Decay On Net

Ever send an email to your colleague and got a "Out of office" reply? It's a common sight. But seriously, how many of these out of office message are useful?

If properly written, an out of message can provide a lot of information to the person who is sending email to you.

My out of office message will usually look something like this:

I'm on leave/MC/reservist and will be back on *date that I'll return*.

For urgent matters, please contact:
*Issue 1 under my charge* - *My coverer's name*
*Issue 2 under my charge* - *My coverer's name*

Else I'll reply when I'm back.
Thanks and have a nice day.

Simple, sweet and informative. :)

But then, I hate it when people just don't know how to write a good out of office message. Alot of time, I got this kind of out of office message:

Hi, I'm on leave.
Please contact *coverer name* for urgent matter

Which makes me wonder, when will you return? How long more do I need to bother your coverer?

Others just simply don't put the coverer's name:

Hi, I'm on leave and will be back on *date*

SO how? I go hunt high and low for your coverer if I got urgent issue?

Then there are others who simply don't know the purpose of setting out of office message:

Hi, I'm out of office

Sure, you left for your leave in a hurry until you didn't have time to write a proper "out of office message". But with this kind of out of office message, might as well don't set any lah.

But these are not the worst "out of office message" I've seen. The worst I've seen come from 1 of the china staff whom we outsourced our work to. He was on leave from friday afternoon to the following week's Tuesday. Here is his out of office message:

I am so sorry for missing your mail, I am not in office from today's
afternoon to next Tuesday.
I would be back to office on next Wednesday.

Err.... if I were to send you a email on Monday morning, I'll be darn confused. So exactly which afternoon will your leave begin and which wednesday will you be back?
*Confused look*


The above "out of office message" are all real. SERIOUS!
Anyway, below are some jokes "on out of office message"

I am currently out at a job interview and will reply to you if I fail to
get the position. Be prepared for my mood.

I'm not really out of the office. I'm just ignoring you

You are receiving this automatic notification because I am out of the
office. If I was in, chances are you wouldn't have received anything at
all.

Sorry to have missed you but I am at the doctors having my brain removed
so that I may be promoted to management

I will be unable to delete all the unread, worthless emails you send me
until I return from vacation on 4/18. Please be patient and your mail will
be deleted in the order it was received.

Thank you for your email. Your credit card has been charged $5.99 for the
first ten words and $1.99 for each additional word in your message

The e-mail server is unable to verify your server connection and is
unable to deliver this message. Please restart your computer and try
sending again.' The beauty of it is that when I return, I can see how many
in-duh-viduals did this over and over.

Thank you for your message, which has been added to a queueing system.
You are currently in 352nd place, and can expect to receive a reply in
approximately 19 weeks.

Please reply to this e-mail so I will know that you got this message.

I am on holiday. Your e-mail has been deleted.

Hi. I'm thinking about what you've just sent me. Please wait by your PC
for my response.

Hi! I'm busy negotiating the salary for my new job. Don't bother to leave
me any messages.

I've run away to join a different circus.



AND, FINALLY, ABSOLUTELY THE BEST:

I will be out of the office for the next 2 weeks for medical reasons.
When I return, please refer to me as 'Loretta' instead of 'Steve'.'

Posted by DK at 8:20 PM | Comments

Can someone please explain to me the logic behind this.

You build the NEL, but keep 1 station closed. Giving the excuse that there is not enough people in the area to open the station.

Now you come out say you might wanna relax the rule and open the station. Make a big hu-ha over it and everyone start calling you an angel.

But wait a min, aren't you the same devil who kept the station closed for the past few years? So why should I be grateful now?

Posted by DK at 1:31 AM | Comments

Found this in a old email
Very meaningful...

--------------

Words On Love

I would like to share something on the 'nature of love' I once had a
friend who grew to be very close to me.

Once when we were sitting at the edge of a swimming pool, she filled the
palm of her hand with a little water and held it before me, and said
this:

"You see this water carefully contained on my hand? it symbolizes Love."

As long as you keep your hand caringly open and allow it to remain
there, it will always be there.

