I have this sneaking suspicion that I may have pushed myself too hard. Yesterday I could not make myself do more than a few questions throughout the day. Everytime I look at the paper I couldn't think; my brain just refused to budge. And this is just when I'm starting my revision on my weakest subject: Chemistry. What luck!
And I'm no longer eating much since 2 weeks ago. Everyday I feel hungry only once, maybe twice, but I do not eat at those times. Instead, I eat only when I'm tired to doing work, and needed some relaxation. By doing my revision or playing some games, I have been ignoring my hunger everyday.
But I have nothing to worry about. I do eat 1-2 slices of cheap cheese daily. Cheap, because it is almost tasteless, and sold at $4+ for 36 slices. And with some fruit yoghurt and fruit slices I eat occasionally, I should be able to avoid scurvy, or any nutritional deficiency. The only thing really lacking may be sugar/carbohydrates, because the only real energy supplier is the fat from the cheese.
I still have a box of Laughing Cow Cheese that I eat once in a while. About 1 portion every few days, because it's expensive and contains an unholy proportion of fats. But it tastes heavenly compared to any food that I can obtain without taking a bus.
Plus I still have some canned food, like these 2 cans of tuna chunks in olive oil. One of my favourite canned food. And I have a few packets of instant bee hoon and hor fun, which helps when I don't feel like spending money - I have only $35 left that I can allow myself to spend until the 23rd. I started with $300 two weeks ago, and spend quite a bit on canned food and cheese( I started with three boxes of La Vache Qui Rit, but used one and a half boxes for my French presentation). My meals also cost $5-7 every time.
Of course I eat real food. I buy a meal from the Chinese food stall everyday, and sometimes they give me discounts. Once I tried the Western stall's food by ordering a roasted chicken leg and wing. It was good, and when I use the word "leg", I mean both the drumstick and upper thigh.
I have only 2 reasons to be dissatisfied. One, the black pepper gravy was totally unnecessary, and tasteless. Unnecessary, because the chicken was already roasted with honey or something sweet. Second was the price. The leg costs $3.50, the wing $1.10. That meal of leg and wing alone costs $4.60. Maybe it is comparable with the prices outside, but if that is true, improve that damned gravy! Or use something else! I can't taste the pepper unless I drink it! You might as well use a weak salt solution with black flecks in it.
Well, I must admit it's worth the price, barely, but it is not what I need. I don't need the fats and high sugar content. I need proteins, vitamins, and some carbohydrates. With cheese, yoghurts and fruits, I can get enough proteins and vitamins. With the rice I can get the carbohydrates. And I don't really care about dietary fibre since I don't have much to pass out anyway.
Maybe I just need seaweed or something, for iodine. I don't want to get thyroid diseases. Not till after exams anyway. Oh hell, I'll just risk it LOL! There are only 5 days more before I can eat like a king again. Not counting today, there are only Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday! On Friday morning I'll finish my last paper by 11.30am, and packed up by 1pm. Home by 2pm! Yes I'm planning to take a cab, because I'm bringing almost everything back.
And XL suggested that I ask some ladies to join us! LOL! When I used the phrase "I don't talk to much" I was trying to say I don't speak/chat to them at all, but I did ask them a question or two during the term, and I did speak to them during my presentation because my presentation was a game in which the whole class participated in.
Of course some of them are cute, but still, I merely know their names and have a vague idea of
which courses they're in. So no help from me there.
Saturday, 17 November 2007
Friday, 16 November 2007
Rant 080 / Planning Holidays For Motivation To Go Through Exams
The Fountain is a pretty good movie. I still don't exactly understand everything(I believe the spaceship was a metaphor for his mind and his thoughts, but what was the meaning of him dying in the end and the tree reviving?), but it had a nice story and excellent music. In fact, without the music the whole film would be crap, because the music pieces seem to be composed for the scenes in the show.
I didn't know www.purepwnage.com was so famous that the Australian video game show, GG, invited them onto for a tournament. PP vs GG lol! So far PurePwnage has 15 episodes since their start in 2004, and they are showing their new episodes in cinemas! Plus they are sold out all the time!
But that's only in Canada. In Sg, I think I'm the only person who knows about them. Probably because many gaming Singaporeans can't understand non-local English. It's not wrong to speak Singlish, but you've got to learn to understand foreign accents if you want to get out of this island.
Other than some of the nerdy fighting scenes in the later episodes of the first season, the show is extremely humourous. They poke fun at the stereotypical gamer and many internet memes. I can never forget the villain in ep 15 saying,"You are on the way to destruction. You have no chance to survive make your time!"
ROFLMAO! For those of you who don't understand, this is part of the ultra-famous internet meme "All you base are belong to us." The whole scene that this line originated from was this:
Now to real life. Back when I was doing some research for my French presentation, I found several simple cheese fondue recipes that I thought I could use. I pinned 2 of the easiest in front of me now, so that I can test them when my exams are over. Not only that, I also found that there is "Beef Fondue" in which you dip bite-size beef into a pot of oil and butter. Something like frying, but DIY. Sounds interesting, but a bit dangerous for a n00b like me. I'll try cheese first. Maybe if its good, I'll suggest it for the BBQ, or replace the BBQ with fondue. You can dip many things in both cheese and beef fondue. In the cheese fondue, one can also use ham or anything suitable for eating with cheese. For beef fondue, any meat can be used.
