What About Your "Aim"?

I remember seeing this interesting reminder in one of the male toilets in KL, but can't really recall where it was exactly. But anyway, just placed on the wall, in front of the toilet bowl, it read:

Our Aim Is To Help Keep This Toilet Clean.
Your Aim Will Help Too.

From The Management.

Police Above Law?

I was reading Gasman's blog, about the "Government official caught against the law... " which reminded me of a site set up by the Road Safety Department, called the PanduCermat.org. In this site, there is a gallery named "Hall of Shame", whereby the public will upload photos taken on the road, of cars or other vehicles caught breaking the rules! Sometimes, it is just so irritating seeing some vehicles parking along the yellow lines, or inconsiderate cars stopping just right behind your car at the car park, ending up you have to wait for the driver to come to move their cars away before you could reverse out.

Interestingly I came across this caption of Motor Vehicle Regulation under Section 7(a), uploaded at the same site:

Does this mean that police is above law? In fact, they should be the ones setting good examples to the public! Don't you think so?

Bintulu Charity Work

Just came back from Bintulu for a 2-day charity work at Perpikat Bintulu. This is essentially an NGO-based Early Interventional Program Centre for handicapped children with special needs. The main sponsor of this building is Petronas, and there are many other organizations and individuals who donated money towards this 1-million ringgit centre in Bintulu.

The two-day visit with my specialist, an occupational therapist, a physiotherapist and 2 community nurses, to this centre was indeed very fruitful and rewarding, in terms of job satisfaction. Seeing those unfortunate children who needed special care and attention, makes me feel I am really lucky to be a normal person. Down's syndrome, cerebral palsy, intellectual impairment, behavioural disorder etc. are amongst the main problems we saw these two days.

There is one thing which my team thought was very unethical, was that many Down Syndrome children were prescribed the so-called "Brain Tonic" (Cergas Otak) pills by a local private GP in Bintulu, and the label on the bottle did not show the ingredients of the pills. This action could do more harm than good to the children, and worse... each bottle is charged between RM20-30! If you tried one of those chewable pills, they just tasted like any ordinary sweet! Deceiving desperate parents into buying such OTC drugs without any evidence based studies to back up, is really unethical. My specialist is now considering to bring this issue up to the MMC, and hopefully action will be taken against such irresponsible MBBS holder in town!

Some of the paintings on the walls are very beautiful. And I also included a photo of a cute Down Syndrome child (with permission) here in my blog.

Nice Quotes

Here are some nice quotes from the superheroes in my childhood days, in fact even till today:

"With great power comes great responsibility." Ben Parker

"They can be a great people Kal-El. They wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all their capacity for good, I sent them you... my only son." Jor-El

"It's not who I am underneath, but what I *do* that defines me." Batman

WiFi @Home

Back from KL yesterday. It was a fruitful trip. Met up with most of my relatives, and friends. Also took time to KLCC PC Fair! And got myself all the things I wanted. Money spent -- there goes my last month's on call allowance -- but happy and satisfied at heart!

Just one hour ago, I managed to set up the Netgear WiFi router I bought for only RM160, and now my house is a Hotspot! :) Then fiddled a bit with both my Axim x50v and the Palm TX... whoalah, both can go online now seamlessly! Tried lying down lazily in my sofa with a cup of Lipton tea... checking my Gmails using the x50v... hmm, really better than going to Starbucks for its free WiFi, at least i can lie down (doesn't happen if I was in Starbucks!)... ;)

The other stuffs I bought were the Kingston 1GB Data Traveler II thumbdrive for only RM125 (!), PQI HiSpeed 1 GB Thumbdrive for only RM130 (for my brother), Kingston Ultimate 2GB CF Card for RM320, and nearly bought the Palm Treo 650... coz it was just too tempting (but I thought of waiting for the Treo 700p!)... ;) So there goes my hard earned on call money!

Didn't forget to eat my favourite Cinnabon at KLCC too!

Instructions For Life

Came across this nice quotes from a friend of mine, sent me via an email, entitled "Instructions For Life". Thought of sharing it here:

Instructions For Life

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
3. Follow the three R’s:

• Respect for self
• Respect for others and
• Responsibility for all your actions.

4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
6. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
7. When you realise you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8. Spend some time alone every day.
9. Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11. Live a good, honourable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time.
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don't bring up the past.
14. Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.
15. Be gentle with the earth.
16. Once a year, go some place you've never been before.
17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
19. Approach love and cooking with reckless abundance.

