fifty//yearth  


I never expect my schoolmates to love my school so much. Their love and adoration for the school is well appreciated.
Proverbs
One generation plants the trees; another gets the shade.
     - Chinese Proverb
They even vandalize the tables with "I love SP". ["SP" is the abbreviation of my polytechnic - Singapore Polytechnic.] Their love is clearly written and engraved onto the school property. What better a way to express their love.
However, a better way is there to express their love. The right way that is. Celebrating SP's 50th anniversary, the oldest polytechnic in Singapore put on boards for people to write their comments and paste on the walls.
SP IS OUR CHOICE - Yeah, that's why we're stuck here for more years.
Shawn Rocks G4 - What the hell does that mean? G4 is an Apple computer??
Our poly is bigger and stronger - Yes, it is getting bigger, it better be. I wouldn't want it to shrink.
I love Nina 50th birthday - What a coincidence, your Nina is also celebrating her 50th birthday? So is our polytechnic.
I love Singapore - Kiss her then.
An antique - SP is an antique? May I remind you that SP cannot qualify as one yet.
Life sux, but when I come to SP, sux more - I can't help but to laugh when I see this. My life did become better though.
Alan Ow loves SP - Kiss her then.
LKY sux - LKY stands for Lee Kuan Yew, he is the Senior Minister of Singapore, it seems that not too many people like him apparently, lol.
SP used to have 3 campuses, it's really messy so the government put forth a plan to unite them into one on a new site at Dover. It's completed in the 1970s. Or should I say half completed. Because it seems that my polytechnic is always under construction.
Even the toilet! I just want a decent place to pee and the last thing I want them to do is to make want me climb several flights of stairs to the 3rd floor! My bladder and I are very upset.

posted by Mr. Dew on 3/31/2004 11:44:00 PM
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breathing//difficulties  


My brother is switching CCA. CCA stands for Co-Curriculum Activities. It is compulsory to have at least one in secondary school. Such activities include clubs, societies, musical-related and uniform groups.
Did you know?
Seven suicides are recorded in the Bible.
My brother joins the symphony band and he plays the bassoon. [BBC Orchestra Guide explanation on woodwind bassoon.] He doesn't like it. Neither do I, frankly.
So he wrote a letter to his teachers to request for a change, signing off as my mother. He turned to his wonderful brother for validation of the letter. His wonderful brother helped obviously.
He (pretends to be my mother and) wrote:
My son has not been enjoying his days in the symphonic band. I hope you will allow him to change his CCA from band to NPCC as he could not handle the instrument correctly and could not breathe well while playing it. If it is inconvenient, he don't want to play the bassoon and want to play an instrument that does not require breathing. Thank you!

NPCC is another CCA, it's a uniform group where the students pretend to be police..
Okay, my brother can't write formal letters. I had a good laugh. I smiled upon seeing "...has not been enjoying his days in the symphonic band". It really brightens my day [night actually], lol. But the better ones are behind.
It is quite obvious that it's literally translated from Mandarin. He writes "he could not handle the instrument correctly", that is very "Mandarin".
What about "could not breathe well while playing it"? It sounded incorrect. I can't suggest an alternative though.
My favorite is of course - "play an instrument that does not require breathing". Okay, which instrument doesn't require breathing, you'll be dead if you play longer than 2 minutes! [Let's ignore those special people that can hold their breaths longer.]
If he had shown this letter to the teacher, I believe the teacher would have a good laugh too. She'll probably laugh till she forgets to breathe.

posted by Mr. Dew on 3/29/2004 10:40:00 PM
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first//internet  


The first time I used the internet in my own computer was when I was 13. The internet, to me, is this mysterious place with lots of research things around.
Inspirational Quote
Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.
     - John Wesley
I don't understand the internet. I heard it is for school researching. I was told that you have to use Internet Explorer to surf the internet. And I didn't know any web sites except Yahoo.com and my internet service provider's (ISP) web site.
Surfing the web at a 33.6K modem is slow for me. I never understood why my modem speed is called 33.6K and I download at 4.0KBps.
I can only use 12 hours of internet per month, exceeding it will contribute more to my ISP's revenues. The first time I see Internet Explorer, my cousin shows me some web sites. After she left, I sat in front of the computer and launch Internet Explorer.
I typed an address on the Address bar. I waited. And waited.
You guessed I forgot to connect to the internet? Nah.. I am not so stupid you know. I didn't know I need to press the <Enter> button on my keyboard to enter the web site. Well, everyone has a first try.
Soon, I realize that internet has games. Shockwave.com soon became one of my most visited sites, after my ISP site. That's because my ISP set itself as my homepage and I didn't know I can change that. And even after I figure out I can change, I fear that changing it would mean the end of my internet subscription. I didn't know they aren't link that way.
I even thought Microsoft Office can be downloaded from the internet through Microsoft's website. I thought it's free. I have the assumption that Windows comes with Office as every computer I see with Windows is installed with Office.
My hobby is to check email. And I was registered with Yahoo! Mail. I recalled checking all the free newsletters available just so that I can get email. No one send me mails when I first sign up. I don't read the newsletters, I just want to see more emails in my mailbox. I delete without seeing. When my friends start to send mail to me, they couldn't stop. It's never ending. But the newsletters, I didn't unsubscribe. I was too lazy.
And doing so many strange things with my internet account, it is not surprising that I often got scolded for exceeding the 12 hours per month limit.

posted by Mr. Dew on 3/27/2004 11:35:00 PM
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santa//existence  


I received an email from Feng Li some time ago. [Okay, this is a post that has been constructed some time ago, Feng Li sent me this email on February 24, 2004. That's like one month ago.] It's long, but it's worth reading.
Question: Does Santa Exist?

