madness!

I read that it was a nip in Zidane's left nipple and then a racial slur that provoked him. But what? After having played football for 15 years, why can't he just laugh away whatever Materazzi was saying or poking? Sigh, he chose to bring ignominy to himself at the end of a scintillating career. I guess billions of TV spectators learnt yesterday that skills are only as good as your emotion when human atrocity comes into the picture. No matter what, it's unprofessional.

And to put it in a nutshell, I quote from Domenech, the coach of the French team:

"When one has to put up with what Zidane had to and the referee doesn't do anything, one understands. You can't excuse it, but you can understand it."

Raymond Domenech

Note: Brisbane is fun, but hot. :)

Full Glass of Milk

It's a story that Eric has just sent me, it's so old but nonetheless powerful. There might not be such a coincidence in this world, but I always believe that altruism is the noblest human virtue, and that kindness without asking for reward will actually do you good.

Full Glass Of Milk

One day, a poor boy who was selling goods from door to door to pay for
his hungry stomach, decided he would ask for a meal at the next house.

On the way through school, he found he had only one thin dime left and
he was very hungry.

However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door.
Instead of a meal he asked for a drink of water.

The woman thought he looked hungry, so brought him a large glass of milk.

He drank it slowly, and then asked, "How much do I owe you?"

"You don't owe me anything," she replied.

"Mother has taught us, never to accept pay for a kindness."

He said... "Then I thank you from my heart."

Year's later that young woman became critically ill. The local doctors
were baffled. They finally sent her to the big city, where they called
in specialists to study her rare disease.

Dr. Howard Kelly was called in for the consultation. When he heard the
name of the town she came from, a strange light filled his eyes.

Immediately he rose and went down the hall of the hospital to her room.
Dressed in his doctor's gown he went in to see her. He recognized her
at once.

He went back to the consultation room determined to do his best to save
her life, from that day he gave special attention to the case.

After a long struggle, the battle was won. Dr. Kelly requested the
business office to pass the final bill to him for approval.

He looked at it, then wrote something on the edge and the bill was sent
to her room.

The woman feared opening it, for she was sure it would take the rest of
her life to pay for it all.

Finally she looked, and something caught her attention on the side of
the bill. She read these words... "Paid in full with one glass of milk."

Signed, Dr. Howard Kelly.

Small talk: I will be off for a trip to Brisbane from tonight until 15th of July.

I am a .txt!

Italy has just won in a spectacular fashion, and I am going to sleep now... It's funny how I always have a correct guess when I am not gambling (well, only once I did bet on this World Cup).

By the way, it's interesting how they can come up with a test like this: Which file extension are you?


Which File Extension are You?

Football

In football, nothing is certain except uncertainty.


Note: That is how I feel after watching yesterday night's World Cup matches. England was beaten by Portugal in penalty shoot-out (again!) 3-1, and against all odds, France beat the defending champion Brazil 1-0 after a scintillating Zidane display. Fantastic and heart-breaking.

I Can See My House!

I guess almost everyone who has used Internet long enough would have known the existence of Google Earth, and its sister project, Google Maps.

Basically, these two are the whole-earth satellite images that are free for public access. Last year, I enthusiastically tried it out in my Melbourne apartment and "visited" a few places such as Melbourne, University of Cambridge, University of Surabaya, University of Michigan and most important of all, my home.

For the first few maps, the map resolution (the clearness of the fine details) are superb - I can see every single car and house clearly. But for my home in Alor Star, I was utterly disappointed. Despite my very best effort, all I saw was a fine water line which I recognized as Sungai Kedah, and a glob of indiscrete houses which I barely recognized as "housing areas". And I couldn't even estimate where my house was, not to mention to pinpoint where it is.

I gave it up since then, and I thought probably Alor Star just wasn't a city important enough to feature a high-resolution map.

Today, however, Michelle amazed me with her post about her hometown. I thought, eih, Michelle came from Kuching right, how come she can see so many high-resolution pictures one? To quench my curiosity, I decided to have a look on the Google Map, to see what's happening to Kuching map and Alor Star map.

I couldn't contain my excitement when I saw it. I could see it - *my house and *my school! Yes, it is shown with amazing details, and for the first time I realized that the roof of my house is U-shaped! *Yee Pin, I can see your house too! *Winson! The biggest surprise - the *St. John Garden in my school!! I have yet to find other's house like Xuan Ni's yet, KL is too complicated for to search... :P

Haha, thanks Google Maps, you made my day!

*Note: In the links, the said structure is in the middle of the map.