However, if you attempt to close your fingers around it and try to
posses it, it will spill through the first cracks it finds.

This is the greatest mistake that people do when they meet love...they
try to posses it, they demand, they expect... and just like the water
spilling out of your hand, Love will retrieve from you.

For love is meant to be free, you can not change it's nature. If there
are people you loves, allow them to be free beings.

Give and don't expect.

Advise, But don't order.

Ask, but never demand.

It might sound simple, but it is a lesson that may take a lifetime to
truly practice.

It is the secret to true love. To truly practice it, you must sincerely
feel no expectations from those who you love, and yet an unconditional
caring.

May be this is applicable for all of us.......

Posted by DK at 8:49 PM | Comments

Ok, I admit, I'm bored.... Damn bored....

Posted by DK at 8:36 PM | Comments

Making Pleasure out of Bitter times. (Pls excuse me if my translation is not that good)

Knew that I have to work OT till very late today. So happen that my dad was nearby my office at 6pm. I took his car home with him and drive the car back to office so that I can drive home after my OT.

While at my home, saw that the Pasar Malam is still ongoing. Went to buy Ramly Value Meal again and bring it back to office to eat.

I don't know if it is the stall make really good ramly burger or because it's simply Ku Zhong Zhuo Le. The burger taste very good today.

Which reminds me of life.... This is what life is suppose to be. Making pleasure during hard times. It is all these little pleasures along the way that keeps you going during hard times.

And I know I will go on..... :)
(Oh btw.... this blog was written in office. Time now, 12:30AM. I should go home now.)

Posted by DK at 12:31 AM | Comments

Got this from a friend's blog.
Find it very true for me.
Esp the last one "You are his (secret) reason for living"

-----------
Five surprising reasons men are happy in a relationship
by Bonnie Yuill
Don't be fooled by the male ego. Men look for more in a relationship than an attractive women who will cook him a good meal and wash his clothes every once in a while. What he really needs is your admiration.

He needs to communicate with you
A lot of men need to be in a relationship more than women do. Surprising? Not really, when you think about it. Women usually have close relationships with their friends. They talk about health problems until they feel better. But men don't. As Helen Fielding's character, Bridget Jones, says, 'Women have emotions and men have football.' Men are competitive and so, in general, they rarely share their emotions or problems with each other, as they think it makes them look too weak. When he needs to open up and talk about his feelings, guess who he eventually shows his vulnerable side to? You!

He wants to be your hero
Knowing that he can make someone else happy makes him feel good inside, because he has the power to change things. And what bloke doesn't secretly want power of some sort? At least if he can't always be top dog at work, he can be a star at home. Instinctively, he aspires to be Spider-Man or Superman – to be your hero, to be able to make things right: to be appreciated, to be someone's knight in shining armour. So when you are disappointed or unhappy, he feels responsible. What matters is that you are happy and then he's got one less thing to worry about. Strange but true.

He strives to make you happy
The number one reason men leave relationships is because they feel as though they can't meet their partner's needs. This makes them feel inadequate, and it makes them feel as though there's no way their partner can feel respect for them. For women, communication seems to be the top priority in keeping the relationship going – but, quite honestly, men don't understand this constant need to talk about things over and over.

For men, the relationship is a success if they feel respected and if they make their partner happy. This is why a new conquest is exactly that – he feels as though he is in charge – he is once again someone's knight in shining armour.

If you resent him because you feel overworked and under-appreciated, stop doing so much – you are probably destroying your relationship! He doesn't want to feel responsible for you rushing around, worn into the carpet, and most men really don't notice whether the housework has been done or not. What they want is respect and appreciation. 'All we really want from women,' a (male) friend recently told me, 'is for you to smile at us.' (And probably one other thing, if he thought about it for longer than a millisecond.)

Sex makes him feel loved
Sex has the same effect on men as romance does on women. So the reverse is also true: no sex = no love, no approval, no acknowledgement. They get that same sad, unloved feeling that you get when you don't get flowers, your partner looks at other women or ignores you.

