'Tis the season

To be jolly!

Christmas is coming and although this is the holidays, I just can't find the time, energy or motivation to post anything much on this blog. Moreover, I just went on two overseas trips back to back, coming back to Singapore for a rest for only a day! Have enjoyed myself thoroughly during the hols, but I personally feel kind of bored now.

If any visitors (if there be still any on this kind of dead blog) have any idea for a topic to write about, please comment on the tag board or on this post. Thanks!

14th October 2008 (San Francisco)

Finally, the 14th October 2008 in the U.S.A.

2 and a half hours to the Mac Event we all have been waiting for :)

Truth

To say that you know someone completely, utterly and truthfully, would be a statement that one has to consider deeply before it comes out of your mouth.

Ever been back stabbed before?

Thanks to a certain number of bloody a******* (whom I shall not name lest they claim this as slander), it is a feeling that I now have experienced.

You guys must think that you are so damn bloody great... who are you to judge how much each and every one has put in. 

Go ahead, lie that you have got the views as a general consensus when you actually have not asked any of the people involved.

Go ahead, get higher marks than me just because you planned, schemed behind my back, you conniving little b*******.

Go ahead, live with your conscience if you even have a slightest hint of one.

By all means, if you think that I did not do the best that I could, say it to my face you small, tiny people (a direct translation from Chinese if you don't get it). Tell me straight out and perhaps I would not be posting this now.

What hurts a person most is not an enemy that stabs you fair and square. Instead, it is a friend that has been by your side for a long time, pretending to be there for you, and turning around and stabbing you when your guard is down. That is what hurts one most.

Is there anything true in this world today? Well, apparently not, even in the one of the best secondary 4 classes of the most prestigious all-boys school in Singapore.

Friends, perhaps we once were, but don't blame me if there is a aura of hatred that radiates from me whenever I am around you. I'm done with you. You are nothing more than a small, conniving b******.

Live your life, I'll live mine. Thanks for letting me see the truth, the true conspiring side to you.

Hope that our paths never cross again, cause if they do, you will be sorry for what you have done this time.

Mac Event 14th October 2008

According to this website: http://macenstein.com/default/archives/1721

The Mac event invitation might actually be the picture of the glass trackpad :) Go to that website for more details

Apple Notebooks Event 14th October 2008

Engadget and Gizmodo have posted the invite for the Apple media event which will take place on October 14th at Apple's campus in Cupertino at 10AM PST. The invite simply reads:

The spotlight turns to notebooks.

Apple has been rumored to be delivering new MacBooks and new MacBook Pros this month. A number of leaked photoshave been circulating -- some of which are believed to be real.

More from: http://www.macrumours.com/

Singapore Formula 1 Night Race

This post, sadly, is about the Singapore Formula 1 Night Race that took place yesterday night.

Nope, I did not have the chance to get tickets to the actual race itself, but it was good enough to watch it on television. However, I must say, that as a Ferrari fan, it was a weekend that took me on an emotional rollercoaster and yesterday was a night of heartbreak and sadness.

It must be one of the first times that I actually watched the entire race. In previous races, I either just waited for the news in the newspapers or on the television to enlighten me on the results. Sometimes, even if I was slacking around in a hotel room on holiday and there was a race on television, I would not take the time to watch it. "How boring", I would say, "cars going round and round and round and round..."

To say that yesterday's night race was a boring one would be to tell a complete lie. Definitely an eventful race, I must say that it was thrilling at the very least.

Car crashes: check (times 3)

Random stuff: check (many)

Unexpected winner: check (Fernando Alonso, finally!)

But back to the Ferraris (is this spelt correctly?). 

Felipe Massa was perhaps a little rash in his decisions for the night. He was all out to win and would have easily done so if he had not made a stupid mistake in the pit. Driving out from the pit with the hose still attached? Why!? The only reason that I can think of is that he was too worried about losing his lead or dropping way too far behind. Making that mistake not only cost him the race with him dropping to the back of the pack, but in my opinion, has also cost him the drivers' championship.

Perhaps if we take a lesson from this incident, I can think of a way that I have benefitted from his mistake. I am definitely not going to be a driver like him, but I think that his mistake can be reflected in any other things that we do.

We start off leading, being way ahead of the rest. But we grow too worried about achieving success, we try too hard, and we end up making stupid mistakes that harm us in a way that we never thought was possible. In this day and age, if you are not the best, you are nothing. It is of utmost importance (at least for me) that one keeps in mind that it is the smallest things in life that will trip you up and cause you to fall. The people around you are also not going to help you up, they are just going to trample over you and even mock your downfall.

We also see Kimi Raikkonen, the former world champion. Yes, he may have earned the nickname "Iceman" for him keeping his cool in the worst of situations and yes, I respect him for the fighting spirit that he showed yesterday night, climbing back all the way to 4th in the race. I have no critique on him but I have learnt something from him as well.

He crashed with 4 laps to go. Perhaps a little bitter, a little anger, but all in all, I guess the more likely than not, disappointed with himself. All it took was a slip in concentration, a little mistake, and that sealed his fate on this race. 

He was focused on winning and I applaud him for that. We are all focused on our goals and aspirations and need to be reminded that a simple slip in our focus could easily bring down everything that we have worked for in the better part of our life.

As the newspaper put it, it was a nightmare race for Ferrari. And yes, it was also a nightmare race for any Ferrari fans that were fortunate enough to be sitting there in the grandstands. However, all in all, this was a race to remember and I can say that I am proud of this achievement of Singapore's :)

Apple Ipod Updates :)

Released September 9th, September 10th Singapore time

It's super great! New iPod nano, new features for iPod touch and Classic.

iPod nano

iPod nano is back to its taller version similar to the 2nd Generation one, but it's even better :)The new iPod is oval in cross section, and is the thinnest iPod ever created. Screen is in a portrait when upright, however, when turned, the accelerometer will sense that change, changing it into a landscape screen. Allows you to watch movies, view pictures in their correct aspect ratio :) The colours you can get this iPod in are vibrant, termed nano chromatic.

Genius

The Genius function is the new super-cool new feature for all iPods (except for the Shuffle) and iTunes. By clicking on the function while playing a song, the application will create a playlist of songs that go well together with that song that is being played, with up to 100 songs in the auto playlist.

Works well in my opinion, listening and viewing the demos from the Keynote. Will definitely help me in my playlist making :) I always never know what songs to put in a playlist.

Spore

You know the game from EA: Spore? Shipping now, it is going to be an application that can be played in both the iPod touch and the iPhone.

Prices

iPod Touch prices have been slashed and the 80gb model of the iPod Classic has been upgraded to a 120gb one for no price increase :) Will get a iPod Touch for myself sooner or later hopefully.

Sadly this keynote was focused totally on the Music aspects of the Apple Company. I was hoping for perhaps a iMac or Macbook updates.

Still hoping that the Macbook Touch rumours are true :)

Results!

Unlike what I had expected for my GPA this semester (which was to maintain a 3.8 something), I exceeded my own expectations!

Old news, but new on this blog! I managed to procure a GPA of 3.91, which was basically the highest in my entire class :)

HAPPY!

Post

Previous was just for the sake of it.

AND

To prove the fact that I am kinda losing my mind.

Yay

Random quiz thing on like three people's blogs (shan't name who)

Your result for The Quick & Painless ENNEAGRAM Test...

8 - the Asserter

you chose AY - your Enneagram type is EIGHT (aka "The Challenger").

"I must be strong"

Asserters are direct, self-reliant, self-confident, and protective.

How to Get Along with Me

• Stand up for yourself... and me.



