Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Basic science.

I was sitting in the taxicab on my way to work this morning when a thought came to mind. Why does the cloths flutter in the wind? Why does paper flutter when you blow on it?

Why flutter at all when by common sense, it should've been pushed all the way back as the wind pushes. Look at this. And common sense tells us that it will stay that way as long as the wind blows.But it didn't happen this way becouse of a phenomenon called back pressure or rather reverse flow. It is a reality of fluid flow to induce turbulance when it came upon an obstuction. In this case, the backflow creates enough force to push the paper back against the prevailing wind. However the back flow occurs as circular flow as shown below and the strength decreases when the "circle" was blown away, thus the paper are now being pushed again by the prevailing wind. BUT, as the wind picks up, another "circle" forms and the backflow happens again. This happens many times a minute, even seconds and this accounts for the fluttering or vibrations you see when paper or cloths were blown by the wind.

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Bad bad day.....

Today...or rather last night was the worst day of my life> Well, the worst day after my last worst day when I'm down with chicken pox. Anyway, it was the worst day of my life.

First my game character dies. I'm kinda attached to the fella now, and now that it's dead, I sad. Very sad. Sad. Can't eat breakfast. Can't even converse properly. I spent so much time in developing the character only to have it killed. That is way beyond sian.

Anyway, alot of stuffs going on in the paper that I couldn't pick one up and rant about it. So much has happened in the world. It makes me wonder how long the world is going to survive like this. Just today my friends wail aloud how are they going to pay for the gas for their car when the fuel prices hit an all time high...for this decade, and it looks set to rise again. The rise was attributed to Hurricane Katherine hitting the US coastline. My question is, "What does the thing Kat is doing in USA has to do with prices in Singapore?" Maybe Singapore is buying petrol from the refinary that was hit?

On another note, I have got to start to study if I am going to pass my next professional licence paper this week ot early next week. I know I know, I should've started long time ago, but I was lazy, playing games and that all. So, I'll leave it be and play my games now tonight. Se 'ya.

Monday, August 29, 2005

Free stuffs.....

There's something about free stuffs that just screams....well...free stuffs. Right...Singapore got this paper called Today that is distributed free. Not sure about Malaysia, but I suspect got The Edge right? Anyway, about this paper, what is so good about it?

Obviously it's free, and second, it got the world's smallest and "cutie pie" (<--curtesy of Lil) puzzle...the 4x4 crossword puzzle! Honestly, of all the puzzle I've tried to solve, this takes the cake of being the hardest. Lil, fret not, I'll try to put up some puzzles for you to play play your brain...along with Sudoku and other brainy things that you play. :D Really, this stuff is harder than sudoku.

Lav.....only now you noticed my blog? Aiyo...and to think I commented in your blog didn't give you any idea? LOL. Anyway, how are you? Long time no see you update liou or post in forum. Hmmm, maybe the last is 'coz I seldom online. Mwahahahaha!!!

Sunday, August 28, 2005

Shitspit!

Wow....when I saw something like 14 comments. my heart jumped. But then again when I read the comments, my heart jumped even further....all spams. ZZZzzz....nothing better to do ar they all.

Todays too bored to post anything refreshing coz I am too tulan liou. Lil, I don't know the answer coz I ani't got no answers in Saturday's newspaper. I din buy. :(

Saturday, August 27, 2005

Education....

It is important to have good education, becouse with education comes great power. Observe the following clue to a puzzle:

...Islands knitwear style...

Would ou have thought of it in terms of Ireland? Or Scotland? Or something else? Of course. But this little girl, Lil, has soooo much "head damage" (she got a Ph.D.......not yet, but I'm assuming so) she is too good. Good one Lil, you've nailed 3 of the answers. How can anyone stop you?

Solutions:
Across:
1. ARAN
5. E-LA
6. IDA
7. DERV

Down:
2. REDE
3. ALAR
4. NA
6. ID

Well...I'll put the last puzzle I had here now, but I won't have any answer for it. Let's keep it a mystery till our "permenant head damaged" people finds it. :))))
Clues across:
1. Shepherd's pipe (3)
4. Mixed materials for making glass (4)
6. Pastry in thin sheets (4)
7. Straight line between features of landscape (3)


Clues down:
1. Out to sea from (3)
2. Seed appendages (4)
3. Mah-jong piece (4)
5. Dwarf breed (3)

Friday, August 26, 2005

Toothhhhhh.....still there!

