Thursday, March 31, 2005
Good Grief!!!
Now I've seen it all.. Just saw an advert of sorts for something called iL Divo.. I hope I'm wrong, but I think they are a boy band.. but no ordinary boy band.. its a band made up of opera singers.. no not the getai singers.. the kind like Pava roti and the other 2.. they were singing Toni Braxton's "Unbreak My Heart" in what I presume to be Spanish.. could be Italian.... scary.. Opera Boy Bands.. what will they think of next.. the horrors of rampant consumerism..
Now I've seen it all.. Just saw an advert of sorts for something called iL Divo.. I hope I'm wrong, but I think they are a boy band.. but no ordinary boy band.. its a band made up of opera singers.. no not the getai singers.. the kind like Pava roti and the other 2.. they were singing Toni Braxton's "Unbreak My Heart" in what I presume to be Spanish.. could be Italian.... scary.. Opera Boy Bands.. what will they think of next.. the horrors of rampant consumerism..
They cancelled Friends for this?!!?!?!?
I need my daily intake of sitcoms.. and what does Star World do? It cancels Friends for half an hour more of The Apprentice.. darn it.. how am I supposed to get my laughs before I sleep and face another dreary day tomorrow? sigh..
I need my daily intake of sitcoms.. and what does Star World do? It cancels Friends for half an hour more of The Apprentice.. darn it.. how am I supposed to get my laughs before I sleep and face another dreary day tomorrow? sigh..
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Everything's coming together now.
This week begins all the end of dead lines and stuff. Had a test today also which was quite odd.. it wasn't really that tough just odd.. thankfully is the only engine module I like this sem.. I need something to seriously boost my morale and confidence for my engine mods soon..
This week begins all the end of dead lines and stuff. Had a test today also which was quite odd.. it wasn't really that tough just odd.. thankfully is the only engine module I like this sem.. I need something to seriously boost my morale and confidence for my engine mods soon..
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
First draft of essay is done!
Yay... just mailed my tutor for her comments. Hopefully don't have to change too much. Don't feel as motivated or passionate about this essay topic. Seems kinda flimsy to me. Feel free to comment and tear the essay a new one.. :D (Words is black are sort of the neutral party's voice)
According to Mill’s principal, a person can be forced by another individual or a group of people to do something if and only if it will prevent harm to others or for self-protection. In the situation presented by Douglas Rushkoff, he claims that the design of shopping malls have been deliberately designed so as influence us to spend money. Depending on the degree of influence that such a design has over an individual, such designs may be forbidden by Mill’s principal. The portions in red will argue for Mill’s principal and the portions in blue will argue against Mill’s.
This situation violates Mill’s principal. Although it does not take the obvious form of coercion such as pointing the barrel of a gun at a person’s head and forcing him to shop, it does however make the person susceptible to the power of suggestion due to, in this case, the confusion caused by being lost. This is similar to certain brainwashing techniques that are used, where once the person is confused, he can be persuaded to think in a certain manner[1]. Supermarkets use another similar marketing technique, which illustrates this point. They place small items such as batteries, magazines and sweets by the cashier. When in a long queue and having nothing to do, the response would be to pick up a magazine off the rack and maybe even glance through and after being captured by the contents, be tempted to buy the magazine. For those with children, while queuing up, the children are also tempted by the sweets and will then pester their parents and may even throw a tantrum, to get them to buy the sweets. Thus there is an indirect form of coercion at work. In both cases, they are put in situations where they are compelled to buy the item to either placate themselves or their children. Similarly, the design of the shopping center makes the shopper disorientated and lost. While looking for a way out, they will encounter many shops, which may tempt them to go in and purchase things that they would otherwise not purchase.
