Bush and Hitler

Some of you may be wondering what Bush (George W. i.e.) has got to do with Hitler (Adolf i.e.). I was shocked that Blogger.com should suggest that there is such a close relationship. What a scandal! How can the President, the Numero Uno, of the world's free-est nation be linked in any way to Fascism at all? Besides, didn't many people flee Europe to get away from people like that?

Notwithstanding the controversy over the present American government's alleged secret prisons in Europe and the CIA's covert operations (a open secret for many many years), I believe Americans will not stoop so low as to call its President a Fascist.

But that's what Blogger.com suggested when I used its spell-check feature on my previous post. It couldn't understand 'Bushism', so it suggested 'Fascism' as a likely alternative - and that's the only alternative it offered! I would have expected 'Bushido' (a Japanese art form) as a closer alternative. Don't believe me? Go check it out yourself.

Has Google, through Blogger.com, a hidden agenda here? There has been recent reports questioning whether Google is good or evil. It would seem that these rumours are not unfoun.....

Before I go any further, I'd better not bite (off more of) the hand that feeds this blog.

Bushism is not uncommon

Much has been written about George W. Bush's language, so much so that his 'language' has now achieved sub-dialect status. It is a constant source of amusement and unkind jokes, not only in his native America, but probably all across the world. Blame this on how fast and wide information and news travel - especially the bad news. For example, Bush has been quoted as having said:

Those who enter the country illegally violate the law.

Well, of course.

But he is not the only one belabouring the point. Last evening, at the Countdown (to 2006) Party on Mount Faber in Singapore, host Gurmit Singh said on 'live' TV that his

birthday falls on the 24th of March every year.

Well, of course.

I think Americans are unkind to its own, but that's also one thing I admire about the Americans - they can laugh at themselves. In some other countries, jokes like this can land you in court and/or in jail!

Happy New Year everyone who live on this crazy crazy Earth.

End of a season

As the year draws to a close, reminiscing is a natural and useful exercise. It calls to mind the significant events of the year and how they may have affected yourself. Perhaps you have grown a little more, not only physically, but more so, mentally and spiritually.

For me, as for many in the South and Southeast Asia region, the Tsunami brought home the uncertainties that life often springs on us. One moment you are having fun in the sun - something that you may have done for the umpteenth time. But unexpectedly, just on that one occasion when nobody expected it, that trip turns into a nightmare. What impressed me throughout this event was the manner in which the world opened its wallet and heart to the victims of this tragedy. I understand that the amount of money pledged and collected is unprecedented. Which is why givers of charity must be the 'Person of the Year 2005'.

The US also demonstrated that it can not only launch a military invasion, but its very same military hardware built for war can be used for mercy missions, such as bringing much needed food and necessities to the people in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, who lived through the storm of the seaquake and tsunami. Significantly, the Acehnese 'rebels' fighting for autonomy for so long, laid down their weapons to re-build a more permanent home devastated by the tsunami. There is nothing like a disaster to bring home the truth that we are all humans and depend on each other. Fighting each other is futile.

Other disasters also happened - Katrina lashed the shores of New Orleans, making many homeless and destroying an erstwhile thriving tourist sector. The Pakistan earthquake, where many complained the world did not open its wallet enough, compared to the Asia tsunami. Some were man-made. Terrorists continue to hold the world hostage. Bombs are still going off, in Iraq, in Bali, in Thailand, in Pakistan... Hopefully, this will stop as the religion of hate cannot last.

Closer to home, Singaporeans woke up to the fact that the NKF - a charity hitherto supported widely in Singapore for Kidney patients, had mis-used and abused the implicit trust of its donors and supporters in high places. As the year draws to a close, it looks likely that its senior management will be hauled to court for various mis-demeanors. In a 'squeaky clean' Singapore, this has brought into focus the issue of corruption - something that Singaporeans are used to reading about in other lands, but never expect to happen in its own back yard. And then there was SAVH (Singapore Association for the Visually Handicapped), which also suffered from questionable corporate governance practices...

Last, but certainly not least, I started blogging this year. Not that its anything new to me. I have kept journals (or diaries as its call then) since I was in Secondary school, at the instigation of my brother, who ironically, isn't a habitual reader/writer. Those diaries, with the juvenile handwriting, are still with me. I had read of blogging several years ago, but I am not a early adopter. I jump in when somebody has beaten out a clear path and when I think it makes any sense to do so. I am learning something new everyday.

