singzeon.

20 February 2016:

長大難道是人必經的潰爛

🎵盛夏光年

If there’s one thing I appreciate about NS, it’s that I get to experience office life as a ‘trial’ before I truly work. (Of course, I do realise that not all get to do so, as most go through a purely combat role.)

Currently, in my job, I deal with company commanders while in an office environment. (I don’t think I can really mention a lot more without breaching anything.) Already, this has made me learn a lot, all of which isn’t taught in school.

For one, it’s about power. In a sense, army made it easier to establish a power structure, as there is rank. So yes although there are quotes like ‘rank is given but respect is earned’, rank is still alive and kicking (and no way should it be abolished).

However, along come potential abusers of rank. They may try and pressure you to suit their demands, even though in the big picture that’s not feasible. The classic, old-school response would be to ‘suck thumb’ and do as they say.

Thankfully, nowadays, things are not as rigid. This is not to say that one can wilfully disobey superiors, but that now there are slightly more leeway for redress and consultation.

With that said, of course, there still *is* power play. I shall not (and cannot) mention intricacies, but let’s just say that before this I had no idea the CC function in e-mails was such a powerful one.

Side note: till now, I have never employed BCC (except when I’m sending a mass e-mail and protecting the recipients’ confidentiality) and I certainly hope I never have to do so.

~

Back in 2007, I watched Just Follow Law, a Jack Neo movie about bureaucracy and office politics. My parents especially empathised with the office scenes, but as an 11-year-old, needless to say I was rather clueless.

9 years later, I certainly know why my parents laughed so loud or seethed so angrily at certain parts of the movie. Willingly or not, I have been exposed (somewhat) to office culture. Welcome, I told myself, to the world of office politics.

~

Office politics is, no doubt, terrifying for a typical JC kid (of which I am one). He has no sinister agenda, full of book smarts and little street smarts. To the seasoned predators of the office, he is nothing but delectable prey.

... Okay, maybe I exaggerated and generalised. I’m sure not every JC kid is as such. And not everyone else in the office is bent on devouring the weak. My point is, for such people, we have no choice but to learn the hard way.

And learn, I did. For the past two months, I was embroiled in a nasty episode that left me isolated within my office. I don’t want to go into details, mainly because one shouldn’t air dirty linen out and also because that’s another 1,800 words long.

In fact, the isolation has not yet subsided and bad blood still exists. I don’t know if it will end, but at this point my take is too bad if it doesn’t, good if it does. As much as I had hoped for the best and most cohesive environment, sometimes we don’t get what we want.

In all, the lesson learnt is that I should never have been too kind-hearted. Also, be less trusting of people, especially those whom you don’t know personally for an extended period of time.

Also, the assumption that NSFs will not harm fellow NSFs is oh so wrong. Once again, I learnt this the hard way. But I guess 經一事長一智, so yes, I have emerged from this more knowledgable about the ways of this world.

At the end of the day, I am heartened that at least my boss knew how to judge for himself. No doubt he who hates me will immediately label me as a boss’ pet, or whatever is nastier. But, from the bottom of my heart:

I know that I, at any point in time, did nothing out of fear or favour to my boss, my colleagues or any superior. I did anything and everything with the betterment of the office as my sole motivation. It’s a pity that my intentions, no matter how idealistic, how well-construed, were still wilfully twisted. Alas a pity is just a pity and I intend to leave it at that.

To NS I say: thanks for the preview. True, I can’t quit, I can’t unsubscribe, but at least I can better choose my defences for the future. The future where even scarier species may lurk, awaiting my ensnarement.

TTFN.

19 February 2016:

How to Create Custom Ringtones for your iPhone

Things You'll Need:

• iTunes
• iPhone
• Your desired ringtone

Steps:

1. Open iTunes.
2. At the top-left corner, click on the music symbol to open your music library.
3. Tap the 'alt' key to show the menu bar.
4. Select File > Add file to library.
5. Navigate to the folder where your ringtone is at and select it.
6. If your ringtone file is longer than your intended ringtone segment (e.g. it's a song, but you only want the first 20 seconds as your
   ringtone), proceed to the next step. Otherwise, if your file is exactly how you want your ringtone to be, skip to step 11.
7. Right-click your file in the music library and select 'Get info'.
8. Select 'Options'.
9. Select the 'start' and 'stop' tickboxes and enter the start and end of the segment you want for your ringtone. (Note: Doing so does not trim the original file.)
10. Click 'OK'. To be sure, play the file and make sure it should only be playing the segment you want as your ringtone.
11. Right-click the file and click 'Create AAC version'.
12. Wait for the conversion to take place. You should see a new entry in your music library with the same name. To differentiate, use either the duration or date added to choose the AAC version.
13. Right-click the AAC version and select 'Show in Windows Explorer'.
14. In Windows Explorer, select 'View' from the ribbon and look for the 'Show/hide' tab.
15. Click on 'File name extensions'.
16. Your AAC version file should then have its extension behind, which is .m4a.
17. Press F2 or right-click and select 'Rename'.
18. Change the extension from .m4a to .m4r and close the window.
19. Go back to iTunes and select Tones from the top-left corner. If you do not see it, click on the three dots to expand the menu. You should see your ringtone file there.
20. Connect your iPhone and select 'Sync tones'.
21. Start the sync.
22. When done, unplug your phone and go to Settings.
23. Go to Sounds then Ringtone.
24. You should see your custom ringtone at the top of the list of tones, separated by a thick line from the built-in ones.