• Be confident, strong, and direct.



• Don't gossip about me or betray my trust.



• Be vulnerable and share your feelings. See and acknowledge my tender,
  vulnerable side.



• Give me space to be alone.



• Acknowledge the contributions I make, but don't flatter me.



• I often speak in an assertive way. Don't automatically assume it's
  a personal attack.



• When I scream, curse, and stomp around, try to remember that's just
  the way I am.

What I Like About Being a EIGHT

• being independent and self-reliant



• being able to take charge and meet challenges head on



• being courageous, straightforward, and honest



• getting all the enjoyment I can out of life



• supporting, empowering, and protecting those close to me



• upholding just causes

What's Hard About Being a EIGHT

• overwhelming people with my bluntness; scaring them away when I don't intend to



• being restless and impatient with others' incompetence



• sticking my neck out for people and receiving no appreciation for it
  



• never forgetting injuries or injustices



• putting too much pressure on myself



• getting high blood pressure when people don't obey the rules or when
  things don't go right

EIGHTs as Children Often

• are independent; have an inner strength and a fighting spirit



• are sometimes loners



• seize control so they won't be controlled



• fugure out others' weaknesses



• attack verbally or physically when provoked



• take charge in the family because they perceive themselves as the strongest, or grow up in difficult or abusive surroundings

EIGHTs as Parents

• are often loyal, caring, involved, and devoted



• are sometimes overprotective



• can be demanding, controlling, and rigid

RV Limelight (or otherwise known as Raffles Institution Choir Limelight)

I feel a certain obligation to blog about the above mentioned due to the barrage of blog posts about it on my fellow choristers' blogs.

Well, it was certainly a blast, for us the performers and you the audience. I hope that you, sitting in one of the thousand seats that we managed to sell, did indeed enjoy yourself with the varied repertoire that we presented.

Well done RV!

Time

It Might Be You

Time, I've been passing time
Watching trains go by.
All of my life,
Lying on the sand watching seabirds fly.
Wishing there would be
Someone waiting home for me.
Something's telling me it might be you
It's telling me it might be you...
All of my life...

Looking back as lovers go walking past...
All of my life,
Wondering how they met and what makes it last.
If I found the place,
Would I recognize the face?
Something's telling me it might be you.
Yeah, it's telling me it might be you.

So many quiet walks to take
So many dreams to wake
And we've so much love to make
I think we're gonna need some time
Maybe all we need is time...
And it's telling me it might be you
All of my life...

I've been saving love songs and lullabies
And there's so much more
No one's ever heard before...
Something's telling me it might be you
Yeah, it's telling me it must be you
And I'm feeling it'll just be you
All of my life...

It's you...
It's you...
I've been waiting for all of my life...

(Maybe) It's you... (It's you)
(Maybe) It's you... (It's you)
I've been waiting for all of my life...

(Maybe) It's you... (It's you)
(Maybe) It's you... (It's you)
I've been waiting for all of my life...

I totally love this oldie. Perhaps the singer is talking about a human being of the opposite sex. But, more importantly, it shows how long he is willing to wait just for his dreams to come true.

Time, something that we cannot control or stop.

Time, something that goes on without care for any man.

Time, something that passes by.

Let's stop just dreaming or waiting for our dreams to materialize.

---

On a side note: THE BEIJING OLYMPICS OPENING CEREMONY OWNZ!!! Cannot believe that I am still watching the Singapore NDP after watching that imba display by China.

Kudos to Zhang Yimou, keeping his audience continually mesmerized by the stunning displays and seamless transitions, portraying 5000 years of Chinese history in just a short 2 hours.

To all the performers and the people working in the backstage: I applaud thee!

Of assignments and late nights

It's been a really long time since I last updated this blog, but as you guys (those that actually read the posts) can see from the title, there is a reason for it.

To tell you the truth, this is the first time for this term that I have stayed up to this time (that I am posting this post) <-- (sounds weird "posting this post"), to complete assignments. It's procrastination on my part and I will not lie about it. All the assignments that were rushed tonight were all part of a vicious cycle of:

1. I have tomorrow to do it.
2. I have the next day to do it.
...
x. I have the day before handing in to do it. (x being the numerical value of the number of days between the due date and the date I received the assignment)

In between the x number of days, some other assignment will pop up, and thus the cycle continues.

I need to do something about it. (But... that's what we all say)

Raffles Voices Limelight

Hey guys,

Raffles Voices will be performing at the Esplanade concert hall in Limelight on the 5th of August 2008.

Details are as follows:

Venue: Esplanade
Date: 5th August 2008
Time: 7.30pm
Ticket prices: $15 (students) $20 (adults) plus SISTIC charge

Contact me to buy tickets :)

Finally

A well deserved break today after a few months of slogging for the SS documentary :)

But I just had to go waste a few hours of it by going to school for supposed practice. Bloody idiots, cancel practice then also never inform me.

I got pissed, so decided to have nothing to do with the a cappella group from now on.

:(

No updates for a long time thanks to the fact that I am seriously very very busy with my SS documentary.

Will be attempting to complete it by this Thursday...

Let me think

Hmm...

No conclusion.

Haha, feeling random today cause I HAVE NO SCHOOL!!!

It got burnt down during our fire drill yesterday (joking)...

Why I love my school!

Remember my previous post when I said that Mondays are great because they are only 4 days from the weekends?

Well, why do I love my school? Simply because there are days called Staff Training Days and Day-offs!

This weekend is here 3 days after Monday! The teachers are all going to Sentosa tomorrow for Staff Training, so no lessons, and no school!

We have a three day week in Term 4 Week 3, as the Monday is Youth Day and the Friday is the Day-off that the school owes us from last term!

Then week 4 is school-less :) Why? APCG! Asian Pacific Conference for the Gifted or something like that. Hosting the conference requires space and with RI boys in the campus, there will NOT be any space. No school!!!

That's all. This term has lots of unofficial school declared no school days!

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

ARGH!!!!!

I am positively going to die for SS documentary.

Why so? Someone's mother conveniently brings the camera back to work, so he cannot pass me the videos he supposedly has filmed.

Then when asked about the script that he was supposed to do? No answer.

As I said to him, if you don't want to do work, tell me. I do not really care.

My ability allows me to complete the work faster than him, and definitely to a better standard.

Just get out of this "Oh-I-will-do-but-later-sorry" kind of mode.

It just slows me down as I trust that you will do, and don't do that part, then later have to go back and do it cause you DID NOT DO IT!!!

A******

Monday Blues

Yes, it is the first day of term 3, the first day of my last semester in Raffles Institution.

But it is also a Monday, and with Monday's come a lot of interesting things that happen to people.

1. People realise that it is a Monday, and start complaining about going back to school/work
2. Monday mornings are a drag and very very stone. Must be the reason for the slack day I had in school today :) or maybe the teachers just decided to be nice today
3. Then they realise (for students) that they have a lot of backlog of school work due on that Monday, and start PANICKING!!!
4. People do not read blogs that much as they are panicking over all of the above

Evidence for number 4? My unique blog visitors for Mondays dip 30%. That's counts for a lot to me considering the little number of visitors I get per week...

But what's great about Mondays?

It's only another 4 more days till the weekend.

IT LIVES!!!!!

A fitting response to the previous post.

I have managed to revive my laptop from the dead. Something like maybe Frankenstein or something... This comes after my trip to Universal where horror movies with revived undead are super famous :)

But I do not have time to update about the rest of the days. Will find time sooner or later

Death

no, not morbid stuff.

