Rant 190 / I Just Got Rejected...

Why does my internet connection disconnect so suddenly? It usually disconnects for 10 minutes and return to normal after that. The problem seems to be that the wire is unplugged, as described by the status of the connection in the folder, Network Connections, in Control Panel. But it is plugged in and I didn't move it.

It may be my ethernet drive, since it doesn't display its LED lights when I replug the wire. Bleh... not even 1 sem of using this comp and something goes wrong.





What in the world is going on? If the US government spends that 700 billion dollar to save the economy, people are going to describe it as socialism and cite it as an example of US communism in the future. If they don't, banks around the world will fall, one by one.

It's not just in the US now, banks in Europe are being rescued at the last minute each day. But the EU doesn't have an infinite supply of money, so something needs to be done. Better to be labelled as communist than to start a second Great Depression. Because what saved the world from the last Depression was WWII.






http://bikechina.com/ct-heinzstucke1z.html
Just read about this guy Heinze Stücke. A summary of what he has done is: he visited 192 countries by cycling.

In his epic journeys, he has been stung by bees, chased by angry mobs, shot by soldiers and met Emperor Haile Selassi I. Also the "Most Travelled Man in the World" in the Guiness Book of Records from 1995 to 1999.

He lived a dream. Damn!

May sound simple, but it's actually quite difficult. For example, the most important thing to know is how to repair any part of the bicycle. How do you get a new tire when one is punctured? Another is to know how to survive in the wild really well. Basic first aid and camping are a must.

And how the fuck did he manage those 40-50kg of luggage? That's some crazy cycling when he needs to go upslope.

But he lived a dream.

Inspiring. Imma go buy a bike and a Singapore street directory in Dec, then cycle randomly until I die of exhaustion or run out of water, whichever comes first. And I'll bring a camera just in case. Maybe someday I will have the stamina to cycle to Malaysia.

But then, I may just change my mind when the day comes for me to buy that bike.

Damn.






I just got rejected...

T.T


T.T


T.T


An uncle just rejected my proposal.

T.T


T.T


T.T




I proposed to the uncle who does catering services at Canteen 5 that I will pay him S$40 for 2 trays of buns and cakes, to be delivered on Thursday. He rejected this idea. Now I have to buy cookies and stuff from NTUC for Thursday's chapter meeting.


T.T


T.T


T.T




Sorry for fucking with your mind just now. Suddenly thought of this when I was cooking this bowl of udon. LOL!


Hungry....



Heart-attack-in-a-pot
or
Baconhenge

Rant 189 / "What can't be changed must be accepted. What can't be accepted must be changed."

It turns out that the Imperial Army is so easy to kill. They have weak infantries and just about every military unit the Blood Ravens have are anti-infantry. So wiping them out was quite easy for me.





Somehow the Amocan brand's Satay Chicken tastes like combat rations to me. Might be because it is quite bland. Nevertheless I will never try it again. Edible, but not exactly something I want to eat often. Well, as can foods go, it may be one of the better ones, ranking above the Minced Pork and Bamboo Shoots in the Under $2 category.






Why do people see it impolite to accept gifts? YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO FUKKEN TAKE IT! What the fukken hell am I supposed to do with it? Not that any of my gifts had ever been rejected, but I can imagine what it'd be like if someone buys an expensive gift and gets rejected. And usually, this gift is of no use whatsoever to the buyer. So wtf man? If it's rude to accept a gift, then it's even worse to reject it stubbornly.

Just take it.












Sunset. The first photo looks like there is a volcano among the trees. The others look as if the sun is setting among the trees, or that the real trees behind the window are almost invisible or look like clouds. Seems quite interesting to me, so I took a few shots.




Running out of rice. Oh no! Will need to buy more from JP's NTUC soon. Been eating rice instead of porridge too often. :(



Girls who act cute the japanese way. Holy fuck! I never thought people can be so cute that they reach the point of being disgusting. And check out Mririan and applemilk1988 on youtube. Damn. One of them made a gravure vid (basically a video of her doing stuff in sexy outfits) while the other is one of the most popular person on youtube. Guys seem to love it, except me. Am I gay?

Or maybe I'm just too obsessed with the truth, while they're prime examples of walking lies.




Why am I sweating so much? I'm not dripping, but my scalp feels wet everytime I touch it. Gah! I hate the sweating. No idea why it's happening, but it totally distracts me all the time when I go out.





My TMC Welfare Officer has quit her job! Oh no! Not surprising, since her schedule is pretty busy and ends quite late on Thursdays. Too bad. But now I have to handle the food myself! Fortunately my day ends early on Thursdays, so I can take it. Just don't like it though.

Despite the fact that our club is bursting with new members, they don't seem too keen on doing anything except speaking. In fact, almost no one wanted a place in the Exco. WTF? Last year they had to choose among about 10 of us for the 3 extra Exco vacancies. This year, they had to call people who had shown interest but did not go for the interview. And no one wants to be in the Logistics Subcomm, ie my slaves, this year. What on earth happened this year? It's like no one gives a damn about the halls for their next year!




Generally, a meal costs me $3.50 in the food court. Usually it's $2.80 for food and $0.70 for a drink. Sometimes, I get a second drink after the meal. I'm a thirsty guy after all the sweating. But in hall, I'm usually too lazy to climb the stairs just for a meal, so I'd cook some rice in my room and down it with some canned food.

Canned foods that I buy usually cost $2 or less. Rice, I estimate to cost $0.40 each. $4 for the bag of rice, split into about (estimated) 10 meals. If I can make myself eat porridge, which I can do when I have no mood to enjoy my food, I use about $0.20 worth of rice. Water and electricity is free with the hostel bill.

Oh shit, haven't paid William yet! LOL would you believe I don't know how to transfer money into another's account? I've never done it before. In fact, I've never needed to touch my account other than to loan my mum some cash to order goods. So all I know is how to withdraw large amounts of cash. I don't even bother with updating my bank booklet or whatever it's called.

Like why would I care, as long as I know there is enough money there? One can say that I'm easily satisfied in life, since I don't want to "make it" or "be successful". If I hadn't met certain people in my life, I'd have been satisfied with living in a room with my computer all day and making money off farming in MMORPGs. If I invest the little bit of money I have in my savings account into a investment policy with some insurance companies, I can easily live off the combination of internet income and interests.

