Dan Brown’s novels

​Novel-1 : Angels & Demons (is a 2000 bestselling mystery-thriller)

Robert Langdon (A professor of Symbology at Harvard University) is flown to CERN to help investigate the murder of Leonardo Vetra (A scientist working at CERN and a priest researching on antimatter).

Robert Langdon tells Vittoria Vetra (The adopted daughter focus her research focuses on biology and physics) how the Illuminati created a citywide map known as the Path of Illumination, a trail once used by the Illuminati as a means of inducting new members; aspirants who wanted to join the Illuminati were required to follow a series of subtle clues left in various churches in and around Rome. The clues indicate the secret meeting place of the Illuminati. 

The Path leads Langdon and Vittoria to four churches in Rome, each one representing works of art by Baroque artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini which are associated with one of the primordial elements: Earth, Air, Fire and Water.
Novel-2 : The Da Vinci Code (is a 2003 mystery-detective worldwide bestseller)

Symbologist Robert Langdon and Police Cryptologist Sophie Neveu, become involved in a battle between the Priory of Sion and Opus Dei over the possibility of Jesus Christ having been married to Mary Magdalene. The title of the novel refers, among other things, to the finding of the first murder victim in the Grand Gallery of the Louvre, naked and posed similar to Leonardo da Vinci’s famous drawing, the Vitruvian Man, with a cryptic message written beside his body and a pentagram drawn on his chest in his own blood.

The novel explores an alternative religious history, whose central plot point is that the Merovingian kings of France were descended from the bloodline of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene; provoking a popular interest in speculation concerning the Holy Grail legend and Mary Magdalene’s role in the history of Christianity.
Novel-3 : The Lost Symbol (is a 2009 fastest selling adult thriller novel in history)

Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is invited to give a lecture at the United States Capitol, at the invitation apparently from his mentor, a 33rd degree Mason named Peter Solomon, who is the head of the Smithsonian Institution. Solomon has also asked him to bring a small, sealed package which he had entrusted to Langdon years earlier. When Langdon arrives at the Capitol, however, he learns that the invitation he received was not from Solomon, but from Solomon’s kidnapper, Mal’akh posing as Solomon’s assistant, who has left Solomon’s severed right hand in the middle of the Capitol Rotunda in a recreation of the Hand of Mysteries. Mal’akh then contacts Langdon, charging him with finding both the Mason’s Pyramid, which Masons believe is hidden somewhere in Washington, D.C.
Novel-4 : The Lost Symbol (is a 2013 mystery thriller & number one on the New York Times Best Seller list for hardcover fiction)

Harvard University professor Robert Langdon wakes up in a hospital with a head wound and no memory of the last few days. His last memory is walking on the Harvard campus, but he quickly realizes that he is now in Florence. Sienna Brooks, one of the doctors attending to him, tells him he suffered a concussion from being grazed by a bullet and had stumbled into the emergency ward. Suddenly, Vayentha, a female assassin who has been following Robert Langdon, breaks into the hospital, shoots the doctor in charge of Robert’s care and approaches Robert’s room. Sienna grabs Robert and they flee to her apartment.

After Sienna recounts the details of his admission to the hospital, Robert finds a cylinder with a biohazard sign in his jacket and decides to call the U.S. consulate. He is told that they are searching for him and want his location. Per Sienna’s guidance, Robert gives them a location across the street from Sienna’s apartment to avoid getting Sienna more involved in his mysterious situation than she already is. Soon, Robert sees Vayentha, who is armed, pull up to the location Robert gave the consulate. At this point, Sienna and Robert believe the U.S. government wants to kill him.

Robert decides to open the container and finds a small medieval bone cylinder fitted with a hi-tech projector that displays a modified version of Botticelli’s Map of Hell, which itself is based on Dante’s Inferno. At the bottom of the illumination are the words, “The truth can be glimpsed only through the eyes of death.” Suddenly, soldiers raid Sienna’s building; Sienna and Robert narrowly escape.

