... by one second.
Indeed, as we pass into the new year, mark your countdown properly. Instead of the normal 23:59:57, 23:59:58, 23:59:59, 00:00:00, 00:00:01 and so on, it will be 23:59:57, 23:59:58, 23:59:59, 23:59:60, 00:00:00, 00:00:01...
That's right, the IERS (an organisation dedicated to looking at Earth rotate) announced that this last day of 2008 will contain the leap second, inserted at the year's very last breath: 23:59:60. And considering that 2008 is also a leap year... this is indeed a very long year!
Since our Gregorian calendar is tuned according to the revolution of Earth around the sun, there bound to be some fine-tuning to be done, and this is done via the leap second. But instead of having it regularly like the leap year (once every four years), the leap second comes at irregular intervals due to the numerous factors at play. I mean, you've just gotta jolt the planet a little and the "natural clock" will be bumped a couple of milliseconds off. And just like Brownian motion, it gets kicked in random directions by many such events such that it's impossible (by today's technological standards) to predict. The leap year, on the other hand, is because Gregory and his dudes couldn't divide properly.
But I do wonder... will the countdown worldwide take this second into account? Or will they release the fireworks a second too early?
31 December 2008
30 December 2008
Handphone Handicapped
Okay, my handphone is down, but in a funny sort of way.
Ring tone: no
SMS beep: no
Alarm: no
Keypad tone: yes
Can call (and talk): yes
Vibration: sometimes
It appears as if the handphone has two speakers, and one of them is spoilt. And the conked out circuitry affected the mood of the vibrating device.
I'll be getting a new one pretty soon, but till then, do expect some delays in me replying SMSes (since I may not have an idea when it arrives), and calls may find it hard to reach me.
I do have to get a new one soon... I've been oversleeping for the past few days.
Ring tone: no
SMS beep: no
Alarm: no
Keypad tone: yes
Can call (and talk): yes
Vibration: sometimes
It appears as if the handphone has two speakers, and one of them is spoilt. And the conked out circuitry affected the mood of the vibrating device.
I'll be getting a new one pretty soon, but till then, do expect some delays in me replying SMSes (since I may not have an idea when it arrives), and calls may find it hard to reach me.
I do have to get a new one soon... I've been oversleeping for the past few days.
22 December 2008
Here Comes the Grades... Again
Comic from Wellington Grey.
As usual, it almost slipped past my notice, but somehow I always remember the release of the results a few days before - or in this semester, just one day. In fact, at first I thought it has already been released anyway, since the S/U declaration starts tomorrow (I've got that marked on my calendar) and the results have to be released before that. But no, I think NUS understands the students: can't wait to S/U an ugly stain.
I found that as years go by, my concern for my grades, which is already pretty low from the start, drops further. A small part can probably be attributed to the fact that the CAP is harder to move now with past results influencing the average more. But a greater portion is due my increasing recognition that grades don't really matter ultimately. Yeah sure, a first class honours will probably fetch a marginally higher salary, but more depends on how I perform when I'm into the job.
So actually, if one really wants a good career, I think one ought not to focus so much on studies, but spend their time soaking up funky skills like entrepreneurship (but can you learn those, really?). But since I don't really care so much about how I earn, I thus spend those extra time hitting the books - not so much what my studies, but my projects and whatever else I find interesting.
It's the penultimate semester for me here at NUS; is my time well spent?
Ah, whatever. It's Christmas. Not that I celebrate it anyway, but I suppose I need to at least respect the Christmas-sy spirit of procrastination. I'll review that question when I finish the next semester.
03 December 2008
After
Alright, so my exams are over. PC3274 was slightly more difficult that I imagined, but it was nonetheless pretty manageable. I think I'll do well enough in that module, and it doesn't leave a washed out feeling just like what PC4248 did.
But with the exams past and a sudden flood of nothing-to-do, I'm somewhat feeling a bit lost. Sure, there's still my FYP to go, and I'm meeting Yeo Ye on Friday to discuss "holiday" plans, but I really have no mood to get started. But neither do I have the mood to go for an all-out relaxation.
So currently, I'm stuck in a no-progress state of attending conferences (there's a burst of them these few days), catching up on my journal reads, watching Youtube videos and playing some point-and-click Flash games.
I think I'm undergoing a mini-version of that exhaustion Ender faced after the Third Invasion.
But with the exams past and a sudden flood of nothing-to-do, I'm somewhat feeling a bit lost. Sure, there's still my FYP to go, and I'm meeting Yeo Ye on Friday to discuss "holiday" plans, but I really have no mood to get started. But neither do I have the mood to go for an all-out relaxation.
So currently, I'm stuck in a no-progress state of attending conferences (there's a burst of them these few days), catching up on my journal reads, watching Youtube videos and playing some point-and-click Flash games.
I think I'm undergoing a mini-version of that exhaustion Ender faced after the Third Invasion.
30 November 2008
Being Mathematica
My prediction of the difficulty of my first three papers were a bit off. PC4130 wasn't all that tough. It was pretty manageable, except for certain parts which I'm not sure what the question was asking for. MA2213 was more difficult, to be honest, although that's probably because I couldn't be bothered memorising the proofs and formulae involved in quantifying the errors of various numerical integration schemes.
But I was right on the spot for PC4248 - it was murderous. For two hours I had the experience of what it was like being Mathematica. Man, I was there throwing around algebra: solving for the Schwarzchild Christoffel symbols and attempting to get an effective potential equation for the Kerr metric.
It wore me down so much that I skipped the third question which involves calculating the Riemann curvature tensor and went ahead to the fourth one (we were to do three out of four). I had completely no idea how to do the fourth question, but I sure had enough of calculation to avoid it at all cost, even if it means losing a few marks (at least I can crap out a few marks for the third question).
Gosh, you know, the textbook we use provides the Mathematica codes for calculating these variables, simply because it's too tedious to be done by hand in most except the simple cases. Okay, fine, the one about the Schwarzchild Christoffel symbols are not that tough, but the remainder are full of pain to do.
But at least it's over. And PC3274 won't be that tough (despite it being a "mathematical" module), that's for sure.
But I was right on the spot for PC4248 - it was murderous. For two hours I had the experience of what it was like being Mathematica. Man, I was there throwing around algebra: solving for the Schwarzchild Christoffel symbols and attempting to get an effective potential equation for the Kerr metric.
It wore me down so much that I skipped the third question which involves calculating the Riemann curvature tensor and went ahead to the fourth one (we were to do three out of four). I had completely no idea how to do the fourth question, but I sure had enough of calculation to avoid it at all cost, even if it means losing a few marks (at least I can crap out a few marks for the third question).
Gosh, you know, the textbook we use provides the Mathematica codes for calculating these variables, simply because it's too tedious to be done by hand in most except the simple cases. Okay, fine, the one about the Schwarzchild Christoffel symbols are not that tough, but the remainder are full of pain to do.
But at least it's over. And PC3274 won't be that tough (despite it being a "mathematical" module), that's for sure.
23 November 2008
Dark Cloud Looms over the Horizon
Let's see... hmm...
261108 0900: PC4130 Quantum Mechanics 3 - moderately tough
271108 0900: MA2213 Numerical Analysis 1 - easy-to-moderate
271108 1700: PC4248 Relativity - masochistically difficult
And they're all together. Wow! What a lengthy mental sprint. And then the final hurdle:
021208 0900: PC3274 Mathematical Methods for Physics 2 - moderate
With all the pummelling the week before, I'd be numbed for this last exam.
On a side note, I've finally changed my calculator. My faithful Sharp EL-546L, which has followed me for nearly ten years, is not up to task anymore. It's still working alright, but the contacts between the batteries must be broken, so it can only function on solar power. Cover the panels and the digits will fade within three seconds. Put it too tedious a computation, it'll do the same.
Now I have a Sharp EL-506W to bring to exams. It's similar to EL-546L, so I doubt there'll be trouble for me to navigate through the buttons. Curious... the newer models have a lower number...
261108 0900: PC4130 Quantum Mechanics 3 - moderately tough
271108 0900: MA2213 Numerical Analysis 1 - easy-to-moderate
271108 1700: PC4248 Relativity - masochistically difficult
And they're all together. Wow! What a lengthy mental sprint. And then the final hurdle:
021208 0900: PC3274 Mathematical Methods for Physics 2 - moderate
With all the pummelling the week before, I'd be numbed for this last exam.
On a side note, I've finally changed my calculator. My faithful Sharp EL-546L, which has followed me for nearly ten years, is not up to task anymore. It's still working alright, but the contacts between the batteries must be broken, so it can only function on solar power. Cover the panels and the digits will fade within three seconds. Put it too tedious a computation, it'll do the same.
Now I have a Sharp EL-506W to bring to exams. It's similar to EL-546L, so I doubt there'll be trouble for me to navigate through the buttons. Curious... the newer models have a lower number...
15 November 2008
Crazy Semester... Just a Bit More to Go
This semester is hell. Really. Well, it's not so much the modules... I'm taking four on top of my honours project, and they aren't that bad. Tough yes, but not brain-wringing. It's not my project either; I'm making slow but decent progress in it.
It's all because of some little duty of marking lab reports of the first year lab. Man, it kept me busier than any other module or project in the semester. It's really driving me mad. First of all, some of the questions are so ambiguous that all answers can be right or wrong at the same time. And then, some of the answers given are, well, let's just say that it makes me want to stab my own eyes.
And right now, even after lectures are over and reading week started, I can't begin my revision because a humongous pile of reports are waiting for me to be marked, and I doubt I can finish it before the end of the reading week.
Crazy...
It's all because of some little duty of marking lab reports of the first year lab. Man, it kept me busier than any other module or project in the semester. It's really driving me mad. First of all, some of the questions are so ambiguous that all answers can be right or wrong at the same time. And then, some of the answers given are, well, let's just say that it makes me want to stab my own eyes.
And right now, even after lectures are over and reading week started, I can't begin my revision because a humongous pile of reports are waiting for me to be marked, and I doubt I can finish it before the end of the reading week.
Crazy...