I used to be quite confident that no matter what, I will not be a poor man. At the very worst, I can give tuition full-time to survive. All I used to care about is to live comfortably, which is defined as "no manual labour".

Now I want something more. It's like something is missing. Maybe I should go do some volunteer work. I can volunteer to pull plugs in hospitals, to save the doctors the trouble of feeling guilty for killing some vegetables. Or any other form of euthanasia.

Or I can perform abortions for Roman Catholic gynaecologists, since it's quite against their religion.






Was reading about the news about Somali pirates who took an Ukranian ship containing 33 tanks and "substantial amount of ammunition", which made me read about Somalia. Turns out Somalia is really in a state of anarchy. Some experts argue that Somalia is a real example of an anarchy, because it has no effective central government, even though it is recognized by many countries outside.

In fact, the main form of protection and judicial system is in the tradition tribal system. Their currency is also.. currencies. They do not have one currency, but three.

But incredibly, there are evidences showing that the living conditions of the people have improved since the country descended into anarchy! Their living standards even rank above some of the other African nations that have a centralised government. Still shitty, but not the worst. Wow, they are probably comparing it with Zimbabwe.

Rant 188 / It Is Not My Fault That You Suck, But It Is My Fault That You Lost To Me. For That I May Apologize, But Not Repent.

Uploaded merely 49 pics. Should be enough.





My headphones died. It seems like some part of the wire is broken, because when the wire is held in certain positions, it still works normally. Nonetheless, it can be considered broken and no longer usable.

Such a waste. The cushions are still fine.




Just read about Musha Cay, a group of islands in the Bahamas owned by David Copperfield. It is a group of 5 resorts for the rich, designed to be very luxurious, private and expensive. In fact, rates as of this moment is 37,500USD per island for up to 12 people. Additional 1,500USD for each additional heads up to the 18th and 1000USD each from the 19th to 24th person. Maximum is 24 heads per island.

And David Copperfield has claimed that the Fountain of Youth has been found within one of the islands.






Chaos Marines are so tough! Though I can defend myself from their attacks, it is incredibly hard to pierce their defenses. Four times I have tried to attack the tiny island and all efforts were in vain! Their units are about as tough as mine, but their structures are weaker. The latter doesn't make much of a difference for me, but the fact that their units are as strong as mine means I have a great tactical disadvantage from the beginning.

The thing is, the owner of a territory can reinforce the defenses by placing squads in it so that they can be used right from the start. No building necessary, no training needed. Just send them to the enemy and watch them kill. With their units so strong, it was all I could do to hold their first few waves not ten steps from my base.

Eventually, they got so many resource points that they probably maxed their population caps and sent everything against me. That happened in my last attempt, at which point I had 3 squads of Space Marines and 5 cannons, 3 upgraded, to hold the fort. They sent their Greater Daemon flying into my base and ass-raped my defenses. Damn. My cannons were gone in moments and my armies extinguished like a candlelight in a typhoon.

And I didn't even get my tanks out! The highest tier unit I had, other than my Honour Guards of Space Marine and Senior Librarian, was the Apothecary. Gah! How will I ever break through? Need to keep trying. Tomorrow. I really want that reward of the Veteran Terminator in my Honour Guard. Will be so friggin cool.







Moral values are merely restrictions that simplify life. Pragmatism and morality aren't always compatible, but pragmatism will always be the path Mankind walks. Humans are born to be practical, but sometimes, it is just too much effort to consider the consequences of every alternative. So we created general guidelines that works in the majority of situations and called them moral values.

For example, a popular moral rule is that we must not kill. Killing is always wrong. Unfortunately, that is not always true; it is only true in most situations. In countries where children are brainwashed to be violent people, to the point that they are traumatised from a very young age, it is not practical to "save" the teenage soldiers.

Pragmatism says that they, together with their commanders and the people who "train" them, should be killed. Morality says that they need to be imprisoned for life, at most. And they should be allowed therapy sessions.

It is not practical to keep them alive, because it will take much resources to keep them fed, constantly watched and guarded. In return, nothing much can be gained because all they know is how to kill anyone who isn't on their side.

Therefore, one should not strictly follow his/her moral values. Doing so will only limit one's options without any benefit in return. There are times when morality should be cast aside in favour of logic and practicality, which are the root of all morality.

However, one will need to consider the long and short-term effects of every decision then. This is a difficult process, thus the existence of morality. This is why I'm saying that only in some situations should morality be ignored. It is always up to our discretion when we decide to do so, but it is frustrating to observe how some people blindly follow the rules without thinking about how pointless it is.

Rules are merely general guidelines. Most are useful, but there are always some that are there only because of social inertia. It is illogical, but sometimes people are lazy, and in other times, they just want to "wait and see". Eventually, some changes that should be made are forgotten and the obsolete rules become customs and traditions. Impractical and completely symbolic. And thus, culture is born.

A culture is comprised of everything that social inertia has preserved from the beginning of a people. Mostly, it is colourful, exotic and useful only in giving a nation its identity, to differentiate the people from the foreigners. If a society embraces change constantly, it will not have any culture because nothing obsolete is preserved.

Something for something. Nothing for nothing.



And here's another pic that has to do with nothing you've read so far...

Rant 187 / Neca Eos Omnes. Deus Suos Agnoset.

Tried to upload some photos just now, but something kept my computer from uploading them into FB. WTF? No idea why. Managed to upload the first 3, but nothing after. Not even a single one. Tried uploading the 4th pic by itself 3 times and failed. So I aborted.

Also discovered my previous numbers were wrong. I took about 350 pics, and only 185 aren't deleted. And only about 80 are to be uploaded.





If nothing can be "known", and that to believe that something is true has nothing to do with the fact that the something is actually true, then science is no different from any religion.

Science is based on centuries of experiments, observations and logical deductions. Most laws can be proven by anyone performing the right experiments under the right conditions. This is something most religions cannot do.

But many laws in what we understand are wrong. To say that something is true for most situations, but is false in others, is to say that it is false. It takes only one example of error to prove a theory wrong.

From what I have seen so far in my studies, a vast number of theories are based on Newton's 3 Laws. Everyone knows they are not true when it comes to matters of astronomical scales. Neither are they right when we discuss atomic science.

