Wednesday, January 31, 2007
How I loathe Streamyx
I am of the opinion that the majority of Malaysian bloggers (or any Malaysian who use the internet enough) will go through a phase or two of extreme contempt towards our national broadband ISP that warrants a Streamyx-bashing blog entry. Today is my turn to rant lyrical.
And the cause of my loathing isn't in any way due to the fact that the undersea cables in Taiwan aren't repaired yet; if that's the case, my connections to sites overseas will be riddled with slow speeds and errors, which aren't so much of a problem right now. Instead, it is the frequent disconnects from the service while I'm in the middle of something that pisses me off; and there isn't much what irks a man more than being interrupted as he is deep in the middle of something.
You don't turn off the TV when a guy is watching the EPL semifinals. You don't ask a boy to quit a basketball game and come home for dinner when there's five more points to game. You don't bother a man who's labouriously chewing his rib-eye steak away (and damn it, sometimes they're a pain to chew).
By that same logic, don't cut my internet connection when I'm halfway through my downloads, or when I'm chatting with a friend in New Zealand, or when I'm gaming online and disconnecting would mean an entire wasted hour! It's just... uncivilised. We pay almost 80 bucks a month and this is what we get? And this went way back for years already, long before any earthquake hit any breakaway island nation (and I'm not referring to Singapore).
I want my high speed broadband! I want my uninterrupted gaming and chatting sessions! And when the cables in Taiwan get repaired, damn it, I want to download House and Grey's Anatomy and Heroes and Lost at 40kbps speeds again!
I'm past the breaking point; someone needs to be accountable. Tomorrow, the people at TMNet are going to get an earful from me. Apparently, if enough people complain, they'll actually do something. That's probably the Malaysian way, reactive rather than proactive (which is still better than passive, though)...
But tomorrow's a holiday. And at the moment, I have a game to get to, and people to chat with. Maybe some other time, then...
MALAYSIA BOLEH!
EDIT: The internet died on me, again, immediately after this post when online. That's like the 50th time today.
EDIT EDIT: It died, again, after I posted the last edit.
And the cause of my loathing isn't in any way due to the fact that the undersea cables in Taiwan aren't repaired yet; if that's the case, my connections to sites overseas will be riddled with slow speeds and errors, which aren't so much of a problem right now. Instead, it is the frequent disconnects from the service while I'm in the middle of something that pisses me off; and there isn't much what irks a man more than being interrupted as he is deep in the middle of something.
You don't turn off the TV when a guy is watching the EPL semifinals. You don't ask a boy to quit a basketball game and come home for dinner when there's five more points to game. You don't bother a man who's labouriously chewing his rib-eye steak away (and damn it, sometimes they're a pain to chew).
By that same logic, don't cut my internet connection when I'm halfway through my downloads, or when I'm chatting with a friend in New Zealand, or when I'm gaming online and disconnecting would mean an entire wasted hour! It's just... uncivilised. We pay almost 80 bucks a month and this is what we get? And this went way back for years already, long before any earthquake hit any breakaway island nation (and I'm not referring to Singapore).
I want my high speed broadband! I want my uninterrupted gaming and chatting sessions! And when the cables in Taiwan get repaired, damn it, I want to download House and Grey's Anatomy and Heroes and Lost at 40kbps speeds again!
I'm past the breaking point; someone needs to be accountable. Tomorrow, the people at TMNet are going to get an earful from me. Apparently, if enough people complain, they'll actually do something. That's probably the Malaysian way, reactive rather than proactive (which is still better than passive, though)...
But tomorrow's a holiday. And at the moment, I have a game to get to, and people to chat with. Maybe some other time, then...
MALAYSIA BOLEH!
EDIT: The internet died on me, again, immediately after this post when online. That's like the 50th time today.
EDIT EDIT: It died, again, after I posted the last edit.
Zhen was here at 7:15 pm,
2 comment(s)
Sunday, January 28, 2007
The Economist
Back in primary school, as kids, most of us dread the few weeks of classes that came after the final exams, for that was when our teachers would return to us the report cards that they have been so diligently filling up with stuff so shocking we wouldn't want our parents to even glimpse. In my report card, there was this little section that I had to fill after my parents were done nagging at me (or after they're done not nagging at me, because I got mostly good grades back then). It read Pilihan Kerjaya Pelajar - Student's Career Choice.
