Inner peace.
Introduction
Inner peace is commonly achieved through a harmless and simple process known as Death.
This is widely used by the common Man as a cure for a huge array of illnesses that are, left untreated, rather annoying, like cancer, schizophrenia and workaholism.
History
Inner peace was invented during the Stone Age by Tugg son of Fugg son of Yugg. An inventor, among many things, like his father Fugg (also known as the inventor of the wheel), he spent most of his time contemplating creative ideas while clubbing his wives. While most of his ideas were discarded after a few unsuccessful attempts (including 2nd-hand car trades, real estate investments, and insurance sales), some certainly caught the eyes of his fellow clubbers.
Inner peace was a concept that was so radically new during that period, almost no one understood the benefits. Certainly not Tugg, who was really trying to find a cure for cancer. A entrepreneur by nature, he understood that the best achievers do not just make full use of the first opportunity they see, they also create opportunities for themselves.
Though no one needed inner peace, he saw that such a pointless concept shouldn't be wasted, and set about creating a demand for this knowledge. It was not easy, convincing everyone that all their problems was caused by the turmoil in their souls. It was completely false, due to the fact that all they did was hunting and clubbing.
But in the end, everyone was convinced by his words, which were clearly carved into the 80-pound spiked club he always held in his hand. By hook or by crook, he had all his tribesmen sitting still for hours on end, and staring into a peaceful nothingness.
Inner peace.
Rediscovering yourself.
It is easy to say the words, but do you really understand what they mean?
Will you use them as an excuse to do what you have always wanted to do but never dared?
Or will you contemplate your actions, and figure out the best way to change yourself?
There are shortcuts. There are always shortcuts. You pay some guy with your blood, and he will tell you another way to live. He will have dozens of certificates you could have bought at $50 dollars apiece like he did if only you have the right connections.
Everything he tells you, you could have figured out if you had just sit down and thought about it.
Everything he tells you, you could have thought of but never dared to try.
Inner peace is a faraway idea that dwells in the depths of Mordor near the northern edge of Neverland. He flies with Peter Pan all day long and whispers sweet nothings into the ears of Cinderella.
One way to find inner peace is to let go.
Because there is a price of everything, and because it is the price of everything that causes most troubles in life.
But if you can only stop yourself from buying anything, you will be able to stop paying for everything.
And when you no longer have to pay as much, there is peace.
Thus, purge yourself of Desire.
Now what is desire?
Friday, 25 May 2007
Friday, 18 May 2007
Rant 056 / Pls Make A Sequel For Eureka Seven!!!
I have learnt not to watch any series of animes that I have not watched before. I shall be sticking only with those series I have watched before, namely Naruto, Bleach, Code Geass, and Eureka Seven.
Well, Eureka Seven probably won't be having new seasons anymore, but I am very much hoping that the studio behind it will change its mind. It was definitely very memorable, and the ending left me wishing for more.
Not that its ending at ep. 50 was bad; it was almost perfect. It wrapped up almost all loose ends nicely and left little room for a sequel. Even the director stated that there is nothing to say about the main characters anymore, and that there is no plan to create a new story around them.
This certainly shows in the fact that even though there are 3 games created from this series, 2 of them do not touch the main storyline, and the third is only about the first half of the main series. A fourth is coming out, but it, too, is about some other guy.
THIS SUCKS!! I WANT MORE!!!! 50 episodes are too few for a story as good as this!!!
Eureka Seven also taught me not to go for more animes. I do not pretend to understand why this happened, but after watching all 50 episodes, I felt depressed whenever I thought of this anime. This actually lasted almost a week! Maybe I miss it, or I felt really sad about the end. But I truly do not understand this.
I have little experience in feeling as sad as this. That is precisely why I should stop watching anime: I cannot handle excessive amounts of sadness from sources I do not comprehend.
But I cannot stop myself from watching new seasons of the 4 anime series I mentioned, if they are released. I am hooked!
Therefore, I will have to limit myself to these four, and no more.
But I want them to make a sequel for Eureka Seven!!!! RAWR!! I simply cannot accept the fact that they aren't even mentioning any plans for an OVA!!! WTH!!! Even an OVA would be nice...
I WANT A SEQUEL!!! I CANNOT STAND THIS ANYMORE!!!!
NTU admin is t3h P\/\/N5!!!!!!!!!!!!!!@#!(#$%^&*(?"}?!!!!!!
It sucks so much, I have to wait days after I have started school before my course list in the uni website includes my maths module!
My phy lecturer forgot to upload the latest notes for us, causing him to waste 30mins of precious lecture time by releasing us early. The bad thing about this is that he will have to go even faster than he already is.
I want a sequel for Eureka Seven!!!!! GAH!
Did you know that your grand kids probably won't be able to eat sharks' fins in their time?
Did you know that Scientology is a religion?
Did you know that God invented mass orgies? ( If he exists)
Did you know that Holy Water consists of 2 molecules of Hydrogen, and 1 molecule of Holy Jesus in between, making it H2J?
Dude, Where's My Time Machine?
Got Blog?
Everyone wants happiness. That is what all humans really want. Not money. Not concubines. Not power. Not success. It is the happiness that they bring that matters. These things, and the countless others like them, are merely different means to the same goal, separate paths to the one dream.
But there are those who do not understand why they are doing what they are doing, and conclude, with the little comprehension that they have, that they really want what they're trying to work for.
Part of me feels sympathy for these misguided souls. The rest of me understands that this is natural evolution in action.
Evolution works this way. It's not as if the chicken became a chicken overnight with feathers all over, wings and drumsticks(LOL!) and all, from the prehistoric bird they descended from. Even if that did happen, it was most likely an isolated incident, with the chicken dying soon after birth.