11 November 2008
The Wonderful Thing About Hotmail
There are three primary web-based email services out there: Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail and GMail. I have an account in each, but the primary one I use is Hotmail, mainly because I started out with it first and couldn't bothered making the quantum jump to other accounts.
Certainly, there is motivation for me to make that jump, but the activation energy isn't high enough yet. There are many aspects I'm not satisfied with Hotmail, such as the slow speed and sanction of additional formatting features (e.g. colour changes to text) for Linux users. And then there's this strange issue whereby I just simply couldn't click on each individual message in my inbox from my home PC.
Then Hotmail made an upgrade recently. It sported a sleeker look (though I find it clunkier) and is slightly faster. Not bad. But to my horror...
That's right! Apparently, the place where you type the main body of your email message is greyed out. I still can send emails, just that there won't be a message. And I'm not alone in this. It appears that Hotmail is targeting Linux users.
Hello!!!??!?!?! WTF?!? Microsoft?!?
Yes, the enthalpy-of-email-change is over the activation energy now, and I'm gradually ditching my Hotmail account. I'll still check in occasionally (frequency will decrease with time though), but if you want more immediate response, please send your emails from now on to my GMail account: tornado.zone84@gmail.com. It's pretty much the same address except the change in domain and from the underscore ("_") to the dot (".")
And it's a good move anyway. Now, everything's much faster, cleaner, and fully functional even for Linux users! The 20 MB attachment limit is one neat surprise I never knew. I still need to get used to GMail's way of lumping reply-emails into one "conversation" though.
Certainly, there is motivation for me to make that jump, but the activation energy isn't high enough yet. There are many aspects I'm not satisfied with Hotmail, such as the slow speed and sanction of additional formatting features (e.g. colour changes to text) for Linux users. And then there's this strange issue whereby I just simply couldn't click on each individual message in my inbox from my home PC.
Then Hotmail made an upgrade recently. It sported a sleeker look (though I find it clunkier) and is slightly faster. Not bad. But to my horror...
That's right! Apparently, the place where you type the main body of your email message is greyed out. I still can send emails, just that there won't be a message. And I'm not alone in this. It appears that Hotmail is targeting Linux users.
Hello!!!??!?!?! WTF?!? Microsoft?!?
Yes, the enthalpy-of-email-change is over the activation energy now, and I'm gradually ditching my Hotmail account. I'll still check in occasionally (frequency will decrease with time though), but if you want more immediate response, please send your emails from now on to my GMail account: tornado.zone84@gmail.com. It's pretty much the same address except the change in domain and from the underscore ("_") to the dot (".")
And it's a good move anyway. Now, everything's much faster, cleaner, and fully functional even for Linux users! The 20 MB attachment limit is one neat surprise I never knew. I still need to get used to GMail's way of lumping reply-emails into one "conversation" though.
06 November 2008
Shit Incoming to Obama
Okay, there is some superb significance in yesterday's US presidential election results, of how someone of minority race can rise to the top. It is something quite spectacular about the fact of how Barack Obama organised his entire campaign and won a landslide victory (or, in the Singapore context, a slim majority) against John McCain.
But seriously, I think this is probably the worst time anyone can be a US president. C'mon, he's gonna have a mega pile of shit in his inbox when he takes over office next year. Okay, forget next year; the shit is coming in now that he's poised to take over. A blood-sucking war that is technically supposed to be over, an economy that is rolling in the mud, a country whose reputation is broken like Windows, a deficit so bad even the debt clock ran out of digits.
If he could solve these problems, he'll be even more magical than the guy who was in office when all these happens.
But seriously, I think this is probably the worst time anyone can be a US president. C'mon, he's gonna have a mega pile of shit in his inbox when he takes over office next year. Okay, forget next year; the shit is coming in now that he's poised to take over. A blood-sucking war that is technically supposed to be over, an economy that is rolling in the mud, a country whose reputation is broken like Windows, a deficit so bad even the debt clock ran out of digits.
If he could solve these problems, he'll be even more magical than the guy who was in office when all these happens.
28 October 2008
Protein-Rich Water
So I've settled comfortably in my lab since the vacation half a month ago, and being a tea-addict, a boiler and the tap in the lab is simply perfect.
This lab basin is pretty much a feature of all the rooms in this block, and the lab being a theory lab does not handle chemical or biological substances so I do not need to fear contamination. So for the past few months I've been happily sipping tea and what other hot drinks I have, until last Saturday when Yeo Ye saw me filling up the boiler using that tap and gave me the what-the-hell-are-you-doing look.
Turns out that these basins are constructed for the use in labs, and thus contain non-portable water.
...
Oh well, at least the water may be rich in protein, just like milk from China.
This lab basin is pretty much a feature of all the rooms in this block, and the lab being a theory lab does not handle chemical or biological substances so I do not need to fear contamination. So for the past few months I've been happily sipping tea and what other hot drinks I have, until last Saturday when Yeo Ye saw me filling up the boiler using that tap and gave me the what-the-hell-are-you-doing look.
Turns out that these basins are constructed for the use in labs, and thus contain non-portable water.
...
Oh well, at least the water may be rich in protein, just like milk from China.
09 October 2008
Rankings: Arbitrary with a ±50
I don't have much time to discuss this, but through some coincidence two separate but related news came to my attention today. First was an email sent out to all students on NUS's increase in the rankings, and another on Science News regarding the arbitrariness of these sorts of rankings.
In short, the second article reports on a research paper published on ArXiv.org, that universities' rankings will vary very much depending on the prioritisation of the metrics used in calculating their scores. The researchers did not study this particular Times ranking but another US one, though I see no technical difference between these two.
In any case, I've always thought that such rankings are very much rubbish. Seriously, each school or faculty within the university has different performances. Moreover, each individual has his/her own preferences: some may like a quiet environment, some work well with intense competition, some are just interested in the research work of a particular researcher. But then again, humans seem to prefer a clear numbered ranking than a matrix of rankings based on conditions...
Personally, I take a university and append a ±50 to the ranking.
In short, the second article reports on a research paper published on ArXiv.org, that universities' rankings will vary very much depending on the prioritisation of the metrics used in calculating their scores. The researchers did not study this particular Times ranking but another US one, though I see no technical difference between these two.
In any case, I've always thought that such rankings are very much rubbish. Seriously, each school or faculty within the university has different performances. Moreover, each individual has his/her own preferences: some may like a quiet environment, some work well with intense competition, some are just interested in the research work of a particular researcher. But then again, humans seem to prefer a clear numbered ranking than a matrix of rankings based on conditions...
Personally, I take a university and append a ±50 to the ranking.
30 September 2008
23 September 2008
Building a Space Elevator
Whoa! To claim that I love physics and science and yet have a drought of scientific articles on my blog... what a shame. Thankfully, this mid-term break has given me enough time to scribble some thoughts on a recent news article!
16 September 2008
Good Graph, Bad Graph
So my final year project has been plodding on like some mammoth tank running on a 100 cc engine. Being a simulation, I can always, as a start, choose a problem that can be theoretically solved, and simulate the solution to this problem. Then by comparing my simulation against the theoretical predictions, I should know how accurate my simulation is.
And a few weeks ago I got this milestone:
Whoopee! The simulation result coincides with the theoretical prediction quite closely, though a small shift is still evident - something I have to resolve in time to come. But at least I know that my code is largely correct.
That, is a good graph. But most of the time things go awry, and more often than not I get crap. In fact, according to theory, changing the basis states won't affect the results, but when I plug them into my simulation:
ARGHHHH! Seriously, I'm getting pretty frustrated at these graphs. Somewhere, something is very wrong, but sometimes, hunting for it through my code line by line is a vexing task. And then later I find the mistake to be in my mathematical derivation of the simulation algorithm. Argh!
And a few weeks ago I got this milestone:
Whoopee! The simulation result coincides with the theoretical prediction quite closely, though a small shift is still evident - something I have to resolve in time to come. But at least I know that my code is largely correct.
That, is a good graph. But most of the time things go awry, and more often than not I get crap. In fact, according to theory, changing the basis states won't affect the results, but when I plug them into my simulation:
ARGHHHH! Seriously, I'm getting pretty frustrated at these graphs. Somewhere, something is very wrong, but sometimes, hunting for it through my code line by line is a vexing task. And then later I find the mistake to be in my mathematical derivation of the simulation algorithm. Argh!
09 September 2008
Red Alert Liberated
Woohoo! Here's a dash of nostalgia for everyone! Remember Red Alert? The WWII real-time strategy game that was wildly popular about a decade ago? Now you can download the CD for free from EA games website:
http://www.ea.com/redalert/news-detail.jsp?id=62
And I do applaud EA games for making this move. I thought it was pretty ridiculous that some very old and classic titles remain in the hands of the publisher. When I want to play them, I can't really find them because, obviously, they're not for sale now, yet you cannot legally download them.
These are, as I understand it, called abandonware. It is still okay if the publisher ignores free copies of their games floating around the Internet; it simply gets ridiculous when they enforce their copyrights.
http://www.ea.com/redalert/news-detail.jsp?id=62
And I do applaud EA games for making this move. I thought it was pretty ridiculous that some very old and classic titles remain in the hands of the publisher. When I want to play them, I can't really find them because, obviously, they're not for sale now, yet you cannot legally download them.
These are, as I understand it, called abandonware. It is still okay if the publisher ignores free copies of their games floating around the Internet; it simply gets ridiculous when they enforce their copyrights.
06 September 2008
Ridiculous Marking Duty
Okay, really, sometimes even when I want to do something properly, it is completely impractical to do so. It all comes down to being a marker for the first year physics modules' experiments, which is a duty I have to shoulder on top of my four modules plus honours project plus SPS mentoring (and these are, in a way, of my own will).
I mean, it's like close to 300 reports every fortnight... How can I remain impartial and consistent all throughout, which is the "requirement" on myself? Of course, Kenneth (the coordinator) was nice enough to revamp the entire lab experiments such that they now have a fixed worksheets (with some empty tables for data and a few open-ended questions and calculations) and a two-page summary; but no!... some people have the capability to squeeze an essay for each open-ended question! Gosh! I mean, if only so much space is meant for the answer, then it does give an indication how much you have to write!