Therefore, one can argue that these Laws are untrue.

This implies that everything we study in Mechanical Engineering is untrue.

Yet we trust in them despite acknowledging this.

This is faith.

Religion. Y/N?



On the other hand, we can say that Mankind is trying to come up with a better idea, and that the 3 Laws are the best we have so far. Plus they're pretty close to being correct in the situations we apply them in.

Therefore, if it is very close to the truth in some cases, then it IS the truth in these cases. Is this it?

Or maybe, the logic is that if it works, who cares?

I believe it is the last. The most practical reason.






It is scary how people take the Bible literally. There are people out there fighting to prove that God did flood the Earth and he had Noah build the Ark for that. No this isn't the scary part. What makes me nervous is that fact that there are evidences that seem to support their theories. Not that I believe the story at all - it's utter bullshit no matter what they say. But still, those are probably enough to help them recruit more gullible people to join them in their "researches".

I'd say I'm an Agnostic, since I recognize that some supernatural being(s) may exist - there is no evidence that disproves their existence nor prove it. But sheesh, Noah's Ark?? If God is omniscient, he'd not even have made a mistake in the first place! He'd not have made those humans knowing he would have to wipe them all out by fucking drowning (which is a slow way to die) them because that'd have been pure evil sadism.

This is but one logical argument of why the story is fiction. It just takes one example to prove a theory wrong, remember?

To recruit new members, aka spread their religion, they tell the newbies not to take the Bible literally, because if you take it metaphorically, then it all makes sense. Yet you cannot deny that sooner or later, some of the recruits will become zealots who fight at all costs to prove everything in the Bible true.

Everyone in the world knows of these people, yet they continue to advise Christians and Catholics not to take it literally, all the while not excommunicating nor denouncing the fanatics. Heck, they do not even discourage such behaviour!

Moral of the story? The Catholic Church, like the Papal States in the past, is really yet another political entity that gains power through the faith of the followers. 2000 years of history should teach us something, but today, only those whose histories are intertwined with the Church's understand it.

"Neca eos omnes. Deus suos agnoset."

translation: "Kill them all. God will know His own."

Christian history. The best.

Rant 186 / I'd Say I'm Insane, But That'll Be Crazy!

Minori Restaurant at UE Square and Ikoi Restaurant at Miramar Hotel. Both at $30+ range. Minori was founded by one of the husband of the founder of Hanabi, so they're probably quite similar. But according to some reviews they have a larger variety.

Not much info about Ikoi though. Some blog posts but not many actual reviews on websites.





Every memory is a treasure. An epic tale is lost with every human death. A tragedy. Perhaps my camera will make a difference.







The fact that my pics are often blurry is due to my shaky hands. After taking over 250 photos in one outing with an actual digital camera, I realized the extent of my shittiness. Heck, I deleted about half the photos I took, a few of them could have been memorable. Alas, they were pretty bad.

Nevertheless, it was fun taking the pics. Faces can hide, but the camera always reveals. The truth is right there, but no one can catch everything they encounter. That is where my camera, with its Continuous Shot function, comes in.

Sad though, about that 100+ deleted photos.





Warhammer 40k is a pretty nice game. The Blood Ravens, the Human race that the original game used for its whole campaign, are so freaking strong in its 2nd expansion, the Dark Crusade.

I tried to attack the main Necron army with its 7 Honour Guards, using my army with its 1 puny Veteran Space Marine Honour Guard. I took less than half the map's resources before I was attacked. The first units attacked me and I thought: What the hell, I'm t3h pwnage! I cannot lose in a 1v1 (in terms of squad) match! Bring it on.

And the Necrons did. The first squad was like the harbinger of doom, with almost a dozen units following, at first more infantries and a Commander, then tanks. And being ignorant as I was with the Necron's abilities, it took me a while to realize why I was barely able to keep them away from my base even though their units were much weaker - some of their units and their Commander do not die permanently!

Fortunately, I held them off long enough to get some my artillery and heavy tanks out. Took quite a bit of smashing buttons repeatedly. Unfortunately, one of their biggest structure/tank unit, the Necron Monolith was at the halfway line of the map and approaching my base. Seriously, the HP of that thing was OMFGWTFRUN!!!!

I had to send everything I had against it. Even though my elite infantries were all in, it took some time to actually reach the Monolith. The Necron has this cool ability of turning the main Commander unit into some kind of godlike special unit for a period of time. And it took some time to overcome this unit to reach the Monolith, which could attack us itself with that huge cannon or something.

But kill it I did, and I thought I won the game with the defeat of its greatest unit.

No, that was not true. I had to post several squads and tanks around the dead tanks and Commander to keep them dead. And I had to slowly take their resources one by one with my elite infantry squads until I reached their base. And luckily, Terminator Squads are the shit when it comes to pwning units that do die permanently.

Just sending 2 units of Terminator Squads, 1 ranged and 1 melee, into the enemy base was enough to wipe them all out. Of course, my main Commander had this Ion-Cannon-like ability which helped a lot. We all have some cool stuff after all.

And I won despite what I had expected. Luckily for me the AI was stupid enough not to force their revived units to retreat and regroup. If they had, I probably wouldn't have made it. It took everything I had, including my elite tanks and infantries maxed to their population limits, to hold off the attacks. If they had another Monolith coming, I'd have lost. And I'd have to load the game and play yet another long round.

Fun, though. I love defending.

Rant 185 / To Kill Two Stones With One Bird

I'm done with finding a nice abstract wallpaper, adding in the text and creating most of the frames for the montage. Now I need to add in some photos. Before I actually use it for myself, I'm going to need to test it on other people. By this I mean I'm going to use pics of other girls and show it to them.

Think about it. It's killing two birds with one stone. On one hand, I get to test it out and see if it will actually look nice. On the other hand, your girlfriend will be happy if it looks nice.

And if anyone is going to hand me some nice pics of their girlfriends, I will need them to keep it a secret till it is done. This is due to the fact that I do it only when I feel like working on it and I don't want to meet anyone's expectations as far as I can help it.







So my room has spiders. Good thing I still have my bottle of Baygon in my closet. Time to spray the whole room again. Tomorrow.