And that doesn't count.
What really happened was a tiny change at first. Maybe the prehistoric chimp that Man once was found it necessary to stretch a little higher to find food, when they shifted from the vast savannas of the post-Ice-Age era, to the forests and jungles of the later times. Soon, most of the taller monkeys with the straighter pose seems to fare better, and one by one, the more primitive monkeys find it more difficult to adapt and died out.
Then a few of the taller monkeys find it better to move on two feet at times, especially when travelling long distances. Soon, those who can walk on two legs for longer periods are able to survive better, and so on...
And so it is still, today. Everyone does what they do, different from anyone else. Those with the better qualities survive better, and those with too many undesirable traits eventually go extinct.
It doesn't matter that there are those who would do unthinkable acts, obscene deeds that will shatter the innocence of the regular Singaporean. These people will be stopped, by other people or by Time, and they will become a negligible minority.
And there are those who become obsessed with the means of achieving happiness, to such an extent that they work for these mere tools solely for the sake of getting them. These people, too, will shrink into a forgotten group if their ways of thinking prove to be unhealthy.
But if someday the world turns out to need people who would do inhuman things, such people will be there, somewhere. That is how Man survive. The extreme diversity of each person allows some to survive every calamity that hits Him, given enough time to rest between each.
But that doesn't mean I have to like it. That doesn't mean a lot of things, but most of them don't matter to me.
What matters to me is that
What matters to me is that you do not know what really matters to me.
You may deduce what you may, you may conclude what you think. Perception is the truth, but not the absolute truth.
Well, Eureka Seven probably won't be having new seasons anymore, but I am very much hoping that the studio behind it will change its mind. It was definitely very memorable, and the ending left me wishing for more.
Not that its ending at ep. 50 was bad; it was almost perfect. It wrapped up almost all loose ends nicely and left little room for a sequel. Even the director stated that there is nothing to say about the main characters anymore, and that there is no plan to create a new story around them.
This certainly shows in the fact that even though there are 3 games created from this series, 2 of them do not touch the main storyline, and the third is only about the first half of the main series. A fourth is coming out, but it, too, is about some other guy.
THIS SUCKS!! I WANT MORE!!!! 50 episodes are too few for a story as good as this!!!
Eureka Seven also taught me not to go for more animes. I do not pretend to understand why this happened, but after watching all 50 episodes, I felt depressed whenever I thought of this anime. This actually lasted almost a week! Maybe I miss it, or I felt really sad about the end. But I truly do not understand this.
I have little experience in feeling as sad as this. That is precisely why I should stop watching anime: I cannot handle excessive amounts of sadness from sources I do not comprehend.
But I cannot stop myself from watching new seasons of the 4 anime series I mentioned, if they are released. I am hooked!
Therefore, I will have to limit myself to these four, and no more.
But I want them to make a sequel for Eureka Seven!!!! RAWR!! I simply cannot accept the fact that they aren't even mentioning any plans for an OVA!!! WTH!!! Even an OVA would be nice...
I WANT A SEQUEL!!! I CANNOT STAND THIS ANYMORE!!!!
NTU admin is t3h P\/\/N5!!!!!!!!!!!!!!@#!(#$%^&*(?"}?!!!!!!
It sucks so much, I have to wait days after I have started school before my course list in the uni website includes my maths module!
My phy lecturer forgot to upload the latest notes for us, causing him to waste 30mins of precious lecture time by releasing us early. The bad thing about this is that he will have to go even faster than he already is.
I want a sequel for Eureka Seven!!!!! GAH!
Did you know that your grand kids probably won't be able to eat sharks' fins in their time?
Did you know that Scientology is a religion?
Did you know that God invented mass orgies? ( If he exists)
Did you know that Holy Water consists of 2 molecules of Hydrogen, and 1 molecule of Holy Jesus in between, making it H2J?
Dude, Where's My Time Machine?
Got Blog?
Everyone wants happiness. That is what all humans really want. Not money. Not concubines. Not power. Not success. It is the happiness that they bring that matters. These things, and the countless others like them, are merely different means to the same goal, separate paths to the one dream.
But there are those who do not understand why they are doing what they are doing, and conclude, with the little comprehension that they have, that they really want what they're trying to work for.
Part of me feels sympathy for these misguided souls. The rest of me understands that this is natural evolution in action.
Evolution works this way. It's not as if the chicken became a chicken overnight with feathers all over, wings and drumsticks(LOL!) and all, from the prehistoric bird they descended from. Even if that did happen, it was most likely an isolated incident, with the chicken dying soon after birth.
And that doesn't count.
What really happened was a tiny change at first. Maybe the prehistoric chimp that Man once was found it necessary to stretch a little higher to find food, when they shifted from the vast savannas of the post-Ice-Age era, to the forests and jungles of the later times. Soon, most of the taller monkeys with the straighter pose seems to fare better, and one by one, the more primitive monkeys find it more difficult to adapt and died out.
Then a few of the taller monkeys find it better to move on two feet at times, especially when travelling long distances. Soon, those who can walk on two legs for longer periods are able to survive better, and so on...
And so it is still, today. Everyone does what they do, different from anyone else. Those with the better qualities survive better, and those with too many undesirable traits eventually go extinct.
It doesn't matter that there are those who would do unthinkable acts, obscene deeds that will shatter the innocence of the regular Singaporean. These people will be stopped, by other people or by Time, and they will become a negligible minority.
And there are those who become obsessed with the means of achieving happiness, to such an extent that they work for these mere tools solely for the sake of getting them. These people, too, will shrink into a forgotten group if their ways of thinking prove to be unhealthy.
