Welcome to my Blog!

On the article online buy viagra target=_blank”>http://www.dennisquek.com/2009/01/how-i-manage-my-money-for-december-08, I mention that I was eligible for a Ipod Shuffle. And thank you UOB Bank, I had redeemed my Ipod Shuffle 1GB, that’s worth SGD78.

In the first place I already intended to get this promotion and sell this off, so this is where I sell off this Ipod Shuffle 1GB, for $65 SGD.

It is in blue color, and very smalll… Its width is about 2 fingers and its length is about finger 3 fingers.

Technical Specifications from Apple

This is quite useful while exercising, so if you love to jog or workout at the gym, you should get this too.

Below are some pictures:

This is not the original color, just playing around with the inverted color.

Taken on my piano bench with my piano as background

Please leave comments or email me on my contact page if you are interested, before I open it on market sites to sell it off. Only if you live in Singapore !

Tonight will be the first day of my part time studies, and my last module ! Or my last “course” as defined in University of Newcastle.

This course is special because it’s my “Final Year Project”, where we do a project and hand up, so there’s no exams involved. Which means to say at the end of February, after handing up my projects and finished off with the presentation, I am done ! Graduated!!!.

Graduation ceremony would probably be held at the later end of the year I guess, so which means I will officially graduate towards the end of 2009… If I consider the end of this course as graduation, I will receive a Bachelor of Information Technology awarded by University of Newcastle in Australia, and by being a degree holder, a graduate by 24. This is consider quite early in terms of Singaporean context.

But having said so, I actually failed a course in 2008. That was the time when this blog was started, and I had too many things to focus on. Also, I had a Kong Hong trip and a national service call up for a week… and I guess that was the reason why I failed. So now I have to retake this course during 2008 May - June, which is quite sad for buy viagra on line me as I haven’t failed a subject and have to retake, especially in academics context.

I hope to graduate together with my current classmates. Oh well… time to stop blogging and work on my proejcts.

I was thinking through some of the decisions I make in life, big or small, long or short term and I realise I have it similar to that of playing a chess game.

In school, my chess playing skills are consider at the top 10% level, where I compete with the best say 10 games. There was this game where hes good, and I could only beat him 1 or 2 games out of 10. For the rest, it was an easy meat…

So back to the point. Chess game is a very strategic or turn based game. Its based on the moves and styles you use, and could potrait your character very well.

For example, some prefer to eat all the chess pieces of your opponent before ending, while some prefer to kill the “king” as fast as possible. That is similar to pool and 9 ball player I suppose…

This challenges your thoughts on tactics and strategies planning. In our real life, every move and decision we make will affect us in the short and long term. I am not referring to daily routines like eating and sleeping (though sleeping will affect you the next day), but rather those that happen with you at work, with friends, and your personal life.

Plan ahead your “moves” and make sure what you do is meaningful has can change your life in future. Plan it ahead like 3-4 steps, or rather 3-4 years to make it simple. This helps you to think ahead, rather than to worry about it when it happens.

For example, on the very first day you start a new job, you should probably think how long you are going to stay in this job, and what is your next job like. Never ever think about, “if this job is good, I’ll stay, if its bad I’ll quit.” This is a very bad choice.

What about analysing your opponent’s movements and anticipating their strategies? This is very interesting because if you attain that level, you are actually preparing yourself beforehand, some of the threats that might affect you. Seeing though is one thing, making a decision fast enough to overcoe this is another.

As a saying in Sun Tzu:
故曰：知彼知己，百戰不殆；不知彼而知己，一勝一負；不知彼，不知己，每戰必殆。(故曰：知彼知己，百战不殆；不知彼而知己，一胜一负；不知彼，不知己，每战必殆。)

So it is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will fight without danger in battles.
If you only know yourself, but not your opponent, you may win or may lose.
If you know neither yourself nor your enemy, viagra purchase online you will always endanger yourself.

source: Wiki

The enemy could be problems you face, not a “someone”. Some prefer to escape the problem. Others will tackle it, but not with a very good solution. Some have already predicted the problem. So how do you tackle your own problems and decisions ?

Previously on this post here: http://www.dennisquek.com/2008/09/the-human-7-intelligences, I mention about human beings like us not able to fully develop our intelligences. May the fault be the education system, the society, or just plain ignorance, we just don’t know our strengths and weaknesses.

Here I will just like to talk alittle about myself, how I try to develop my strengths whenever I have the chance, and how you could use this as an example to help yourself. I may not be the best, but if it helps, that would be worth your time reading.

So what activities I do to “train” all of the 7 intelligences ? Mainly:

1) IQ, Intelligence Quotient

7) Physical Excellence

 
 
Lets go through one by one.

1) IQ, Intelligence Quotient.
It is one of the hardest to achieve. It is our education system, that has completed taken over. It measures our ability to calculate Mathematics, Science, Logic etc etc.

In my opinion, this is a bad measurement. Because in the 20th century, alot of emphasis has been placed on IQ in regards to academic results. This is then judged by either your Parents, the society, or the employer hiring you.