Time Off

It's been a very busy day today, but I am feeling great -- because I will be flying back to KL tomorrow. Home sweet home! It's Good Friday tomorrow, and so it will be a public holiday here in Sarawak. 3 days in a row, guess that's enough to get me recharged! Also probably in time to catch the PC Fair @KLCC!! :) This round, I hope to grab a 2GB SD Card, a WiFi router and a bluetooth dongle.

This trip, I think I will catch up with some of my long-time-no-see relatives, as well as high school friends. But such a tight schedule, dunno whether can meet up with everyone or not. But anyway, just can't get to sleep tonight... too anxious to go home! Sign out for now.

Using Wok As Sink

I received this nice and innovative picture from a friend of mine staying in the USA. The newly opened Banana Leaf restaurant in Philadelphia Chinatown, actually owned by a Malaysian, has this very interesting and unique sink in its restaurant restrooms -- the shape of a wok! :) Really cool, isn't it?

1 Utama Is The Best

Read this article in the Star today, and it really makes me homesick! Whenever I go back each time, 1Utama is always the first few places I hang out with either my family members or some good friends back home. Whether be it a nice movie at TGV cineplexes, or a cup of hot cappuccino at the Coffee Bean. And not forgetting the delicious fried ramen at Yataimura Japanese restaurant -- my parents' favourite!

According to The Star

...The shopping mall (new wing), which opened in 2003, won over five other contenders, including Mid Valley Megamall which won the Gold Award.
Among the winning features of 1 Utama Shopping Centre are ample parking bays, disabled-friendly amenities, good maintenance and well-lit areas with clean washrooms...

In fact this is very true! I prefer 1 Utama to Midvalley Megamall, personally. Midvalley is a bit too big for me, and the walking alleys are just too wide apart, making long hours of walking and window shopping tiresome! On the other hand, 1 Utama's walking alleys are just perfect, and shops are not too far apart, neither are they too cramped together. One thing that I must stress here is that 1 Utama provides Excellent Washrooms! Many shopping malls in big cities provide good toilets, but are charged at least 20-50 sen per entry! 1 Utama's toilets are F.O.C.!! That's what I like about! Thumb's up for that! :)

The picture shows a rainforest in the concourse of 1 Utama shopping complex, which houses nearly 110 species of plants. This really offers its customers more than just shopping experience! Soothing to my eyes, I must say.

Wisdom Quotes

Thought that this is inspiring...
"If you can't learn to do something well, learn to enjoy doing it poorly" -by Ashley Brilliant

What Can You Do With Your PDA?

It's interesting sometimes, to read articles by some experienced gadgeteers, that how one can maximise the use of a handheld. There is a very nice article, entitled "What Can I Do With My Axim" by Gigi Hsueh, published in Aximsite a long time ago, but was recently overhauled and updated in March 2006. Now the article comprises more recent softwares, and the relevance in our daily use of our handhelds. The article is very nicely and systematically laid out, and I must say that this is one of the best write-ups I have ever come across. Read it, you will know what I mean!

On Call Not Taxable

I am happy to receive this fax letter in JPEG format, sent to my email by a friend in Kuching. So at least I can be certain that my on call allowances -- the hard earned cash -- is NOT taxable! :) But looking at the recent move by government to legalise locum services, probably the locum fees will become a taxable item! Nevertheless I am not into the locum business, so the hospital on call claim is my sole extra income, for me to buy things like the overkilled PC I have now!

2005 X'mas Gift

I was trying to check out the exact drug dosage for one of my patients today, when I decided to pull out the x50v from my pocket. Upon turning it on, it was the iLauncher screen which first popped up. Then suddenly I remembered how this iLauncher came about --- it was my 2005 Christmas gift from SBSH.net and Aximsite, for my winning entry in the contest "Merry Christmas from SBSH" organised by Aximsite.

The rule was simple: just write in an article about how you use the SBSH products, namely Pocket Breeze, iLauncher, etc... in your everyday life. That's it! I didn't expect to win anything, as there were a few hundreds of amusing and excellent articles over that period. But probably my entry was the only one highlighting the use of the PDA by a doctor in daily routine work! Most entries only talked about non-medically related work.

