Last Friday, Telecommunications class with Jason. We started the more technical parts of Telecom now.. with complex Physics terminologies and such. It was okay, just need some reading up. We're far behind the schedule, cuz usually when we discuss about something, other things pop up! Ev3r so often, we're distracted from the original thing. I think we were talking about Radio waves & Communications. Then, he said something about Astro. We all know that Astro is satellite, and that's another topic. So, Jason actually worked for Astro for a period of time. He brought up the issue of hacked Astro cards and said that Astro actually knew those who are stealing their services. A mate of mine said that his whole neighbourhood are using hacked cards. I mean, pay a one time fee, and you're FREE from pesky subscription charges. It costs about Rm 130 a month for all packages here in Malaysia, so, in a year, its about Rm 1500 in fees. Then, he talked about spot beams... that Astro has a big "footprint", yes.. basically, if you're in China, India or Philippines, or even West Australia, you can get Astro reception. However, a concentrated "beam" is sent to an area (for example, Kampong Beribi in Brunei).. then, the computer calculates how many signals "reflect". Its sort of like a "ping" and then, they check with their subsciption records for people who paid. If they get more "pings", that means someone's not paying. Actually, its kinda foolish for people not wanting to pay AT ALL. It'll be too obvious dammit! I wonder what guts it took you to go to the Astro office and say, "I don't want your service anymore". I mean, Astro is god. There's no other competition, and its programs are top dawg, other that the annoying local ads. If you don't pay a cent, you're telling them "I have a dish at home... er.. I ain't gonna use it". So, word of advice for hacked cards users "pay the cheapest subscription (and use your hacked card)". If you don't pay at all, they know something is going amiss.. If convincted, you'll be fined Rm 100,000 here in Malaysia and possible jail sentence; doesn't matter whether or not you produced the cards, as long as you're using it. Btw, my Telecom lecturer happens to be an "ex" American grad phone phreaker, and hacker. He's Malaysian chinese but the accent, attitude and all is there =) Owns an audio shop, I believe, with RM60k turntables at his disposal and WiFi network at home :P Very fun guy. Today (thursday), there's gonna be a Engineering Society meeting with elections and all, basically an AGM. Hope I get selected.. thus improving my chances for a merit scholarship :P Later that day, came back, rested. Arrived BM at 4pm, picked up a church friend, and set off for Sungai Petani. Its actually about 50 km away... but accessable via highway. In case you don't know.. the highways here have 110km/h speed limits, thus... its not "luar biasa" if you see cars zooming at 140-160km/h. Speed traps are set tho.. and you have the option to (a) bribe the cop (b) give lame excuse and escape altogether (c) pay the fine. Hahah.. Arrived at Cinta Sayang Golf and Country Resort by 6:30pm. Tonight tho, some church members hadn't arrived yet. That night, it was dinner by the golf driving range. FOUR! Next morning, more friends came. Almost everybody was there. The Youth, little kids and adults were separated into their separate groups with Ps. Alex Chong ministering to the adults, Unc. Micheal and Aunt. Hannah with the Youth (fun guys) and their daughter Joanne playing with the kids. If you look through the photos here, basically, it tells you the whole story lah. Throughout Friday, Saturday and Sunday, there was non stop, high octane action and amusement. Certainly there was time of worship and bible teaching, then the games, and the swimming in the evenings. The thing about camps is that, for the first days, you really think its tiring and a bore, and when its time to head home, you miss it. Luckily, I was well prepared (mentally)!! And.. actually loved the whole experience. Aiyah.. just browse through the pictures lah!. I made new friends, and grew closer to older ones. It was fun. The activities organised were well planned and all. uncle Shannon, an entertainer by profession showed kids, youth and adults alike some of his "geng" magic tricks. Phew.. such fast hands to deceive the eyes, and the mind. Monday, packed, and went home with a teary eye. Not teary because of missing the camp, rather the thought of gaining knowledge of the one and only God almighty and the lessons learnt. Arrived home by evening and was too tired.. just slept till 9pm before going for dinner. Tuesday, still in BM, we did absolutely nothing. Mum had the clothes washed, dad did the gardening, I watched TV (no computer there!!). Evening visited granny tho, and the Siamese temple my dad grew up in. Too bad I was out of "ammo" to take pictures of the temple. Recently our Chief Minister Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon visited the temple and He and His guys were tasting some "masakan kampung". They liked the Thai dish "kilek" so much that they promised to return for more soon! Apparently, the temple's chef's secret was excessive "santan".... That's what granny said. Granny could cook better "kilek"! She's got a tree in the orchard. Oh, and its durian season again. Finally, after a year of fruitlessness, those thony fruits have finally sprouted. Its not fully riped, but when it is, it'll automatically drop down. Durian tree is a special tree which requires minimal attention yet producing rich, tasty fruits. There were about 40 trees brearing fruits... kinda cool to see all those durians on the trees. Maybe in a month or two, we should have some fruits ;-) I'll report to you the taste and all. There was also campedak fruit and other small ones. We left granny's at 7pm, and tapau some kampung eggs. Small and cute, but yummier than "normal" eggs. It is said kampung products are always better than the mainstream. Its true! I wonder what about kampung "chics" ;-) ;-) ;-) Wednesday (yesterday).. at 9am, we went to the IC department to collect mum's MyKad. After 6 months+ of processing, its finally done. I took control of the car, while parents lined up. And a minute later, I was lucky enough to land in a parking slot. Whopee. Oh, earlier the previous night, I drove from the dinner place (Tenang restaurant) back home. Its about 1km+, but my driving was near flawless. So smooth, so lancar. I'm leet now. Afternoon, I rushed to this courier service to collect my mail. I won this voucher for Rm 100 in Thai food in KL. Gonna give it to my sis. Then, was slightly late for Maths class. There was a test today, so we were pretty spread out. It was all on Surds and Rational Numbers. I think I did okay, with 1 or 2 errors. But what the heck. Its 10% of the semester total, but yeah.. I did fine. Thursday. My day started at 3am. Wanted to watch the Chelsea Champion's League match. Watched for a good 10 minutes then said to myself "Argh.. i'm no chelsea supporter! Everyone knows I love Man United. What the heck? I went online instead and was surprised to find San Fui online. Talked to her abit. Apparently she was under exam stress. Sigh~ sometimes other people expect too much, and when numbers are programmed into your mind, your "panic quotient" just skyrockets. If you're kind hearted, ask her to calm down and think less about all the worries lah. Full time, Chelsea 2 - Monaco 2.. Monaco meets Porto in the Champion's League Final. Visit Soccernet for full report. Ah well, the team that narrowly beat Man United contraversially is now in the Finals. Nevermind. Its all right. Its 11am now, and I'll rest abit before going for BM classes this afternoon. After that, there's a 2 hour Eng. Society meeting, so look forward to that. I might report back tonight, if given the opportunity. Thanks for visiting, and sorry for the server downtime. Pinchpenny is cheap, but sucks. Oh, tell everyone you know about Piptech.org by adding this "signature" to your e-mail... or by word of mouth of MSN. Tell 'em "Visit piptech.org today!" =) I owe you one, dude and dudettes!