 

“Who Moved My Cheese?”

Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life, published in 1998, is a motivational book by Spencer Johnson written in the style of a parable or business fable. It describes change in one’s work and life, and four typical reactions to said change by two mice and two “little people”, during their hunt for cheese.

Who Moved My Cheese? Features four characters: two mice, “Sniff” and “Scurry,” and two little people, miniature humans in essence, “Hem” and “Haw”. They live in a maze, a representation of one’s environment, and look for cheese, representative of happiness and success.

The characters in the story treasure the cheese. The cheese is important – it means many things to them. But each character has a slightly different approach to life, and their individual approach defines what happens to them when the cheese runs out.

The cheese can be anything you treasure in life – and for some people it will just be something they’re used to in life. The cheese can be a job, a relationship, an organization, or even the world we live in. The story is about how we adapt to change in our lives, and it sets out to alter our perception of change. The main character in the story, “Haw” learns to laugh at himself when he realizes that he’d made a mistake by becoming too dependent on his cheese and unwilling to move on.

Haw comes to many realizations during the story that help him move on, and he writes them on the wall as he goes. Here’s the summary he writes in the end:

Change Happens
They Keep Moving the Cheese

Anticipate Change
Get Ready for the Cheese to Move

Monitor Change
Smell the Cheese Often So You Know When it is Getting Old

Adapt to Change Quickly
The Quicker You Let Go of Old Cheese, the Sooner You Can Enjoy New Cheese

Change
Move with the Cheese

Enjoy Change!
Savour the Adventure and Enjoy the Taste of New Cheese!

Be Ready to Change Quickly and Enjoy it Again and Again
They Keep Moving the Cheese

I recommend Who Moved My Cheese? to anyone who is struggling with change. It’s a quick read at under 100 pages, and it addresses life changing principles that can greatly alter our degree of satisfaction in life.

Remember, the only constant in life, is change.

 

CHART YOUR OWN PATH

Finding an uncontested space in the marketplace will bring high growth and profitability

 

What do successful companies like Apple, Cirque de Soleil, QB House, AirAsia, Sheng Siong Superparket and Mustafa Centre have in common? They found their patch of ‘Blue Ocean’ to operate their business in.

The phrase takes its name from Blue Oceon Strategy, a business strategy book by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne of Insead, a leading international business school. In its first year of publication, the book sold more than a million copies and has since been translated into 41 languages.

The authors studied 150 companies from 1880 to 2000 in more than 30 industries. They found a common thread running through all the success stories – innovation and the ‘Blue Ocean’ strategy.

The book promotes creating new market space or ‘Blue Ocean’ – where competition is made irrelevant – rather than competing in a existing industry. The authors uses the metaphor of Red and Blue Oceans to portray the marketplace.

 

Red Ocean

The Red Ocean consists of existing businesses struggling in the known marketplace where boundaries are defined. The competitive rules of businesses are known and accepted by all. Companies existing in the Red Ocean try to out perform their rivals to grab a greater share of the product or service demand through cut-throat strategies.

As the market space gets crowded, profits and growth are eroded. Products become commodities and the marketpalce turns into a bloody battle zone – hence name ‘Red Ocean’.

Competing in the over crowded marketplace is no way to sustain high performance. The real opportunity is to carve out an uncontested marketplace – the Blue Ocean.

 

Blue Ocean

This unknown market space is virtually untainted by competition. Demand here is created rather than fought over. There are many opportunites here for rapid and profitable growth, Blue Ocean makes competition irrelevant because the rules of the game are unknown.

Thirty years ago, we did not have mobile phones, the Internet, e-mail, budget airlines, notebook, computers, GPS, DVD movies and 10-minute haircuts. These were the industries in the Blue Ocean then.

Blue Ocean can be created within the Red Ocean by changing the boudaries of an existing industry – for example, what eBay did for auctions by putting them online.

