I'm going in there with zero spare batteries or charger so I hope my handphone can miraculously survive 2+ weeks =P
Going to finish packing my bag and it'll be some rest before I travel to the other side of the island, off the island, and enlist on Tekong. Woo!
Ngeh. Peek-a-boo!
Comment to be friended!
Yesterday's turnout for See2 was fantastic, with more than 100% attendance (one random guy just popped up). Mass games were a bit choppy as we had some problems with the balloons, but it was okay so far.
Today the groups went on discussing and discussing but some were already quite finished and high so they started doing random stuff on their own. Random discussions on the online forum were mad too! Just that I realise only 4 people were spamming posts in Group 2 =P
Apparently Lisheng went to order a beeg cake from some shop yesterday, and wanted it delivered today. But the shopkeeper screwed up. I was walking to the toilet today when I overheard him saying something like "But I've already paid by NETS!!!" into his handphone. I thought he was talking to a business client but actually he was talking about the cake for the birthday celebration tonightz lol.
Then at about 7pm, when the facilitators left, Lisheng psychoed me to go check the block C classrooms to see whether they were properly locked. I didn't suspect anything at first, but when I called back to Wenshi who was at the command room, and she didn't pick up, I started thinking someeeeteeeing is wrong. Kevin didn't pick up either, and Daniel picked up for a moment before hanging upz. (The spotcheck wasn't totally a distraction though: we found 3 classrooms carelessly unlocked! Zomg.)
Then on the way back, I stared into the command room and saw a bunch of people gathered around a bunch of candles. That's when I started going OH SHIT OH SHIT but by that time Yingjie's already dragged me into the crowd.
And there wasss: Lisheng&Shiqi who bought the cake and planned the celebrations, Benjamin&Jiefu&Shuyuan&Yingjie for suddenly appearing at See2 and planning/actually bringing me out for a imba dinner at J8 Cafe Cartel (WHOAAA JUMBO COMBO PLATTER), the Sec1s + Luyang who went all the way to Serene Center (I think) to get the cake (and you will be BAKED) to See2, and Kevin&Chinying&Houyin who wrote into this nice little book with RANDOM colours and stuff. And everyone in See2 OT who was there and wished me happy birthday! Thanks EVERYONE! (:
After a moderately long dinner with Bench/Shuyuan/Jiefu/Yingjie at J8 after See2 debriefings/cake, I went home and received even more messagez: (In order of time received) Alicia CHEW, Peixuan, Zhuomin, Kianyang, Lionel, Alicia LIM, Anastasia, Anna, Johnathan, Jiang Hao, Yiren, Keat Ying, Weijie and Bo Rui. Thanks everyone! Haha. Wombat says WARK.
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Really happy since this is the first time something's so big's happened on my birthday haha. Okay now I can get drunk tomorrow after See2. But then again 90% of the batch could already do so before me --".
Well time to sleep early for a grand finale tomorrow: Waterbombs! Will edit this tomorrow to ... add in more details. (:
Holy shit.
Hope Chem wouldn't be too hard. GP was just FUBAR.
The Russian prime minister has released a martial arts DVD called Let's Learn Judo with Vladimir Putin.
Critics have said it is is part of a campaign to create a personality cult around Mr Putin.
The judo black belt demonstrates a selection of moves, as well as discussing the history and philosophy of the sport.
The DVD release was timed to coincide with the prime minister's 56th birthday.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americ
"I looked into his eyes and saw three letters: a K, a G and a B." -Senator John McCain.
Been watching the Presidential and Vice-Presidential debates on Youtube. Very interesting actually, and a good summary of what's happening in the US.
Mugging random topics everyday till the night in the school. It's great to just sit down in an empty classroom and burning through practices, and help is always nearby. However I think practices aren't enough. Dunno whether there's enough time to make notes for every subject. Blah.
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Fill up Whoopee-meter for Cone Race!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-o1nVjK
Don't ask why, ask WHY NOT!
The main character, Kerry Max Cook, describes his journey of freeing himself after two decades on the death row for a crime he didn't commit. The story wasn't especially emotive; it was occasionally punctuated with emotional moments. The amazing part of the story is how the writer could express all the raw emotions in the midst of technical language of the law, using layman language.
The story made me want to flip to the end of the book, not because I was tired of it, but because I tired of seeing how the judges and prosecutors have, again and again, blatantly lied and mishandled the case, "railroading" Cook to the death penalty.
One of the most touching moments came when Cook's dad contracted lung cancer and was about to die. Cook was still on the death row, begging the guards to let him call his dad one last time. Even with approval from the jail warden, Cook's requests went unnoticed. His dad died the next day. "It haunted me to know what his last words would have been to me. But for just an ounce of compassion, I could have known."
The most amazing part of it all, is that it was true.
The death penalty will never be the same to me again.
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Burning through one more practice paper for SAT before school starts. Tomorrow's going to be a long day. Especially for H3 Pharm Chem guys and girls.