Those examples can’t really count as proofs why Mill’s principal is violated now. Stated above is a very obvious form of coercion. However coercion can take on many forms and what does not constitute, as coercion has not yet been defined. One would probably not count an advert informing people, in the case of a supermarket, what was being sold as being a form of coercion. However, blatantly lying to deceive people or false advertisement does count as a form of coercion. This is because people are taken in by the lie and then feel compelled to act upon the lie. Take the lament of “the floor making me do it”. That’s just not possible. How can the floor, which is inanimate, make one act against one’s will? Maybe the floor plan is disorientating, but isn’t the real reason just a bad sense of direction? If people bothered to look at the store floor plan to find the way out, they would probably be able to find their way out of the mall much sooner. Consider then the supermarket examples. Though the covers and headlines are designed to capture the attention of the reader and persuade the reader to purchase the magazine, it does not under any circumstance, force the reader to buy it. It can’t be wrong to design something to be aesthetically pleasing right? However, if the reader is not discerning enough to browse through it before purchasing it, then who is to blame? If something seems to good to be true, maybe the customer should be more cautious. Caveat Emptor. For the situation with the child and the sweets, it is simply a case of being able to say “No” to the child. The parent should be in control of the child and not vice versa. If the parent feels that the child should not have the sweet, the parent should adopt an authoritative parenting style[2]and maintain that firm stand even if the child throws a tantrum. Since Mill’s principal “is meant to apply only to human beings in the maturity of their faculties”[3], the parent is allowed to control the child.
It is correct to say that people who do get lost in shopping centers probably have a bad sense of direction and that they should refer to the floor plan of the shopping center. However the magazine example is a good example of how certain marketing techniques are forbidden by Mill’s principal. Consumers shouldn’t have to worry about being deceived because it is wrong to use marketing strategies that deceive. This is precisely what Rushkoff is paranoid about. It is okay if the magazine is aesthetically pleasing to attract the reader’s attention, however it is wrong to claim something about the magazine or any other product that isn’t true. It is also wrong to use rhetoric to sell products. An example of this would be using sex to sell. This method was first used by behavioral psychologist Dr John B Watson, where he used sexy images to sell products[4]. The images seem to imply that the use of such product automatically makes one popular, better looking etc… Yet by thinking rationally, we know this to not be true. This is the problem with rhetoric. It makes people think and respond in a certain way, which may or may not be rational. This is a form of coercion. Other similar examples would be how cigarette commercials used to portray smoking in a very positive light, conveniently ignoring the harmful side effects. Such deception is obviously a violation of Mill’s principal.
It is true that advertisers use sex to sell. Beautiful people and beautiful images are used to sell products because they can capture the attention of consumers. However it rarely goes beyond that for most people. And there is good reason for that. Most people are mature and discerning enough to not be affected by solely by rhetoric. My proof is this, how often have you felt the need to purchase something because of an image? Not very often I’d imagine because people are generally rational beings. There are people who are less mature though and as such need to be protected from such elements by more mature people, which is in line with Mill’s principal[5].
Mill’s principal does commit him to forbidding certain marketing techniques where a person is coerced, not only by force (though this is rare), but also by intentional deception. The reason I say intentional is because not all people can be considered mature enough to make responsible decisions and might be deceived by the most innocuous of images or phrases even though there was no intent behind the images or phrases to deceive. In such cases, Mill’s principal has not been violated. The intentional deception I refer to is the sort where a lie is passed off as a truth. An example of this would be the e-mail scams written by a person claiming to be a rich Nigerian and he needs the reader’s help in transferring his funds. Such mails are obviously written to deceive and violate Mill’s principal. Apart from such tactics, the rest can be considered very persuasive at best but not coercive.
[1] Brain Washing Techniques of the CIA & FBI http://pw1.netcom.com/~ncoic/brainwsh.htm
[2] Developmental Psychology - Parenting Styles http://www.devpsy.org/teaching/parent/baumrind_styles.html
[3] Mill’s Chapter 1 – Page 9 paragraph 3 line 2 of text
[4] Watson tests divorce court http://www.mucknmire.com/wam101/ad.html
[5] Mill’s Chapter 1 – Page 9 paragraph 3 line 2 of text
Yay... just mailed my tutor for her comments. Hopefully don't have to change too much. Don't feel as motivated or passionate about this essay topic. Seems kinda flimsy to me. Feel free to comment and tear the essay a new one.. :D (Words is black are sort of the neutral party's voice)
According to Mill’s principal, a person can be forced by another individual or a group of people to do something if and only if it will prevent harm to others or for self-protection. In the situation presented by Douglas Rushkoff, he claims that the design of shopping malls have been deliberately designed so as influence us to spend money. Depending on the degree of influence that such a design has over an individual, such designs may be forbidden by Mill’s principal. The portions in red will argue for Mill’s principal and the portions in blue will argue against Mill’s.