Ask a nine year-old what he wants to be when he grows up and you'd be hard pressed to find a would-be civil engineer, or stockbroker, or risk management consultant. We all wanted to be paleontologists or doctors (to which Chinese parents breathe a sigh of relief) or policemen. I wanted to be a cartoonist. That remained in my Pilihan Kerjaya Pelajar section (in secondary school, they gave us two extra slots per year; whoopee!) from when I was seven until I was seventeen.
Then I decided that law might be the right choice for me, because in urban Malaysia, if your passion isn't in science or math or something that makes money (i.e. anything with nothing to do with art), normally you'd get crushed by overbearing parents. Mine were nothing like that. I made the decision myself, and during my short stint in Brickfields College I found that I actually liked law.
Then I went down to Singapore and got back to Physics, Chemistry and Math. They had no Physics, Chemistry, Math and Literature classes, so I took up Economics instead, and found that I liked it even more than law.
So here I am, on the path to becoming an economist. How does one prepare himself for the volatile world of economics, when today's law becomes tomorrow's theory? By subscribing to:
Ask a nine year-old what he wants to be when he grows up and you'd be hard pressed to find a would-be civil engineer, or stockbroker, or risk management consultant. We all wanted to be paleontologists or doctors (to which Chinese parents breathe a sigh of relief) or policemen. I wanted to be a cartoonist. That remained in my Pilihan Kerjaya Pelajar section (in secondary school, they gave us two extra slots per year; whoopee!) from when I was seven until I was seventeen.
Then I decided that law might be the right choice for me, because in urban Malaysia, if your passion isn't in science or math or something that makes money (i.e. anything with nothing to do with art), normally you'd get crushed by overbearing parents. Mine were nothing like that. I made the decision myself, and during my short stint in Brickfields College I found that I actually liked law.
Then I went down to Singapore and got back to Physics, Chemistry and Math. They had no Physics, Chemistry, Math and Literature classes, so I took up Economics instead, and found that I liked it even more than law.
So here I am, on the path to becoming an economist. How does one prepare himself for the volatile world of economics, when today's law becomes tomorrow's theory? By subscribing to:
If you're wondering what she's holding,that's an energy-saving bulb.
Am I pretentious? Maybe. People give me the look when I tell them that I'm used to skipping articles in the newspaper and going straight to my magazine (a habit I picked up in Singapore, because at SGD1 a day, newspapers were too bloody expensive). Then I tell them that it's just TIME with fewer pictures and more words, and then they go "Ahhh..." in acknowledgment. Truth to be told, I (still) subscribe for the current events articles. Preparing myself for the world of economics my dimpled yellow ass; I rarely read the business ones, much less the jargon-filled economic indicators section at the end of each issue. But I plan to, of course. Someday.
In any case, The Economist's slightly zealous policies on certain issues notwithstanding, the quality of the articles are pretty good. And every once in a while, you get amazing ones like this:
Well, that wasn't actually a spectacularly written piece, but most of the article echoes the sentiments that I have towards the people upstairs. Today's post was just a means to goad you into reading (some of) my thoughts being penned down by a much defter hand than minde.
Maybe someday I'll write something about religion. That'll definitely bring in the controversy/readers (they're one and the same). Hell, I think I'll even begin planning rebuttals for any possible flame wars in the future...
In any case, The Economist's slightly zealous policies on certain issues notwithstanding, the quality of the articles are pretty good. And every once in a while, you get amazing ones like this:
Well, that wasn't actually a spectacularly written piece, but most of the article echoes the sentiments that I have towards the people upstairs. Today's post was just a means to goad you into reading (some of) my thoughts being penned down by a much defter hand than min
Maybe someday I'll write something about religion. That'll definitely bring in the controversy/readers (they're one and the same). Hell, I think I'll even begin planning rebuttals for any possible flame wars in the future...
Zhen was here at 2:03 am,
4 comment(s)
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Hello 2007 Part 2
After a week or two deliberating, I've come up with a few resolutions that I'd like to keep for this year. However, this is by no means a final, complete roll; I may continue to add to the list as the year passes, but at the same time I'll try my best not to drop anything from it. The general idea is to make really ambitious goals; like what some people say (check this metaphor out!), aim for the stars, so even if you miss, you'd at least get the moon.
