dum dum dum dum da dum dum da dum

Take your best shot....

2007-03-14T18:59:00.000+08:00

OK. Now that we're done with the niceties of the Johari Window, Here's your chance to tell me what you really think by putting it on my Nohari Window. Feel free to contribute anonymously if you think it's necessary so that you can be honest.

http://kevan.org/nohari?name=yinsern

My Johari Window

2007-03-08T22:54:00.001+08:00

Always wanted to know what you didn't know about yourself?

Today, upon someone's suggestion, I decided to set up a Johari Window. What's a Johari Window? Well it's this little thingy that people contribute to by selecting 6 traits out of a list of 55 which best describe you.

If you'd like to contribute to mine, please go to http://kevan.org/johari?name=yinsern

Here's a snapshot as of 11pm, March 8 2007.

Arena

(known to self and others)

idealistic, intelligent, knowledgeable, logical, proud

Blind Spot

(known only to others)

able, adaptable, calm, caring, cheerful, clever, confident, dependable, extroverted, friendly, helpful, independent, mature, modest, observant, organised, patient, self-assertive, sensible, spontaneous, tense, trustworthy, witty

Façade

(known only to self)

quiet

Unknown

(known to nobody)

accepting, bold, brave, complex, dignified, energetic, giving, happy, ingenious, introverted, kind, loving, nervous, powerful, reflective, relaxed, religious, responsive, searching, self-conscious, sentimental, shy, silly, sympathetic, warm, wise

Dominant Traits

100% of people agree that yinsern is intelligent

All Percentages

able (21%) accepting (0%) adaptable (14%) bold (0%) brave (0%) calm (28%) caring (14%) cheerful (7%) clever (7%) complex (0%) confident (50%) dependable (21%) dignified (0%) energetic (0%) extroverted (7%) friendly (14%) giving (0%) happy (0%) helpful (35%) idealistic (7%) independent (28%) ingenious (0%) intelligent (100%) introverted (0%) kind (0%) knowledgeable (42%) logical (21%) loving (0%) mature (21%) modest (35%) nervous (0%) observant (14%) organised (14%) patient (14%) powerful (0%) proud (7%) quiet (0%) reflective (0%) relaxed (0%) religious (0%) responsive (0%) searching (0%) self-assertive (14%) self-conscious (0%) sensible (7%) sentimental (0%) shy (0%) silly (0%) spontaneous (7%) sympathetic (0%) tense (7%) trustworthy (7%) warm (0%) wise (0%) witty (14%)

Created by the Interactive Johari Window on 8.3.2007, using data from 14 respondents.
You can make your own Johari Window, or view yinsern's full data.

Road Work on the Information Superhighway

2007-02-14T09:17:00.001+08:00

My family and I have been internet users with jaring and now tmnet ever since jaring first came on the scene. We have been streamyx users ever since its inception.

About a month ago, my connection failed and I have been unable to reconnect ever since. I have reported the issue to the streamyx helpline (report no: 3708934) and have called them for updates almost daily because no one has ever called back to say "it's fixed!". At first we were told that it was because we moved a year ago without telling them, but this is impossible as it was the tmnet technicians who transferred the connection to our new phone number and it had been working fine at our new place for 13 months. So they got a technician to check the "jumper" which apparently was already done for the phone number at our new place. Then they said it was the server not accepting our number which they had to escalate to the "expert team".

After many calls, and us insisting that they let us talk to someone who can DO something, someone from the "expert team" called about two weeks ago and said they were working on it. We never heard back from him, so we had to continue our one way tennis match with the call centre.

One day after constantly insisting we get to talk to a supervisor or someone with more authority, someone actually called back (apparently the supervisors and managers were all "out" our "in a meeting" previously) saying that they would get someone to do something about it. Again, we have not heard back since.

On the 3rd of February (a Saturday), I got a call in the evening saying that the connection should be fixed very soon, maybe even Monday. Come Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, the connection is still not working. It has now been a week and a half since that call.

It has now come to a point where the call centre agent can only say that "I will escalate the issue to the correct department and put it in the report". Apparently our case is on the "priority list". It has been so for over a week. I get the feeling nothing at all is being done.

