Windows Vista crashed! Part 2

It has been over a week since my HP desktop crashed.

I have tried everything in the troubleshooting manual, as well as the online help available on the HP site. I have tried several times to recover my PC back to its factory state. But to no avail. It still doesn't start up properly, hanging at various stages during the startup process.

I have been trying to contact HP to get them to come down to take a look at my PC. To no avail. After trying for two days to get through to their phone support, I still couldn't get through, so I emailed them with my problem. The reply? They told me to call phone support. But I emailed them because I couldn't get through to phone support!

So I tried again. Nope, cannot get through. Next? I tried the online chat support, but the guy helping me was in USA, and after going through some of the basic troubleshooting steps, he told me to call the local phone support. Again.

Finally, I got through on Wednesday, only to be told that my problem has been registered, a technical specialist will call me on Thursday to arrange a time to visit me, and they should be able to come down within the next two days. It is Sunday, and they still have yet to call me to arrange for a time. Meanwhile, my HP desktop is hanging around in limbo.

If this is the kind of technical support that one can expect buying from HP, I guess I should have bought my PC from one of those "build-your-own-PC" shops in Sim Lim Square.

By the way, I think I know what is wrong with my PC. It should be a harddisk failure. And this is not the first time... previously, I also had a HP desktop, and its harddisk failed after 1.5 years and I had to replace it on my own. But my current PC is less than a year old, and still within warranty. Plus, the PC does not come with a recovery disk. The recovery program and data actually resides on a separate partition in the same harddisk. So even if I buy a new harddisk and install it, I have to buy a new copy of the OS. That seems to be an agreement between Microsoft and suppliers, that they do not include recovery disks or installation disks for computers that are shipped pre-installed with Windows Vista. What kind of idea is that?

So, some advice for those of you out there. First, don't buy PCs that come pre-installed with Windows Vista. Even if you want Vista, it may be better to buy one pre-installed with XP, then install Vista on your own. And secondly, don't believe too much in after sales technical support. With companies downsizing and all that, who knows how many technical specialists they actually have on hand to handle problems?

"Ratatouille" and "Ben and Me"

When I was in the States, I watched "Ratatouille". Two days after that, I went to Philadephia, and when visiting one of the museums regarding Benjamin Franklin, I watched the short animated film "Ben and Me".

"Ratatouille" is about a mouse living in the hat of a chef, helping him to cook great dishes. And "Ben and Me" is about a mouse living in the hat of Benjamin Franklin, helping him along in the events that shaped the founding of the United States. Guess we know where they got their ideas from... since "Ben and Me" is a 1953 Disney film...

Yellow Ribbon Project

How many of you have heard of the Yellow Ribbon Project?

It is actually a project that "aims to create awareness of giving second chances to ex-offenders, to generate acceptance of ex-offenders and their families into the community, and to inspire community action to support the rehabilitation and reintegration of ex-offenders into society."

Recently, my wife told me about an article in Today papers. It was written by one of the columnists. She wrote that when she recently shifted to her new home, she thought of getting the removal services offered by an organisation that helps ex-offenders. However, her friend advised her not to, saying that there is no knowing what ex-offenders may do. In the end, she took her friend's advice.

When we shifted to our new place last year, my wife suggested that we employ the removal services offered by such an organisation, because it was nearby. They came on time, were very professional in the way they carried our stuff and packed it into the lorry, and really lent us a helping hand. Besides removal services, the organisation also sells teak furniture and provides picture framing services. And they put it upfront that they don't want our pity, they want our business. These people may be ex-offenders, but they have shown professionalism in the work and service they provide. Recently, when we were browsing through their items on sale, we were treated to service so much better than what we would get in other shops in Singapore. Yes, I am saying this, ex-offenders give better service than most Singaporeans who have never been in prison.

These people, by being in the organisation, are telling you, the public, that they are willing to turn over a new leaf. They are sincere in changing, so we should give them a chance, rather than view them through coloured glasses. After all, the major religions in the world all teach about the importance of compassion for your fellow men. What have these people done that they do not deserve your forgiveness? They have already done their time in prison, what more do we expect them to do, before they are given a second chance?