This situation violates Mill’s principal. Although it does not take the obvious form of coercion such as pointing the barrel of a gun at a person’s head and forcing him to shop, it does however make the person susceptible to the power of suggestion due to, in this case, the confusion caused by being lost. This is similar to certain brainwashing techniques that are used, where once the person is confused, he can be persuaded to think in a certain manner[1]. Supermarkets use another similar marketing technique, which illustrates this point. They place small items such as batteries, magazines and sweets by the cashier. When in a long queue and having nothing to do, the response would be to pick up a magazine off the rack and maybe even glance through and after being captured by the contents, be tempted to buy the magazine. For those with children, while queuing up, the children are also tempted by the sweets and will then pester their parents and may even throw a tantrum, to get them to buy the sweets. Thus there is an indirect form of coercion at work. In both cases, they are put in situations where they are compelled to buy the item to either placate themselves or their children. Similarly, the design of the shopping center makes the shopper disorientated and lost. While looking for a way out, they will encounter many shops, which may tempt them to go in and purchase things that they would otherwise not purchase.
Those examples can’t really count as proofs why Mill’s principal is violated now. Stated above is a very obvious form of coercion. However coercion can take on many forms and what does not constitute, as coercion has not yet been defined. One would probably not count an advert informing people, in the case of a supermarket, what was being sold as being a form of coercion. However, blatantly lying to deceive people or false advertisement does count as a form of coercion. This is because people are taken in by the lie and then feel compelled to act upon the lie. Take the lament of “the floor making me do it”. That’s just not possible. How can the floor, which is inanimate, make one act against one’s will? Maybe the floor plan is disorientating, but isn’t the real reason just a bad sense of direction? If people bothered to look at the store floor plan to find the way out, they would probably be able to find their way out of the mall much sooner. Consider then the supermarket examples. Though the covers and headlines are designed to capture the attention of the reader and persuade the reader to purchase the magazine, it does not under any circumstance, force the reader to buy it. It can’t be wrong to design something to be aesthetically pleasing right? However, if the reader is not discerning enough to browse through it before purchasing it, then who is to blame? If something seems to good to be true, maybe the customer should be more cautious. Caveat Emptor. For the situation with the child and the sweets, it is simply a case of being able to say “No” to the child. The parent should be in control of the child and not vice versa. If the parent feels that the child should not have the sweet, the parent should adopt an authoritative parenting style[2]and maintain that firm stand even if the child throws a tantrum. Since Mill’s principal “is meant to apply only to human beings in the maturity of their faculties”[3], the parent is allowed to control the child.
It is correct to say that people who do get lost in shopping centers probably have a bad sense of direction and that they should refer to the floor plan of the shopping center. However the magazine example is a good example of how certain marketing techniques are forbidden by Mill’s principal. Consumers shouldn’t have to worry about being deceived because it is wrong to use marketing strategies that deceive. This is precisely what Rushkoff is paranoid about. It is okay if the magazine is aesthetically pleasing to attract the reader’s attention, however it is wrong to claim something about the magazine or any other product that isn’t true. It is also wrong to use rhetoric to sell products. An example of this would be using sex to sell. This method was first used by behavioral psychologist Dr John B Watson, where he used sexy images to sell products[4]. The images seem to imply that the use of such product automatically makes one popular, better looking etc… Yet by thinking rationally, we know this to not be true. This is the problem with rhetoric. It makes people think and respond in a certain way, which may or may not be rational. This is a form of coercion. Other similar examples would be how cigarette commercials used to portray smoking in a very positive light, conveniently ignoring the harmful side effects. Such deception is obviously a violation of Mill’s principal.
It is true that advertisers use sex to sell. Beautiful people and beautiful images are used to sell products because they can capture the attention of consumers. However it rarely goes beyond that for most people. And there is good reason for that. Most people are mature and discerning enough to not be affected by solely by rhetoric. My proof is this, how often have you felt the need to purchase something because of an image? Not very often I’d imagine because people are generally rational beings. There are people who are less mature though and as such need to be protected from such elements by more mature people, which is in line with Mill’s principal[5].