In any case, I really have to speed up my marking, which simply translate to a poorer marking standard. Certainly, I can't help it; I need time for my other modules and projects and all.
I mean, it's like close to 300 reports every fortnight... How can I remain impartial and consistent all throughout, which is the "requirement" on myself? Of course, Kenneth (the coordinator) was nice enough to revamp the entire lab experiments such that they now have a fixed worksheets (with some empty tables for data and a few open-ended questions and calculations) and a two-page summary; but no!... some people have the capability to squeeze an essay for each open-ended question! Gosh! I mean, if only so much space is meant for the answer, then it does give an indication how much you have to write!
In any case, I really have to speed up my marking, which simply translate to a poorer marking standard. Certainly, I can't help it; I need time for my other modules and projects and all.
24 August 2008
An Eventful Today
1000: Started dismantling my bike so I can load it up the car and bring it to school.
1030: Preparing to leave, then received information that the advance party has been activated for mobilisation (meaning so will I at 1400). Crap!
1045: Started packing and loading my personal equipment.
1120: Left for school.
1200: Reached school and started assembling my bike.
1230: Lunch.
1300: SPS Physics Journal Club. Discussed this rather interesting paper in Physical Review Letters on flying carpets. Sounded dubious to me.
1415: Journal club ended. SMS from MINDEF received. Speaking of timing!
1430: Went back to my lab and surfed the net. Received message to report by 1700.
1530: Left my lab and went to the car to change.
1600: Drove to Clementi MRT station and boarded the shuttle bus to the mobilisation centre.
1630: In-pro. Followed by the SAF standard task: wait.
1830: Final man in company arrived! Yay, out-pro!
1030: Preparing to leave, then received information that the advance party has been activated for mobilisation (meaning so will I at 1400). Crap!
1045: Started packing and loading my personal equipment.
1120: Left for school.
1200: Reached school and started assembling my bike.
1230: Lunch.
1300: SPS Physics Journal Club. Discussed this rather interesting paper in Physical Review Letters on flying carpets. Sounded dubious to me.
1415: Journal club ended. SMS from MINDEF received. Speaking of timing!
1430: Went back to my lab and surfed the net. Received message to report by 1700.
1530: Left my lab and went to the car to change.
1600: Drove to Clementi MRT station and boarded the shuttle bus to the mobilisation centre.
1630: In-pro. Followed by the SAF standard task: wait.
1830: Final man in company arrived! Yay, out-pro!
19 August 2008
The Finality of Another Chapter
Just last weekend, the SPS Newbie Orientation Camp soared through pages of fun, laughter and joy. Perhaps it is never an exaggeration to say that this was the most ambitious and successful orientation camp organised by SPS, and I think it is a safe bet that most of the newbies had loads of pleasure and sweet memories of the camp.
From the organisers' point of view - I wasn't an organiser; I was merely a kay-poh senior - everything went smoothly enough, and it was a relief and pleasant surprise when some problems that cropped up during the camp self-resolved: missing handphone and glasses were found (and in a rather fortunate manner, I must add). The temperamental bouts of rain did add a bit of disruption to Saturday's activities, but at least it wasn't those kind of long periods of downpour that would certainly ruin the camp itself.
Personally, this is probably the last kind of these camps I'll be so involved in. Maybe I'll drop by next year's NOC, but it will be quite different. Well, life's always moving on, and with the final year of my undergraduate time fading into history, I suppose I'll just have to hold on to the memories while I move on to the next phase.
From the organisers' point of view - I wasn't an organiser; I was merely a kay-poh senior - everything went smoothly enough, and it was a relief and pleasant surprise when some problems that cropped up during the camp self-resolved: missing handphone and glasses were found (and in a rather fortunate manner, I must add). The temperamental bouts of rain did add a bit of disruption to Saturday's activities, but at least it wasn't those kind of long periods of downpour that would certainly ruin the camp itself.
Personally, this is probably the last kind of these camps I'll be so involved in. Maybe I'll drop by next year's NOC, but it will be quite different. Well, life's always moving on, and with the final year of my undergraduate time fading into history, I suppose I'll just have to hold on to the memories while I move on to the next phase.
14 August 2008
In the Name of the Country
About a year ago, NUS decided to upgrade some really rotten LTs in Science, namely, LT26 and LT21. Well, now it's much better, but they have yet to fix one minor problem in LT21: it is a Faraday's Cage to handphones. That is to say, the handphone signal is shielded inside the room and there are no relay transmitter inside. Essentially, handphone signal is nil in LT21.
I have a lecture every Monday and Thursday morning in LT21. That means I'm out of contact with the rest of the Universe (in terms of microwave connection). But for the next few weeks I'm on ops manning. That means I have to be contactable at all times by my handphone.
...
Does that mean that, for the sake of my country, I cannot attend lecture? So perhaps I'll have to skip the lectures. It's not my fault or under my control. It's for the country. What if one day Singapore face some terrible crises and can't find me simply because I'm learning how to compute the errors in numerical simulations? No way! I shall have to skip lectures in the name of the country.
The fact that the lecturer is boring is irrelevant.
I have a lecture every Monday and Thursday morning in LT21. That means I'm out of contact with the rest of the Universe (in terms of microwave connection). But for the next few weeks I'm on ops manning. That means I have to be contactable at all times by my handphone.
...
Does that mean that, for the sake of my country, I cannot attend lecture? So perhaps I'll have to skip the lectures. It's not my fault or under my control. It's for the country. What if one day Singapore face some terrible crises and can't find me simply because I'm learning how to compute the errors in numerical simulations? No way! I shall have to skip lectures in the name of the country.
The fact that the lecturer is boring is irrelevant.
10 August 2008
Here We Go...
With somewhat a sombre mood, my fourth and final year in NUS will commence tomorrow. It's kinda depressing to me that my undergraduate life will be over soon, and to be honest I still haven't had enough of them. Well yeah, never mind the lack of sleep and anxiety over school work, the undergraduate life is one hell of an experience, and it's all gonna end soon...
But never mind about that. Despite this being my fourth year, I'm still somewhat "overloading" myself: 22 MCs worth of modules; or four regular modules plus one honours year project which is worth 6 MCs. It's gonna be a step up from my previous semester, and it shall be kept in mind that I have other duties like SPS mentorship and lab demonstrator for the first year lab.
On the bright side, the huge amount of CORS bidding points which I've amassed over the semester didn't go to waste last week. I threw in 3600 points into a maths module and got it for 900 points. That's an amount well spent!
But never mind about that. Despite this being my fourth year, I'm still somewhat "overloading" myself: 22 MCs worth of modules; or four regular modules plus one honours year project which is worth 6 MCs. It's gonna be a step up from my previous semester, and it shall be kept in mind that I have other duties like SPS mentorship and lab demonstrator for the first year lab.
On the bright side, the huge amount of CORS bidding points which I've amassed over the semester didn't go to waste last week. I threw in 3600 points into a maths module and got it for 900 points. That's an amount well spent!
03 August 2008
Geekiest Restaurant Name
Okay, this one nearly murdered me by laughter:
(from DrNO's Fun Site)
If their signboard reads "404 Not Found", that'll sure be a classic like the infamous Windows 98 demonstration.
(from DrNO's Fun Site)
If their signboard reads "404 Not Found", that'll sure be a classic like the infamous Windows 98 demonstration.
27 July 2008
Brain Lull
The vacation is, regrettably, drawing to a close pretty soon, heralded by the CORS bidding round 1A starting tomorrow. This second half of the vacation was pretty wearing, not so much because I had quite a few things keeping me occupied, but because of the rush of stuff.
Basically, I have, like, 3 main things running all at once. The first is the preamble to my final year project, which I'm quite hopelessly stuck for the moment. The second is a venture into experimental physics in measuring and synthesising nanostructures (but with very limited success on the latter). The third being my special semester module on political science. It is this last one that wore me out.
It is not that the workload is so heavy. But it is the haste in which things progressed, you know, like essays due in one week's time and lectures twice weekly with chapters of readings to do before every lecture. And then not to mention the fact that the exam is just two days after the last lecture this coming Thursday. But in any case, I can't be bothered, really. I've an S/U reserved for this module.
Nonetheless, this rush of things, together with the stall in my other projects, makes my brain feel as if someone removed it from my skull and sandpapered it. Certainly, I think it has been responding slower than usual and it's not in the usual frame of mind (which means that I may be normal for once).
Basically, I have, like, 3 main things running all at once. The first is the preamble to my final year project, which I'm quite hopelessly stuck for the moment. The second is a venture into experimental physics in measuring and synthesising nanostructures (but with very limited success on the latter). The third being my special semester module on political science. It is this last one that wore me out.
It is not that the workload is so heavy. But it is the haste in which things progressed, you know, like essays due in one week's time and lectures twice weekly with chapters of readings to do before every lecture. And then not to mention the fact that the exam is just two days after the last lecture this coming Thursday. But in any case, I can't be bothered, really. I've an S/U reserved for this module.
Nonetheless, this rush of things, together with the stall in my other projects, makes my brain feel as if someone removed it from my skull and sandpapered it. Certainly, I think it has been responding slower than usual and it's not in the usual frame of mind (which means that I may be normal for once).
20 July 2008
Teethless Tongue
From this TODAY article last Friday about Foreign Minister George Yeo's opinions of various issues, he mentioned that
Well, so that means this ASEAN human rights body is good at kissing those Burmese military generals, I suppose.
"Whether the human rights body we establish will have teeth, I don’t know. But it would certainly have a tongue, and I hope it would have a sharp tongue."
Well, so that means this ASEAN human rights body is good at kissing those Burmese military generals, I suppose.
07 July 2008
Videos of Fail, Fail and Fail!
I realised I haven't been posting funny videos for quite a while, so here's a little break from the typical boring stuff into the hilarious ones.
Okay, I haven't been trawling Youtube for funny videos anymore. This one above is taken from Fail Blog, a cousin site of I Can Has Cheezburger, where pictures of "fails" were posted there. It probably grew out of ICHC's respectable collection of cat failures.