Now there is only 1 problem - I don't know how much electric fondue pots cost... Some websites state prices ranging from S$200-450, while in ebay, there are prices ranging from S$10-60. Hmm...
www.freerice.com is a very interesting website. I found this bot for it via wikipedia that plays the game for me. In addition, since this website allows a separate game for each browser opened on it, even if they are on the same computer, I can thus open several bots at one go. The most I have tried using at one shot is 10. Yea, in 2 hours with just 5 bots, I've donated 100000 grains of rice. Taking 1 grain to be 25mg, 10k grains will be 2.5kg. If 1000 ppl do this for 8 hrs a day, they will be giving out 10,000kg of rice daily. The best thing is that this doesn't require much bandwidth, so I can run it together with this Folding@Home program, or with games running.
I didn't know www.purepwnage.com was so famous that the Australian video game show, GG, invited them onto for a tournament. PP vs GG lol! So far PurePwnage has 15 episodes since their start in 2004, and they are showing their new episodes in cinemas! Plus they are sold out all the time!
But that's only in Canada. In Sg, I think I'm the only person who knows about them. Probably because many gaming Singaporeans can't understand non-local English. It's not wrong to speak Singlish, but you've got to learn to understand foreign accents if you want to get out of this island.
Other than some of the nerdy fighting scenes in the later episodes of the first season, the show is extremely humourous. They poke fun at the stereotypical gamer and many internet memes. I can never forget the villain in ep 15 saying,"You are on the way to destruction. You have no chance to survive make your time!"
ROFLMAO! For those of you who don't understand, this is part of the ultra-famous internet meme "All you base are belong to us." The whole scene that this line originated from was this:
- Narrator: In A.D. 2101, war was beginning.
- Captain: What happen ?
- Mechanic: Somebody set up us the bomb.
- Operator: We get signal.
- Captain: What!
- Operator: Main screen turn on.
- Captain: It's you!!
- CATS: How are you gentlemen!!
- CATS: All your base are belong to us.
- CATS: You are on the way to destruction.
- Captain: What you say!!
- CATS: You have no chance to survive make your time.
- CATS: Ha Ha Ha Ha ....
- Operator: Captain!!
- Captain: Take off every 'ZIG'!!
- Captain: You know what you doing.
- Captain: Move 'ZIG'.
- Captain: For great justice.
Now to real life. Back when I was doing some research for my French presentation, I found several simple cheese fondue recipes that I thought I could use. I pinned 2 of the easiest in front of me now, so that I can test them when my exams are over. Not only that, I also found that there is "Beef Fondue" in which you dip bite-size beef into a pot of oil and butter. Something like frying, but DIY. Sounds interesting, but a bit dangerous for a n00b like me. I'll try cheese first. Maybe if its good, I'll suggest it for the BBQ, or replace the BBQ with fondue. You can dip many things in both cheese and beef fondue. In the cheese fondue, one can also use ham or anything suitable for eating with cheese. For beef fondue, any meat can be used.
Now there is only 1 problem - I don't know how much electric fondue pots cost... Some websites state prices ranging from S$200-450, while in ebay, there are prices ranging from S$10-60. Hmm...
www.freerice.com is a very interesting website. I found this bot for it via wikipedia that plays the game for me. In addition, since this website allows a separate game for each browser opened on it, even if they are on the same computer, I can thus open several bots at one go. The most I have tried using at one shot is 10. Yea, in 2 hours with just 5 bots, I've donated 100000 grains of rice. Taking 1 grain to be 25mg, 10k grains will be 2.5kg. If 1000 ppl do this for 8 hrs a day, they will be giving out 10,000kg of rice daily. The best thing is that this doesn't require much bandwidth, so I can run it together with this Folding@Home program, or with games running.
Tuesday, 13 November 2007
Rant 079 / Stone-Age, Bronze-Age, Iron-Age, Pwn-Age
A few days back I started playing this browser-based MMORPG Urban Dead, which is pretty low-tech, not time-consuming, but interesting. Being low-tech, it is a rare online game which my shitty dorm bandwidth can support. It is designed such that you cannot spend much time on it, making it ideal for muggers like me. It is interesting, since it is the only MMORPG I know of that has no NPCs. And the zombie-infested-city theme is also makes it more unique.
http://www.urbandead.com/map.cgi?logout
What is it about? The background story is that the city of Malton suddenly becomes filled with zombies. Before all residents can successfully evacuate, a quarantine was placed on the city. Meanwhile, researchers of the company, NecroTech, were ordered to stay within the city to study the zombies.
Players can choose to play as the humans or the zombies. As humans, there are 3 classes to choose from, with many sub-classes: military(Private, Medic and Scout), civilians(Cop, Firefighter and Consumer) and scientists(Doctor and NecroTech assistant).
Most of the sub-classes are pretty obvious, but some of them are rather unique. As a Consumer, you can find loots in malls more easily. As a NecroTech assistant, you can "tag" zombies and allow other players to spot them more easily.
But if you feel evil and want to try the zombie, there is only 1 class of zombies - Zombie.
Zombies seem quite easy to use, since you cannot die(you simply rise again by spending Action Points). Other than that, you also have a whole range of skills to choose from, like Scent of Fear and Infectious Bite.
The game doesn't have good graphics, and is turn-based. This means even if you lag, consequences are not as bad as if you are playing a real-time game. It uses a system of Action Points, in which you gain 1 AP per half-hours, or 48AP everyday. Every action you take(eg walking from one building to another, attacking or talking through the radio) consumes 1 AP.