But if someday the world turns out to need people who would do inhuman things, such people will be there, somewhere. That is how Man survive. The extreme diversity of each person allows some to survive every calamity that hits Him, given enough time to rest between each.
But that doesn't mean I have to like it. That doesn't mean a lot of things, but most of them don't matter to me.
What matters to me is that
What matters to me is that you do not know what really matters to me.
You may deduce what you may, you may conclude what you think. Perception is the truth, but not the absolute truth.
Friday, 4 May 2007
Rant 055 / Effective Absurd Metaphors
Being rational is not something everyone is capable of. Emotions become a burden because they listen to their hearts too much. Hearts are not always working together with the mind, therefore emotions can often be in conflict with logic.
But being logical all the time makes the world boring. No one likes a straight line. And being logical makes you predictable, which is taboo for me. In fact, it is antithetical to some of my personal principles in life.
In life, lies are often necessary. Most are small lies, lies so seemingly harmless that no one notices the weight that accumulates as the years go by. Therefore, if I become predictable, the lies I tell will become less effective, forcing me to tell more lies than is necessary for me now.
But lies are all the same - as long as they are not broken, as long as the truth they cover is not revealed to anyone else, they add weight to the accumulating burden of the mind.
Keep lies simple. This reduces the weight that each lie has.
Keep lies to the minimum. This reduces the number of lies I accumulate as I go on.
Tell the truth. This is the best option, and is widely practiced by leaders worldwide. My favourite option, since it keeps life from getting complicated.
But do not mistake the practice of "telling the truth" from what you usually see it as. The whole truth is always the simplest, but half-truths are more effective.
Even better is twisting the truth with lies, which can be presented as a lie, a truth, a lie that seems obviously to be the truth, and a truth that seems obviously to be a lie.
For example, when some guy tells you he masturbates everyday with a hole he drilled into a wall in his bedroom, would you believe it?
What if it is partly true, that he masturbates everyday, just not with the hole?
Or that he doesn't do it daily, but when he does...?
The perfect lie is the truth, because the best lies become the truth. And when you keep the lie intact forever, it turns into the truth. Which basically makes you an honest person.
Honesty is the best way to keep life easy. And if you lie like there's no tomorrow, and none of the truth you cover is revealed even after you're dead and buried, then you have always been telling the truth.
But this is not the only reason that motivates me to stay unpredictable. The fact is that seeing a person's face filled with confusion, surprise or shock is absolutely enjoyable. Maybe I should learn some magic tricks...
I already know some magic. Life is magic. So much of life's basic mechanics are so hard to comprehend, and/or causes such great emotions that to us, they're magic. Like how our brains work. Like how a baby is created. Like how the body creates so much strange chemicals from that chicken you ate this afternoon.
Magic.
Magic tricks are simply actions are not what they appear to be, designed to please the viewer. Whenever you do something that is not what it appears to be, it is a trick. If it produces a positive effect, it is a magic trick.
If a guy gets a girlfriend who is really a guy, it is a trick. If the parents are happy because they are ignorant of that fact, it is a magic trick. See?
Going back to lies, I always preferred to keep lies to the bare minimum, and tell half-truths when needed. When it is possible, I reveal the truth so that there are few lies in my life.
I don't lie often. In fact, I despise liars who lie out of whim. Lies break trusts, and trust is the cement of civilization. People form the breaks, and by sticking together with trust, they form societies.
Lying out of necessity to make life temporarily easier is understandable. Sometimes, there are situations when a person cannot handle the actual conditions he has received and desires to change them to a more acceptable level.
But maintaining a lie requires more lies and/or half-truths. The more complex the lie, the more supporting lies it require. Makes it look like a drug, because when a person tells enough lies, lying all the time will become the only way to maintain a "normal" life. And sooner or later, someone will manage to dig up the truth when the rate of increase of the necessary lies exceeds what one can handle.
Lying is not only something a person does to another. It can also be something a person does to oneself. In fact, I believe some people try to lie to themselves more than they try to lie to others.
There will be those who find this ridiculous, but honestly, how often do people reflect on the little things they do? How often do they think about what they have done, and figure out whether they were really lying to themselves about their motives behind their actions?
Are all philanthropists really doing what they do to help others? Or are they trying to improve their image, for one reason or another?
Think about it. Personally, that'd be one of my favoured options when I want to appear nicer than the logical eugenicist in me.
Motives. That is what most lies cover. That is the reason why most lies exist. To cover the actual motive behind actions.
There are more lies out there than most would believe exist. Everyone is really filled with lies, small lies like "I'm not balding", "that baby is mine", "I love you" and etc...
The number of lies, in truth, easily overwhelms the number of truths out there. We are all living lies, but we lie to ourselves that we are not. You are balding, that baby isn't yours and you don't love her- you just love her vagina.
You don't love your President, you go to church not because you love God, you greet your neighbours not because you like them, you work not because you need the money.
Think of why you're believing all that, and look beneath the surface. See the currents that flow beneath the waves, and you will find a whole new world appearing before you.
It may be too harsh for many, but as you become more honest with yourself, life seems clearer.
I don't believe I will go for any karaoke outing with most people.
First of all, I don't sing. I make noise.
Second, I don't usually listen to music I am able sing.
Third, I am gradually becoming antisocial again, making me desire less for social gatherings with people I do not know well. Which needs a solution that I hope to find when school starts.
Fourth, there is no fourth.
I don't feel like going, though I think I should. I don't like the deafening chinese music in there, and I don't think there is anything for me to do there but yawn.
3 : 1, Not Going wins the round.
There, I'm not going. And that's the honest explanation.