To be honest, many of the "fail" pictures posted there are not very pleasant, nor are they funny. But occasionally there are a few good ones, and here's a sampling of those:
Okay, I haven't been trawling Youtube for funny videos anymore. This one above is taken from Fail Blog, a cousin site of I Can Has Cheezburger, where pictures of "fails" were posted there. It probably grew out of ICHC's respectable collection of cat failures.
To be honest, many of the "fail" pictures posted there are not very pleasant, nor are they funny. But occasionally there are a few good ones, and here's a sampling of those:
02 July 2008
Back to Nomming* Trees
After a few weeks of trial run, I think I can safely declare that I'm more or less vegetarian now. I won't be going as strict as vegans; in fact I still consume eggs (though this may change in the future). I'm fine with non-meat dishes cooked with meat as well, such as pork rib soup (but expect me not to touch the meat, of course).
The reason for this change in diet is primarily due to my love of animals, or more specifically, not wanting to kill them. There are other reasons as well, such as environmentalism and a healthier lifestyle, but these are relatively minor factors.
This decision has been tumbling in my mind for a few months, and the "trigger" came when I went on a road trip in Australia. I was quite concerned with road kills and I kept my fullest attention on the road as much as I could. I wouldn't want these animals dead, even if they don't look really cute (e.g. Tasmanian devil). Then it dawned upon me that there is pretty much no difference between killing them by running them over with a car or eating them, except that in the latter case you get someone to clean up your own shit. And witnessing the carcasses along the way does contribute quite a bit to this realisation.
Perhaps unfortunately, the "trigger" did not have an immediate effect. It did made me come to a vow that I ought to at least attempt vegetarianism, but with the ensuing chaos until the recent vacation, I could not put this plan into action. But after a "conversion" week of mixed diet for a week and two weeks of vegetarian food (including one during ICT), I think I can stick to vegetarian diet forever.
It's not so difficult to switch after all. In fact, there are no terrible desires for meat or some sort of psychological or physiological symptoms. The greatest difficulty, however, comes from my family, especially my mother who was quite upset that I won't be able to eat much of the food she cooks. After some discussion, we came to a compromise: when I'm at home, I'll eat a minimal amount of meat. So perhaps I should not call myself a vegetarian, but a semi-vegetarian. But that's only like during the weekends; most of my meals are still vegetarian.
That being said, my greatest fear now is that I will hinder other people's meal plans when we go out. To that, I say that it's alright to choose whatever they want, since most eateries will have a vegetarian option nowadays. Moreover, I'm not that strict, so if one or two bits of mince meat falls into the noodles, that's perfectly fine.
And for those who are sick of vegetarian advocates zealously advertising the merits of vegetarianism and cruelties of meat eating, fear not: I won't.
*: Nom: Onomatopoeia related to eating; often used with LolCat
The reason for this change in diet is primarily due to my love of animals, or more specifically, not wanting to kill them. There are other reasons as well, such as environmentalism and a healthier lifestyle, but these are relatively minor factors.
This decision has been tumbling in my mind for a few months, and the "trigger" came when I went on a road trip in Australia. I was quite concerned with road kills and I kept my fullest attention on the road as much as I could. I wouldn't want these animals dead, even if they don't look really cute (e.g. Tasmanian devil). Then it dawned upon me that there is pretty much no difference between killing them by running them over with a car or eating them, except that in the latter case you get someone to clean up your own shit. And witnessing the carcasses along the way does contribute quite a bit to this realisation.
Perhaps unfortunately, the "trigger" did not have an immediate effect. It did made me come to a vow that I ought to at least attempt vegetarianism, but with the ensuing chaos until the recent vacation, I could not put this plan into action. But after a "conversion" week of mixed diet for a week and two weeks of vegetarian food (including one during ICT), I think I can stick to vegetarian diet forever.
It's not so difficult to switch after all. In fact, there are no terrible desires for meat or some sort of psychological or physiological symptoms. The greatest difficulty, however, comes from my family, especially my mother who was quite upset that I won't be able to eat much of the food she cooks. After some discussion, we came to a compromise: when I'm at home, I'll eat a minimal amount of meat. So perhaps I should not call myself a vegetarian, but a semi-vegetarian. But that's only like during the weekends; most of my meals are still vegetarian.
That being said, my greatest fear now is that I will hinder other people's meal plans when we go out. To that, I say that it's alright to choose whatever they want, since most eateries will have a vegetarian option nowadays. Moreover, I'm not that strict, so if one or two bits of mince meat falls into the noodles, that's perfectly fine.
And for those who are sick of vegetarian advocates zealously advertising the merits of vegetarianism and cruelties of meat eating, fear not: I won't.
*: Nom: Onomatopoeia related to eating; often used with LolCat
29 June 2008
Back from Hell and New Hell Announced
Yup! It wasn't so bad an in-camp training, but the searing heat and the dratted feeling of outfield (albeit for only two days) makes it pretty much hell in comparison.
Nonetheless, it was an excellent performance by us signal platoon, sweeping the top place in our battalion with 100% marksmen in the new Combat Shoot and stunning our CO. Granted, the system was quite flawed in that many other shooting details had trouble with the range (you know, like the hits not registering and stuff), so we are just lucky that our details had no trouble. But hey, even with a flawless system, it isn't easy for all to get 100%! The typical marksmen rate is only about 70%.
Anyway, that's one hell completed, and surprise!... a new hell has been announced. Just yesterday, Diablo 3 has been announced. From the screenshots and videos, the game looks set to take the Diablo community by storm, though, knowing Blizzard, it'll be years before the game is released.
Not bad a welcome-back-from-hell gift!
Nonetheless, it was an excellent performance by us signal platoon, sweeping the top place in our battalion with 100% marksmen in the new Combat Shoot and stunning our CO. Granted, the system was quite flawed in that many other shooting details had trouble with the range (you know, like the hits not registering and stuff), so we are just lucky that our details had no trouble. But hey, even with a flawless system, it isn't easy for all to get 100%! The typical marksmen rate is only about 70%.
Anyway, that's one hell completed, and surprise!... a new hell has been announced. Just yesterday, Diablo 3 has been announced. From the screenshots and videos, the game looks set to take the Diablo community by storm, though, knowing Blizzard, it'll be years before the game is released.
Not bad a welcome-back-from-hell gift!
23 June 2008
A Week of Disappearance
This week you won't find me around. It's due to a simple thing called In-Camp Training.
No... not simple at all.
No... not simple at all.
09 June 2008
06 June 2008
Closure of the Open House
And that was somewhat a relief, given the tremendous effort (mostly by others though) into the event itself. At least the NUS Physics Open House 2008 was pretty much a success, so kudos to the organising committee for putting up the excellent show.
Needless to say, Raffles Institution, following previous trends, trumped the other teams to emerged victorious in the final quiz, with at least twice the score of the second team. But really, I have to give it to them: the way they play the physics Pictionary, it's simply astounding. With just any simple diagram or drawing, they can dish out a list of related physics terms bound to hit the answer easily.
Hmm... but the major event of the Physics Society is finally over, and it'll be a year later before I see (and possibly be involved in) any activity of such scale again.
Now, onwards to the neglected stuff!
Needless to say, Raffles Institution, following previous trends, trumped the other teams to emerged victorious in the final quiz, with at least twice the score of the second team. But really, I have to give it to them: the way they play the physics Pictionary, it's simply astounding. With just any simple diagram or drawing, they can dish out a list of related physics terms bound to hit the answer easily.
Hmm... but the major event of the Physics Society is finally over, and it'll be a year later before I see (and possibly be involved in) any activity of such scale again.
Now, onwards to the neglected stuff!
29 May 2008
SPS in TODAY
Being informed by Karen of the Science Dean's Office during the Open House last Saturday, I picked up a copy of TODAY today and found a SPS photo used in a Faculty of Science full page advertisement.
Urgh! I look disturbing in that photo, particular with that Guards singlet. If I had known, I would've chosen a proper T-shirt.
Anyway, it's so nice of Dean's Office to include a small writeup for SPS as well!
Urgh! I look disturbing in that photo, particular with that Guards singlet. If I had known, I would've chosen a proper T-shirt.
Anyway, it's so nice of Dean's Office to include a small writeup for SPS as well!
28 May 2008
One Down; Two More to Go
With quite some relief, last Saturday's Science Open House went smoothly. The SPS Flyer which I had to rewrite almost everything turned out well, and I did manage to find some helpers in the end. And I think we did promote SPS well enough. At least we seem to have gathered more interest than previous years.
But that's one down, and two more's looming at the horizon. First is the Physics Enrichment Camp (for JC kids) this Thursday and Friday. As a experiment demonstrator, it turns out that I've gotta explain, present and assist the students repeatedly for four hours. And then, secondly, next week, the Physics Open House is here, and again I'm the lab demonstrator. Not sure how long that'll last, but I think it's time for me to buy some Strepsils.
And once that's done, I can finally move on to other stuff! More on that later.
But that's one down, and two more's looming at the horizon. First is the Physics Enrichment Camp (for JC kids) this Thursday and Friday. As a experiment demonstrator, it turns out that I've gotta explain, present and assist the students repeatedly for four hours. And then, secondly, next week, the Physics Open House is here, and again I'm the lab demonstrator. Not sure how long that'll last, but I think it's time for me to buy some Strepsils.
And once that's done, I can finally move on to other stuff! More on that later.
19 May 2008
Gosh! What's with the Weather?
It has been maddeningly hot today, and also for the past few days. On my Yahoo! Mail main page, there's a info bar on the weather, and this afternoon it stated that the (current) temperature was 33 °C, and the highest temperature for today was 32 °C. Hmm... I suppose the heat has gotten to the Yahoo! server.
In any case, it does seem that Yahoo! Mail hasn't been in the right state of mind these few days. I realised that some of my SPS mails which were forwarded to that account were missing. A test mail from my NUS account failed to turn up. Ah well, the heat, the heat...
And speaking of SPS, that's what's been keeping me (relatively) busy the past week. I've been trying to make preparations for the Faculty of Science Open House, but I'm having trouble finding volunteers, which isn't very unexpected, to be honest. And then I need to re-design the flyer, but I noticed that my writing skills seem to be inversely correlated to the temperature.
