Rant 145 / You Are Always Who They Think You Are Because They Will Never Know Who You Think You Are

It may seem like buttocks at first, but I found this thread on a forum that tried to convince people that this is the side-view of a guy's chest and arm. I couldn't see it until I saw the next picture that explained it.








Yea, the neck is too thick though. I saw it, but it is really is a pair of butt cheeks. LOL!





The reason why societies should take decades to develop from a third world country to a first world one is not because people take a long time to gain enough wealth. I believe it has to do with their ethics. A person who grows up in poverty usually have very different moral standards from one who grows up in a wealthy environment.

That is also the reason why most poor people stay poor. It's not because they were not given the opportunities, but because of their ethics and their attitude towards work.

An example is certain very distant relatives of mine who used to work in a government hospital in China decades ago. They work in the pharmacy and they would give medicines to any friends and relatives who asked for it. Without a doctor to prescribe it, they did not know how many doses the people need. So instead of asking for advice from the doctors which would reveal their illegal activities, they would just give bags of them. Take the meds till the symptoms were gone, I guess their advice to would be. Which is bad advice when it comes to antibiotics.

I bet they didn't see this as wrong. Instead, they might even have thought it as right, if not lawful. Back in those days, people in China were poor. This would help them get well without forcing them to spend the money they'd need to buy food. These people would likely need to borrow money to buy the medicines anyway.

Is this the grey area then? True in some cases, false in others.

Not everyone were unable to afford the meds. How could they have known who really couldn't afford them and who could? Therefore, they must have given them to anyone who seems to be too poor to pay for the meds. Anyone could pretend to be poor.

Such illegal practices would be hard to stop once it starts. It is hard to stop giving out free stuff once people get used to it. Any interruption would cause protests and complaints, even though it was illegal in the first place. Illusions of friendship and good relations created by the Santa Claus behaviour would vanish. So even when people were reaching the level of wealth where they could afford the meds, this would not have stopped.

Ethics.

People find it hard to change after a certain age. And as an adult, one does not expect others to tell them to change, unless those others are people very close to oneself, eg spouse. If the people describe above were your parents, you'd likely grow up with the same views. However, because of the increasing wealth of society around you, you'd see less need for it, thus becoming less inclined to continue what your parents were doing. Nevertheless, you'd not see what your parents were doing as wrong. Most likely anyway.

But the following generation, not being able to witness the practice of your parents, would be more willing to describe it as wrong. In my opinion, it takes at least 3 generations to change the moral standards of a family.

In the end, how can a society grow if the people had moral standards like the above? Thank the powers that be that people aren't immortals. If the habit of turning a blind eye to illegal activites was to become rampant, no community can grow.

Rant 144 / The Implications of Stopping Time

How many occupations truly need the knowledge which we get through our university education?

Not even doctors, since they can now use online resources to help fill in any gaps in their mental databases.

I believe that we are missing the whole point of getting the damned degree. The original purpose of it must have been to prove that the student has gained enough knowledge to be proficient at the job. This implies that what he has learnt must be useful in that job.

These are no longer so. Other than a small part of my university education, I have come to believe that everything else is useless when I begin to work. Eventually, I believe that the university degree will decrease in value. All it really does prove is that the graduate has more mental stamina, can handle stress better and has a better memory.

Someday, if something catastrophic ever happens to this world, there will be a great purge of all who are really not useful to the rest of their societies. I'm very sure having degree will not make a huge difference.








OMFG!! I've just found out that my philosophy that everyone's ultimate goal in life is happiness and that everything else is just a means to achieve that, IS NOT ORIGINAL. According to the Wikipedia article on Aristotelian ethics, "Aristotle first establishes what was virtuous. He began by determining that everything was done with some goal in mind and that goal is 'good.' The ultimate goal he called the Highest Good: happiness (Gk. eudaimonia - sometimes translated as "living well")."

NOOOOOOO! Aristotle beat me to it more than 2300 years ago! Fuck!