Mill’s principal does commit him to forbidding certain marketing techniques where a person is coerced, not only by force (though this is rare), but also by intentional deception. The reason I say intentional is because not all people can be considered mature enough to make responsible decisions and might be deceived by the most innocuous of images or phrases even though there was no intent behind the images or phrases to deceive. In such cases, Mill’s principal has not been violated. The intentional deception I refer to is the sort where a lie is passed off as a truth. An example of this would be the e-mail scams written by a person claiming to be a rich Nigerian and he needs the reader’s help in transferring his funds. Such mails are obviously written to deceive and violate Mill’s principal. Apart from such tactics, the rest can be considered very persuasive at best but not coercive.
[1] Brain Washing Techniques of the CIA & FBI http://pw1.netcom.com/~ncoic/brainwsh.htm
[2] Developmental Psychology - Parenting Styles http://www.devpsy.org/teaching/parent/baumrind_styles.html
[3] Mill’s Chapter 1 – Page 9 paragraph 3 line 2 of text
[4] Watson tests divorce court http://www.mucknmire.com/wam101/ad.html
[5] Mill’s Chapter 1 – Page 9 paragraph 3 line 2 of text
Please uphold 2 of my friends in prayer
1 is my yeti sized (formerly amazon sized friend) who's going under general anesthesia tomorrow to remove eh.. 2 wisdom tooth I think.... the other is veggiesaurus rex who's rushing projects and stuff .. rush so bad that skip meals, got no social life and think got other stuff lah.. ( actually I also similar, but never skip meals lah.. too skinny already.. skip will die)
Thanks all.
1 is my yeti sized (formerly amazon sized friend) who's going under general anesthesia tomorrow to remove eh.. 2 wisdom tooth I think.... the other is veggiesaurus rex who's rushing projects and stuff .. rush so bad that skip meals, got no social life and think got other stuff lah.. ( actually I also similar, but never skip meals lah.. too skinny already.. skip will die)
Thanks all.
Sobering yet somehow expected
Woke up this morning, ate breakfast and surfed a few blogs before going to school. Found out that an earthquake hit near Sumatra. It was very sobering, especially since people in that area have been trying to rebuild their lives and such. I guess most people thought that people can move on after Boxing Day.. the somehow expected part comes from how everyone has been sort of predicting this earthquake as a post Boxing Day aftershock of sorts.. this time was better I guess cause there were early warning devices in place, people were evacuated, no killer waves, yet an estimated 300-2000 lives may have been lost. Also caught a brief glance of a headline about how some children who survived are now afraid of the waves.. people may have moved on, but I don't think everyone has. Some may never move on.
Woke up this morning, ate breakfast and surfed a few blogs before going to school. Found out that an earthquake hit near Sumatra. It was very sobering, especially since people in that area have been trying to rebuild their lives and such. I guess most people thought that people can move on after Boxing Day.. the somehow expected part comes from how everyone has been sort of predicting this earthquake as a post Boxing Day aftershock of sorts.. this time was better I guess cause there were early warning devices in place, people were evacuated, no killer waves, yet an estimated 300-2000 lives may have been lost. Also caught a brief glance of a headline about how some children who survived are now afraid of the waves.. people may have moved on, but I don't think everyone has. Some may never move on.
Monday, March 28, 2005
2 upcoming must watch movies!
Man I'm just pumped up after watching the trailers just now. The 2 shows are Star Wars 3 ('nuff said) and Bewitched.. I loved the original tv series and there's Will Ferrel and Nicole Kidman in the movie.. how can it go bad?
Man I'm just pumped up after watching the trailers just now. The 2 shows are Star Wars 3 ('nuff said) and Bewitched.. I loved the original tv series and there's Will Ferrel and Nicole Kidman in the movie.. how can it go bad?
Sunday, March 27, 2005
2nd Philo Essay
Hi all, need your feedback and input again for my second philo essay. This time I'm doing about coercion or rather what consists of coercion. Do you think that when you go to a shopping centre, the design coerces you to buy more things or buy things which you don't need? Does the floor plan disorientate you and thus make you more succeptible to shopping? Do you think that you are made to buy stuff or rather just reminded that you could use with that product? Feel free to just give your point of views.