Yeah, it's all back to the heat.
Stupid. Weather.
In any case, it does seem that Yahoo! Mail hasn't been in the right state of mind these few days. I realised that some of my SPS mails which were forwarded to that account were missing. A test mail from my NUS account failed to turn up. Ah well, the heat, the heat...
And speaking of SPS, that's what's been keeping me (relatively) busy the past week. I've been trying to make preparations for the Faculty of Science Open House, but I'm having trouble finding volunteers, which isn't very unexpected, to be honest. And then I need to re-design the flyer, but I noticed that my writing skills seem to be inversely correlated to the temperature.
Yeah, it's all back to the heat.
Stupid. Weather.
11 May 2008
So Closes Another Chapter
With the conclusion of my last paper on Wednesday, it's the end of another semester for me... It was busy all the way for me until today, actually, as immediately after my paper on Wednesday afternoon, I went for the SPS chalet that lasted till yesterday.
In any case, the long vacation has commenced, and it feels awfully weird that there is suddenly so much time. The first long vacation after my first year was pretty much wasted on many random and trivial tasks. The second one was spent in Australia by getting there way too early. Now, this one... I do have several things in line for myself, including a few promises I hope I can fulfill.
But I think I deserve slightly more break after a tedious semester (on top of the chalet, of course). My vacation plans and work can start slowly.
In any case, the long vacation has commenced, and it feels awfully weird that there is suddenly so much time. The first long vacation after my first year was pretty much wasted on many random and trivial tasks. The second one was spent in Australia by getting there way too early. Now, this one... I do have several things in line for myself, including a few promises I hope I can fulfill.
But I think I deserve slightly more break after a tedious semester (on top of the chalet, of course). My vacation plans and work can start slowly.
02 May 2008
Best of Luck for All Electrodynamics Students!
Tomorrow, the mega showdown. Usually I refrain from spamming my blog on individual wishes for exams, but I think everyone taking PC4242 Electrodynamics really need them.
27 April 2008
It's Showtime!... After These Messages.
The slaughtering has already begun, but I won't have to face the exams until the next weekend:
PC4242 Electrodynamics
030508 0900
PC4245 Particle Physics
060508 1700
MA3264 Mathematical Modelling
070508 1300
Phew! Only three exams, but the first one is much to be feared.
Okay, time to start mugging the hell out of Maxwell's equations and Larmor's formulae.
PC4242 Electrodynamics
030508 0900
PC4245 Particle Physics
060508 1700
MA3264 Mathematical Modelling
070508 1300
Phew! Only three exams, but the first one is much to be feared.
Okay, time to start mugging the hell out of Maxwell's equations and Larmor's formulae.
22 April 2008
A Disappointing Report on Mas Selamat's Escape
A few comments about the recent report on Mas Selamat's escape.
The Day of Reckoning
I'm pretty much slacking my life away these few days. In my defence, the end of last week was a bit of a stretch, though it required little effort on my part: Friday was the physics honours year project presentations, and I was hopping from venue to venue trying to catch as many as possible the entire day (Yen Kheng was right in saying that it's like a movie marathon). Saturday was SPS Congress, where I sat through another five hours of presentations. So I was pretty much worn out by then.
Beyond that the tsunami a.k.a. exams are looming near the horizon. This is my most relaxing semester in NUS (of course disregarding last semester at the ANU): 5 modules this semester, and 2 are non-examinable (though doing the presentations was quite some hell to go through; I was thoroughly grilled to death in one of them).
I haven't really gotten down to proper revision yet, but to be honest, it's still a bit too early. My first paper is the 030508, quite nearly halfway into the exam periods. One more on the sixth, and another on the following day, and I'm done for the semester. But the first paper (PC4242 Electrodynamics) is a super killer, and I anticipate that I'd be spending nearly all my time studying for it. Considering that I got 30 for the first test and 54 for the second, there is a dire need for me to get prepared.
Well, I suppose I only have myself to blame to take a module with the super-geniuses of the higher batch and my batch combined.
Beyond that the tsunami a.k.a. exams are looming near the horizon. This is my most relaxing semester in NUS (of course disregarding last semester at the ANU): 5 modules this semester, and 2 are non-examinable (though doing the presentations was quite some hell to go through; I was thoroughly grilled to death in one of them).
I haven't really gotten down to proper revision yet, but to be honest, it's still a bit too early. My first paper is the 030508, quite nearly halfway into the exam periods. One more on the sixth, and another on the following day, and I'm done for the semester. But the first paper (PC4242 Electrodynamics) is a super killer, and I anticipate that I'd be spending nearly all my time studying for it. Considering that I got 30 for the first test and 54 for the second, there is a dire need for me to get prepared.
Well, I suppose I only have myself to blame to take a module with the super-geniuses of the higher batch and my batch combined.
16 April 2008
The Last Superhero of Physics
John Archibald Wheeler passed away on Sunday morning in the US. He is one of the last of the heroes from the Golden Age of physics, which has seen giants like Einstein, Heisenberg and Feynman advancing our knowledge of Nature by leaps.
Wheeler is responsible for popularising concepts of general relativity, as well as introducing the terms "black hole" and "wormhole" to the scientific community. While he himself has not won a Nobel Prize (though he did get a Wolf Prize not too long ago), he has supervised Feynman on his approach to quantum electrodynamics which lead to the 1965 Nobel Prize for Feynman. Other than Feynman, other well-known students of his are Kip Thorne, Jacob Bekenstein (who contributed significantly to black hole thermodynamics) and Hugh Everett (famous for the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics).
I think it cannot be denied that with his passing, it symbolised the end of the Golden Age. What comes next... who shall be the next superhero... it shall remain to be seen.
Wheeler is responsible for popularising concepts of general relativity, as well as introducing the terms "black hole" and "wormhole" to the scientific community. While he himself has not won a Nobel Prize (though he did get a Wolf Prize not too long ago), he has supervised Feynman on his approach to quantum electrodynamics which lead to the 1965 Nobel Prize for Feynman. Other than Feynman, other well-known students of his are Kip Thorne, Jacob Bekenstein (who contributed significantly to black hole thermodynamics) and Hugh Everett (famous for the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics).
I think it cannot be denied that with his passing, it symbolised the end of the Golden Age. What comes next... who shall be the next superhero... it shall remain to be seen.
07 April 2008
A Lawsuit to Save the World
This is a little old news, but it turns out that, as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) gears for activation, someone is filing a lawsuit to stop it from operation.
Yes, that's like when billions of dollars and years of preparation has went into it. Pretty last minute, if you ask me. And if LHC gets delayed again, these guys are probably gonna be the number one enemy of millions of scientists: the LHC was already delayed once from November last year to the middle of this year.
Apparently, they are worried that the LHC will spawn something that gobbles up the Universe, or at least Earth. It is not impossible, of course, but in that case we might as well ban the upcoming Olympics. You'll never know if some athlete runs so fast, he breaks some sort of human-light interaction barrier and create a time vortex that converts everyone into cockroaches.
It's not impossible, you know...
05 April 2008
OSA in the Firing Line
Just went to the NUSSU/OSA dialogue session. At the start, OSA released some numbers. It turns out that the increase in number of applicants wasn't a lot... maybe 200 more, as I can recall from memory. But apparently, that was enough to drive the CCA cutoff points from 38 to 45. And until University Town is up and running in 2010, there's very little OSA can do.
In any case, the questioners can mainly be divided into two classes: those who point out flaws in the hostel system, and those who accuse OSA of doing a poor job. A couple of suggestions were made, some reminiscent of the recent NTU threesome episode, but most comments and questions fall largely into the two category, including one person who kept hogging the microphone and debating with the OSA people (and interrupting another person asking a question as well).
Well, judging from the kind of responses of the audience and the questioners, I think most people did not get what they want, which is probably one of the following two things. One, for OSA to pull some new hostel rooms out of their pockets; two, for OSA to say that they've screwed up so bad it's worse than letting Mas Selamat escape.
However, it appears to me as if these people have pretty much ruled out the possibility of renting an apartment outside. I don't really know why, to be honest...
In any case, the questioners can mainly be divided into two classes: those who point out flaws in the hostel system, and those who accuse OSA of doing a poor job. A couple of suggestions were made, some reminiscent of the recent NTU threesome episode, but most comments and questions fall largely into the two category, including one person who kept hogging the microphone and debating with the OSA people (and interrupting another person asking a question as well).
Well, judging from the kind of responses of the audience and the questioners, I think most people did not get what they want, which is probably one of the following two things. One, for OSA to pull some new hostel rooms out of their pockets; two, for OSA to say that they've screwed up so bad it's worse than letting Mas Selamat escape.
However, it appears to me as if these people have pretty much ruled out the possibility of renting an apartment outside. I don't really know why, to be honest...
02 April 2008
The NUS Hostel Crisis
Everyone has probably heard about the dire hostel situation in NUS this year, and probably also the small protest outside the OSA office yesterday. With the CCA cutoff point at a ridiculous 45 points, many people were unable to secure a hostel application, and this of course includes many foreigners.
Actually, it's a rather sad situation, for one to work hard to collect sufficient CCA points to qualify for hostels, and yet find out that all that effort and the time spent are going to waste. But then again, with limited hostels, what other choices does OSA have? CCA points were designed to give a good measure of the level of activeness of a student, yet it can easily be abused.
In addition, I have no idea what NUS can do. I do know that NUS owns a number of blocks/apartments outside campus, but they're largely reserved for graduate students (but the situation for them is worse) and visitors. NUSSU has organised a dialogue session with OSA (which I'm probably gonna join in and kay poh), but really, how much can it do?
Even before the hostel application for the next academic year, I have already considered renting a flat outside. Now with so many of my friends all potentially homeless, I now have seven people who are looking to share a room. But it's no way that it'll get better: with so many people not able to secure a hostel, the rents of accommodations outside campus will soar. Already, I heard it's $2500 a month for a two-room flat...
And to think I heard, a while ago when NUS raised its hostel fees, some people complain that hostel fees are way too high.