What ever it was, I won! Though it wasn't a very expensive software, which I could have purchased easily myself through Handango or PocketGear; it was the winning part that made me happy! Till now, I am still using the iLauncher. But I am also keeping an eye on the rival software, PocketPlus, and it is also an excellent one and is keeping up fast too! ;)

My Other Canteen

Yeah... SugarBun is my another frequently-visit-outlet for food, my "canteen"! It's nearby, easy finding car park, aircond, nice food... blah blah blah... and on top of these -- FREE WIFI !!! :)

Over here in Sibu, people are not fancy about McDonald's (coz there is only one single outlet to cater for the whole town!), neither are they willing to spend the extra cash for a nicely brewed coffee at CoffeeBean or Starbucks! So SugarBun is the nice "blend" in between. Why do I say that? You must try once to believe what I say (or probably I have slowly detaching myself from the KL lifestyle now?!)

There are a variety of western cum oriental food to choose from. From the Nasi Lemak with Curry Chicken, to Fish & Chips; and from the Sarawakian favourite "Teh Bunga", to the nicely brewed Mocha Latte!! They even have freshly baked orange flavored chiffon cake, and an assortment of cookies (more so over the festive seasons!). Bread loaves (something like the Guardenia we have in KL), "kaya" jam, and even parking coupons... you name it, they have it!!

The service is fast and almost all of the waitresses are friendly. Newspapers are also free for you to read while having your meal! But for me, what makes me even merrier, is the free WiFi service available in all SugarBun outlets here in Sarawak. And because not many people know that they have free WiFi, or perhaps not many people in Sibu enjoy surfing net in the public; so the line is never congested. Most of the time, I am the only one using it, to read blogs using my Axim x50v, while having a hot cup of cafe latte! :) Speed is fast, and connection is seamless with my PDAs (another is the Palm TX, also very smooth and speedy, instantaneous connection!).

Have been my third year here in Sibu, although my parents are giving signal for me to go back to KL soon... I think I will stay a little longer. It's a nice place after all... (no place is perfect anyway!) I hope I can blog more about Sibu in my coming articles, but for now... I am signing off, coz I am going to SugarBun for dinner afterwork! ;)

My Overkilled Machine

The 2 hour sleep and busy call last night, should actually make me feel lethargy and nauseated. But it is the opposite now. Why? It's becoz...

I received a call near noon time today, telling me that my new desktop has arrived and it's ready for delivery to my doorstep! When I heard that, I was on top of the world! Woo-hoo!! I couldn't wait till lunch time, and forget about that growling stomach earlier on, I skipped lunch! Goodness...

The courier service was pretty punctual and arrived at 1:10pm at my house. When the boxes were carried out one after another from the van, I just felt like rushing forward to help them carry into my house. But anyway, there were only 4 boxes: Large, medium and 2 small ones.

After signing the necessary documents, I waved a quick bye-bye to the hardworking courier service men; and whooosh... locked the door and started opening up the boxes!

Dell is number one in terms of quality! From the packaging, courier service, and to each and every piece of my new toy -- they are just in perfect condition. Scratch-free, dirt-free, hassle-free! It took me less than 20 minutes, and everything is in place. Power-up...*Toot*...and less than 20 seconds, I am already in the main screen of WinXP! :)

And the specs? Here they are:

• Dell Dimension 5150 Pentium 4 (630) HT (3.0GHz, 2 MB L2 cache, 800MHz FSB)
• 2GB NECC Dual Channel DDR2 533MHz SD RAM
• 256MB PCIe(TM) x16 ATI Radeon(TM) X600 HyperMemory(TM) w/TV-Out and DVI
• 160GB SATA 3.0GB/s with Native Command Queuing HDD
• 16X DVD+/-RW with Dual Layer Write Capabilities
• Sound Blaster(R) X-Fi XtremeMusic soundcard
• Dell(TM) A525 Stereo Speakers with Subwoofer
• 17" UltraSharp(TM) Flat Panel LCD Monitor

And now I start to wonder why in the world I ordered this overkilled machine! Probably it was just being another impulsive move the other day when I picked up and called Dell! Arrrgggh... now with the machine just use for blogging and internet mainly, I think this is OVERKILL!! But I must say it is fast and smooth. No lag. Screen is gorgeous. System is quiet.

