RFID passports

While doing research for a project (about RFID technology) I stumbled upon this passage on Wikipedia:

RFID tags are being used in passports issued by many countries. The first RFID passports ("E-passport") were issued by Malaysia in 1998. In addition to information also contained on the visual data page of the passport, Malaysian e-passports record the travel history (time, date, and place) of entries and exits from the country.

Hmm...I certainly didn't know that Malaysia was the first country to issue RFID passports!

Raya 2007 in Lyon

This is pretty much overdue as well, it was during the 2nd day of Hari Raya.

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I'll just put a couple of pictures (and save myself typing 2000 words :P):

the food

the people

We actually took a lot of group photos, but most came out with one (or half) person missing. This is one of the best...though some people don't look too happy :P There's a photo with everyone looking happy, but unfortunately someone (ahem, ahem...) was looking somewhere else...

Spécial Angoumoisins

I've been putting this post off for quite some time.

I suspended my phone line during the summer holidays, and I got a letter from France Telecom to confirm my request. And here's the "signature":

Hehe, alors il existe bien un Marc Ricau... Mais pourquoi est-ce qu'il a pas signé? :P

(Marc Ricau was the name of the person to whom we made out our cheques when we paid the rent in Angoulême)

Foggy foggy morning

This morning when I woke up and looked out of my window, it looked like this:

8am

Two hours later...

10am

And finally, the sky clears...

1pm

Jeans

Did you know that the fabric of jeans came from Nîmes? That's why it's called denim (de = from)

Those who read French can check out more details here.

Crazy weather and table-tennis

For the past week it’s been really cold, you could say that it was as cold as in the middle of winter! On Tuesday I had table-tennis practice; usually I wear shorts, and it was so cold! So today when we went for a competition, I decided to wear long pants...and it turned out to be pretty hot, especially in the hall where we were playing, since there was no wind.

There were only 6 girls in my category (unranked girls) and all of us were from INSA. I came in second, which was pretty good, considering that the girl who beat me was actually ranked, but she said that it was a long time ago and that she preferred playing in the unranked category. It was surprising that there were no girls from other schools; last year there were several. They can’t all have graduated...

I got a t-shirt for coming in second place; the “prize” was the same for both first and second places. It was a volleyball t-shirt...weird, eh? Guess they couldn’t find anything else... I’ll try to take a photo and post it here another day. I doubt I’ll wear it though, ‘cos it’s black (I don’t like black) and too big for me. And as I’m really lousy at volleyball and the t-shirt is supposedly for the Championnats de France Universitaires (French University Championships, I guess you could say) it would be pretty misleading...:P

Well, I hope that tomorrow will be at least as warm as today, because I'm having tennis (outdoors, of course) Last week we were freezing...
(I'm learning tennis this year, because I thought that liking table-tennis and badminton as I do, tennis can't be too bad...and who knows, I might be able to try squash another time!)

Edit: here's the t-shirt! This is the back; the front is plain black.

Bones and stuff

For lunch today I had a fish with the most bones imaginable. Instead if those small bones separating the top and bottom part of the fish (those close to the stomach), these bones were shaped a little like wishing bones, but they're much much thinner. And the bones are situated a little further away from the "centre" of the fish! At first I didn't know they were there and almost swallowed them (in fact I probably did swallow one or two) Each tiny bone had to be picked out by hand; there's no way you can eat the fish otherwise. At least now I know where the bones are! I'm guessing it's a river fish... I bought a packet of four frozen ones from an Asian mini-market. The fish wasn't bad...I fried the first one and now I'm just wondering what to do with the other three.

I found this out today:
TIP is the acronym for "To Insure Promptness."

I don't know whether TIPs are used in Malaysia. I don't even know whether this TIP in the same TIP we use in France. The TIP I know is used to pay bills; a bill (like an electricity or a phone bill) will come with a TIP attached, and instead of writing a cheque, we can send the TIP (signed) with our bank account details. The next time the bill arrives, the TIP will contain our bank details and we'll only have to sign and return it. I used it before, but now I simply give my bank details to the electric and phone company and authorise them to take the money from my account every month.
(TIP in France is Titre Interbancaire de Paiement - inter-bank payment slip)

And here's a French song I quite like, by Raphaël (no, not the Ninja Turtle :P):

It's called Et dans 150 ans (and in 150 years). It's mainly about how everything will be forgotten in 150 years' time, and that is why we shouldn't worry. Three of the verses end with alors souris, which means "so, smile". Here are the lyrics:

Et dans 150 ans, on s'en souviendra pas
De ta première ride, de nos mauvais choix,
De la vie qui nous baise, de tous ces marchands d'armes,
Des types qui votent les lois là bas au gouvernement,
De ce monde qui pousse, de ce monde qui crie,
Du temps qui avance, de la mélancolie,
La chaleur des baisers et cette pluie qui coule,
Et de l'amour blessé et de tout ce qu'on nous roule,
Alors souris.