The failure to realise the differences between Red and Blue Oceans is the main reason why companies cannot bread away from competition.

 

Military Strategy

Why do companies operate comfortable in the Red Ocean? Corporate strategy is partly influenced by military strategies.

Even the language businesses use is full of military references. Companies are trained to protect their market share, attack competitors, penetrate the marketplace, launch an attack on the competition, and so on.

 

Technology

Blue Ocean is not about technology innovation although cutting-edge technology is involved in many Blue Ocean businessses, in creating Blue Ocean, companies can build brands that thrive over decades, as in the case of IBM, Ford, Federal Express, Apple, Dell and CNN. The key to create Blue Ocean is not a huge R&D budget but in adopting a right strategic move and taking massive action.

Blue Ocean creators never use their competitors as a benchmark. Instead, they make competition irrelevant by creating huge value for both the consumers and the company itself.

Practitioners of Blue Ocean reject the conventional belief that there is a trade-off between value and cost. Traditionaly, the higher the cost, the more value customers get. In Blue Ocean, companies can pursue both differentiation and low costs simultaneously.

 

Article by Michael Lum, master trainer and licensed by American Board of NLP and hypnotherapy coach.

 

Obsessive Compulsive Emotions

why so EMO?

I’m trying hard not to fall into the state of unhappiness because that will only lead to the state of depression.

I just find it hard to believe that some people can be so emotionally orientated, so selfish, so self-centered, so unreasonable, so whatever-lar. An overnight 360degree mood change.

She can just keep repeating that she feels what I have done is not fair to her. And by showing a sour face, ignoring and put-off words is suppose to break you down (emotionally).

She feels  & can even suggest that I should wait another 3-months (starting end of this month so my colleague could go on leave & another 2-month for her to come back from maternity).

Well, I can feel too, and I feel that she is just not happy that I am leaving before her, that I found a job before her.

And after accessing the bigger picture (leaving out the emotions), I feel that, it is far-way not fair too me either, just because heaven’s opportunity knock on me, and she wants me to give it up for her own personal reason, now that is unreasonable.

Can you tell the-new-company to wait for you for three whole months? How is that fair on my end? Is my future not my own decision to determine? Just because I make my own decision, I am at fault, what nonsense is that.

Making a decision is not easy, there is no right nor wrong either. It is all a risk.

(when you decide to buy a hotdog by the roadside, is there no risk of you getting sick??)

Another thing is, I do not really know whether it is a normal practice or taking advantage. Handling over and finishing ones’ jobs at hand is normal.

But taking new projects and expect a 80% completion within a month so that the remaining 20% follow-up can help push/show how efficient/capable you can be even without your right-hand key-man.

Now I called that taking advantage, why I say that is because 3-new projects in within a month.

Can I decline? Maybe I am too nice plus am still an employee till the day I leave.

 

Success

Success does not equal Failure, AND Failure does not equally means Success.

Whoever tells you that is certainly wrong. Everything is in your own hands.

Read on…

“If you think you are beaten, you are,

If you think you dare not, you don’t,

If you like to win, but you think you can’t,

It is almost certain you don’t.

“If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost,

For out of the world we find,

Success begins with the fellow’s will,

It’s all in the state of mind.

“If you think you are outclassed, you are,

You’ve got to think high to rise,

You’ve got to be sure of yourself before

You can even win a prize.

“Life’s battles don’t always go

To the stronger or faster man,

But soon or late, the man won wins

Is the man who thinks he can!”

 

Resurfacing

Ello peeps, been a long-long time.

Why the sudden disappearing and resurfacing act you might ask.

Many reasons and not in priority level. Have been reading a friend’s blog to her daughter. Been busy with life, work etc. Been busybody bout other people’s life as well. Been reading, listening and can’t stand the things that is happening within the surroundings.

Well, first own circle, second surrounding circle…OMGosh, counting the ripple circle, let’s not get there.