There is no economy in the city of Malton. Makes sense, who'd want to trade while struggling to survive in a city of zombies? This is ensured by the game designers refusing to implement the trade/give function. Therefore, what you find(btw, "searching the area" takes 1AP) is always yours until you drop it, at which point it disappears.
The "search area" function gives you a chance of finding items, and your location affects what you can find. In police stations you can find guns, and in NecroTech offices you can find revival syringes(for turning zombies into people).
But the lack of AP really bugs me sometimes. Everyday, I get about 48 APs, and just walking to a building and entering takes 2 AP. Everytime I have to stop doing whatever I was doing and find a safe building to rest in before my AP runs out. Yes, you have to find a barricaded building to rest before logging off or you may get killed by zombies that sees you.
And as for barricaded buildings, barricades can be removed by zombies when they attack them enough times, but also can be rebuilt by anyone who has the right skills and enough APs.
http://www.urbandead.com/map.cgi?logout
What is it about? The background story is that the city of Malton suddenly becomes filled with zombies. Before all residents can successfully evacuate, a quarantine was placed on the city. Meanwhile, researchers of the company, NecroTech, were ordered to stay within the city to study the zombies.
Players can choose to play as the humans or the zombies. As humans, there are 3 classes to choose from, with many sub-classes: military(Private, Medic and Scout), civilians(Cop, Firefighter and Consumer) and scientists(Doctor and NecroTech assistant).
Most of the sub-classes are pretty obvious, but some of them are rather unique. As a Consumer, you can find loots in malls more easily. As a NecroTech assistant, you can "tag" zombies and allow other players to spot them more easily.
But if you feel evil and want to try the zombie, there is only 1 class of zombies - Zombie.
Zombies seem quite easy to use, since you cannot die(you simply rise again by spending Action Points). Other than that, you also have a whole range of skills to choose from, like Scent of Fear and Infectious Bite.
The game doesn't have good graphics, and is turn-based. This means even if you lag, consequences are not as bad as if you are playing a real-time game. It uses a system of Action Points, in which you gain 1 AP per half-hours, or 48AP everyday. Every action you take(eg walking from one building to another, attacking or talking through the radio) consumes 1 AP.
There is no economy in the city of Malton. Makes sense, who'd want to trade while struggling to survive in a city of zombies? This is ensured by the game designers refusing to implement the trade/give function. Therefore, what you find(btw, "searching the area" takes 1AP) is always yours until you drop it, at which point it disappears.
The "search area" function gives you a chance of finding items, and your location affects what you can find. In police stations you can find guns, and in NecroTech offices you can find revival syringes(for turning zombies into people).
But the lack of AP really bugs me sometimes. Everyday, I get about 48 APs, and just walking to a building and entering takes 2 AP. Everytime I have to stop doing whatever I was doing and find a safe building to rest in before my AP runs out. Yes, you have to find a barricaded building to rest before logging off or you may get killed by zombies that sees you.
And as for barricaded buildings, barricades can be removed by zombies when they attack them enough times, but also can be rebuilt by anyone who has the right skills and enough APs.
Saturday, 10 November 2007
Rant 078 / Curiosity Gets Sued By SPCA For Animal Abuse
Sitting with a one-liter bottle of water, and two filled half-liter bottles next to my laptop, I type this blog knowing I will not be running out of water before I finish this rant.
I have no idea why I mentioning the water, but I just did.
The past week has been rather frustrating for me, not because of the approaching exam dates, but because of my horrible neighbours. I used to think that the guy in my neighbourhood who shouts that "wooot!" thing suddenly at any moment during the day was annoying. I was, as the Chinese idiom goes, frog in a well.
Just yesterday in the afternoon, the group of four were waiting outside a room a few doors away from me, and two of them were shouting to someone. From the lack of response to their shouts, I can conclude that their target was inside the room. But from the fact the they were actually shouting, I can also assume they were shouting to someone on another floor. So which should I choose?
Before seeing them, I was suffering their shouts in silence in my room. But when I got too distracted from my work, and thus remembered to eat, I decided to go out for some food.
That was when I saw them shouting there outside the room, like the scum of society that they are. I decided to avoid them by taking another route to the canteen, lest I feel like punching them too much.
Unfortunately, after buying my food, I was looking forward to eating so much I forgot about them and took the path I had avoided. As I took the corner and started to approach them, I got real pissed because they were still shouting things that most of the neighbourhood didn't care about but were still hearing anyway.
I didn't do anything foolish, but I stared at the guy in blue who shouted the most. Even in normal circumstances, I believe I look unfriendly though I never try to look fierce for no reason. But this time, I decided to put a little more effort in the stare.
Of course he stopped and looked at me, probably thinking I was going to do something to him. But it'd be ludicrous sight since I was holding my lunch in one hand. So I just walked passed him without a word, almost knocking into him (I'm big, but the corridor isn't much bigger).
Several moments passed before he spoke again. He was speaking somewhat softly (but still audible to me from my distance) to a friend in Mandarin, "那个人 很 凶 hor?"
Fucking morons. What did you expect, a smile and congratulations from me for attaining the rank of Asshole, First Class?
But of course, as they were morons, they did not quite seem to get what I meant and went on with their infernal screaming. Now you see what that Finnish guy meant when he said he was a "natural selector" before massacring in his school?
Not that he was right, but I sure can see why he felt like killing them. And with that gun of his, lousy model as it was, it was still a great temptation to use a gun on low-lives like these.
I'm also not implying those people he killed probably shouted a lot. I mean they are obviously human pests who's future is obviously detrimental to modern society.