1. Atomic Structure
2. Chemical Bonding
3. The Gaseous State
4. Solubility Equilibria
5. Chemical Energetics
6. Periodicity
7. Group 2
8. Alkanes/Arenes/Hydroxy/Carbonyl/Proteins.
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I was totally surprised today to find out that Spore has finally been released, like 3 days ago. It was touted as an innovative, imaginative and casual game overall. I think I'll get it like, sooner or later to test it out. Hopefully it wouldn't kill my A levels. Lol.
Another thing: A highly anticipated MMORPG is coming soon, Warhammer Online, on the 18th of September. I'm not so interested in it after looking at the graphics and UI that looks like a ripoff of WoW. Reviews online have said that it will be the biggest competitor to WoW due to its fresh class system and PvP orientation. Let's just wait and see. I still <3 WoW. =X
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Edit: SMB just notified us about LHC's first beam insertion today. Coolz. Collision only about a month later though. Bleh. No black holes or God Particle yet.
"The Japanese haiku poet Basho once wrote, "Old pond / a frog jumps / the sound of water." Try writing some of your own haikus about the little things in your life. A haiku generally consists of a five syllable line, a seven syllable line and a second five syllable line, or you can use any ten to fourteen syllables."
This came about in the Writer's Block in LJ today. Seems more like a permanent diet for Shuyuan. Haha.
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
htenywg as I was looking through my friends-list. The post linked on to other articles such as a particular VJC incident and I wiki-ed several stuff. Reminds me of the time Tianyu told me about Pascal's Wager, which is quite an interesting proposition.I remember raising this during GP when we were discussing about luck, causality and fatalism. But as usual with my GP teacher, she put me down before I could go on with any further substantiation of my argument. Although I guess the alternative purpose of avoiding a random class discussion about religion was good, but I doubt that was her purpose, and not in such a way. =X
Going further back in time, I remember the times I used to discuss about Christianity with Wei Quan, a Christian himself. It was quite interesting as I learned more about the religion itself, rather than going in looking to change his faith or something. Haha.
I'm not going into any further religious debate, cause there's no point unless it's something new. And I'm not so mature nor widely-read to come up with some ostensibly-new point that isn't meant to attract attention in the first place.
Okay thats about two hours and fifteen minutes by the end of this post. Hmph. Chemistry beckons with its noodley, covalent appendages.
Now I'm kinda stuck with juggling: reading online comics, watching Starcraft replays, and mugging maths. Hai.
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I think my biological clock is screwed. Feeling awake at 1AM, sleeping at 4AM, and waking up at 1PM is not a good plan. Maybe I should go do some sports or something to get my blood running, and try to sleep earlier, too.
Anyone know of any mistakes in printing for the maths green booklet? Cause I can't seem to get some answers.
Morning was quite normal. Teachers' Day as usual, except that I went to watch the last part of the JC celebrations this year. There was a cough-hot-cough teacher that did some-cough-thing on stage, which should appear on Youtube pretty soon. Not good to describe it eh.
After that, we went back to high school section to disturb the poor Mr Lee. About 9 4N guys escorted him to a lunch date at Sushi Tei in Raffles City. I ate a few new kinds of sashimi there, shared with Xingkai and Lerong. Rushed off after lunch to go to Cathay and watched Wall E with Shuyuan, Ben, Jiefu, Zhenhang and Yingjie. It's quite cute though, and the graphics are nothing less than stellar. Sadly it's quite short. There's actually a philosophical question that the movie posts, but its quite obscure.
( Not really a spoiler but I )
That's where the bunch of coincidences started happening. First, I met Lisheng and Shiqi at Cathay. They were going to watch the Clone Wars movie like 5 mins before the Wall E one that we were watching. After the movie, Zhenhang and I were taking the same train route home. On transit in Raffles City, we met Mr Lee (again!). He was going home after gym training. That's pretty fast, rushing home after lunch and going out for gym and going back home again. Haha. Halfway through the EW-ride to Clementi, Wenqing hopped onto the train. That's 3 in a row! Haha.
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I've just found something really bad that my senior said, and ironically I thought he was being very friendly to me today. Although it's probably doubly bad that I know it. Some people say ignorance is bliss, but I'm not here for a joyride, am I? :D
UPDATE: Wowowow Spain puts in amazing plays of their own and its 89 to 91 to the US now. Woo.
Blah it should be over now. US leads by 11 points with 3.8 secodns left. GG.
Actually I wanted to discuss a fundamental problem with all MMORPGs at the start of this post, but it degenerated into a rant about Cabal Online. So, back to the topic.
On the other hand you have stuff like WoW, which is a great game with intense player interaction and unparalleled support from the staff. I played it from the end of Sec 3 to the end of Sec 4, joining a fantastic guild halfway through. The experience was exhilarating but tiring. We raided (which means attempting a dungeon together as 40 players) from 4 to 12 everyday.