I understand that the call centre agent should not be an outlet for our frustrations and we have tried to be patient and understanding because they are really just doing their jobs. However, they have promised to e-mail me copies of their report many times (and I ask for it almost every time I call up) but I still have not received anything so it's not just the maintenance crews/"expert team" that doesn't seem to be doing their job. It also seems that no one I can speak to can actually DO anything to fix the problem.

As it is, I have been told that I have to go to the nearest TM shop to get a refund, but I am still required to pay my streamyx bill promptly. I understand systems have limitations but charging customers for non-existant services is unacceptable. Imagine going to the petrol kiosk and paying for fuel then being told "sorry, we're out of stock. Please go to PETRONAS twin towers to get your refund".

I understand that intermittent connections and connection speeds are commonplace and that there is a lot of frustration around the fact that customers are not getting what everything they're paying for. But here, they are leaving a loyal PAYING customer without an internet connection and practically no follow-up for one whole month.

In the meantime, my family and I have resorted to staying late at work and spending more time and money at cybercafes & wifi enabled coffee joints for personal internet use. We are quite dependent on technology as a family even though my parents both do not have technical backgrounds and are past retirement age (we use it for banking, research, stock trading, communicating with family members who are overseas etc.), so this has disrupted our lives quite a bit.

So here we are, living in the information age and having embraced technology as part of our lives... Unfortunately if you happen to be visiting, the sign at the end of my street says "road closure due to unplanned work - completion date unknown"

It's all gone pear shaped...

2007-01-02T02:09:00.000+08:00

Situation:
1) It's New Year's Day (OK.. it's 2am on the 2nd of January, but it's still New Year's Day to me because I haven't gone to bed and woken up for the second time this year yet)
2) I have not blogged since May 2006
3) The last comment on my blog was from Julian and I quote: "It's been months, dude.... Time for an update"
4) Julian, Edwin and I are working on the Christmas DVD while keeping our day jobs on the side just in case this gig doesn't fly
5) I think I've put in about 12 good hours, assigning tracks and cleaning up noise from the recording track by track (Had a little giggle when I caught someone let out a barely audible "oh s***" in between scenes).

Complication:
My PC has decided to pack-up and crap out on me. I was in the middle of cutting "Joe! SHUAAA ZHAAA MAAANNN" when my machine started doing some really strange things. Now it won't start.

Key question:
Should I look forward a few years and start laughing now to save myself some grief?

In the voice of the narrator from "Word On The Street": "Have you ever felt like taking a sledgehammer to your favourite toys?"

Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, I've now spent the last half hour playing Mr. Computer Repairman rather than actually working on the DVD. It won't boot. I'm getting a "windows could not start because the following file(s) is missing or corrupt windows\system32\config\system"...

Now I'm not the greatest geek in the world, but I've narrowed it down to hardware because:
1) I can't start either of my Windows XP partitions (I have a separate Windows XP installation for my normal PC use and for my recording projects). It's unlikely that both registries would get fried in a day
2) I can't even install Windows or get the wonderful Windows XP installation process started using the Windows Installation CD
3) A lot of other people seem to be having this problem and saying that going away for 4-5 hours and then rebooting again seems to fix the problem, albeit temporarily.

Call me uptight/intolerant/a grouch/impatient/aggresive/manic, whatever, but this is just ridiculous. We're talking about a couple thousand smackers (quid/bucks/sacks of rice/bushels of potatoes... choose your currency) worth of machinery here. Why can't it just bleeding work!?!?!?

Grr... Anyway. I'm going to bed. We'll see if it's any better in the morning.

Happy New Year? Bleh.... This 2007 thing is over-rated

Labouring away on labour day

2006-05-03T06:43:00.000+08:00

Finally had time to put up my "Off-the-wall" hangers on Monday. The walls here are made of brick and cement, so I had to do a bit of drilling and use wall-plugs (couldn't use any of the mounting hardware provided), but it was worth the slight bit of effort.

Judging by the amount they've prettied up my room, I'll have to get more of those hangers and bring the other guitars back from the studio!

As an aside, I spent the rest of the day cleaning... My room was a royal mess at the beginning of the day. I wonder how long it'll stay this neat....

Stuck in the airport at 6am

2006-05-03T06:35:00.000+08:00

OK.. This is too early to be anywhere else but in bed. Had to get up at 4:30 to come out here... grrrr....

