THE DIGITAL AWAKENING

11/11/2009

I wanna see if this pingback works.

posted by Peter | 11/11/2009 02:00:00 AM

1/27/2007

Clearing away the cobwebs here after moving out nearly four years ago. Nothing much really. I just want to keep this link alive. For the latest entries please visit The Digital Awakening.

posted by Peter | 1/27/2007 05:36:00 PM

3/23/2003

THE DIGITAL AWAKENING has moved.
Click here to go to the new home.

posted by Peter | 3/23/2003 09:26:00 PM

3/21/2003

Streamyx, the only nationwide broadband service in Malaysia, has practically ground to a halt. It is a joke that dialup users are surfing at much faster speeds. Subscribers have vented their frustrations through the press, newsgroups and forums, castigating TMNet for not being forthcoming with the answers as to the root cause of the problem.

Despite the entire hullabaloo, TMNet is extremely slow in informing its subscribers regarding the status of the problem. First, it was an authentication server problem. Much later, we were informed that Streamyx was under a Denial of Service (DoS) attack. After three weeks, the problem is still not resolved.

To add insult to injury, Streamyx subscribers are tied down by a one-year contract with TMNet and have to continue paying for a service that is not usable. Cyberaddicts like me have no choice but to wait for TMNet to rectify the problem, or connect through dialup which would add more burden to our expenses in a trying time like this.

This lackadaisical attitude by a monopolistic service provider casts a pall to Malaysia’s Multimedia Super Corridor ambition. And yes, I am suffering from another bout of withdrawal symptoms. Now, where is my Valium....

posted by Peter | 3/21/2003 03:43:00 AM

3/12/2003

My name is Peter and I am a cyberaddict. I had my first Internet account at the age of 29. I believe I was hooked the first time I logged in. Initially, it was just a couple of hours each day – one hour in the morning and another in the evening. It was so subtly gradual that I did not realise I was addicted to the Internet until I could not log in for several weeks.

The withdrawal symptoms were awful. I suffered from insomnia, poor appetite, and had a foul temper. I unrestrainedly hammered my computer and modem with the notion that it would get me connected again if I hit them hard enough. That was never successful!

That was five years ago. I am not making any effort cure myself from this addiction. Why! I have even graduated to a broadband connection just to squeeze more digital juice out of my waking hours. Now I can surf all day long for a flat rate of RM88 per month. I still suffer from withdrawal symptoms occasionally when the line goes dead for several hours without any reason. If I was not in a foul mood, I would be wallowing in despair at the dead connection.

I am a cyberaddict and I am enjoying every moment of it. I have no desire to yank myself away from my PC. I have no desire to recover. And I have vowed to get a connection with an even higher bandwidth when it is available and affordable.

posted by Peter | 3/12/2003 10:42:00 AM

3/05/2003

I wished I could be more prolific when it comes to blogging. I am lazy by nature – lazy in the sense that I am always looking for the fastest way to get a task done with the least possible steps. And I wished there were ways for me to get my thoughts blogged without having to type it out. Uploading thoughts…

I discovered that the camera zoom lens that I sent for cleaning a while back has a colony of fungus growing on its lens elements again. This is bad news as it costs a bomb to get it cleaned the last time. Another zoom lens has also been afflicted. Pesky little buggers.

I guess it would be cheaper in the long run to trade-in this Canon EOS 500, which I have used to capture many good memories, for a digital camera. That would save me a bundle on films and printing charges. If only I have the moolah for a top-of-the-range digital SLR.

posted by Peter | 3/05/2003 11:21:00 PM

3/02/2003

I just found out that my physical disabilities should not be called tetraplegia or quadriplegia. They have a more precise term to refer to my physical condition – tetraparesis or quadriparesis. So now, I officially suffer from tetraparesis and I shall describe myself as such from now on. That is enlightening!