Another reason for setting impossible targets is so that I'm able to blame the impossibility of meeting them to, well, their inherent impossibility. A thinking person always prepares an escape route; I can already imagine, half a year from now, I'd be convincing myself that they were never meant to be met anyway.
Of course, that's not how one should treat resolutions! Hence, with stubborn determination (and I'm stubborn as hell), I shall attempt the following:
1. Pick up music
My little sister has finally admitted that her passion isn't in music (after my parents have already wasted thousands of ringgit on her piano classes and exams). Now I'm free to pick it up, for real! Someday, I'm going to be able to actually play an instrument (besides my, uh, nevermind). I'm probably going to pay for most of the lessons out of my own pockets, but as long as I'm under my parents' roof, I have an obligation to spend (and save) according to their wishes, especially on expensive things like this.
2. Run (and generally exercise) more
I've been a geeky, lazy-assed, non-sportsman for as long as I can remember, and I'm still pretty much a geek now. This has resulted in a frail and fragile body (okay, I may be exaggerating here) and an aversion to all sports. Today, the only exercise I can do without feeling too bored (or, in the case of sports, getting thrashed like rag doll in a blender) is running around the neighbourhood, provided I have music playing in my ears. So, to get fitter for 2007, I'm going to try running as often as possible. And maybe throw in dumbbell-lifting and crunches once in a while. But first, I'll need a new pair of shoes as well as earphones. Anyone cares enough to donate?
3. Be a good _______
Current commitments include:
Another reason for setting impossible targets is so that I'm able to blame the impossibility of meeting them to, well, their inherent impossibility. A thinking person always prepares an escape route; I can already imagine, half a year from now, I'd be convincing myself that they were never meant to be met anyway.
Of course, that's not how one should treat resolutions! Hence, with stubborn determination (and I'm stubborn as hell), I shall attempt the following:
1. Pick up music
My little sister has finally admitted that her passion isn't in music (after my parents have already wasted thousands of ringgit on her piano classes and exams). Now I'm free to pick it up, for real! Someday, I'm going to be able to actually play an instrument (besides my, uh, nevermind). I'm probably going to pay for most of the lessons out of my own pockets, but as long as I'm under my parents' roof, I have an obligation to spend (and save) according to their wishes, especially on expensive things like this.
2. Run (and generally exercise) more
I've been a geeky, lazy-assed, non-sportsman for as long as I can remember, and I'm still pretty much a geek now. This has resulted in a frail and fragile body (okay, I may be exaggerating here) and an aversion to all sports. Today, the only exercise I can do without feeling too bored (or, in the case of sports, getting thrashed like rag doll in a blender) is running around the neighbourhood, provided I have music playing in my ears. So, to get fitter for 2007, I'm going to try running as often as possible. And maybe throw in dumbbell-lifting and crunches once in a while. But first, I'll need a new pair of shoes as well as earphones. Anyone cares enough to donate?
3. Be a good _______
Current commitments include:
- SJBAYS/TQ - The temple
- YKLS - The choir
- MUSA - The student council (I don't know why they can't just call it Monash Student Council; everytime I tell people I'm in MUSA they give me the clueless look)
- MNSM - Monash Nature Society Malaysia (I've been a very sucky treasurer the past semester thanks to my hatred of counting another's cash)
- Family - Try to piss off my parents less, mostly.
More will come, I can just feel it. Commitment sense, tingling!
Somehow, all this talk about commitment makes the word 'marriage' pop in my mind. Hmm...
4. Game less
Yup. Whenever school season starts I uninstall all the games on the computer and waste my time on other equally antisocial activities, such as reading books or browsing the pages of Wikipedia (I admit it's weird that I do it for fun, but at least I don't go around editing the pages). I hope to keep gaming to a minimum, to free up time for the other resolutions. Me being such a lazy and perpetually sleepy cunt doesn't add hours to a day, so I guess this is a must.
Of course, this can wait until classes begin, heh heh.
5. Continue or rewrite my NaNoWriMo project
Some of you may recall that I failed to complete my novel for NaNoWrimo within the month of November. See, that's what gaming does to ya. Makes you forget your other duties. It's evil, I tell you! But like all addictions, it's friggin hard to cure, hence my incomplete work, 'Carter'. I'll probably rewrite instead of continuing; some of the sections just sound... odd. Well, a couple of hundred words a day should do the trick.