What i just want to penned here is, there has been a lot of INquiring AND there has been a lot of QUESTions. Put the two together and you get what i mean.

Too many ones/things happening or Too many happenings to a thing/someone.

(TooBigHappenings despite the current economy situation)

What you see or hear may not be, what it is. (truth is out there but grey)

But what you know might as well be, what is it. (because knowing is deadly)

Path to finding the truth is a long process with a lot of channels (highly superior four-wall room) with a whole lot of two way communications (mostly closed-ended questions).

It has been going on for weeks, and I guess I’m not the only one anticipating on a daily basis here…

How low can you go,
How low can you dig,
How deep can you dig,
How deep can you go,

And how low and deep can you go digging for the truth, only to find that the truth is already not there from the beginning for some plot reason.

-End for now-

 

The Law of Attraction

 The Law of Attraction is a deceptively simple philosophy by which we can live life on our own terms and attract things, experiences and people to us. In the simplest possible terms, the Law of Attraction says that “like attracts like.” This is evident in the world around us — think about old sayings like, “birds of a feather flock together,” or “tell me who your friends are, and I’ll tell you who you are.” But the Law of Attraction takes the concept of “like attracts like” to a deeper level: the level of thought. This means that not only do we attract circumstances, material objects and people to us according to our actions, but also according to the thoughts we consistently hold in mind. This too can be seen on a commonsense level. For example, it is obvious that people who succeed in business spend a great deal more time thinking about business success than people who do not do well in business, and the Law of Attraction explains why this is true. On a deeper level, the Law of Attraction is based on the concept that everything in the universe is simply energy. Over the past century, scientists have begun to understand this fact as well, and especially within the field of quantum physics, there is now an understanding that all material “things” are actually just energy vibrating at a certain frequency. This means that energy vibrating at one frequency takes on the appearance of a tree; energy vibrating at another frequency takes the appearance of a person, or a car, or a blade of grass, or anything else that exists. Don’t misunderstand: this is not science fiction or “new age” spiritualism. It is real science being conducted by real scientist in laboratories every single day. Just like everything else in the universe, our thoughts are “things” too. This means that our thoughts have power and the concepts we consistently keep in mind DO affect us. Again, this can be seen on a very commonsense level. If you grew up in a home where you were told you were inferior to other people every single day of your life, do you think by the time you were grown you would have a poor self image? Of course you would, because you had been presented with this information over and over and over, and it has become your habitual way of thinking. But even in this extreme circumstance, you are still not a victim. You always have a choice what you choose to think, regardless of what other people may say or do, or what you see going on in the world around you. Of course it can be difficult to think good things about yourself, when all you ever hear are bad things, but you can still do it — get just takes more concentration and focus. At the end of the day, you are always responsible for your thoughts — so am I, and so is everyone else. This idea scares some people — they really don’t want to be responsible for their lives or their thoughts. But in fact, it is actually great news. The fact that only YOU are responsible for your life means that YOU are in control. You can create it anyway you want it, or as I often like to say, “It is what I say it is.” This is not egotism — this is taking responsibility for your life, and once you reach this point, the Law of Attraction begins working for you instead of against you. Now let’s break all of these ideas down and apply them to your day to day life. Understanding the Law of Attraction means understanding that you are NEVER a victim. You attract everything that comes into your life — both good and bad. This can be difficult to accept at first for some people. After all, none of us want to face up to the idea that we have attracted a bad situation, person or experience into our life. But the truth is — we do. This is the