Day after the first day of Physics Camp

In the morning, I went to meet joelle at the usual bus stop.

Then we chatted on the bus.

Then I brought her to LT 27 at NUS, where she became me for the Physics Camp.

Then I started walking to DSO, considering that time was on my side, and a little exercise was good for me.

And after walking 100 metres, I started feeling a little guilty for signing up for this thing, and then not have the perseverence to complete it. However, I thought about it and realised that I almost always felt guilty directly after making a decision, and then a counter-decision. However, this guilt is rather unjustifiable, and if I went on being held back by unjustifiable guilt, I will never go on. So I have to think through my decision clearly before hand, and once I made it, I have to trust myself that it is a good one, and stop procrastinating.

I occasionally have a tendency to make counter-decisions, followed anti-counter-decisionx, then...

And this would have to stop.

Spent the entire morning at DSO downloading and installing lejos, java development kit and netbeans, and attempting to understand several java tutorials. Ultimately, netbeans on my computer could not retrieve certain files even after altering settings and configurations.

So in the end jk and I did a little programming on his com and as he typed I learnt a little bit of java along the way.

We created this button spamming game without the use of multi-threading as we did not know how to do it, which took quite a bit of thinking and time. Following that, we decided to do make another game in which you pressed buttons to make combos to make the robot do certain things.

Artificial Intelligence Module is starting next week. Looking forward and wondering what we will learn there.

Physics Camp Day 1 (And no there won't be a Day 2 to this)

Dear Replacement

As you can see from the title, this is a piece of electronic mail, or email for short.

From the way you said that you weren't really interested as we discussed before the holidays started, I was rather surprised that you took interest when I sent you that message.

I have absolutely no idea, that this phyz camp was going to be this similar to last year. What they had in common were the interactive sessions and lessons and one lecture was a repeated lecture, with repeated jokes, so I knew beforehand what the answer to his jokes were going to be, and when he was about to tell a joke. Nevertheless, I love that lecture. It was a good one.

Tomorrow is going to be- DIY project competition, lunch, then quiz then bye bye. The DIY project competition, as I briefly heard, is something to do with a boat competition. Well, last year it was one of thsoe put a diver in a bottle and squeeze it and let it sink competition, so I suppose the boat competition is going to be something along that standard.

As you heard from me, it has been a rather boring day for me (It got a little better when I started talking to the other NUSHS students), and I don't think that it would be anymore fun the next day. The lecture theatre was extremely cold, and I thought I was going to get hypothermia. The way i stayed alive was by putting my hands in my bag.

I have no guarantee that it would not be a waste of time for you, afterall, who am I to judge, since I have already been through this last year, boredom might be the underlying reason. So, I decided to spend my time doing something more useful like going to DSO to work on IRP. However, considering that you know some of the people there, I don't think it will be that bad for you. :)

Another thing to note. this is how I interprete what I found from the NUS net.

Frequently asked questions

12) What happen if some registered students is unable to attend the session last minute?
Please find replacements for students who are unable to attend as the fees are not refundable.

Firstly, it says last minute. Secondly, Dayna just told me that her sister replaced her without much beforehand notice. I remember quite clearly too that this was how it worked last year. Again, I am not sure about replacements on the SECOND day, because registration is on the first day. However, I dont' see much of a problem with replacement on the second day, so I strongly reckon that it should be okay.

Regarding whose name would be printed on the certificate (well, if you really care about that, which I don't think you are those sort of person who will), and other administrative issues, I am not so sure. But there are not grades or anything, or major implication on any testimonials, I don't think the name on the participant's list really matters.

Of course, if no one replaces me, no harm will be done in any sort of way, so please don't feel like you are doing me a favour. ( I think my tone in this sentence sounds weird, so disclaimer to you: I am saying this in a very friendly tone). So go ahead, replace me, if you believe that it is going to be worth your time. :):):):):):):) (This paragraph really sounds offensive, but since I do not know how else to phrase it, let me just make things easier for myself by telling you that this is said in a happy tone of voice) :)

Information given below.

Venue: 8 30 - 9 00 : Breakfast (so be here at that time)

LT 27 (Lim Seng Tjoe lecture theatre)

how to get there: take 198, stop one stop before school and walk across that gigantic sports field.
Or take 95 and alight at the second bus stop from kent ridge road.

More info here : http://www.physics.nus.edu.sg/~physoc/enrichment/faq.html

If I don't go, I will be going to DSO, which is really near there, so I could pass you the file and stuff for the phyz thing in the morning, and maybe take u there if needed. DSO working hours are really free, and I am not meeting jk until late morning.

