Good News, Bad News, and More Bad News

Well, well, results are out, and they're better than my expectations. Which is not unexpected, given my low expectations in the first place. However, particularly shocking is one module which I got an A+ for (my first, in fact). Considering that I failed one of the term tests, I have no high hopes for this module. Sure, that term test had lots of failures, but there was also someone who scored prefect for it. I was so stunned that I almost wanted to submit a review to see if the lecturer made a mistake, but the $10 fee stopped me.

That's for good news. Bad news: my student exchange module mapping is spiralling out of control. Okay, that's exaggerating, but I fear things are heading that way. First, one module which I thought could be mapped for PC3274 Mathematical Methods in Physics 2 (which I dearly want to take) turns out to be offered in the semester I am not going on exchange. It was an oversight on my part when I did the initial mapping, but still, it's quite a bummer. And then, when I thought Philosophy of Science couldn't be a more ideal module to be mapped as a breadth... surprise surprise! It's not offered in 2007!

Now for local (bad) news: module clashes in the coming semester is driving me mad. Okay, firstly, I didn't know that CORS bidding has already started until this morning! Fortunately, I already planned the modules to take. Unfortunately, many of them clash like the most impressive NDP fireworks. PC3232 Nuclear and Particle Physics is a module I must take (so that I won't screw up my module plan). PH2213 Metaphysics is one brilliant module I've marked down for my breadth. Clash. I thought of moving my minor module MA3215 3-Dimensional Differential Geometry down next semester to fill up that gap. Clash. And I got one Singapore Studies module to clear. I thought SSA1201 Singapore Society will be a nice guy to tackle. Exam clash with PC3130 Quantum Mechanics 2. Try as I might, I can only find, so far, five modules (including some undecided Singapore Studies module) to take next semester. I'm feeling desperate by the minute...

As the Chinese saying goes, 福无双至，祸不单行.

Science of Santa

... is a new post at the Boson.

Switching from UROPS to ISM

Turns out that I won't be doing UROPS the coming semester. The primary reason is because my supervisor, Dr Yeo Ye, does not have a good project for me to work on. I found this out just minutes ago, and it's too late to find another supervisor now, considering that the deadline is today.

So it seems I'll be going for ISM instead. He has made a proposal, which I can consider. Fortunately, I still have about two weeks to the ISM registration deadline.

Title of Final Harry Potter Book Revealed

To somewhat a surprise to the Harry Potter fan community, J. K. Rowling has revealed the title of the seventh and last book of the Harry Potter series.

As usual, it is released after solving a puzzle, which can be accessed on her website by clicking on the pink eraser (which will lead to a room fans call the Room of Requirement).

For those who don't want to navigate through, highlight the text below to find out the title:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Singapore's Stand on Antipersonnel Landmines

Whoa! Finally, nearly after one month of silence, Boson has a new post!

Hiatus

Hmm... I really have nothing interesting happening around me to blog about, and right now my mind is a bit messy to pen down proper thoughts, so I thought I might as well leave you all with some video clips.





Enjoy!

A Rare Encounter

Yesterday I had one of the most enlightening encounters during my duty as a Nobel Exhibition guide. About an hour past noon, Robert Shull walked into the University Hall and I gave him a tour.

He's a very nice fella, smart but careful, and, armed with a physics degree, knowledgeable. I guess his age is about 50. He is most willing to share his knowledge and experience, though he is always patient, and willing to let me explain certain facts about the Nobel Prizes even though I had a feeling he already knew them. He said that he was here for a conference (first time in Singapore), and he learned about this exhibition while in the airport, so he thought he might as well drop by to explore a little bit about the Nobel Exhibition since his father Clifford Shull has won the 1994 Physics Prize for neutron diffraction.

...

Okay, that means "crap mode off". And I had to be extra careful about what I say since, knowing myself, I have the tendency to invent facts that can lead to potentially embarrassing situations.