Only that my laptop died on me during this trip. Therefore, there will not be anymore updates on this blog from America :(

Day 4

Hi guys, sorry about this late update about day 4.

Today was the day that we went to Barclays Global Investors. Given the fact that this company manages 2 trillion dollars in assets management, it is no wonder that they have to use infocomm technology to their advantage over other asset management companies.

So firstly, we started off the day with a short introduction to the company. All the coporate stuff, like how much it is worth, what they do, how the work is split up into the different sections in the company. Mostly not really interesting stuff, until we got to the part where we role-played as traders in a mock trading game.

In this mock trading game, we had to manage the trading of 2 stocks, namely Barclays and Apple Inc.. Through buying and selling, we attempted to make a profit from the stocks, with prices fluctuating during the entire game. But the most important part of the game was not the profits, but whether we managed to record accurately the amount of stocks traded, together with the profits or losses.

Apparently, that was what decided the winner of the game and it was also supposedly really difficult to get the exact amount stated by the traders and the back office (the person keeping the books on all the trades). However, my team (Mr. Soon, Mrs. Chor, Me, Jiahui, Shuwen, Zewei) managed to get the exact amount of about $500,000++. This showed us how trading in the past (without technology) is completely different from today. With a click of a mouse today, we can sell millions of shares without having to keep tabs on it. The software will do it for us.

We won, winning ourselves a lovely BGI bag with lots of souvenirs from San Francisco each. The other groups also got the bag, without the souvenirs :)

With 2 trillion in assets, BGI played a good host, hosting us lunch and inviting one of their managers to speak to us during the lunch break.

After lunch, we had about 2/3 hours to burn cause the people from Stanford were hosting us at only 4pm. To do so, we made a trip to the NASA visitor centre :) It was really interesting and educational, letting us have a peek into the lives of astronauts in space, and also allowing us to see the current development of space technology.

Onward to Stanford University!!! Quite a short tour by two Singaporean students, however, since Mr. Soon knew the place rather well (he studied there!!!), we got a short tour from him too. We saw the library, the fountains (fountain hopping whee!!!), the church, the open field (forgot the actual name) and of course, the bookstore which apparently sells more of other stuff than books. It's a huge bookstore, but only half of the bottom floor sells books. The second floor sells stuff like shirts, sweatshirts, electronics (including Apple stuff), has a cafe, but NO BOOKS! Really expensive, unless you have a student's discount...

Oh and that day we went there was their graduation night, so there were shirts for the CLASS OF 2008!!! All the sec 4s bought one each, going to wear it on Mufti day! (correct class, wrong school XD)

After dinner, back to hotel. Sleep!!!

And backlog of other days will be fulfilled in the days to come. Right now, I am unable to sleep due to jet lag, therefore posting at 5.47am on the 19th of June.

sry

Feeling tired, so no update on today...

Day 3

Once again, we woke up before the alarm that we had set. Slept late (1 am), and woke up earlier (5.45 am) than Day 2. However, we spent 20 min slacking until 6+ before we started getting ready for the day. Breakfast was exactly same as the day as before :)

We were supposed to set out for Autodesk at 8.30 am, however, some people decided to come really early and we set out at 9 am instead.

Due to the non-disclosure agreement we signed at Autodesk, this post will have almost nothing about what we have seen at there, but all I can say is that it is really exciting new technology that will revolutionize the way we use our computers and hand-held devices.

And for once, we were bought lunch at Autodesk! Although to me, I thought that the food tasted somewhat weird, I don't really mind. The people there really know how to be a good host!

After that, we made our way back up to the Computer History Museum:

Old, old computers there... With even some that I have not even heard of. I saw the first ever Apple desktop computer, the first IBM computer, the first super computers. Lots and lots of interesting stuff :)

I'm kind of sleepy today, because of the late sleeping and waking up early, therefore this post will be slightly shorter than the previous one.

Signing off!

Day 2

Today started off with a spontaneous waking up of all the people in my room at 6 am exactly. No idea why, but we all started waking up past 5.59 am although we set an alarm for 7 am.

In true Infocomm Club member/EXCO style, we all started using our laptops, attempting to use the internet through the free wireless that we have in all our rooms. But to our dismay and utter horror, we connected to the router but no connection to the internet! We had to wait till after breakfast, which took place at 7 am to 8 am, before getting back on the internet.

Breakfast today was toast, waffles, cereal and egg. Beverages included orange juice, milk, coffee and tea. No idea if we will get anything different tomorrow... Even not, I don't really mind eating the stuff listed above.

So we left the Comfort Inn at 9.30 am, leaving for HP Labs. Cameras were not allowed inside, so this is the only picture that I can post up on this blog:
What I can say is that HP Labs was quite a let down for myself personally. I thought we would be able to experience or at least see some of the new technologies that come out of the Labs. However, we were merely introduced to all the older stuff that have come out of the Labs, did not even get to see the memristor...

Having lunch in their canteen, I must say that I have consumed one of the most oily lunches in my life. It was a grilled double cheese, double bacon burger, with oil lining the plate. Tasted not too bad, but I really cannot say that it agrees with my stomach cause I have not been eating oily food for a long long time.

After lunch, we made a trip down to the Intel Museum. Really beautiful Intel sign just outside the museum. We spent about 20 min taking pictures around there:

Sign outside the museum

Sign on the glass door of the museum

Sign inside the museum

Inside the museum, we got to see the history of the company Intel, with us learning the processes behind the making of your Intel chips that power your computer. Also, we saw how the chips have changed over the years.

I bought an Intel stress ball!!!


After that, we went to the Great Mall for dinner. Yes, the Great Mall, not the Great Wall. Super large mall, that me and the rest of the Infocomm EXCO walked around 3 times over. Reason for this? We missed the stores we wanted to go to: missed RadioShack by walking past it because Zewei wanted to get scammed by a Tetris style game, missed Claire's cause we did not see it when walking past it by looking at only the centre aisle.

Uneventful time after that, including the fact that we had to wait 15 min for Zewei to buy stuff from a certain store.

MacDonald's for dinner, so nothing much to talk about that.

Back to the hotel room at about 7.30 pm.

Day 1

My first blog post from the Silicon Valley, United States of America!

Day 1 was a slack one :) Traveling for a grand total of 1 hour (from 7.15 am to 8.30 am, the 9th of June), arriving in Silicon Valley on the same day that we left Singapore although the actual traveling time was about 12 to 13 hours :)

First day visit was to the Tech Museum. Lots of cool exhibits in that museum, interactive exhibits (you can make your own roller coaster ride then ride it, choose a team and then start sleighing with it). Quite suitable for young children in the primary levels, but still was a 2x Singapore Science Centre experience.

After that visit, we took a trip down to GGB, the Golden Gate Bridge, icon of San Francisco. You know the bridge that everyone has a picture of in their mind when they think of San Francisco. Here, a reminder:

I took this myself :) Have more in my drive, but it takes way too long to upload...

Dinner at 5.30pm, then back to hotel room. Passed by the WWDC 2008 centre, saw that everyone was leaving cause it was ending. Due to the fact that it is still summer here, the sun only started setting at about 9pm US time...

Free wireless internet in the room!!! I will update daily on whatever is happening in the Silicon Valley.

Countdown Silicon Valley

9 hours to go!

As such, this will be the last post from Singapore for the next 10 days. I will be posting from Silicon Valley from the 9th to the 18th of June :)

Countdown Silicon Valley

2 days to go!

Countdown Silicon Valley

3 days to go!

Countdown Silicon Valley

4 days to go!