No known species of reindeer can fly. But there are 300,000 species of living organisms yet to be classified, and while most of these are insects and germs, this does not completely rule out flying reindeer, which only Santa has seen.
There are two billion children in the world. But since Santa doesn't appear to handle Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and Jewish children, that reduces the workload to 15% of the total - 138 million or so. At an average rate of 3.5 children per household, that's 91.8 million homes.
One presumes there is at least one good child in each. Santa has 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to time zones and the rotation of the earth, assuming he travels east to west. This works out to 822.6 visits per second.
This is to say that for each household with good children, Santa has 1/1000th of a second to park, hop out of the sleigh, jump down the chimney, fill the stockings, distribute the remaining gifts under the tree, eat snacks, get back up the chimney, get back into the sleigh, and move to the next house.
Assuming that each of these 91.8 million houses are distributed evenly (which we know to be false but for the sake of these calculations we will accept) we are now talking about 0.78 miles per household, a total trip of 75.5 million miles, not counting bathroom stops. This means that Santa's sleigh is traveling at 650 miles per second, 3000 times the speed of sound.
For comparison, the fastest man made vehicle, the Ulysses space probe moves at a poky 27.4 mps. The average reindeer runs at 15 mph.
The sleigh's payload adds another interesting element. Assuming that each child gets nothing more than a medium sized Lego set (2 pounds), the sleigh is carrying 321,300 tons, not counting Santa, who is invariably described as overweight. On land, conventional reindeer can pull no more than 300 pounds.
Even granting that "flying reindeer" (see first paragraph) could pull 10 times the usual amount, we cannot do the job with 8 or even 9. We need 214,000 reindeers.
This increases the weight, not even counting the sleigh, to 353,430 tons. Again, for comparison this is 4 times the weight of the British liner Queen Elizabeth 2. 353,000 tons traveling at 650 miles per second creates an enormous air resistance. This will heat the reindeer in the same manner as a spacecraft re-entering the earth's atmosphere. The lead pair of reindeer will absorb 14.3 quintillion joules of energy per second each!
In short, they will burst in flame almost instantaneously, exposing the next pair of reindeer, and creating deafening sonic booms in their wake. The entire team will be vaporized within 4.26 thousands of a second. Santa, meanwhile, will be subjected to centrifugal forces 17,500.06 times the force of gravity. A 300 pound Santa would be pinned to the back of his sleigh by 4,325,015 pounds of force.

Conclusion: There was a Santa, but he's dead now.
According to her email, NASA replied this. I am quite skeptical that NASA will reply this way, lol.

[Note: I have edited the email slightly. I don't like uppercases and the email's text has some verbs that are not agreeing with it's subject.]

posted by Mr. Dew on 3/25/2004 08:21:00 PM
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muvo//reads  


Creative's Muvo2 is taken advantage of? Let's see, the mini hard disks are being removed from the players and later sold at a higher price. "Blunder," I thought.
Did you know?
Diamonds are the hardest natural substance on Earth, however they are brittle. If you hit one hard with a hammer, it will shatter.
Let's see.. hmmmp.. I wonder where to get a Muvo2, lol. Okay, I am done with the article.
Please flip.
Hey, why are you reading so slowly. I finished reading already, you tortoise. Finally. Good work, you flipped. What's there now? Digital cameras. Let's see, the Canon IXUS.. hmmmp..
Wait! Don't flip. That's interesting read. Damn you. You're flipping again. What the hell. How do you expect me to read like that.
Do you know what the paper is for? You can't possibly have just bought the paper to flip. Oh no, you closed the paper. I can't read. Damn you. I was hoping to read the article on digital cameras. Why can't you just let me?
Situation: Attempting to read a fellow passenger's newspaper without his or her permission in the train I ride to school.
Okay, the paper guy alight one train station before mine. No more papers. No wonder he was flipping at such a speed. I doubt he suspected that I was reading his paper from behind him.
Ever since two of the largest media companies in Singapore offered free newspapers on weekdays, reading news in the train has became a rather common thing. Likewise, reading other's newspaper in the train has became an equally common thing.
It's hard to get these papers, they're rare items. The paper guy I mentioned was reading Computer Times; it is a free weekly publication as part of The Straits Times which is a paid paper. I have been using other people's things without their permission.
I look at their newspapers. I look at their watches. I even peeped at another student's university notes realizing she belongs to a similar field as me and I understood her notes. [The notes is about carbohydrate structures.]
I just want to thank these people, who have unknowingly supported me for years. They prevent me from getting bored at trains.

posted by Mr. Dew on 3/24/2004 11:53:00 PM
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memory//washed  