There aren't many things that you can do at the airport at 6am... Having breakfast is kinda ridiculous. It's RM6.90 for a cup of milo and RM3.90 for a bottle of water. Good thing there's free wi-fi.

If I get REALLY bored, maybe I'll go ride the escalators for a bit. Or run through passport control shouting "I can't turn it offf!!!!! It's gonna blow!!"

Right. This isn't working. My brain is still asleep.

Ubersize Me

2006-04-25T22:42:00.000+08:00

This is a ridiculous way to spend the weekend...

http://ueba.com.br/html/THE-New-Biggest-Burger-Ever-060421

But then it's not quite as impressive as our largest roti canai/longest teh tarik/smelliest durian. You can only get media coverage and have your name published in a book of records for this kinda thing here in Malaysia.

Ach crivens!

2006-04-23T00:48:00.000+08:00

For those who've been visiting this desert wasteland since the old days (last year la) and noticed my Catch:22 preview... Well.. I haven't finished it yet (August 2009 is still some time off). I think I went insane for awhile and had to start reading childrens' books to compensate. Having said that... Childrens' books aren't half bad.

I just finished reading "The Wee Free Men" about a month ago and I must say it was lots of fun! Not quite as dark or clever as the "normal" (as far as worlds being held on the backs of elephants standing on the back of a turtle that swims through space can be considered normal) Discworld stuff, but still worth a good few laughs.

Most of my favourite bits involve Feegles talking.. Here are some examples:
-"They can tak' oour lives but they cannae tak' oour troousers!"
-"Ach, stick it up yer trakkans!"
-"I could murder a kebab! "
-"Ach, here's a headful o' dandruff for ye, ye bogle"
-"Crivens! I kicked meself in ma ain heid!"

Interestingly, wikipedia lists their "see alsos" as Braveheart and the Smurfs (come to think about it now, the smurfs kinda freak me out... A happy community of little topless blue men with only one old fogey and one woman... Someone once suggested that they may be gay)

I'm to the second book now... "A Hatful of Sky". Will post something about it here if it's worth it and if I can be bothered.

Argh... Saturday's over already.. Tomorrow's MONDAY
As the Nac Mac Feegle would say: "Oh waily, waily, waily!"

Been awhile....

2006-04-23T00:33:00.000+08:00

It's been some time since I last visited this place. Come to think about it, it's also been some time since I last picked up my guitar just for fun...

Funny how you can just stop doing the things you enjoy and not think about it at all.

Hmm... Makes me kinda wonder if I do this for myself or for the handful of people who actually stop by this dump and spare some time to read my random babblings. Probably a bit of both. And I'll probably require some motivation from both to keep me going.

So if you've stopped by here hoping to pick up some pearls of wisdom/to laugh at my stupidity/because you really have nothing better to do with your life... and found that there ACTUALLY IS a new post, then do post a little comment. We all need a bit of a push sometimes.

Ever had one of those days?

2005-07-17T01:51:00.000+08:00

OK.. So I haven't been posting here for awhile. And like everyone else, my excuse is that I've been really busy. (yeah big deal! I'm ALWAYS busy!)

Anyway.. I'm not really here to write anything random or useful right now. Just wanted to share that animated gif above that was sent to me by an equally crazy colleague. Apparently it went out to the whole firm the next day.

Food Tagged

2005-06-30T23:48:00.000+08:00

Gaaaah! Edwin you are evil... Oh well.. Saves me having to think of something to write about. Inspiration/verbal diarrhoea has not been visiting me of late.

1. What is your first memory of baking/cooking on your own?
Chopping random things up and throwing them into a pot during some camp. I think I was 9. I think I also had digestive system related issues for awhile.

2. Who had the most influence on your cooking?
Sainsbury's. If they haven't got it in a jar, it's probably too hard to cook :P

3. Do you have an old photo as “evidence” of an early exposure to the culinary world and would you like to share it?
Not really "early", but I think Alex "Ginger" Leigh took some pictures of the "curry chicken feet" I cooked back in my first year at uni. (I shared a house with 12 Brits... Can you imagine the havoc I caused?)