EDIT: the $2500 figure is probably erroneous, since it can't have risen so much from ~$1500 half a year ago. Probably faulty source.
Actually, it's a rather sad situation, for one to work hard to collect sufficient CCA points to qualify for hostels, and yet find out that all that effort and the time spent are going to waste. But then again, with limited hostels, what other choices does OSA have? CCA points were designed to give a good measure of the level of activeness of a student, yet it can easily be abused.
In addition, I have no idea what NUS can do. I do know that NUS owns a number of blocks/apartments outside campus, but they're largely reserved for graduate students (but the situation for them is worse) and visitors. NUSSU has organised a dialogue session with OSA (which I'm probably gonna join in and kay poh), but really, how much can it do?
Even before the hostel application for the next academic year, I have already considered renting a flat outside. Now with so many of my friends all potentially homeless, I now have seven people who are looking to share a room. But it's no way that it'll get better: with so many people not able to secure a hostel, the rents of accommodations outside campus will soar. Already, I heard it's $2500 a month for a two-room flat...
And to think I heard, a while ago when NUS raised its hostel fees, some people complain that hostel fees are way too high.
EDIT: the $2500 figure is probably erroneous, since it can't have risen so much from ~$1500 half a year ago. Probably faulty source.
31 March 2008
When Nature Strikes
When I went home yesterday I found out from my family that a lightning struck the house on Thursday. No one knew what happened in exact... definitely it struck the lightning rod, but it also ripped off the bark of a tree and struck two holes in the balcony ledge:
The casualties: four TVs, one cordless phone unit, the automatic gates, my brother's fish tank pump, and the LAN cable connecting my computer to the router. As such I was Internet-less over the weekend. It was fortunate that my computer was pretty much unscathed... and I think I have to give credit to the $20+ surge protector that I bought. Otherwise myhighscores important data will all be fried.
But I think the greatest luck was that no one got hurt... If anyone were standing near the windows where the lightning struck (just below the ledge), it can be potential damage to the ears, not to mention quite possibly being knocked out.
The casualties: four TVs, one cordless phone unit, the automatic gates, my brother's fish tank pump, and the LAN cable connecting my computer to the router. As such I was Internet-less over the weekend. It was fortunate that my computer was pretty much unscathed... and I think I have to give credit to the $20+ surge protector that I bought. Otherwise my
But I think the greatest luck was that no one got hurt... If anyone were standing near the windows where the lightning struck (just below the ledge), it can be potential damage to the ears, not to mention quite possibly being knocked out.
28 March 2008
Sacrificing Wienerland Trip for Holiday Camp
The Physics Department German Immersion Trip: 010608 to 220608
The 724 Guards holiday camp: 230608 to 280608
I think I shall have to forgo the former, since the holiday campcannot be cancelled is too precious to be ignored. The clash between the jet lag of the trip and the excitingly exhausting activities of the camp perhaps ought to be wisely avoided.
On the brighter side, I may have to fork about $1000 for the trip (after the department subsidy), but I get to collect about $100 for the camp! Not so bad after all!
The 724 Guards holiday camp: 230608 to 280608
I think I shall have to forgo the former, since the holiday camp
On the brighter side, I may have to fork about $1000 for the trip (after the department subsidy), but I get to collect about $100 for the camp! Not so bad after all!
26 March 2008
Earth Hour
This Saturday happens to be Earth Hour. For the uninitiated, this is an event that first took place last year in Sydney but this year in many cities around the world, whereby people will turn off their non-essential electrical appliances for one hour between 2000 and 2100.
I probably will be participating so long as I do not forget about it while doing my tutorials or lab reports or whatnot. But I doubt I can convince my family to do so... they are not supportive of environmentalism in general...
Interestingly enough, it has been publicised that Earth Hour 2007 helped cut electricity consumption by about 10%. And then there are criticisms that this figure is actually insignificant and all. Personally, I thought this is a rather meaningless argument, since Earth Hour is not so much effective in cutting down our carbon output but more of a symbolic move to promote environmentalism and conservation. It's just like the current situation of charging for plastic bags. The bags, if disposed properly, form a rather insignificant part of our trash, but it is more of putting into the minds of people the importance of environmentalism.
Which is why I see it as a defeat of purpose by charging for using plastic bags or giving discounts when not. But that's how things work in Singapore: pragmatically. Therefore I doubt Singapore Power will see a substantial drop in power for that one hour this Saturday.
I probably will be participating so long as I do not forget about it while doing my tutorials or lab reports or whatnot. But I doubt I can convince my family to do so... they are not supportive of environmentalism in general...
Interestingly enough, it has been publicised that Earth Hour 2007 helped cut electricity consumption by about 10%. And then there are criticisms that this figure is actually insignificant and all. Personally, I thought this is a rather meaningless argument, since Earth Hour is not so much effective in cutting down our carbon output but more of a symbolic move to promote environmentalism and conservation. It's just like the current situation of charging for plastic bags. The bags, if disposed properly, form a rather insignificant part of our trash, but it is more of putting into the minds of people the importance of environmentalism.
Which is why I see it as a defeat of purpose by charging for using plastic bags or giving discounts when not. But that's how things work in Singapore: pragmatically. Therefore I doubt Singapore Power will see a substantial drop in power for that one hour this Saturday.
25 March 2008
The Post-Markovian Aftermath
Finally, finally, finally. The UROPS report deadline is past and my report is in, together with the most rigidly uncreative 4-page abstract that the Dean's Office wants. It was quite a nasty period of time last week when I neglected almost every other thing except those absolutely necessary, just so that I could finish report. Although I have consistently written summaries of my progress throughout my project, it is rather surprising how much time it takes to string all of them together.
Oh and that's while I was doing some last minute work to churn out some fancy graphs and nice numbers at the same time. My results are quite insubstantial, to be frank, though fortunately it promises plenty of future work... and by this I mean real future work and not those "future works" used in journal articles that meant the authors were too lazy to do the experiments/workings. Anyway, I managed to add this last colourful graph below into my report which would otherwise be a plain, black and white, and zero image piece of work. There's very little meaning in this graph, but colour and a diagram makes my report brighter, I suppose.
And speaking of last minute research, it wasn't that last minute... I managed to get all I want, including the graph above, by Thursday night. It can't be too late or else I won't have time to write my report. After all, my supervisor, Yeo Ye, has to look through my report draft. Quite frighteningly, the bulk of what I did, he worked them out in just an hour...
So now with the report gone, those tutorials and lab report and all sorts of stuff that I've neglected are coming back for revenge. Hopefully I can get the backlogged stuff cleared by the end of this week. Then next week I've gotta worry about upcoming tests.
Sigh... I miss my ANU exchange...
(In case you're wondering about the title, it just so turns out that my project is on "Post-Markovian open quantum systems".)
Oh and that's while I was doing some last minute work to churn out some fancy graphs and nice numbers at the same time. My results are quite insubstantial, to be frank, though fortunately it promises plenty of future work... and by this I mean real future work and not those "future works" used in journal articles that meant the authors were too lazy to do the experiments/workings. Anyway, I managed to add this last colourful graph below into my report which would otherwise be a plain, black and white, and zero image piece of work. There's very little meaning in this graph, but colour and a diagram makes my report brighter, I suppose.
And speaking of last minute research, it wasn't that last minute... I managed to get all I want, including the graph above, by Thursday night. It can't be too late or else I won't have time to write my report. After all, my supervisor, Yeo Ye, has to look through my report draft. Quite frighteningly, the bulk of what I did, he worked them out in just an hour...
So now with the report gone, those tutorials and lab report and all sorts of stuff that I've neglected are coming back for revenge. Hopefully I can get the backlogged stuff cleared by the end of this week. Then next week I've gotta worry about upcoming tests.
Sigh... I miss my ANU exchange...
(In case you're wondering about the title, it just so turns out that my project is on "Post-Markovian open quantum systems".)
15 March 2008
π Day
I know this is a little late, but happy Pi day to all!
Feynman point, anyone?
(Sorry for the crappiness and lack of both quality and quantity in posts recently. I've been awfully busy, which is, of course, nothing new.)
Feynman point, anyone?
(Sorry for the crappiness and lack of both quality and quantity in posts recently. I've been awfully busy, which is, of course, nothing new.)
09 March 2008
03 March 2008
Fugitive Alert
As you all probably know, a terrorist fugitive has escaped a detention centre on Wednesday and is still at large. In case you have been living inside a walnut and has no idea of this, here I am doing my duty of patriotism by informing you of this.
If you notice him, please inform the authorities immediately so we can put him behind bars and save Minister Wong Kan Seng his job (though he's unlikely going to lose it anyway). Together we can make Singapore a safer and better place!
Here are some possible guises he could have taken, so please familiarise yourself with them:
If you notice him, please inform the authorities immediately so we can put him behind bars and save Minister Wong Kan Seng his job (though he's unlikely going to lose it anyway). Together we can make Singapore a safer and better place!
Here are some possible guises he could have taken, so please familiarise yourself with them:
02 March 2008
An Eventful Break
In a flash the term break's over. Nonetheless, I think I've set good progress during this period, achieving significant advancements in my UROPS project. As for my Experimental Physics 2 labs, I couldn't get anything done, since the lab does not allow new experiments to begin during the term break, so it's not my fault. I've also managed to clear my IPPT, meaning I do not have to worry about it in months to come.
And on top of all that, I managed to milk some time out of my schedule for the SPS night cycling on Wednesday, organised by the most enthusiastic group of year 1s I've ever seen. It's a pity there wasn't many seniors around - just two year 3 mentors and one year 2 senior - but I think for such an event this is quite a success.
Starting off at a bicycle rental shop near Marina Cove at East Coast Park (where the McDonald's is), we went along East Coast Park to the Changi-end, then up the straight road of Changi Coast Road...
... near the end of which we suffered a punctured tire from Jung Pu who brought her own bike. Fortunately, it was a foldable bike, so someone could carry it and cycle, while I jogged from there to our first station at Changi Village (and to think that I just completed my IPPT slightly more than twenty-four hours ago).