Dans 150 ans, on s'en souviendra pas
De la vieillesse qui prend, de leurs signes de croix,
De l'enfant qui se meurt, des vallées du tiers monde,
Du salaud de chasseur qui descend la colombe,
De ce que t'étais belle, et des rives arrachées,
Des années sans sommeil, 100 millions de femmes et
Des portes qui se referment de t'avoir vue pleurer,
De la course solennelle qui condamne sans ciller,
Alors souris.

Et dans 150 ans, on n'y pensera même plus
A ce qu'on a aimé, à ce qu'on a perdu,
Allez vidons nos bières pour les voleurs des rues !
Finir tous dans la terre, mon dieu ! Quelle déconvenue.
Et regarde ces squelettes qui nous regardent de travers,
Et ne fais pas la tête, ne leur fais pas la guerre,
Il leur restera rien de nous, pas plus que d'eux,
J'en mettrais bien ma main à couper ou au feu,
Alors souris.

Et dans 150 ans, mon amour, toi et moi,
On sera doucement, dansant, 2 oiseaux sur la croix,
Dans ce bal des classés, encore je vois large,
P't'être qu'on sera repassés dans un très proche, un naufrage,
Mais y a rien d'autre à dire, je veux rien te faire croire,
Mon amour, mon amour, j'aurai le mal de toi,
Mais y a rien d'autre à dire, je veux rien te faire croire,
Mon amour, mon amour, j'aurai le mal de toi,
Mais que veux-tu ?...

School 1967 vs. 2007

Scenario: Jack goes quail hunting before school, pulls into school parking lot with shotgun in gun rack.

1967 - Vice principal comes over to look at Jack's shotgun. He goes to his car and gets his shotgun to show Jack.
2007 - School goes into lock down, and FBI is called. Jack is hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again. Counselors called in for traumatized students and teachers.

Scenario: Johnny and Mark get into a fistfight after school.

1967 - Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up best friends. Nobody goes to jail; nobody is arrested; nobody is expelled.
2007 - Police called. SWAT team arrives. Johnny and Mark are arrested and charged with assault. Both are expelled even though Johnny started it.

Scenario: Jeffrey won't be still in class, disrupts other students.

1967 - Jeffrey sent to office and given a good paddling by the principal. He returns to class, sits still, and does not disrupt class again.
2007 - Jeffrey is diagnosed with ADD and given huge doses of Ritalin. Becomes a zombie. School gets extra money from state because Jeffrey has a learning disability.

Scenario: Billy breaks a window in his neighbor's car and his Dad gives him a whipping with his belt.

1967 - Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college, and becomes a successful businessman.
2007 - Billy's dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy is placed in foster care and joins a gang. State psychologist tells Billy's sister that she remembers being abused herself, and their dad goes to prison. Billy's mom has affair with psychologist.

Scenario: Mark gets a headache and takes some aspirin to school.

1967 - Mark shares aspirin with principal out on the smoking dock.
2007 - Police called. Mark is expelled from school for drug violations. Car is searched for drugs and weapons.

Scenario: Pedro fails high school English.

1967 - Pedro goes to summer school, passes English, goes to college.
2007 - Pedro's cause is taken up by state. Newspaper articles appear nationally explaining that teaching English as a requirement for graduation is racist. ACLU files class action lawsuit against state school system and Pedro's English teacher. English banned from core curriculum. Pedro is given a diploma anyway but ends up mowing lawns for a living because he cannot speak English.

Scenario: Johnny takes apart leftover firecrackers from 4th of July, puts them in a model airplane paint bottle, blows up a red ant bed.

1967 - Ants die.
2007 - Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco a and Firearms, Homeland Security, and FBI called. Johnny is charged with domestic terrorism. The FBI investigates parents; siblings are removed from home; computers confiscated. Johnny's dad goes on a terror watch list and is never allowed to fly again.

Scenario: Johnny falls while running during recess and scrapes his knee. He is found crying by his teacher, Heather. Heather hugs him to comfort him.

1967 - In a short time, Johnny feels better and goes on playing.
2007 - Heather is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces three years in state prison. Johnny undergoes five years of therapy.

How true is that? As J.T. says, the age of innocence and simplicity is gone...

Did you know that?

A 'clue' originally meant a ball of thread. This is why one
is said to 'unravel' the clues of a mystery.

The act of snapping one's fingers has a name. It is called
a 'fillip.'

How long does it last?

picture and info from here

Have you seen this picture before? I've seen it loads of times, but never really noticed it. Turns out that it's the equivalent of an expiry date for cosmetic items. On the picture there will be a number followed by an M; 12M means that the product has to be used within 12 months of opening it.

After finding out about this, I checked all my bottles/tubes for this symbol. I found it on my moisturiser, shampoo...basically on the stuff I bought in France, but not those I had brought from Malaysia. So maybe it's a European thing...let me know if you find this on any Malaysian stuff!

And here's a little tip I got: Keep store bought or home-made cookies fresh by adding two slices of bread to the cookie jar.
It's pretty logical when you think about it...bread absorbs moisture, doesn't it? (I haven't tried it though...)