( Reminiscing WoW )
Okay I got distracted by recounting my WoW memories. Now really onto the point.
Wow's definitely fantastic, if you've ever played it before and experience either 1. the PvP at high level 2. the dungeons (especially raids) you'll surely love it as well. It feels really heroic to be able to engage in epic 40-man battles with dragons and demons. The PvP is dynamic; legendary warriors were famed for their immense skill for being able to survive and win despite being outnumbered. The Battlegrounds system allowed for faction wars of immense proportions. Even programmers are honoured through the dynamic HUD system; players can modify their in-game screen to a ridiculous extent (such as playing poker through the game, or drawing pictures to depict boss tactics for raids).
But there comes a limit to how much WoW can grow. It is on target to release its second major expansion: The Wrath of the Lich King, which comes after the Burning Crusade and many other small additions. The level cap is going from 70 to 80, the talent trees are expanding from 41 points in each tree to 51. Already players are sensing the stress of over-expansion; the new talents look like ripped-off versions of their Warcraft III or Diablo 2 counterparts. Examples include Heroic Leap from Diablo 2's Barbarian for WoW's Warrior, and Feral Spirit from Warcraft III's Far Seer for WoW's Shaman.
Which begs the bigger question: How do you make a sustainable MMORPG? WoW has survived for 4 years, gaining critical acclaim from gamers worldwide. But what's next? Even higher level caps? The numbers will keep on increasing, with no corresponding change in the complexity of interaction. It is bewildering to see that Starcraft has endured 10 years of gameplay whereas WoW is already draining out its resources.
Even the lore is threatened; players can now kill Illidan, Lord of the Outworld. Brother to the nigh-invincible Malfurion Stormrage, he is now just a farmed boss, ready to deposit loot into the hands of players. Soon enough, players will confront Arthas the Lich King in WoTLK, though it is still unknown whether he can be "killed".
However, it would be exaggerating to say that WoW will die out in the near future. The new content looks exciting; personally I can't wait to see how the Arthas fight turns out. New landscapes with sprawling flora and fauna will certainly be a sigh to behold. New, extensive dungeons will provide additional challenges for players to overcome.
But player fatigue is certainly on the rise, both of new-comers and veterans. New players have an uphill battle to fight; as more expansions are released, so does the complexity of the game. They will feel more intimidated just by the leveling and amount of in-game content. Veterans will surely have "RL" (real life) to accommodate, and living a life in WoW is not an option (unless you are from SK Gaming).
With my previous post in consideration, it begs the even bigger question: Is it even possible to create a sustainable game? Will it be the dynamic human interaction? (WoW PvP, Battle.net) Or flexibility for the community to add their own content? (Think DotA) Or just sheer fun in immersing yourself in the fantasy lore? I think I have said enough, therefore I leave the answer to you, the reader. (:
(If you've actually read so far, you must be a gamer. Haha. Just kidding. Thanks for reading anyway (:)
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As humanity approaches some sort of technological singularity, our literature and arts aren't catching up that fast. It is interesting to note that great computer games tend to be a fusion of intricate storyline and impressive graphics, such as Starcraft, Warcraft, and most recently Portal. Since the technological aspect is accelerated by better software and hardware, whereas the literary aspect is still walking along, it then becomes very difficult to release a great game that encompasses both aspects at a standard respectable at the time of completion.
For example, Blizzard has released a lot of information about the upcoming graphics and physics engine of Starcraft 2, whereas "the campaign was only about 1/3 finished". Judging at the rate at which the storyline is getting churned out, by the time it's done, computer graphics would have advanced so far that the original engine may not be so spectacular after all. Maybe that's why everything starts with a good storyboard and art concept, which lays an immortal foundation for future technological improvement. The quality of a well-developed and established lore such as Warcraft can be enduring.
Hemingway was once challenged to write a story in only six words. His response? “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” He is believed to have called it his greatest literary work ever. Can you write a story in six words?
Haha. I think I wouldn't ever be able to do that. I guess when we grow older, we speak less, but mean so much more.
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Benjamin introduced me to this song called Re: Your Brains by Johnathan Coulton, the same guy that wrote Still Alive. He reminds me of "Weird Al" Yankovic, who writes and sings parodies. First one I heard was Hardware Store, due to some WoW that parodied it as well. Haha.
It's Friday! Weekend's here again. Officially, we have only 4 days of school left. Next Thursday consultation days start and next next Tuesday is GP. Then it'll be Prelims then Post-Prelim Programmes. Then A levels. Whee.
I keep making careless mistakes while doing complex numbers. So far I've been okay deriving most of the methods to do the questions...Maybe I'll have to consult Mdm Yeoh soon. Ack.
A levels this year would be from the 3rd all the way to the 18th of November. That's approximately 3 months left to the A levels. Hmm...At least Econs is not the second paper again. But GP is still the first, followed by a mix of the sciences.
Some people can't be captured in photos; they must be taken in motion. You, my dear friend, can be found in neither nor none.