Incongruity

Blog name: Nihil (which means nil; nothing)
Blog address: http://mattanmusings.blogspot.com/
Blog posts: Mainly informative posts about my life, not much of my own thoughts on the events that happen in it (compare to other blogs on my link list, they do so much more thinking than I do). Maybe it's just because I take this as a brain dead record of my life :)

Go figure...

I'm labeling this as "musings"...

Itinerary update

Edit: We might not be going to UC Berkeley when visiting Silicon Valley for some reason.

2nd Edit: We are still going to Universal Studios although there was a fire that gutted many sets of movies, including the set of King Kong... Lolz

Countdown Silicon Valley

6 days to go!

The Computer History Museum

The Computer History Museum is a museum established in 1996 in Mountain View, California, when The Computer Museum (TCM, in Boston) sent the majority of its historical collection to Moffett Field, California, so that TCM could concentrate on computing-related exhibits for children. Thus, it was originally the West Coast division of The Computer Museum, named The Computer Museum History Center until it shortened its name in 2001, dedicated to preserving and presenting the stories and artifacts of the information age, and exploring the computing revolution and its impact on our lives.

When The Computer Museum closed in 1999, its exhibit collection was absorbed into the Museum of Science collection in Boston. In February 2000 the remaining historical artifacts were sent to The Computer Museum History Center at Moffett Field.

Originally located at Moffett Field in an old building that was previously the Naval Base furniture store, the museum acquired its current building (previously occupied by Silicon Graphics), at 1401 N. Shoreline Blvd. in Mountain View, California, USA (Silicon Valley) in October 2002. It opened there to the public in June 2003.

The Museum currently has three unique exhibits highlighting important milestones from the history of computing, visible storage, the history of software/computer chess, and inventions from Silicon Valley companies and people. A Difference Engine No. 2, designed by Charles Babbage in the 1840s and constructed by the Science Museum (London) in London will be exhibited from 10 May 2008 through April 2009.

The museum's 15,000 square foot exhibit "Timeline of Computing History", covering 2,000 years of computing history will open in late 2009.

Tour hours are currently (2008) offered four afternoons per week on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Admission is free, donations are appreciated.

The Computer History Museum is home to the largest and most significant collection of computing artifacts in the world. This includes many rare or one-of-a-kind objects such as a Cray-1 supercomputer as well as a Cray-2, Cray-3 and on request, Cray-4 parts, the Utah teapot, the 1969 Neiman Marcus Kitchen Computer, Hewitt Crane's all-magnetic computer, an Apple I, and an example of the first generation of Google's racks of custom-designed web servers[3]. The collection comprises nearly 50,000 objects, photographs and films, as well as 4,000 linear feet of cataloged documentation and several hundred gigabytes of software.

One can join the group of volunteers, which includes Docents and Greeters, to help run the various activities at CHM: regular and highlight tours of the "Visible Storage", lecture series, CHM Fellow Awards, restoration of selected computers, and special events.

Gwen Bell informally started the collection of artifacts brought by Gordon Bell (then working at Digital Equipment Corporation and working on the "Computer Structures" book with Alan Newell, CMU) with an internal DEC museum, the TCM and served as the founding President of TCM.

Countdown Silicon Valley

7 days to go!

quote unquote retardedly accurate quiz

Thanks ah Zewei...

http://www.quizbox.com/personality/test82.aspx

Your view on yourself:

You are down-to-earth and people like you because you are so straightforward. You are an efficient problem solver because you will listen to both sides of an argument before making a decision that usually appeals to both parties.

The type of girlfriend/boyfriend you are looking for:

You like serious, smart and determined people. You don't judge a book by its cover, so good-looking people aren't necessarily your style. This makes you an attractive person in many people's eyes.

Your readiness to commit to a relationship:

You are ready to commit as soon as you meet the right person. And you believe you will pretty much know as soon as you might that person.

The seriousness of your love:

You like to flirt and behave seductively. The opposite sex finds this very attractive, and that's why you'll always have admirers hanging off your arms. But how serious are you about choosing someone to be in a relationship with?

Your views on education

Education is very important in life. You want to study hard and learn as much as you can.

The right job for you:

You have plenty of dream jobs but have little chance of doing any of them if you don't focus on something in particular. You need to choose something and go for it to be happy and achieve success.

How do you view success:

You are afraid of failure and scared to have a go at the career you would like to have in case you don't succeed. Don't give up when you haven't yet even started! Be courageous.

What are you most afraid of:

You are afraid of having no one to rely on in times of trouble. You don't ever want to be unable to take care of yourself. Independence is important to you.

Who is your true self:

You like privacy very much because you enjoy spending time with your own thoughts. You like to disappear when you cannot find solutions to your own problems, but you would feel better if you learned to share your thoughts with a person you trust.

Countdown Silicon Valley

8 days to go!

Countdown Silicon Valley

9 days to go!

A long day ahead

Indeed, a long day for my parents on the 9th of June.

That's the day when I leave for Silicon Valley, with the condition that I reach Changi Airport by 5 am in the morning. The flight is at 7+ am, so that's just about right.

And that's also the day when my sister comes back from her choir trip to Poland and Vienna. She will be arriving at 1500+hrs, which means my parents have to go back to the airport at that time to fetch her.

Isn't that just fun?

I think NOT

Countdown Silicon Valley

11 days to go!

As Promised... + Countdown Silicon Valley

This is the edit for the list of places I will be visiting!

Day 01: The Tech Museum
Day 02: HP Labs, Intel Museum
Day 03: Autodesk Inc., Computer History Museum
Day 04: Barclays Capital, Stanford University
Day 05: Apple Computer Inc., UC Berkeley
Day 06: Road-trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles
Day 07: Universal Studios
Day 08: NBC Universal Digital, Fox Interactive Media
Day 09: Depart U.S.A. for Singapore

I will be away from the 9th to the 18th (late night)/19th (early morning). But that doesn't mean that I will be totally away. I still will be able to update this blog as both the hotels we stay in have Internet access, one with Wireless and the other without. One of them definitely is free access, however, for the other, I am not too sure!

So stay tuned for updates (writing from America) on this trip!

12 days to go!!!

Wireless@SG

Wireless@SG is something super great.

I am posting this post from Changi Airport...

We really need full wireless for the entire Singapore (must be FREE!!!)

Countdown Silicon Valley

13 days to go!

Countdown Silicon Valley

14 days to go!

1 Infinite Loop

Apple Headquarters: 1 Infinite Loop Cupertino, California

Infinite Loop is a street encircling the six main buildings of Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, California. Each building has a number which corresponds to its single-digit address on the Loop, and so Apple's official mailing address is "1 Infinite Loop". The numbers increment in the clockwise direction. Employees often refer to the buildings as IL1 through IL6. The loop connects to Mariani Avenue, which was the former street address of Apple HQ; early printed material contains the address "20525 Mariani Avenue".

Infinite Loop is at the southeast corner of De Anza Boulevard and Interstate 280. The main office, 1 Infinite Loop, directly faces De Anza Boulevard. There are other buildings on Apple's campus which are in the proximity of, but not on Infinite Loop. Apple has purchased a nearby parcel of land on which to build a second campus.

The name was inspired by the programming concept of the infinite loop.

And yes, at the end of Infinite Loop, the famous Company Store where one can buy all sorts of souvenirs with the Apple logo on it, including shirts and hoodies.

As to whether one can purchase the CPUs from there, it's kind of ambiguous. No hard facts and people who have been there tend to disagree with each other.