Can't get certain things out of my mind. Will not let me sleep. Sleep. I need a cure for my screwed-up body clock. I feel sleepy at 3pm and 8pm, but damned awake at 12am. Gah!






Just found out my camcorder's still image function is fucking subpar! Would you believe its best photo resolution is 0.3M?!?!? Zero point three Megapixels!!!!! Even my camera phone has a resolution of 2M.

According to the websites, this DCR-DVD610 is a downgraded version of the 810. Though the better model costs about USD200 more, it has an internal 8gb memory and three times the still image resolution.. which is only 0.9M. And it also has a better mic.

Okay, so its not such a great difference for a noobie like me, but still... 0.3M?!?!?

Ok I think I'll just go buy some memory stick on Sat or tomorrow... They are less convenient when I transfer data but I can store 3 times as much vid even on a 4gb memory stick.






http://similarminds.com/global-adv.html

Personality test. Seems kinda accurate.

Rant 184 / Omniarchy, Not Anarchy

And it happened again. I went to bed at 8pm, woke up once but managed to go back to sleep again, thinking I'd conquered that 12am barrier. Later I woke up feeling energetic, but it was still dark, so I estimated that it was about 4 or 5am. I stretched, turned around, grabbed my handphone and checked the time.

23.33

Gah!





A hacker from Anonymous has hacked into Palin's Yahoo email and took screenshots before it shut down. That, in a way, made me respect them a little. But only a little because that guy did not save everything in the email. What good are screenshots anyway? And family photos? LOL wut?

Materials taken from her email are now available in www.wikileaks.com

No guarantee whether they are genuine stuff or not, but judging from the fact that both sides involved are pretty well known, especially Anonymous for their hacking skills, I think they really did upload those files.





I'm going to try to make a montage wallpaper using photos of certain people. Wonder how well it will work...






Apparently, I was wrong when I used the term anarchy in the previous rant. In anarchy, there can still be laws that exists with the mutual agreement among a group of people. For example, all the people in a town can agree on obeying a certain set of rules, thus making these rules the Law. In an anarchy, there is only no state. There is no superior authority to rule over people. The general population rule themselves using such laws as described above.

But what I really meant was an omniarchy. It is a state in which there is absolutely no law, where anyone can do anything they wish. There is an absence of the state and order. In such an environment, each person must fend for him or herself. Such is the price of absolute freedom.

Rant 183 / Wouldn't It Be Ironic If You Survive An Earthquake Only To Die Of Starvation Because You Can't Open The Can Of Tuna In Your Hand?

So the guy who slams his door all day is the same guy who has the fetish for repeating songs. And he was even singing just now, probably thinking he's the only guy on this level at 4pm. Unfortunately for him, I'm having only one tutorial today, which is an e-tutorial just for today.

So I was listening to his out-of-tune and out-of-rhythm singing. For fifteen minutes I suffered while somewhat distracted by the ongoing discussions among my group members on Messenger. But once it was done, I cleared my throat rather loudly, and his voice stopped.

And he turned to whistling intermittently for a while before totally shutting up.

Unfortunately, he is still playing this song since at least an hour ago.




Btw, WOW the US is fucked. Which I can assume to imply that we're fucked too. When I saw "Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy" I thought it was just another bank going down, kinda as significant as Merril Lynch being sold to the Bank of America.

I'm not saying that it isn't significant - I mean it's not as disastrous as the 9/11 incident.

And it's a fucking large bank going bankrupt, ie, all its money is gone, ie all its clients will not have their money back. Imagine DBS going down. It's more serious than that.

A quote from www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/nation/stories/091508dnnatwallstreet.7aecb503.html

About $700 billion evaporated from retirement plans, government pension funds and other investment portfolios.

US$700 billion.

It is one of the oldest banks in the US, older than the Civil War and has survived the Great Depression... only to buckle under than effects of the subprime mortgage crisis.

Heck, even AIG is desperately struggling right now. Even though the world's largest insurer is still alive and kicking, its financial condition doesn't seem to be very healthy at the moment.

Are we fucked?

It's not time for us to press the Panic Button yet, and as long as there is no panic among the general population, things should stay fine for a while longer.

But then, I'm no economist.







Ever dreamt of having a personal mini-bullet-train? Where every apartment is connected by rail to superhighways of tracks, where every train is controlled by a mainframe so that no accident can occur. All you need to do is enter your personal pod and click on your destination.

By Earnshaw's Theorem, a magnetic levitation system is inherently unstable, ie, you can't lift something up with magnets and expect it to stand on nothing. Kind of like a bicycle, because when its stationary, it cannot stand on its own.

However, with modern technology, maglev trains can stand using sophisticated feedback systems that maintains their distances to the track. This technology is called EMS, or Electromagnetic Suspension.

Very cool. Without wheels, it can theoretically move at extremely high speeds and ignore the effects of friction. Drag still affects the train though.

In spite of this, the fastest speed recorded is by a train running on EDS, or Electrodynamic Suspension. This technology runs on maglev at high speeds and wheels at low speeds. It makes use of the currents induced by the changing electromagnetic fields while it's moving to levitate and this is insufficient at low speeds, thus the wheels.

EDS also has the disadvantage of requiring EM-shields at high speeds in order not to disrupt any electronics onboard, especially pacemakers.

The potential of being green is huge in maglev technologies. Such trains produce no harmful emissions. At most, they will produce sonic booms, especially in tunnels. These days, tunnel exits of such high-speed trains are designed to reduce the noise produced when the air within the tunnel is compressed right when the train enters the tunnel until it escapes through the exit.

That's why underground train stations always have a glass wall with doors that open only when the trains have stopped.

Only possible pollution it can cause is when the trains are being produced and its power sources. How the country produces its electricity will determine how much pollution its maglev trains generate.

And in some cases, where special coolants need to be used, the continuous usage of these coolants will require processes that cause more pollution.

In my dream described above, there is no need for extremely fast trains. Therefore, all pollution is caused by its manufacture and its power source.

At the moment, much pollution is caused by cars in traffic jams and the inefficiency of cars due to human instincts. If a car can maintain a short distance from the car ahead constantly, drag can be reduced by more than 50%. Do you understand what this means??

It means all the drivers in the world suck!