Wahhhhh, I should have been a dentist rather than an engineer. They eran sooo much for so little work!

I just had a root canal treatment this evening coz the fucking tooth has been giving me a bad and painfull time for weeks now. The doctor suggested that the treatment be performed. I know it's gonna be expensive, but I have no idea how expensive, so I asked and shock horror!!!!! S$1000++ inclusive! This is the price tag for ONE tooth! What the fuck! Zzzzz, good news is, I didn't feel pain...for now. Let's wait till the anesthetic has worn off. May be then I'll be howling in pain. My poor neighbours.....

Anyway, did you find the solution to the puzzle I put up yesterday?

Thursday, August 25, 2005

Hahahaha, I have no idea how to solve this puzzle. It is soooo simple that it is so hard. Damn it man, all the answers are so short and unexpected. No wonder they say the simplest things are the hardest to obtain.

Try this at your peril:
Clues across:
1. Islands knitwear style (4)
5. Highest pitch of everything (1-2)
6. Cretan Mount (3)
7. Diesel fuel (4)


Clues down:
2. Counsel, advise (4)
3. Chemical spray for apples (4)
4. Symbol for sodium (2)
6. Part of personality, with ego, superego (2)

Off all the clues, I only know Down 4...others...well....try them :)))

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Religion.....again.....

Here, have a look at an article recently posted in my school's alumni page. Keep an open mind and tell me that kid is good.

An atheist professor of philosophy speaks to his class on the problem science has with God, The Almighty.

He asks one of his new students to stand and.....
Prof: So you believe in God?
Student: Absolutely, sir.
Prof: Is God good?
Student: Sure.
Prof: Is God all-powerful?
Student: Yes.
Prof: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal him.
Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But God didn't. How is this God good then? Hmm?
Student: (Student is silent.)
Prof: You can't answer, can you? Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?
Student: Yes.
Prof: Is Satan good?
Student: No.
Prof: Where does Satan come from?
Student: From...God...
Prof: That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?
Student: Yes.
Prof: Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything. Correct?
Student: Yes.
Prof: So who created evil?
Student: (Student does not answer.)
Prof: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don't they?
Student: Yes, sir.
Prof: So, who created them?
Student: (Student has no answer.)
Prof: Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Tell me, son...Have you ever seen God?
Student: No, sir.
Prof: Tell us if you have ever heard your God?
Student: No , sir.
Prof: Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God, smelt your God? Have you ever had any sensory perception of God for that matter?
Student: No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.
Prof: Yet you still believe in Him?
Student: Yes.
Prof: According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your GOD doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?
Student: Nothing. I only have my faith.
Prof: Yes. Faith. And that is the problem science has.
Student: Professor, is there such a thing as heat?
Prof: Yes.
Student: And is there such a thing as cold?
Prof: Yes.
Student: No sir. There isn't. (The lecture theatre becomes very quiet with this turn of events.)
Student: Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don't have anything called cold.
We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that.
There is no such thing as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat.
We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it. (There is pin-drop silence in the lecture theatre.)
Student: What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?
Prof: Yes. What is night if there isn't darkness?
Student: You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something.
You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light....But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it?
In reality, darkness isn't. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?
Prof: So what is the point you are making, young man?
Student: Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.
Prof: Flawed? Can you explain how?
Student: Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good God and a bad God.
You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure.
Sir, science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one.
To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing.
Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it.
Now tell me, Professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?
Prof: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.
Student: Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?
Prof: (The Professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument is going.)
Student: Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavour, are you not teaching your opinion, sir?
Are you not a scientist but a preacher?
Prof: (The class is in uproar.)
Student: Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor's brain?
Prof: (The class breaks out into laughter.)
Student: Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's brain, felt it, touched or smelt it?.....No one appears to have done so.
So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, sir.
With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?
Prof: (The room is silent. The professor stares at the student, his face unfathomable.)
Prof: I guess you'll have to take them on faith, son.
Student: That is it sir.. The link between man & God is FAITH. That is all that keeps things moving & alive.

hahahah, now is that good or what? That kid got balls. Although his logic makes sense, it is the prof's flawed logic that defeats him. He cannot use science to defeat a non-science. Thue to the adage "Fight fire with fire", he should have used a pureply philosophical argument if he wants to win his argument. Therein lies the problem...