There.

Enjoy your holidays

:)

Regards,

Zf

A pretty bad start to vacation

I had plans to work out and improve my fitness level over the holidays, by jogging, at least, on a daily basis, but things aren't going much the way I wanted to.

For an unknown reason, my heart/chest, started hurting on Tuesday. It happens when I start walking at a moderate pace for as short as 30 seconds, and will only subside when I start slowing down and begin abdominal breathing. Then I tried going for a run, and barely lasted beyond 400 metres(Without timing, even without timing, I could not even continue running). It seems that the slightest aerobic activity causes this, yet I experience no fatigue, shortness of breath or pespiration.

It feels as if it beats rapidly and more violently when this happens, such that its pumping is rather observable visually, which is not typical of me, considering that I did my NAPFA test and got a Gold with pretty much ease. It does not hurt so much at the heart itself, but rather more at the sternum, where you should feel a depression between the two ribcages.

I have no idea what is going on, but I am just going to brainstorm a little:

1) I got a pretty big scare the day before when someone suddenly shouted
2) Jumped too much during badminton. i.e vertical acceleration
3) Drank isotonic drinks/ carbonated drinks
4) As my friend told me, running long distance and then stopping abuptly without cooling down properly on a regularly basis

Scarier Ideas:

1) Illness
2) Blood clot
3) ...

Shall not discuss too much. Anyway, I am going to see a doctor soon, but would really like to know others' opinions on possible reasons for this happening.

I played badminton with cheryl lit, jun kiat on monday and tuesday. My badminton racket grip is wearing off rapidly, exposing the wooden handle, causing lots of pain and abrasion on my fingers. I had better get a new grip.

I hope to make use of this month to brushen up my badminton skills.

Today, after the open round of Math Olympiad, of which I only answered 4/25 questions, went to buona vista to meet Jk for lunch. It ended up that I reached one hour before he did, and so even as I asked Joelle about Ghim Moh food center the previous night, I went exploring at Holland village, because the Bus Terminal was at the Holland Village side, and Jk was going to arrive at the Bus Terminal, and then I would be too lazy to cross the road.

I found four coffee shops, and pretty much made a mental map of how the roads in Holland Village connect, after the first, confusing attempt, because the roads were windy and curvy and I did not have a compass, but after the second scout I patched up some loopholes in my map. In the end, it turned out quite accurate.

Then even after we finished lunch, we still had a long time before our meeting time at DSO for internship, so we decided to buy a Slurpee and walk 3km to DSO fromo Holland village, which is at Science Park 1.

DSO was quite stressful, as there were form after forms to fill up regarding security. At the same time, no recording devices or information storage device were allowed, so you get scares if you touch your pocket and thought it was your handphone and then be relieved when you find that it isn't...

Over and over again.

And the project we are dealing with...I am not supposed to discuss it because its DSO we are talking about here, but I have to say that it is not any normal project we do in school and I have a feeling it is going to be fun.

An Interview

Remembering how I mentioned that I was wondering how a 4 by 4 by 4 rubik's cube mechanism works, the next day my dad bought this 'DIY Rubik's revenge" with assembly instructions. Unfortunately, the screw was screwed on too tight for disassembly. Days later, my brother somehow managed to twist the thing apart without unscrewing it, and I took 2 hours to put it back.

Firstly, the pieces will not stay in place because the interlocking reinforcements have yet to be added, which means that a construction platform is needed for temporary support.

Secondly, I could not follow the instructions, and had to tackle this with my own approach, as the instructions did not have a section on "How to assemble the cube if you managed to disassemble it without unscrewing it"

In the end I fixed it, only to find that it couldn't be rotated about one axis because an interior component was loose and dropped out, so I had to crash the entire thing and build it all over again.

I would compare it with Lego Technic (C), only much more boring.

***

I saw this.

Had some bullshit mercy relief talk in the morning, seriously, i wanted to ask that person this question:” Why do these people, who’s life worth so little such that it is counted in numbers, deserve our help, when we who are living in a higher society, can’t even help ourselves to the fullest?” Many would agree with js, and say that i 没良心, however, if you look at all those great people, each and everyone of them, do not depend on emotions. To do great, one must most importantly, do what benefits everyone, or at least, the main portion of people the best, instead of wasting time and resources feeding these pathetic beings, who i don’t think they even deserve to be titled human anymore. Fine, some people finds this offending, so i’m cancelling it off. Not that it matters anyway :P

And I decided to 'interview' this person, before expressing my opinions.