Well, actually many other people should have realized this without the help of Aristotle.







The act of stopping time may be more complex than you think. Of course, the main obstacle to this is the very method of stopping the time. But that is not the only problem I can imagine. The rest of this was created by a very bored mind travelling in a bus.

When you stop time, does it mean that you are stopping the time of all atoms except those that form you? If so, you will suffocate because all air cannot move. You will also eventually cook yourself if you don't suffocate first because heat cannot travel beyond your skin.

So, if you stop time such that all air and you are free to move, what would be the next problem? For one, all things flying in the air at that moment will fall to the ground. Imagine, one moment you're walking happily on the street, in the next moment birds are desperately flapping their wings from the ground around you trying to escape to the safety of the skies.

Also, everything and everyone not balanced in their current position will fall, painlessly of course, but this would make sure everyone knew that something was wrong.

Now, you must have thought of the idea that you'd only stop time in a radius around yourself. That is the most dangerous idea among the 3. Imagine the radius of this region moving with you. There is hemisphere of permeable membrane that allows time to be unfrozen inside it around you. This radius comes into contact with another person. You continue to move, making this radius go up the arm of the stranger. Now the person is frozen in time, but because his arm is in your safety region, the particles become normal again.

These particles are sticking together due to intermolecular forces between each other. Since when time freezes, the forces in the frozen zone cannot act on those on the non-frozen zone, the arm will simply disintegrate. You will be killing whoever you get close to. By the way, this also means that if the Earth is frozen too, you will be in zero gravity.

Wow, think of all the implications of this concept! If forces within the frozen zone cannot interact with those outside, and the line between these 2 zones is infinitely thin, you will not be freeing whole molecules as you move. Instead, you will disintegrate the very quarks themselves! What would happen then?? Will the most basic particle be sliced into tiny pieces as you move? Or will it still be whole until your radius moves past its whole body? I believe in the former.

What will happen then?!?! Nuclear explosions at every movement you make? I've no idea.

The first two is based on the assumption that things frozen in time cannot move into the unfrozen zone. In the last, things frozen in time can become unfrozen as they enter your safe zone.

Rant 143 / Porn - It's Cheaper Than Dating!

(Click on pic to enlarge)

That conversation may just be the best that I've ever seen so far. Online vigilantes working on putting off internet pedophiles.





So I've got a new laptop. Apparently, replacing my motherboard is just another way of saying I'm getting a new laptop. Brand new, older model (Acer Aspire 4920 compared to the original Aspire 5585WXMi) but upgraded to the about the same as the original. Quoting the engineer from Acer,"... Spec-wise, you're getting an upgrade."

I don't know. My RAM, processor and hard disk are unchanged in terms of specs. But my speakers have been upgraded to this Dolby Home Theater speaker from the integrated speakers. Sound card seems to be this Realtek High Definitition Audio, which I'm guessing really means integrated sound card.

But the greatest mystery to me is the graphics card. It is now an ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT, and used to be Nvidia GeForce Go 7300. Absolutely no idea whether it is better or worse, since I haven't tested it with Assassin's Creed, the only game proven to be beyond my original com's capacities to handle.

As for the rest, the camera on this model can't be rotated. Not an important issue, but something I'd point out if I ever feel like being picky. The outer appearance of this laptop is better than the old one, but once it is opened, it looks like a toy computer for kids. I think it has to do with the plastic look and the white colour, compared to the black and silver, and sleek style of the 5585 model.

The biggest complaint I have so far is that when I use the Fn button to turn off my touchpad (very important when playing a shooting game using WASD) I get this loud acknowledgment beep.

The second biggest complaint is that everytime I run a new installer for games and other things, I have to get that warning about how it is not safe to run programs that I may not trust and etc. I've turned off UAC right on the FIRST DAY! Seriously, fuck Vista!

The thing I like most about this whole replacement is that everything inside is new. Or so I want to believe. Even though the warranty ends in a few more days, the components of this laptop should last at least another year.