4 months worth of my on call allowances in this machine. Great! ;)

Unbelievable

I have a colleague who is very "fretful" of anything related to computer technology and gadget stuffs. He is always avoiding use of computers and sophisticated handphones etc. He used to tease me when I use my PDA, because he said that's a waste of money, and things should be remembered in the brain, not the toy. But today, I am just stunned with a statement from his mouth.

He told me," I think I will get myself a treo 650... just like the one Dr. XXX (our paediatrician) is using now. Coz I think it can help me get organised, and sometimes when I go traveling, it's nice to have this toy to read some story books and listen to musics. Oh, by the way, do you have the Nelson Pediatrics text in your PDA the last time you showed me? Can I have a copy later?"

I was stunned. I was speechless for nearly 30 seconds. I am still recovering from this sudden unbelievable statement coming out from my this colleague's mouth. It couldn't be him, I thought. Could he be possessed by ..err... at that time? Anyway, I promised I would keep a price watch for him. And probably after his MRCPCH Part 2A exam this mid-of-April, he will go hunt for the Treo.

Just unbelievable!

Post Call & My Roti Canai

Just slept for 2 hours yesterday, with intermittent "disturbances" (ie. phone calls) from various people (eg. nurses, HO and lab technicians). I consider this a pretty bad call! With 3 more HFMD cases coming in, I was at high alert and low threshold for any necessary intervention, because the epidemic is not over yet! I don't want to create the 10th case for Sarawak, and having it in the newspaper headlines tomorrow!

But now it's slightly more than 7am... Ahhh, I hope everything has cooled down. Can't get back to sleep anyway, might as well blog a little before going for my favourite breakfast in my hospital cafeteria -- the Pak Jab Corner -- selling Roti Canai!! But the roti canai here is not priced under the "controlled items" as in KL. It costs RM1 for a single, flat piece of Roti Kosong! That's "expensive" by its class, compared to its counterpart in KL!! ;) But what to do, I can't be driving out to town at this time, just to grab a meal of Roti Canai, even if it was cheaper! Reason is simple: I am still holding on to this d*mn pager --- Hey, when is my colleague coming to take over this time bomb from me?

One More Death From HFMD

I knew about this even before the baby passed away, and my team already knew that the prognosis was dismal. However I didn't blog here about it in fear of possible unnecessary public outcry! But today the newspaper has published it.

Baby dies of HFM disease, death toll climbs to nine
KUCHING: A 15-month-old boy died of hand foot and mouth disease in the Miri Hospital at 2.30pm Tuesday, raising the death toll from the disease to nine. Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr George Chan said the toddler could have been saved if his parents had sent him to the hospital earlier. He said the boy was already in serious condition when he was admitted. A total of 129 new cases were reported Tuesday, bringing the cumulative figure of cases to 7,858.

Another death means the HFMD epidemic in Sarawak will not be declared "over". Hence, my on calls will still be very frequent and very tensed up whenever there is a HFMD case coming in. I could still remember the first case of HFMD death beginning of this year, back in January. I was on call, and was with the poor baby from the minute he was admitted, around 8pm, until I pronounced death (together with other paediatricians) around 9am the following day. I was in ICU the whole time, and I nearly went into hypothermia after so long hours in the 18C ICU climate, furthermore with heavy rain outside!

But it was really heart-breaking seeing these infants succumb to such viral illness, which peaks every 3 years on average. But I must say that I learn a lot from this epidemic this time. The meticulous ways of probing history from parents, careful physical examination, acute emergency management, and indications for IV immunoglobulin and lumbar puncture. Never in this working life that my team and I have performed so many, almost countless lumbar punctures, that now we even "created" a game whenever we perform LP: we bet with each others (even the nurses join in!) that by just looking at the CSF flowing out from the LP needle, we will guess the total cells of this CSF sample! Later when the result's back, we will see who wins! ;)

Thanks DOBBS!

Finally I have been "recruited" into the Medical Blogroll of MMR! Feel overwhelmed now that I can finally join this big family and community! But I seriously didn't realise I have contributed 12 posts in just 4 days! That was a lot (at least for me)! I am not sure if I can continue to keep up with this pace in the next few weeks, coz there are more and more things coming up in my schedule. But anyway, many thanks to DOBBS for taking me in! Happy Blogging and Happy Reading! :)

Another Dell-er

Few days ago, another colleague of mine just got so impressed with the Dell x50v i am having all this while, and has finally bought his very first Pocket PC --- Dell x50 (a second hand unit, and he decided not to go for the VGA one... prolly he missed the recent Dell offer!). So far i have been his "personal tutor" in dell-ing around with his new gadget! I can see thru his eyes and facial expression-- the enthusiasms-- and i believe in near future, he will become another tech-gadgeteer around!