But since none of them reads this, I will need to lie again. :(
Perhaps I will tell them I'm allergic to my own singing, and that it causes strong responses in my central nervous system, often causing temporary shutdowns lasting up to an hour. So I don't sing at all. So there's not really any good reason for me to go.
A lie, fresh from the oven, served with a sprinkle of truth on top.
But being logical all the time makes the world boring. No one likes a straight line. And being logical makes you predictable, which is taboo for me. In fact, it is antithetical to some of my personal principles in life.
In life, lies are often necessary. Most are small lies, lies so seemingly harmless that no one notices the weight that accumulates as the years go by. Therefore, if I become predictable, the lies I tell will become less effective, forcing me to tell more lies than is necessary for me now.
But lies are all the same - as long as they are not broken, as long as the truth they cover is not revealed to anyone else, they add weight to the accumulating burden of the mind.
Keep lies simple. This reduces the weight that each lie has.
Keep lies to the minimum. This reduces the number of lies I accumulate as I go on.
Tell the truth. This is the best option, and is widely practiced by leaders worldwide. My favourite option, since it keeps life from getting complicated.
But do not mistake the practice of "telling the truth" from what you usually see it as. The whole truth is always the simplest, but half-truths are more effective.
Even better is twisting the truth with lies, which can be presented as a lie, a truth, a lie that seems obviously to be the truth, and a truth that seems obviously to be a lie.
For example, when some guy tells you he masturbates everyday with a hole he drilled into a wall in his bedroom, would you believe it?
What if it is partly true, that he masturbates everyday, just not with the hole?
Or that he doesn't do it daily, but when he does...?
The perfect lie is the truth, because the best lies become the truth. And when you keep the lie intact forever, it turns into the truth. Which basically makes you an honest person.
Honesty is the best way to keep life easy. And if you lie like there's no tomorrow, and none of the truth you cover is revealed even after you're dead and buried, then you have always been telling the truth.
But this is not the only reason that motivates me to stay unpredictable. The fact is that seeing a person's face filled with confusion, surprise or shock is absolutely enjoyable. Maybe I should learn some magic tricks...
I already know some magic. Life is magic. So much of life's basic mechanics are so hard to comprehend, and/or causes such great emotions that to us, they're magic. Like how our brains work. Like how a baby is created. Like how the body creates so much strange chemicals from that chicken you ate this afternoon.
Magic.
Magic tricks are simply actions are not what they appear to be, designed to please the viewer. Whenever you do something that is not what it appears to be, it is a trick. If it produces a positive effect, it is a magic trick.
If a guy gets a girlfriend who is really a guy, it is a trick. If the parents are happy because they are ignorant of that fact, it is a magic trick. See?
Going back to lies, I always preferred to keep lies to the bare minimum, and tell half-truths when needed. When it is possible, I reveal the truth so that there are few lies in my life.
I don't lie often. In fact, I despise liars who lie out of whim. Lies break trusts, and trust is the cement of civilization. People form the breaks, and by sticking together with trust, they form societies.
Lying out of necessity to make life temporarily easier is understandable. Sometimes, there are situations when a person cannot handle the actual conditions he has received and desires to change them to a more acceptable level.
But maintaining a lie requires more lies and/or half-truths. The more complex the lie, the more supporting lies it require. Makes it look like a drug, because when a person tells enough lies, lying all the time will become the only way to maintain a "normal" life. And sooner or later, someone will manage to dig up the truth when the rate of increase of the necessary lies exceeds what one can handle.
Lying is not only something a person does to another. It can also be something a person does to oneself. In fact, I believe some people try to lie to themselves more than they try to lie to others.
There will be those who find this ridiculous, but honestly, how often do people reflect on the little things they do? How often do they think about what they have done, and figure out whether they were really lying to themselves about their motives behind their actions?
Are all philanthropists really doing what they do to help others? Or are they trying to improve their image, for one reason or another?
Think about it. Personally, that'd be one of my favoured options when I want to appear nicer than the logical eugenicist in me.
Motives. That is what most lies cover. That is the reason why most lies exist. To cover the actual motive behind actions.
There are more lies out there than most would believe exist. Everyone is really filled with lies, small lies like "I'm not balding", "that baby is mine", "I love you" and etc...
The number of lies, in truth, easily overwhelms the number of truths out there. We are all living lies, but we lie to ourselves that we are not. You are balding, that baby isn't yours and you don't love her- you just love her vagina.
You don't love your President, you go to church not because you love God, you greet your neighbours not because you like them, you work not because you need the money.
Think of why you're believing all that, and look beneath the surface. See the currents that flow beneath the waves, and you will find a whole new world appearing before you.
It may be too harsh for many, but as you become more honest with yourself, life seems clearer.
I don't believe I will go for any karaoke outing with most people.
First of all, I don't sing. I make noise.
Second, I don't usually listen to music I am able sing.
Third, I am gradually becoming antisocial again, making me desire less for social gatherings with people I do not know well. Which needs a solution that I hope to find when school starts.
Fourth, there is no fourth.
I don't feel like going, though I think I should. I don't like the deafening chinese music in there, and I don't think there is anything for me to do there but yawn.
3 : 1, Not Going wins the round.
There, I'm not going. And that's the honest explanation.
But since none of them reads this, I will need to lie again. :(
Perhaps I will tell them I'm allergic to my own singing, and that it causes strong responses in my central nervous system, often causing temporary shutdowns lasting up to an hour. So I don't sing at all. So there's not really any good reason for me to go.
A lie, fresh from the oven, served with a sprinkle of truth on top.
Saturday, 28 April 2007
Rant 054 / Eleven-Year-Olds Should Stick With Lego And Get The Hell Away From MMORPGs!