6. Do well in my papers
By doing well I mean doing really well. Like High Distinctions for all my papers well. This might be the most realistic of all my resolutions. No, really. If I put all my energy into my studies, I'd be sticking to this goal at the expense of the rest (except No.4). It's a give-and-take situation here, unless I can plan my time really well. Sadly, we all know how much of a bum I am!
7. Stick to all these resolutions
Like, duh. Every year, a number of people tell me that their resolutions for that year is to stick to their resolutions. It actually makes sense, though, since attempts at revamping one's life take much more effort than most are willing to put in. So, allow me to truncate this lengthy update with a toast: Here's to sticking to the plan, people! Hope you all survive the year~
(Note that I also got bored halfway through the writing of this post, hence the abrupt end)
Somehow, all this talk about commitment makes the word 'marriage' pop in my mind. Hmm...
4. Game less
Yup. Whenever school season starts I uninstall all the games on the computer and waste my time on other equally antisocial activities, such as reading books or browsing the pages of Wikipedia (I admit it's weird that I do it for fun, but at least I don't go around editing the pages). I hope to keep gaming to a minimum, to free up time for the other resolutions. Me being such a lazy and perpetually sleepy cunt doesn't add hours to a day, so I guess this is a must.
Of course, this can wait until classes begin, heh heh.
5. Continue or rewrite my NaNoWriMo project
Some of you may recall that I failed to complete my novel for NaNoWrimo within the month of November. See, that's what gaming does to ya. Makes you forget your other duties. It's evil, I tell you! But like all addictions, it's friggin hard to cure, hence my incomplete work, 'Carter'. I'll probably rewrite instead of continuing; some of the sections just sound... odd. Well, a couple of hundred words a day should do the trick.
6. Do well in my papers
By doing well I mean doing really well. Like High Distinctions for all my papers well. This might be the most realistic of all my resolutions. No, really. If I put all my energy into my studies, I'd be sticking to this goal at the expense of the rest (except No.4). It's a give-and-take situation here, unless I can plan my time really well. Sadly, we all know how much of a bum I am!
7. Stick to all these resolutions
Like, duh. Every year, a number of people tell me that their resolutions for that year is to stick to their resolutions. It actually makes sense, though, since attempts at revamping one's life take much more effort than most are willing to put in. So, allow me to truncate this lengthy update with a toast: Here's to sticking to the plan, people! Hope you all survive the year~
(Note that I also got bored halfway through the writing of this post, hence the abrupt end)
Zhen was here at 10:32 pm,
2 comment(s)
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Tag
I rarely give in to internet meme-thingies that get passed around, but I'm willing to be hypocritical for the sake of completing this gem I stole from Ben Lee.
************1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
DON'T CHEAT!
Opening Credits:
Secret Garden - Windancer
Waking Up:
Evanescence - Imaginary
First Day At School:
Beach Boys - When I Grow Up (To Be A Man)
(Whoa, this actually fits!)
Puppy Love:
Andy Williams - Spooky
Fight Song:
Matchbox Twenty - Push
(I guess that's as far as I'll go in a fight)
Breaking Up:
Giacomo Puccini - Humming Chorus fr Madama Butterfly
(It sounds like a sad song, though)
Prom:
Niccolò Paganini - Caprice 2
Life is Good:
John Mayer - Come Back to Bed
(Life is good when you're sleeping)
Driving:
Monty Python's Spamalot - Laker Girls Cheer
(Hahahaha!)
Flashback:
Bon Jovi - Wildflower
True Love:
Rat Pack - When You're Smiling
(Oooh)
Wedding:
Bon Jovi - Welcome To Wherever You Are
Moment of Triumph:
Nobuo Uematsu - Ahead On Our Way (FF V)
(Bleh, boring song)
Death Scene:
Nobuo Uematsu - Sending A Dream Into The Universe (FF VII)
(Having about 700 songs by the same guy might explain the odds of getting him again)
Funeral Song:
MC Hammer - U Can't Touch This
(WAHAHAHA!! What a way to go away!)
