Throttled

OK. The gist is this. Ever since the undersea earthquake that disrupted Internet traffic to other parts of the world, we Malaysians have been having problems with downloading and file-sharing. While the former has been rectified, the latter is still a problem. Personally I haven't been having much problems until last week: I could only download my torrents on Thursday, and even then for 12 hours...thank God I managed to download four series and two movies...not bad for 12 hours eh? Then zip...until last night, but downloads were really slow.

Main Entry: ¹throt·tle
Pronunciation: 'thrä-t^&l
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): throt·tled; throt·tling /'thrät-li[ng], 'thrä-t^&l-i[ng]/
Etymology: Middle English throtelen, from throte throat
transitive verb
1 a (1) : to compress the throat of : CHOKE (2) : to kill by such action b : to prevent or check expression or activity of : SUPPRESS throttle creativity>
2 a : to decrease the flow of (as steam or fuel to an engine) by a valve b : to regulate and especially to reduce the speed of (as an engine) by such means c : to vary the thrust of (a rocket engine) during flight
intransitive verb : to throttle something (as an engine) -- usually used with back or down throttled back>

From The Merriam-Webster Dictionary

So, this is the new word I learned from an Internet forum site. With regards to how our broadband service provider treats us on p2p downloads. With p2p downloads I mean Bittorrent and other movie/music downloads. I guess there are frustrated people out there...voicing out opinions which they can really do on mainstream media.

For one it's illegal. Well I admit to that, but the alternative is to wait for it on terrestrial television, or pay inflated prices on the Internet or original CD/DVDs. Or as they say here in bolehland go to the nearest pasar malam and make your pick (err, pirated vcds etc). So much for throttling the Internet download activities...it's just shifting one illegal activity to another. But I guess the authorities don't get greased so much by illegal Internet downloads than by money-making pirate distributors or peddlers. Well it's just a matter of time they find a way to make money that way in bolehland.

So what are we paying our broadband for anyway? Most people do not need broadband unless they need to download huge files or need to be online 24 7...and we are paying RM 88 (myself anyway) for shared bandwidth space (btw it means that we don't really get 1Mbps as advertised...should I sue our broadband service provider for false advertising?) It is frustrating for most people, although I use boadband for other stuff apart from movie downloads. But of course all this whining is not going to stop the monopolistic company to do anything about it...because it's all monopoly, and there's no way the people on the street is going to make a difference.

And to another point: why are new customers being offered RM 77 (promotional) while existing customers (read me!) still have to fork out RM 11 more? I think this happens only in bolehland...again because of the monopoly. That a few steps backwards for business in this country.

But I think I must stop here...just in case they find grounds to sue a poor blogger like myself...uhm, then maybe I'll be famous for a change, who knows?

I quit!

I've finally had enough!! Just submitted my 24-hour notice of resignation. Calling me back to work during my leave when there are others available really was the final straw. And to think that I was contemplating withdrawing my resignation letter. Hmmph... But at least they made the decision for me!!

So I'm officially done with Government service. But I guess no one will miss me...life will just go on as usual. And what am I to do for now? Hmm...I have no plans to work yet - I can concentrate on the stock market for now and cross the bridge when I come to it. I have little expenditure, and I think my finances can withstand the strain for a few months; after all, it's not like I have nil income - the stock market holds opportunities, although a salary would be nice. I'll see how it goes.

The year is still young after all...

Resolutions

Ahh...it's that time of year again, to look back on the year gone by and to look forward on the year to come. I guess I have been pulled into that same whirlpool of self-reflection and resolution making that characterizes the end-of-year behaviour of most of humanity.

Well I'm not the kind of person who makes many notes, so I'll try to make a brief one here, for posterity's sake:

1. Huff and puff, I'll blow the house down
I guess I have to start being less of a couch/mouse potato and more physical-activity friendly. To me that's the euphemism for: exercise!! Well, being a doctor I know the benefits of exercising. To the death believe me. But working in the Emergency Department is exercise enough! And also stressful. And I suppose the need to breathe in fresh air now and then. And hope I don't get bitten by the Aedes mosquito during the evenings (but wait! there's no fresh air then - danged it...it means I have to get up early!). Which bring's me to...

2. Early bird gets the worm
Oh I wake up early enough...but this means that instead of lying awake on the bed, I get off my behind and do something useful: like reading the newspaper, doing some housework etc. Yeah right...

3. Just Do It!
No, no, I'm not going to buy a Nike outfit (I'm not into designer labels anyway). There's a lot of things I wanna do but haven't have the time to do it: going on holidays, meeting old friends, striking up new ones, looking for another job etc. So I feel this is going to be the year to do so... Whoa! Looking for a new job you say??

4. Sunset and sunrise
Oh no, I'm not going up Mt. Kinabalu to watch the sunrise (hey I was there for six years and never did that...do you think I'm gonna do it now??). I feel that this is the year I'm gonna quit from the civil service, which is something I wanted to do for a long time, but never got around to doing it. What am I gonna do after that? That's the thousand ringgit question (err, I'm not worth any million anytime soon you know) but I fancy something totally different. Yeah, it may not be suited to my personality - trying something new - but there's a time for everything right?

Rats...only four? Well it's better than none. It is said it's better to make a few resolutions you can achieve than make tons that you can't. Perhaps...so I'll start off small and go along from there. Wish me luck!!

Happy 2007!!

Well a belated happy 2007 to everyone out there...belated being this posted 3 hours late. As usual I find myself working on a public holiday, despite all the best-laid plans; but I guess that's the life of a doctor. Fireworks and celebration? Hmm...the only fireworks and celebration tonight is the gunshot victim I handled just now (err, that's as close to fireworks as I can get!). Phew!

So who know's what's in store for 2007. But in any case I wish people all over the world peace and prosperity and good luck for this coming year.

Here we go!!!