It turns out that he knew quite a lot about the Nobel Prizes, especially the Nobel Festival, having been there himself. Listening to him describing the Nobel Festival... something that you cannot find easily on the Web. C'mon, seriously, where can you find information on what that booklet on the Nobel banquet table says? Or how the waiters served the dinner with absolute professionism, in astounding unison? And now finally, I understand what that wave guide displayed in that artefacts section is used for.

My tour around the exhibits with him dragged past my duty time (by no fault of his or mine; it's a long story I prefer not to go into), but I don't care, since I probably gained more than he did.

Admittedly, I prefer guiding people like him than the normal visitors... not that the visitors are terrible, but somehow, with people who knew something I don't, I get to learn something new. And such people also tend to listen and sometimes even question what I say, leading to interesting discussions about some facts and controversies revolving around the Nobel Prizes.

(And perhaps this is the reason why I don't like to guide children: it is terribly challenging to explain to them what's so great about Alfred Nobel's will, or the importance of a particular discovery.)

All in all, I had a wonderful experience yesterday. And I hope the others doing duty also get a chance as I did to interact with such people.

Updates

Hmm... initially when Perry, guide coordinator of the Nobel Exhibition, assigned me one entire week of duty last week, I thought I'm gonna be tied down for much of the vacation period (because the I-am-free-these-days list I sent to him indicated that I was free all the way to the first week of January).

However, that doesn't seem to be the case, for I have no duties next week. It seems that the first week of deployment has given me the illusion that they're in dire need of guides, which in fact happens to be the opposite. The bottom line is, I won't be as occupied with this Nobel Exhibition as I thought I'd be.

So that leaves me to pursue what I've planned to do during this vacation.

A Blue Weekend

Feeling pretty melancholic for the past few days. Can't get any work done, and computer games were rather tasteless. There was a desire to lie down and do nothing, yet the guilt of wasting time kept haunting me.

I suppose I have too many things on my mind... my UROPS assignment, my job at the Nobel Exhibition. And on top of that, Yao will be away for a month to Cambodia. I kinda regretted now of committing so many hours to the Nobel Exhibition; I felt like taking a nice break away from everything I'm doing... you know, like heading to some quiet place for a couple of days (like Pulau Ubin).

Sigh... I just hope the dark skies will clear soon.

After the End

The exams are finally over. And there is an uneasy feeling associated with the non-busyness state I'm currently in. It's probably because I'm not used to this sudden onset of abundant free time, but I believe I'll get familiar with it in no time.

In any case, I won't be that free this vacation... quite a number of obligations to fulfill, and I have a few things in mind to do. So vacation duties include: being a Nobel Exhibition guide, plan and apply for my ISM/UROPS for next semester and draft out a better module list for my ANU exchange.

I also have to refine my SPS report, though I doubt that'll take up much time. An overhaul of my website is also due... gotta get down to work on that. And I've promised myself to find out more about operations in Linux/Ubuntu.

That's quite a lot for four weeks... four weeks of "rest".

Final Showdown

PC2131. Electricity and Magnetism 1. Tomorrow. 4^th December 2006. Monday. 1700. Final showdown. Last call. Ultimate judgement.

The end is near...

The Penultimate Fight

PC2130. Quantum Mechanics. 2^nd December 2006. Saturday. 1300. The dangerous one. The consistently difficult module.

Schrӧdinger's cat beckons...

The Politics of Exam

Singapore, being a meritocratic and pragmatic country, and also an elitist one, focus a lot on academic abilities, especially in the field of politics. It is reflected clearly in the MPs' and ministers' academic records - unblemised results and prestigeous scholarships. Even Lee Kuan Yew acknowledges that in choosing political candidates, academic achievements are very important. Exams, thus, is a political sieve that retains the roughest, toughest minds for political succession.

That's the politics of exam. Bah! I'll need that in tomorrow's exam of politics.

GEK2003 Government and Politics of Singapore. 29^th November 2006. 1700.

The third wave.