End Credits:
Howard Shore & Billy Boyd - The Steward Of Gondor
(Pippin sings this when Faramir got his assed kicked by the Orcs)
Feel free to feel tagged and pass this around.
Zhen was here at 12:46 pm,
1 comment(s)
Friday, January 05, 2007
Hello 2007 Part 1
I've been away for a month now, and for good reason too. The YDC camp in Port Dickson of which preparations had kept me preoccupied for the most part of December has finally come to pass. It was an extremely tiring but satisfying affair, one which I'll delve into further detail once I get my hands on the photos taken during the trip.
(It was so tiring that I slept for 13 hours upon returning home. The following day (New Year's Eve) I slept another three more in the afternoon.)
Anyway, the year 2007 had just begun. Earlier yesterday I was wondering what I was doing at this time of the year in 2005. Soon, images of me in a stuffy clown costume frolicking around in Genting Highlands came rushing back.
And from that recollection began a mental trip down memory lane; it's this time of the year that most people have their reality checks, evaluating their lives, to determine if the 365 days that had just come and gone were wisely spent. Did I come out of 2006, to put it simply, a better person than I have entered it?
If you've yet to do such a reality check, readers, I beg of you to do so. We're not getting any younger, you know. What exactly is it that you want out of this life of yours? Go give it some thought.
Anyway...
2006 opened with me bumming around at home, watching a variety of TV shows, from Lost to House to every single episode of Friends, and playing DotA between episodes. Not the best way to spend your holidays, but I justified my slacking with the 1.5-year torture (I was only kidding myself) that was the Singapore A-Levels.
After much urging from my mother I found myself working at Synovate in the business research department, where the funner stuff involved making international phone calls to New Zealand and the UAE to annoy innocent victims. It paid quite well, too. Though I planned to leave after a month, I ended up staying for almost three, as I became increasingly desensitised to the complaints of said innocent victims.
And later, in May, I made a life-changing decision to remain in Malaysia for my tertiary level education. Consequently, whenever somebody discovers that I used to be an ASEAN scholar, their invariable response would be "Why didn't you go to NUS?!?!" as though I was violating some cardinal sin (in retrospect, I probably should've returned to Singapore, but that's another story for another time).
Following that decision, I realised that to justify my staying in Malaysia, I should put a concerted effort into making my time here worthwhile. Hence my foray into a choir (again), as well as assuming posts in the Monash Nature Society and Monash University Student Association. And I also began sporadic visits to the local Buddhist association (more for hanging out and helping out than for spiritual guidance, as it turned out...) and joining the occasional camp (where I met someone with which to share a very short-lived but rather fulfilling relationship). My love affair with camps continued to the extent that I even ended up as a Programs Coordinator for the aforementioned SJBA 15th Youth Dhamma Camp.
But, truth to be told, this could all be due to a subconscious need for some ego masturbation deep inside of me. Because at the end of the day, these endeavours only serve to make me feel important, like I'm worth a damn, and not some random, sheltered geek who stays at home everyday and sees the outside world through the pages of Wikipedia.
To that end, I guess I've succeeded in making my Malaysian 2006 (as opposed to a Singaporean one) worthwhile. Heck, even my results weren't too bad, so all in all the masturbated ego had an orgasmic time.
I must say that this is probably the first time I actually gave New Year's Resolutions a serious thought. I can't help but think; where do I go now? How do I work upon whatever I've done in the past year? I admit, I'm not exactly a success story what appears in youth magazines, or Heaven forbid, a national role model (hah!), but I admit that I'd like to achieve something to that effect, someday.
But as they say, Rome wasn't built in a day. It'll take a shitload of hard work which I'm probably not cut out for (I'm still lazy as fuck), and it'd be ages (or never) before I can look back at this period of my life and sincerely say that it was time well-spent. Until that time comes, a young man can, and will dream.
And this young man will continue dreaming for quite a long while because he's still a sheltered geek who stays at home almost everyday and surfs Wikipedia (don't tell anyone or I'll lose my credibility, heh) a lot.
So what do I have in mind for 2007? How do I plan to torture my frail little body to achieve that arbitrary excellence we're all striving for? Frankly, I've yet to decide. I only have several little resolutions that I intend to stick to for this year, stuff of little consequence to the bigger picture. But with these small steps, I hope I'll eventually begin leapfrogging and finally, soaring high with all the prodigal minds of our (my) age.