You are his (secret) reason for living
He needs you because you inspire him to do better – he has someone to do things for, goals to reach, a reason to go out and conquer the world. What's the point of being disgustingly rich and powerful if there's no one to share it with? What he needs is the gift of you.

Posted by DK at 12:54 PM | Comments

**Ah beng mode on**

Limpeh ka li kong hor, todae hor, limpeh ki greenapple eh blog hor, see this lanjiao link. Wah lan wei! Jin Jia si funny leh. Jit eh kennysia sibei gi-lat hor. Ah ni kuan ma eh sia. This thing hor, sibei shoik leh.

limpeh next time hor, eng this tool, then hor, don need type all these lanjiao bengish blog myself. even better. eh bai hor, eng ji eh link lai kua wa eh blog lah. Mai long wa ma huan type kao lampah drop....

**Ah beng mode off**

Posted by DK at 12:56 AM | Comments

Took this photo while waiting for a friend. Actually it is quite a common sight. Every Aug, surely got some fellow who hang the flag wrongly.

I still don't understand how something so simple can cock up. Can't you guys just mentally visualise which side the flag is when you are hanging it?

The crescent moon and 5 stars are on the left side of the flag, meaning when you are hanging it, the crescent moon and 5 stars should be on your right side.

Simple mah.... okie, even if you hang wrongly, don't you bother to take a look at your flag when you walk pass your block? Aiyo... National day over liao lah, hope u take it down soon. Don't throw our face. Wait other country people laugh at us say we don't even know how to hang our own nation's flag. What a disgrace.

Next national day, remind me to do a special edition to teach people how to hang flag.

National education should include a module to teach singaporeans how to hang flag. After 40yr of flag hanging, still got people manage to do it wrongly. *Shake head*

Posted by DK at 1:04 AM | Comments

Tag: Election

I'm not refering to the presidental election. Oh, btw: We might not have a president election. Judging from the way the newspaper blast the Mr Kuan recently, I doubt we will get a public holiday.

Seriously, I don't mind seeing any tom dick or harry coming out for the president election. Why the need to filter away the clowns and jokers? We are matured already right? Surely we can tell the different between clowns and contender.

Just throw Kuan and Nathan in the pit and fight it out.

Anyway, I wasn't going to talk about presidental election. I wanted to talk about General Election. You know, the time when you finally gets to see your MPs walking around your GRC, shaking hands and saying hello to you machim they are good old friends of you. Come come, how many people can name all the MPs in your GRC? Even I cannot do that. All I know is Mr Lim Boon Heng is 1 of them. The education minister (whom I cannot recall his name) is also 1 of my MP. As for the other 3 tag-a-long MPs, I seriously cannot remember their name, look and even GENDER!! yeap. I don't even remember if they are male or female. it is THAT BAD.

But at least the elections are coming. When the election comes, they will show up and I'll try my face to remember who they actually are.

You may ask, How do you know elections are coming? Simple.... Read the State controlled Newspaper. Hahahaha.... Suddenly, out of no where, they start talking about the GRC boundries and Pontong Pasir..... Something fishy.... it should be coming soon....

Posted by DK at 1:44 PM | Comments

Tag: NDP

Caught on national TV, Live during the NDP 05.
(pls excuse the poor quality image. I capture the pic using my K750i. Can't seem to do a screen capture on windows media player)

See the video on demand if you still don't believe your eyes.
Skip to 1hr 10min 15sec.

Okie lah, no alien lah. Just some streamers at the background. Haha.

Gee.... I hope the cameraman doesn't get fired because of this.
Just a joke only Mr MP, don't angry ok?

Posted by DK at 2:02 AM | Comments

Tag: onesingaporeminute

I have no problem understanding the instructions from mrbrown. Just that I feel 1 photo is enough to make my own "one Singapore minute". Why need a series of photos when just 1 photo can say how I feel about Singapore. (Hope I don't get disqualified for doing this)

And here we have it. 1 photo with 3 things that do Singapore proud.

Pls excuse me if I left out other things. My mind is currently on a holiday mood. Can't really think of others. But these 3 are already good enough to make you wanna stand up and say loud loud "I'm a Singaporean!"