The Second Coming

1700. Tomorrow. 28^th November 2006. PC2174. Mathematical Methods for Physics 1. Possibly the toughest battle this semester. Difficulty in paper varies wildly like mood swings of a schizophrenic.

Good luck to everyone...

Ubuntu - Linux for Human Beings

Following up on my first post on Ubuntu, I've written a complete piece on my foray into Linux. It can be found at The Feynman Boson. Enjoy!

Here It Comes

Tomorrow. 25^th November 2006. Saturday. The first exams of this semester start at 0900.

MA2221. Techniques in Advanced Calculus. Exam date: 25^th November 2006. Saturday. 0900. Tomorrow.

Here it comes...

Wee Shu Min Wikipedia-ed

A short note on The Feynman Boson.

First Post from Ubuntu

This is the first post written in Firefox 2, in Ubuntu 6.06. Ubuntu, a distribution of Linux that was originally part of Debian, was installed in my computer about two months back, but I hadn't really got about using and customising it until lately.

With the greatest barrier to Linux removed (i.e. the installation nightmare), Ubuntu is one of the Linux core I strongly recommend to anyone who don't want to spend hours trying to install Linux on their computers. It is available freely on the Web, or if you want, you can get the CD from me.

Although the default boot is Linux, I find myself favouring Ubuntu more. Apart from its slick, clean interface and multiple desktops, it is fast (lacking the dunno-what-program-in-the-background that is so typical in Windows) and it takes less than a minute to boot up (as compared to about three minutes for Windows XP). Installing/removing programs are easy too; it's just like the Add/Remove Program in Windows XP, except that it reaches out to the repositories on the Internet to get the programs you choose (in another words, instead of going to the Web and find the installer for the program and installing it manually, all I have to do in Ubuntu is to tick a checkbox and click OK).

I'll probably blog more about this later, when I have more time on my hands.

P.S.: Did I mention that Linux systems have the most amazing, yet simple screensavers?

Fastest Spinning Black Hole on Record

New article, somewhat related to my SP2172 project, has been posted on the boson.

SP2172: Conclusion

SPS Congress is over! Except for minor hiccups, all went pretty smoothly for me. Well, that's one module down. Time for a quick, short break!

Here's a funny clip, a parody of Star Wars (what else?). Enjoy!

The Final Showdown

My SPS project's presentation is tomorrow. The final component of the entire module. Strangely, this is the component I most fear, simply because I find tough to explain my project in a level comprehensible to all.

This makes me admire those science book writers (not sci-fi writers) like Stephen Hawking and Michio Kaku on their ability to break down abstract concepts and ideas into simple, palatable portions for the general audience.

But well, they have more than 20 minutes to present their idea though.

Presentation... here we go, the final sprint.

Machine Gun Sentry

New post at The Feynman Boson!

Another Hurdle Crossed

Viva over. Thankfully, it went pretty smoothly. Yeah, there were a couple of questions we could not answer, but given that one of the mentors was Andreas, this is not surprising. (Did I say he possess an exceptionally sharp analytical mind?)

Presentation next.

GST: Reshuffling the Cards of Wealth?

New, quick post at the Feynman Boson!

SPS Project - A Round Up

With the report in, the SPS project has finally come to a conclusion. By this I mean that all active reading up, research, programming, simulating and whatever that should be done has now ended.

Our viva will be on this Wednesday; it should not be too hard though, since I'm somewhat clear of what I've been doing so far... just a bit of revision and clarification to be done before that. SPS Congress will be out next Monday, which means that my group has to hammer out a PowerPoint presentation by this week. This may be a bit of a problem, since we have to explain our project in layman terms (so that the others can understand), but well, since I've gotten over the report, I don't think the presentation will pose much problems.