But that wasn't all. On the same day, in the evening, a group of guy played some kind of video game in a room downstairs. From a few whistles I heard, I'd say they were playing Winning Eleven. The main problem isn't with that they were playing when exams start next week for most people. What pissed me off again was that one guy kept shouting whenever he scored a goal. And I could tell he scored quite a few goals.
That isn't all. Another guy was shouting vulgarities once in a while, and there were a few shouts from some others. I'm glad Singapore doesn't allow civilians to possess guns.
After 2 hours of the din, there started a few shouts from other guys who were trying to shut them up. To no avail. And from the persistence shouts from the same guy, I believe it to be the same person as the one I stared at that afternoon.
In addition, I feel helpless. I have no idea if the hall office have the capability to resolve such problems. I have no idea how to contact the hall committee and if they would help in such matters.
Worst of all, I feel embarrassed. They were obviously locals, and at least half the residents in this block are foreigners. It is bad enough that everyone knows the foreign students always get better grades than local students, at least in Engineering. Do they have to make things worse by making asses of themselves in front of so many foreigners?
Everyday?
Another reason to get out of this country when I graduate.
A month back, my roommate got dumped by his girlfriend. Very sad. I was quite surprised, since just a few days before it happened, she came to our room to visit him in the morning. They looked like they were at a very intimate stage, sharing his seat and stuff. And he isn't even ugly or anything; He's even the leader of his guitar ensemble. Cried quite a bit, but eventually stopped.
Then all of a sudden he was crying again last night. I'm not going to say anything this time. The last time I had advised him not to hold it in, and that's the only advise I will ever give to anyone who needs to cry. Any other advices may not be beneficial to him, especially since I'm not a pro in life anyway.
Wonder what he was crying about. Oh hell...
Democracy is the celebration of mediocrity. Why? Think about it this way:
The one with most authority, whether it is the President or Prime Minister, is changed regularly. I'm not talking about Singapore since it is not a true democracy. But when the ruler is changed, long-term plans are interrupted. If the ruler knows he will be replaced soon, he will not bother to plan anything for the far future , eg 20 years ahead. But in a government where the authority is certain to remain with the same person, eg in an absolute monarchy, the ruler can plan for the future.
Even if a President plans for the far future, it will very likely be changed according the ideas of later Presidents.
But in a government where a person is able to hold on to power indefinitely, like LKY, great benefits can be reaped by planning very far ahead.
But this is a gamble, as seen in the world's history. Though this is a possibility that democracy lacks, democracy is able to prevent serious damage if the ruler happens to be unfit for rule. Bush Jr is an exception.
What's more is that every several years, the government has to spend great amount of tax money for elections and keeping the people happy with the ruling party.
So in the end, democracy greatly limits the benefits of having a good ruler, but it also prevents the country from ruination. It is the celebration of mediocrity.
I have no idea why I mentioning the water, but I just did.
The past week has been rather frustrating for me, not because of the approaching exam dates, but because of my horrible neighbours. I used to think that the guy in my neighbourhood who shouts that "wooot!" thing suddenly at any moment during the day was annoying. I was, as the Chinese idiom goes, frog in a well.
Just yesterday in the afternoon, the group of four were waiting outside a room a few doors away from me, and two of them were shouting to someone. From the lack of response to their shouts, I can conclude that their target was inside the room. But from the fact the they were actually shouting, I can also assume they were shouting to someone on another floor. So which should I choose?
Before seeing them, I was suffering their shouts in silence in my room. But when I got too distracted from my work, and thus remembered to eat, I decided to go out for some food.
That was when I saw them shouting there outside the room, like the scum of society that they are. I decided to avoid them by taking another route to the canteen, lest I feel like punching them too much.
Unfortunately, after buying my food, I was looking forward to eating so much I forgot about them and took the path I had avoided. As I took the corner and started to approach them, I got real pissed because they were still shouting things that most of the neighbourhood didn't care about but were still hearing anyway.
I didn't do anything foolish, but I stared at the guy in blue who shouted the most. Even in normal circumstances, I believe I look unfriendly though I never try to look fierce for no reason. But this time, I decided to put a little more effort in the stare.
Of course he stopped and looked at me, probably thinking I was going to do something to him. But it'd be ludicrous sight since I was holding my lunch in one hand. So I just walked passed him without a word, almost knocking into him (I'm big, but the corridor isn't much bigger).
Several moments passed before he spoke again. He was speaking somewhat softly (but still audible to me from my distance) to a friend in Mandarin, "那个人 很 凶 hor?"
Fucking morons. What did you expect, a smile and congratulations from me for attaining the rank of Asshole, First Class?
But of course, as they were morons, they did not quite seem to get what I meant and went on with their infernal screaming. Now you see what that Finnish guy meant when he said he was a "natural selector" before massacring in his school?
Not that he was right, but I sure can see why he felt like killing them. And with that gun of his, lousy model as it was, it was still a great temptation to use a gun on low-lives like these.
I'm also not implying those people he killed probably shouted a lot. I mean they are obviously human pests who's future is obviously detrimental to modern society.
But that wasn't all. On the same day, in the evening, a group of guy played some kind of video game in a room downstairs. From a few whistles I heard, I'd say they were playing Winning Eleven. The main problem isn't with that they were playing when exams start next week for most people. What pissed me off again was that one guy kept shouting whenever he scored a goal. And I could tell he scored quite a few goals.
That isn't all. Another guy was shouting vulgarities once in a while, and there were a few shouts from some others. I'm glad Singapore doesn't allow civilians to possess guns.