So goodbye, adie, auf wiedersehen, au revoir, ciao, Sa-was-dee, zai-jian, Baai baai, Selamat sejahtera, Sizobonana, Ambera, Lòi chào xin cào biêt, Paalom na po, Valete, Annyong-hi kashipshio, Choum reap lia, Sayonara, Sugeng tindak, Daa daa, Caó mun'g chè, Nau'to twibaounme, Aloha, Shalom...

In the New Year, I hope to learn more...

The love of money

One of the most unpleasant and ugly news reported over the last one week on this tiny island nation of Singapore is the continuing investigations and final report over the shananigans of the old National Kidney Foundation (old NKF). I was away on holiday when the report first broke on Monday, 19th December 2005 and was reported in detail in the local press the next day. Of course, I didn't read any of these reports as the Malaysia press wasn't all that interested. So the first instance I came back, I read through Today's online edition (www.todayonline.com) and later got hold of the Tuesday's print edition of the Straits Times to follow up on the 'gory' details. Somehow, these stories make for great reading, although the ugly details are sad and unpleasant.

Among the many facts exposed, the most shocking must be that only 10% of all donations ever received went directly to the patients. The other 90% went to various parties such as A&P, operations and salaries that would make anyone blush. Some of that was my money. Indeed, the old NKF and the top people who ran it had lost their moral compass, as the Health Minister said. They had simply become greedy and self-indulgent, which reminds me of the words of Paul the Apostle when he wrote in 1 Timothy 6:10 -

For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

How very true then. How true now. And it will remain true as this sad story of the old NKF will be repeated because greed will never be eradicated.

A different Christmas

Somehow, this Christmas is different. In the first place, I plain forgot about unpacking my faux Christmas tree and spending time decorating it. My wife and son did not remind me at all. When I did remember, I thought it was too much trouble as Christmas is just a couple of days away, so difference no. 1 - no Christmas tree.

Difference no. 2 - too many dinners - first it was last evening at mother's and now, this evening, with my mother-in-law's. Tomorrow, there is a Church mini-banquet right after worship service, and in 5 day's time, a New Year dinner. How can anybody lose weight given such a proliferation of meals? But I must be thankful, knowing that there are many peoples in many lands where getting a meal is a struggle. So as we feast on this occasion, let us be humble and acknowledge the grace that God has given us.

I used to spend Christmas caroling with the Church, and well into midnight at that. More time was spent in Church preparing for this occasion, as well as Christmas service on Christmas day. There certainly was a lot more 'spirituality' surrounding the occasion then, compared to now. Well, I suppose that's what happens when Christmas day falls on a Sunday. Difference no. 3.

I'm not complaining though. It is enough to know and rejoice in the fact that God so loved the world that he has sent his only begotten Son into the world to save sinners. (John 3.16).

Glory to God in the highest. Amen

Charity makes the world go round

Well, I wasn't wrong after all. While none of my nominees received a direct mentioned in Time's Person of the Year 2005 award, I did nominate charity. Time awarded the accolade to 3 people for the good work they have done with the huge amount of money they have made over the years - Bono, Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda. And this is the reason they won:

For being shrewd about doing good, for rewiring politics and re-engineering justice, for making mercy smarter and hope strategic and then daring the rest of us to follow, Bill and Melinda Gates and Bono are TIME's Persons of the Year.

Time went one to make the point that there has been a lot of giving in 2005 by Americans towards the tsunami relief (some US$1.6 billion) and Hurrican Katrina disaster. Time forgot to mention that Asia also gave millions to its own. Bono and the Gates, I suppose, epitomizes the generosity and compassion that people have demonstrated for others who are caught in situations beyond their control and where charity is indeed a life-saver.

To all the givers in 2005, I toast you, for you have demonstrated the true meaning of the reality of the global village.

I'm on my way!

No, no, not on my way up north to Malacca. That'll have to wait another 4 days. What I mean is that I am now typing this entry on my Notebook PC which is connected wirelessly to my Linksys router. No, that's not remarkable. What is remarkable is that I am running on Knoppix 4.0 'Live' O/S. As any Linux newbie will tell you, it is not easy to get your wireless running on Linux, if only because the wireless drivers are mostly written for Windows O/S. There just aren't that many native Linux drivers for wireless cards.