I think if I'd not given a positive reply when they asked if they can format my hard disk back when I handed it to them for repair, they would have given me the old hard disk. So many things lost. I lost all the links that I cannot bookmark in the Firefox and my whole collection of funny pics. At least, I haven't lost 90% of my collection of movies. That's a fucking 19GB of pure persistence and patience there.

I may never find all those links again. I guess I will just have to lurk more in 4chan to find more links. Oh well...

Rant 142 / The Title Of This Blog Is Lame

Here I am sitting in front of my mum's laptop, typing things that make little sense. The plate of fish in between me and the computer does not stir my appetite. Probably because this is my second helping.

Called the Acer repair centre on Monday because I did not receive the SMS from them that I was supposed to get before I go and retrieve my beloved. They told me the laptop was not ready for collection and that the engineer in charge of it will call me later that day.

At about 3pm he called and told me that the motherboard required a replacement and that my warranty was still valid till 30th of June, which happens to be this month. I asked him whether there will be any extra charges and he replied that there won't be any and I should not be worried about the replacement because specwise, I'm actually getting a free upgrade.

FREE UPGRADE!

UPGRADE!

FREEEEEEEEEEE!

WARRANTY EXPIRES AT THE END OF THIS MONTH!

FREEEEEEEEEEE!

IF SAME PROBLEM OCCURS WITHIN 90 DAYS OF DATE OF COLLECTION, NO EXTRA CHARGES WILL BE INCURRED!

FREEEEEEEEEEEE!

UPGRADE!!!!!





On a less positve note, I sprained my knee on Saturday. Have never heard of such a thing before, but apparently this phenomenon actually exists. I was very careful not to fling my left arm around to much to protect my still-healing shoulder, but who'd have thought that something else might happen?

Anyway it's getting better now. Still afraid of leaning on my right leg, but I dare to lock the knee now.

On the same day, I made the Cheddar Cheese Sauce I saw on this website. Wasn't too hard, and it didn't taste bad at all. Except that it lacked meat. I was planning to throw in some of the parma ham, but at the last minute decided that a few slices of parma ham alone was not enough.

So I took some sausages from the fridge, cut them into bite-sized pieces and baked them, then threw them into each plate of spiral pasta before pouring the sauce on them.

I bet Vic has never smelled roux before. Probably didn't even know what it is. Neither did I before my interest in cooking began. Roux is a thickening agent that European cuisines use. It is similar to the mixture of water and starch that Chinese cooking usually requires to create that thick gravy in many dishes. Their purposes are almost the same, the only difference being that roux also affects the flavour becuase it contains butter.

I was quite surprise when Vic said what I was cooking smelled good, since I was merely making roux then. Roux = Butter + Flour + Heat. That's all. At least it wasn't as lumpy as the first time I made it a few months back.

I find it much easier to make roux in larger batches. Mixing six tablespoons of flour into six tablespoons of liquid butter is way easier than mixing two tablespoons of each. There is less risk of the butter drying up before it was ready.

After the roux was made, the rest was easy. Just dump the milk in, stir till it becomes a smooth and thick mixture, then add cheddar. Voila! My old stash of cheddar is used up and I don't have to worry about their expiry dates anymore.




The Cheddar Cheese Sauce, good for pasta and veggies.



The finished product.


Bought all the herbs and extra virgin olive oil I will need for my next mission. Will do it some day, probably after another week or so. Now considering cooking something more Chinese. Maybe I will start with the easiest, like steamed meat or something.

Rant 141 / Stating The Obvious

Everyone is born with the same amount of power. When we elect/support a leader, we give him/her a portion of this power. This makes the leader powerful. By giving in to a person, we invest our own power in that person.

Desire is the main reason for most of our loss of power. When we want something that belongs to someone, we become willing to give a fraction of our inborn power to the person who owns it. Once this exchange is done, it is called a trade.

Take for example, the relationship between an employer and an employee. The employee desires a steady income and, perhaps, job security. These can be provided by the employer. Therefore, the employee gives the employer part of his inborn power in exchange for what he/she desires from the latter.