I say:
why do u say that Why do these people, who’s life worth so little such that it is counted in numbers, deserve our help, when we who are living in a higher society, can’t even help ourselves to the fullest?
and To do great, one must most importantly, do what benefits everyone, or at least, the main portion of people the best, instead of wasting time and resources feeding these pathetic beings, who i don’t think they even deserve to be titled human anymore. Fine, some people finds this offending, so i’m cancelling it off. Not that it matters anyway :P
He says:
ok

I say:
ignore the sticky tongue at the end
He says:

those ppl that mercy relieve r helping
they dont deserve our help cause
their life are already so worth less
that its nth more than just numbers on paper
so mercy relieve shoiuld use their resources to do btr stuff
than helping worth less ppl

I say:
y r their lives worthless?

He says:
their lives are screwed alr
y bother helping
keep only the btr once on earth
wipe out the rest

I say:
ok...
He says:
thats the main logic behind it :)

I say:
ok
can u de
can u define 'better ones"?

He says:
ppl in cities

I say:
so do u think mercy relief should help people whose city get struck by earthquake?

He says:
nope
once they quake is too bad

I say:
but like you said they are in cities

He says:
beyond speedy reapir
leave them to die
once the citiy crumbles
its not a city anymore
its just a scrapyard

I say:
your point is, don't bother helping people which are beyond hope?

He says:
yup

I say:
then what do you suggest that we transfer this 'help' to?

He says:
ppl in proper cities
which need help

I say:
like wat?
wat help?

He says:
financial
housing?

I say:
social needs you mean?
He says:
yup

I say:
would you count helping orphans constructing houses and shelters, in the city
a social need
or one of those 'not worth helping'

He says:
errm
if they are in cities
yes
if they are in rural areas
no

I say:
what is the difference of a city and rural?
that causes that line to be drawn?

Then it stopped, because he was too lazy to answer, or it was just a case of Reductio ad Absurdum

First of all, something non-controversial, the statement that Great people are all independent of their emotions, which I presume means that they are strong, is ridiculous. There is a fine line between being proactive and being nonchalent. Great people are more of the former. They take charge of their emotions, and not let them get the better of them, but that does not mean that they do not exhibit compassion. Exhibiting compassion and extending help is not a result of emotional crumble, but rather a result of going for what you believe your conscience tells you.

Labelling names is a trivial matter, so I will not go after it.

Secondly, life is equal, and there is no such thing as one life being less worth than another of its kind. We can possibly say that the worth of their contributions vary from soul to soul, but life itself, is equal.

Lastly, he clarifies that resources should not be spent on what is beyond hope. He thinks that help should be given to 'life in the city'. This point, I think is someone practical and reasonable, that we should spent more time on what we can save, rather than salvage something that is beyond hope. Therefore, I would not distinctly classify this as 'selfish' like some people would.

However, argument towards the end started becoming ridiculous, as 'better people' referred to people in the city. Then I gave a case where there are urban and rural orphans, which should get shelter first. And he replied urban, simply because, they are 'better'.

In this specific case, I believe that both should be placed on equal importance, because here, neither is 'beyond hope'. There is discrimination against geography and social class. On the other hand, some also believe in the notion of karma (Or reaping what you sow/cause-and-effect), and placing the case of natural disasters and social plight as a variation of Noah's Ark. If this is the case, then neither urban nor rural should be given any help.

It voices down to "Help should either be distributed equally, or to none at all."

Then again, the name 'mercy relief' does suggest something about its purpose.

The first time I took notice of that Shop

Yesterday afternoon there I was waiting for the short hand to sit in between three and four for German lesson, in Junction 8. As I strolled out of Popular Bookstore, an exhibit caught in the next unit caught my eye.

I used to love Popular Bookstore as a kid. Back then, I would run into the shop, check out the awesome shelves of CDs which lined my path, go grab a read of a few picture books or read horrible science(I used to think it was hilarious then), and feed my heart with satisfaction by staring, touching and holding those toys in my hand.

But as I grew up, I started losing interest in such things. For one, I have progressed (well if you consider it progress...) from computer games to the internet, I got sick of reading the same "Did you knows" and "101 Amazing __fill_in_the_Blank_here". Horrible science transformed into science for the ignorant and Murderous math had underwent a personality change into Boring and tedious Math. And those toys...

Actually I still had quite some fun when Braintwist was on the shelves, especially when one irresponsible customer have opened it already and left it lying there, which thuswas technically not my fault that the packaging was ripped apart.