4. Mageirocophobia - do you suffer from any cooking phobia, a dish that makes your palms sweat?
Not really. I only cook stuff that I do well. (Well "I" think I do them well...)

5. What would be your most valued or used kitchen gadgets and/or what was the biggest let down?
I don't actually own any kitchen gadgets now but I guess back in uni, it would have to be my coffee maker. Probably the only kitchen gadget that was mine! (OK.. I confess.. I'm one of those people who leeched off everyone else and never bought any utensils or cutlery. I mean.. It just seems a bit dumb to have 5 or 10 woks and sets of plates etc....)

6. Name some funny or weird food combinations/dishes you really like - and probably no one else!
Jam and ham! (I love sandwiches!)

7. What are the three eatables or dishes you simply don’t want to live without?
-Chocolate chip cookies
-Sandwiches (a bit generic.. sorry)
-Can't really think of anything else... I guess I'm not one of those "live to eat" types..

8. Three quickies:
Your favorite ice-cream… : Baskin Robbins' World Class Chocolate
You will probably never eat… : A camel's testicle.. (What?!!? I'll DEFINITELY NEVER eat that!)
Your own signature dish… : Heheh.. Serney's super sandwiches. (I AM the sandwich maker... Ask what my secret is)

9. Who do you want most to cook you dinner?
Do I have to want them to cook me dinner because they're good cooks? :P
If "yes" - grandma
Else - hmm.... Let's not go there....

OK.. My own question...:
10. "What's your funniest cooking experience?"
Walking into the kitchen and finding my housemate trying to fry a chicken... A WHOLE chicken... like.. The whole chicken was sitting there on the pan...

And I'm supposed to tag 3 ppl? hmm.. I don' t know that many people with blogs..
1) Da Niu (Danie7 - you haven't got enough words on your blog!)
2) Emeryz (sorryla... you so happened to talk to me about blogs today)
3) Ben (The master himself... What was it? 17 slices of pizza in one sitting?)

sunburn + board rash + aching shoulders = satisfaction!

2005-06-20T23:15:00.000+08:00

Primary objective of holiday: Catch some waves.
Side Note: Try not to get killed or to look too stupid.

Day 1 = Lots of walking :P
Walked all the way from Tuban to Halfway Kuta to check out the surf. Then walked around Kuta Square a bit. Bought some board shorts and a pair of sunnies.

Day 2+Day 3+Day 4 = SURFING! (plus some other stuff which I don't really remember too well 'coz I was preoccupied SURFING!)
Arrived at Kuta a little too late in the morning on Friday. Tide was low and waves were pretty dumpy. Not too great for longboards and beginners (would have led to many nosedives and perhaps some broken noses), so we just went back to the hotel and chilled out the whole morning (i.e. I slept!).

SURFING!!! On Friday, my dad, my sis and I took a surfing lesson together in the afternoon. You can tell we had lots of fun!

Did I mention my dad's greatest ambition is to be a beach bum?

We did a little bit of theory and some jump up practice on land before heading down to the beach.

"Whoaaa! Those waves are BIG and SCARY!"

For the first day we just kinda stayed close to the beach and surfed in the white wash.

On Saturday morning, I headed out to Kuta on my own 'coz my dad and sis were too tired/lazy to go surfing early in the morning. I ended up spending most of the day paddling and waiting for waves. Was still good fun though.

Sunday was a totally different story! The waves were HUGE! My aim for the day was to catch as many big green waves as possible and practice catching them.. This meant a few embarassing wipeouts! Still.. It was AMAZING! I was having so much fun that I didn't want to go back! I ended up having to go straight to the airport from the beach to make sure I didn't miss my flight! It was worth the rush though.. The "Longboarder's Start-Up - A Guide to Longboard Surfing" by Doug Werner has this to say about catching your first big wave:

"This will happen:
You'll be screaming along at 75 mph, in control with
every eye on the beach on you...
Lookit that guy go!

You'll think:
WOW!
I'm standing UP!
On TOP of the water!
I'm SURFING!

We're talking moments here, but those moments will rank right up there with your first Christmas morning, first bike ride, first hit, goal or catch, first kiss, first home run (in or out of the park), first meaningful paycheck and first successful public speaking engagement.

Yup, the first time really is like that. For everybody."

He wasn't wrong.