My polytechnic appeared in the news. This time, the tabloid news. It turns out that some of my polytechnic's student servers have been infected with virus. Not sure which virus. [Maybe it's latest talk - "Witty", but then it's a worm not a virus.]
Humorous Quote
I think people should be free to engage in any sexual practices they choose; they should draw the line at goats though
     - Elton John
4 schools [or was it 3?] out of 7 schools in my polytechnic have their students affected. Affect parties see nothing in their student storage drive. Half of my school, School of Chemical and Life Sciences (CLS), is infected with virus.
[If you are confused here, several schools made up a polytechnic.]
Interesting enough, students of my school (CLS) with admission numbers being an even number (i.e. numbers ending with even digits and '0') got the virus. A total of 14 thousand people are probably screaming in a variety of vulgarities. Some people even lost their final year projects. [There may be a back up student storage drive in the polytechnic.]
Are they lucky or what? They? Yeah, I have one of those odd numbered admission numbers, so I ain't affected.
I never trust the school computer anyway. I mean it's just a school computer, I always store my important things in removable ware after saving it in the school's computer. I can't believe those idiots stored it entire project in the polytechnic's networked storage space.
I returned home and saw Ben's nickname appended with a string of text being - Damn SP computers...cause my M: to be removed...CURSE THEM ALL!!!!. SP is the abbreviation of my polytechnic and M: refers to the networked folder mapped onto a drive letter 'M'.
But Ben didn't lose anything important, what the hell is he so upset about? He merely lost all his visual basic tutorials. I recall backing up my entire student storage space less than 2 weeks ago, but the virus didn't find me. Even if I hadn't back it up, I don't give a damn with all my files is gone, because I have nothing important in the polytechnic.
Just let this be a reminder for all to make regular back ups in case of a hardware failure or a virus infection.

posted by Mr. Dew on 3/24/2004 07:42:00 AM
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stop//yoda  


Celine Dion sang "A new day has come". Indeed it has. Nothing is more refreshing in the morning than Windows Media Player performing a random function on my song list of a thousand and outputting Celine's song through my speakers.
Did you know?
Question: Where are Chinese gooseberries from?
Answer: New Zealand.
I have assignments, tests, examinations. Many things to do. Sometimes I rather time just stop so that I can continue with Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. I mean, for Yoda's sake, I am still at Sand People territory where the Sand People have their territories. Certainly made sense, it's less than half the game played.
I am not the busiest of all people however. If I were to be really busy, I wouldn't even have time to blog. I wouldn't have time to be able to chat at 2 AM with a friend of a different time zone. I wouldn't be able to watch anime. And there'll be no Star Wars game for me.
If I minus this and that, my time will be a lot more free. I refused. All these are part of enjoyment. I like what I am doing, which is rather problematic because chatting helps nothing in my school, Yoda doesn't help me too, and watching anime least helped me.
Perhaps I am missing out on a lot of things. Most of the things I listed revolves around the computer. I watch anime on the computer; I blog through a computer. I need a change.
I am reading a book called "Fish!" which Shawn just returned to me. Apparently, I bought the book for shelving purposes. It's one of those self help books. It's a bestseller. The book didn't induce me any change at the moment, I haven't finish it too. It's just that: when I pick it up, I am constantly reminded of the fact that I need help. I guess that's what self help books are about: make you realize you need help. [I'll continue to read the book, I'm at page 51.]
Animes are slowly being cut down. Games too. Blog is what I refuse to cut down. But it doesn't take much time anyway. The next time I use my PC, I am going to use Visual Studio .NET [VS.NET] since it has more things to do with my course. I launch Flash more than VS.NET which seriously should be the other way round.
I stopped clicking on Yoda too. I am going to stop playing games for 1 month, that includes even solitaire and minesweeper. [I usually play an hour of Minesweeper.] I'll see what happens with my test results.
May the force be with me (and Celion Dion, her career seems to be going down).

[By the way, in the game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, there isn't Yoda, some other fellow was there who looked like Yoda. I just call him Yoda, I forgot his name.]

posted by Mr. Dew on 3/23/2004 09:42:00 AM
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junk//one  


Some of my best pals contribute to my nightmares when using Hotmail. Nightmare being junk. Microsoft is a great company, they offer a fantastic 2 MB email. It's great you know, so great that you even receive emails from the MSN people telling you that your memory's in critical condition.
Humorous Quote
Personally, I don't think there's intelligent life on other planets. Why should other planets be any different from this one?
     - Bob Monkhouse
I declared my war against junk mail from advertisers. Those people who send me things about insurance plans, interest-free financial loan, deals to buy Viagra and a dozen of commercial methods on how to enlarge breasts and penises.
If these mails are legitimate, I seriously would mind them sending advertisements of my interest. But if you just click on one of them to see, you'll notice their insurance plans are rather off. Their interest-free financial loan is off too, I mean I would rather borrow money from the mortgage-free financial loaners, also known as the loan shark. [Actually, you do mortgage - your life.]
I see emails telling me about stock picks too. Telling me to buy China World Trade Corp. (CWTD).
Listed as one of the reason to buy their stocks is:
With the recent tragic events of 9-11, the name World Trade Center has instant global recognition, and stands for unity, strength and prosperity throughout the worlds top economy leaders.
I see this different though. I wouldn't want to buy stocks associated with "World Trade Centre", Osama and company might just pay them a visit you know.
And there's health related mails. Telling me to purchase human growth hormones to build muscles. There is Viagra and other equivalents. Those are the usual, I see a lot of these emails flooding my junk box. As for enlarging breasts, do cosmetic surgeries if you're really interested.
As for enlarging penises, you can order one of those products and try, I have a feeling it'll be larger indeed. 'cause it's swollen.