Just kidding. It just means that if cars are not controlled by slow-reacting humans, but by computers instead, cars can become fantastically efficient.

Many people see car traffic as rivers and water flow. This is wrong. When water flows, each drop of water moves together in unison. Now imagine many cars stopped at a traffic light. The light turns green. Will all cars accelerate together at the same rate?

The answer is obvious, and it demonstrates how car traffic must be seen differently from water flow. Therefore, the old theory of building more roads when traffic is heavy does not work. This has been proven in many regions in the US.

But if every single car is AI-controlled, cars can then move like water, accelerating and braking at the same time. Drag will be reduced, just like the birds that fly in a V-shaped formation.

Fuel efficiency will be through the roof and everyone will be happy.

Heck, throw in a radar system and you may even avoid car accidents. But people will not be able to drive anymore. If what I've described is implemented, driving will become a niche thing that only driving enthusiasts will like.

Obviously, the computer(s) will need to be extremely complex. Maybe each car will have its own computer. That isn't such a far-fetched idea anymore, with the integration of GPS within cars these days. The only problem is that this idea is too far ahead of its time. At the very least, cars with GPS need to be the norm before this idea can even be considered.

A computer on a car is not an idea everyone is used to yet. To lose control of the car to the computer is still unthinkable to most drivers. What is wrong is isn't that the idea is crazy, but because humans are naturally inclined to distrust change.

Plus with this, special wifi computers will need to be installed everywhere so that cars can communicate more effectively with each other. It will be like living in the Internet, and we're the data being transmitted from one server to another. The whole traffic network will be the World Wide Web.









Cars also generate huge amounts of carbon emissions when they're in traffic jams. A car will not stop burning fuel when it's in a traffic jams - no one turns off their engines in a jam. So fuel is burnt for absolutely nothing. In fact, traffic jams are the worst possible reason for air pollution because it doesn't have a single positive effect at all.

Rant 182 / This Is The Internet, Where Dreams Become Virtual Reality

Spore is turning out to be a disappointment. I've played a little in Space Age so far, and it's quite interesting. But what is disappointing is its shallow gameplay from the first to the City Stage. City Stage was so easy! Make tons of money asap, spam cars and rape your neighbours with your cars. When planes are available, repeat above with planes instead of cars. After conquering more than half the cities in the world, the fourth ability should be available, which converts ALL cities aka the World Domination button.

WTF? That is the lamest bullshit I've ever seen in a game. Though the idea of an "I Win" button is rather old, the game designers who thought it'd be great to actually implement it are some of the worst retards ever.

Anyway, City Stage is the greatest failure in the game. Even the arcade games at the cellular stages were not as lame, even if they were rather easy.

Space Age is the part where complexity actually comes in, I think. There are at least hundreds of solar systems, each with at least one planet. These can be colonized using expensive Colonization Box (or something like that) which can be bought at any friendly civilizations.

Plus there is trade. You can get spices from your planets which can then be sold to anyone, including your home planet. How fast these spices are produced depends on your planets' Terrascore, which basically represents how productive they are. Terrascore can be improved by using Terraforming stuff, which I have yet to learn.

I'm still exploring the galaxy, scavenging for relics and fossils to be sold for money, which I need to buy Colonization Boxes, or whatever they're called.






If people make decisions before they rationalize them, does it not mean that it has always been our subconscious minds that rule the world? Does it also not mean that the voices that we picture as our conscious minds are mere tools pretending to be more than what they really are?

What is typing this then? Is it my conscious mind doing it under the control of a silent entity? Should I fear it? People fear the unknown, after all. It is an inborn instinct within humans.

Or should I worship it and call it God? People worship the unseen, after all. It is an inborn instinct within humans.

What if this is really schizophrenia, induced by those fucking shrieking voices from the banshees who don't know enough to STFU when it's past 12am?

Wateva.






For a whole afternoon, my download speed from my room hit 80kbps! What on earth happened? I was surprised, but did not do anything about it, in case I do something to interrupt this phenomenon. Now it's back to 2kbps though. But still, I can play ZM right now with decent, smooth ping. WTF?





If people are desensitized by the multitude of news of death everywhere around the world, is it time for pictures of actual events to be revealed in the media, other than the internet?

If words do not induce the right feelings, will pictures do the trick?



Does this adequately illustrate the disgust I feel for the denizens of the abyss of the net? Though I was not involved in that, finding this screenshot was enough to make me rethink how twisted people can get when there is no law to hold them back.

This is anarchy. This is chaos. This is what it means to have true freedom, the holy grail everyone is searching for. And it is not what they expect it to be. It is dark. It is what it feels like to fly in a sky together with the doves and the eagles and the vultures. It is every man for himself. The weak is weeded out. The strong are the pragmatic. Morality is but a figment of your imagination in a world where the law has no influence.

This is the Internet, where dreams become virtual reality. Where the innocent reveal the demons within. Where the truth truly lies.

Ever wished that everyone would just stop wearing a mask and be who they really are?

Rant 181 / I Can't Spell Mooncaeks

The emos on Youtube are amazing. They are emos, but medically speaking, they're probably manic-depressive. How did they end up like that?





The Second Congo War and the consequences of the war have killed over 5.4m people so far. It started out as another civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and has caused the more deaths than World War 2. Remember, World War 2 was a global affair and involved 2 nukes; the Second Congo War occured within just one country without the help of nuclear weapons.

Basically, more people have died due to this war than there are people in Singapore. The last population estimate in 2007 was about 4.6m Singaporeans. GG? A picture of one of the mass graves was posted on 4chan. There was a dead little boy lying on top of the pile. Fucking tragic. Makes you ask yourself why anyone would be willing enough to believe in a religion/benevolent supernatural being/etc.

Unfortunately I did not save that picture.

Officially, the war ended in 2003, but because the situation didn't getting any better for the past 5 years, about a thousand innocent civilians die daily due to hunger and disease.

It's so bad, child soldiers aren't even considered a real problem there.








http://www.alternet.org/story/45767/
'Christian' Game Leaves Behind A Pile of Corpses


This is from 2006.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

ROFLMAO!!!

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!




WTF is wrong with Christianity and America these days? Christ-sanctioned weapons? And the developers pray that "customers will buy their products at select Wal-Mart stores"? And "God will bless this game and it will honor Him"??