Which reminds me, more than 10 years ago, I had already started to tinker with Linux, so I am not such a newbie after all. Then the Linux distribution wasn't so prolific as today. Redhat was reputedly the best for a newbie then, so I bought a thick Redhat book, rolled up my sleeves and tried to install Linux. That was an ambitious undertaking. To cut a long story short, I did get Redhat working, but was annoyed that the soundcard did not work. I read up a bit more and found that this was a general problem with Linux on x86/88 PCs. Silence wasn't my cup of tea, so I left Linux alone (yeah, I abandoned it) and went back to Windows.

Sorry for the digression, nostalgia has an effect on the thought process...Now, while the sound problem has largely been addressed, its the wireless that has taken the place of sound as the notoriously difficult thing to get working...until Linux Format (LXF74) explained to me in a short column to use ndiswrapper. That column started me off and after a couple of hours experimenting (spread over several days), I've done it! The wireless is working, and that's why I am on my way to techno heaven!

P.S. Well, actually, there's a lot written about this subject on related Linux forums on the Internet. That helped too, but the article in Linux Format was clear and simple. Can't get any better than that.

A new fox that's still not foxy enough

Firefox 1.5 was released recently. Like everyone else, I downloaded it to replace my aging 1.07 Firefox.

UI-wise, nothing much as changed except the Tools->Options. Some re-organisation of the options in here, but nothing new that excites.

There is now a separate Tools->Clear Private Data menu item so you can now quickly erase whatever you don't want left behind in your PC.

Otherwise, I believe that all other enhancements are under the hood, in CSS, etc.

But one thing that still hasn't been resolved are some compatibility issues with Blogger.com. Funny thing this - Blogger.com is favoured very much by Google, which strongly pushes Firefox. Hmmm...something doesn't look right here. Google and friends have still some way to go making software interoperate. Who knows, when they do do so, they'd become Goo$le? Just a thought.

More on Firefox 1.5.

War of the software worlds

Microsoft and Google seems to have had a major falling out (I'm not sure they fell into each other's arms in the first place, so that phrase may not be valid).

In a further sign of this animosity, Google is now promoting the Firefox browser aggressively through its Adsense program. If it succeeds, it will further erode Microsoft's share of the browser market - i.e. till its IE 7.x makes it appearance. This is scheduled some time early next year, when its Windows Vista is officially launched. The odd thing is, Google doesn't own Firefox - at least not yet - and it is therefore remarkable that it should put the full weight of its extensive Adsense program behind something it doesn't own, and therefore has no commercial interest in.

As far as end-users are concerned, this is an exciting development because it will signal major innovative effort in enhancing the features of the browsers, which has so far stagnated under IE due perhaps to its dominant market position.

Let's wait and see. Excitement in the horizon...

For whom the bells toll

Convicted drug smuggler, Nguyen Tuong Van, was hanged in Changi Prison yesterday. He suffered the ultimate penalty for smuggling drugs through Singapore - a country that has little, if any, tolerance for this kind of criminal activity. On the other hand, it was reported that vigils were held in cities around Australia, with bells and gongs sounding 25 times at the hour of his execution.

In the past couple of months, his fellow Australians have lobbied long and loud for clemency. This is remarkable, given that Nguyen Tuong Van was a Vietnamese who became a Australian citizen. Some parts of Australian society have been known for their racist attitudes, from the political sphere downwards. Yet in this episode, nearly half of the country spoke out for him - and it isn't as if he has done Australia great service of any sort. Australians can certainly hold their heads high. This incident has demonstrated that Australia is a society full of compassion and backs it up with action - to the discomfort and soul-searching of its Singapore counterparts. But compassion alone is not enough to administer a country well and to protect its people effectively.

It is naive to expect different countries and societies to always agree with one's point of view, or that it will change its laws overnight. While the Australians see the death penalty as barbaric, Singapore sees it as a regrettable but necessary action that is for the greater good. Calling Singapore names is the last thing that thinking, rational and humane societies should do. Exaggeration of the sort that Julian McMahon, one of his Australian lawyers, made (that Nguyen was "completely rehabilitated, completely reformed, completely focused on doing what is good...") does not give any credibility to him, nor the Australian, position at all. After all, how green can a green plant be?

It is done. No matter what our views on the matter, and how strong they may be, let drug runners beware - there is no escape in Singapore if you intend to carry illicit drugs, which only purpose is to kill and destroy families, through its soil.

Gift from above

There has been as lot of discussion in the local press about the Gifted Education Programme (GEP) that Singapore schools have been running for the last 20 years. The problem, it seems, is that GEPers have formed cliques and socialise among like minded ones to the exclusion of the rest. This has given rise to a backlash of sorts from the 'ordinary' folks who think that GEPers may have an attitude problem.