And just today, I saw him in ICU whipping out his new toy -- the Dell x50, and running thru the list in DrDrugs, before giving the nurses the green light for certain medications for that 67-year old CRF and CCF patient! So pakcik, you have one hell of a safe doctor here for you all time!

We later met up during the lunch hours, and I beamed him a few contacts. I think he must have wondered "...How could I have lived without this handheld all these years...?"

Another Chain Letter?

A long time friend of mine, out of the blue moon, emailed me the following letter, with a photo attached:

"...If you delete this . you seriously don't have a heart. Hi, I am a 29 year old father. Me and my wife have had a wonderful life together. God blessed us with a child too. Ourdaughter's name is Rachel, and she is 10 years old.Not long ago the doctors detected brain cancer and in her little body.There is only one way to save her...an operation. Sadly, we don't have enough money to pay the price. AOL and ZDNET haveagreed to help us. The only way they can help us is this way, I sendthis email to you and you send it to other people. AOL will track this email and count how many people get it.Every person who opens this email and sends it to at least 3 peoplewill give us 32 cents. Please help us. Sincerely... "

Do you believe this at all? Should I forward it to my 3 colleagues, so that this poor couple can get 96 cents (hopefully) from AOL?

Ice Age 2

After work today, I rushed for dinner before catching the movie "Ice Age 2". But to my surprise, the whole theatre was so empty, that only less than 5 people were in it for the movie! I really think this won't ever happen in KL or Penang or JB, coz the last time when I was watching Ice Age (1st episode) back in KL during an ordinary weekday, I was spending nearly 45 minutes in the long queue before I could get the ticket in 1 Utama TGV Cineplex, and ending up getting a seat at the right most corner... had a neck pain after the movie!

Nevertheless this movie is rather relaxing and it's good to recoil after a hard day's work; also in preparation for tomorrow's long hour stress -- the almighty "ON CALL" !! Holding the pager is something I hate the most... "Time Bomb" I call it, as it could be triggered at anytime not by you, but by other people! ;)

The Art Of Getting Things Done

It's a hot sunny Sunday afternoon, and I decided to stay indoor and read the ebook in the sofa, with a cup of cappuccino next to me. It's about "Getting Things Done-The Art of Stress-Free Productivity " by David Allen. This time, I am not really reading it out myself but have "someone" read it out aloud to me! It's actually I have also the Audiobook version of it, and it is nice to have someone reading it to you, and you browse through the texts in the PDF format! Reminds me of my primary school days, indeed, when my class teacher will read out everything to us, and we just used our right index fingers to point and follow through the texts! ;)

Anyway, it's a good book! I learn about the five-stage method in managing workflow, namely

1. Collect
2. Process
3. Organize
4. Review
5. Do

And the utmost important take home message is in fact: Do it, Delegate it, or Defer it!

Impressed they are...

I could still recall few weeks ago, when my PDA stunned everyone in my team.

It was my department's bi-weekly X-ray conference with the radiology unit. Half way through the meeting, the radiologist mentioned a syndrome called "Maffucci Syndrome", but she could not really recall the exact definition of it. Everyone in the hall was puzzled with this bombastic term anyway. I saw my specialist even scratching his head looking puzzled too.

Then I whipped out my Pocket PC and ran through the syndrome list from a freeware called "Eponyms" and whoalah... "Maffucci Syndrome is enchondromatosis associated with soft tissue hemangiomas; associated with ovarian carcinomas and brain gliomas; essentially Ollier's disease with hemangiomas".

After blurping out those statements, I could see everyone in the hall staring at me in envy. Then my specialist broke the silence by saying,"Gosh, I think your that little computer can replace all the textbooks in the market now!"

Indeed it can! :)

When I Dell Around!

Back in January last year, yeah...! My long awaited Dell Axim x50v finally arrived! I could still remember looking at the new VGA display on this little beauty, "WOW" was the only expression I could blurb out from my mouth! Really, seeing is believing! No matter what the bad reviews given on the net about this new techy gadget back then, you MUST take a look at it, and get to feel it for yourself. Really, it is a nice piece of artwork by Dell. Thumbs up to Dell! :)

I still remember after a long night of charging the battery, I proceeded with the synchronization with my laptop, and then went on to install all the necessary softwares into this machine. But because there weren't many softwares optimized for VGA display in the market at that time, I had to choose carefully before installing them. Otherwise, they did look ugly!