[This posting is part 1 of 4. Continual posts will be submitted soon.]

posted by Mr. Dew on 3/20/2004 10:59:00 PM
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soup//secrecy  


You can count it as our second class outing this semester. We had it at a restaurant in our school. The restaurant is nothing fancy obviously, but it's still good to see that - everyone turned up.
Famous Quote
Love all, trust a few.
     - William Shakespeare
Including our seemingly busy teacher. I never had a class outing where everyone turned up before. I can't recall of such a thing happening. So this day, it is an occasion worth a celebration. A celebration in the restaurant. A restaurant offering a buffet. A buffet that includes cream of carrot. Cream of carrot that contains a cockroach.
A cockroach?! Yeah, a cockroach.
I skipped the soup and went on to the main course. It's "cream of carrot". Do you call it "créme de carrot" or something in French? What's "carrot" in French anyway? I do know "madame" though. But there can't possibly be "créme de madame", can it?
I should have skipped the soup and never go back to it. But Ernest was commenting how well the soup is. Shawn enjoyed it too. It seemed delicious, despite the ugly yellow color of it.
I stood up, walk over to the buffet corner and poured a bowl of "cream of carrot". I returned to my seat staring at my soup and paused. You see, I'm not really into carrots. By that time, most of my friends have finished drinking the cream of carrot. I am quite sure Ernest, Feng Li, Mrs. Koh [our class tutor], Pei Shan, Shawn, Yong Liang, Zhi Yuan and many others sitting at the other table have finished the soup.
Carrot soup. I wonder how it taste. I look into the bowl and start scooping the soup up and putting it back while listening to my classmates' chatter. I stopped. I spotted something which I rather not be seeing. I returned my soup spoon into the bowl and announced that I found a cockroach in the soup.
I did some searching and found the cockroach again. I showed it off to the others.
No wonder Ernest said the soup is delicious. I just discovered: The Ultimate Secret to Soup-making.

[Note: I am a hundred percent sure it's not from the bowl I taken because I made sure the bowl is clean before I poured the soup inside. Nothing happen to my friends. hmmmp, Ben.. Ben went to the toilet. A stomachache.]

posted by Mr. Dew on 3/18/2004 04:49:00 PM
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student//feedback  


Every semester, my polytechnic [Singapore Polytechnic] runs a survey for the students to rank the lecturers. Within the scales of 1 to 5, you can rate the lecturer with 5 being the best out of all radio boxes and 1 being the least.
Did you know?
The first train reached a top speed of only 8 km/h (5 mph).
[Cars travel at 80 usually]
In year 1, we had this bad computer studies lecturer, Lim S. K.. He taught us Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Access. I don't have good memories of his lessons. So when this survey came, I wrote a bad joke that he made himself. You see, we were learning how to make graphs with Microsoft Excel and he introduced the 3D graphs that you can rotate in all directions. He rotate the 3D graphs vigorously and turned it upside down. He commented: if only this is a woman. [He is suggesting it to be an upskirt.] I submitted his bad joke to the surveying committee, lol. He is not interested in teaching, that's all. What better comments to give.
Then there was Gregory Poi, who marched angrily to us claiming that we wrote nasty things about him. He says he did so much things - presentations, more presentations - and that the last thing he would expect from us is to not appreciate it. We listened to him a while. And we thought. We recalled: although he taught us, the computer did not allow us to vote me him! Blunder! We didn't even have the chance to vote and much less a chance to write bad comments. [Even if we can write about him, I won't write bad things about him. He's not that bad.]
Year 2, Tuesday, March 16, 2004. The surveying returned. Channon, who taught us Visual Basic Programming, walked into the computer laboratory. He shut all the doors and announced, "Vote all 5s for me and I'll give you good grades." He tells people to write that he is handsome too. Zhi Yuan wanted to write, "He looks so cool when he smokes." I wrote on Feng Li's computer: He told me to write that he is handsome. And what did I write? Nothing.
I recall the first time we met Channon:

Ernest: Sir, what's your nationality?
Channon: You guess.
Everyone else guessed different nationalities.
Me: You're a Thai.
Channon: Correct, how do you know?
Me: I..
Channon: Is it because I look like Utt? [Utt is a Thai celebrity from MTV Asia who is so-claimed by the local women population to be one of the best looking ones.]
I kept quiet. I wanted to say, "No, Iron Ladies". [Iron Ladies is a movie about transvestites playing volleyballs in the women's league.]
This semester, I gave all lecturers an average of 4. I didn't bother reading much. I placed no comments too. Last year, I give my password to a friend and tell him to help me do the survey, lol.

posted by Mr. Dew on 3/16/2004 11:08:00 PM
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nick//amusement  


I believe most of you tried instant messaging before. Popular instant messengers include (in order of most popular to less): AIM (American Online Instant Messenger), MSNM (Microsoft Network Messenger), Yahoo! Messenger and last but currently quite the least, ICQ.
Inspirational Quote
Remember always that you not only have the right to be an individual, you have an obligation to be one.
     - Eleanor Roosevelt
 