After 2 hours of the din, there started a few shouts from other guys who were trying to shut them up. To no avail. And from the persistence shouts from the same guy, I believe it to be the same person as the one I stared at that afternoon.
In addition, I feel helpless. I have no idea if the hall office have the capability to resolve such problems. I have no idea how to contact the hall committee and if they would help in such matters.
Worst of all, I feel embarrassed. They were obviously locals, and at least half the residents in this block are foreigners. It is bad enough that everyone knows the foreign students always get better grades than local students, at least in Engineering. Do they have to make things worse by making asses of themselves in front of so many foreigners?
Everyday?
Another reason to get out of this country when I graduate.
A month back, my roommate got dumped by his girlfriend. Very sad. I was quite surprised, since just a few days before it happened, she came to our room to visit him in the morning. They looked like they were at a very intimate stage, sharing his seat and stuff. And he isn't even ugly or anything; He's even the leader of his guitar ensemble. Cried quite a bit, but eventually stopped.
Then all of a sudden he was crying again last night. I'm not going to say anything this time. The last time I had advised him not to hold it in, and that's the only advise I will ever give to anyone who needs to cry. Any other advices may not be beneficial to him, especially since I'm not a pro in life anyway.
Wonder what he was crying about. Oh hell...
Democracy is the celebration of mediocrity. Why? Think about it this way:
The one with most authority, whether it is the President or Prime Minister, is changed regularly. I'm not talking about Singapore since it is not a true democracy. But when the ruler is changed, long-term plans are interrupted. If the ruler knows he will be replaced soon, he will not bother to plan anything for the far future , eg 20 years ahead. But in a government where the authority is certain to remain with the same person, eg in an absolute monarchy, the ruler can plan for the future.
Even if a President plans for the far future, it will very likely be changed according the ideas of later Presidents.
But in a government where a person is able to hold on to power indefinitely, like LKY, great benefits can be reaped by planning very far ahead.
But this is a gamble, as seen in the world's history. Though this is a possibility that democracy lacks, democracy is able to prevent serious damage if the ruler happens to be unfit for rule. Bush Jr is an exception.
What's more is that every several years, the government has to spend great amount of tax money for elections and keeping the people happy with the ruling party.
So in the end, democracy greatly limits the benefits of having a good ruler, but it also prevents the country from ruination. It is the celebration of mediocrity.
Friday, 28 September 2007
Rant 077 / I Love My New Phone!
My first prepared speech at the Toastmasters Club was almost a disaster. It was definitely a wise choice to choose a topic I'm very familiar with: the epic fantasy genre.
I didn't prepare my speech until the morning of that day, and spent most of my time fantasizing about how I will deliver it. No rehearsal, no editing, no preparation but the (draft) script.
The first thing I realized about the speech when it was finally my turn was that I didn't remember much of what I wrote down. I could remember that my speech was to start with Tolkien, followed by Robert Jordan, and ending with George R.R. Martin.
It was truly stage-fright at work. I didn't know what I was talking about at a conscious level. All I can remember about the speech was that I had to walk to the left and right, and to my script that I had placed on the lectern, pretending to read it when I was panicking too much to read anything. Everything I did then was decided at a subconscious level. My conscious mind was desperately searching my memories for materials to use. I can remember the encouraging looks they gave me, but I didn't acknowledge any. By walking around and pretending to read, I gave myself time to remember, though it wasn't perfect. It was only when my evaluator gave his speech that I realized at one point, I had looked at him when I stop at a certain part, then turn around and walked towards my script. I don't remember that part.
And worse, I had only used my right arm to gesture, making my left arm look crippled. I'm sure there were many parts where I paused in the middle of my words, because I distinctly remember that there were times when I had spoken the words before realizing they were not phrased in the way I wanted. They were probably thinking I was trying to remember my script.
And for all my pride I have in my grammar, I made the major mistake of speaking in present tense when I described the stories. Ouch.
The good thing was, I looked at the audience in the eye, even though it was something done unconsciously. I can never do that consciously, not without significant effort.
The best thing was, I looked relaxed as I spoke, even though I was panicking throughout. Amazing. Amazing because my hands were very cold and close to trembling. That I even used hand gestures during the speech was unexpected except in my fantasies.
When I finished the speech(I finished with a "thank you" instead of a summary/conclusion), I went back to my seat, and was surprised when my evaluator congratulated me for speaking well, and being relaxed during the whole speech. I didn't believe him, until the VP(Education) wrote me a slip giving his evaluation, which included describing me as being confident.
Hah! Confident my ass!
But then, that was only the first speech. I wasn't the one of the best speakers of that day, but I was definitely better than half of them. The 2 best speakers that night were so smooth I'd have thought they have been doing this often. The 3rd year accountancy student probably had... The other guy was in some drama society before too...
I sang in choirs before, but in all the performances I was never alone on stage!
And to the language evaluator: screw you! "Year" is pronounced as "y-eer" not "eer"! And "Tolkien" is pronounced as "toll-keen" not "toll-ki-en"! I'm accepting only the criticism on my erroneous usage of present tense in speech!
And screw the Potter series. All of them probably thought I was going to talk about Harry in the speech!
Wow! There went the week-long break! I haven't done a thing, yet I'm blogging now. What the hell...
I didn't prepare my speech until the morning of that day, and spent most of my time fantasizing about how I will deliver it. No rehearsal, no editing, no preparation but the (draft) script.
The first thing I realized about the speech when it was finally my turn was that I didn't remember much of what I wrote down. I could remember that my speech was to start with Tolkien, followed by Robert Jordan, and ending with George R.R. Martin.