Happy Birthday Singapore.

Labels: Meme and Tags

Posted by DK at 3:42 PM | Comments

Tag: Singapore

Went into my old blog and dig out this posting that I've done 3 yr ago during National Day. The feeling and thinking is more or less the same. Nothing much has changed. Still have the same tots.

Anyway, Today is Singapore's 40th Birthday.
Happy Birthday.

**Written on 9th Aug 2002**

wat is patrotic? something i ask myself during singapore's 37th birthday
is hanging out the flag during national day consider patrotic? or is it going to the NDP consider patrotic?

remember i was talking bout those china woman who got gold in the commonwealth games?
so is tat consider patrotic?
i posted up the same topic in a forum tat i often visit....
and someone replied to me, "at least they got gold for us, wat have u done for singapore?"

wat have i done for singapore? i wonder?
being a singaporean for 22 yr already, spending most of my time in singapore.
being loyal to singapore, serving my national service
is it not enough? so do i have to go play some table tennis to get gold for singapore to show my loyality?
or do i have to climb the everest to show tat i'm patrotic?
or just hanging out the flag will do?

it's all in the heart....no action needed....
but why is it some pple think must hang a flag to be patrotic?
i tink it's so artifical....
I am a singaporean, and I'm proud to be 1....
when the time comes, if there is a need to fight a war, i'll be out there, protecting singapore, my home with my life
isn't that enough?

or do i have to get gold in table tennis? or climb everest and plant singapore flag on the top
to show them i'm as patrotic to singapore as they are?
do you think they are really loyal to singapore?
will they fight a war for singapore, and even lose their life just to defend singapore???

who are they? born in a country far away, come to singapore
just because singapore give them more money, just because they are good at something
and their own country does not give them the same chance and money as singapore
then they come here....and we gave them the chance, the money and the glory
and WE forgotten about OUR own people!!!

here they are, taking away the chances of our own people
yes, we are not as good as them, but so? does playing a game mean u have to win?
because of them, how many people lost the chance to represent singapore?
how many lost the heart in playing, on seeing them that their skill are much better than ours?
some people dare to say they are here to raise the standard of singapore sport
i feel they are here to take away the chances of singaporean in representing in the sport

and so wat if he put the singapore flag on top of everest?
it's not the flag on the everest, it's the people that went up there that really matters
but who is up there? a Singapore PR....have he served the NS before?
will he pick up a M16 1 day if needed? or will he be on the earliest flight out of singapore?
yet we are dumping money on to him, to let him finish HIS dream, HIS wish, HIS adventure
when such money could be use to help the needy, the unfortunate and the 1 who deserved more!

and i look at myself
why am i still so loyal to a country who cares so much bout others and not his own people?
the new GST and income tax changes shows 1 thing, singapore is interested in attracting more outside talents
does it care about it's own people? increase GST so benifits can be giving to richer "talents" frm oversea
to attract them to come here, just to see them RUN away when something bad happen

and while i'm serving my national service, holding my M16, protecting the country,
i see many oversea students coming to NTU and NUS
to study, get a degree and just F**K off from here.
taking up the seat that many singaporean are dying for.
which singaporean doesn't wish complete his degree in singapore?
but does singapore give u the chance?

NO! they rather give it to oversea students, who pay more than u!
it's not as if our result are worest then them, if our result is worest, then why some of us can get into top uni in UK and Aust?
it's just that we are holding a diploma.
have anyone ever actually look at the ratio of dip student and oversea student in our UNI???
i remember last time i applied for NUS and was rejected, only to found out they actually had 200++ oversea students out of the 700++ seats available!!!
imagine if tat 200 seats were not given to them and to singaporean? how many singaporean can benifit frm it???

yet we give them the chance to study in singapore, forgetting bout our children.
so wat will they do after they finish their studies?
go back to their country and contribute to THEIR country, forgetting that it is SINGAPORE who give them the chance to study, who educate them, who mould them into the person they are now.
wat have they done to deserve a seat in our Uni???
did they serve the army? or did they help contribute to our econmy?

today is singapore 37th birthday, and here i am scolding her
telling her tat she has been forgetting bout her own children
we are YOUR children, YOUR citizen, YOUR people,
yet u treat outsider better than us.

but still, no matter what happen,
i'm still loyal to u, if time come, i'll be here to fight
even if it mean dying for u, i'm willing.....

but why am i doing so much for someone so heartless?
cos i'm a PURE singaporean, i'm born here, i live here and i'll die here
this is MY Singapore, MY Home, MY Future

Happy birthday.