"WOW! I didn't fall off!"

Many thanks to the guys at ProSurf - Bali, for their expert guidance and for making sure I didn't put a board through anyone's (especially my own) head.

Cowabunga!

2005-06-16T01:42:00.000+08:00

Check this beauty out!

For the next few days, I'm gonna be stupidly trying to stand on a large plank riding those things... Yes! I'm FINALLY going to Bali!

Wish me luck.. It's been almost 3 years since I last did anything that involved having both feet planted on a long flat projectile-like object. Hopefully I won't end up like this guy too much:

What's the catch?

2005-06-09T21:47:00.000+08:00

The following passage is taken from "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller

"Sure there's a catch," Doc Daneeka replied. "Catch-22. Anyone who wants to get out of combat duty isn't really crazy"

There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to.

WOW! If I could only write like that! Do I have to go nuts first though? Then again, I probably already am so there's no issue there...

As you've probably guessed by now, I'm reading Catch-22 (more like "trying to read".. for the umpteenth time... It seems everytime I start I either lose the book or get too busy). Hopefully I'll actually finish it this time.

More on the book when I finish.

Bow before me....

2005-05-29T00:12:00.000+08:00

It's pretty close.. I AM eeevvillll... And I DO have bad skin (Joshua.. you can stop laughing now)

The circle is now complete...

2005-05-25T23:16:00.000+08:00

That's it. I'll never have another Star Wars movie to look forward to again. If all the comments the latest film has received are anything to go by, that may not be such a bad thing.

After listening to all my Star Wars weirdo friends, I walked into the cinema last night thinking:

And I must say I wasn't too far off.

While the effects and fight scenes were great and the story itself is still really cool, the quality of the acting and the script were pretty abysmal at times. To say some bits were cheesy is a bit of an understatement... We're talking Vieux Boulogne here (supposedly the world's stinkiest cheese)... Take for instance the already infamous "Hold me" scene... Or the clip where the new mechanised Darth Vader goes "NOOOOO!" after hearing from Darth Sidious that Padme was dead.

Oh well... I'm sure you'll find many other blogs that have far more colourful ways to express their disappointment.

Did anyone else find how the movies are kinda trapped between two totally different eras of film-making a little weird? Most of the screenwipes were reminscent of the originals as was Darth Vader's costume. I guess it's cool in a way, but it's a bit hard in this day and age to imagine someone building anything with a huge red light, a huge green light and a whole bunch of huge rocker switchers on it and putting it on a cyborg's chest. Perhaps if Obi-Wan had just reached out and played with some those switches. He my have just gotten old Vader to reboot or go into "debug" mode or something. Then again, there's a theory that it's actually the lighting control panel for the light technician for KISS.

Having said all that, I'm still a huge Star Wars fan. In my mind, the originals will always rock. The trilogy of prequels though disappointing I guess do set the whole story up. I guess I'll be watching Episodes IV, V and VI this weekend to re-affirm my faith in The Force lest I slip to the "Pink Paisley Side".

The good news is, should you ever do a Star Wars epic movie marathon, you'll be watching the original three movies LAST! WOOHOO! Anyone game?

Only now, at the end, do you understand.

2005-05-24T00:51:00.000+08:00

It's been 28 years since Star Wars was first realeased and 22 years since Luke kicked some serious Sith ass to end the whole dark side malarkey... And tomorrow I shall watch the final (and yet not so final due to the curse of the prequel) installment of the Star Wars err.. trilogy.. quadrology.. quintology.. sexology? hmm... That sounds SERIOUSLY wrong... It's a real word though. I looked it up. :P

Those of you who've been here before already know that I'm not getting my hopes up too much. So I'm sitting here trying to think of how I can be "unexcited"... I mean, if I really wanted to get into the mood, I could put on a Darth Vader/Yoda/Luke (darned wannabes)/Princess Leia/R2D2 outfit, bring a light saber and try to sneak into the cinema without a ticket by using Jedi mind tricks.

But how exactly do you act UN-excited?