Science has always tried to quantify the Universe in order to understand it more. And religious folks uses religion to understand it. Arguably, science produce more immediate results and very concrete and convincing facts about the world around us, while religion tend to harp on the need to accept on faith. In this case, both of them are correct and both of them are wrong. Looking strictly from an onjective point of view, God could not exist, or if to be presented a little more mildly, we (the humans) are not the children of God.

Consider the extend of our Universe. Billions of worlds on billion of galaxies. What make you think that we are the Chosen one? Assume that God did create us...let's take it to the next logical question: Who then created God? If there is an answer, let us hypothetically assume is God's God, then "Who created God's God?" would be the next logical question. This is neverending. If some smark alec answers that "God is just is without other creator beings...", then wouldn't it stand to reason that the Universe (and the humans in it) "...is jut is...without creator beings"? You see where this is leading?

My take of the Question? Well, religion is a tool/product of human imagination designed to calm and bind disparate human ideals into a cohesive force capable of surviving in a hostile world. And the world was hostile back when religion first started...

Monday, August 22, 2005

Religion.....always the taboooooooo................

Okay......what is religion? Is it a set of guidelines that seperated Man (humans) from animals? Is it a rite? A way of life? Philosophy? Thought paradigm? What is it?

What drove men to do what they do by believing something greater than itself? Is it a desire to understand the world better or a mechanism by which men can take control of others? Is it mind control? Is it really voluntary? Is it really good versus evil? Is there hell for non believers? Is there heaven for believers? Why is it taken so much of our energy and resources to espand and expound upon others to have the same belief system with us? Is it even universal (applicable across galaxies and not just on Earth)? Or is it just a figment of human inmagination that belies the fact that humans are such fragile creatues with a tendancy to self destruct?

Frankly, it is a wonder to me that humans has yet to destroy itself what witha ll the wars and calamities that befalled it. Time and again, some mudane reasons are thought out to be a precurser to war, and if you read your hisotry books, almost 60% of wars from the middle ages up to now has been religious in nature. War before that general period in time generally concerns itself with natural resources in a wild wild world. Those were the times of empire-building.

All these change with the advent of monothestic religion. Granted that religion itself is not the cause of war, rather is how the believers choose to interpret the religious text to suit their political ideology. So called crimes againt a religion was used as a shield to attack other religions resulting in fightings between different groups of people; all of whom thought they were fighting for a higher ideal. When in fact, they are destroying themself and others which is expressedly forbidden in any religious texts. It is interesting to note how this tiny wisdom has failed to register in modern day practitioners (abeit the extreme minority) who continue to wage war in the name of their religion to rid the world of the infidels. This produces backlash that is common thoughout history from the time of the Byzantine Empire era to present day world.

Guy A with religios belief A' fights with Guy B with religious belief B'. A thought he is doing religion A' a favour. B tries to defend itself against A. The fighting drags on too long resulting in the growing discent of B against A. B fights back against A believing that is it the adherents of religion B's' duty to rid the world of the A' scourge. A hits back again...and again and again.........until one day, both A and B hurts each other so much and killed many many innocent bystanders that both of them is as good as dead.

Sounds familiar? It should be. It's the general theme running in today's world. In this war...nobody is right and nobody is wrong. It just depends on where you stand. My stand is...

STOP THE FUCKING FIGHTING YOU MOTHERFUCKING MORONS!!!!! LETS OTHERS LIVE IN PEACE!!!!!

Sunday, August 21, 2005

Gaming addict...

Okay people. How many of you here are gamers? I mean really gamers and not just people who appens to play one or two games for a short time type of gamers. the hardcore gamers. Those who are addicted to it like bee to honey. Thos who write nonsense stuffs like this. Tho...OMG!!! I'm writing this stuff!! I'm an addict!!!!! ARGHHHHHHH!!!!!

Seriously though, I find this a fascinating phenomenon. First of all, why would people shun their fellow real life friend (okay, i'm making a generalisation here) to be in-game with thier "imaginary" friend? Is it the ability to be anonymous? To be treated as equal? To help face and come to terms with the world that has gone cold turkey on you? Or just plain anti-social? I don't know. My reason is becouse my real life friends are too busy to hang out with me. What am I to do? I'm too introverted to make new friends (shyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.....) and when I do, people just tend to stay away.....problem with me perhaps? Anyway, some guy in Korea died of exhaustion after playing for 55 hours straight with pee stops in-between. I don't what he used for food, but in the end, he just drop dead. Now that is a hard-core addict. Are you him?