Some may ask what the difference is between tetraparesis and quadriparesis? They both have one and the same meaning – partial paralysis of all the four limbs and loss of sensation from the neck or chest downward. Tetraparesis is British and quadriparesis is American, just like you eat your biscuits and I eat my crackers. The world is such a confusing place.

posted by Peter | 3/02/2003 01:25:00 AM

2/26/2003

I have been spending too much time surfing, which is not necessarily a bad thing since I am able to spend my time more productively instead of lazing around and doing nothing. The only drawback is that my feet become swollen after a prolonged period of lower body inactivity. This condition is called oedema. Yes! I am a prime candidate for deep vein thrombosis, too, and I do not even have to fly transatlantic to be afflicted. Wuan has this novel idea to rid the oedema – hang upside down like a bat. If only she can guarantee that my head will not become bloated instead!

posted by Peter | 2/26/2003 11:19:00 PM

2/14/2003

Last night, I had Valentine’s Day Dinner with my first Valentine. No, it is not of the romantic kind. It was with Mum. We are both recovering from a bad bout of flu. First, the sore throat wears you down. Next comes the phlegm and itch in the throat. I am feeling much better now but Mum is still on antibiotics.

I received a very cute Valentine card from Wuan. It is a picture of a Bubblegum cartoon squeezing a heart balloon with the words: “I know a good thing when I squeeze it!” I really cannot imagine a guy my age would still find cards like this endearing. But then again, anything from Wuan is endearing. She takes pain to find just the right gift. Always!

posted by Peter | 2/14/2003 08:32:00 PM

2/08/2003

I truly and absolutely succumbed to the ultimate in cyber vanity – registering a dotcom in my name. petertan.com is officially online as of February 8, 2003. Wuan had so generously bought the web space for me to move the two homepages I was managing from Geocities to this new domain. Our relationship is a progeny of the bitstream. We met online, and this milestone is momentous to us.

posted by Peter | 2/08/2003 05:00:00 AM

2/07/2003

Finally found some time to update. I have been busy with relatives visiting for the Chinese New Year. Mum, being the eldest on her side of the family, usually gets visits from younger members of her clan who come to pay their respects. On the 3rd day, we had as many as 20 relatives cramming into our small apartment. It is traditions like this that keeps us connected where otherwise we would not have had the opportunity to meet at other times as we are each busy with our own commitments.

posted by Peter | 2/07/2003 03:29:00 AM

1/31/2003

From near and far they return, to ask for forgiveness and blessings from the elders. Around the dining table, they exchange humour, and are thankful for being able to spend this auspicious time together as a family; enjoying a hearty meal of home cooked dishes, pork, poultry and simmering soups. Chinese New Year’s eve is the time of family reunion dinners.

Today, my neighbour from Level 10, Soon Leong and his charming wife, invited Mum and me to his apartment for the Chinese New Year reunion lunch. They also invited Mr. Tan, another neighbour from Level 9. It was such a coincidence that all of us are from the Tan clan. The food was plentiful and scrumptious. I couldn’t ask for better neighbours.

posted by Peter | 1/31/2003 02:58:00 AM

1/28/2003

Chinese New Year is just three days away. Somehow, the excitement I had as a kid anticipating this occasion has dwindled over the years. I guess I have become more complacent with age. Experience has numbed me to the thrill of heralding in another season. Each celebration is a stark reminder that I have added another ring to the trunk. Each new spring intimates that I have one year less to accomplish what I have yet to attain. Festivals do this to me. They make me melancholic. They bring out the worst of mid-life crisis in me.

posted by Peter | 1/28/2003 09:45:00 AM

1/27/2003

Heard about it; read about it; contemplated about having one to call my own; and, finally, now, I have my own Blog! So, what is interesting about blogging? For one, once where we could bitch to a few friends over a cup of teh tarik about how bad our day was, now we can bitch to the whole world about it. Cool, isn’t it? The world is getting smaller, indeed.

posted by Peter | 1/27/2003 11:21:00 PM