However, all the bike shops were closed by then, so Jung Pu took a bus home with her bike and rendezvous with us at a later location with another borrowed bike. But anyway, we had some nice dessert at Changi Village (a bit reversed though, to have dessert first) and some real food (mainly the famous Nasi Lemak there) because most of us were famished from the lack of dinner.
We then engaged in our next leg towards Simpang Bedok. It was a bumpy ride up Loyang Road, but it wasn't too bad for me because the suspension of my bike was functioning rather well. After Simpang Bedok we rounded towards Bedok 85. Somewhat familiar places with nostalgic reminiscence, I must admit.
The next leg was rather distant, going all the way to Geylang. I think by this time some people started displaying signs of sleepiness. There we had numerous stops, first at the formerly-famous Youtiao King, and then at a stall where I tasted the best frog leg porridge in my life.
By now it was around 0430 and most were evolving into zombies. As for me I foresaw this and thus took a nap in the afternoon, making me probably the most irritatingly energetic person there. But we left again up Nicoll Highway and to Suntec and the Esplanade.
Finally as day began to break we went back via Tanjong Rhu (almost getting lost in the process), but not before I got a rather sweet shot of the Singapore Flyer!
And then it was back at ECP one hour earlier than the opening hours of the bike shop, so we hung around in McDonald's. I was there sipping tea and making full worth of the free refill, and the result of which I was the most awake of them all.
Then yesterday night I went to the NUS Symphony Orchestra's performance at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music. It was a performance in conjunction with the NUS Arts Festival, which I regrettably had little time to attend.
They played Stravinsky's Firebird, Haydn's Cello Concerto No. 2 and Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, as well as an encore piece of the theme music of the Pirates of the Caribbean.
On the whole it was very well executed, though I personally didn't quite like Firebird because it was a bit too rapid and messy. Haydn is excellent, and of course there's the all-time favourite of Beethoven. Pirates was a nice end to the concert, though I must say that since I'm not a fan of the movie series, I didn't find that exceptional.
Well, so that's the term break, which is rather fun and fulfilling. And it was a satisfying one, probably the most, with quite some progress as well. Probably the best one week break I had (not including ANU's, which was two weeks and quite different in nature).
And on top of all that, I managed to milk some time out of my schedule for the SPS night cycling on Wednesday, organised by the most enthusiastic group of year 1s I've ever seen. It's a pity there wasn't many seniors around - just two year 3 mentors and one year 2 senior - but I think for such an event this is quite a success.
Starting off at a bicycle rental shop near Marina Cove at East Coast Park (where the McDonald's is), we went along East Coast Park to the Changi-end, then up the straight road of Changi Coast Road...
... near the end of which we suffered a punctured tire from Jung Pu who brought her own bike. Fortunately, it was a foldable bike, so someone could carry it and cycle, while I jogged from there to our first station at Changi Village (and to think that I just completed my IPPT slightly more than twenty-four hours ago).
However, all the bike shops were closed by then, so Jung Pu took a bus home with her bike and rendezvous with us at a later location with another borrowed bike. But anyway, we had some nice dessert at Changi Village (a bit reversed though, to have dessert first) and some real food (mainly the famous Nasi Lemak there) because most of us were famished from the lack of dinner.
We then engaged in our next leg towards Simpang Bedok. It was a bumpy ride up Loyang Road, but it wasn't too bad for me because the suspension of my bike was functioning rather well. After Simpang Bedok we rounded towards Bedok 85. Somewhat familiar places with nostalgic reminiscence, I must admit.
The next leg was rather distant, going all the way to Geylang. I think by this time some people started displaying signs of sleepiness. There we had numerous stops, first at the formerly-famous Youtiao King, and then at a stall where I tasted the best frog leg porridge in my life.
By now it was around 0430 and most were evolving into zombies. As for me I foresaw this and thus took a nap in the afternoon, making me probably the most irritatingly energetic person there. But we left again up Nicoll Highway and to Suntec and the Esplanade.
Finally as day began to break we went back via Tanjong Rhu (almost getting lost in the process), but not before I got a rather sweet shot of the Singapore Flyer!
And then it was back at ECP one hour earlier than the opening hours of the bike shop, so we hung around in McDonald's. I was there sipping tea and making full worth of the free refill, and the result of which I was the most awake of them all.
Then yesterday night I went to the NUS Symphony Orchestra's performance at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music. It was a performance in conjunction with the NUS Arts Festival, which I regrettably had little time to attend.
They played Stravinsky's Firebird, Haydn's Cello Concerto No. 2 and Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, as well as an encore piece of the theme music of the Pirates of the Caribbean.
On the whole it was very well executed, though I personally didn't quite like Firebird because it was a bit too rapid and messy. Haydn is excellent, and of course there's the all-time favourite of Beethoven. Pirates was a nice end to the concert, though I must say that since I'm not a fan of the movie series, I didn't find that exceptional.
Well, so that's the term break, which is rather fun and fulfilling. And it was a satisfying one, probably the most, with quite some progress as well. Probably the best one week break I had (not including ANU's, which was two weeks and quite different in nature).
25 February 2008
The Subtle Fear of Being Scooped
My current UROPS project is on post-Markovian open quantum systems, extending an idea from one paper published some three years ago. The idea basically uses some tricks to bypass some difficulties in non-Markovian systems. While the idea has yet to gain widespread acceptance, I constantly see new papers published which cited the original article.
Whenever I come across such an article, especially one that resembles very much my project, there is a pang of fear of being scooped. Naturally, with the scale of my project, it won't be as disastrous as actual research projects where being scooped can very well mean a severe loss in one's academic/research record, but nonetheless there would be a deflated feeling that results from the news. It's as if I am reproducing someone else's results (although independently) instead of coming up with it.
Fortunately, none of these papers are anything close to my project. One did come close though, even citing the paper I'm basing my project on, but they used another model instead. On the flip side, it isn't so bad for my UROPS if I get scooped, since I can use that paper to verify my results.
Unless my results are wrong, of course...
22 February 2008
Term Tests and Term Break
Phew! What a week it has been! Two tests on two consecutive days... my mind feels completely deflated... Actually, having two tests wasn't that bad. It's the fact that one of the tests was a super killer that's really strangling. The difficulty of Englert's tests are legendary.To be honest, I'd be quite satisfied if I can secure 10 marks (out of 100) and elated if I hit 20. Usually, the mark distribution of his tests has two bumps and zero everywhere else. One bump is at the top end, which is usually occupied by those with Mathematica and MatLab and all those pirated softcopy textbooks installed in their brains. The other bump - typically larger than the first - is near the zero marks. Oh, and don't ask me how he moderates the marks... Lorentz transform, maybe?
Well, at least they're all over and now with the semester break,
Yay term break!
14 February 2008
Put Your Full Stops
I was scanning through some of my Australia photos for my SEP testimony, when I came across this photo I ought to have posted here when I got the chance, but probably forgot about it.
This shows that if you need to vandalise for a cause, make sure you do it such that no one can "correct" them.
This shows that if you need to vandalise for a cause, make sure you do it such that no one can "correct" them.
12 February 2008
International Philosophical
Just came across this beauty of a Monty Python sketch on philosophy, and it tickled me thoroughly. For all those who know about philosophers and certain philosophies like those of Nietzsche, Kant, Marx and Hagel, this will be quite a beautiful nonsense. For all those who don't, it's still excellent nonsense anyway, just that the nonsense has less meaningful nonsense in it.
09 February 2008
A Questionable Silliness
One of the Monty Python's most popular sketches, The Minstry of Silly Walks, featured John Cleese acting as a government official whose department specialised in... well... silly walks (do a Youtube search to see the ridiculous style of movement). And then I just came across this news article entitled "Maths explains why 'silly walks' are silly" published about half a year ago.
The news article suggested that a recent paper in the Royal Society (a reputable scientific journal) has shown, through mathematics, that the "silly walk" style of walking is, surprise!, not efficient. In fact, in the lead of the article this was written:
The first thought that came to my mind was the utter duh-ness in the entire issue. It takes no brains to figure out that "silly walk" hinders mobility and any creature that evolved silly walks would be brutally murdered by natural selection.
I was curious enough to search for the supposed article, and guess what? There is no reference whatsoever to the Monty Python sketch. The article, entitled "Idealized walking and running gaits minimize work", studies two forms of human movement and evaluates their efficiency. In fact, the abstract is as follows:
So it hardly needs to be said that silly walk was added into the news article to grab attention, in the process of which the original research article was made to look rather silly in itself.
The news article suggested that a recent paper in the Royal Society (a reputable scientific journal) has shown, through mathematics, that the "silly walk" style of walking is, surprise!, not efficient. In fact, in the lead of the article this was written:
SCIENTISTS have explained mathematically why the famous "silly walks" of Monty Python's John Cleese have never caught on in the long history of Homo sapiens.
The first thought that came to my mind was the utter duh-ness in the entire issue. It takes no brains to figure out that "silly walk" hinders mobility and any creature that evolved silly walks would be brutally murdered by natural selection.
I was curious enough to search for the supposed article, and guess what? There is no reference whatsoever to the Monty Python sketch. The article, entitled "Idealized walking and running gaits minimize work", studies two forms of human movement and evaluates their efficiency. In fact, the abstract is as follows:
Even though human legs allow a wide repertoire of movements, when people travel by foot they mostly use one of two locomotor patterns, namely, walking and running. The selection of these two gaits from the plethora of options might be because walking and running require less metabolic energy than other more unusual gaits. We addressed this possibility previously using numerical optimization of a minimal mathematical model of a biped. We had found that, for a given step-length, the two classical descriptions of walking and running, 'inverted pendulum walking' and 'impulsive running', do indeed minimize the amount of positive work required at low and high speeds respectively. Here, for the case of small step-lengths, we establish the previous results analytically. First, we simplify the two-dimensional particle trajectory problem to a one-dimensional 'elevator' problem. Then we use elementary geometric arguments on the resulting phase plane to show optimality of the two gaits: walking at low speeds and running at high speeds.
So it hardly needs to be said that silly walk was added into the news article to grab attention, in the process of which the original research article was made to look rather silly in itself.