Personally, I use MSNM. I recall using it since a long time ago and my friend and I were the only ones in each other's contact list, lol. I was one of those who are pestering people to switch from ICQ to MSNM although I clearly know that at that point of time, ICQ was superior in all aspects. The only problem - my computer is very slow and ICQ crawls.
Now I have slightly more than 50 useful contacts. [I cleared my contacts sometimes, the connection is faster with MSNM's servers that way.] I don't chat with most regularly.
I do notice their notice their nicknames. Some are rather strange.
Their nicknames are written in such a format usually: <nick> <a phrase>

<nick> P.U.S.H (Pray Until Sometimes Happen)
I am quite sure that sentence is problematic. Does he mean "Pray Until Something Happens"? But that sound quite negative.
<nick> ok guys.. dun ask! It's D D E n a C5 for GP!!
I tell you, despite for poor A level results, she is very smart to know that people will ask her for A level results.
<nick> Broke le... :'( Hoping for Steady Pom Pi Pi~!
When I see it, my reaction is - what the hell is "Steady Pom Pi Pi". Because it sounded like what a fireman would have said to his fire truck!
I Am A Dictator
I check, that's my cousin. I thought I have Hitler in my contact list!
BeCoMiNg P@nDa @_@
If she becomes panda, she is going to be a cute panda, lol.
<nick> wonder did U realise
No I don't, what am I suppose to realize in the first place.
I_LoVe_BrIdGe
The last time I talked to her, she said she love Mahjong. Now it's bridge.
<nick> WISDOM TOOTH SUX !!!
Right. I suppose there's nothing to deny about it.
Had the worst birthday of my life
Wrong. You haven't seen all the birthdays of your life. There are sure to be worse to come.
MY liFE suXX~!!
What a coincidence! We're on the same boat.
<nick> Road to Level 80,now level 73,reaching my targets in 7 levels...
Okay, I figured 80 minus 73 returns a value of 7. Er.. Jia you [Work hard in Mandarin].
<nick> sHe bAnGs....sHe bAnGs...!!!
I can see his love for William Hung in American Idol.
Sleeping Dragon
He has the most appropriate nickname in my contact list. He is never online.
<<...sh0rT + swEet...>>
You gotta admit that isn't exactly the shortest and sweetest nicknames you've seen before.
That's the advantage of keeping my contacts: the nicks are rather entertaining.

posted by Mr. Dew on 3/14/2004 10:54:00 PM
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match//stinks  


Just yesterday. On Friday that is. There's a badminton game. Yong Liang and Zhi Yuan eagerly organized it. They are so into it. They did the randomizations, the names. They even asked me what alias I wanted to call myself!
Inspirational Quote
One of the basic causes for all the trouble in the world today is that people talk too much and think too little. They act impulsively without thinking. I always try to think before I talk.
     - Margaret Chase Smith
It's a badminton league. An intra-class badminton league to be exact. It's a nice idea actually. But the winner has been determined in the start already. I have a feeling the sporty Pei Shan would end up winning.
I like badminton. I never considered competitions though. I don't like the stress, I don't see the benefits. But the MLT1 [that's a lecture theatre], Yong Liang told me that I am in the badminton league. He made it sound like an obligation. Now, why the hell am I defaulted into such a league without my consent?
As much as I appeared to be talking quite fine, I am pissed. However, I kept quiet. Kept quiet when I see their enthusiasm. Kept quiet because I didn't want to be a spoil sport.
On Friday, the so-called league began. I was displeased. My first so-called match is with Zhi Yuan. And I.. misbehaved.
I did not cooperate. Purposefully not hitting the shuttlecocks back. Purposefully creating fouls. Zhi Yuan and I played the most boring badminton game together. From the start, I already concede defeat. But Yong Liang insisted that I have to play. Obligation again.
I don't like people to decide things for me. I have been defiant that day. An attitude problem perhaps? Likely.
Final scores, I lost 5-15 and 6-15 to Zhi Yuan. I felt bad. And also good. Bad that I gave a negative impression to people. Good that I stand by my rights. Somehow, the-one-who-has-been-named-hence-shall-not-be-named-again have crossed the line. Persuading is alright. Placing me into an activity without my consent isn't.
There is another match. With Ben this time. Maybe I'll..
I'll update you guys soon about the coming match results (with Ben).