Increased use of public transport

There is this big hoohah about the increase in the use of public transport in Singapore. Apparently, subway use has increased by 6%, while buses by 4%. The authorities cite the reason as rising oil prices.

Wait.

Can we make such conclusions just by looking at numbers? After all, many many factors can contribute to the increase in the use of public transport. Oil prices can be one reason. What about an increase in the awareness of conserving energy? Maybe people do care for the environment, and therefore drive less and use public transport more? Or it could be due to rising COE prices, which means it is harder to buy cars, and thus people stick with public transport (and with an increasing population, that means an increase of public transport use).

I think we are so fixed in our mindsets that all events have a cause, that we fail to realise that sometimes, an event can have multiple causes. Unless we survey the people who take public transport for their reasons, we will not know why there is an increase, so we shouldn't jump to conclusions that it is due to rising oil prices.

Windows Vista crashed!

Bad news... Windows Vista just crashed on me. I tried to shut it down normally, but it won't, so I forced it to shut down by holding down the power button... and now, it won't boot up beyond the moving green bar. After trying various methods, mostly to do with using the inbuilt recovery environment as well as safe mode, I still cannot get it to run, and also cannot access the files on my harddisk. Right now, I am using my laptop, which is running Linux.

After trying for hours to get through to HP technical support, I decided to email them, only to have them tell me to call them for support... but I emailed them because I couldn't get them on the phone! Grr....

I guess I will have to reformat the harddisk and reinstall everything. And how to get my personal files out from the harddisk? That is when Linux comes in again. I am thinking of using a Fedora 8 LiveCD to boot up my computer, mount my Vista harddisk, and transfer the files inside to a portable harddisk. After I reinstall Vista, I can then copy back the files into the original harddisk.

Guess I know what I will be doing this weekend...

New Year in Japan

We spent the New Year in Japan. It has been many years since I last spent New Year in Japan, but it was nice being able to get into the routine, watching the singing competition on New Year's Eve known as Kouhaku 紅白 and waking up on New Year's Day to the Japanese version of New Year food, which is mostly preserved food (so that people don't have to cook and can rest during the holiday).
Then there is the traditional visit to the temple. We usually go to Kawasaki Taishi 川崎大師 (this is a Shinto shrine in Kawasaki), and this year was no different. My fortune for the year, according to the lot that I drew, is supposed to be good. And of course, stalls were set up within and without the temple compound, and we had a great time eating mash potatoes with butter, fried noodles and large hot dogs.

For those who don't know, when the Japanese decided to adopt the Gregorian calendar, they copied the dates from the Chinese lunar calendar over, so instead of celebrating new year with the Chinese using the lunar calendar, they do it with the rest of the world now on 1st of January.

Self-sufficiency

When I was in school, about 20 years ago, I learnt that Japan was self-sufficient in rice. Well, it left me with the impression that the Japanese are more or less self-sufficient in the food that they eat. How wrong I was.

My recent trip back to Japan allowed me to watch a show on conservation. It mentioned that the Japanese are actually around 39% self-sufficient in terms of food, with lettuce coming from the US, french beans from Oman, and tuna from the Mediterranean. Wow!

But of course, compared to Singapore, where we import almost 100% of our food...

Just for info, the Australians are the top in self-sufficiency (at least in the show), at 200+%, and the US is next, at 140+%.

Philadephia tour

Our tour of Philadephia was not as tough as the Washington DC one... though there was still a lot of walking.

The first stop was Independence Hall.
Of course, the horse carriage tours that run around Philadephia, though we didn't hitch a ride on them.
The famous Liberty Bell, which now stands inside its own memorial.
The famous Philadephia cheesesteak.
And finally, Betsy Ross made the first flag of the United States.