How I do it:
All I can suggest is not to be lazy and I hope the best in your education system. (Because I am have this worst amongst all others.)

 
 
2) EQ, Emotional Intelligence Quotient.
A few factors affects it. Being strong EQ, it means you are aware of emotionals your family members, your colleague, your friends, the people you talk to, or just any stranger.

How I do it:
Reading eyes cues, looking at body languages, hearing voice tones, putting yourself into their shoes, and asking questions you should and shouldn’t, are some of my practises on developing strong EQ. Your senses should be telling you that people around you are happy, sad, annoyed, or just bored. If you could tell that just by watching, you’ve somewhat grasp hold of the basics.

 
 
3) Intrapersonal, self-intelligent.
By being street smart, it helps alot. Knowing what’s going on around us, cause-and-effect, understands clearly how things happen and the need to know, is what makes this up… I guess.

Hmm examples could be… You understand how the economy works and why things happen that way, like stocks and market shares. Or it could be thinking deep as to why you failed in an interview ? What about the cause of high turn over rates and staff quiting jobs, due to so-so reasons.

What about the reasons what the F1 racing is about (girls… high speed cars… advertising…franchise…) or why credit companies loves you when you borrow money, or even how the government policies work, to make sure a country prosper.

How I do it:
For every cause, theres an effect. For every action, there is a reaction. It is there for you to find out, to get a clear picture of the entire situation. Every wrong move you make leads to a result / feedback…

Using 2..3.. or 4 angles to look at a particular piece of news, decision, event, or subject gets your brain moving, leading you to become street smarter. There are people who simply don’t bother, and there are those who search an answer for themselves.

 
 
4) Spatial, Touch and Feel.
The rest of this article are mostly developed by activities like sports or involvement in some kind of activities.

Getting yourself, or your kids involved in sports is the best way to develop this. I am not getting at being phyiscally strong, but rather to be alert while playing games, while having a touch and feel bout games.

How I do it:
I always love to become better at something, but not too good at it. Let’s say I am able to pick up all types of ball games… except probably hockey and squash. Then there are games such as billiards, pool and snooker, where you are both physically and mentally challenged. It is the same as how Golf is played too.

Being an IT engineer, you’ve got to try, test, engineer, and make sure things work. This means you have to hands-on to touch and get a feeling of how things work. In other words, practise makes perfect, as these activites requires you to constantly practise and master the skills and techniques.

 
 
5) Auditory, Sensitivity to sounds
Have you guessed it right ? It is talking about music here? More or less yes! Although I have my personal site at http://www.singwithpiano.com, this is rather how sensitive you are to sounds, not just music.

How I do it:
I used to join a choir, since I was 12, all the way till I am 21. That doesn’t include when I started singing in halls when I was 5. Which means the ability to differentiate a good and bad music, not just vocals.

Then I learnt how to play beautful pieces on a Piano. Before buying one, I had to pick from over 60 over pianos. I had the chance to feel, touch, play and listen to each individual piano, and the ones that suited me. This chance allowed me to exceled both in the spatial and auditory senses. This is when speech intelligent comes in, because they are all linked up.

 
 
6) Verbal, Speech Intelligence
Verbal communication skills has become one of the 21th century top priorities, when employers hires someone. If the person can’t communicate well, problems are harder to solve, than any other technical issues. Communication is about listening, and talking, not one way but two ways.

How I do it:
I taught Martial Arts for 4 years during my teens. I’m responsibile for a class, which means I had to take charge of the safety, training and examination of those students in my class.I had to teach, by demonstration, as well as to talk to them. This helped in my public speech as as well thinking on my feet!

I am still practising my verbal skills to reach the next level, by giving free piano tutorials in my music site. Though not very good at it yet, I’ll try my best. The aim is to say it in a simple way everyone understood you, period.

 
 
7) Physical Excellence
This describes the very good sportsmen you see in Olympics, soccer, or just any sports athletic. They have what we call the sportsment blood… or the reflexes that allows them to excel in sports activites.
This includes using each person’s strength and weakness to make a great team.

How I do it:
If you look at all the other intelligences, combine point 3 and 4, add alittle bit of point 1, and guess what ? That is physicall excellence. In sports, team sports, there are many coordination, strategies and communications involved.

I played lots of hide and seek and catching games when I was young, as well as involved in sports meet where I took part in all the field events like, long jump, triple jump and high jump. Then I play all the ball games, mainly soccer and basketball, while learning Martial Arts till today.

Have you ever seen someone who never like to perspire or hate to even move a muscle. I feel they are very slow in reactions and might not communicate well, involving body languages. This is why it is better for your child to be involved in sports, it helps.
 
  

To end, This is a long piece of article which shows why humans are afterall still the smartest mammals on earth. It is ok to be ignorance now, and regret later why your Life ended up different from others.

An interesting site contributed by Lauren, talks on the same topic that I have written here. Its at http://www.guidetoonlineschools.com/library/multiple-intelligence-theory

Click that to find out more!