Watch Code Geass! It's good stuff! D/l while it's still unlicensed. More details in previous post.
1 more week till school starts.
What is school?
Hell returns!
Today I woke up with nothing on my mind. How many more times will this be repeated?
This is so sad. No more sleeping at 4am and waking at 2pm anymore.
This is so sad. I can't watch the first 13 episodes of Eureka Seven within the next 3 days.
Soon, I will have to reset my body clock to suit my classes. Will have to wake at 7am...
That's... 7 hours earlier than usual.
1 week to change my sleeping habits.
And within the week, I have to visit the Skin Centre for an appointment, renounce my British citizenship at the British Embassy, and get a loan for uni fees at the nearby DBS.
I am planning to do all these on the coming Monday.
Skin Centre appointment is set at 5pm, so it will have to be the last.
Getting a loan will not take long, so I can do it right after I wake up... at 12pm.
The problem is with the renunciation process, because I have no idea how long it will take.
And I want to do all 3 consecutively, so I will have to plan the times.
So I will:
12.30pm - Walk to bank
12.45pm - Get a loan
01.15pm - Take a cab to the British Embassy
01.30pm - Renounce my British citizenship
Here lies the friggin problem. When will this end?? Though my guess is half an hour, I cannot be sure!
If I do as stated above, and it takes only 1/2 hr, then I will have nothing to do from 2pm to 4.30pm!
If I start the 4 steps at 3pm, arriving at the embassy at 4pm, but it takes longer than 1/2 hr, I will be late!
Alas, it is too late to call them. They do not work on weekends either.
Why are you reading this anyway?
Titan Quest: Immortal Throne is a good game.
It is like a much better version of Diablo.
This is my first attempt, so naturally I chose the easiest style - pure magical POWAH!! aka Druid ( Storm + Nature Mastery).
In Storm, I concentrate mainly on the ice projectile spell, and maxing out the number of projectiles per shot a soon as I could.
I used 2 points to get Chain Lightning(for boss fights), another 2 for Wisp with buff(occasionally casts automatically to give me a 40% damage boost for 30s), and another 2 on a semi-decent 150dmg anti-Ice/Lightning shield.
Consequently, I find that my energy is being drained like water through a tap at full blast.
So after that, I got the aura in Nature, purely for the maximum 28% chance of casting any spells at 50% mana cost.
At lvl 26, I am now going for the magic resist, though I am still 5 points short to hit 24 points in Nature Mastery.
After I max the resist, I wonder what I should do.
Maybe I will max the buff ability of my wisp.
Then, max my ice projectile damage + speed.
Then I will go for that shield I saw in Nature.
It's got that 30s buff that increases energy regen.
Maybe when I beat the game I will try out Dream + Spirit Mastery.
Spirit Mastery has some obscene summon spells.
It beats my wisp big time, and my wisp has 99% chance of avoiding any attack.
But the best summon spell in Spirit Mastery lasts only 30s.
Papaya milk is good, but avocado milk is better.
In fact, avocado milk is the BEST!!!
Perhaps someday I will make some at home.
Someday.
Why are you reading this anyway?
1 more week till school starts.
What is school?
Hell returns!
Today I woke up with nothing on my mind. How many more times will this be repeated?
This is so sad. No more sleeping at 4am and waking at 2pm anymore.
This is so sad. I can't watch the first 13 episodes of Eureka Seven within the next 3 days.
Soon, I will have to reset my body clock to suit my classes. Will have to wake at 7am...
That's... 7 hours earlier than usual.
1 week to change my sleeping habits.
And within the week, I have to visit the Skin Centre for an appointment, renounce my British citizenship at the British Embassy, and get a loan for uni fees at the nearby DBS.
I am planning to do all these on the coming Monday.
Skin Centre appointment is set at 5pm, so it will have to be the last.
Getting a loan will not take long, so I can do it right after I wake up... at 12pm.
The problem is with the renunciation process, because I have no idea how long it will take.
And I want to do all 3 consecutively, so I will have to plan the times.
So I will:
12.30pm - Walk to bank
12.45pm - Get a loan
01.15pm - Take a cab to the British Embassy
01.30pm - Renounce my British citizenship
Here lies the friggin problem. When will this end?? Though my guess is half an hour, I cannot be sure!
If I do as stated above, and it takes only 1/2 hr, then I will have nothing to do from 2pm to 4.30pm!
If I start the 4 steps at 3pm, arriving at the embassy at 4pm, but it takes longer than 1/2 hr, I will be late!
Alas, it is too late to call them. They do not work on weekends either.
Why are you reading this anyway?
Titan Quest: Immortal Throne is a good game.
It is like a much better version of Diablo.
This is my first attempt, so naturally I chose the easiest style - pure magical POWAH!! aka Druid ( Storm + Nature Mastery).
In Storm, I concentrate mainly on the ice projectile spell, and maxing out the number of projectiles per shot a soon as I could.
I used 2 points to get Chain Lightning(for boss fights), another 2 for Wisp with buff(occasionally casts automatically to give me a 40% damage boost for 30s), and another 2 on a semi-decent 150dmg anti-Ice/Lightning shield.
Consequently, I find that my energy is being drained like water through a tap at full blast.
So after that, I got the aura in Nature, purely for the maximum 28% chance of casting any spells at 50% mana cost.
At lvl 26, I am now going for the magic resist, though I am still 5 points short to hit 24 points in Nature Mastery.
After I max the resist, I wonder what I should do.
Maybe I will max the buff ability of my wisp.
Then, max my ice projectile damage + speed.
Then I will go for that shield I saw in Nature.
It's got that 30s buff that increases energy regen.