EDIT: I woke up today. Fresh again. Forgotten about everything. Nothing will change. As for the match with Ben, I'll play it. I'll try. =)

posted by Mr. Dew on 3/13/2004 11:08:00 PM
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monoclonal//antibodies  


This is one of the worst presentations I have. I was shivering. And the fact that my cell phone is vibrating certainly doesn't help. I have the idea that the stupid cell phone of mine is causing my entire body to vibrate.
Did You Know?
The most expensive painting ever sold is Vincent van Gogh's Portrait of Dr. Gachet, fetching $82.5 million. Van Gogh paintings also are the third and 6th most expensive artworks ever sold.
The PowerPoint slide was presented. This is the first time in a year that I present something in PowerPoint, I have been submitting Flash presentations. Why the change? Time constraints. Rather extra too, everyone submits PowerPoint and I throw in a Flash work. The PowerPoint presentation looks very simple. Went simplicity this time.
Unlike the PowerPoint presentation, presenting is no where near simple. Stage fright. Lecturer did not smile this time. Many pairs of eyes are looking down. I don't really know if they heard me, or perhaps they didn't want to listen at all.
I greeted first. That was simple. I can't seem to calm down. You see, these people are looking at me speak in a lecture theatre. 41 pairs of eyes looking down. I never presented to so many people before. I went on to do the introductions.
My presentation is about "Monoclonal Antibodies". It's a big topic. And I just discovered the ridiculous amount of information online, just last night! I have been busy with tests, reports and Rise of Nations. I simple have no time to do this presentation.
So yesterday, I read and read. I didn't fully understand monoclonal antibodies in the end. I consult 3 teachers: Mr. Sng, Mr. Foo and Mrs. Koh. Mr. Sng did not give me any information, he feels I should be finding information myself. Mrs. Koh is very nice to share quite a lot of information and saved me troubles in searching at Google.
I spend 4 hours in the school computer laboratory researching more. My presentation partner is doing the same. He is scripting his words even. You should have seen his words, it's very tiny and I can't believe he can read that out in the presentation.
He didn't. He planned to. He failed to. He simply wrote too many words. Possibly due to nervousness too. Our presentation ended quite fast.
The other time, I did a presentation that use Flash with 4 other friends. We seriously went way over time. This time, we're quite paranoid that the same scenario might happen.
I don't feel good today. I felt stupid today. My words, my actions (shivering), basically everything. It didn't go right.
At least I survived.
And the phone call? My mother called me, she wanted to ask me if I want her to buy food back..

posted by Mr. Dew on 3/11/2004 11:24:00 PM
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technology//news  


Okay, nothing much to post today. I see a couple of good news at Neowin.net, so I'll share with you. Neowin.net is one of the technology news site I frequent.
Inspirational Quote
Thou shalt not be a victim. Thou shalt not be a perpetrator. Above all, thou shalt not be a bystander.
     - Holocaust Museum, Washington, DC
[I just thought it sounded cool.]

Firstly, Google is going to have a new look. It still loads fast, so don't worry that your favorite search engine crawls. I don't see it as a significant improvement but it's still news worthy since I use Google quite often. Some blue gradients added. Some changes in their cache pages. Some changes in the image finder too I believe.

MSN is about to release the next version of their popular messenger brilliantly named "MSN Messenger 6.2" since it's at version 6.1 currently. The usual bug fixes I guess. "Launch Site" is renamed to "Fun & Games", new Music Exchange feature to share music like in threedegrees. But what really attracted me was - animated display pictures - well, in other words, your display pictures can move.

Last year, Eolas Technologies Inc. sued browser maker, Microsoft, for infringing a browser technology that allows mini-programs to work in the internet. Microsoft is order to compensate Eolas US$521 million. They just sued Microsoft for the money; all browsers [yes, Mozilla too] infringed that technology. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has invalidated Eolas' claims for their web browser plug-in technology. Hence Microsoft Internet Explorer and the other browsers are not required to make changes that would have crippled plug-ins such as Flash [good to hear Flash won't be affected] and Quicktime. Hooray for the verdict.

Okay, end of my news reporting. Back to my studying; there is a test tomorrow on Database Management Systems.

posted by Mr. Dew on 3/09/2004 09:52:00 PM
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erotic//theirs  


Ben and Shawn bought a photo book. You know, those that feature a sexy girl kinda books? It's hard cover and she looks really hot. I can't remember her name! It's Hitomi something, I don't remember.
Did You Know?
In August 1983, Peter Stewart of Birmingham, UK set a world record by disco dancing for 408 hours!
She has this look that is cute and sexy. Sexily cute. Cutely sexy. Ah, page 33 even has her in the cute and tiny.. *ahem* Well, the book's very stylish. The photographs are very artistic. The scenery is really good too. I can't wait to get my digital camera and I'll fly to Japan and find her! I mean, her photographer. You know, so that I can know where the sceneries are from.
The book costs SG$71! As much as I would want to enjoy viewing them, I will not spend money buying such things. I don't think it's worth it. A chat with Ben yesterday revealed that he thinks it's worth the money. He also added that having spent SG$71, the only thing he can do to make his money worthwhile is to view the photo book every day!
There is even a comment that if the book is with Ben, the pages might stick together. [Think dirty.] I think Shawn said it. I told Zhi Yuan, if he wants to borrow it, he will be disappointed because the only page you can open fully is the one that details on the copyrights and publishing! [Read: The other pages stick together.]
Ben and Shawn invested SG$40 and SG$31 respectively into this venture. As you can see, Ben is the major shareholder. Before that, they bought UpToBoy, a Japanese magazine which they completely not understand. UpToBoy is one of those "hyper visual magazine for men", if you get what I mean. I looked at the cover and saw someone quite familiar..
Nah, it's not my mother. [!! No, Grandma, it's not you either!] It's Natsumi Abe. She was from Morning Musume. She graduated from there already. She's pretty, I tell you. I picked up the magazine and flipped it with disinterest. I got to pretend that I am not interested because Ben is telling me that I should pay. Now, where is my Nacchi music video..? [Nacchi is Natsumi Abe's nickname in Morning Musume.]
Ben and Shawn, being fans of larger-attributed women, didn't find Natsumi satisfying apparently. So they went on and bought back Hitomi. Hitomi's sexy poses reigns in every aspect of er.. photography, yeah, reigns in photography.
Oh, I found my Nacchi music video. I'll end now. Here's the conclusion:
If Shawn's mother found out about the photo book, he'll certainly get killed. At least he can die a happy man.
Ja ne [See you]. If only I can understand what's Nacchi singing about. Subarashii. Suteki. Suki. Sugoi. Super Sugoi. Subete Subarashii deSu. [Just a whole string of crap expressing amazement and fondness. Probably wrong, since I gotten it from Japanese anime and anyhow put them together.]