Speaking of prodigies, I already have a few in my list of acquaintances. I think I'll stalk in their shadows for a while.
Until next time, may you not get carried away with metaphorical crap. And stick to your resolutions if you can!
(It was so tiring that I slept for 13 hours upon returning home. The following day (New Year's Eve) I slept another three more in the afternoon.)
Anyway, the year 2007 had just begun. Earlier yesterday I was wondering what I was doing at this time of the year in 2005. Soon, images of me in a stuffy clown costume frolicking around in Genting Highlands came rushing back.
And from that recollection began a mental trip down memory lane; it's this time of the year that most people have their reality checks, evaluating their lives, to determine if the 365 days that had just come and gone were wisely spent. Did I come out of 2006, to put it simply, a better person than I have entered it?
If you've yet to do such a reality check, readers, I beg of you to do so. We're not getting any younger, you know. What exactly is it that you want out of this life of yours? Go give it some thought.
Anyway...
2006 opened with me bumming around at home, watching a variety of TV shows, from Lost to House to every single episode of Friends, and playing DotA between episodes. Not the best way to spend your holidays, but I justified my slacking with the 1.5-year torture (I was only kidding myself) that was the Singapore A-Levels.
After much urging from my mother I found myself working at Synovate in the business research department, where the funner stuff involved making international phone calls to New Zealand and the UAE to annoy innocent victims. It paid quite well, too. Though I planned to leave after a month, I ended up staying for almost three, as I became increasingly desensitised to the complaints of said innocent victims.
And later, in May, I made a life-changing decision to remain in Malaysia for my tertiary level education. Consequently, whenever somebody discovers that I used to be an ASEAN scholar, their invariable response would be "Why didn't you go to NUS?!?!" as though I was violating some cardinal sin (in retrospect, I probably should've returned to Singapore, but that's another story for another time).
Following that decision, I realised that to justify my staying in Malaysia, I should put a concerted effort into making my time here worthwhile. Hence my foray into a choir (again), as well as assuming posts in the Monash Nature Society and Monash University Student Association. And I also began sporadic visits to the local Buddhist association (more for hanging out and helping out than for spiritual guidance, as it turned out...) and joining the occasional camp (where I met someone with which to share a very short-lived but rather fulfilling relationship). My love affair with camps continued to the extent that I even ended up as a Programs Coordinator for the aforementioned SJBA 15th Youth Dhamma Camp.
But, truth to be told, this could all be due to a subconscious need for some ego masturbation deep inside of me. Because at the end of the day, these endeavours only serve to make me feel important, like I'm worth a damn, and not some random, sheltered geek who stays at home everyday and sees the outside world through the pages of Wikipedia.
To that end, I guess I've succeeded in making my Malaysian 2006 (as opposed to a Singaporean one) worthwhile. Heck, even my results weren't too bad, so all in all the masturbated ego had an orgasmic time.
I must say that this is probably the first time I actually gave New Year's Resolutions a serious thought. I can't help but think; where do I go now? How do I work upon whatever I've done in the past year? I admit, I'm not exactly a success story what appears in youth magazines, or Heaven forbid, a national role model (hah!), but I admit that I'd like to achieve something to that effect, someday.
But as they say, Rome wasn't built in a day. It'll take a shitload of hard work which I'm probably not cut out for (I'm still lazy as fuck), and it'd be ages (or never) before I can look back at this period of my life and sincerely say that it was time well-spent. Until that time comes, a young man can, and will dream.
And this young man will continue dreaming for quite a long while because he's still a sheltered geek who stays at home almost everyday and surfs Wikipedia (don't tell anyone or I'll lose my credibility, heh) a lot.
So what do I have in mind for 2007? How do I plan to torture my frail little body to achieve that arbitrary excellence we're all striving for? Frankly, I've yet to decide. I only have several little resolutions that I intend to stick to for this year, stuff of little consequence to the bigger picture. But with these small steps, I hope I'll eventually begin leapfrogging and finally, soaring high with all the prodigal minds of our (my) age.
Speaking of prodigies, I already have a few in my list of acquaintances. I think I'll stalk in their shadows for a while.
Until next time, may you not get carried away with metaphorical crap. And stick to your resolutions if you can!