Or we can look at our interpersonal relationships. In such relationships, we invest our powers into each other. We allow, to a degree, others to control ourselves. In return, we have control over the others, also to the same degree. When a friend asks you for a small favour, you will most likely agree. In this act, you have just given a small bit of your power to your friend. You then expect this friend to reciprocate in the future. In this, your friend gives a little of his/her power to you.

Of course, he/she can later refuse you, retracting the power that should have been invested in you. In this case, you would then do the same to your friend, leaving him/her powerless over you. In more basic terms, you will then refuse to do what your friend will ask you to do in the future.

This is true unless your friend has something you desire. Like his/her goodwill or friendship. In this case, you will not retract your power completely. But this is another issue known as Trust.

Or we can have someone who lives on the land. A hermit living in a forest. He will then have to depend completely on the forest for food. This is the desire to eat only what the land has to offer. This gives the forest power over him. But the forest is not a sentient being, therefore it is ignorant of this exchange.

Humans have always been aware of this exchange. In fact, we have been so used to it even before the beginning of civilization that we cannot accept the fact that Nature does not deal in this sort of trade. So we invent deities: Earth God, Thunder God, God of Fertility and etc, in order to convince ourselves that everything conforms to this rule.

Too many people do not realize this trade, even though everyone depends on it to survive. We all depend on farmers around the world, and if all of them decides to work together and go on strike, we will give in to their demands.

This is the basis of civilization. Without this trade, we would still be hunting for food. We wouldn't even be farming or rearing cattle, because, for example, we would then desire tools, thus giving power to the blacksmith. Or you can make your own tools and depend on yourself for everything, but that wouldn't be exactly what we call a civilization.

Rant 140 / The Greatest Contribution From The British To The World Is Rowan Atkinson

Will update with more stuff when I get my computer back.

Meanwhile



this happened last week.

Rant 139 / Speed, Too Much Of It

My mum went crazy again and upgraded the broadband internet plan to MaxOnline Ultimate. Got a new modem and one of those E170 mobile modem. In hope of keeping the whole non-mobile modem's bandwidth to himself, my brother persuaded me to try the mobile modem on my laptop right after the technician was done installing the router.

By using this USB stick, it is the same as having a second line, thus allowing my brother to stretch the limits of the bigger modem. Straight after I had confirmed that I was not using his modem via router, he unplugged the router and went to www.speedtest.net. He got a stunning 35Mbps DOWNLOAD SPEED! That doesn't count the upload speed.

As for me, I got a stunning 3.5Mbps download speed, a fucking amazing TEN fucking percent of his fucking bandwidth. Plus the connection was extremely unstable, causing my ping to jump like a kangaroo on a trampoline. A server in the US usually gives me a 200ms ping. On this modem, my ping jumps constantly between 240-1000ms.

In an hour, I concluded that this modem was only for working purposes. So I gave the disappointing news to my brother, who then reluctantly proceed to plugging in the router. This made him less happy because with the router slowing down his connection, his download speed went down to 22Mbps, a drastic 33% reduction. As for me, my download speed rose from 3.5 to 5Mbps and the connection was stable enough.

Of course the idea of using both modems simultaneously crossed my mind. In fact, I did try it, but my speed was slightly worse than using the mobile modem alone. I blame this on the interference between the USB stick and the inbuilt modem in my laptop.

Finally, I do have some reservations about this tiny modem. On its manual's safety section, it states that the user must be 1.5cm away from it to receive a legally safe level of radiation. I bet this level of radiation at 1.5cm is barely safe only if you are nowhere near any other source of radiation, like handphones, portable hard disks, laptops, routers and etc.

All in all, this was a thoroughly pointless upgrade (probably) brought on by a very persuasive telemarketer. I'd rather she spend the extra money on the electric bills so that I can turn on my air-conditioner more.

But after seeing the 35Mbps on my brother's screen.....