The very fist game which was really boasting the VGA display that time was Bejeweled 2 with VGA display that was REALLY amazingly excellent, in terms of its clarity and crispiness of the graphics and smooth gameplay, as compared to my old iPaq 2210 and 1940!!

My iPaq Days

Looking back at my PDA "history": I owned 2 iPaq pocket pc, namely the 2210 and 1940. I like the 2210 because of its nice screen, fast processor, stability, bluetooth, and dual slot capability (CF and SDIO). Later when I bought the 1940, mainly for my wife to use, but occasionally I swapped my 2210 with her 1940 to try out. I like the 1940's form factor -- really sleek and elegant. In fact the two pocket pcs make a "good couple", the big 2210 is like a guy, and the slim 1940 a girl! :)

I have a lot of medical softwares installed in my pocket pc. But the only gripe I have is that they are VERY expensive! Softwares from skyscape especially, cost me a bomb each time I order online! My credit card suffers a lot, whenever I purchase something online, using US Dollars!!

Nevertheless, I appreciate a lot the softwares I have in my 2210. I spent hundreds of dollars already by now, on those PDA softwares. From Resco products, to PDAMill stuffs. From Skyscape to Franklin medical wares. And not forgetting the most useful tweak program which make my 2210's alarm work perfectly -- Tweaks2k2!

2210 was (because I have sold it off to my sister quite a while ago) my favourite pda, ever since I had the Palm 515. The screen is crisp and clear, and the touch screen is very sensitive. The stylus is easy on my "big" hand when gripping it (unlike the 1940's "toothpick"-like stylus!). It has been my faithful alarm clock, especially during my on call days (when I don't bring along my table alarm clock to the on call room!), and I can do some reference on drug dosage and simple management of certain diseases.

I do a lot of own notes (called the "Pearls") and they are the most useful to me! Even sometimes my colleagues need to counter check certain things with me, for instance how to dilute Vamin and Intralipid for the TPN infusion etc. Coz my "peripheral brain" is ever ready!!

Sometimes, reading e-books during quiet on call days, is very enjoyable -- from Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, to How To Influence People, by Dale Carnegie, hmmm! And of coz not forgetting the games, my favourites were, back then, Tennis Addict, Bejeweled and Plant Tycoon just to name a few.

April Fool!

From my previous post, I said it is high time April Fool's Day be "banned", and so today I came across this news in The Star "April Fool's Day joke leaves Johor businessman fuming", and I think it is true that people shouldn't go overboard by cracking this kind of jokes, which can bring disaster and potential fights and losses to all parties.

"...Yip was certain that deal could be sealed as the buyers had said they were willing to pay cash for the property, if all the documents pertaining to it were in place. They ordered the meals while waiting for Yip’s contact to turn up. An hour passed and Yip decided to call his friend. To Yip’s disbelief, his contact told him that he was just playing an April Fool trick and there was no such deal! When Yip told his business guests the truth, they became rough and one of the businessman’s friends shoved him until Yip fell to the floor. ..."

From Palm To Pocket PC

After using the Palm m515 for nearly a year, it finally decided to give up on me one fine day. The battery is flat despite charging it for more than 16 hours everyday, and the screen is dim despite putting on the maximal brightness. It was then again time to search for a new PDA.

My brother was then using the iPaq 3800 series, and it was a huge monster to me when I tried holding it in my palm. The m515 form factor was my favourite all the time. So I was thinking whether I should get myself a Palm Tungsten (at that time it just surfaced in the market), but then, my brother had been a very loyal friend to Bill Gates, and so he was persuading me to make a change and try out the PPC instead!

And just in the midst of consideration, the iPaq h2210 came out in the newspaper advertisement! I was so amazed with its sleek look and features... so power packed! Although earlier on the h1910 was there in the market, with such a tiny form factor, I was a bit hesistant to go for it, because of its lack of bluetooth and only 200MHz clock speed.

So I rushed to Low Yat and added another bill to my credit card debt load. RM1688. That was indeed a very prosperous number! ;) Came home, charged it overnight, and the next morning I was the first to wake up and before even brushing my teeth and changing my pyjamas, I was already hooked to the new gadget...