Well, some time ago, my son took a test to determine if he was 'gifted'. This test is available to all primary school students. As it turned out, my son wasn't qualified to be included in this haloed company, so that was that. Reading the comments from the papers these days about this gifted species, I am glad that he was not found to be gifted. Imagine my having to go back to school at my age, making sure that the additional school work is done, counselling them and encouraging them...gosh, I would have lost my life to make his gifts more striking. So no thanks.

Which leads me to thinking whether one needs to be gifted to be successful in life. And the answer, obviously is 'No'. Of course some of the philosophically inclined would want to engage me in a discussion on the definition of the term and what constitutes success. Well, I'm not really interested. Suffice to say that if my son grows up to be a responsible, honest and hardworking person, that's success enough. All that I ever possess comes from above. As the Bible says, to those that are given more, more will be expected, to those given less, less is expected.

Let each and everyone live a life that improves the community and glorifies his Maker.

Broad or brief?

It has been reported that many newspapers have been changing from Broadsheet formats to Tabloid formats, for example, the Asian Wall Street Journal. In Singapore, the main English language paper (the one with the highest circulation) is sticking to its broadsheet format although some have questioned whether it should not change that format. Its closest competitor, Today, published by Mediacorp, has been a tabloid from day 1, and it is making money despite it being distributed free of charge.

I must admit that after more than a year on Today's diet, I am getting rather weary with Broadsheets. I find myself getting very impatient with news reported in the Straits Times nowadays because the stories are just *too long*. It used to be that I would devour the paper from cover to cover and read the stories from beginning to end. (hmmm...don't these 2 expressions mean the same thing?) I think I am getting spoilt on tabloids.

The other reason is that my daily diet of newspapers now consists solely of Today during weekdays. I don't read the Straits Times anymore on weekdays, though I still buy the paper on weekends (if only because Today is not published on Sundays). Actually, the reason I stopped reading the Straits Times is not because of free alternatives such as Today, though that plays a part. What really made me give up the Straits Times, which I have been reading for 30 years, is the last price increase of 20 cents a copy, from 60 cents (a whopping 33%). I could not reconcile this with good and free alternatives. Now I am used to not reading the Straits Times, although I must admit that it still has good content. But I just don't have time to read more than one paper.

Civilization that Raffles left behind

It is my routine to pick up the Today newspaper when I leave home from Sengkang every morning, to read while I travelled the subway to work. However, this week, I was travelling to downtown Singapore to attend a course, and Today had runned out at my usual pickup spot. Well, ok, I wouldn't suffer any withdrawal effects from not reading Today for one day. In any case, I had this fantastic book on Small Businesses with me to work into that morning.

However, I was pleasantly surprised that at 8.30am, when I emerged from the Raffles Place MRT (subway), Today was still being distributed. So I reached out to get a copy (its free, by the way). But so many others were just grabbing the paper that I never seem to be able to lay my hands on one. Being an educated person (ahem, smirk), I waited until somebody would yield and give me the chance to pick up my copy. But no, nobody was interested in me, nobody gave a d*n. It was as if I was invisible!

Well, if that's the way this game was played, I'll join in, since I obviously couldn't beat the vultures. So I grabbed a paper, but lo and behold, somebody else grabbed it at the same time, so we ended up holding two ends of the same paper. Sheesh, its not as if this is gold, you know, so I let go. I tell you, it was quite an effort to pick up just one copy of the paper there that morning. It was an entirely unpleasant experience.

This was the first time I returned to that Mecca of capitalism (i.e. the center of the business district in downtown Singapore) after an absence of about 3 years. I will not be carrying away with me any longing or fondness for that place nor the people that commute there everyday. Its so 'uncivilised'.

It goes to show how free things can bring out the worst in people.

P.S. For those of you reading this and live outside of Singapore, don't get the wrong impression. Singapore, by and large, is a pleasant and interesting place. But sometimes it is these behaviour that spoils the proverbial broth.

The spy who blogged me

It was reported in yesterday's Sunday Times (the Sunday paper of the Singapore Straits Times) that several Singapore bloggers were told to remove their blogs because they had posted pictures of their recent army training stint in them. One of these bloggers goes by the moniker, Miyagi, and is supposedly a popular blogger. He writes a column for the Today newspaper, a Singapore tabloid, where he discusses blogs that others write. The people who issued this take-down order was the Ministry of Defence. The reason - that the photos in these blogs (and I understand there were quite a few) are potential sources of information for terrorists who may be scanning the environment, especially those of the Defence Forces' training grounds. Terrorists have only one thing in mind - terror and destruction - so the photo blogs had to go. Some people might think this is being paranoid, but I am reminded again of what Andy Grove once warned: "Only the paranoid survives".

