Why Would I Write

Category: Technology

  • Automated Teller Machine Machine

    You know how when you’re in a rush, there’s always someone in your way? Like when you have to be somewhere, you’ll be stuck behind a driver that’s not paying attention to the traffic light. Or you’ll be behind people who don’t know that the right lane on the escalator is for people to walk. Or there will be people taking their time to pay for their tickets at the ticket machine.

    But one thing I’ve encountered more than any other situation is people taking their sweet, sweet time at the ATM. It doesn’t matter if I’m in a rush or not but for some reason, there’s always somebody there before me. And he or she will take their time admiring their account balance or constantly try transactions over and over again despite failing the past three times.

    I don’t get it – if you’re using a public facility and someone is behind you, shouldn’t you do your best to finish your task as soon as possible?

    And why do people take so long to do their tasks at ATMs anyway? There’s not a whole lot of things you can do, and if you’re not there to just withdraw cash, you’re doing it wrong like I used to. There have been times when I knew that I had a lot of transactions to do (this was before I discovered the wonders of online banking), and I would always let the people behind me use the machine before I hogged it for myself.

    Now that almost everything else can be accomplished online, there’s really no reason to use an ATM unless you need the bills. Anyway, I can’t wait until we can go fully cashless in this country or stores start letting you withdraw money when you use your card. That would be rad.

    In other news, Public Bank recently upgraded their ATM/debit cards – I can now use Paywave with my debit card. I guess it’ll make it easier to accidentally pay for stuff in the future (yes, it happened to me before, topkek mate).

  • Joining the rotary club

    So, for some reason, today, I woke up with the thought of buying an electric shaver. Yes, that’s right. I decided to make the move to upgrade from disposable manual blades to its high-tech counterpart. I thought it would be a simple as walking into a store, selecting one, paying for it and walking out. Turns out I was wrong. First of all, I was shocked by the prices. The first electric shaver I saw was priced at about RM600, and they went up as high as over RM1k. I was shocked – what was I getting myself into? Should I spend money on an electric shaver that costs as much as a graphics card?

    So I decided to ask the helpful saleswoman there for advice. She told me the differences between the models available at the store (some were wet shavers, some came with side burn trimmers, some took longer to charge, some lasted longer). But all this wasn’t enough for me, so I grabbed some catalogs and flipped through them. I did some googling on the spot and read reviews of the shavers. It was mind-boggling, there was much more to learn. So I thanked the lady, and left the store.

    Browsed electric shavers at other stores and found out there were so many different kinds. So I decided to do some research. I found this incredibly helpful guide which told me what I needed to know. I’ve decided to get a rotary shaver since I don’t shave frequently and my facial hair can get longish. I haven’t selected a model yet, but it’ll probably be an entry-level Philips. Unless someone else recommends otherwise.

    I think it will be an interesting experience upgrading from disposables. I shall post updates in the coming weeks.

    Also, Merry Christmas to those of you who celebrate it or just want an excuse to party. Have fun! I’ll be playing a show at Barlai in about an hour.

  • Video games don’t make murderers

    I think video games get way too much flak for being negative influences on people. When there’s someone who shoots up a school? “I bet he plays Doom/Quake/Call Of Duty.” Kid runs over someone? “I bet he plays GTA.” Kid lands a plane? “I bet he plays flight simulator.”

    It’s like saying, “this guy used Facebook and killed people. Facebook must be a negative influence on him!” It’s stupid. Playing video games isn’t some top-secret, super-underground pastime for social recluses. Everybody plays video games these days. Even athletes like Jeremy Lin have professed their love for gaming. It’s become part of mainstream culture for some time now.

    Non-criminals play video games too. I play ultra-violent video games and I enjoy them. But I haven’t shot up a school, and neither have I any intentions to.

    If a video game can convince someone to shoot up a school, they’ve probably had a few screws in their head loose to begin with and would’ve been convinced to do it by anything or anyone. Voices in their head, something they saw on TV, a passage from a book they read or just dares from their peers – it doesn’t matter what gave them the ‘instructions’ – they would have done it regardless.

    However, I do believe that video games, like any other pastime or hobby can be detrimental to a person’s life if they become addicted to it and let it overtake them. This can be said about other activities like smoking, bingeing, doing drugs and so on. The only difference is that, it’s easier to obtain video games than the former. And video games usually aren’t illegal. Maybe that’s why we hear so much about them.

    Why don’t we ever read news about successful town planners were driven to become one because of their love for Sim City, or successful doctors who were inspired by Surgeon Simulator or Theme Hospital? I’m sure there are some of those people who exist somewhere.