GilaChess Blog

Yeah that’s the fancy word they use to copy my program onto their computers. ‘Deployed’.

Finished my ‘tin can’ programs and they are now installed in one of the computers in this network room. The room is freezing with air-con being cranked up high. It’s like this 24/7. Their air-con bills must be through the sky . There is even holes on the floor where air con air is being blown from below. That’s to make sure that the computers never overheat and important programs are always kept running.

It took the better half of the day testing the program to see if my program allowed the different programs to talk to each other. They didn’t tell me that my program was supposed to work with more than 2 applications.

I am happy as at the end of the day, despite having to spend a few hours in the cold server room tweaking my code, everything was fixed and is working fine.

Now this blog can get back to chess.

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I recently got a funny programming project request that deals with connecting 2 computers for data transfer over a secure network connection. The program has to be written in PHP.  It is strange because by today’s standard there are ready made hardware and software solutions for that particular task. In essence it’s like connecting two rooms with a telephone line. Easily done and you can even pay a contractor for that. However, the client requires a custom solution which means building the connecting programs from ground up. The result is analogous to using 2 tin can phones to communicate between two rooms. Primitive but workable.

I’ve taken up the job as the pay is equivalent to a month’s salary for me (with advance payment on acceptance). For 2-3 days work, that’s good pay. Also, easy ad-hoc programming projects like these are rare. I am also very lucky the project has been passed around to others for around 6 months but no one could complete it. I am confident of finishing it as the solution is technical but simple. Something like checkmating with Knight and Bishop.

I have to sacrifice though. I’ll have to give a miss to the Cheras Challengers (FIDE rated) tourney starting tomorrow. Was looking forward to that.

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It’s not a romantic movie despite the title.

This movie is about a young employee in the office of the US Ambassador hooks up with an American spy looking to stop a terrorist attack in the city.

John Travolta plays the bullet proof tough guy in this movie.

Some chess is played at the beginning and at the end of the movie.

Who says chess is for nerds only

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Remember the singing twins? Before the crazy chess weekend begins, here’s another song from the singing twins from Australia.

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Imagine playing DOTA on this

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		Malaysia  [48%]
		United States  [10%]
		Philippines  [5%]
		United Kingdom  [5%]
		India  [3%]
		Australia  [2%]

This blog traffic based on viewer’s country.

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While on the subject of LCDs and screens, Samsung unveiled a laptop with transparent screen. Looks like the futuristic Avatar screens used in the movie is not so futuristic as we thought.

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Watched a movie in 3D for the first time at GSC One Utama (New Wing).

My third time watching Avatar. It was certainly an interesting experience. You can see objects in “perspective”. You can definitely tell if an object is far or near to you. There were a few  times when I thought the “floating seeds” were right in front of my eyes.

No problem wearing the 3D glasses over my own glasses. However, it wasn’t anything special. The “right in front of your eyes” scenes were few and far between. Also, wearing the coloured 3D glasses also reduced the light getting through so the whole show was a shade darker, which was not enjoyable. I took the glasses off a few times because it was just too dark.

An interesting experience but probaby not worth the additional ticket price. With hindsight I would rather watch the 2D version. Maybe it was the glasses. I’m told there are 3 different types of 3D glasses and perhaps the ones at GSC weren’t the best. Also at the current 2010 CES (Computer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas 3D is the “in” thing and many new products like 3D devices on show.

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I just love it now that school has started. Why? It means I can go out in the afternoon and not suffer the crowds in shopping complexes and cinemas.

Just watched Paranormal Activity which is supposed to be a horror show about a middle class couple moves into what seems like a typical suburban home. I watched it because this movie got fantastically high ratings from movie reviewers. I have to disagree with the reviews. The movie turned out really boring. Sure it was the “realism” that made things scary but I couldn’t even remember a scene which was scary in the tiniest bit. Doors slowly swinging open by themselves and strange sounds in the middle of the night is just not scary.

I got sick of the “jerky” camera technique and waiting for something to happen. There are only a few rare movies I regret watching and this is one of them. I just can’t believe why some viewers gave this movie a high 8-10 out of 10 on imdb.com. Perhaps it’s just me.

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This is definitely the best movie I’ve watched for 2009. Story is predictable but the special effects is definitely one of the best I’ve seen so far. Definitely better than 2012. The world of “Pandora” is very believable and the rich plant life and animals depicted in the show is mind blowing.

I liked this show so much, I’ve watched it twice. Although it is more than 2 and half hours long, it’s one of those rare movies where you don’t get bored watching it multiple times. I’ll probably watch it a third time but this time in 3D. Almost afraid of that because I am one of those who do get dizzy and feel like puking from too much 3D the last time I tried this. The flying scenes were the best and from what I gather other local Malaysian blog comments, the 3D experience is also not to be missed.

Since this is a popular movie with big crowds, there were movie “spoilers” like the guy who answers phone calls multiple times in the movie (if your office needs you so much, don’t go watch a movie!) and the girl who screams and talk throughout the show.

Also, don’t bother getting the pirated ‘clear’ cinema quality version from the torrents or pasar malam as that would totally spoil the experience.

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This is a nice 3-D animated version of the Dickens classic. I’ve never read the book and only seen the story from cartoons and tv shows. There is an array of dazzling special effects but I think Jim Carrey “performance” was good and was somewhat overshadowed by all the dazzle.

Watched this in a movie theatre and encountered one my greatest pet peeve. A “narrator” that has to tell someone watching the show what is actually going on. In this case it was a father explaining the show to his very young son. It wasn’t too bad when the special effects were loud enough to drown out his voice most of the time but during the more quiet scenes it was very annoying. Anyway the scene where two kids depicted in a scary way popped up, it scared the kid into crying. It shocked me too not expecting any part of this movie could be scary. I guess there’s a reason why the movie is rated PG13.

A good show to watch minus any “narrators”.

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This is one of the internet domain names that I own. I bought it some time back and just renewed it a couple of days back. I bought it because it’s a short 3 letter URL but I still don’t know what to do with it

Suggestions anybody?

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I got a chance to visit my ex-colleagues today and found so many websites blocked by their office gateway. Facebook, Meebo, MariBelajar.com and even GilaChess.com

Anyway, I respect the company’s right to ensure employees don’t waste their time goofing off or wasting precious office hours but they are human. If they really want to waste time they just find other ways. There’s no such thing as gaining 100% efficiency when your employees hate you.

When I was working at that office,I learnt a lot of valuable tips on bug fixing from various online forums which is also blocked by the gateway. I also learnt a lot from online friends via online chats (now banned by the gateway). That’s really a pity as it’s a wealth of time saving tips blocked from access.

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Talented twins.Not surprising this video has half a million views on YouTube already!

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