I would have thought that these bloggers had greater sense than to put up such photographs in the first place, never mind that there is probably great pride in showing off their, ahem, man-hood to the world.

The repercussion of this is that the Singapore Civil Service will probably issue a circular to the effect that civil servants must declare their blogs (if they have one), and that these blogs must henceforth following certain guidelines. Well, no thanks, Miyagi. You have just inadvertently contributed to the gagging of the blogger community of which you write about.

Excuse me, are you British?

My family and I (just the three of us) plus my son's Uncle, who is only one year older than him, saw Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on Saturday. This is the newest (and some say the last) of the Harry Potter books to be made into a movie - at least for those starring the current actors. It seems to me that the stories remain engrossing and entertaining, given my son's wish to re-read the Half-blood Prince (after less than a month of first reading it).

Never having read the book before, this movie was intriguing, suspenseful and long - 2 and a half hours. Even then, it doesn't cover all the material in the book, as my son pointed out to me. The movie is worth the price of the ticket, which is S$9.50 a pop - weekend rate.

It just occurred to me that the most successful children's movies of the last few years that were made from an original book were all written by British authors. Joan K. Rowling wrote the Harry Potter series, J.R.R. Tolkien for Lord of the Rings, C.S. Lewis for Chronicles of Narnia (well it hasn't screen yet, but its building up to a major release. We plan to watch that movie in December when it will be shown in cinemas). The Americans, on the other hand, has had more success in original movies such as Nemo, Bug's Tale, Madagascar, Star Wars etc., but their successes are perhaps not on the scale of these British effort. There is something to commend stories that come out first in book form, and then followed by a movie. The irony is that Tolkien and Lewis could never have imagined that their stories would one day garner such a strong following among children 50 years or thereabouts after they were first published.

Epilogos Person of the Year

Time magazine proudly pronounces a Person of the Year award (used to be called the Man of the Year award until they realised that they were missing half of the world) every year. Speculation always swirls around this naming event, and suggestions are often offered, ostensibly, to help Time's editors make up their minds. Well, I would like to contribute my 2 cents' worth. Nominees for the Epilogos Person of the Year 2005 award (EPOY 2005) are (in no specific order of merit/infamy):

1. Terrorist bomb makers (for redefining the use of fertilizers)
(Also up for EIOY - Epilogos Innovation of the Year, maybe even the Nobel Prize for Chemistry next)
2. The Almighty (for all the natural calamities)
3. Charities of the World (for showing very very very big hearts)
4. (Some) Charities in Singapore (for not being charitable with donated money)
5. George W. Bush (for better or worse)
6. Tony Blair (for his unfailing support of the EPOY. Huh?)
7. Ahmadinejad of Iran (for dreaming of pushing Israel into the Mediterranean sea)
8. Bloggers (for using up a record number of bytes to wash their linen in public)
9. Australian drug couriers (who can never shake off the habit)
10. Australian Parliamentarians - sans one (for supporting Australian drug couriers)
11. The Blind Lady of Singapore Justice (for being blind, what else?)
12. The Gordon Geckos of China (for being flushed with capitalist cash)
13. Chelsea Football Coach (for having a motor-mouth)
14. Saddam Hussein (it is a wonder he is still alive)
15. Dot coms (for resurrection from the dead)
16. Multi-functional Cellphone (for no more idleness in the loo. Ploint! Did something drop into the...?)

Well, ok, some of these are stretching the accolade a little, and some would be opposed, vehemently, to being nominated, as well as the reasons for it, and some would be appalled by my expression of levity over very serious issues, but the competition has never been so keen. In this upside down world, anybody/thing can be winners. Lets take a break, shall we?

P.S. I am sure I will not have problems clearing Australian customs now, unlike other countries like Vietnam, rr..rr..rright?

An eye for an eye?

By now, the infamous Iraqi woman whose failed attempt to set off a bomb in a Jordanian wedding party last week is well known. She is alleged to have said that the motive for her action was to avenge the killing of her three brothers and a brother-in-law by US forces stationed in Iraq. Little else, however, is reported about these alleged killings by US forces, but it would not be unreasonable to speculate that those who were killed were probably playing with fire in the first place. We do not know if these brothers were involved in opposing the US forces. Very likely they were.