"Wow"... was the first impression when I looked at the screen. Although it was the same resolution (QVGA) as compared to my brother's 3800 series, the saturation and brightness of the 2210 screen was somehow better!! You really need to see it yourself to belief it!

After installing the activesync into my laptop, and do some necessary changes in the PPC. Whoalah... that was my new Pocket PC!! User friendly I must say, compared to the Palm m515. Everything is jsut so similar to the Windows environment, and nothing much new to learn. The only thing I must say is that the Grafitti I learned from the Palm era, was very much helpful in my PPC as well, when comes to input method. I still prefer the Grafitti method to the keyboard.

My First PDA

I first owned a Palm m515, which I bought in Singapore 3 years ago. At that time, it was the only first PDA with color screen. Although the resolution was only 160x160, it was very much nicer compared to my friend's m505, which was in black-and-white.

I bought the PDA just before I started my housemanship in Kuching. At that time, as I could recall, only a handful of people were using PDA. In fact, many people were still too new to this tech-gadget, and I was honoured to be one of the first few people who actually took time off to introduce this technoogy to my colleagues.

My first PDA, the Palm m515, was only mainly for PIM, alarm clock and reading some ebooks during on call time. There wasn't any medical stuff installed in my PDA at that point of time. Occasionally I would install some simple games to play, but I still prefer (even till today) to play games using the laptop/desktop!

I remember my colleagues were mostly amazed when I pulled out the PDA from my shirt pocket. Some of them never even saw that piece of gadget in their life before, and you could see that "wow!" look on their facial expression! During my pediatric rotation, I find the PDA's calculator function was indeed a must for everyday's ward rounds.

Until one fine day, I met up with a junior from my medical college in KL, he actually "beam"ed me many medical reference texts and softwares into my PDA. From then on, I realise that having some medical references in my PDA is indeed very useful especially during on call time, I can do some simple search for management and treatment, before paging my senior medical officer for further advice! That was the time, I started to search extensively for medical softwares for my Palm; and in fact I also started using the Doc-To-Go to create my "medical notes" (or pearls we call it) for ward use and future reference.

When I left Kuching, some of my friends started investing in PDAs, most of them bought Zire 71 which was a neat and affordable PDA with camera function at that time. I was then smiling to myself thinking "was it me who had actually started off the PDA trend amongst my colleagues back then in Kuching hospital?" Till today, I still don't have the answer, but I guess I don't care anyway. I am still a doctor heavily dependant on my PDA till now...

Interesting Photos

I was browsing through "My Picture" folder in my computer, and found two of these interesting photos I kept from last year.

The Acrobatic Baby -- This shows a day one baby girl with severe hyper-extension of the left knee joint. Referred to the orthopaedic team on the same day itself. Poor baby, she is!









The Incredible Hulk
-- Don't make me angry, Mr. McGee... You wouldn't like when I'm angry!

This is a macrosomic baby, delivered by Caesarean section due to acute fetal distress.


There are actually many more similar kinds of interesting photos I keep in my computer. Probably one day I can, with the permission of the parents (of coz!), publish a 101 Picture Quiz Pocket Book for medical students! ;)

First Blog On April Fool's Day

1st of April -- April Fool's Day. And this is also my 1st post. This blog will contain my rants, my thoughts, my work, and my interest. So to start if off, why not take a look at the origin of April Fool's Day?!

According to Infoplease site:

The origins of April Fools' Day was provided by Joseph Boskin, a professor of history at Boston University. He explained that the practice began during the reign of Constantine, when a group of court jesters and fools told the Roman emperor that they could do a better job of running the empire. Constantine, amused, allowed a jester named Kugel to be king for one day. Kugel passed an edict calling for absurdity on that day, and the custom became an annual event. "In a way," explained Prof. Boskin, "it was a very serious day. In those times fools were really wise men. It was the role of jesters to put things in perspective with humor." This explanation was brought to the public's attention in an Associated Press article printed by many newspapers in 1983. There was only one catch: Boskin made the whole thing up. It took a couple of weeks for the AP to realize that they'd been victims of an April Fools' joke themselves.

And if we take a look at the Top 10 Worst April Fool's Day Hoaxes Ever, I think at times some jokes that people created are innovative and amusing, but have gone overboard, and it's high time we "ban" April Fool's Day!