I'm sorry, I don't understand English.

About 2 months ago, I had my right wisdom tooth removed at Ace Family Dental Care.

Procedure went okay, dentist was a pleasant chap, if a bit... odd. And then off I went on holiday for 2 weeks.

Fast forward to the present - checking my mail last night, I find that the dentist was reimbursed for the surgery from my Medisave account over 2 months ago. Their standard operating procedure is to have the patient pay upfront, and then reimburse them by cheque once the payment from Medisave has cleared.

I understand that they may have called while I was away in Australia.

What I do not understand is why there was no further follow up, no information, no NOTHING, with the staff in charge simply sitting on my cheque and ignoring it.

The best part? When I called to enquire in person, the moment I demanded an explanation, the woman who answered the phone more or less immediately passed me to her colleague, who then pretended not to be able to understand English - only, and I must stress ONLY - when I questioned her about the handling of my cheque, or lack thereof.

This is sad as up till now I'd had a very good impression of the clinic, which this handling, or lack of handling of my cheque has tossed down the drain.

Obviously, taking the complaint seriously, rather than pretending not to understand English, and passing me between various people in a show of utter irresponsibility, is something that isn't done in this place.

I'm glad I don't have any more wisdom teeth.

And lest you think I am being unreasonable, this is the 21st century, in Singapore. Can't get someone on the phone? Send an SMS. Follow up with an SMS. Follow up with another damn call. Follow up with my email, which they have.

But no, sit on the cheque, and wait till the patient/customer calls to yell, then pretend not to understand English.

That's the way to do it.

Leatrix Latency Fix - Lifesaver for Windows online games.

http://www.wowinterface.com/downloads/info13581-LeatrixLatencyFix.html

Yes. I know. There's a WoW logo thingie there. Ignore it.

This registry fix really, really helped my latency issues.

My Guild Wars ping used to be 600-900, now it's 300-400. Oh yes, and it fixed my WoW ping too, (even if I'm not playing that anymore).

I'm pretty sure it helps / will help with any other online games I poke.

Best of all - if you don't like it? Comes with uninstall script, and is most certifiably not malware, spyware, or any other evilware.

If you use Windows, and play online games where latency is an issue, get eet. Get eet nao.

Why I Love ArenaNet

I think the fix that we had for syncing worked for what it was intended to do, it just brought to light greater issues with the problem. Why are people syncing? To get a team that they feel is guaranteed to win. Why is that so important? Because most people are playing for title points, not for fun - thus losing is seen as inefficient, and generates resentment to whoever is the "source" of your loss. So playing on truly random teams was fantastic for people that are either more casual, or just interested in playing for playings sake - it's like just joining in to a random TF2 server. You can go in, shoot some guys, help your team with your objectives, and probably have fun regardless of the outcome. Titles (and related things, like Fame) in GW have been a double edged sword: they're a terrific motivation for people to play, but as we've seen, sometimes they come with some consequences. So while we can implement the syncing fix, I don't think it's in our interests to do so until it's coming along with something that's part of fixing the bigger problem. Generally I'm not a fan of band-aid solutions unless there's no other choice, I like to get at the real problem where we can. And for what it's worth, bug fixes for old stuff do make it into the builds that we're putting out when we've got time for them. The unfortunate reality of the situation is that with the size of the team, we're only able to do so much, and new stuff has to be a priority. It's not our job to be making money first (although it is always a concern; we are a business after all, and we need to show that our team is valuable and worth keeping around) rather, it's to keep people excited for and engaged with the game. New content is always going to be more compelling in that regard - it gives people something to look forward to, speculate about, argue over, and eventually play (or play with, in the case of features.) I have to prioritize doing the things that buy us the most positive returns, and hope that we'll be able to work toward the resources to better include maintenance as well. John Stumme 18:40, 27 December 2010 (UTC)
via wiki.guildwars.com

GW Lead John Stumme gives a very detailed, thoughtful, and clear answer as to why reworking older content/fixing bugs/PvP syncing is on a lower priority than new content.

It's so nice when things are explained sanely and clearly, without being patronising or mysterious.

There are many, many company representatives out there (not just games folk) who could take tips from how Stumme answers questions.

Plinks - The Lady of Shalott

Just a taste of what my poor neighbours have been subjected to since I got my iPad. XD

I've lost so much over the last decade of totally not touching any piano or simulation thereof.

Right now I can play (yes, yes, I fumble, I need more practice) either chords with 1 hand, and only 1 hand, or no chords, but with both hands... and only the intro right now - because when it gets past the intro my brain explodes and my hands go everywhere.

Which is sad because I think the 2 handed version sounds so much richer and more beautiful.

More practice! More torturing of ze neighbours! XD

P.S. What makes this particularly horrifying for my neighbours is that I'm doing this by ear. I can no longer read scores/sheet music, I've totally forgotten how. Not that there seem to be scores of this free on the Intarwebs anyway, but since I can't read em... it's a moot point.