East side is hotter

It seems that this year electoral contest happen all at the east side of our island, except for some Single Member Constituences (SMCs).  East side will see all the battles and hear all the rallies, but west side will seem much forgotten.  This is because all Group Representitive Constituences (GRCs) on the west side of Singapore have been taken by PAP on nomination day because they are all uncontested.

Opposition parties seems to have gang up together and contest only the east side of Singapore island.  One of my friend suggested that this is because east side resisdents are more well off than their west side counterpart, thus they will be more willing to vote in the opposition.  This is quite true as richer people will care less about bread and butter issues and focus more on other intellectual issues like the need to have an alternative voice in the parliament.

I would like to believe that the opposition have done their homework and gather a certain statistic from the past elections that shows east side being more supportive of the opposition.  If this is true then it will mean that opposition have become more organize and one day they will really be of a first world standard.

PAP was not return to power on Nomination day

So this is a change since 1988 election.  PAP walkover with only 37 seats out of a possible 84, 6 shy of the majority that they need to form the government.  The opposition parties fielded a total of 47 candidates to deny PAP a return to power on Nomination day.

I think that the opposition parties are finding that the by-election effect is more detrimental.  With opposition parties all trying to grow, contesting less than 42 seats will definitely result in multi-corner fights, which always turn out to be in favour of the ruling party.

The by-election strategy is also not effective enough.  After implementing the by-election effect in 1991, which see them winning 4 seats, the next 2 elections see their seats maintain at 2.  Compare with 1991, PAP gain 4% of total vote cast in 1997 and a further 10% in 2001.  Thus this shows that the by-election strategy wasn’t effective (though you can say that this is because PAP counter the strategy with upgrading benefit).

So will PM Lee at the strong mandate that he wants?  This will only be known at the end of Saturday 6th May 2006.

Rainy day

There is something funny in Singapore during rainy days and I don’t know whether is it just us or this is happening in other countries as well.  Somehow during rainy days, Singaporean forgot how to drive.  There will always be accident on rainy days and you can bet on it that all the major express way will be jam with cars due to these accidents.

Today is no exception.  It rain and the jam is right in front.  Thus the usual journey took an extra 20mins to complete.  Is it because most Singaporean don’t change their tyres even though the tyres are already bald?  I just wonder.

Will PAP be returned to power on Nomination day?

So tomorrow is Nomination day for Singapore.  It will be such an interesting day, as we will then know whether PAP will once again be returned to power on Nomination day.  This was a tactic devised by opposition party to create a by-election effect.  Since Singaporean was afraid to vote down PAP, by not contesting more than half of the electoral seats, PAP will be returned to power on Nomination day, thus Singaporean will be more willing to vote in opposition candidates.

This by-election effect was created in 1991 and that year the opposition won 4 seats out of the possible 84, the highest number of seats ever won by the opposition.  This year, however, the opposition have decided not to use this tactic anymore and they have decided to contest 55 out of the total 84 seats.  But this might be just a tactic used by the opposition, all will only be confirmed on Nomination day, which is tomorrow.

We will know by noon tomorrow and it will be an interesting day.

Where’s my pointer!

The single most baffling thing about changing to program in C# from C++ is that pointer is not recommended.  So it will take some time to get use to it.  Especially when a lot of algorithm is base on using pointer to access certain data structure.

C# still contain pointer, in fact the syntax is exactly the same as that in C++, just that it is consider unsafe to use pointer.  Your program might access some invalid address using pointer method causing access violation and thus this is consider unsafe by C#.

I hope I can really manage to do without pointer.  I really hope so.

Finally, it is up to date

After such a long time, I’ve finally got my act together to make my test program up to date with the WinFX Feb CTP release.  Its not that the update need as long as 2 months  plus to make, just that I was really busy with other work related project.  The actual time I took was about 1 and a half day but the amount of changes that has gotten into WinFX was quite a lot.

First there was a change in the namespace URL, this update is making the URL official.  Then the various scripting parameters in XAML has changed, for example the way to refer to a ResourceDictionary is no longer just a single line.  It has changed to become a nested set of ResourceDictionary script.

So after clearing this hurdle, I will progress on to port my C++ code into C# code.  I am already getting into some serious obstacle but I will be clearing them step by step.

A National Sports

Cybergaming is going to be considered as a national sports in Singapore.  The CyberSports Association has been endorsed by Team Singapore to select, train and manage national representatives for international cybergaming tournaments.  Gamers selected to join Cyber Team Singapore will receive official recognition from Team Singapore, which oversees the national teams for sports, and wear national colours in competitions.