It was truly stage-fright at work. I didn't know what I was talking about at a conscious level. All I can remember about the speech was that I had to walk to the left and right, and to my script that I had placed on the lectern, pretending to read it when I was panicking too much to read anything. Everything I did then was decided at a subconscious level. My conscious mind was desperately searching my memories for materials to use. I can remember the encouraging looks they gave me, but I didn't acknowledge any. By walking around and pretending to read, I gave myself time to remember, though it wasn't perfect. It was only when my evaluator gave his speech that I realized at one point, I had looked at him when I stop at a certain part, then turn around and walked towards my script. I don't remember that part.
And worse, I had only used my right arm to gesture, making my left arm look crippled. I'm sure there were many parts where I paused in the middle of my words, because I distinctly remember that there were times when I had spoken the words before realizing they were not phrased in the way I wanted. They were probably thinking I was trying to remember my script.
And for all my pride I have in my grammar, I made the major mistake of speaking in present tense when I described the stories. Ouch.
The good thing was, I looked at the audience in the eye, even though it was something done unconsciously. I can never do that consciously, not without significant effort.
The best thing was, I looked relaxed as I spoke, even though I was panicking throughout. Amazing. Amazing because my hands were very cold and close to trembling. That I even used hand gestures during the speech was unexpected except in my fantasies.
When I finished the speech(I finished with a "thank you" instead of a summary/conclusion), I went back to my seat, and was surprised when my evaluator congratulated me for speaking well, and being relaxed during the whole speech. I didn't believe him, until the VP(Education) wrote me a slip giving his evaluation, which included describing me as being confident.
Hah! Confident my ass!
But then, that was only the first speech. I wasn't the one of the best speakers of that day, but I was definitely better than half of them. The 2 best speakers that night were so smooth I'd have thought they have been doing this often. The 3rd year accountancy student probably had... The other guy was in some drama society before too...
I sang in choirs before, but in all the performances I was never alone on stage!
And to the language evaluator: screw you! "Year" is pronounced as "y-eer" not "eer"! And "Tolkien" is pronounced as "toll-keen" not "toll-ki-en"! I'm accepting only the criticism on my erroneous usage of present tense in speech!
And screw the Potter series. All of them probably thought I was going to talk about Harry in the speech!
Wow! There went the week-long break! I haven't done a thing, yet I'm blogging now. What the hell...
Monday, 24 September 2007
Rant 076 / If What We Get From The Gov Is What Everyone Else Is Getting In The World, What Would Be "Extraordinary" Here? My Gullibility?
I'm not unhappy with the way things are in Singapore, yet. It is worrying, as I learn more about the other side that they try to cover from our eyes. I'm not too familiar with the compulsory longevity insurance thing, so my mind isn't much affected by it.
What worries me is that our leaders are unable to do anything dynamic to regain our trust. Over the decades, the trust of the people in them has waned. Slowly, we realize that not everything they seem to be saying, are true. Whatever happened to their promise to stop raising costs, which someone seems to have made in the last election?
It is true that not many trust them now. But is this what a leader is supposed to be? To be somewhat respected, but not trusted?
I now see that democracy is not the ideal choice. It is the best choice only when no good leader is around and willing. When no true leadership is available, a group of mediocre leaders will be the best option. An example of a true leader is Otto von Bismarck, a cunning diplomat who rarely gets into a disadvantaged position. Pity Wilheim II ruined what he had created over his lifetime.
A real leader brings his nation forward, and ahead of others. A mediocre leader brings his nation forward, but maintains the status quo. A poor leader stagnates the development, or worse, cause degeneration.
What democracy can do, is to limit what the leaders can achieve, whether good or bad. By allowing each leader a maximum number of years to serve, he cannot do great harm to his own country.
But this, too, means that a good leader cannot be at his best in a democracy, because he does not have the time to achieve what great leaders in the past can create over a lifetime of hard work. He is also limited by a myriad of rules and regulation and other obstacles, because his rule isn't absolute.
Even if he gets into a position where he can have, indirectly, absolute rule, the fact that he is doing so indirectly reduces his efficiency. For one, he will always need to present his ideas in a way that is acceptable to the people, and may have to wait for the right time to do so.
In a way, we are sacrificing the chance of great progress for a safe and stagnant world.
But isn't this what civilization has always been about? Safety?
Civilization was invented as a safe haven for women, so that men can get laid and go on with life. This seems to make sense, really. It is the basic instinct of men to want to have sex. It is the basic instinct of women to search for a safe environment for the family. Civilization solves Problem 2, and thus solving Problem 1.
By giving up clubbing each other over the head over the smallest excuse, men get to have sex more often. Fair deal.
Going back to democracy, it can be concluded that humans in general prefer not to gamble. Man has learnt that possible consequences of gambling, and now prefers to stay his hand. Or has he?
Theonlinecitizen blog claims to be neutral, but I find the ideas in there a little paranoid a few times in the past. More than half the time, they present analyses of current issues that are not what is shown in ther mainstream media. But there are just a few instances where I find them overboard.
It's not wrong to suspect the worst, but I find it wrong that so few standing up. It is their country! They are supposed to be a democracy, but if they have never voted for their President before, how long will it be before they start to call their system a dictatorship?
It is not just that they've always got one possible candidate for our Presidents. The fear of speaking against the government must also be taken into account. When no one says something, it doesn't mean no one is thinking it. When one person says something, it means many are thinking it.