Well.. I'll just be going to work in the morning... Stop by the gym for a bit after work... Grab something to eat... Read a bit... And oh... Maybe just pop down to the cinema to watch the movie with a few (17 to be exact) friends... Hopefully the whole going to watch the "last ever" episode of Star Wars thing will slip my mind up 'til about 10:59 and I'll be like "hmm.. HEY! I'm supposed to be watching a movie in a bit... I'd better mosey on over there so I'm not too late"

Sigh... Gearing up for a let down is so depressing. It may be better if I just get all psyched up and let myself be totally devastated by the disappointment.

Oh well... At least the Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy is coming out soon... Hopefully that won't be TOO depressing...

"Do not give in to hate. That leads to the dark side."

Such an idiot... I am.

2005-05-23T16:57:00.000+08:00

I can't believe it! Today is a public holiday so I thought I'd be really disciplined and go to the gym. I drove all the way there, parked my car, walked to the gym, checked in, put my bag in the locker... and realized I didn't bring my shoes.... AGAIN!

That's the THIRD time this week! Geeez! What's wrong with me?

I have you now!

2005-05-23T00:29:00.000+08:00

Got this off one of my schoolmates (thanks JJ!).
http://www.sithsense.com/flash.htm

I thought it was really cool! Darth Vader will guess what you're thinking.
Don't cheat!

Do not understimate the power of the dark side!

The Force is strong with this one....

2005-05-22T08:43:00.000+08:00

OK... So everyone is having their go at how utterly crap the latest Star Wars movie is. I've got tickets for Tuesday and now my expectations are REALLY REALLY low. But wait! That's a good thing! It's gonna be pretty hard to disappoint me now! Wooha! In your face! Haha! I'm gonna enjoy it so much more than all you guys who were wagging your tickets at me over the past few days. :P

Anyway.... Considering all the bad press and criticism, why are we even going to watch the movie anyway? I've had this conversation a few times with other (non-mental) Star Wars buffs and even though we've always reached some kind of conclusion, it still baffles me that in spite of ALL the negative feedback, we're all STILL going to pay the n RM/yen/quid/euros/bushels of potatoes/Altairian dollars for the ticket, queue up at the cinema with scores of impatient suckers just like us, dress up like yoda/windoo/vader/luke(wannabes :P)/obiwan, buy some popcorn and sit down to be disappointed by the film where it has been alleged that "a piece of plywood would have done a better job of playing Anakin". Somehow, it's one of those things that just "has to be done". Why?

Someone from another planet would probably think that we're either mad or that the second wave of Star Wars movies were some sort of ingenious scam that has managed to make some people incredibly rich while leaving the rest of the planet a little puzzled and extremely disappointed.

I like to think it's a combination of BOTH. So... In order to try and build my marketing skills in the hope that I can fall in the "perpetrator of ingenious scams to make myself incredibly rich" category, I'm gonna use a shameless sell-out plug to try and get more people to visit this site and read my random scribblings (so that hopefully I can make myself incredibly rich by selling dumdumdumdumdadumdumdadum t-shirts, mugs and nappies) by offering ONE FREE ticket to see Star Wars Episode III - Revenge of the Sith at TGV KLCC on Tuesday (24th May 2005) @ 11pm. (Terms and conditions apply)

All you have to do to win this ticket is post a Star Wars related response here by noon on Monday the 23rd of May 2005. I will then pick the most amusing entry with the advice of my very capable panel of judges.

So what are you waiting for? Post ANYTHING you want! You can even say why you deserve to win the ticket or take a pot-shot at me for setting up a blog that is of absolutely no value at all to the human race (though I hear the mice may be interested).

Terms and conditions of free ticket contest:
1) The author has absolute and final say in decision of the winning post.
2) Winner of contest has to acknowledge that dumdumdumdumdadumdumdadum.blogspot.com is a very worthile blogsite to visit.
3) Winner of contest will turn up for the movie in full "Jar-Jar-Binks" outfit.
4) "Panel of judges" consists of my lucky-8-ball that gives "yes/no" type answers and a excel spreadsheet that picks random entries from a defined list.

2005-05-21T17:37:00.000+08:00

Join me, and together we shall rule the galaxy

ahh.. so this is what it's like to own a blog

2005-05-21T16:28:00.000+08:00

ok...
So now I can happily leave it here in a constant state of disrepair. If my blog were to have a personality, it would probably be like Marvin "the paranoid android" (if you don't know who/what he is, you're missing out - www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/ ).