A glimpse of hope shone down when I started getting interested in Archie Comics, and thus I would go in and read the unwrapped issues, but that newfound hobby cost too much, because I would buy them every month. So not anymore. (Maybe I can sell them in future, what d'you think?)

Now, I usually only go to Popular Bookstore for three reasons.

1) Following my family - usually to spend the member's 20% off voucher
2) To get stationary, materials and equipment
3) To pass the time, when no other interesting things were in sight

Like this

Perhaps the only typical thing I found interesting there was the Guiness Book of Records. (Yea, I used the word typical, because every now and then someone will publish something great, and it would sell fast, so that wasn't really considered a 'typical thing'.)

Popular bookstore sells a variety of things, but if you are looking for specific categories of items, or looking for entertainment and interest, you would be better off hunting them in a more specialized store.

And there it was! An exhibit, from err...a leisure shop, I think, of stuffed rubber bread and fake swiss rolls. It belonged to Action City, not sure if many people have heard of it, but at least I walked past it several times, but never walk slowly enough to take real notice of it. On second thoughts, the name sounds so familiar, so it is probably quite well known. Once again, I have no idea.

It was a small shop. A small shop with the atmosphere of gifts and baby clothing. At one corner of the shop, it was all soft toys, soft toy key chains, and everything soft and plushie. As the shelves progressed to the cashier, things began to look more interesting. Bread seemed to be a popular theme there. Mainly Japanese products, there were bread with eyes tiny tissue box, Cup noodles wallet(I have to say that this is a real rip off; the interior felt like cardboard, only wrapped around with rubbery covering of instant noodles, selling for over 5 dollars, if I recall correctly).

This would be a good time to start posting photos, but I lost my phone with camera with uploading feature.

Then there were just fake pastries filling up one whole shelf. Bagels, wholemeal, long breads(I'm sure there's a name for that!) All kinds of inedible, expensive rubber pastries that cost 5 dollars per piece! I have to admit though that the models were kinda sleek and I was rather attracted to buy them at first. Maybe some other time, when I am unimaginably rich or something.

In the center there were exhibits, tables displaying electronic and mechanical stuff. The first thing I saw when I turned around was rubik's cube, 6 sided and 7 sided. I felt like I was watching a commercial. Hadn't I read somewhere that these were only available in Singapore via orders?

I considered two explanations. 1) My brain mixed up April first with May fourteenth. 2) The internet talks crap.

Anyway, I believed it was pretty expensive ($60), so I did not dare observe it for long, lest my clumsy hands decided that it was going to drop it, or the store owner starts getting suspicious, I doubt the latter would happen, but I like to leave a good impression on others (which unfortunately I usually don't)

There were several other toys, like a ball filled with pyramidal dice, which was supposed to be a rather uninteresting puzzle, but still, what amazed me the most was the rubik's cubes. I have taken apart a 3 by 3 by 3 cube countless times, and resorted to the truth that the mechanism was complex, yet elegant, and hand crafting the mechanism would take a lot of effort. I tried imagaining how even a 4 by 4 by 4 cube would work, being able to be rotated in 3 axes, but that cube of mine refused to come apart without getting broken. So I did not force it. A 7 by 7 by 7 would be lovely to hold though, it just feels good, even if I never figured out how to solve it.

On the next spot alarm clocks were on exhibit. A time bomb alarm clock, a rubik's cube alarm clock which I have only seen on the internet, a speedometer alarm clock, and a lot more varieties.

This post would be a lot more exciting if I had pictures...

It was a good shop, but you know what would be even more appealing to me?

A puzzle shop. Not jigsaws and all those picture matching stuff, I mean real puzzle toys. I remember visiting one at Simei MRT station a long time ago, but it had moved. Also, I would be glad if they had spacial puzzles for customers to try out, like the spherical version of the rubik's cube, megaminx, and of course, the 7 sided rubik's. 2D puzzles would be okay too, though not as interesting, like traffic jam, IQ concept (Hey but I have played with those before already!)

I once had a dream that I visited such a shop, and I was having so much fun just by looking at the products...If I am not wrong, however, that dream ended up rather badly when I burned 60 dollars on something...

Soapy issues

Bathroom light's been fixed.

Before that, it was a game of chance. Anyone who tried turning the light on, would either have turned on the lights successfully, or to trip the apartment's electricity flow. But now, no more such problems!

I walked into the bathroom for a bath this morning, turned on ths shower and reached for the liquid soap. The periodic problem of such liquid soaps was that it nearly always tended to be diluted. So when I reached my cupped palm for the nozzle, and pressed down on it, all that came out would be a puddle of bubbly water.