And with the highest pay in the world, the ministers had better be the best in the world. Whatever they are doing up there, we expect extraordinary results, not just what we have always got. They said they were "extraordinary" after all. If what we get is what everyone else in the world is getting, what would be "extraordinary" here? My gullibility?
What worries me is that our leaders are unable to do anything dynamic to regain our trust. Over the decades, the trust of the people in them has waned. Slowly, we realize that not everything they seem to be saying, are true. Whatever happened to their promise to stop raising costs, which someone seems to have made in the last election?
It is true that not many trust them now. But is this what a leader is supposed to be? To be somewhat respected, but not trusted?
I now see that democracy is not the ideal choice. It is the best choice only when no good leader is around and willing. When no true leadership is available, a group of mediocre leaders will be the best option. An example of a true leader is Otto von Bismarck, a cunning diplomat who rarely gets into a disadvantaged position. Pity Wilheim II ruined what he had created over his lifetime.
A real leader brings his nation forward, and ahead of others. A mediocre leader brings his nation forward, but maintains the status quo. A poor leader stagnates the development, or worse, cause degeneration.
What democracy can do, is to limit what the leaders can achieve, whether good or bad. By allowing each leader a maximum number of years to serve, he cannot do great harm to his own country.
But this, too, means that a good leader cannot be at his best in a democracy, because he does not have the time to achieve what great leaders in the past can create over a lifetime of hard work. He is also limited by a myriad of rules and regulation and other obstacles, because his rule isn't absolute.
Even if he gets into a position where he can have, indirectly, absolute rule, the fact that he is doing so indirectly reduces his efficiency. For one, he will always need to present his ideas in a way that is acceptable to the people, and may have to wait for the right time to do so.
In a way, we are sacrificing the chance of great progress for a safe and stagnant world.
But isn't this what civilization has always been about? Safety?
Civilization was invented as a safe haven for women, so that men can get laid and go on with life. This seems to make sense, really. It is the basic instinct of men to want to have sex. It is the basic instinct of women to search for a safe environment for the family. Civilization solves Problem 2, and thus solving Problem 1.
By giving up clubbing each other over the head over the smallest excuse, men get to have sex more often. Fair deal.
Going back to democracy, it can be concluded that humans in general prefer not to gamble. Man has learnt that possible consequences of gambling, and now prefers to stay his hand. Or has he?
Theonlinecitizen blog claims to be neutral, but I find the ideas in there a little paranoid a few times in the past. More than half the time, they present analyses of current issues that are not what is shown in ther mainstream media. But there are just a few instances where I find them overboard.
It's not wrong to suspect the worst, but I find it wrong that so few standing up. It is their country! They are supposed to be a democracy, but if they have never voted for their President before, how long will it be before they start to call their system a dictatorship?
It is not just that they've always got one possible candidate for our Presidents. The fear of speaking against the government must also be taken into account. When no one says something, it doesn't mean no one is thinking it. When one person says something, it means many are thinking it.
And with the highest pay in the world, the ministers had better be the best in the world. Whatever they are doing up there, we expect extraordinary results, not just what we have always got. They said they were "extraordinary" after all. If what we get is what everyone else in the world is getting, what would be "extraordinary" here? My gullibility?
Wednesday, 19 September 2007
Rant 075 / I Need A Bot That Programs Bots That Can Do My Tutorials
Time flies? Or is uni life much faster than what I'm use to?
1 month into the sem and tests are coming. At least they weren't hard.
Next week is the mid-term break. What break? This week is totally necessary for me to redo all those questions I didn't get right in my tutorials, and try to be far ahead of the tutors.
Spiderman 3 must be one of the worst movies I've ever watched. The story isn't great, the logic in many things are lacking, and coincidences are everywhere.
Like Advent's Children, this is clearly a movie meant for the fans, or rather, their purses. Back when I first saw the trailers, it seemed like such a great movie. Now that I've forgotten all those over-hyped scenes they had created for the advertisements, I find the movie a total bore.
A glaring example of the logical fallacies in this movie is that the guy who's made of sand, whatever his name was, didn't need to confront anyone. He didn't need to fight, or suffer fall injuries. All he had needed to do was turn to sand whenever he gets caught and slip away! He can be anywhere at anytime, and he didn't need to do anything by force.
Alright, enough of this criticizing. I'm not an expert in this sort of thing anyway.
Amazing how some of the thinner girls can eat a lot (or so they claim) and still look like war refugees. LOL I'm kidding. No one in Singapore can be that thin. Most girls, I'd say, are "acceptably thin". Recently I met another girl in one of my tutorial classes who's like that. She claims to eat more than other girls, but that isn't saying much. When I say that I can eat more than other guys, that's saying something.
I don't have the biggest appetite among all the people that I know though.
And even if I can eat so much, it doesn't imply that I always eat to that capacity. Maybe someday I should get her out to a buffet and see if she's as capable as she claims to be. I have my doubts, but I don't know if I'm wrong or right here.
How many good buffets do I know of anyway? Not many, and I tend to forget the less memorable ones.
For japanese buffets, I know this Suki Sushi at Cineleisure, which is pretty good, relative to the price. For 20+ bucks, which is low for a buffet, I can get a nice variety of food that is really worth the money.
For international buffets, I don't know of any cheap/affordable ones. I don't like international buffets, for some reasons I have yet to figure out. The best that I know of is Melt the World Cafe at Oriental Hotel. With a price of about 55-60+ per adult, the buffet spread can really open your eyes. But what is amazing isn't the main course, but the desserts. It is worthed the price, but the price is rarely worthed the occasion.