Disclaimer: Okay, let's be quick on this; my video has started playing. Ben and Shawn are good people. Posting has been exaggerated for reading and writing pleasure. Hitomi's beauty have been exaggerated too.

posted by Mr. Dew on 3/08/2004 11:06:00 PM
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illegal//trading  


This post has been updated due to personal reasons. Sorry about that. Do read other posts though. Thanks.
This is what that is left in my post:
You can get pirated software from Smart Play Trading, or rather Smart Play Illegal Trading.
It's so advance now. They have a PC there. Choose the game you want and the copy the game into an Imation CD-R for you using Nero Burning Rom. I believe that is pirated too. You just have to wait for less than 5 minutes and it's done. It costs SG$4.00! An Imation CD-R costs less than SG$0.40 [buy a lot]!!
You can find illegal items from Smart Play Trading, at Blk 154 Bukit Batok Street 11 #01-310 Singapore 650154. You can call them at (+65)64251976 and fax them at (+65)65606443. Pirated Playstation and Playstation 2 games can be found there. The computer in the shop has full of those. I think they even store their CD-images into a DVD! I think the person in charged is David Wee. I am sure the local law enforcement will find their shop very interesting.
Enjoy your day. This post is amended and shortened on Sunday, March 14, 2004 on 11:16 PM, Singapore Time.

posted by Mr. Dew on 3/07/2004 10:45:00 PM
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pressured//arcades  


If I were to join a club or something, my club would have been either the Stay Home Club or the Going Home Club. For a surprise, I went out today. And I went to the city.
Did You Know?
The plastic things at the end of your shoelaces are called "aglets".
It's been a long time since I went to the city willingly. I have been going to the city the past few weeks. But none of them are quite willingly. Given a choice, I rather not go.
My friends are always going to the city for a sole purpose - the arcades. I don't find arcades enjoyable. The different mixes of people. The different mixes of soundtracks from different machines that ended up creating noise. I don't like the arcade.
Coming term, I will not be going to the arcade with my friends ever again. Truth is, I hate that place and week after week I have been suiting my friends. We go to Bugis Junction. We go to Heeren Shops. We go to Plaza Singapura. Would you mind appending "'s arcade" before the full stop of the previous 3 sentences yourself?
I rather go home.. And sleep.. Or probably play the computer games. I never paid for my arcade games, every game I played was sponsored as I was forced to play. [This really saves quite a bit of money.]
I rather stay in school and read Molecular Biology notes. I never pay attention to the classes and I am wondering what the hell is going on. I should work on Basic Immunology too, the last test.. I did something dishonest.
It's hard to say "no". Peer pressure.. I don't want to be a wet blanket. But it's getting irritating now. Everyone tried to "psycho" me to the arcades. ["psycho" is used in local young people language as a verb to mean intense persuading.] I tend to give in.
Anyway, coming term.. I did some checking and it appears that I am going to be quite busy. I guess I can't be going out too.

posted by Mr. Dew on 3/05/2004 11:41:00 PM
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questions//answers  


I was at the Joint Admissions Exercise yesterday. It is an exercise where students register for polytechnics (and junior colleges). I was the student course advisor. My job is fairly simple, I just stand there and answer the questions.
After a while, I even scripted what I want to say. Basically, I just repeat the same sentences to them. I made lots of errors too, lol.
And why is that so? They were asking me about courses that I am not studying in. Quite a few asked me about Medical Technology (MedTech). Trust me, I know nothing about it. My level of understanding equals to what is written on the booklet.
I always try to refer students who are interested in MedTech to their student advisors. But they are no where to be found. In fact, fellow student advisors referred people who are interested in MedTech to me. They say, "MedTech and Biotech quite the same lar".
I assure you it's very different.
Favorite/strange questions:
Student: Can you tell me about Biotech?
[Oh no, this is the hardest question. Too vague.]
Me: It's a study of plants and animal cells. It involves genetic engineering and practically all other things you have heard of from the news.

Student: What do I grow up to be if I study Biotech?
Me: Biotechnologist. [Obviously I do speak in more detail.]

Student: Does CCA points allow deduction in the admission procedure?
Me: Er.. Let me refer you to a lecturer.
Lecturer 1: Er.. I don't think so.. Hey, Lecturer 2, CCA point still got count or not?
Lecturer 2: Have, I think have. Hey, Lecturer 3..
[Basically no one knows this.]