My project (report cover page above), entitled with a seemingly terrifying but slightly erroneous name of "Massive Particles Orbits Around a Kerr Black Hole", was primarily a half-theory, half-simulation project. Terrifying because of the big words used to capture as much of our topic in as few words as possible, which otherwise would be: "Orbits of Particles with Non-zero Mass (e.g. Electrons, Protons) Around a Rotating Black Hole with No Electrical Charge". Erroneous because it left out one important condition we're considering: spherical orbits, or orbits with constant radius. Without this condition, I might as well do the project all the way until I graduate.

Guided by A/P Edward Teo and Andreas Keil (physics graduate student), we've made pretty satisfying amount of work, although admittedly when it all began I thought the results would be more impressive (other than visually, of course). But then again, for a less-than-three-months project for an undergraduate, I suppose I should not be expected too much.

Last week was quite a rush, really. You see, there exists, after solving certain equations using Mathematica, two sets of solutions (which differ by just a sign in one of the terms). We tried our damnedest best to proof mathematically that one of the sets are unphysical (i.e. incompatible with physical world), which we heavily suspect was the case, but somehow equations that span three lines were just too much to handle (see picture below; that's only a small bit of the attempt). This would pose some sort of problem, since if we do not show that we can eliminate one set of solutions, we might be doing just half of the situation out there.



And it was only about eighteen hours before the report deadline that Andreas suggested doing a simple numerical experiment (simulation) to at least justify the ruling out of that set of solutions (which is, of course, not conclusive, but that's more than what I could ask for). When he suggested that, I almost wanted to bang my head on the wall; as the unofficial C programmer in the group I ought to have thought of it. Fortunately, we still had the time to write out and run a simple program, and include it into the report.

Really, big thanks go to everyone that helped propped up this project. First and foremost, of course, is Edward for taking us blur souls in, and then patiently guiding us through the mess of equations and mystic terms. Andreas too... his questions were sharp and managed to weed out certain inconsistencies that developed as the project progressed. And of course for his suggestions were invaluable. Ah yes, there's Yen Kheng too, fellow group member, and Master of MatLab and Mathematica (that's MMM for you); without his M-ness I think we'd still be stuck at writing equations on the whiteboard. And of course Chu Perng... for all the theoretical work he's done. Man, I owe him one: if he hadn't picked out one fatal error I made near the end of the project... I can't imagine myself explaining during viva how that error found its way into the report!

Okay okay, I know, what a long, naggy post; ending soon! I won't be posting pictures of orbits this time (because I'm too lazy to do so; another time perhaps!), so if you want, just click here to take a look at a few simple plots.

Finally...

Phew, it was pretty much a terrible rush during the last twelve hours before the handing in of my SP2172 report on Friday. Unbelievable, really... the kind of relieve that the thing is finally over. Not that the project is horrible or boring for that matter, but somehow it feels good having one item off my shoulders. I may go back to touch up on the project, but that'll be after the exams.

I'll probably put up the report and poster on my website once I get the time and permission. I'll also talk a little about it once I've fewer things to do. Perhaps after my Electricity and Magnetism test tomorrow? Or maybe after the SP2172 viva on Wednesday. Hmm... perhaps I'll be freer after next Monday's SP2172 presentation... Oh damn, when will it ever end!

Firefox 2 and Some Other Stuff

I've just switched over to Firefox 2, after discovering that the extension I've been waiting for to update, Tab Mix Plus, is already updated. It is just that I have to manually hunt it down; the automatic update will not pick up the upgrade. Dunno why...

Anyway, things are quite cool so far. I'll talk about it later when I'm free. Right now, with a major project report and poster, as well as two term tests coming up (one already passed, somewhat in disaster), I can barely find time to blog.

Till then.

A Swollen Foot

On Friday when I was just returning to my room after a week in school, I merrily stepped onto a bee. Now I've got a mildly swelling foot and a terrible itch that can't be relieved by scratching.

Dang!

A Scientific Reason Why We Should Emigrate

New article at The Feynman Boson. Not so much of a commentary, but more of highlighting a certain interesting article.

On a side note, here's a little amusing parody about a Singaporean winning the Physics Nobel Prize.

