I have some juniors in my University who approached me and ask for my suggestion for their workshop II title. Basically they have to develop some systems according to their major of studies. And all the third year students are learning Object Oriented Programming using Java. When speak of "PROGRAMMING", its like a disaster for them. They set their mind that: "It must be very difficult!"

I am quite sad to see these trends among our students. They easily give up even before trying or taking the first step!
Instead of thinking :"I think i can do it", their first thought is always:"I think i can't do it"
Why think so negatively?

lets consider this:

It is quite common to hear people say: "Think positive!", to someone who feels down and worried. Most people do not take these words seriously, as they do not know what they really mean, or do not consider them as useful and effective. How many people do you know, who stop to think what the power of positive thinking means?

The following story illustrates how this power works.
Allan applied for a new job, but as his self-esteem was low, and he considered himself as a failure and unworthy of success, he was sure that he was not going to get the job. He had a negative attitude towards himself, and believed that the other applicants were better and more qualified than him. Allan manifested this attitude, due to his negative past experiences with job interviews.

His mind was filled with negative thoughts and fears concerning the job for the whole week before the job interview. He was sure he would be rejected. On the day of the interview he got up late, and to his horror he discovered that the shirt he had planned to wear was dirty, and the other one needed ironing. As it was already too late, he went out wearing a shirt full of wrinkles.

During the interview he was tense, displayed a negative attitude, worried about his shirt, and felt hungry because he did not have enough time to eat breakfast. All this distracted his mind and made it difficult for him to focus on the interview. His overall behavior made a bad impression, and consequently he materialized his fear and did not get the job.

Jim applied for the same job too, but approached the matter in a different way. He was sure that he was going to get the job. During the week preceding the interview he often visualized himself making a good impression and getting the job.

In the evening before the interview he prepared the clothes he was going to wear, and went to sleep a little earlier. On day of the interview he woke up earlier than usual, and had ample time to eat breakfast, and then to arrive to the interview before the scheduled time.

He got the job because he made a good impression. He had also of course, the proper qualifications for the job, but so had Allan.

What do we learn from these two stories? Is there any magic employed here? No, it is all natural. When the attitude is positive we entertain pleasant feelings and constructive images, and see in our mind's eye what we really want to happen. This brings brightness to the eyes, more energy and happiness. The whole being broadcasts good will, happiness and success. Even the health is affected in a beneficial way. We walk tall and the voice is more powerful. Our body language shows the way you feel inside.

Positive and negative thinking are both contagious. All of us affect, in one way or another, the people we meet. This happens instinctively and on a subconscious level, through thoughts and feelings transference and through body language. People sense our aura and are affected by our thoughts. Is it any wonder that we want to be around positive persons and shun negative ones? People are more disposed to help us if we are positive. They dislike and avoid anyone broadcasting negativity.

Negative thoughts, words and attitude bring up negative and unhappy moods and actions. When the mind is negative, poisons are released into the blood, which cause more unhappiness and negativity. This is the way to failure, frustration and disappointment.
Taken from:The Power of Positive Thinking by Remez Sasson

so, from the story, Allan failed because he himself blocked his opportunities and courages to be successful. No body is responsible for his failure but he himself!
if you can't break through your own shield, then no body can help you. We need self confidence in ourself first!

Why some people are too afraid to start anything, u can imagine that many problems will occur if you start to do the thing, but, as long as u never started, u will never know that your thought might be wrong! Remember: NO MAN IS AN ISLAND! you can always seek for help and guidance whenever you are stuck and cant proceed. never think you are the only person face the problem, there are so many other people who faced the same or similar situations; and they might even have proper solution for it!

and here is some tips to share:
Suggestions for Building Positive Attitudes
* In every class, look for positive people to associate with.
* In every lecture, look for one more interesting idea.
* In every chapter, find one more concept important to you.
* With every friend, explain a new idea you've just learned.
* With every teacher, ask a question.
* With yourself, keep a list of your goals, positive thoughts and actions.
* Remember, you are what you think, you feel what you want.

what makes the future is the present.
if you feel in your heart that you are happy now, that thought will surely create a happy future for you! So, lets think positive!

at last, created a technical forum where the members can discuss bout IT technical related topics.
Feel free to join us here
Thanks alot.

What can be done with MSPaint? To draw simple stuffs...
That's what i was thinking until i watched the video from youtube.
now i realized, its not the software that really matter, it is used to aid us in accomplish our task more effectively. with the skills and mastering even a simple software like MSPaint, we can create many wonderful things.
So, there is no best software, because each of them have their own pro and con, with their special features. Its on us, how much we master them and effectively use them!

ok guys, have a look in this: Drawing Monalisa with MSPaint:

just felt bored and lazy to write a new entry,
i opened my best friend and asked it my name. (opened Google and typed Chang Gee Guan for search la ofcoz!).
I was quite suprised to see my name actually came out in the first result! and it was UTeM's library website!
my god, when did i came out in that?
after opened and read through the paper cutting, i realized my course mate and i was once interviewed by someone from HEP during my second year. Wah, i totally forgot about that! What a pleasant suprise!
Ok guys, just have a look, although i guess i didn't actually said those points that time, Hahaha...

work hard vs work smart

what are the differences? are they same? which one is better? and which one should come first?
Recently i read a story circulated in my email. It goes like this:

There was once a young lumberjack who went up to the jungle for logging. He had some colleagues who were quite old compared to him. This young man decided to work hard everyday since he is still young. He wanted to chop down as many trees he can while he is still young and full of energy. therefore, he worked hard everyday from morning to evening. Main while, his old colleagues were enjoying a more relaxed work where they always rest and make drinks and chatting with each others. They often invite the young man to join but he refused as he don't want to waste his time in relaxing.
Few months passed and the young lumberjack found that although those old men are relaxing more than him, but the amount of tree they able to chop down is always equal or sometimes even more than him. He was confused. "How could this happend? I am defenetly working more than them, yet my output is same with them..." He mumbles himself.
One day one of the old man invited him to join them for a short break and drink. He refused at first but after the old man compel him, he joined them for drink. While drinking with them he found the secret of them! "Now I understand how those old guys can chop down trees so fast" He thought.

What is the secret of the old men? How come they can chop down many trees despite they rest and relax so much compared to the young man? The secret is.......
Its true the old men rest a lot, but, whenever they were taking their break, they actually were whetting their axes, which means their axes are always sharp! With an sharp axe, they can chop down tree very fast. But the young man was working all day long without sharpening his axe, so, with an blunt axe, he can't cut down many trees although he was working very hard!

From this story, I realized some points:
First of all, its not the matter of get the things done, but how effectively who do it is more important. With effective working, we will enjoy what are we doing actually since we wouldn't be tension of doing the job.
Therefore, i think firstly, we need to work smart, and after that, with a little bit of extra effort (working a little harder) we put will give us even better result. Work hard itself is not sufficient, and working smart will only be just enough for us to finish our work. For the best result, first we need work smart, then work hard.

So friends, lets start with work smart, then work hard. We need both of it!

How to work smart? Its easy, first of all, lets "Think Out Of Box", how? coming soon in my next blog... ^_^