Maybe when I beat the game I will try out Dream + Spirit Mastery.
Spirit Mastery has some obscene summon spells.
It beats my wisp big time, and my wisp has 99% chance of avoiding any attack.
But the best summon spell in Spirit Mastery lasts only 30s.
Papaya milk is good, but avocado milk is better.
In fact, avocado milk is the BEST!!!
Perhaps someday I will make some at home.
Someday.
Why are you reading this anyway?
Thursday, 26 April 2007
Rant 053 / Ridicules, Discoveries and Animes
"Studies have shown that most accidents occur at home."
Surprising. To me, it surely is. How they can spend good tax-payers' money on such a cool research amazes me.
"Studies have also shown that the bathroom is the most dangerous part of the home."
All those electrical appliances, razor blades, power points and fragile mirrors lying everywhere near the tub of water and, not to forget, the slippery floor.... No, I don't believe you. :P
"The second most dangerous part of the home is the kitchen."
I wouldn't have realized this if I hadn't read this! All those sharpened knives, metal utensils, machines that generate dangerous amounts of heat looked so safe...
I'm glad I'm not living in America.
I had not realized teleportation is no longer fiction until recently. Apparently it is only possible for atoms and photons. It isn't precisely "teleportation" where the exact same particle is transported to another location spontaneously, but the information of the state of the particle being "teleported" is relayed to a machine some distance away and in that machine, the characteristics of the particle is somehow imbued into a new particle.
This is like cloning, but the original state of the original particle is destroyed in the process, so there is only 1 particle with the characteristics. And the process takes mere milliseconds to happen.
This is seen as a possible means of transferring data instantaneously. LIGHT SPEED INTERNET CONNECTION!!! NO MORE LAG!!!
Sources 1 and 2 here.
Code Geass is a relatively new anime that seems very good. It's on the same level as Naruto, and its style is somewhat akin to Death Note, with its main character outwitting everyone to achieve his goals.
It was originally planned as a 1-season anime comprising of 25 episodes, but its tv ratings were so good they had to remake its last 2 episodes so that they can have a 2nd season. The last 2 episodes were supposed to be released some time ago, but no news have been released so far.
This anime poses some questions on morality to us. Are results the only thing that matters, and any methods are alright to reach your goals? In the plot, the hero is a person who is willing to kill anyone to further his plans, whether they are against him or not. Though his cause is just, his methods are highly questionable.
Surprisingly, the hot-headed, saintly dude with the big heart is not the hero in this series. Even though he focuses on saving everyone without resorting to killing, he is not even on the hero's side. How, you may ask. Just watch it.
This anime is not suitable for kids! There is 1 scene in one of the episodes that shows a bare breast of one of the women, as well as several almost-nude scenes(eg shower scenes, etc). Worse still, the plot contains hints of incest(sisters loving brothers, brother loving sisters in the wrong way mentioned in the some of the dialogues), so don't let your younger siblings watch until they're 18!
Assuming that this series ends at episode 23 this season, be forewarned that the events in episode 21 and 22 are tear-jerking. You may even feel like crying if you are focusing totally in the show. Of course, you can't appreciate a good anime series properly unless you can focus entirely on it, so you will most likely have tears.
Personally, I never expected the director to go as far as he did. I had thought good people will never die in Japanese anime until the very end, but I am proven wrong here. What's more is that not only did they use the classic method to make a death look tragic(touching speech by dying person and emotional response by people at the side), the reason behind the death, and the method of death are heartrending too.
I look forward to the next season of Code Geass, simply because there's a huge number of things unexplained, like the price of the special ability the hero received. C'MON DRAW FASTAH!!!!! I WANT TO SEE THAT FINAL FIGHT!!!!
On a side note, DON'T WATCH TSUBASA CHRONICLES!!!! It's the sort of anime that is about a never-ending cycle, like Power Rangers, with the hero jumping through endless worlds to find pieces of memories. Well, if you like this sort of thing, then fine, whatever.
I will be trying Gundam SEED Destiny and Eureka Seven soon. They seem to appear in many people's top 10 anime series. Maybe in 2-3 days.
Monday, 23 April 2007
Rant 52 / Yesterday No Longer
It seems that the salaries of our Singaporean ministers have caught the attention of more Singaporeans than any other negative news before. I can't say this is bad; I mean, their wages are more suitable for Bill Gates or something.
True, this does seem like legalized corruption, but at least in this way, we know who's bribing them. If their income is reduced to "more suitable rates", we know they will be more susceptible to bribes. How many people believe that the U.S. government officials are incorruptible?
And the fact that the pay of our ministers caught more local eyes than before tells us something about us Singaporeans. The government is the product of the people. The people is the product of a certain Lee family. And what has LKY caused Singaporeans to evolve into?
Mercenaries.
LKY didn't do this to ruin the country, that's for sure. He was smart, no doubt, to build an empire like this in such a short time. Even if his strategies were not entirely his own, the fact that he chose those ideas out of so many other is an example of how good he was.
But LKY is a product of the past. He no longer belong in this age. Times change faster than anyone can adapt. He is a product of a time when information was hard to get, and everyone was working their asses off too much to care about political stuff. Don't forget, those days were merely years after WWII, and as long as the government isn't caught embezzling, and the gov seems to be working for the people(like the commies in PRC), no one really minds.
But this is no longer those good old days. Information is only clicks away. We can find out anything we want, in mere minutes. Just google for forums, check them out, register to see all sections and keep an eye out for links, and bingo, we know everything. Only catch is whether we care enough to click at all.
If anyone really cares to look, one can probably even find out if LKY has a mole on his left butt cheek, and what size it is, in inches, and if there's hair growing from it. It is easy, unlike during the 1970s when people had to go to whatchamacallit to search for files and papers and shit.