You Think Your Life Sucks? Think Again

If you think life sucks, well, don't complain. Some people have it worse.

3 Best Stalls in NUS Canteens

New entry at the Boson!

A Sketch that Screams a Message

From My Sketchbook:

Tan Jee Suan

This is one subtle drawing that uses irony to forward a chilling message... a brilliant piece.

The "Erotic" NTU Lecturer: A Discourse on Morality

... is a new entry at this blog's sister, The Feynman Boson. Do read it and give your comments if you have any.

People Doesn't Matter in International Relations

While browsing through the University of Canterbury's website to search for modules for my Exchange programme, I came across this on the website for the module/course Introduction to International Politics:

Description

An introduction to international relations as if people mattered.

WAaaHahaAhaahHAh!

Firefox 2 is Out

Mozilla Corporation's much-anticipated Firefox 2 is finally out. However, I'm not upgrading it at the moment. The reason is simple: I want to wait for most of the Firefox extensions to be upgraded first before I switch over. Considering that my Firefox is quite heavily modded by extensions, I doubt I'd like a clean Firefox 2.

The Trollish Online Community

New entry at The Feynman Boson.

My Personality Test Results

Some time ago, out of curiosity, I did a few Myers-Briggs type indicator test to find out what personality category I fall into. This test classifies a person based on four different types of indicators, on a scale between two extremes (e.g. one of the indicators is the Extrovert-Introvert dichotomy; no prizes for successfully guessing which side I lean towards). Usually, the results of the test can be used to predict which jobs are more suited for that personality (e.g. an introvert is hardly makes a good stand-up comedian), or the social interaction of that person.

I took the four free online tests linked from the Wikipedia entry, all of which involves answering a collection of questions (numbering 50 and above) about what I'd do in a particular situation. Being unauthorised tests, I do not put too much faith in its results, but then again, I took them just for fun; I do not need it to tell me my future directions.

http://www.personalitytest.net/types/index.htm says I'm an INTJ.

http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp seconds that INTJ verdict.

http://similarminds.com/jung.html agrees with the above two of me being an INTJ.

http://4np.net/ddli/, however, thinks I'm more of an INTP.

I gather that these unofficial tests point to me as an INTJ. According to Personality Test Center's description of personality types,

INTJ: "Scientist". Most self-confident and pragmatic of all the types. Decisions come very easily. These are the most independent of all types. They love logic and ideas and are drawn to scientific research. They can be rather single-minded, though.. 1% of the total population.

Heh heh, it nailed it right with its "scientist" representation, eh? But the following lines of description don't quite fit: self-confident, pragmatic, decisive... Self-confidence is definitely not my defining trait. Pragmatic? Only when I'm doing science; in life, I can be quite idealistic - quite the opposite. As for my decisiveness, I can, ironically, decisively say that I am not at all decisive.

Seeing what the detailed description say, certain attributes clearly manifest in me:

When stress increases, ... social interaction, which is not their strength, becomes increasingly difficult for them.

Also,

The INTJ may then find themselves spending an inordinate amount of time fighting horrible thoughts, tempting absurdities, and feelings of worthlessness.

However, reading the description for an INTP (which the last test label me as), I seem to fit more into that profile:

INTP: "Architect". Greatest precision in thought and language. Can readily discern contradictions and inconsistencies. They are good at logic and math and make good philosophers and theoretical scientists, but not writers or salespeople. 1% of the total population.

Firstly, there are almost no characteristics which I cannot identify myself with (as opposed to the description of an INTJ) except at the part of "greatest precision". Also, there are certain descriptions that fits amazingly well:

INTPs lack follow-through and this can isolate their ideas from practical examination. Their notions become over-intellectualized and too abstract to be of practical benefit.

In particular,

If stress continues, the INTP's mind seems to freeze and block out the vital information it has worked so hard to accumulate. Their creative juices stop flowing and they suffer from stage fright, writers block, and a general inhibition of their ingenious thinking and fluent language skills.