Hmm, wonder if there are iPhones there too

Silicon Valley Trip 2008

Details for the Infocomm trip have finally been settled :)

Leaving Singapore on the 9th of June, the places I will be visiting are:

1. The Tech Museum
2. Computer History Museum
3. HP
4. Intel
5. Apple (Yay! I hope that I can get to buy something at The Company Store! XD)
6. UC Berkeley
7. Stanford University
8. Fox
9. Universal Studios
10. NBC

That's all I can remember for now! Edits coming for the exact locations of the places.

Posts will follow with the information on the places I am visiting.

SO EXCITED!!! *Faints*

Countdown starts today!

15 days to go.

Results

Here's an update on the latest marks that I got for my academic stuff :)

Literature CCT: 23/25 (highest mark so far!!!)
Chem SPA: 20/23 (quite sad about this...)
Bio SPA: 9/12 (this is even sadder for me)

I think that I suck at SPAs, have not been able to get a single 90% and above for any SPA...

Any hints?

SS

someone help!!!!

I'm positively going to fail the SS documentary...

All my group members are some slacker bastards, need me to push then got something done...

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Plus I will be away for two weeks during the hols in Silicon Valley...

DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wireless = Not connected

Well a wireless connection has no wires attached to the router.

Isn't that already obvious?

But what is not obvious is that that makes it simply so easy to go "missing", if you get what I mean.

Why do I say so?

That's because when I went into the Robotics Lab last Friday, our wireless router went, yes you guessed it, MIA...

Gone... And I can't even do anything even though I know where it went...

Blog Explosion

Hey guys!

Wanna drive traffic to your blogs?

Try the link labeled Blog Explosion under my links!

It drives traffic to your blog really well!

Active

Realised that this month, May, has been one of my more active months.

Blog posts have increased, number of visitors have been maintained over 90 :)

But truly, preparation for so many things, such as academic work (bio FPS, bio portfolio, english portfolio, chemistry OBA, chinese mid-years), other non-academic stuff (Open house, iPiC, robotics lessons that I taught), have put so much on my mind that most of these posts have been random ramblings...

Plus, there are ads for the Prince Caspian movie on my blog :)

What an abrupt end.

LONG

wah, i took so long to solve yuxin's quiz...

but must forgive myself cos im brain dead when watching TV :) which is what I am doing right now! wu xia xiao shuo shows damn NICE!

Qns :)

Random quiz for all of you guys and girls bored out there. Some of you might have seen this from Dennis, but since I have provided the answers in an earlier post, this will come above it when posted :)

Read and try to solve! Answers in previous post if required...

Qn. 1: Joe lives in a one-room cabin where all four walls face due South. On his way out one afternoon he is attacked by a bear. What color must is the bear?

Qn. 2: A man has hanged himself from the rafters in a large barn. There is no way to climb up the walls to the rafters and it is well out of jumping distance. The only other thing in the entire barn is a small puddle of water underneath him. How was the man able to reach the rafters to hang himself?

Qn. 3: A man lies dead in a field with a small, unopened package near him. He was not killed by any animal or other person, and he did not die from natural causes. The package did not explode directly injur the man, but it did contribute to the situation of his death. How did he die?

Qn 4: On the side of a snowy mountain, near a frosty stream, 40 people lie dead in a cabin. There were no murders of any type and none of the group died naturally. Every one that entered the cabin never exited, so there are no survivors. How did they die?

No ideas? Scroll down and read the answers!

In response to Dennis

Thanks Dennis for that super easy follow-up quiz!

Here are the answers!

Qn. 1: Joe lives in a one-room cabin where all four walls face due South. On his way out one afternoon he is attacked by a bear. What color must is the bear?
Ans 1:White, cause he is at the North pole, that's why all the walls face South as none can face North...

Qn. 2: A man has hanged himself from the rafters in a large barn. There is no way to climb up the walls to the rafters and it is well out of jumping distance. The only other thing in the entire barn is a small puddle of water underneath him. How was the man able to reach the rafters to hang himself?
Ans 2: He stood on a block of ice then the ice melted, leaving the puddle of water.

Qn. 3: A man lies dead in a field with a small, unopened package near him. He was not killed by any animal or other person, and he did not die from natural causes. The package did not explode directly injur the man, but it did contribute to the situation of his death. How did he die?
Ans 3: He was parachuting and his parachute failed to open. He fell to his death.

Qn 4: On the side of a snowy mountain, near a frosty stream, 40 people lie dead in a cabin. There were no murders of any type and none of the group died naturally. Every one that entered the cabin never exited, so there are no survivors. How did they die?
Ans 4: It was an aircraft cabin :) The plane crashed and all of the passengers died...

Here you go, the answers for those who failed to answer :)

Talk, talk, talk, talk, talk and more talk

Major failing of some people: Talk but no action.

Especially pissing if you are actually trying to get some action from them through thinly veiled criticisms, but all they like is nice sweet emails that have no truth or value in them.

Saying no.

What's so bad about that?

What's so wrong about that?

What's so negative about that?

No, we can't just accept a criticism to ourselves and move on.

No, we can't just stand there, allowing someone to berate us and say nothing in return.

But what stops us from saying no?

Is it fear?

Is it this inherent fear that we might bring something worse upon ourselves?

Is it this nagging, uncontrollable, unending fear that we feel whenever we try to say no?

We have been taught not to be rude, not to defy our elders, not to respond in such a way that might show disrespect to authority.

We are berated, and scolded for defending against the accusations facing us everyday.

We are taught not to say no.

What is authority without people?

What is leadership without followers?

What is life without the people that live it?

Let us learn.

Let us learn how to do so.

Let us learn, to say no.

A dedication to you: the person who says no.

I give up

Responsibilities, responsibilities

What am I supposed to do?

I can't go for one CCA and not go for the other.

Yet I can't go for the other CCA and not go for this one.

I have a responsibility for both CCAs, but when both clash, what should I do?

I cannot take it as merit or core to decide, because that just isn't fair to my merit. Merit CCAs are still CCAs, aren't they?

To those who know what I'm going through, to those who know what I'm talking about, please, help me by just understanding what I feel.

I'm not sure what to do.

I'm not fading away or drifting away from choir, it's just that things happen, and I can't control all that happens. It just so happens that Infocomm clashes with a lot of choir stuff, for example the robotics people have to prepare for competition, staying back everyday. Commitment it is, but this reflects badly on my choir attendance. Mondays are the only time that I can actually sit down and plan something with my robotics sec three Ian, but that is also the time when I have to go for choir.

Granted that I have excuses from Infocomm teachers, but that just doesn't seem right to me. Excuses, in all validity, are still excuses. They are not reasons for anything whatsoever.

I can't be in two places at once.

I can't be singing in LT3 or leading combined in LT2 and still be able to be sitting in the robotics lab planning out the schedule for iPiC (inter-primary infocomm challenge) or sorting out the teams for NJRC.

There's so much to do for both CCAs.

I want to stay committed to both, but if this is the way that things continue, I guess that it's goodbye to one of them. And if you know my position in the choir, you will see that the choice of adieu will be quite an obvious one.

But this is not what I want.

I don't want to be labeled a quitter, labeled a leaver or even labeled as an irresponsible guy. I don't want myself to be labeled a drifter, I want to be part and play a part in both CCAs.

Shit happens, and it happens a lot to the people in the society.

Especially me.

Let me out of this conundrum of responsibilities! I need to regain my sanity and fix my heart that was damaged by comments, comments that perhaps to others did not seem like a serious one, but were comments that destroyed what I had felt for everyone in a certain CCA.

Yes, I am a drifter, but it's not my choice.

Meaningful

‘Let me explain the problem science has with Jesus Christ.’ The atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students to stand.

‘You’re a Christian, aren’t you, son?’