first concept that must be clearly understood in order to use the Law of Attraction to create the life YOU want. You must take responsibility for everything, and everyone in your life, with the understanding that you have attracted these things by virtue of your thoughts. So does this mean that you have to closely monitor your thoughts, and be ultra careful what you think about every day and night? No, not exactly. But it does mean that you should pay special attention to the things that are “on your radar” on a daily basis. You see, it is your PREDOMINANT way of thinking that determines what is attracted to you. For example, if you occasionally think about poverty and poverty-stricken people, but you’re PREDOMINANT mindset is one of wealth and abundance, you can expect to attract a lot more abundance and wealth into your life than poverty. This may sound like a ridiculous oversimplification, but it is absolutely true. The more you think about a thing, the more you attract that thing to you. And it doesn’t matter if the thing you are thinking about is something you want or not. For example if you have a friend or loved one with a disease, you might begin to spend a lot of time thinking about that disease. This would be a very poor choice to make, because anything that you think about consistently will move closer to you in your life. In other words it will be attracted to you. The great psychologist, and originator of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dr Albert Ellis, is famous for saying, “We become what we think about.” This is the simplest way of explaining how the Law of Attraction works and how you should organize your life — and your thoughts — to create the life that YOU desire, the life that only you can create. Unfortunately, we lived in a world where the Law of Attraction is not understood well at all. Every day, well-meaning people focus their attention upon horrible things, things they do not want in their life, things they want to fight against, or to do away with. The problem is, by doing this they simply attract more of these things into the world. Mother Teresa understood this concept well, and when she was asked to participate in an anti-war rally, she flatly refused, saying, “I will never attend an anti-war rally — call me when you have a pro peace rally and I’ll be there.” Mother Teresa understood that our attention and our thoughts have power, and anything (whether good or bad) that we give our attention to will grow stronger and become a bigger part of our lives. To summarize, to work with the Law of Attraction it is important to remember that you are NEVER a victim — you have attracted everything and everyone in your life by virtue of your habitual way of thinking. Understanding this will lead you to the obvious conclusion that it is of the utmost importance that you pay attention to what you allow “on your radar.” This means making it a point to never focus on things that you do not want. To do so is to simply attract more of these things into your life. And finally, working with the Law of Attraction means understanding that above all else, you are a CREATOR. You create your own reality, and you co-create the reality of others. This means that if there are our people or situations in your life that you are not happy with, it is up to you (and only you) to change them. No one else can create in your experience — only you can do that, and the process always begins with a single thought. Thoughts are the building blocks of your reality. It begins with a single positive thought, focused with a laser-like precision on a thing you desire to have in your life. That single positive thought expands attracting more positive thoughts, which expands and attracts even more positive thoughts, which expands, and so on, and so on. This is what is meant by the expression, “The more you feel good, the more you WILL feel good.” Every good thought and emotion attracts to it at another good thought and emotion, and pretty soon you have an avalanche of positive thought and emotion running through your life, attracting only the best the universe has to offer. Remember, using the Law of Attraction is all about using the power of your own thoughts. Everything begins with the thought — there is no building, business or even relationship that did not begin with a single thought. Understanding the power of your habitual way of thinking, and taking responsibility for it, will help you create a life of unimaginable beauty, abundance and success. And the method by which this happens is known as the Law of Attraction. From: Jon Mercer, MA Law of Attraction Coach, Author, Traveler, Mystic, Alchemist