On one hand, it's supposed to spread Christianity. On the other hand... wtf???


from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left_Behind:_Eternal_Forces

Legal action

In October 2007, Left Behind Games sent letters to various bloggers demanding removal of certain material from their blogs.[25] The letters read in part:

Left Behind Games Inc. is demanding that you immediately remove any and all information contained on your site about the above stated game that is false and/or misleading, including any such statements or commentary and the responses thereto. This includes posted comments made by others in the context of reading the incorrect or misleading statements. If you do not comply immediately, the company will be forced to pursue additional legal action which will include claims for damages, costs of suit and attorney’s fees. This may subject you and your organization to significant legal and financial damages.

None of the letters specifically identified what information was false or misleading. However, some sites removed their entire blog and some removed specific sections after contacting LB Games.






I haz a mooncaek!





If there is no problem, there'd be no story. Therefore, why would I type non-problems? I'm telling my stories as is, without all that sugar-coating shit I have to use outside.





The guy next door has a fetish for repeating songs. Even though I have to admit his tastes aren't bad, but fuck man, even I can't listen to the same fantastic song for half an hour!




Love is blind. Insecured men too.




Defying the laws of nature is as advisable as looking into the barrel of a loaded shotgun.




Sometimes, surrendering to another's will is a form of manipulation too.





Serious philosophical messages. Windows Messenger personal message. Fuck, why do people type such shit on the Messenger all the time?? It's like a fucking gallery of "deep" quotes that no one really gives a fuck about. "I'm sorry, two words, I always think after you're gone." Do you really care?

Put yourself in another guy's shoes. How many people actually discuss philosphy on Messenger, of all places? Can't you put something more interesting? Something that can potentially brighten someone's mood? Or just leave it blank so that at the very least, you don't make an emo guy more emo?

I can think of a thousand philosophical emo bullshit that I can type. I can pull a hundred more out of my ass right now. But most of them are already spread throughout my past blog updates and I'm not the kind who likes to repeat.

Anyone can come up with a bunch of words that no one understands or care to understand. The important thing is whether these words are used properly, said at the right time. You don't just go up to one guy on the street and tell him," Hey, you can't have everything under the Sun." That'll be crazy. What makes it so different from what I'm seeing right now on my list of friends in Messenger?

Perhaps it's because I do not understand. Perhaps many people out there cares and I'm a fag for not caring.

Yea, right!

Rant 180 / Would You Like To Buy A Bowel?

In the end, I slept at 7am that night. Came back at about 6pm, showered and etc. Slept at 7pm. Woke up at 12am again, just like all those times before. Check email and etc till 3am and slept again.

Wtf is with 12am? Why must I wake at 12am? Everytime I sleep at least 2 hours before 12, I will always wake at 12. And feel as if it's the morning, the sort of feeling you get when you wake up in the holidays with no reason to wake you up other than that you've slept enough and can't go back to sleep anymore.

Gah!

I'm a night person.





Now I have 2 extra trash bags for paper and plastic trash. So that makes a total of 3 trash bags on my table. Now making chicken-flavoured rice. Half a cup of rice with about half a teaspoon of chicken stock.




Some speakers are so confident, but their speeches lack structure. Others have the structure, but no outstanding idea. And there are others yet who have the idea and structure but can't pronounce english words properly.

This is what I observed in the club level Humourous Speech and Evaluation Contest just now. That was so sad when one judge came up and mentioned something in his speech that was not exactly the way the speaker had said. Revealed to everyone the extent of incomprehensibility that guy's pronunciations were. He had such funny ideas, but if the judge are the ones who couldn't understand what he said, what does it matter if the rest of us were laughing hard?

Another spoke like a seasoned Toastmaster, but the structure of her speech was chaotic, jumping from one topic to another with no obvious link in between. The jokes were funny, but in the end, the speech lacked a general meaing. It was like a chain of short stories, and we're not actually looking for a stand-up comedian.

Sad that all the participants in this Humourous Speech category were all new to TMC. Where did all the seniors go?






Joined IET just now, signed up for one year membership. Haven't got the receipt, but I'll be getting it on the next event I attend.







Our TMC is taking drastic measures yet again this year and has rejected all new applications since last week. Everyone who is interested in joining us will not get to join till next semester, unless he/she is VERY enthusiastic or is an old member who left the club for a while. "VERY enthusiastic" here refers to being willing to join the Exco next year. We're all looking out for successors.

I believe over 20 people were rejected this year. Probably fewer than last year. This is the only club I know of that rejects people purely due to population limits. Strangely enough, our Tuesday counterpart isn't bursting with new members. We rock! :D

I'd suggested the creation of yet another TMC on another day, but we do not have enough devoted seniors to create a new Exco. Too bad.






I didn't expect such strong reactions when I suggested to go drink after Saturday's Area level contest. I was jokingly suggesting that, but one guy exclaimed," You sure?!" while the other said," Okay! By the time it finishes by 5.30 we should be able to make it in time to Holland V for happy hour!"

I was speechless. What's so fantastic about pubbing? It's just not my thing.

Rant 179 / It's Only Words, But Words Are All I Have,

A girl asked me why I'm not willing to participate in the Club level Humourous Speech and Evaluation Contest. I replied," I'm shy." It was meant to be an honest answer that sounded like a humourous sarcastic remark. She was supposed to laugh and get the hint that she wasn't going to get a straight answer from me.

She stared at me with her mouth open.

20 years old and still filled with all that innocence that I used to have so long ago. What nostalgia! Almost makes me wish I'm a kid again.

We had joy, we had fun,
we had seasons in the sun.
But the wine and the song
like the seasons have all gone.






Almost 5am and I'm still alive. I thank my gaming days for allowing me to know what to expect when I go for more than 24 hours without sleep. I woke at 12pm, so it's almost 17 hours without sleep now. I don't expect to be able to finish my lab report for another hour, so I will probably be staying up till 6am. Fuck the morning lectures. It's not like I care about the Maths lectures. I don't understand whether I listen or not anyway.

But I will have to go for the 11.30am lecture. Taking 10.30am to be my waking time, the estimated time I have for sleep will likely be 4.5 hours. 10.30-11am will be spent trying to get out of bed. Yea, I take that long when I don't get enough sleep.

