Happy Birthday to me! (Singapore time)
Happy Birthday to me, in 1 hour's time! (Vancouver time)
Haven't celebrate yet lah..
But I am so shocked to discover so many people have the same birthday as me!!!
1) First of all, I know Jess does.. Lovely twin!
2) And then there's Justin (from OK house back in 1st year).. Never really talked to him before..
3) Also Sam, who works at the caf.. Haven't seen him in a long time..
4) And then Marc's band friend, Marianne, whom I've heard about but haven't actually met.. Seems creepy but actually not lah, since he used to tell me band stuff all the time..
5) And today Cheesie posted a blog entry, that her boyfriend TK's birthday is also Jan 14..
6) And Eileen (my ECON355 friend and now she's in ECON365 too).. Never really talked to her much since we've only known each other for a month or so and mostly about school.. Saw her MSN personal message "happy b-day" and I went to find her on Facebook and she accepted and TADA I saw that her birthday is the same!
SO SHOCKED, especially the last one haha. Even though I don't quite know 2 of them in person, but still..
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALL OF US!
Hey, I just realized I can watch R21 movies now. But again, I don't go to cinemas anymore?!?!?! Hehe.
And of course, APPLY FOR CITIZENSHIP! And yes, approve the donation of my organs after I die.. And and and I dunno what else..
I don't feel like I'm 21 yet leh.
Okay people, I'm turning SIXTEEN! That's what I feel like! =)
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Saturday, January 10, 2009
The most IT-savvy prof I've met..
Wah, I really like my ECON326 prof. Erm, actually I don't know yet, because I seem to be having trouble with the material, a little bit..
But he very the cute! *not in terms of appearance though* I think he is so IT-savvy it's hard to find someone like that around who is equally academically-savvy. (Read: Most profs don't handle websites as good as he does.)
He has a nice webpage which even includes a FAQ section for the course, because he's probably used to millions of emails flooding in during the first week of class..
And I just checked it and he posted this:
Wow, who actually knows how to create this kind of form?? It was pretty decent.. And "activating" a "password pretection course webpage" sounds pretty technical to me.. Hahaha! Somemore he has drop-down lists for past handouts and assignments.. So pro~~ Where to find a prof like that?
He posts notes and assignments so far ahead it's really impressive! First assignment due this coming Thursday and he already posted the second one due the next Thursday! Don't tell me he just lives in front of computer all day long!~
And if you read the whole website carefully he has some spelling errors here and there. I'm usually rather anal about spelling mistakes but in this case it's actually rather cute! Somemore he refers the TA to "Mr. Huang Ce".. Such respect he has for a TA, addresing him as MISTER! Usually profs don't give a poo about them, and half the time we don't know the gender of the TA because they mostly tend to hail from Mainland China and only has two words to their name!
I hope this course turns out well and with the above paragraphs typed in such a light-hearted mood I do hope I can stay motivated and do well! Now, before I go off to tackle the first assignment of his *gasp* on a Saturday night, no less *gasp gasp*, I leave you a picture of my IT-proficient prof:
But he very the cute! *not in terms of appearance though* I think he is so IT-savvy it's hard to find someone like that around who is equally academically-savvy. (Read: Most profs don't handle websites as good as he does.)
He has a nice webpage which even includes a FAQ section for the course, because he's probably used to millions of emails flooding in during the first week of class..
And I just checked it and he posted this:
The password protection of this course web page will be activated next Thursday afternoon. This allows me to post on this page some sensitive information such as your homework grades. Once the password protection is activiated, you will need an account to access this web page after that. Please create your account by filling out the registration form now.
Wow, who actually knows how to create this kind of form?? It was pretty decent.. And "activating" a "password pretection course webpage" sounds pretty technical to me.. Hahaha! Somemore he has drop-down lists for past handouts and assignments.. So pro~~ Where to find a prof like that?
He posts notes and assignments so far ahead it's really impressive! First assignment due this coming Thursday and he already posted the second one due the next Thursday! Don't tell me he just lives in front of computer all day long!~
And if you read the whole website carefully he has some spelling errors here and there. I'm usually rather anal about spelling mistakes but in this case it's actually rather cute! Somemore he refers the TA to "Mr. Huang Ce".. Such respect he has for a TA, addresing him as MISTER! Usually profs don't give a poo about them, and half the time we don't know the gender of the TA because they mostly tend to hail from Mainland China and only has two words to their name!
I hope this course turns out well and with the above paragraphs typed in such a light-hearted mood I do hope I can stay motivated and do well! Now, before I go off to tackle the first assignment of his *gasp* on a Saturday night, no less *gasp gasp*, I leave you a picture of my IT-proficient prof:
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Different = Wrong (???)