Posted by DK at 3:35 AM | Comments

Life is like fireworks. Yeap, I did mention the moment of beauty before.
But fireworks is more than just a moment of beauty. It is a constant reminder of many lesson in life.

Went to watch fireworks again today. And once again the foolish me tried to capture the fireworks with my K750i. Okie, I've learnt how to take a shot without directly looking at my K750i's view finder. I've re-learnt how to enjoy the moment of beauty again. So I snap and snap non stop. Don't really expect them to turn out good. Just wanna capture the moment.

Most of the shot were badly taken. (hey, what do you expect from a HP camera?). Only one shot not bad looking. Not really nice actually, but I've been sending it to my friends. That the best shot I have today.

It is just like life. You keep searching and searching until u finally find the right person. And when you found it, u'll treasure it.

I don't carry much hope in shooting the perfect fireworks picture. But I'm still taking photo when watching fireworks. At least if I were to take the shot, I know there is still a 50-50 chance that 1 of the shot is the perfect picture. At least at the end of the day, I know I've tried..... even I fail to take a perfect shot, at least I'll have no regrets....

Posted by DK at 3:09 AM | Comments

Tag: Singapore Flag NDP

National Day is coming. Someone wrote to newspaper to say that he is seeing lesser and lesser people hanging the national flag each year. I wonder, why bother?

Does it really matter much if we hang the flag or don't hang it? Hanging the flag outside your flag means nothing. Someone who hang the flag can also be a spy selling country top secret info to others. Does hanging the flag means anything?

That why I choose to hang the flag elsewhere, inside my heart. I didn't hang the flag outside my house this year. It serve no purpose. I don't need to do it to show my patriotism and loyalty to the country. I show my love and loyalty to the country thru other means. I show my loyalty to the country by reporting for my reservist every year. By not chao kenging during ICT. By putting my best effort. I show my patriotism by being willing to be the 1st person at the frontline should anyone want to attack Singapore. I show my love for Singapore by defending it's interest and reputation. By contributing to Singapore to make it a better place for our children.

Hanging the flag outside your house takes 5 mins. If this simple action is able to show one's patriotism, then patriotism is worthless.

I choose to hang the flag in my heart. It takes more than 5min. In fact it takes a lifetime to hang a flag in the heart. If someone were to ask me if I hang the flag this year, my reply will be "I've been hanging the flag every day, right here inside my heart"

Happy 40th birthday Singapore.

Posted by DK at 2:02 PM | Comments

Tag: Hiroshima

60 years ago, an Atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, killing more than 140,000 people, and causing many thousand more people to die of radiation-related illness.

While the A-bomb triggered the surrender of the Japanese and the end of World War II, I've always wondered if it is actually necessary.

Germany and Italy had already surrendered. Japan is alone, fighting the Allied forces in many front lines. Japan's Naval and Air forces are losing the fight to the Allied forces that had surrounded Japan. Bombing on Japan's land was conducted every night. Russia also declared war against Japan. Japan is losing....

So is the A-Bomb really required? I don't think so. It is just a matter of time before Japan surrender. The A-Bomb will speed up the surrender. Maybe saving the lifes of many American troops. But it killed more civilians than soldiers.

140,000 civilians, unarmed and untrained, were killed. I thought they should be targeting military targets like war factory and army camps. Yes, the Japanese soldier were cruel. I remember the Rape of Nan Jing. I remember how the people suffered under the Japanese rule. But we are no different from them. We dropped a A-Bomb on a defenseless city.