Hi all, need your feedback and input again for my second philo essay. This time I'm doing about coercion or rather what consists of coercion. Do you think that when you go to a shopping centre, the design coerces you to buy more things or buy things which you don't need? Does the floor plan disorientate you and thus make you more succeptible to shopping? Do you think that you are made to buy stuff or rather just reminded that you could use with that product? Feel free to just give your point of views.
Friday, March 25, 2005
When words mean nothing
That's how I feel having just written up my portion of around 1 and a half reports. All the letters just line up to form words which then further line up to form seemingly coherent sentences.. how strange that I'm going to be heavily graded on such things..
Feeling kinda bummed, well partly cause of the test paper I got back yesterday.. did quite terrible .. well cause I could have done like 10-15 marks better if I hadn't gotten the formulas wrongly.. and it doesn't help that the weightage of the paper is like 20% (but all that's just excuses I guess.. ).. oh well.. hopefully can pull off a fairly decent grade on this seems it would be quite sad given that for the past 2 sems my CAP has been on a nice increase..
Anyway for more lighter reading, here's a conversation that took place during Soci tutorial yesterday. The topic was on Race and Ethnicity. This malay guy was talking abt some racial stereotypes such as that Malays are lazy and Indians are drunkards.
Malay Guy: .. certain stereotypes such as all Malays are lazy and Indians are drunkards. (Looks to the indian guy on his left) Sorry man, no offense.
Indian Guy: (Smiles and laughs) its ok..
Malay Guy: Heh, I'm not much better, supposed to be lazy remember?
Another funny thing that occured is during our Soci presentation. Finally after 4 weeks of postphoning and stuff, we did it.. was ok lah.. the pressure was taken off and no one in class was seemingly even in the mood for it. Just one funny occurance was how one of my group members was holding on to her can of coke thru out the whole presentation and taking sips now and then and writing on the white board.. I told her it made her look like some drunk lecturer especially seems she talks and acts in a such a slack manner.. haha..
That's how I feel having just written up my portion of around 1 and a half reports. All the letters just line up to form words which then further line up to form seemingly coherent sentences.. how strange that I'm going to be heavily graded on such things..
Feeling kinda bummed, well partly cause of the test paper I got back yesterday.. did quite terrible .. well cause I could have done like 10-15 marks better if I hadn't gotten the formulas wrongly.. and it doesn't help that the weightage of the paper is like 20% (but all that's just excuses I guess.. ).. oh well.. hopefully can pull off a fairly decent grade on this seems it would be quite sad given that for the past 2 sems my CAP has been on a nice increase..
Anyway for more lighter reading, here's a conversation that took place during Soci tutorial yesterday. The topic was on Race and Ethnicity. This malay guy was talking abt some racial stereotypes such as that Malays are lazy and Indians are drunkards.
Malay Guy: .. certain stereotypes such as all Malays are lazy and Indians are drunkards. (Looks to the indian guy on his left) Sorry man, no offense.
Indian Guy: (Smiles and laughs) its ok..
Malay Guy: Heh, I'm not much better, supposed to be lazy remember?
Another funny thing that occured is during our Soci presentation. Finally after 4 weeks of postphoning and stuff, we did it.. was ok lah.. the pressure was taken off and no one in class was seemingly even in the mood for it. Just one funny occurance was how one of my group members was holding on to her can of coke thru out the whole presentation and taking sips now and then and writing on the white board.. I told her it made her look like some drunk lecturer especially seems she talks and acts in a such a slack manner.. haha..
Thursday, March 24, 2005
9-10:30
All the problems with the boat ( or rather the major problems ) have been solved by my fantastic group members.. yay.. means Friday get to stay home and sleep and catch up on assignments..
All the problems with the boat ( or rather the major problems ) have been solved by my fantastic group members.. yay.. means Friday get to stay home and sleep and catch up on assignments..
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
9-11
Ok that's 3 hours longer than yesterday.. Boat is up.. but new problem has been introduced. Turning radius too big.. need to find a way to reduce the turning radius.. sigh..
Ok that's 3 hours longer than yesterday.. Boat is up.. but new problem has been introduced. Turning radius too big.. need to find a way to reduce the turning radius.. sigh..
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
12 to 11.