‘Yes sir,’ the student says.

‘So you believe in God?’

‘Absolutely.’

‘Is God good?’

‘Sure! God’s good.’

‘Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?’

‘Yes.’

‘Are you good or evil?’

‘The Bible says I’m evil.’

The professor grins knowingly. ‘Aha! The Bible!’ He considers for a moment.

‘Here’s one for you. Let’s say there’s a sick person over here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help him? Would you try?’

‘Yes sir, I would.’

‘So you’re good…!’

‘I wouldn’t say that.’

‘But why not say that? You’d help a sick and maimed person if you could. Most of us would if we could. But God doesn’t.’

The student does not answer, so the professor continues. ‘He doesn’t, does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him How is this Jesus good? Hmmm? Can you answer that one?’

The student remains silent.

‘No, you can’t, can you?’ the professor says. He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax.

‘Let’s start again, young fella Is God good?’

‘Er…yes,’ the student says.

‘Is Satan good?’

The student doesn’t hesitate on this one. ‘No.’

‘Then where does Satan come from?’

The student : ‘From…God…’

‘That’s right. God made Satan, didn’t he? Tell me, son. Is there evil in this world?’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Evil’s everywhere, isn’t it? And God did make everything, correct?’

‘Yes.’

‘So who created evil?’ The professor continued, ‘If God created everything, then God created evil, since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then God is evil.’

Without allowing the student to answer, the professor continues: ‘Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things, do they exist in this world?’

The student: ‘Yes.’

‘So who created them?’

The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his question. ‘Who created them? There is still no answer. Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom. The class is mesmerized.

‘Tell me,’ he continues onto another student. ‘Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?’

The student’s voice is confident: ‘Yes, professor, I do.’

The old man stops pacing. ‘Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen Jesus?’

‘No sir. I’ve never seen Him’

‘Then tell us if you’ve ever heard your Jesus?’

‘No, sir, I have not.’

‘Have you ever actually felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your Jesus? Have you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus Christ, or God for that matter?’

‘No, sir, I’m afraid I haven’t.’

‘Yet you still believe in him?’

‘Yes.’

‘According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn’t exist. What do you say to that, son?’

‘Nothing,’ the student replies. ‘I only have my faith.’

‘Yes, faith,’ the professor repeats. ‘And that is the problem science has with God. There is no evidence, only faith.’

The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of his own. ‘Professor, is there such thing as heat?’

‘Yes,’ the professor replies. ‘There’s heat.’

‘And is there such a thing as cold?’

‘Yes, son, there’s cold too.’

‘No sir, there isn’t.’

The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested. The room suddenly becomes very quiet. The student begins to explain.

‘You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, unlimited heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don’t have anything called ‘cold’. We can hit up to 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can’t go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go colder than the lowest -458 degrees. Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-458 F) is the total absence of heat. You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.’

Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom, sounding like a hammer.

‘What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing as darkness?’

‘Yes,’ the professor replies without hesitation. ‘What is night if it isn’t darkness?’

‘You’re wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light, but if you have no light constantly you have. Nothing and it’s called darkness isn’t it? That’s the meaning we use to define the word. In reality, darkness isn’t. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn’t you?’

The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him. This will be a good semester. ‘So what point are you making, young man?’

‘Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start with, and so your conclusion must also be flawed.’

The professor’s face cannot hide his surprise this time. ‘Flawed? Can you explain how?’

‘You are working on the premise of duality,’ the student explains. ‘You argue that there is life and then there’s death; a good God and a bad God. You are

viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can’t even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, just the absence of it.’

‘Now tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?’

‘If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do’

‘Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?’

The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes where the argument is going. A very good semester, indeed.

‘Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?’

The class is in uproar. The student remains silent until the Commotion has subsided.

‘To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, let me give you an example of what I mean.’

The student looks around the room. ‘Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor’s brain?’ The class breaks out into laughter.

‘Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor’s brain, felt the professor’s brain, touched or smelled the professor’s brain? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, with all due respect, sir.

So if science says you have no brain,how can we trust your lectures, sir?’

Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at the student, his face unreadable.

Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answers. ‘I guess you’ll have to take them on faith.’

‘Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact, faith exists with life,’ the student continues. ‘Now, sir, is there such a thing as evil?’

Now uncertain, the professor responds, ‘Of course, there is. We see it everyday. It is in the daily example of man’s inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil.’

To this the student replied, ‘Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God.

God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God’s love present in his heart. It’s like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light.‘

The professor sat down.

One of the more meaningful chain mails that I have seen in my life. This has a message, please do read

Wow, I have an article published

Click here.

Hey guys that read this blog,

check this link out.

It's my solenoid article from my robotics blog that has been published on someone else's website :) Only the fact that the pics are missing sucks...

How cool is that?

hap-hap-happy

14/15 for ss test again!!!

To all ye writers out there

To all the budding writers/poets/dramatists out there:

Copy this link and paste it in your address bar: http://www.thisisby.us/register.php?r=13735

Write for the world and earn some money at the same time :)

Let the world see what you can write and let this be some exposure for your dusty manuscripts left at the bottom of your cupboard/dead blogs

Lolz

Watch: Tesla Car Thief Protection



Really stupid isn't it?

Where the hell do people find time to do such stupid stuff? I can't even find time to update my blogs and they can actually make something to film???

Stupid Singapore education system, make us mug that much.

Is it even legal to do so, making students wallow in the misery of homework and the like? No longer are the days of old when children can do what they want to do, when teenagers can fiddle around with stuff that are new.

Haiz

RANDOM TUTORIAL OF THE MONTH

How to sign up for a Gmail account

Step 1:

Double-click your Internet Explorer icon. This will let you access the internet.

Step 2:

Type http://www.gmail.com into your Internet Explorer address bar.

Step 3:

You will reach the Gmail page.

Look for:

And click on “Sign up for Gmail”.

Step 4:

You will reach this page:

Step 5:

Type in your name in the first box.

In the third box, type in the name for your email address. It can be anything you want.

Then click the “Check availability!” button. If they tell you that the name for your email address has been taken, please think of another name and try again.

Step 6:

Type in your password in the first box. This password is to make sure that no one else can use your email.

Then retype your password in the second box.

Step 7:

Choose a question in the box. Type in your answer in the box below the question. This is to ensure that you are able to use your email.

Step 8:

Type in the word you see in the picture below. This may not be a word that you have learnt, but just key in the letters that you see in the picture.

Step 9:

Go down to the bottom of the page and look for this button. Click on it and you have signed up for an email account!

This btw was a tutorial that I made for some kids at Grace Orchard School, the VWO that B.E.A.T.S. will be raising funds for in a concert that will be held at the end of the year. Please support this worthy cause :)

Hmm...

Is google adsense a scam?

Got banned for invalid clicks again although there was none that I can think of...

Merger

Finally decided to sign up for Google Adsense again :)

This time, I'm working with someone, then we split profits haha...

Hope it works

shroud

I'm sad

Like really...

I just feel this sense of depression and pain whenever I think of what I'm doing.

Am I right to soldier on, doing what I hate doing?

I cried

Fun :)

In response to YH's comment that my blog is dead, I shall mimic his style in one of his posts. :) Have fun reading it YH...

Stop trying to be cynical. It's perfectly easy to be cynical.

Learning Journey day is ironic. We don't learn much at all.

Physics is PHAIL!

My Bio and Chem marks rock.

I just love having a headache and giddiness for four days running then waking up on Thursday afternoon and finding that its gone.

Cabalsea is becoming laggy :(

See: One-liners

I tried to the best of my ability, so don't come and criticize...