For Indian buffets, I remember this Annalakshmi chain that doesn't have a fixed price. I have only been to the buffet at Chinatown point, but the food is delicious, even if everything is vegetarian. The spread is small, with less than 10 types of curry, and not everything refilled continuously; some are just replaced with another type of food when the container is empty. They do have a rather large variety of drinks, and in fact, there are more drinks than food. Everything is worth the price, since the price is decided by you. You can pay as much/little as you wish, and that is their policy.
I haven't been to any Malay buffets. In fact, I don't know much about Malay cuisine, but it seems really underdeveloped to me. I've checked out the Wikipedia articles on various cuisines, like French and Cantonese, but the one on Malay cuisine is a disappointment. It includes a section on Indian food and Chinese food and several others, which are as large as the Malay section. Actually, the Chinese section is the largest of all.
So, this is not saying anything nice about Malay cuisine. What have they been doing all these centuries???
Well, the article on Singapore cuisine is just the same, but... doesn't Malaysia have a longer history as kingdoms/sultanates/cities than Singapore? Like, say, Kedah?
What have they been doing back then, instead of cooking up more fancy stuff?? I'm getting sick of Nasi Lemak, man!
I need to try more types of cuisines. My growth in this area is really stunted. Western cuisine at most places in Singapore is a joke, since everything European/American is fused together into one type of food. But then, I can probably say the same for Chinese food in Western countries, where Chinese food can only mean Cantonese food.
What is Taiwanese food? What is Burmese food? What is Cambodian food? What is Italian food? What is Spanish food? What is French food? What is distinctly unique about all these cuisines?
I need food.
1 month into the sem and tests are coming. At least they weren't hard.
Next week is the mid-term break. What break? This week is totally necessary for me to redo all those questions I didn't get right in my tutorials, and try to be far ahead of the tutors.
Spiderman 3 must be one of the worst movies I've ever watched. The story isn't great, the logic in many things are lacking, and coincidences are everywhere.
Like Advent's Children, this is clearly a movie meant for the fans, or rather, their purses. Back when I first saw the trailers, it seemed like such a great movie. Now that I've forgotten all those over-hyped scenes they had created for the advertisements, I find the movie a total bore.
A glaring example of the logical fallacies in this movie is that the guy who's made of sand, whatever his name was, didn't need to confront anyone. He didn't need to fight, or suffer fall injuries. All he had needed to do was turn to sand whenever he gets caught and slip away! He can be anywhere at anytime, and he didn't need to do anything by force.
Alright, enough of this criticizing. I'm not an expert in this sort of thing anyway.
Amazing how some of the thinner girls can eat a lot (or so they claim) and still look like war refugees. LOL I'm kidding. No one in Singapore can be that thin. Most girls, I'd say, are "acceptably thin". Recently I met another girl in one of my tutorial classes who's like that. She claims to eat more than other girls, but that isn't saying much. When I say that I can eat more than other guys, that's saying something.
I don't have the biggest appetite among all the people that I know though.
And even if I can eat so much, it doesn't imply that I always eat to that capacity. Maybe someday I should get her out to a buffet and see if she's as capable as she claims to be. I have my doubts, but I don't know if I'm wrong or right here.
How many good buffets do I know of anyway? Not many, and I tend to forget the less memorable ones.
For japanese buffets, I know this Suki Sushi at Cineleisure, which is pretty good, relative to the price. For 20+ bucks, which is low for a buffet, I can get a nice variety of food that is really worth the money.
For international buffets, I don't know of any cheap/affordable ones. I don't like international buffets, for some reasons I have yet to figure out. The best that I know of is Melt the World Cafe at Oriental Hotel. With a price of about 55-60+ per adult, the buffet spread can really open your eyes. But what is amazing isn't the main course, but the desserts. It is worthed the price, but the price is rarely worthed the occasion.
For Indian buffets, I remember this Annalakshmi chain that doesn't have a fixed price. I have only been to the buffet at Chinatown point, but the food is delicious, even if everything is vegetarian. The spread is small, with less than 10 types of curry, and not everything refilled continuously; some are just replaced with another type of food when the container is empty. They do have a rather large variety of drinks, and in fact, there are more drinks than food. Everything is worth the price, since the price is decided by you. You can pay as much/little as you wish, and that is their policy.
I haven't been to any Malay buffets. In fact, I don't know much about Malay cuisine, but it seems really underdeveloped to me. I've checked out the Wikipedia articles on various cuisines, like French and Cantonese, but the one on Malay cuisine is a disappointment. It includes a section on Indian food and Chinese food and several others, which are as large as the Malay section. Actually, the Chinese section is the largest of all.
So, this is not saying anything nice about Malay cuisine. What have they been doing all these centuries???
Well, the article on Singapore cuisine is just the same, but... doesn't Malaysia have a longer history as kingdoms/sultanates/cities than Singapore? Like, say, Kedah?
What have they been doing back then, instead of cooking up more fancy stuff?? I'm getting sick of Nasi Lemak, man!
I need to try more types of cuisines. My growth in this area is really stunted. Western cuisine at most places in Singapore is a joke, since everything European/American is fused together into one type of food. But then, I can probably say the same for Chinese food in Western countries, where Chinese food can only mean Cantonese food.
What is Taiwanese food? What is Burmese food? What is Cambodian food? What is Italian food? What is Spanish food? What is French food? What is distinctly unique about all these cuisines?
I need food.
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