Category: Life

Recently, I began playing CounterStrike:Source again for nostalgic reasons. It’s also the only FPS game I could play without feeling nauseus after 20 minutes.

I’m sad at how it’s difficult to find a decent server with low latency. I hope this changes when I get a fiber connection probably by the end of this year.

And when I find a low-latency server, it’s always set to a fixed map (de_dust2), or it has weird mods like instant-respawn.

When I finally found one with the traditional settings, it’s a high-latency server.

Anyway, I found one that’s frequented by Singapore players, low-latency (20~30ms) and default rules, even had friendly fire turned on. I love it here so far.

Everyone plays according to the rules. Counter-Terrorists actually play according to the aim of the map (defend bomb-sites, rescue hostages), instead of rushing to eliminate Terrorists. Terrorists actually try to secure the bomb-site to plant the bomb instead of camping at their base.

Probably because this is a very old game. All the young hooligans that don’t like to play by the rules of the map have all gone up and left for newer games like Dota or Diablo 3. Only the ones that truly enjoy the basics of the game remain.

The server’s name is so aptly named: Old Man Gang.

Someone on HN asked for some money management advice and so I’d thought I’d copy and paste it here with some edits.

I’m from Singapore so some of the points below may not apply to you but here’s what I do in case it helps.

I bought an iOS app which I use to track my income and expenses. This doesn’t help me save money except track how much I’ve spent on my credit cards so I don’t overspend and will have enough money to pay back the banks at the end of every month and not incur any hefty interest.

Credit cards are useful for getting discounts on things. I get a 5% discount when I shop for groceries at a particular store. When the annual fee comes, I call up the bank and ask for a waiver. They usually agree to waive it off.

I have 2 bank accounts with different banks. The first one which is where I use for spending on everyday needs and depositing my salary. This bank, POSB, is known for having lots of ATMs and conveniently located branches. But lousiest interest rate. I keep a buffer of around $1000~2000 in this account in case I need to spend extra in a single month.

The second one is for savings it’s MayBank and gives me a better interest rate but not a lot of ATMs. I setup my first bank account to automatically transfer $500 every month to this savings account. This recurring transfer is also setup on the iOS app I mentioned earlier.

I also have a strong discipline not to touch the amount in my savings account unless I really reaaaally need money. I might be able to grow more money investing this sum but it usually means I can’t touch it for a long period of time, say 5, 10 or 20 years. What if something goes wrong and I need the money badly?

I have a savings insurance plan which after paying a small monthly sum for 20 years, I end up with a huge sum more than the amount of premium paid when it matures.

On google docs, I noted down what my regular expenses are, like transport, food, household bills. So I know how much extra I will have after those.

Don’t be tricked by discounts that tell you how much you save if you buy that product. You save more money not buying it. It’s different if the product is a daily neccessity or you think will be beneficial.

If I were you, I’d build up a substantial amount of savings first before investing. An amount that will allow me to go jobless for a few months.

Or allow me to do things that’s beneficial to myself in the long run such as buying a camera to learn about photography. It’s what they call “investing in yourself”

You love to meet up with your friends and chat over dinner or drink.

You think organizing a meetup is as easy as creating an event in Facebook, adding people to it and just wait for the day to come.

And one day before the event, you check the event page on Facebook only to find that no one has responded or put their attendance as maybe.

What went wrong?

Nothing. It’s simply in Singaporean’s blood to “bo-chup” (don’t care attitude).

1) Decide a default location and time.

If you ask everyone about their opinions, you would most likely get none. And if you get opinions, great! Change it accordingly.

Those who do not respond are usually fine with any place.

2) Plan in advance. At least 2 weeks or even better, 4.

Most people usually have plans made for the week and the next.

Planning in advance shows that you really want to meet up with those invited. It’s like how people would book advance tickets for a show/performance they like as soon as the sales for those tickets begin.

And if you get the excuse that you’re planning way too soon, ignore it. It only goes to show that that person wants to reserve his/her time on that day for something else, and values that event more than meeting up with you.

3) When confirming attendance, call them or SMS them.

I’ve never seen a successful meetup planned using Facebook unless it’s a small group of very very close friends, or you’re someone so important that people want to be around you 24/7 and even when you go to the toilet.

Start confirming at least a week before so you know the group size and make reservations at the restaurant accordingly.

For those who sound unsure, tell them that you are making reservations at a certain date and you need to hear an answer from them by then.

4) Expect late-comers and prepare for it.

Despite Singapore being so small it takes less than an hour to travel from one end of the country to the other by car, people will still be late. But they’re not entirely to be blamed. Our “world-class transport system” has to have world-class failures too sometimes.

Plan your meetup in such a way that those who arrive on time won’t have to wait for those who are late.

If it’s a dinner meetup, go into the restaurant first with whoever is already there and start ordering and chat.

Or meet up at a game center first where people can play some games while waiting.

The last few movie gatherings I did for my anime club, we gathered at a fastfood restaurant so we can have dinner and chat before the movie starts.

Troublesome isn’t it? But after everything’s over, everyone will appreciate you for putting in all that effort to get them together. That alone is rewarding enough.

I once wondered why governments need to make things so complicated with complex tax systems and all that.

When the government gave out relief on GST to citizens a while ago, I thought to myself, “If you’re going to give the money back anyway, why not abolish GST in the first place?”

The answer came to me today as I studied the Singapore Budget 2012.

It’s like the Robin Hood style of stealing from the rich to give to the poor. But in this case, taxing the rich more, taxing the poor less.

And to do this, taxes are enforced for most financial transactions and then tax reliefs are given to people based on the size of their homes (rich people usually live in larger homes). Not 100% accurate but the gist of it is somewhere there.