Washington DC tour

We start our tour at the Capitol, where Congress meets.
Here, you can find the national Christmas tree. There is another one at the White House, for the president.
Continuing down the mall, you find the Washington Monument, built in honour of George Washington, the first president of the United States.
And in the distance, you can see the White House, the official residence of the current president of the United States.
Walking down, you reach the World War Two Memorial, a new one dedicated in 2004, built in memory of the people from the United States who gave their lives fighting for their country during World War Two.
Further down, there is the Vietnam Memorial, which is actually not just one, but three memorials. There is the wall listing all the US soldiers who died in the war, as well as a monument to the soldiers, and a monument to the women who contributed to the war effort.
At the end of the mall, is the Lincoln Memorial, honouring the sixteenth president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln.

Next, we visited a memorial dedicated to Franklin D Roosevelt.
Last was the "muffin", a memorial to Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States and known as the person who drafted the Declaration of Independence.


All these... in one day!

Amish traditions

We visited an Amish farmhouse, which is now open to the public. The Amish family has since moved elsewhere. But it serves to let people know a bit more about the Amish traditions.

If you think life is tough, wait till you hear about the Amish. It is not true that they don't use modern technology. They do. They just cannot be connected to the outside world. So no electrical cables. Although they can own a generator and have it power devices in the barn. This also means no modern water and sewage system, so they have to find some means to get their water and it usually means that the toilet is in a separate building. Of course, they can use propane-powered refrigerators, since it doesn't connect them to the outside world.

So as not to appear like the rest of the world, they dress differently too. Ladies are forbidden to use buttons because they are not supposed to wear ornaments, and buttons were considered ornaments in the past. To keep their clothing together, they use straight pins instead of buttons. Of course, the guys have no such restrictions. And so as not to be like the rest of the world, they cannot drive, though nothing prevents them from sitting in a car driven by someone else. So you can see horse carriages still in use.
And church is held at home. Yes, they don't build churches, instead, service is held at one of their homes, rotated within the community. So every week, they stuff the long benches into a wagon, bring it to someone's house, and set up a room for church. Once church service is over, they pack up the place, and move the benches to another house. And church is good, because it is during service that boys get to see the girls, and from the way the girls dress, the boys know which are the girls that are ready for dating. These girls wear a black prayer cap. Otherwise, ladies and little girls all wear white prayer caps.

Learn more about the Amish at Wikipedia.

Visiting the United States

My wife and I went to spend the holiday season with our friends in the United States. They are actually a couple that we met in Japan. After 17 years staying in Japan, they have finally moved back to the States and now stay in a town in Pennsylvania state.
This is a picture of their house, which was actually built in 1780s and later expanded upon in the 19th century. The original stone house is the portion just beside the tree. The expansion is the wing to the left. While the house seems big, it actually isn't. It may not be obvious, but its real size becomes obvious when you view it from the side.

If you think that this house is old, think again. It doesn't even make it into the top 5 old houses found in that town. I think, though, my friends did mention that it is in the top 20.

Living in Singapore, history is something that we don't really have a lot of, so I am always amazed by history. Old houses are not common here, and having the chance to even stay in one was an experience. Of course, the house has been modernised, with electricity and a proper water and sewage system, but the wooden floors still creak, and are uneven.Of course, we cannot miss out on the Christmas tree standing in the hall. And the Pennsylvania Dutch birch beer (something like root beer).

Hay and straw

What is the difference between hay and straw?

That was the question a friend asked me, while I was visiting them in the United States.

To me, they are the same. But apparently, there is that slight difference. My friend explained that while straw is used to describe the dried stalks, they usually use it to describe dried stalks used for filling. Hay is usually used to describe dried stalks used as food for animals.

I guess while English is my first language, and I live in a country that uses English as the official language, language is very much tied to culture and traditions. And while the language may be used daily, if we don't share the same cultural background, we will still have that slight difference in understanding. So while we as Singaporeans may want to say that English is our first language, we may not be able to say that we are native speakers (with the same context as the British, or even the Americans) since we don't share the same culture. And that may apply to our Chinese too, compared with mainland Chinese and the Taiwanese.

I guess I am still a proud native speaker of Singlish.