To aggravate this problem, I get lazy even at the slightest actions that would make my life a way ton easier. I held my shower head in one hand, and filled my other hand with soap. Now if I had soap which is of normal viscousity, I could reach my palm for the nozzle, curl my fingers under it, and press it, so that the soap fills up my fingers. However, considering that that was all liquidy and flowy, it just flowed through my fingers.

A different approach to applying soap is needed.

I pointed the nozzle towards my body, and hammered down it. Liquid shot out from the hole and struck my body effectively in a splash. Attacking from several angles, my body was finally adequetely covered in soap(well even if it wasn't I couldn't tell just by looking) This reminded me of those tower shooting video games where you had to shoot monsters from a tower. (Monster: Me, Tower: Soap bottle)

After all, the soap was so diluted that adding more water to it wouldn't make much off a difference to its concentration. Occasionally, my firing would not be so accurate and the laser beam of soapy water would miss my torso and strike the clothes basket, or anywhere else unintended.

With watery soap, it also tended to flow off my body fast, thus covering the shower flow in a blanket of slippery danger.

The faster this diluted soap is used up, the better.

Diversity of life (Very technical)

Amazing how great the capacity of our memories are, the main limitation lies with transfer speed.

-Commencing memory dump-

Kingdom Plantae: Bryophytes, Tracheophytes, Gymnosperms, Angiosperms..

Under Bryophytes, Bryophyta, Hepatophyta, Anthercerophyta

Under Tracheophytes, Pteridophyta and Lycophyta
Under Lycophyta, Lycopodium and Selaginella

Under Gymnospermae, Pinophyta, Cycadophyta, Ginkgophyta, Gnetophyta

Kingdom Animalia: Porifera, Cnidaria, Platyhelminthes, Nematoda, Mollusca, Annelida, Athropoda, Echinodermata, Chordata

Phylum Porifera: Class Calcarea, Demospongiae and Hexactinellida

Phylum Cnidaria: Class Hydrozoa, Scyphozoa, Anthozoa

Phylum Platyhelminthes: Turbulleria, Trematoda, Cestoda

Cestoda: Beef Tapeworm: Taenia Saginata, Pork Tapeworm: Taenia Solium

Phylum Nematoda: Necator Americanus (Guinea worm)

Phylum Mollusca: Monoplacophora, Polyplacophora, Bivalvia, Cephalopoda, Gastropoda

Phylum Annelida: Polychaeta, Oligochaeta, Hirudinea

Phylum Arthropoda: Subphylum Chelicerata, Myriapoda, Hexapoda, Crustacea

Chelicerata: Class Horsehoe crab: Meristomata, Class Arachnida

Myriapoda: Class Chilopoda and Class Diplopoda

Hexapoda: Class Insecta

Subclass Apterygota (wingless insects) and Subclass pterygota(winged insects)

Apterygota: Thysanura (Bristle tails and silverfish) and Collembola (springtails)

Pterygota: Coeloptera (beetles), Hemiptera (Bugs), Hymenaptera (Ants, bees, wasps), Isoptera (termites), Diptera (flies)

Phylum Echinodermata: Asteroidia, Ophiuroidea, Crinoidea, Echinoidea, Concetricycloidea, Holothuroidea

Phylum Chordata: Urochordata, cephalachordata

Superclass Agnatha: Myxini (hagfish) and Petromyzontida (Lampreys)

Superclass Gnathostomata: Class Chondrichytes(cartilaginous fish): subclass Elasmobrachii (sharks and rays), subclass Holocephali(Chimeras)

Osteichytes: Actinopterygii (Ray finned fishes) and Sarcopterygii (lobed finned fishes)

Class Amphibia: Anuran(frogs), Apoda (Caecilians), Caudata (Salamanders)

Class Reptilia: Subclass Anapsida: Testudines. Subclass Diapsida: Order Squamata: suborder Serpentes and suborder Lacertilia (lizards), order sphendonta(tuatara), order crocodilia

Class Aves: Superorder Paleognathae(flightless birds), Neognathae (other birds)

Class Mammalia: Subclass Prototheria (egg-layers), subclass theria: Infraclass Metatheria (Marsupials), Infraclass Eutheria (Placentals)

Eutheria: Order Probocis, Cestacae, Chiroptera, Primates, Rodentia, Largomorpha, Insectivora, Perrisodactyla, Artiodactyla

Of all these, the exam paper only required us to memorize 'Metatheria'. I could get all the names alright, but as for morphology, functions, applications...etc...

I'll pass.