I wonder anyone who wins a medal for Singapore will get the same prize money as if they win from Commonwealth games, South-East Asian games or even the Olympics?  How about sponsorship for professional gamers?  If these all comes true, then gaming can really be a career for future Singaporean just like other sports.

This would also be good news for Singapore as Singaporean seem to be more able to excel in cybergaming rather than other sports.  It is an easy hobby to take up but would it be an easy one if it become a competition?

And would Cybergaming one day be included in the Olympics?

FIFA Worldcup 2006

So the worldcup is coming.  Finally.  46 Days left to be exact.  So 10th June 2006 is a day to stay up late and watch 22 people chase after a round object.  10th June because, though Germany 2006 starts on 9th June in Munich, it is already 10th June in Singapore.

So which team will I be supporting?  Argentina?  Brazil?  England?  I am really not sure this time round.  I’ve supported Brazil in 2002, but I’ve always like Argentina.  England is a team that I wish will win finally, after such a long wait from their previous victory.

Something that is puzzling me though.  Why must original football jersey be so expensive?  Over S$100 each.  Really must it be so expensive?  When would I earn enough to think that S$100 is not expensive?  Its not that I can’t afford it, but it is expensive, it is a price that I would need to think for a while before I would decide whether to spend it or not.

So would I be sporting a new jersey this coming worldcup?  Well… I don’t know.  And if I decide to just buy it, which one will it be?  Argentina?  Brazil?  England?

Glass? Can’t see which is the active window?

So Paul Thurrott is reviewing again.  I must says that his review is often times quite good.  But this time round I feel that he is trolling.  Is it because he had run out of ideas to write already?

User Account Protection might be a bit annoying now, but I believe this is what interim and CTP releases are all about.  That is to find out what is wrong with the code and UI.  Although Microsoft claims feature complete but it doesn’t mean that UI can’t be tweak for better usability.  I have confident that Microsoft will get this right.

Glass window don’t highlight focus window, thus user won’t know which window is in focus?

Come on, I can tell which is the focus (or topmost) window with just one look.  I don’t even need to guess like what Mr. Thurrot is suggesting.  50% chance to get it right?  I believe you can do better than that.  The one on the right is the focus window, how do I tell?  Notice the close button is highlighted with a red tint but the one on the left is not?  That is the indication, the focus window is the one with the tinted red close button.  Not obvious enough?  I don’t think so.

Media Center is ugly?  This is so subjective.  I happens to think that the look is OK.  The navigation is also pretty OK, although I think that it needs some polish.

I feels that so far Windows Vista is quite OK as a successor to Windows XP.  It does not disappoint me.  Of course the performance needs to go up another few notches but other than that it is pretty OK.  I am actually looking forward for the launch day in January 2007.

Guild Wars Factions

So Guild Wars is going to launch a new sequel.  I haven’t even played the game yet (not that I have even bought it yet)!  Guild Wars is supposed to be quite a nice game from what I’ve gather after reading tons and tons of reviews.  As a RPG, its definitely one game that I am interested to play, but somehow I really can’t find the time to play it and thus did not even buy the game.

Guild Wars Factions, the new sequel to Guild Wars, looks to be even more stunning.  ArenaNet introduce another world in Guild Wars Faction called Cantha.

Cantha will provide plenty of new visual thrills especially if you have a DirectX9 compatible graphic card.  The graphics engine from Guild Wars has been enhanced to provide full DirectX9 support.  With the usage of DirectX9 the level designers and artists have been able to realize some pretty amazing vistas. Stunning architecture, nice country side and even one that has structures build using Jade.  So get ready RPG fans and enjoy Guild Wars Factions.

The Da Vinci Code

So they are really making a Da Vinci Code game, Dan Brown is just getting richer and richer.

It sounds like fun and it will actually be release before the movie starring Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou is release.

Audrey Tautou really didn’t know that she will actually be starring in the movie.  She went for an interview thinking that she will not be selected.  Not until Ron Howard became serious about choosing her, that she realized that she might be really playing along side Tom Hanks.

OK, back to the game.  I hope that it will be a good one, so that it can tide me over until the big thing that is going to happen in June.  Yes, FIFA Worldcup 2006.