That's the time I was in school today .. almost 12 hours.. yes.. tomorrow (wait.. later ) is 9am to ... 11pm?
I'm getting frequent flier miles...
That's the time I was in school today .. almost 12 hours.. yes.. tomorrow (wait.. later ) is 9am to ... 11pm?
I'm getting frequent flier miles...
Monday, March 21, 2005
Went to SMU today
Cause after years of considering and suffering at NUS Engineering course, I have decided to give SMU a try..
Nah.. just kidding.. went cause Daryl and his parents went down to see.. then nothing to do so follow lor.. very interesting.. cause I never went for any open house when it really really mattered to me.. SMU is an interesting place.. new campus is quite nice.
Anyway a few things I learnt today
1) There is something called the academic cherry.. seriously.. This lady's reason for taking both A levels and SATs is so that u can "take 2 bites from the academic cherry"
Firstly, I didn't know there was even such a saying.. but then I quite ulu one so maybe lah.. Secondly, cherry quite small, if u need more than 1 bite for a cherry then.. quite sad..
2) SMU life is very much like the RPG game Fable.. Every action you take in the school decides your future.. when you go toilet, what you eat for lunch.. .. very interesting..
3)SMU students like to self-arrow. (Read: very very motivated)
4)The acronym OCS is highly overused.. at least in Singapore. I know there's Officer Cadet School. There's overseas courier service and now got something like grooming course for SMU undergrads before they go for interview.. I think I zoned out at this pt..
5) The selling pts of SMUs are as follows : Small lecture and tutorial group so got good interaction btw lecturer and student. And second selling pt is we are near MRT, lots of buses, lots of shopping centre, lots of food, roof top swimming pool, lots of entertainment.. basically sum up (sans the first 2) lots of distraction that will prevent u from studying..
Cause after years of considering and suffering at NUS Engineering course, I have decided to give SMU a try..
Nah.. just kidding.. went cause Daryl and his parents went down to see.. then nothing to do so follow lor.. very interesting.. cause I never went for any open house when it really really mattered to me.. SMU is an interesting place.. new campus is quite nice.
Anyway a few things I learnt today
1) There is something called the academic cherry.. seriously.. This lady's reason for taking both A levels and SATs is so that u can "take 2 bites from the academic cherry"
Firstly, I didn't know there was even such a saying.. but then I quite ulu one so maybe lah.. Secondly, cherry quite small, if u need more than 1 bite for a cherry then.. quite sad..
2) SMU life is very much like the RPG game Fable.. Every action you take in the school decides your future.. when you go toilet, what you eat for lunch.. .. very interesting..
3)SMU students like to self-arrow. (Read: very very motivated)
4)The acronym OCS is highly overused.. at least in Singapore. I know there's Officer Cadet School. There's overseas courier service and now got something like grooming course for SMU undergrads before they go for interview.. I think I zoned out at this pt..
5) The selling pts of SMUs are as follows : Small lecture and tutorial group so got good interaction btw lecturer and student. And second selling pt is we are near MRT, lots of buses, lots of shopping centre, lots of food, roof top swimming pool, lots of entertainment.. basically sum up (sans the first 2) lots of distraction that will prevent u from studying..
Friday, March 18, 2005
Ultimate Suck Thumb situation
The thing about mailing lists is that sometimes people accidently send stuff that the rest should not be privvy to for many reasons.. today myself and many other engineering students have experienced this. Basically for those who are uninformed, I'm doing a module this sem which requires a team to build a boat, program said boat to do stuff... yeah.. so we have to present the boat and conduct and oral presentation of the boat.. anyway there's the date and time of presentations and stuff.. but there's some hiccup with regards to the timing.. seems some of the supervisors don't have time on the preassigned dates, so they have to shift the dates. Anyway the mails that came bouncing back and forth were sort of "arguments" (more civil kind) between 2 of the supervisors.. haha.. quite funny actually.. one was saying that had to change cause of this, the other was like why not just stick to the original blah blah blah.. and here's the clincher.. no matter what happens, we the students suffer.. so like I said
ULTIMATE SUCK THUMB situation..