 

What speaks you

Does anyone ever get accounted for, for what they utter? If yes, does it mean you have to walk the talk? If no, then does that means, just swallow back the words and hopes that nobody heard you or even if they do, eventually people will forget what you said or that it was you that have said it?
Some people tend to retort instantly to another person’s opinion without giving much thought to it first. Am not asking to put emotions or gender or race to start with. But at times, do have the decency to have an analytical thinking.

What if it happens on national TV? In which case, it really did.

Don’t just talk for the sake of talking. And some just listen because their hands are so full that they don’t have an extra pair to close their ears with.

YES! You people out there, don’t be ignorant. It isn’t a-bliss, think about it, think & DO something about it.
It’s so obvious nowadays about how you are treated in your own country. If it is run by the people, and you are the people, then…..?

We do not know what the future holds,
But we know who holds the future.
Plan & DO what YOU must.

 

Beautiful Malaysian Poetry

This is a story about Malaysian society
Where the different races supposedly live in harmony
In 2003, came along a Prime Minister by the name of Dato’ Seri Abdullah Badawi
Who led his party to a resounding election victory.

This is a PM whose promises are many
All his slogans are equally catchy
As a result, many people are taken in completely
By his humble and Mr. Clean personality.

First among his chief promises is to combat corruption immediately
That has everyone applauding loudly
But until today, all the major cases are still one big mystery
Lack of evidence or is he fooling us secretly?

Not long after, he introduced Islam Hadhari
Some complained there is only one version of Islam from the Almighty
Anyway, what is it all about, no one knows exactly
Except for some broad points outlined in theory.

Then, he said we need to cut our budget deficit quickly
Which started the dismantling of Tun M’s legacy
This caused us to hear about the crooked bridge flip flop story
With all the accusations, what is fiction and what is reality?

By his own admission, his son is extremely wealthy
Because he controls a listed company by the name of Scomi
Was once implicated in the shipment of banned components to a Middle Eastern country
But his son claimed ignorance and that’s the end of the story.

He also has a son-in-law by the name of Khairy
Not elected but is UMNO Youth’s deputy
Got entangled in the merged Avenue-ECM Libra entity
Which happened right under the nose of the PM-led Finance Ministry.

Then, we came across a foreign newspaper reporting factually
Of his adventure to see a yacht at a faraway place somewhere in Turkey
This is not true, he said insistently
But I don’t see the newspaper issuing any apology.

Next, came the jet on the itinerary
Bought or leased, he is lucky that Malaysians are not financially savvy
The jet is also for the Agong’s use, he said publicly
I wonder whether the Agong requested for one specifically?

Later, we read of his holidays in an Australian city
Staying in a mansion owned by someone whom an old man named as Patrick Badawi
We shouldn’t be so critical if he was only away temporarily
Except for the fact that there was a major flood in our own territory.

Then, we get the case of Proton disposing off a subsidiary
Not for a large amount but for a mere penny
Many think behind the deal something’s very fishy
Tun M’s pet project is certainly going awry.

Overall, crime rates are going up highly
Confidence in our police is at its lowest historically
But the IGP got his tenure extended easily
He must be thinking everything’s hunky-dory.

He has also been busy launching economic regions lately
Trying to attract foreign investments into the country
Sadly, some are saying that the northern development is benefiting a crony
While others argue the southern one will end up as LKY’s colony.

You see, I can go on and on about this indefinitely
Because it is easy and I do not need to create any of them individually
They are all plucked from the web where the stories about him is a plenty
From promoting judges unfairly to always being sleepy.

Actually, I am just an ordinary Malaysian who cares about her country
And I have to state that I am not against him or his policy
For I do not care who is the Perdana Menteri
As long as the person is capable and trustworthy.

 

What wants you

Wouldn’t anyone want a balance in life?  But how does one achieve it, to be honest, it happen every single minute in your daily life without you realising it. I believe anyone would know the ground rules between wants & needs, so I’m not getting into those.

 

In small situations whereby you might come across your buddies argument, and you are stuck in-between. Would you rather just leave the situation as it is & let it round itself up OR would you actually want to help?

Some would opt for former, but if the misunderstandings get deeper, the relationship will be hard to salvage. Thus, you would choose the latter. And now, which means, whom should you, side? You want to help but don’t know how, how to balance or weighs’ the issue.

Of course the easiest way is too listen to both sides. That way, it is balance? Yes & No.

 

Now, imagine if it is a big situation, huge…colossal, which involves an assortment of parties. More than you and I can ever imagine. Lies, conspiracy, enticement, you name it; they got it all under their sleeves and right under your nose.

How would you like the smell of that!

 

 Meaning now, you want to balance out the situation by hearing all sides, you wants more transparency, and you want more proceedings.

YOU WANT MORE ANSWERS.

 

But even if they tell you they are telling the truth, are they really?