Back to my style.

Seriously, unlike what Dennis says on his blog, I don't think that the URA building had anything much for us to learn. Sure it was cool to look at the (thanks yuxin for defining this) "detailed miniatures", but what did we learn? Even our reflection worksheet was discussed and crappy answers were given.

And something is seriously wrong with the school's laptop. It's laggy and my internet connection dies after every 50 or so pages. So forgive me for not posting anything much. This is the first time I have had the least problems with it. Perhaps I loaded it with too much crap :)

So back to life in school. I am super happy today (and super sad, will explain later), because I got 90% for Biology and a totally unheard off (for me) 100% for Chemistry this semester. Sad? Cause I suddenly recall my Chinese and Physics marks.

iHiC today was great, went quite smoothly with not much problem. Answers to the bonus question in the pen and paper round were totally hilarious, like this one:

Qn: Problems in Vista and how to solve them?
Ans: (Solving part of the answer) trash Vista and revert to something like Ubuntu or Xubuntu.

Lol...

So I finally uploaded my pics on Flickr from my experience on the Singapore Flyer. I firstly apologise for the lousy lighting and quality, the heavens just refused to give us anything good on that day. Cloudy, but I still managed to see quite far into the distance.

Check them out here.

Not too many pictures yet cause I exceeded the monthly upload limit :) More soon to come (when I get the time that is)

Elearning

Tues-Thurs :)

We're all going to die.

I'm dying for my Chinese tigang right now :)

Results!

Looking back at last term, I must say that I am pretty pleased with my non-mugging result.

Did not do badly for a single subject, mostly scoring a 3.6 and above :) Especially happy with my second and third TAs, both full marks.

Bio was good too, although I blanked out I still managed to get 37/40... If I did not blank, perhaps would have gotten above the 40 marks thanks to bonus question.

But this term's results kind of suck.

Wait, not kind of, really suck.

60% for my ELCCT??? (Maths RA people please calculate the mark yourself) That's my lowest mark in my entire English journey through RI

Just failed my physics prac: this I was expecting, so no surprises there :( Anyway, there are still two more pracs that I can do well in, unless they let history repeat itself, and do what they did last year. People in RI should know what I am talking about.

But then again, SS was great, 14/15 for the CCT and I managed to scrape a 4.0 overall for last term thanks to that. Jwong really doesn't like our class I guess, the marks for the UNSC thing were freaking low.

Happy happy days ahead, with my SS group for the social documentary being really crappy. One person sleeps in class the whole day, another person hands work to you like 5 weeks late... How to cope? I'm not too sure myself.

Physics CCT = I fail. Our teacher really does not know how to teach, can teach us until we don't understand the topic when at first we did...

Moving along,
forging ahead,
Tis' what we do,
Till we are all dead.

That's all for now folks

Unwritten

I just need to get this off my chest.

Just to inform all that are reading this post that at the end of this year, I will cease to be in the a cappella group that I am in currently. I posted about this group earlier in the blog.

Well, that's that.

I will be back with pictures from the Singapore Flyer!!!

A post regarding singapore flyer once again

Going to sit (or stand rather, cos there are no seats XD) the singapore flyer tomorrow :)

I seriously hope that it doesn't rain, wanna take pictures :)

So much to do, so little time...

This is really the hell week of term 1...

ERP, SS all due, plus have a dramatized reading and CRP1 due next week. All have to chiong by this week, if not I will die horribly :(

Two tests: English today and Bio on wednesday, plus a very nicely put social studies open book time-based assessment --> in other words, another test.

Woots: mugged bio already, study one more time tmr

ERP due on wednesday... kind of dead for that anyways.

CRP1 : beg/borrow/steal to get a "Pride and Prejudice" or "The Portrait of Dorian Gray" (not sure if thats the right name) and write an essay using one of the questions --> once again, dead...

Argh... plus stressed over all the different camps that i have to help out in: infocomm and choir :( dunno which one to go for, both happening at the same time period

And this blog post is one that hopefully stops my blog from going dead...

Pretty ironic since im blogging bout being dead for all the assignments and tests above.

Singapore Flyer

The Singapore Flyer will be the largest ferris wheel that is in existence until some other one takes over at the end of the year (not sure of the country, but I noe that China's will be the largest :) at least when its done)!

And Im going for a ride in it on the 6th of March!!! It's like after the NIC (national infocomm challenge) prize presentation (btw RIICC won)!

Happy happy land right now, even though Im super exhausted and have two quizzes tomorrow and two common class tests next week...

Sleepy

Here's to peer pressure: saw this on guan's and yuxin's blog and decided to try it out :)

CNY is over!!!

Great.

4 days of CNY holiday (two days plus the weekend) and all I managed to do was my literature essay (which is btw not graded and rushed to completion in half-an-hour last night)...

Still have ERP, SS U.N. project, Philo John Locke's democracy(which i cannot find any examples of, if you have please send me a mail with that info!), Chinese and Maths CCT next week, Bio CA (Friday!!!), Chem OBA(THURSDAY!!! ARGH EVEN CLOSER!!!)

Don't know how I am going to manage with all this work!

There's still a competition for robot soccer coming up in 10 days!!! Striker still not yet done :( I apologise to any choir member reading this blog for ponning choir for like 6 times in a row liao, which is going to extend to 9 at least.

Feeling tired and slack today...

Having a severe headache...

from breathing in vapourised heat-shrink rubber tubing/plastic from wires/soldering iron.

Wonder if any components of the fumes are carcinogenic. If so, I have officially breathed in enough to ensure a total cancer of the respiratory tract and will die a horrible death soon enough.

Argh, headache is so bad that I cant even do what I planned to today: Finish philo, read up on ss and study salt preparation.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

CNY

Oops,

forgot to post on this blog for such a freaking long period of time (11 days almost). Almost dead liao this blog

Been really busy with all the CNY stuff, rehearsals, learning songs for the performance yesterday.

This is on top of all the school work that we have: ERP, SS project, mugging for tests that pop out of nowhere. Plus i have a robotics competition that is coming up in 14 days, two weeks, freaking short time. ARGH STRESSED!!! later screw up again then i get owned by my teacher in charge

Well, two days of hard-earned rest :) here's to me losing my voice through eating all the new year goodies!

(maybe i will get to finish my robot these two days)

My B-dae!!!!!!

Yay, my b-dae is today (posting this almost 24 hours after my previous one :D)

Thanks to all that remembered my birthday and sent me emails, smses, facebook wall messages :)

To those that din remember, here's the reminder:

My birthday is on the 26th of January

Read: remember next year or die

My birthday!

Tomorrow's my birthday!!!

That's 2 hrs and 23 min more!

Flu...

I am feeling so horrible right now.

Down with gastric flu and brain feels like cotton wool.

Missed Mathematics Probability TA and Chem OBA, must take tomorrow... sian

MacBook Air

The new Macbook Air is out.

*gasps in awe and dies immediately*

Maybe that reaction for serious mac book fans, but definitely not for me.

In my opinion, the Macbook Air (which from now on will be known as an acronym MBA) totally gets in the way of productivity. No CD drive? How on earth is anyone supposed to do proper installations/play music that is on a cd and so on?

Sure, it is light and compact, but does that compactness really count as much as the productivity one needs to get from his computer? Computers were made for a reason i.e. the simplification of work that was once tedious to do. Laptops were made for that entirely same reason, except with the choice of mobility added in.

