The pound is now at an all-time low!

I just did a check. 1 pound gets you 2.2 dollars. The pound is at an all-time low!

1.00 GBP = 2.20708 SGD 
United Kingdom Pounds Singapore Dollars 
1 GBP = 2.20708 SGD 1 SGD = 0.453088 GBP 

Wow! 

It's a great time to visit the UK.

And best of all, it's time to buy books from Amazon UK! WOO!

An irritating sales call from Maybank

A month ago, I was fed up with Standard Chartered Bank after receiving a huge, irritating number of calls. So, I moved my deposit to Maybank. At the premises, I filled up a form that had a section with check boxes allowing me not to receive any telemarketing calls, email, and other forms of silliness from the bank. The bank officer who assisted with my accounts checked all the boxes and she assured me that I would not be receiving any calls. A few minutes ago, I received a sales call peddlings some silly insurance plan from Ace Insurance on behalf of Maybank. Doh.

Wishful thinking

"I would love to believe that when I die I will live again, that some thinking, feeling, remembering part of me will continue. But as much as I want to believe that, and despite the ancient and worldwide cultural traditions that assert an afterlife, I know of nothing to suggest that it is more than wishful thinking."

-- Carl Sagan, The Demon Haunted World

Faith is the great cop-out

"Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence."

Richard Dawkins

=

Sadly, it is only too true. Too many are blinded and are afflicted by the god delusion. If only they thought.

Old times

[chat] Marlboro jumps around Baldur, Rusina, Kowie, Nautious, Paradox, Kassandra, Agnus, Hornedone, Turner, Botzy, Splitz, Serg, Jurz, Tuukka, Mreh, Sickgut, Crunk, Clutch, Taze and Salaam like a gorilla wearing panties one size too small.

Frozen Canon scanner

It may soon be time to acquire a new printer for my work. My Canon scanner N670U has frozen twice this morning. The frequency of malfunctions has been increasing.

Temperamental

My Canon iP3300 printer is temperamental. It has just mangled another piece of paper.

Melbourne's Southern Star Observation Wheel closed due to structural buckling

Apparently, the Melbourne Wheel is closed six weeks after its opening due to structural buckling.

Quote from ABC News:

"Melbourne's Southern Star Observation Wheel has been temporarily closed because of structural concerns."

"The $40 million wheel formally opened for business about six weeks ago, and has 21 observation capsules."

Sometimes, I question all these wheels that were all modelled after the success of the London Eye. Are they all profitable? What is the return on investment? How is the effect on tourism? Is it necessarily a good idea? 

Update thanks to ol' Kuoby who was back in Singapore for a visit. It was great seeing him after eight or nine years.