Well others find games fascinating, some find it so that they can interact with normal (as normal as they want it to be) people whom they wouldn't meet otherwise. they type better than they talk and they are more chatty than face to face meetings. Trust me, I've seen this type before. I've met them before.

Is game addiction a problem? I don't think so. Games play games for a reason. They do not conciously become anti-social overnight. Something must drove them there. Cornered as they are, they find release in virtual worlds. A place where, if they play well enough, can earn some respect and self esteem. It is for this very reason that they sometimes buy with real money for game items, blowing thousands in the process. I believe giving them the benifit of a doubt and self esteemed goes a long way to curbing their seemingly anti-social behaviour.

GAME ON people!!!

Saturday, August 20, 2005

Lin Chi Ling

I donno...she is so alluring. So beautiful it is a wonder only now I've heard about her. This Taiwan (Chinese Taipei IF you want me to be politically correct) bombshell makes my heart go Boom BOom BOOm BOOM!!! She is that beautiful...or maybe it's just my adrenaline talking when I she her cover picture for Maxim. Yessss.....I occasionally glance at it.


Anyway, i can't post her picture here to make you guys (and girls) drool with lust or envy, but I tell you this, I'll gladly give money away just to spend some..."quality" time with her. He he he heh he...

Thursday, August 18, 2005

China and Japan. Who is right?

Right...lets get down to business. In recent weeks as can be seen from the regional papers and several international ones, China has been feeling mighty agitated by the behaviour of the Japanese establishment. What Japan considers to be well within ther rights is viewed as being a trangression of Japan's own pacifist Constitution by China. China is arguably Japan's biggest rivals in terms not only of political clout in the East Asian region, but also of economic expansion, resources and military dominance.

Their history together both goes a long way back, and although I myself is a self-confessed scholar on Chinese history (I study myself), I do not claim to know all there is to know about how and why their relationship sour to this state. However, judging unbiasedly from the published public documents and my own knowledge of the historical interplay between thos two giants, one can surmise that China is akin to Europe (minus Russia) and Japan akin to Russia (European Russia). Why do I make such an assertion?

Look at how China developed from its thousands years old of history. If not for some fortunate fate and circumstances, China would be divided like Europe does; sharing the same basic culture but divided along political ideological lines. Russia has always played a significant role in Europe although its influence only reaches such magnituded in the last hundred of years. As is Japan to China. It stays in the mind of the Chinese thousands of years ago and only in the last hundred of years did Japan began to excert such prominant influence on China.

Early in the last century, Japan started the First Sino-Japanese war. Then before the advent of WWII, Japan launched its second war on China; the war that is known as the Second Sino-Japanese War which started in 1937 when Japan invaded Manchuria and only ended with the surender of Japan in 1945. The period between these years are tough to say the least on the Chinese as they are tortured more often than thay are regarded as true adversary. And one such incidence, the Massacre of Nanking (then the capitol of China) by Japanese troops pillaging and raping and wantonly killoing hundreds of thousands of civilians left a deep scar among the surviving Chinese peasants and political memory. And to have somebody denoucing that this Incident did not happen is an insult of the highest order to the Chinese people, and when these denoucements are made by the Japanese; the perpetrators; it is insult in the surpreme sense of the world. And hence the trouble starts here...

Facts:

  1. Japan refuses to acknowledge of its violent wave of invasion in China and SE Asia.
  2. Japan denounces the Nanking Massacre ever happens.
  3. Japan wrote history books by saying Japan is the victim instead of the aggresor, thereby whitewashing its hands in current world affairs.
  4. Japan contines to aggravate China by insisting that Japans was right to do what it did and to continue building up military capable of opposing China.
  5. Japan forces thousands of women to be sex slaves to the Japanese troops.
  6. Americans nuke Hiroshima and Nagasaki to bring an end to WWII.
  7. China deserved a sincere apologies and acknowledgement of Japan's wrong-doings towards China in the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Look at it. Better yet, find out the facts for yourself and make your own conclusions. But remember this...if Japan says that the Nanking Masascre did not take place, how would the Chinese feel? Consider now how would the Japanese would feel if the Americans says Hiroshima and Nagasaki was never nuked in the first place? Would their feelings be the same?

We are afterall... only humans.

Blog transfer...

Hiya people. I have no idea why I even started posting here. Hmmm, mayb coz there are alot more people here so...

Anyway, this is (or was) depending on how you look at it my previous blog. Noting fancy there, but it gets a tad hard to read with the smallish text. http://www.angelfire.com/linux/couldron/theproffessorsays/index.blog