The MBA is super mobile, weighing less than 3 pounds and is at most more than a centimetre thick. But back to the reason of making a computer, does it fulfill that? Costing perhaps less than a macbook pro, I feel that one is better off getting a macbook pro as compared to getting a MBA... The MBA perhaps is for those people who already have a mac, then just would like to get one of these to show off! :)

Mac fans, don't start flaming me, I love the mac as much as you do, but I think apple has lost the main idea of a notebook in this one.

It is still nice, by the way

Paypal confusion

Haiz,

wasting my time in front of the computer just trying to get the payments for the sensors I ordered right.

Paypal is confusing...

School

Quoting my previous English teacher Mrs. Nathan when she was quoting someone else:
"School can be very helpful, but, like a prescription, should be taken only when directed." (Charles M. Schulz)

Finally!

My solenoids are finally here!

Bad SL?

Am I really a bad SL?

Or so my junior labels me, straight to my face.

What did I do wrong? I've been as nice as can without losing the discipline, and does it mean that raising my voice to get them to settle down equates me to nastiness?

I don't know what to do.

But anyway, I have changed section :). Being officially now a Bass 1 means that bass section has 4 sls...

Happy for me, but gd luck to kj and ian!

Divinity

My SS teacher can read palms and faces.

XD Super scary lah, like when he ask for volunteers to have their face read, the whole class was like "MEMEMEME!!!". When he finally chose Aaron Tiong, it was like scary.

Shape of face, shape of jaw, shape of eyes, all put into a science that generalized the above mentioned. But funniest thing was like, "your eyes say something about you. I say that you are quite a cheeky guy and if I am not wrong, you have surfed porn before." (referring to Aaron)

Wow... super funny lah, whole class laugh like crazy

Sick

Now I know why I was feeling so tired the past few days...

I positively am sick, perhaps down with gastroflu...

Damn you, Zeyang, must be you pass to me one on Friday in the robotics lab...

My Life

Wow,

I have no life. Really.

While changing the description of me on this blog, I realised that I am governed by everything that happens in school, nothing that I can think of is of my own. ARGH... identity crisis

Who am I?

Member of RV, RIICC, B.E.A.T.S., CDC? No identity of my own, or maybe I just choose not to have it.

I am not much of a socializer, meaning I like to keep to myself and I might even have trouble communicating with others. Need to get out more even if I dun like it...

I don't know. Ever since I enlisted in the regime of Singapore education, I have felt this sense that I do not belong and never will. I cannot say that I have firm friends, even those people that are around me, with me all the time in school seem to like spending time with other people more than with me. I am not saying that that is wrong or someone needs to talk to me more. But I am just thinking: is there something wrong with me? Is there something within myself that I need to change?

Going to school or to CCA, I feel like I am putting on a mask, a show for everyone that is around me. I may seem fine to most of you people out there, but deep down, I know that there is something wrong with myself. I feel left out sometimes, rejected by people, basically something that I have always reflected when doing personal reflections. You people that are reading this post, if you went on the choir trip in 2005 to Germany and remember the reflection that Mr. Toh made us do, this is what I wrote in the reflection. Our choir teacher in charge, Mrs. Koh at that time, told me to try being a bit more outgoing and try to be part of the group. Socialize more and try more.

I feel weird every time I go out with people: dunno what to say, dunno what to do. Perhaps this is because of the fear I have in hurting others, or in doing something stupid, hurt myself emotionally and mentally.

A wordy post here, but trust me, this is as frank as I will ever get. Don't get me wrong people, I am not shouting out for attention here. It is my choice to be this person that I am, maybe feeling a little emo right now, but I will be fine in the near future.

:)

Back to School

I have no idea why I am feeling so tired today.

That was only three days of school, wait, two days of activities and one day of lessons...

Building sandcastles on East Coast beach, castle beach to be exact, was what I could call fun but damaging to the body. I feel a bit sick already from sitting in the freaking hot sun at past 12pm in the afternoon.

Well, any lessons to be learnt were taught, but most likely forgotten by most of us before we even reached school or home.

Tomorrow is the start of hardcore lessons again. Haven't seen who my physics teacher is, hopefully someone that can teach well. I am really lousy at physics. I can understand all the formulas and theories, but when you ask me to apply them during lab tests or school examinations, I just can't do it :(

Missed my Raffles Trail for choir that happened yesterday. Was doing my robot at a workshop in Ang Mo Kio... Chao tiring, all the sawing, drilling, machining, soldering. Still not done yet, with an order for a solenoid just being shipped in from the US. Not sure when it will arrive, but it had better be sooner than later. BTW, I got it from http://www.electromechanicsonline.com/. Not too bad a site, many choices up there. Gonna pay for this out of my own pocket *OUCH*

I also have to tell Mrs. Chor about a sensor that I want to buy for the robot soccer robots. Costs about AUS$49.99 and can only be paid for using PayPal or direct deposit. Hopefully she allows me to buy that.

Choir website is still in the process of being edited and coded properly. Hope that Ms. Chiang will like what I have done with it and that it will be able to be viewed on the school website. DUE ON MONDAY WHICH IS TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ARGH... so much to do, so little time.

Google Adsense

I just got banned from Google Adsense.

Reason: invalid clicks

I am guessing right now, that this is mainly because I was trying to change the html of my other blog. :) I kind of suck at html, because I rely a lot on WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) kind of website programs like Dreamweaver and such.

So basically, errors coming up here and there in my html programming meant that I had to view my blog a couple of times more than normal.

Which resulted in: banning me from Google Adsense

What's even better. When I appealed against the ban, they told me that it was not a valid reason and therefore, they could not reinstate my account. Why? Because I was a threat to advertisers -_-

Now when trying to find other stuff that can pay me, I came across forums that have a lot to say about Google Adsense. People got banned for the craziest of things, like someone who hated them used a clicker-bot against, amassing thousands of clicks within an hour.

Then came another site that compared adsense against other advertisement programs. It was like Google paid 9 cents a week as compared to Adster's $3.50 a week. So I am changing plans, and moving to Adster. Now, trying out even better stuff such as Text Link Ads and Adster, I think maybe I will be able to make even more money out of my idle time sitting at this laptop computer.

Well, here's to me making money from this blog. :)

Me

Well then, I guess it's time to talk a little bit more about me.

Name: Matthew
D.O.B: 26/01/92
Age: 15 going on to 16 in about 23 more days :)
School: Raffles Institution

That's the bare minimum of facts about me.

But let's not stop here. In a previous post I mentioned something about an a cappella group that goes by the name of B.E.A.T.S.

Well, I belong to this awesome group of 11 people that are in quite an attempt to sound better than that which a synthesizer can do. Here's a really, really old video to show you what I meant by that:




Well, if that video worked, I guess you can now see what I mean. (and yes, we have already improved from that standard) We sing, without music in the background or drums to give us our beat. Everything is done, believe it or not, with our vocals. So far, we have had performances for the Singapore busking festival in 2007 in aid of the Singapore Bone Marrow foundation. Hopefully we can do the same next year, with a better song repertoire. Oh yeah, the links on the side of my blog are mostly to the people from this group, so check their's out. For songs, check out guanwei's blog, there is a playlist there. :)

Back to me. I am currently in Secondary 4 and am proud to be part of a totally mugger class of 4A. New year means new teachers and I am currently quite happy with most of them. Hopefully, I will be able to maintain my current GPA standard, if not improve.

That's all that I can think of now. When I think of more, I will post again!

WTF?

What people will do these days to get what they want, I can't imagine.

Lying about your dad DYING in Iraq just to get tickets to a Hannah Montana concert? (Just saw this on Yahoo! news btw.) Oh please, like that concert is worth so much to you.

Well, the only thing I can say is: world's deteriorating, both physically and ethically.