But even if revenge was the motive, the target of this revenge was not the alleged 'killers', i.e. the US forces. Instead, she intended to kill Jordanians, whose only 'crime' was by association - i.e. Jordan's non-opposition to the US-led occupation of Iraq. Surely this is taking reason beyond reason, and more than an eye is demanded for an eye?

Thus terrorists kill without good reason, and their actions can in no way be defended at all.

Holey smokes! Singapore is burning too

From 1 October 2005, it is a civil offense to smoke in a Bus Interchange or Bus Stop in Singapore. Singapore, and generally pretty much elsewhere, is taking the enlightened step of banning smoking from an increasing number of public places.

I wait for buses every weekday at a bus stop just below the Dover MRT (an above ground subway train stop) station that fronts Singapore Polytechnic (a large post-secondary educational institution) in Singapore. Before 1 Oct 2005, students of this institution light up (their cigarettes of course) and smoke away at this bus stop as if there is no tomorrow. They cannot smoke in the MRT station nor the school grounds because its not allowed by the station authorities and the Polytechnic. There are personnel manning these stations as well as wardens policing the Polytechnic grounds. So poor people like us have had to endure frequent whiffs of smoke that float over while I stand as far as I can while waiting for the bus.

Singapore outlawed smoking at bus stops from 1 Oct 2005 - not a moment too soon, and I had the pleasure of telling a student off for lighting up beside me while I was waiting for the bus. Well, yesterday, a group of about 5 students were smoking away at the same spot, oblivious (or defiant) of the law of the land. The smoke was swirling among them that it looked like a smoking party, minus the pubs. I decided that 1 against 5 wasn't good odds for me, so I sat as far away as possible. Sigh, it would seem that nothing has changed, law or no law.

Paris burning

One of the biggest news these past two weeks or so has nothing to do with natural disasters - but they are disasters all the same. Paris has been burning, literally, with thousands of cars torched and public places such as schools damaged due to rampaging young French people of African descent. One would have thought that the statement that these youths are trying to make, if at all there is one, would have been made by these acts of destruction, but no, it continues and is spreading to the rest of Europe.

While I understand that these people may have genuine grievances, destroying property is hardly the right way to address their grievance. Well, yes, it will serve to highlight their plight - one of poverty and discrimination in a land of (supposedly) plenty (so I read) - but they will not gain sympathy at all. Instead, it has attracted others, who have raised the art of destruction and evasion through the use of handphone sms and all, to coordinate the burning and destroying. Hold on, did I mention handphones? Now how can anyone be deprived if they can own handphones? How can they be poor? I wonder what's happening?

I suppose that Europe is experiencing a wake-up call and they need to be deliberate about social issues that different peoples of different races present. Singapore has been very deliberate in this instance - often criticised by the 'West' for its suppressive policies, but they have worked to a certain extent in preventing the spill-over of disenchantment onto the streets. Issues are addressed proactively, as in the case of the jailing of bloggers who had written derogatively of other religions.

Like the Chinese say, lets keep (the shameful) things in the family to itself - "jia chou bu ke wai yang".

Moving from a to z

I just changed my wireless pcmcia network card (i.e. a Notebook Card) from the 802.11b SMC card to a 802.11g Linksys card and, as the McDonald's people say, I'm loving it - for:

1. The overall better stability. On the old card, the signal keeps getting dropped even though the connection is always indicated as Excellent. Its ironic that I get a more stable and faster connection now with the new g card even though the connection is indicated as low. This goes to show you can't trust some of these software / cards.
   
2. The overall increased speed. Well, the new card is connected at 36mbps (it varies) compared to the constant 11mbps of the old card - and I love it.

The investment is minimal - just S$55. Some are retailing this at S$59 - S$62. You just need to shop around. Got it new (no second-hand stuff for me) at Fuwell in Sim Lim Square last Friday. I could only use it today because I forgot my account id and gateway address into my router, so I couldn't configure the card properly for the router. This happens with set-it-and-forget-it type of equipment - literally.

Well, you can see that I'm not the early adopter type. By now, 802.11g has been around for quite some time. My b card was given to me free (in a bundled purchase), so I was quite reluctant not to use it, so I used it - until I got fed-up with the dropped lines while I was blogging. Well, good riddance. Anybody looking for a b card?