The thing about mailing lists is that sometimes people accidently send stuff that the rest should not be privvy to for many reasons.. today myself and many other engineering students have experienced this. Basically for those who are uninformed, I'm doing a module this sem which requires a team to build a boat, program said boat to do stuff... yeah.. so we have to present the boat and conduct and oral presentation of the boat.. anyway there's the date and time of presentations and stuff.. but there's some hiccup with regards to the timing.. seems some of the supervisors don't have time on the preassigned dates, so they have to shift the dates. Anyway the mails that came bouncing back and forth were sort of "arguments" (more civil kind) between 2 of the supervisors.. haha.. quite funny actually.. one was saying that had to change cause of this, the other was like why not just stick to the original blah blah blah.. and here's the clincher.. no matter what happens, we the students suffer.. so like I said
ULTIMATE SUCK THUMB situation..
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
I am duly impressed!
The skinny chick on Amazing Race ate 4 pounds of meat.. that's a lot of meat. heck that's a lot of food..
On another reality tv series, American Idol, I just realised that Bo Bice looks a bit like Paul Gilbert.. just more plump and muscular.. anyone care to confirm with me?
The skinny chick on Amazing Race ate 4 pounds of meat.. that's a lot of meat. heck that's a lot of food..
On another reality tv series, American Idol, I just realised that Bo Bice looks a bit like Paul Gilbert.. just more plump and muscular.. anyone care to confirm with me?
2nd Philo paper
Topics came out today. Only 3 this time though. 1 is a matrix like qns.. where you have to argue for the possible existence of a matrix like world, or argue against it. 2nd one is basically on when it is alright to force someone to do something (to prevent harm to others) basically utilitarianism.. qns 3.. have no idea.. too wordy.. didn't even read.. heh.. going to ask u all for help again soon..
Topics came out today. Only 3 this time though. 1 is a matrix like qns.. where you have to argue for the possible existence of a matrix like world, or argue against it. 2nd one is basically on when it is alright to force someone to do something (to prevent harm to others) basically utilitarianism.. qns 3.. have no idea.. too wordy.. didn't even read.. heh.. going to ask u all for help again soon..
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Beginning of the End
Today begins the slow and painful road to the end of the semester where everything is happening.. an example of how bad things are, I was in school from 9 to 9 today.. and I left early.. that's how bad it's getting.. projects and stuff.. and I've been neglecting my tutorials.. I loathe school.
Today begins the slow and painful road to the end of the semester where everything is happening.. an example of how bad things are, I was in school from 9 to 9 today.. and I left early.. that's how bad it's getting.. projects and stuff.. and I've been neglecting my tutorials.. I loathe school.
Monday, March 14, 2005
To all the ex-students of my mum
Take note that ur ex-teacher knows zip nada squat abt technology. She just bought us new electric toothbrushes and was giving to my sister to use.. then she brings it to my sister and comes up later asking me.. (at this pt I interject to inform people what an electric toothbrush is and how it works. It runs on electricity to make the brush go up and down up and down.. for lazy ppl. It comes in 2 parts usually. The head and the body. The body is put on a charger and the head has the bristles.. ) Anyway back to the story in progress.. my mum comes back up holding the head (and only the head) asking me "how to use this brush ah?"
Take note that ur ex-teacher knows zip nada squat abt technology. She just bought us new electric toothbrushes and was giving to my sister to use.. then she brings it to my sister and comes up later asking me.. (at this pt I interject to inform people what an electric toothbrush is and how it works. It runs on electricity to make the brush go up and down up and down.. for lazy ppl. It comes in 2 parts usually. The head and the body. The body is put on a charger and the head has the bristles.. ) Anyway back to the story in progress.. my mum comes back up holding the head (and only the head) asking me "how to use this brush ah?"
Sunday, March 13, 2005
God speaks in mysterious ways..
Something was troubling me today.. weighing quite heavily on my mind as I was heading out to Martin's house for bible study.. Well basically the would be turn-out of the group today. From the responses via SMS, I knew the turn-out would be small today and stuff, but I also started reflecting on the group and its purpose.. like is it worth having a group if the turn-out is small and stuff.. I know its not the size of the group that counts, but still sometimes I ponder about how much priority we set aside for God. I think most of the time, given a choice between watching tv and doing our daily devotionals, we would do the former.. yeah so my thoughts revolved around these things.. about commitment within the group and stuff..But wonder of wonders, during the study this was actually brought up by Samuel about having a group of core committed members who would meet every week on a fixed day irregardless. And basically we started sharing and talking on this matter, basically addressing issues I was having. Feeling really edified by the sharing and that the group has a more certain direction now.. now hopefully we can attain it.. and also need to get back to work soon.. amplifier status in limbo..