07 February 2008
05 February 2008
The CNY Tutorial
It appeared, last week, as if my PC4242 Electrodynamics tutorial on Wednesday 1600 - 1700 is set to go on this week. That is because when the tutor asked the class, it turned out that only three students (out of 20+) - all Malaysians - won't be around. The tutor felt that it's not very fair to everyone to cancel class just because of three people, and what's more it's an official school day.
But luckily Englert decided to give us a break and cancel it. Which means I no longer have to rush home right after the tutorial (which tend to drag past 1700, by the way) to catch dinner with my family. In return, he expects the tutorials and assignments to be very good, since we have two weeks to work on it.
But doesn't he know that no homework ought to be done on CNY? It's bad luck you know... no? Craps...
But luckily Englert decided to give us a break and cancel it. Which means I no longer have to rush home right after the tutorial (which tend to drag past 1700, by the way) to catch dinner with my family. In return, he expects the tutorials and assignments to be very good, since we have two weeks to work on it.
But doesn't he know that no homework ought to be done on CNY? It's bad luck you know... no? Craps...
03 February 2008
NUS Mail Spam Filter
I must admit that the NUS mail spam filter is pretty effective. It has quite successfully junked all the spam mails that has been arriving into my email account recently. Certainly, it was much better than about a year ago, when erectile dysfunction pills and cheap watches ads still found their way into my inbox.
However, it may be working a little bit too effectively. While I never had any important mail being redirected into the spam folder, I found that some of my subscriptions to mailing lists has been considered as spam. And they're not those "useless" kind of subscription, but email alerts to journals like Physics News and Physical Review.
I thought that NUS mail would recognise the sender from a reputable organisation (@aps.org, or American Physical Society), but it seems that I may have to move them out manually. And to be honest it's feels quite queer rummaging through my spam folder, amongst the "sexual enhancements" and "designer apparels" mails for stuff on science.
However, it may be working a little bit too effectively. While I never had any important mail being redirected into the spam folder, I found that some of my subscriptions to mailing lists has been considered as spam. And they're not those "useless" kind of subscription, but email alerts to journals like Physics News and Physical Review.
I thought that NUS mail would recognise the sender from a reputable organisation (@aps.org, or American Physical Society), but it seems that I may have to move them out manually. And to be honest it's feels quite queer rummaging through my spam folder, amongst the "sexual enhancements" and "designer apparels" mails for stuff on science.
31 January 2008
Out to Paradise on Sunday
Last Sunday I went out with some friends from Cat High for lunch. We went to Tao's Restaurant at Paradiz Plaza and chatted over their exquisite lunch for hours. It was a pretty sleek place and excellent for meeting up with friends, and its food is certainly good and unique.
It has been a very long time since we all got together: Wang Jiunn, Colin, Matt, Ewen, Zhi Guo and myself. It all started off when Matt suggested that we should get together, then the both of us contacted everyone and settled on a date, though the place was not decided until pretty late. It will probably be the last get-together before a very long time: Matt is going back to Australia after CNY, and Zhi Guo is flying to under Down Under to bring balance to the cow-Force (to make true again the sentence of "纽西兰有三百万头乳牛。三百万，跟新加坡人口一样多！" - sorry ZG, NZ always remind me of this Fernleaf commercial from a long long time ago.)
Anyway, it appears as if most have not changed. Too bad we couldn't have Aaron to join us; he's off on exchange to US.
Here are a selected few of the photos I took of the food there. There was a group photo as well, but it was too blur...
It has been a very long time since we all got together: Wang Jiunn, Colin, Matt, Ewen, Zhi Guo and myself. It all started off when Matt suggested that we should get together, then the both of us contacted everyone and settled on a date, though the place was not decided until pretty late. It will probably be the last get-together before a very long time: Matt is going back to Australia after CNY, and Zhi Guo is flying to under Down Under to bring balance to the cow-Force (to make true again the sentence of "纽西兰有三百万头乳牛。三百万，跟新加坡人口一样多！" - sorry ZG, NZ always remind me of this Fernleaf commercial from a long long time ago.)
Anyway, it appears as if most have not changed. Too bad we couldn't have Aaron to join us; he's off on exchange to US.
Here are a selected few of the photos I took of the food there. There was a group photo as well, but it was too blur...
25 January 2008
Squeezed State
Okay, this week has been quite a mad rush for me, especially after mid-week. I quite had no time for a breather, and have been reaching home after 10. Glad that the weekend is here.
Phew...
20 January 2008
How Wrong is the Principal?
After a long hiatus from commenting on local socio-political events, here's my observations and thoughts about the incident of the principal and the secondary five students.
Into a YouTube World
It has been quite a week, with the abrupt acceleration into school life. This weekend is a nice respite. To celebrate the break and the return to a life of YouTube, here's a couple of videos to brighten your day.
Both are sketches from a series of TV show called Not the Nine O'Clock News nearly thirty years ago.
Both are sketches from a series of TV show called Not the Nine O'Clock News nearly thirty years ago.
18 January 2008
I Hate My Timetable
With some tutorial timings still unknown, the final timetable is still not out yet, but what's for sure now is that
1) I have lessons on all five days of the week, with lessons starting at 0800 everyday except for Wednesday, which begins at 1000.
2) There are two days in which I can only leave school after sundown. One is due to a lesson from 1800 to 2000, the other due to SPS seminars (though it is not compulsory for me to attend) from 1900 to 2100.
3) The final insult is that most of the slots in between are empty!
And now that I commute to and fro home everyday, it means extremely limited sleep for me. I wake up at about 0530 and leave home at 0600 everyday so I can avoid the morning rush in the public transport. And sometimes I reach home past 1000, stretching very thin the promise to myself of seven hours of sleep a day.
Bummers... bad semester timetable.
P.S.: Oh yay, 200th post!
P.P.S.: I went for blood donation just now. I'm not sure how the nurse screwed the needle in, but my arm is a bit sore.
13 January 2008
Back to the Beginning
So here goes, the beginning of the new semester, and last if I do not choose/qualify for honours. It was a pretty good semester the last, though I wonder how much the fact that it was a non-NUS semester mattered in that evaluation. One thing's for sure, it is unlikely that I'll be working as hard as I did in the past NUS-semesters.
Nope, don't get me wrong. It's possible that I'll still be rather busy, but I think I won't be laying my brains on the anvil too often now. At least I hope to do that after having a relatively relaxed semester.
I wonder if I could stick to that.
Nope, don't get me wrong. It's possible that I'll still be rather busy, but I think I won't be laying my brains on the anvil too often now. At least I hope to do that after having a relatively relaxed semester.
I wonder if I could stick to that.
09 January 2008
Home
Okay. I'm back.
Not gonna say much since I've still got quite some packing to do.
The weather's damn bloody humid by the way. Feels so uncomfortable breathing.
Not gonna say much since I've still got quite some packing to do.
The weather's damn bloody humid by the way. Feels so uncomfortable breathing.
05 January 2008
Return Trip
Just a quick note to all those wondering: I'll be back in Singapore on the night of the 8th, i.e. next Tue.
Don't bother trying to catch me to go out on the 9th though: I'll be in NUS settling some stuff.
Don't bother trying to catch me to go out on the 9th though: I'll be in NUS settling some stuff.
01 January 2008
Lightning Up Sydney's Skies
So in the end my one day travel to Sydney for the New Year's Eve countdown ended pretty much without major hitches. All in all it was quite a worthy experience, though the wait was pretty lengthy. Fortunately I had a book that kept me busy for most of the day, and my laptop for the night.
Our viewing spot was quite ideal as well, having a face-on view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge with the Sydney Opera House at the background (though of course this meant that the lighting display is facing the other side). We were sitting quite near the river as well, but we were on the tarred road just behind a concrete roadblock which provided marginal shade (we were early enough for a good spot but not early enough for the grass).
Anyway, there were two major displays of firework. The first is a relatively short one at 9 p.m. to warm the atmosphere up. It lasted about seven minutes.
The big one was at midnight, lasting about fifteen minutes. I believe it is orchestrated against some music, but to hear that we need to tune in to a radio broadcast, and I'm simply too lazy to do that. They could've had some sound speakers at the viewing spots though.
The final one had not only the bridge and the numerous floating barges shooting off fireworks, but also from the rooftop of a couple of skyscrapers. All in all it was quite impressive.
Anyway, the entire viewing area was packed, which meant it took quite some time for us to get out to our car. And then came a minor hitch we failed to anticipate: we were stuck in traffic for hours. The highway was simply choked: the two-lane roads simply couldn't handle the expected 1.5 million people and the CBD roads and bridge closure. We plodded on for hours before finally managing to turn out at the next available exit, and then started to trace through the minor suburban roads that were literally traffic-free. It was a long detour, but it certainly saved us much needed time.
Oh, and before it slips my mind, Happy New Year to all!
Our viewing spot was quite ideal as well, having a face-on view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge with the Sydney Opera House at the background (though of course this meant that the lighting display is facing the other side). We were sitting quite near the river as well, but we were on the tarred road just behind a concrete roadblock which provided marginal shade (we were early enough for a good spot but not early enough for the grass).
Anyway, there were two major displays of firework. The first is a relatively short one at 9 p.m. to warm the atmosphere up. It lasted about seven minutes.
The big one was at midnight, lasting about fifteen minutes. I believe it is orchestrated against some music, but to hear that we need to tune in to a radio broadcast, and I'm simply too lazy to do that. They could've had some sound speakers at the viewing spots though.
The final one had not only the bridge and the numerous floating barges shooting off fireworks, but also from the rooftop of a couple of skyscrapers. All in all it was quite impressive.
Anyway, the entire viewing area was packed, which meant it took quite some time for us to get out to our car. And then came a minor hitch we failed to anticipate: we were stuck in traffic for hours. The highway was simply choked: the two-lane roads simply couldn't handle the expected 1.5 million people and the CBD roads and bridge closure. We plodded on for hours before finally managing to turn out at the next available exit, and then started to trace through the minor suburban roads that were literally traffic-free. It was a long detour, but it certainly saved us much needed time.
Oh, and before it slips my mind, Happy New Year to all!
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