It no longer works, this method of making everything look beautiful by telling only the sweeter part of the truth. No matter how you dress an ugly old hag with herpes, she's still one ugly old hag with herpes, however you look at her. And no matter how much you cover her, or how dim the room is, you're still going to get herpes. And you don't want to get herpes.
Well, this would have worked if the gov had made all this information secret. Not doing so had worked in the past, but the Internet has made this obsolete. If you do not want people to know, to compare this information with others, don't let it out.
We must understand that LKY loves his sons. With that sort of power he welded in those days, who wouldn't have done what he did, training his LHL and all? But that doesn't make this right. It's not exactly wrong, but LHL hasn't shown much talent the way his dad did, so it's not right either.
Just because a man is talented in some ways doesn't mean his kids will be the same. History has taught us as much, but few fathers can learn that lesson. It is human nature, and this is undeniable. But since it is not always right, someone needs to do something to fix the matter when it gets wrong.
People have tried, no doubt. All the best guys opposing the God of Sg are either exiled, bankrupt or in jail. So even if we were to vote for someone not from PAP, we don't have any capable guys to choose from. This isn't cool. It's like an MCQ in which they have cancelled all the wrong choices. Dude, you don't have any other options, and if you dislike the right answer that much, leave it blank and fail the fucking paper.
No one is happy about it, no one except his henchmen. They are not gay, they are not retards, and they are not stupid. They are just fighting for the obviously winning side of the war. And that is pretty smart, I can tell you that.
As long as the God is around to bless his followers, anyone who's unhappy about the situation should just quit the game and leave. Return when the Lord Almighty has left, and fight when the conditions are more in your favor. Right now, it's an uphill battle and the slope is as steep as LKY's left butt cheek is soft.
AAAAAAAAAAAA... must.. stop... imagining... butt.... cheek.....
Phew!
True, this does seem like legalized corruption, but at least in this way, we know who's bribing them. If their income is reduced to "more suitable rates", we know they will be more susceptible to bribes. How many people believe that the U.S. government officials are incorruptible?
And the fact that the pay of our ministers caught more local eyes than before tells us something about us Singaporeans. The government is the product of the people. The people is the product of a certain Lee family. And what has LKY caused Singaporeans to evolve into?
Mercenaries.
LKY didn't do this to ruin the country, that's for sure. He was smart, no doubt, to build an empire like this in such a short time. Even if his strategies were not entirely his own, the fact that he chose those ideas out of so many other is an example of how good he was.
But LKY is a product of the past. He no longer belong in this age. Times change faster than anyone can adapt. He is a product of a time when information was hard to get, and everyone was working their asses off too much to care about political stuff. Don't forget, those days were merely years after WWII, and as long as the government isn't caught embezzling, and the gov seems to be working for the people(like the commies in PRC), no one really minds.
But this is no longer those good old days. Information is only clicks away. We can find out anything we want, in mere minutes. Just google for forums, check them out, register to see all sections and keep an eye out for links, and bingo, we know everything. Only catch is whether we care enough to click at all.
If anyone really cares to look, one can probably even find out if LKY has a mole on his left butt cheek, and what size it is, in inches, and if there's hair growing from it. It is easy, unlike during the 1970s when people had to go to whatchamacallit to search for files and papers and shit.
It no longer works, this method of making everything look beautiful by telling only the sweeter part of the truth. No matter how you dress an ugly old hag with herpes, she's still one ugly old hag with herpes, however you look at her. And no matter how much you cover her, or how dim the room is, you're still going to get herpes. And you don't want to get herpes.
Well, this would have worked if the gov had made all this information secret. Not doing so had worked in the past, but the Internet has made this obsolete. If you do not want people to know, to compare this information with others, don't let it out.
We must understand that LKY loves his sons. With that sort of power he welded in those days, who wouldn't have done what he did, training his LHL and all? But that doesn't make this right. It's not exactly wrong, but LHL hasn't shown much talent the way his dad did, so it's not right either.
Just because a man is talented in some ways doesn't mean his kids will be the same. History has taught us as much, but few fathers can learn that lesson. It is human nature, and this is undeniable. But since it is not always right, someone needs to do something to fix the matter when it gets wrong.
People have tried, no doubt. All the best guys opposing the God of Sg are either exiled, bankrupt or in jail. So even if we were to vote for someone not from PAP, we don't have any capable guys to choose from. This isn't cool. It's like an MCQ in which they have cancelled all the wrong choices. Dude, you don't have any other options, and if you dislike the right answer that much, leave it blank and fail the fucking paper.
No one is happy about it, no one except his henchmen. They are not gay, they are not retards, and they are not stupid. They are just fighting for the obviously winning side of the war. And that is pretty smart, I can tell you that.
As long as the God is around to bless his followers, anyone who's unhappy about the situation should just quit the game and leave. Return when the Lord Almighty has left, and fight when the conditions are more in your favor. Right now, it's an uphill battle and the slope is as steep as LKY's left butt cheek is soft.
AAAAAAAAAAAA... must.. stop... imagining... butt.... cheek.....
Phew!
Friday, 20 April 2007
Rant 051 / My First Attempt At Nothing
To begin this rant, I shall state the definition of the topic.