Something was troubling me today.. weighing quite heavily on my mind as I was heading out to Martin's house for bible study.. Well basically the would be turn-out of the group today. From the responses via SMS, I knew the turn-out would be small today and stuff, but I also started reflecting on the group and its purpose.. like is it worth having a group if the turn-out is small and stuff.. I know its not the size of the group that counts, but still sometimes I ponder about how much priority we set aside for God. I think most of the time, given a choice between watching tv and doing our daily devotionals, we would do the former.. yeah so my thoughts revolved around these things.. about commitment within the group and stuff..But wonder of wonders, during the study this was actually brought up by Samuel about having a group of core committed members who would meet every week on a fixed day irregardless. And basically we started sharing and talking on this matter, basically addressing issues I was having. Feeling really edified by the sharing and that the group has a more certain direction now.. now hopefully we can attain it.. and also need to get back to work soon.. amplifier status in limbo..
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Anwar Rocks!
That statement could easily be like "Words that Former M'sia PM Dr M would never utter in public".. but it isn't.. I mean not that it doesn't fall in that category, but more like Anwar Robinson from American Idol.. He's like the best male singer.
My top 3 choices for the guys would be: (In order of merit)
1)Anwar Robinson
2)Bo Bice
3)Constantine something or other..
That statement could easily be like "Words that Former M'sia PM Dr M would never utter in public".. but it isn't.. I mean not that it doesn't fall in that category, but more like Anwar Robinson from American Idol.. He's like the best male singer.
My top 3 choices for the guys would be: (In order of merit)
1)Anwar Robinson
2)Bo Bice
3)Constantine something or other..
Sunday, March 06, 2005
Tailor Chronicles Part 2
Went back for first fitting today. Tailor said that cause I'm skinny, need to make it look like I'm bigger so that I'll look better.. ok.. so there's adding stuff here and there.. and supposedly, my right shoulder is lower than my left shoulder.. was thinking should be the other way round given that I tend to sling my bag on the left.. but oh well.. Prototype suit looks interesting.. wonder how it will look like when its completed.. anyway think need to put on a bit more wait in a hurry...
Went back for first fitting today. Tailor said that cause I'm skinny, need to make it look like I'm bigger so that I'll look better.. ok.. so there's adding stuff here and there.. and supposedly, my right shoulder is lower than my left shoulder.. was thinking should be the other way round given that I tend to sling my bag on the left.. but oh well.. Prototype suit looks interesting.. wonder how it will look like when its completed.. anyway think need to put on a bit more wait in a hurry...
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
Listen to me for a while now..
Find joy in what you do each day and do at least one meaningful thing each day. For soon will come the day when you might not be able to do either.
Find joy in what you do each day and do at least one meaningful thing each day. For soon will come the day when you might not be able to do either.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Progress.. I think.. I hope..
Finally got down to thinking about the amplifier.. and man its hard.. just finished writing out the eqns which I think are relevant.. and for now using a simple drawing to see what the output will be.. then will tweak it to fit the specs.. that's the idea anyway.. dunno if it will work.. going to bug the GA tomorrow for help..
Also very very annoyed with the suction cups on my cannister filter.. it keeps coming off resulting in the filter not working, resulting in me having to "prime" the filter again.. very troublesome.. have to stand on chair to setup the tubes, get the hose to prime the filter.. sigh.. Need stronger suction cups..
Finally got down to thinking about the amplifier.. and man its hard.. just finished writing out the eqns which I think are relevant.. and for now using a simple drawing to see what the output will be.. then will tweak it to fit the specs.. that's the idea anyway.. dunno if it will work.. going to bug the GA tomorrow for help..
Also very very annoyed with the suction cups on my cannister filter.. it keeps coming off resulting in the filter not working, resulting in me having to "prime" the filter again.. very troublesome.. have to stand on chair to setup the tubes, get the hose to prime the filter.. sigh.. Need stronger suction cups..