In addition, one of the job listed for an INTJ is "scientist", while for an INTP, "physicist" appears. Perhaps I'm an INT?, split between Judging and Perceiving.

That's a pretty interesting foray into my own personality. I'll probably talk more about my personality some time in the future. To end with a question, from the description of INTJs as friends,

Those who are close to the INTJ will highly value them for their ideas and knowledge.

Do you value my rubbish?

Damn Bloody Tagboard is Up

I had enough of TagBoard's failure, so I've switched over to Tag-World. I spent a fair amount of time tweaking the features to what I want, but fortunately it wasn't much of a trouble.

However, can someone kindly tell me how to remove those five colourful nipples there? They look so unsightly, like some mutated udder.

Maths Skills Inversely Proportional to Confidence?

Read it at The Feynman Boson!

Oops, it seems that I've forgotten about my promise to inform Fermion readers about the happenings over at Boson. I'll try to remember the next time. Sorry about that.

Random Rants

Stuff's not really sailing well these few days. The mapping of my SEP modules seems quite an impossible task due to the vast difference in modules offered in the partner universities. My politics GEM presentation appears rather lame, and I fear I may be pulling down my partners. And I have yet to start on the essay that's due in less than two weeks' time.

My maths test this morning did not go quite smoothly as I wanted. My QM test result was quite a disaster. And I don't have any ideas what I have to do for the Nobel Museum, given that the training is Thursday.

Oh well, that's life, I suppose.

Haha...

Super Sneeze

Here's a hilarious video of a sneezing baby panda:



Enjoy!

TagBoard is Sick

It has been down for a few days in fact. It has been down before, but it never lasted more than a day. If this goes on for a few more days, I'll consider switching to another tagboard. Another motivation for me to switch is the waves of spam I tend to get every now and then, though I do not find that much of a problem.

However, the selection available is rather limited. I don't like the style of Chatterbox, and Tag-World needs some improvements on its alignment. Bravenet may have a tagboard service, but I'm too lazy to navigate through it's vast services.

Well, it'd be best if TagBoard recovers, of course.

Hugging Vest

I need one of those...

A Dizzying Day

The much-feared Electricity and Magnetism test is finally over. Truth be told, it wasn't really as bad as one might've imagined after doing the tutorials. There was one question which I did not know how to do (out of a total of three), but that's not too troubling since I knew it was a challenging one and many others also had no idea on how to proceed.

After that particularly draining 90 minutes test, Yao and I decided to do something rather foolish. We went to Dover Park and played the swing over there... hahaha... What a relieving experience! All those pent-up stress... all gone from the two overgrown children riding sillily on two old-styled swing! (Never mind that we skipped one lecture to do that...)

Well, after that came a rather dry Quantum Mechanics lecture, made a hundred times droughtier by the unexplained malfunctioning of the air-conditioning system. And after the lecture a slight headache developed and gradually swelled until it was pretty bad during the evening. Luckily, the canteen sells Panadol, which eased the throbbing ache (although it took about 20 minutes to subside instead of the 60 seconds claimed).

So here I am, free of headache, and of excuses to sleep early.

Time to continue mugging.

Impressive Videos

Here are some impressive videos I've found. Super cool.

It's a Sunday and I'm...

... in SPS room.

Previously, I returned to school on Monday mornings, and went home on Saturdays. Last week, I came back on Sunday night so as to avoid the morning rush. And this week, I'm already back yesterday night and stayed in SPS room for the entire Sunday so that I can have as little distraction as possible for my revision.

I think I can foresee the weekend which I won't go home at all.

In a Sea of Stress

I think I'm going to die from stress. Strangely enough, this stress doesn't come from a terribly lack of time. Instead it arises out of the inability to understand certain concepts that are taught, causing me to be stuck at one point while everything else moves on, further and further away from me.