Nothing [nuhth-ing]
–noun
Nothing [nuhth-ing]
–noun
| 1. | no thing; not anything; naught: to say nothing. |
| 2. | no part, share, or trace (usually fol. by of): The house showed nothing of its former magnificence. |
| 3. | something that is nonexistent. |
| 4. | nonexistence; nothingness: The sound faded to nothing. |
| 5. | something or someone of no importance or significance: Money is nothing when you're without health. |
| 6. | a trivial action, matter, circumstance, thing, or remark: to exchange a few nothings when being introduced. |
| 7. | a person of little or no importance; a nobody. |
| 8. | something that is without quantity or magnitude. |
| 9. | a cipher or naught: Nothing from nine leaves nine. |
| 10. | (used in conventional responses to expressions of thanks): Think nothing of it. It's nothing. Nothing to it. |
–adverb
| 11. | in no respect or degree; not at all: It was nothing like that. Nothing dismayed, he repeated his question. |
–adjective
| 12. | amounting to nothing, as in offering no prospects for satisfaction, advancement, or the like: She was stuck in a nothing job. |
Nothing is the most special idea in existence. The number that represents this was so hard to think of, it was the last to be invented. It is impossible to truly understand nothing, and even the existence of nothing is debatable.
Ask yourself this question: does nothing exist?
If it does, nothing exists! But that's not true, since I'm pretty sure I exist.
If it doesn't, nothing doesn't exist, which is not true either, since there are many things that have been thought of but do not exist, like a Singapore not ruled by the PAP.
Therefore, how do we prove that nothing exists? Or not?
Let's assume it exists. How did the Indians come up with the concept of the zero? To draw something that means nothing, why can't we simply not draw anything? Nothing means nothing, and to have something for nothing is an impossibility. Yet the zero is here, so whoever made that first zero was an absolute genius.
The first people to come up with the idea of a zero was the Babylonians in the mid 2nd millenium BC, but it was not the zero we use today because it was not used alone - it was used in numbers with more than a digit eg 10, 20, 100. The first numerical system to use the modern zero was the Hindu-Arabic number system.
This amazing system was developed by this smart guy called Brahmagupta. His most famous book, the Brahmasphutasiddhanta, was full of his rants on mathematical ideas, and he was just about right in everything but one very special thing.
The funny thing about nothing is, when you divide nothing by nothing, you don't get nothing as a result. That's what that Brahma-whatever guy got wrong. No, 0/0 is not 1 either. The answer to this equation 0/0 is undefined, ie doesn't exist.
It may be easier in most cases to assume that 0/0 is ∞, but ∞ is not a real number, and therefore not always applicable. See how complex the simple zero is?
Nothing is the only value that cannot be divided by itself. It is perfect and is better than anything in any way possible. Heck, it is even better than sex, and that's saying a lot.
So, is this proof that nothing exists, since we know it so well?
To go further, let's try our five sense. It is very easy to see nothing, feel nothing, hear nothing, taste nothing and smell nothing. Is that proof that it exists?
Not really. Nothing has no mass, and it does not have a place in the electro-magnetic spectrum. Energy has no mass, but it can be converted to mass. Nothing cannot be converted to mass even though it has no mass. Everything that exists has a natural frequency, except nothing. That is the ultimate and undeniable proof that nothing doesn't exist.
With such solid proofs from both sides of the argument, anyone can understand why the existence of nothing is not confirmed.
To get on with this mad rant on nothing, let's discuss the usage of nothing.
Nihilism is the philosophical position that nothing is the ultimate truth. It is not belief that one would subscribe to, but more like a description of something a person would argue against. When you believe a certain set of beliefs seem to be about nothing, you say it is nihilistic. Or it can be used to describe a period of time or people who embrace nothing.
Nihilism is such a fantastic idea numerous famous people wrote countless books on nihilism and anything nihilistic. Essentially, they are far ahead of me in the sense that they have written books on nothing, while all I have accomplished is a lousy rant on the same thing.
To write books on nothing and become famous must be the ultimate dream of writers anywhere. I have considered the idea of writing nothing and selling the book, and make a fortune by having created the world's first bestseller that's 500 pages thick but only contains the table of contents.
Not only do I know it will not work, I have also figured that people have been doing it all along since decades ago and calling their work foolscaps. Though the empty book must be the most widely-printed work in the history of written works, it is also the least mentioned and valued masterpiece that ever came into being.
Nothing only can you think nothing(nihilism), print nothing(foolscap), you can also create music that has nothing! Composed by John Cage in 1952, 4′33″ consists of 3 movements, but not a single note. To play this piece on a piano, simply sit down for four minutes and thirty-three seconds.
This is merely an example of the immense popularity of using nothing as an artistic expression. Blank sheets of canvas, cans of air, empty exam papers and the name Anon are just a few of the other ways to use nothing.
Anon is a guy who doesn't exist. His reliability is unquestionable, leading to the great success of the thousands of his work. The tales he has told throughout the milleniums are some of the most popular fiction ever produced.
Because of his absolute integrity, he has been the source of news for many reporters around the world. How he gets the info is unknown, but no one cares about that. Everyone trusts that what he says is true, even though it isn't always the case. He has also written endless posts in most forums, proving he is able to work on multiple tasks from multiple locations at the same time.
Recently, his productivity has increased tremendously with the usage of the internet. He has written extensively on any subject a person can think of, with varying degrees of success. His popularity has been maintained over the centuries, and now this has only inspired more imitations.
Nothing is frequently used to mourn dead people. In many regions of the world, having a period of time saying nothing is a sign of respect to someone dead. And in some strange cases, it is used to express respect for someone alive.
Like in classrooms, where students are forced to be silent so that their teachers can talk. Often, this results in incredibly boring monologues, but governments around the world figured that making the damned kids sleep is way better than letting them run loose and learn about smoking weed or having wild mass orgies outside.
OMG 3.40 am. GEEGEE! LOL! I'm sorry to end this here but... IT'S FUCKIN 3.40AM!!!
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