Not that bad. I may still survive long enough to complete my lab session later in the afternoon.

Now back to work.

Rant 178 / Knowledge Is Power; Ignorance Is Bliss. Either Way, We Win.

Preserved vegetables are a great solution to a student living in poverty. Though I'm living above the poverty line of a lousy buck a day, I'm not going to spend more than I have to.

I almost bought food from Old Chang Kee again. Fortunately, all they had left by 8.30pm was a tray of curry puffs. That stopped me in my tracks and made me turn away. Buying from Old Chang Kee can have serious detrimental effects on my budget.

My budget, as imaginary as it is, is what I was trained into having since my primary school days. Back then, I was forced to live on 20 cents a day, which basically allows me to live on a piece of fish cake covered in chilli sold by the Malay food stall, or a small packet of cheap potato... snack things.

In secondary school, I lived on about $1.50 a day. By then, I was used to it.

In JC, it was about $3 a day. It was then that my training in being stingy truly began. Instead of eating at lunchtime, I'd sleep at the grandstand. My motivation was derived from my newly found hobby of Magic: The Gathering. If possible, I'd totally skip lunch and buy several booster packs at the end of the week.

Of course, that wasn't easy. Once in a while, I'd go out with my friends to eat at the market near the JC in order to escape from the semi-grotesque... matters they dare to pass off as food in the school canteen.

Now, I'd scrimp on anything but food and comfort. Heck, I'd even scrimp on food if I thought I wasn't going to enjoy the meal anyway. Call me stingy, but sometimes my situation dictates its necessity.

Specialists charge exorbitant prices just speaking to them. Kinda like high-class hookers but without the nudity and the sex. Yes, just letting them look at my surgical wounds and asking me if I was alright cost me a freaking $50.

Like, wtf man?!

Sticking my hand into a machine filled with moving warm sand, plus letting the physiotherapist look at my thumb costs me yet another $50.

Again, wtf man?!

I don't believe I will be going back to see the doc just to close the case. It's going to cost another $50 just to let him tell me it's ok now...






Hall's Dinner and Dance party will be held at the Butter Factory. $14 per person. Sounds great, but I'm not an official resident. And I don't even know anyone from this hall except HX and CM. Crap..




The packet of Belgian chocolate seashells I bought last weekend is not what I want. Too sweet for my taste, just like the Cadbury almond chocolate. Probably made to be some cheap crap to be sold to people who think that chocolate has to be sweet to be good. People unlike me.






Someday when I feel free enough, like maybe the weekend of the midterm break, I may buy a bottle of cheap red just to drink before bed. Maybe.




Is going to Germany for Oktoberfest considered crazy? First of all, it isn't celebrated in Oktober. Second, 8.30 Euros for a litre of beer. Third, it will be filled with drunken men squashing each other into each other. Kinda like a can of cocktail sausages, except with less "tail", more clothing and filled to the brim with german beer.

Good idea or great idea?






It is 4am right now and I'm still alive and conscious. So is this guy living next to me, on my left when I'm in the room facing the door. In fact, I just found out he's the motherfucker who slams his door all the time. Yea, he just slammed the door in my face as I closed mine before going away. Motherfucker needs to die. Someone set him up the bomb.

Seriously man, 4am and he still slams the door? Wtf is he trying to do? HX probably got a shock since he was sleeping and my door was not closed when he did it. Why do people need to be such jerks? Does he come every time he pisses someone off?

Rant 177 / Get Old Or Die Trying!

Notice a sudden reduction of pictures in here? Since I lost my collection of pictures, I can only use those that I have recently found. And now that I'm no longer entering /b/ at all, and not visiting 4chan much in general, I no longer have many new pics to use.



Argh! Why can't more people be as good in English as I am? I'm not saying my proficiency in English is good, but fuck, at least I can say I'm pretty decent in it. Fuck! My Tech Comm group leader shows the group a news article on a "solar plant in Singapore" and the rest of the group, after reading the bloody thing, still thought that we're going to have a solar power plant here!

Fuck!! HILARIOUSLY ANNOYING! Fuck!

Then next time they read an article on a "microchip plant in Singapore" they better think we're suddenly able to produce electricity using microchips... probably by burning them or something.

Fuck!

I wanted to laugh and, at the same time, kill someone when one guy asked," So we're going to use solar power in Singapore?"

Fuck!

The article did mention it was a plant that produced solar panels! I'd understand if they misunderstood after scanning the title, but THEY'RE STILL MISUNDERSTANDING AFTER PRETENDING TO READ THE ARTICLE!

Fuck!

Now I'm fucking editing the whole motherfucking proposal for them. And seriously, what's with their common fetish for word repetitions? Do they get some sort of highs each time they see the words "energy" and "consumption"? For goodness sake, l2thesaurus! (l2 = learn to)

Fuck!

And they dare to imply that MY command of english was inadequate!

Fuck!

"What is 'car exhaust'?"

FUCK!

AND YES, THAT WAS AN EXACT QUOTE!

Fuck!

"'Crude oil is running out.' 'Running out' sounds funny leh."

FUCK!

I hope you can see why I'm cursing so much in this part of the rant.

Fuck!

This is how I release all the curses I hold back in during the course of the day.

I can't fucking believe how fucking amazing some fucking university fucking undergrads can fucking be in their fucking English. Seriously, read some damned books!

Btw, they're LOCALS!



Real life can sometimes be funnier than fiction.



And wow, now this guy, who volunteered to finish the essay for us, threw in a whole load of numbers without giving me a clue on where he got them. For all I know, he could have just pulled them out of his ass! How am I supposed to list the references now??

Pouring oil into fire gives you a bigger flame.

Pouring shit into fire gives you burnt shit.



Why did he type that solar energy is cheap and affordable?!?! OMFG! Where the fucking hell did he get that idea from?!?! If it's so cheap and affordable, won't Sg be the first to spam solar panels everywhere?!?!?

Rant 176 / Live For Tomorrow Like There's No Tomorrow

Spore hasn't even been released in Singapore, yet it has already been uploaded into several torrent sites! Talk about efficiency! And this is one reason why filesharing is so popular. How can we hate those uploaders for causing game companies to make less money?? It's like having a Starbucks next to a neighbourhood coffee shop, and the coffee shop owner hates Starbucks for attracting all their customers away.