Student: Biotech got chio bu [This means "pretty women" in Hokkien"] or not?
Me: [laughs] Of course there are. Just look at our booth. [There aren't any pretty ones attending to the booths that time.] It depends on weather they want to make an effort to dress up. If they do, they aren't any far of from the School of Business people. [Words goes around that accounting people are pretty.]
Just to add, another reason why I answer questions so badly is that: I am from Bioinformatics!! It's not quite the same! There is another Biotech fellow who is always very busy. I am happily advising people who are not interested in going to my course. My friends, Shawn and Ben, tells me absolutely no one questioned about Bioinformatics on Monday. Tuesday morning, Yong Liang was on duty, no one asked him about Bioinformatics. Tuesday afternoon, I was on duty, no one asked me too. I guess no one is interested in this course. *yawn*

posted by Mr. Dew on 3/03/2004 11:44:00 PM
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uncle//oscar  


Face it, the Oscars is a bore. The 76th Academy Awards is so predictable and at the same time unpredictable. Predictable that Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (LotR: tRotK) is going to win in most of their nominated categories. Unpredictable that LotR: tRotK is going to sweep all its nominated categories.
Strange News
In Kentucky, 2 men tried to pull the front off a cash machine by running a chain from the machine to the bumper of their pickup truck. Instead of pulling the front panel off the machine, though, they pulled the bumper off their truck. Scared, they left the scene and drove home. The vehicle's license plate is attached to the bumper.
The most filmed person, asides the host for the night, is none other than Peter Jackson. Every time LotR: tRotK won in a category, the cameras look that direction. And LotR: tRotK won something like 11 awards? I really have to say this: he really got to lose some weight. The buttons on his shirt: they looked as though they're going to fly out anytime. If not for the LotR: tRotK, I would have imagined Jackson lying on the couch, munching packets and packets of Lay's Potato Chips, drinking strongly-brewed beers, holding a remote control, surfing the television channels until he found one with lots of bikini babes and scream "yeah, baby".
As Billy Crystal says, "It is now official that there is no one left in New Zealand to thank". I can't help but to agree.
Speaking of whom [is there "speaking of whom", 'cause it kinda sounded erroneous], the pre-show thingy that Billy Crystal did, it's not that particularly funny. The only funny thing during then is watching Billy Crystal sings not-so-funny stuff with the audience laughing like it's the funniest shit they heard whole evening.
Unfortunately, it is quite so. Crystal's singing turned out to be one of the more entertaining chapters of the show. Is it just me or is Oscars getting kinda boring. I looked at my clock [that goes, "tick tock tick tock"] again and again. I'm falling asleep after 2 hours of the show.
Although LotR: tRotK won so many awards, they are technical awards. I don't think they won any acting-related awards. Thankfully I say. You know, the fourth orc counting from the right, marching in. Well, he should win the award. And the other orc.. Oh, there's also the hobbit who lives in the third house from the entrance. Thank goodness, Frodo Baggins didn't bag another award for LotR: tRotK.

posted by Mr. Dew on 3/02/2004 08:48:00 PM
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term//break  


My term break is here. I don't have to go to school for this week. I start reviewing excitingly on possible activities to be done.
For a change, I am going to do some studying this term break. Yeah, studying. I'll start tomorrow.
To-do list:
Study. [I'll start tomorrow maybe.. But I'm not free tomorrow. I think I'll start on Wednesday. No, wait.. there's..]
Clear 5 GB worth of anime from my computer. My free disk space is an a rather unhealthy state. I cleared 1.2 GB already.
I'll be buying a pencil case.
I am trying to play Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. I hope to at least get to half of the game.
New layout for my blog.
Make a Hangman game using Microsoft Visual Studio. [I made one with Macromedia Flash so I just have to reprogram it into another language.]
Find out on monoclonal antibodies, as I need to present it in front of Mr. Foo's class. Damn, I don't even have any idea what's that.
Okay, forget about the Hangman game. I am confident I can't do that, not in Microsoft Visual Studio. I'm study more first.
Poem
Happiness: We rarely feel it.
I would buy it, beg it, steal it,
Pay in coins of dripping blood
For this one transcendent good.
     - Amy Lowell

 
1.5 years has passed. It's really fast. It feels like I'm still in first year or something. I am in the middle of my second year now. Coming July will be my third year. And coming December, the second half of my third year will start. The second half of my third year is work attachments to companies or universities.
I secretly [so much for it being a secret..] hope I could get attached to foreign countries. A conversation at my class tutor's house revealed that there's a chance of going to Japan for attachment. I never thought about going there. I hoped to go to a foreign country, but not Japan. It's just too foreign. I don't speak the language. I'll be in deep shit there.
After my days in polytechnic, I will go into compulsory national service. I am not looking forward to that. The pay is pathetic. It is going to waste around 3 years of my life. [I don't think I'll live to 80.] I was never into military stuff. I don't even know which rank is higher than which. Bah, they should just pray I don't betray the country or something..

posted by Mr. Dew on 3/01/2004 10:41:00 PM
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I am an 20-year-old guy, currently studying in Singapore Polytechnic, Biotechnology (Bioinformatics). Currently in second year. I am interested in web design, and hopes to be interested in Biotechnology.

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