Christmas 2010

This Christmas, we are spending it with a friend and his family in the United States, so it will be filled with Christmas carols, a real Christmas tree, decorations, turkey, cold (and maybe snow) plus church. Standby for photos post-trip!

Amazon Kindle 3

After hearing about the Amazon Kindle 3 from my colleague, and reading about it on the Internet, I decided that it was the e-book reader for me, and went ahead to get one for myself.

My interest with e-book readers came about because I am going to have to move soon, and having a lot of books is bogging me down. Yet I cannot bear to part with my books. So I have decided that the best way is to keep my books in digital format, while keeping the paper versions of those books that I really want to keep.

So now, I am trying to find digital versions of books that I have, so that I can part with the paper versions...

By the way, for those interested to get themselves the Kindle in Singapore, please read the following:
Jeff's Blog on Amazon Kindle 3
A forum for e-book readers in general
I would advice using Borderlinx... I used VPOST and regretted it. It took almost 11 days from the time I ordered my Kindle before it finally arrived in Singapore... and that was after choosing 2-day delivery from Amazon. Amazon delivered as promised, the choke point was VPOST.

Do note that Amazon Kindle content is not supported in Singapore, so do follow the instructions in Jeff's Blog above. There are two versions, the WiFi only version, and the version that has both WiFi and 3G. If you are a frequent traveller, I would suggest getting the 3G version, else the WiFi version would suffice.

以德服人 Part 2

The other day, someone was saying that Japanese warriors (武士) are formidable because they are always ready to die. And Japanese martial arts are simple and effective, not flashy. When a Japanese warrior draws his sword, he draws it to kill.

Someone rebutted that it is not that Chinese warriors draw their sword without aiming to kill. When a Chinese warrior draws his sword, he draws it to kill too. It is just that he does not draw his sword easily.

I think it is not about race. Whether Japanese or Chinese, the wisdom behind this is the same.
仁者，不以力制人，以德服人。
A person must have compassion for his fellow men, and when he does, it is no longer about how well he fights, because he aims not to use his martial skills, instead relying on his heart to reach out to the people around him. He gains respect not by the number of people he defeats, but by the number of lives he touches with his sincerity.

The old martial artist sitting in the background may not be able to move as fast as when he was young. But he doesn't need to. Because he no longer relies on his hands and legs to defeat his opponents. The strength of his character is his true weapon.

Parting with Dungeons and Dragons

Updated on 2 Dec 2010 at 2330H:

Due to the need to clear out my old stuff in preparation for a move in the near future, I intend to part with some of my Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (AD&D) Second Edition (2nd Ed), and Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) Third Edition (3rd Ed) stuff like rulebooks and supplements. Most of them are in near mint condition, except for the core rulebooks (Players Handbook and Dungeon Master Guide) for 2nd Ed. Do drop me a mail or leave a comment here for me to contact you if you are interested and we can then negotiate a price and a method of delivery. Most convenient if you live in Singapore.

The books available:
AD&D 2nd Ed:
Players Handbook
Dungeon Master's Guide
Monstrous Manual
Legends and Lore
The Complete Ninja's Handbook
The Complete Psionics' Handbook
The Complete Thief's Handbook
The Complete Wizard's Handbook
The Complete Priest's Handbook
The Complete Book of Elves
Arms and Equipment
Player Option: Skills and Powers
Player Option: Combat and Tactics
DM Option: High-Level Campaigns
Faiths and Avatars
Heroes' Lorebook
D&D 3rd Ed:
Players Handbook
Dungeon Master's Guide
Manual of the Planes
Monster Manual
Oriental Adventures
Sword and Fist
Masters of the Wild