140,000 lives loss in exchanged for a faster peace. Is it worth it?

Remember Hiroshima. Remember the day 140,000 civilians lifes were lost to exchange for peace....

Wikipedia

Posted by DK at 10:30 PM | Comments

This is funny.....

If I got 1 million

Nah si gua wu ji pa ban, wa beh je puey kee,
Wa beh ew seh kai, ee tah li lim ko pi,
Loh pi chiak speh ge ti ,

Ahem....
Wei, peng yu eh, li siong ji pa ban, chin chuay ah?
(Wei friend, you think one million a lot ah?)

Posted by DK at 11:38 AM | Comments

It has been quite some time since our dept outsourced some of our work to china. And I must tell u, the quality of their work remains bad... if not worst....

Few days ago, we attempted something 'foolish'. We pass them a complicated request. Usually, complicated request like these would be done by staff in singapore since china can cock up even easy request. But we wanna test our luck, have some faith in them. And we regreted it.

The job they submitted keep being rejected by the requester. Either they miss out something parts or they key the figure wrongly. Even the start date of the contract also make mistake. Okie, it was partly the requester's fault, they gave the wrong date. But common sense would had told them that they can't have a contract that already started weeks ago. Yet they didn't voice out the error by requestor, and just follow blindly.

Sometimes I told Ik Tjen that the guys working for us in china are just like AI, but with super good user interface. They can accept telephone call and email as command. No need follow any standard set of command, so long as the required data is available, they will be able to filter out those non-required info and take the required info for the job. BUT, they do things like AI. Simply follow a set of instructions blindly without any understanding. They are just AI with good interface.

Sometimes I'm worried. Serene is no longer here. Amanda and I are busy with other stuff and unable to babysit them every single moment. I feel that they will create a big error soon. Been checking the coding that they do but still feel that an error might slip thru our check. There is nothing much we can do. Top management wants to outsource and save money, what can we do? Money vs Quality.... tell me, if you are the boss, which 1 would you choose?

Funny, come accross this banner at SIM. "Prepare for an Outsourced World". What kind of education can prepare someone for an outsourced world? If outsourcing is so good, how come they don't outsource top management post too?

Posted by DK at 1:10 AM | Comments

Havent been logging into my wholivesnearyou account. So decided to drop by to see if any new people in my block just join us. Was greated by a rude surprise. Pls pay $2.

You got to be kidding. I need to pay to communicate with other users on Who Lives Near You? Why should i?

Here what I got....

You may continue to use the service but are required to upgrade to a Verified Account to communicate with other members and enjoy exclusive features.

What do you mean by a Verified Account?
A Verified Account proves that you are a genuine member of your neighbourhood, as identified by your unique mobile number. It deters people who try to misuse the service by creating multiple accounts to harass others with profanity or obscene messages that ruin the community-building spirit that WhoLivesNearYou is trying very hard to create. Offenders will be banned and refused membership indefinitely.

How much does it cost?
Verification is simple and very affordable. It works by sending an SMS at a one-time cost of $2; your participation supports our efforts in creating better features for you and to keep this a safe, genuine place to make friends.

If you read betweens the line, it actually says: We just wanna charge you for using the service.

No big deal, since they charging money, might as well stick to Friendster lor. Haha. Anyway I din log in for many mth liao. haha.

Oh wait.... now i know why....

WhoLivesNearYou is operated by a small team of people and jointly partnered with Pacific Internet Ltd, a Nasdaq listed Company. The team constantly work to recreate the Site with interesting ways to connect your neighbourhood. We certainly hope that you will enjoy the service for many years to come. You can expect quarterly updates that present either new or updated features.

No wonder.....

Tag: wholivesnearyou

Posted by DK at 11:04 PM | Comments

Okie, just some crazy idea. Don't know how long will I keep it going.

I'm playing with my flickr account, and I've decided to create a Set call "A Photo A Day". This is where I will post a photo of something that happened to me everyday. Just wondering how long will I keep it going. Haha..... we'll see....

Posted by DK at 12:27 AM | Comments