The follow post was taken from my music site. I had some wonderful performance with a group of people who worked hard to make it all possible. These are some photos taken during one of my music performance at a graduation ceremoney for a group graduating students.

I am honoured to be the pianist for this performance, accompanied by a guitarist, a bassist, and a drummist (they are a band themselves), along with 3 wonderful ladies who sang for the graduating students. Here are some pictures:

 
The ladies and me.

cheap cialis alt=”Dennis quek Music performance” />

 
The guitarist and me, taken while we were packing up… wires and stuff…

 
The ladies with an informal picture !

This was the instrument used. It costs $250 just to rent it for a day, and we had it for 2 days!

Hope you enjoyed this as much as I do !

Recently on my music site http://www.singwithpiano.com, I posted some photos taken of a music performance where I was involved. I was the pianist, accompanied by 3 very beautiful female vocalist, and a team of professional band members, including a drummist, a guitarist and a bassist.

We had a lot of fun, and alot of rehearsals, and it was the process that was memorable, not the hardwork. Do view 20mg cialis the article here:
http://www.singwithpiano.com/2008/10/photos-from-my-music-performance/

My company is sending me over to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where I will be attending “Hack In The Box 2008″. Hack in the box is an annual event that conducts training and conference about stuff like hacking and security of Information Technology and the like.

I will be there from 26 to 29 October, so I would be away for awhile, staying in Hotel where the event is run.

This is the Hotel, Crown Plaza Mutiara Hotel, KL: http://www.crowneplazakl.com/cpkl/map-location.html

From the Hotel, it is a 5 minutes walk to the Convention Centre and a 15 minutes walk to KL’s landmark, the twin towers.

cialis 20mg />View Larger Map

This is yet another chance to put in more travel series in my blog, with more photos, videos and interesting places like food (My package includes a breakfast buffet!) That’s also part of the reason why I bought the F40d camera.

Meanwhile I will have to prepare for this trip, with laptops luggages, and some of the travel necessities. Just hope it won’t rain. Anyone has recommendations in KL ?

Hello readers, you might have noticed my top right hand corner with this new RSS link. This is a feed burner service by Google (oh well its gooooogle again.), which means the feeds are handled by them. With this service, I could track the number of people who subscribes to my feeds, while previously I have no idea on the figures.

So with all being said, Subscribe to my feeds now!!! As you can see I have a counter showing number of subscribers, so the more the merrier. (I should have kept it somewhere until i read 100 before displaying). Now all I need you to do is to subscribe so my number doesn’t look disfuncion erectil so bad hehe grins*.

To subscribe, click on the RSS icon at the top right hand corner or click Here to subscribe.

Oh, and I just hope you could come back to look at some other stuff that you might have missed out with the RSS thingy. Thank you !!!

My hand was itchy. I took a picture of all my credit cards… because buycialis I know I gonna say goodbye to them. I’ve gotten them mostly out of curosity, to understand the meaning of credit, and what happen that lead to credit market balloon burst.

 
These cards do help in one way or another, with their usage written beside them. Besides some of the shopping or dining, I basically have no uses for them. Oh, maybe just some internet expenses. If you know how to use them wisely, you could save some money, but that is if you fully understand the risks, why there are discounts by merchants and why they can afford to give discounts.

Sensitive details removed for security reasons…

 
I got my first credit card when I just turned 23. To qualify for a credit card in Singapore, you’ll need an annual income of at least SGD30,000, or USD20550. I got hold of my first card from Citibank, with the Clear Platinum Visa and the Citibank MasterCard. Then I got the savings account which is a blue debit card right at the top. That is where I had save almost $9500+ by now.

Then I took other offers with promotions by getting the OUB One card, and subsequently the full suite of DBS / POSB credits cards… which right now, I don’t the need to have them, hence the photo taking.

 
Anyway, I feel that credit cards discounts are one avenue for merchants to advertise. For example, the “FINE” dining discounts offered by my American Express DBS Black card, includes a list of merchants that I’ve never really seen or heard before. Maybe their price are just too expensive, their location inaccessible, or they simply got not much of business.

 
In my next post I’ll talk about my strategies in handling credit cards.

 
Open for feedback !

On Sunday, I bought a new camera for myself, the Fuji F40d. It costs about 204 USD or SGD 299. So what this means is you can expect more photos being uploaded here onto my blog.

The camera might be already taken off the shelve, and might not be available on the market anymore. I bought this from a factory sales instead.

Reason phentermine online why I bought this, as I needed to go overseas, and used it for some other events and photo taking, I decided it was time to buy one. I’ve never really own a camera, except for the web camera I used to video myself playing the piano. You can view them at http://www.singwithpiano.com. I have a handphone which doesn’t have a camera function, due to some reasons.

For most considerations, I bought this camera with expectations like:

- Long battery life
- Availability of spare batteries (on the market)
- Size of memory cards
- Proper night filming
- Video recording, at least 25 fps, able to record more than 10 minutes
- Some zooming
- Easy transfer of data.

What are your expectations of compact cameras ?

A Review of the camera:
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0701/07010402fujifilmfinepixf40fd.asp