So rumour is just rumour

There was a rumour at a popular Windows website (the same one that I have mentioned before) saying that Microsoft is going to release another build of Windows Vista (specifically build 5365) this week to their beta testers.  This would be the second such release before an actual CTP release.  The one that has been released to beta testers is build 5342.

But it is just that, a rumour.  Nothing more.  However, I was actually looking forward to the said build, as rumour also has it that this build will be a lot faster in performance and much more stable as well.  A bit disappointed that it turn out to be just another rumour, but Paul Donnelly, from Microsoft, who confirm that the release is a rumour did say that they are preparing for a release but just not plan for this week.  He hope that it will be sooner than later.

I am still eagerly waiting for the full public beta 2 (rumour has it that it should be release around the last week of May, but again, just another rumour).

Tomb Raider: Legend

I have been playing Tomb Raider: Legend for a few hours already.  I can say that it is really quite fun.  Lara will get wet when she goes into water this time round though the wetness doesn’t really look as real as I think it should be.  But that is on PS2.  I hope Tomb Raider will get to PS3, then the graphic will really be superb.

Gamespot just gave it a 7.8.  I just don’t understand why they gave it such a low score.  Maybe they have too much of an expectation.  Their readers actually gave a better 8.7 and 21 other review sites average to be about 8.4.  I would gave it a 8.6, though I have to agree with Gamespot.com that the camera do sometimes get on my nerve.

Oh yeah, I still need to finish my God of War first, I am nearing the end, don’t rush me.

Glass, more glass please

Using the aero glass API, developer can bring in more glass into the application window, instead of just at the chrome (which is provided free of charge by Windows Vista).

Tim Sneath, Windows Vista Technical Evangelist, blog about how to add glass to a Windows Form application using, you guess it, C#.

The one single API that is important here is the DwmExtendFrameIntoClientArea().  From the name of the API, it seems that it is just instructing Desktop Windows Manager (DWM) to extend the chrome area into the client area.  I should think that when the theme change to Aero Diamond, then we will also get diamond free!

OK, where’s my glass?

Polling

So the date is finally out.  After much guessing and waiting, the date is finally confirmed.

Singaporean will go to poll on 6th May 2006.  The President of Singapore, Mr. S R Nathan, on the advice of our Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, dissolved Parliament and issued the Writ of Election on 20th April 2006. Nomination day will be on 27th April 2006.

So its the time again to go to rallies and listen to what each candidate has to say about the future of Singapore.  With new faces coming up in the opposition and being the first time PM Lee lead his party to the poll, this election will be an interesting one.

So let the rallies begin!

Manage What?

Managed code is something coined by Microsoft.  Managed code is code that has its execution managed by .Net Framework Common Language Runtime.  You can think of the .Net Framework as a library of tools that help developers achieve what they want in their program.  Since managed code is compile into intermediate language and not native machine code, the Common Language Runtime (CLR) is able to determine and guarantee what the code is going to do.

Little wonder why Microsoft is trying to push developers in the direction of managed code.  If only Microsoft can enforce that only managed code could be run then all those malicious code will be history.  Well at least I hope that Windows Vista will be a right step forward, not only that the security should be better than Windows XP, Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) also entice developers into managed code.

C# – Diving into managed code

Though I’ve been playing around with WPF programming using C#, I haven’t really start to learn C# seriously.

This Monday (specifically 17 April 2006) I’ve started my path to serious C# programming.  Programming in the key of C# by Charles Petzold is really a good book for aspiring C# programmer like me.  Even though I have with me 10 years of experience in C/C++ programming, this book still bring to me some new perspective in programming.

I will recommend this book to anybody who is interested in programming with C#.

Boot Camp Anyone?

No, not that type of boot camp, is the all new catch phrase in Mac world.

Boot camp is a software that is going to be in the next release of Mac OS X, Leopard, which will let Mac user boot into their *favourite* oops, sorry, should be *disgusted* OS, Microsoft Windows XP.  So Mac user can now enjoy another different world.

So if Mac OS X is so good why do Mac users need Windows XP anyway?  All needs should be taken care of by Mac OS X, isn’t it?

Gaming might be one aspect that make Mac users cling on to Windows XP.  I believe most games still run faster on Windows than Mac, this is because most game developer still base their game on Windows and just port it over to Mac.  Also a lot of games are still Windows only, developers just don’t see why they need to take care of the smaller market, time might be better spent at making the next big version of the game.

As a side note, don’t you think Apple should not charge its user for all these minor refresh of Mac OS X?  Tiger and Leopard sound to me like just mere service packs.