Today I was drained beyond imagination. After a gruelling Electricity and Magnetism lecture and an unforgiving Mathematical Methods in Physics test, I felt like melting. I was hungry but had no appetite for lunch. After forcing my meal down, I felt like eating more even though I was full. I even ate down a few pieces of dried chilli (used as seasoning) that most people usually leave alone.

Luckily, Yao was there to console me, by my side, sort of guiding me step-by-step out of the mental mess I dropped myself in. It was fortunate that I took her advice not to do any work for the next half hour until the next lecture, for if I didn't, I would've turned into a puddle of human liquid in LT22. The SPS library, full of exotic collections, just had a huge Garfield comic book and the first book of the PHD Comics collection as the perfect tool for de-stress.

Well, right now the worst is over; I've ridden over the tide. But now, another one is rising... my Electricity and Magnetism tutorial is mind-boggling. And the test is next Monday. Dagomir (the lecturer) expressed his wishes that the test won't be a disaster. I bet his wish won't come true.

The Best Mooncakes

Nowadays, there are so many mooncake sellers out there. Some pride in good taste, some bank in on amazing variety, some have exquisitely designed boxes, some aim for low budget.

But personally, I never prefer those new, unique kind of mooncakes (like durian mooncakes). In fact, I don't even like snow skin mooncakes, preferring the traditional baked lotus paste mooncakes. And I always prefer only one bakery:



Yup! Tai Chong Kok bakery. 大中国饼家. Yeah, they may be a bit traditional (and even outdated) in their design, but they're mooncakes are simply the best. And they're super cheap as compared to mooncakes of similar quality as well. Other bakeries simply cannot hold a candle to them.

Mmmmmm......

Time to Change the Quotes

Apparently, the famous words that Neil Armstrong uttered when he took his maiden steps on the Moon appears to have lost its way while it flew from Moon to Earth. A letter, a word was dropped:

"That's one small step for a man, One giant leap for mankind."

Heh, made a hell lot of difference in terms of interpretation, but hey, I prefer the former quote.

Drink Coca Cola...

This is a great one.

Of Revision

My revision seems to be on track at the start, but now it seems to be going in all directions (which averages out to be circles). Mathematical Methods was rather easy to revise... not that the subject is easy, but for maths, it's usually do revision questions. But for Quantum Mechanics and Electricity & Magnetism, things are terribly haywire, primarily because the lecturers are the first time teaching these modules and are blazing a new trail, so no past questions or model to follow... and no idea what the mid-term tests will be like.

Sigh... what a mess, what a mess...

Hell, I don't even know the scope of the test for QM, since the lecturer himself did not say. And what's more, he doesn't really follow the textbook, so there isn't much questions that I could work on (if any). And for his tutorials, they're all focussed on only one of the two main topics he taught so far; the other topic follows a textbook which has no questions (because it's not so much a textbook but transcripts of lectures - the famous Feynman Lectures on Physics).

EM, EM... where do I begin? All I can say is that I feel I'm gonna fail this subject. The first two tutorials were rather easy, but the following one was as hard as hell. For just the first question, I literally spent hours on it, and still cannot get the answer. And then the rest of the questions were not easy either - not something I could do under the pressure of tests/exams. And there's quite a number of concepts that are dizzyingly complex.

And my projects on a complete halt so that I can prepare for tests, seeing what I've done (for my revision), I doubt it feels justified.

That's the suckiness of life.

Drawn for Me

Haha... that's probably me.

The Last Post of Mystery and Unknown

Today, the Posts of Mystery and Unknown shall henceforth conclude, for the journey it charts with encrypted words and phrases has entered another phase with the previous entry. Where shall the Mystery and Unknown head to? no one knows, but one can only hope for the best.

Here, for the last time, the posts shall be revisited once more.

---

200306:

Isn't it wierd, how a simple question can be so difficult to ask?


260306:

Will I ask? If I ask, will it be a positive or negative reply? If it is negative, then is it a conscious choice on the answerer's part?


280306:

The date is the key,
Saturday shall it be.