They just suck! Adapt, assholes. Start selling your games online and make it easy to buy and download. Since it's usually faster to download from local servers, store owners can get their stores online and sell downloadable games using local servers. In fact, you can always make torrents with private trackers, which come with their own unique passwords for each IP so that other people using the same torrent cannot download the file.

Seriously, wake the fuck up and recognize that downloadable media is the only future in the long term. Everything else is going to become outdated, like vinyl records and cassette tapes.

Plus it's greener.




Spent quite a bit tonight. At least I have this black chocolate. 85% cacao. I don't even dare to hold it for more than 5 seconds because I'm not planning to finish it quickly... by licking it from the paper.

So, from $173.30 on Fri morning, I now have $58.40. Cab fares took about $40. The meal tonight took $20. Where did the $104.90 go?

Spent about $40 on groceries. About $15 on meals on Fri. $12 on a haircut. That's $60.

$40 to go.

$5 on chocolates just now.

Well I can't remember where I spent the rest of the $35 on, but heck, I need less than $30 to survive the week anyway.




Fixed a few holes in the window netting with some paper patches. Tried using tape, but it doesn't stick. Probably due to a lack of surface area on the net. So I used some staples to hook them on the net. The only way to remove them is to push them up gently, so it won't be easily blown away. But persistent insects can probably still push through the gaps. They'll have to be pretty lucky too.

Nifty, huh?






Just realized how horribly expensive the tissue paper sold at Broadway is. For a packet of 8 pieces, it costs us 20 cents. A large bag of 16 packets containing 10 pieces each sold at Shop N Save costs a dollar.

Fukken pwned.

I must acknowledge the fact that I'm very ignorant about the prices of many foods and daily necessities. Heck, I didn't even know that to pay $7 for a 1-litre tub of honey is considered expensive when compared to syrups.

Someday during the holidays I shall make some bisque. Maybe using those frozen prawns with the shells removed. BTW, bisque is pronounced BISK.





After listening to Ed recommending IET, I've decided to find out more about NTU's IET. Checked their website and as I expected, their FOC is over. So I emailed their membership guy about their plans and events for the year and how to join just in case I want to. It's only 10 pounds sterling per annum anyway, way cheaper than TMC, which charges a whopping $50 per semester. Plus I'm not planning to join their committees so I won't attend everything, just those networking sessions.





How can a guy heading for a degree without honours get his GPA up to second upper? With straight A's. According to my calculations, if I score straight A-'s for all my modules this year, I will make it to a lousy 3rd class. Every semester of straight A-'s will pull me up by about 0.6, so the earliest I can get a 4.5 is in year 3, semester 1. So, I shall see if working my ass off without any gaming but DoTA will get me straight A-'s.

Rant 175 / Should Have Posted This A Few Days Ago

10pm and I have to collect my stuff from the laundry room. Long day is long, but the first law of living on your own is to always keep extra clean underwears. Not having clean shirts, pants or shorts is not a serious problem, since all it takes is a bit of deodourant and you can last another day. But there is one thing that deodourants can't solve. Work work...





The guy next door just got screwed. There was a very heavy thunderstorm in the late afternoon. All his laundry, which were still hung out there since last Saturday, got wet again. Thoroughly, I think. Now I see half his laundry out there hung on the railing while the lines are dripping wet.





The Navy career talk was interesing. But it sounded too good, so there are probably a few catches they omitted. 3.3k starting pay for an engineering degree w/o honours? Something is missing from the equation.

Rant 174 / Skip Every Second Line

This is going to be hard, but you're really such a
nice guy no one will even consider describing you as a
motherfucker. In fact, it is a miracle you're still
single. How can this be? You're in an university,
not in prison! You've always one of those people
everyone loves to hang out with, unlike some individuals
who take the word "anti-social" to a whole new level.
Seriously, how can you go on living like this? Gosh!
I hope, someday, you get what you really deserve.

Rant 173 / I Know How To Speak Braille!

The 3-frame comics like those in Rant 161 and the one below are my works. Everything else aren't. I hope that was what HX meant when he asked me if "all the comics" on my blog were made by me.



Okay, I know this isn't exactly my best.




Surprisingly, I haven't touched any games since the last time I played DoTA. I am beginning to lose interest in gaming. What will I do??



Asked my mentor (assigned by School of MAE) about postgrad matters via email. I'd expected him to give reply with simple answers and maybe some links to the relevant webpages, but he told me to see him tomorrow instead. I think he's going to ask me why someone with grades like mine would want to even consider postgrad courses.

Maybe it's because I'm completely ignorant with anything after a Bachelor's Degree. I don't even know what the available courses are!

Whatever. Tomorrow I'll just go and talk to him. Satisfy his curiosity and mine.





For the first time in my uni life, I actually tried to pay attention for a whole lecture! It was obscenely painful, just the way I remember it. Brings back all the bad memories from JC I have tried to bury. Oh the weight of my eyelids!

I have come to the conclusion that I'm not suited for this method of education. I need to have notes and textbooks and questions to apply the theories on. I need examples to tell me how they are useful.

Maybe I should skip most lectures. Already, I'm considering skipping Fluids lectures since all the lecturer does is read out examples word for word and rephrasing certain equations. Seriously, wtf man? We aren't fucking retarded! If we need you to read words out for us, we shouldn't even be in uni in the first place! Fucking skip all that bs and actually explain something!






The fucker next door sharing the laundry lines with me must either be very busy or in dire need of some serious verbal assault. Does he really need to hang his clothes out for 3 straight motherfucking sunny days? Now I have to hang my laundry on my hangers in my closet. It works, but one day I may clean so many items that I don't have enough space for everything. Just like that asshole. He's used up the whole 3 sections, the rim of his laundry basket and part of the railing. And on Saturday when I returned his laundry stank to high heaven because he probably hung them way too long after they were washed.



A tear-jerking picture until you read the song lyrics in the caption field. I chuckled. You would too if you knew the song. The internet is always full of these sick bastards. Another reason why children should be barred from accessing the Net without adult supervision. Filters don't work, not if the kid's smart anyway.