300306:

Life is like a double-pendulum: its equations of motion are insolvable.

(For those interested, the equations of motion of the double-pendulum are:
Solve them if you can.)

Sigh... And unexpected it was, that the key was lost...


060406:

How busy it is lately for me... is it worth a try, nonetheless? Life's flying past me now; am I left behind?


090406:

The day beckons, yet time is drawing short. The exams are now like a chasm; the cliff edge looms nearer and nearer in each passing day. Would there be time left? Would there be? Just for one?


150406:

Applied the partition function last night. The best I can say is that things went pretty smoothly, except for the presence of an extra term.


230406:

There's this chance, up north. Will it work? Unlikely...


290406:

The time has come for the question...


010506:

A point scored. Now to hope that history does not repeat itself.


110506:

Waiting for the partition function to turn on...


110506:

Next time I have a wish, I shall post it here. It gets granted very quickly.


220506:

Waiting for the partition function to turn on... again.

P.S.: Oh whee... 100th post. I'm such a spammer.


030606:

So far, progress has been steady, and reception to the initiative was warm. While the momentum of advancement has declined as of late due to the consecutive week-long events from both sides, it is projected that the pace will pick up again in the week after next.


180606:

What could be more silly than mistaking a moment of silence for a sign of irritation?


240606:

Smooth is the way of things so far. But sometimes I wonder if the acceptance is truly out of interest or just out of politeness.


020706:

Recent discussions with a friend has led me to doubt what I thought might be a progressively good sign. Sigh... such is the confusing yet inevitable meanders in our lives. Perhaps things have been too artificially smooth...


230706:

Haven't been out (in the mystery and unknown sense) for quite a while... I feel so lonely...


090806:

Uncertainty has given way; there is little doubt now. The question is, when do I make the next move?


260806:

Perhaps I have been a bit impatient... is it too early to take the next step, to make what is probably an unambiguous confirmation?


080906:

Applied the litmus test. It turned out negative for now, but I'm definitely not giving up hope.


160906:

I'm waiting for the answer...


220906:

A Song For the Programmers

For all those who had their fair share of woes in programming...

Poster Presentation and Mid-Term Break

Today's the poster presentation for my SP2172 Project. It's not a final presentation yet (it's mid-sem only, duh!), and it is not graded... it's purpose is to allow us and others to see clearly what we've done so far and which direction we're going into for the latter half of the semester. Nonetheless, I feel some kind of apprehensiveness about it... perhaps it's just me being my neurotic self... maybe it's because I've not done a presentation for quite a long time. Sigh...

And since I'll be in school today, I thought I might as well stay for the entire mid-term break. SPS room's a great place for studying... fewer distractions than when I'm at home. Yeah, I know, it's less comfort too, but heck... I still think I'm better off revising in school. Greater focus, and can ask people questions if I can't understand any concepts.

Heh well, if you're in school in the mid-term break, and grudgingly so, then at least take comfort that there is someone alongside with you.

Singapore Dreaming: Facts & Trivia

Update at The Feynman Boson: Singapore Dreaming: Facts & Trivia

The Post of Mystery and Unknown

Please Go Watch Singapore Dreaming leh!

Hey guys, if you can spare the time (especially for NUS students who should, in theory, be able to squeeze more time because of the mid-term break), please go down to a cinema and catch Singapore Dreaming. From the official website, it appears highly unlikely that the movie will continue to be screened next week.

Just go down and support local films, okay? From my understanding, no non-Mediacorp, local movie has ever made a profit before. So at least just fork out this bit of money you can afford to support them lah. I've already watched the movie, but if you want to watch and cannot find someone to go with you, well, I'll be free most of the weekend.

Let me assure you that, even if you find the movie not as good as other movies available, you should be able to find something which you can connect with.

The Beginning

This is the inaugural post of The Feynman Fermion, my personal blog that has been evicted from The Feynman Boson, my everything-also-have blog. Read this article for more information.