Difference between 2 parties does not neccesarily transparently state that one party is wrong, and the other party is right. One should definitely not declare that someone else is wrong just because there is a different opinion.
I just discovered this on Wikipedia: As Hong Kong is not an independent nation, there are no provisions for Hong Kong citizenship. The right of abode in Hong Kong is almost identical in nature to citizenship but confers no legal status in mainland China.
That means I am not a Hong Kong citizen! I have never been so happy to discover this! Apparently I do have the right of abode in Hong Kong. That goes to say that I can probably still apply for Singapore citizenship in the years to come, and still be able to live in Hong Kong.
Anyway, back to topic. Just because Singapore's permanent residency policies require that PRs renew every X years, it doesn't mean that it is WRONG to call them PERMANENT residents, even though the name suggests that there should be a somewhat PERMANENT-ness to it. It is just a different system from Hong Kong and who says that means it is WRONG?
If Hong Kong is part of China, why doesn't being a PR of Hong Kong make me an automatic citizen of China? There are just DIFFERENT rules, that's all. It is not WRONG.
Please learn that there are opinions other than your own in this world.
I just discovered this on Wikipedia: As Hong Kong is not an independent nation, there are no provisions for Hong Kong citizenship. The right of abode in Hong Kong is almost identical in nature to citizenship but confers no legal status in mainland China.
That means I am not a Hong Kong citizen! I have never been so happy to discover this! Apparently I do have the right of abode in Hong Kong. That goes to say that I can probably still apply for Singapore citizenship in the years to come, and still be able to live in Hong Kong.
Anyway, back to topic. Just because Singapore's permanent residency policies require that PRs renew every X years, it doesn't mean that it is WRONG to call them PERMANENT residents, even though the name suggests that there should be a somewhat PERMANENT-ness to it. It is just a different system from Hong Kong and who says that means it is WRONG?
If Hong Kong is part of China, why doesn't being a PR of Hong Kong make me an automatic citizen of China? There are just DIFFERENT rules, that's all. It is not WRONG.
Please learn that there are opinions other than your own in this world.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
UBC Lake
On the Weather Network website:
Flood Risk for BC Lower Mainland
100 mm of rain is expected to fall on the BC South Coast by Wednesday evening. With snow still covering much of Metro Vancouver, parts of Vancouver Island and the Fraser Valley flooding is a serious concern.
*Hello, UBC is already a gigantic lake of campus if you haven't already noticed?*
RAINFALL WARNING: Greater VancouverIssued at 8:28 PM PST TUESDAY 6 JANUARY 2009
TOTAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS UP TO 80 MM EXPECTED FOR METRO VANCOUVER, SOUTHERN SECTIONS OF EAST VANCOUVER ISLAND AND SUNSHINE COAST THROUGH WEDNESDAY. TOTAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 80 TO 110 MM EXPECTED FOR HOWE SOUND AND FRASER VALLEY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. TOTAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 100 TO 130 MM EXPECTED FOR WEST VANCOUVER ISLAND AND THE CENTRAL COAST - COASTAL SECTIONS THROUGH WEDNESDAY. THIS IS A WARNING THAT SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL IS EXPECTED OR OCCURRING IN THESE REGIONS. MONITOR WEATHER CONDITIONS..LISTEN FOR UPDATED STATEMENTS.
*Oh boy. 10cm of rain. Will UBC ever have a rain day (you know, like snow days where we don't have to go to school)???
Where is all our precious tuition money going to? Non-progressive construction and muddy puddles in the ground?? PAVE the roads so we don't go to school in a giant lake for goodness sake!
Thank goodness for my rainboots.
Flood Risk for BC Lower Mainland
100 mm of rain is expected to fall on the BC South Coast by Wednesday evening. With snow still covering much of Metro Vancouver, parts of Vancouver Island and the Fraser Valley flooding is a serious concern.
*Hello, UBC is already a gigantic lake of campus if you haven't already noticed?*
RAINFALL WARNING: Greater VancouverIssued at 8:28 PM PST TUESDAY 6 JANUARY 2009
TOTAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS UP TO 80 MM EXPECTED FOR METRO VANCOUVER, SOUTHERN SECTIONS OF EAST VANCOUVER ISLAND AND SUNSHINE COAST THROUGH WEDNESDAY. TOTAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 80 TO 110 MM EXPECTED FOR HOWE SOUND AND FRASER VALLEY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. TOTAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 100 TO 130 MM EXPECTED FOR WEST VANCOUVER ISLAND AND THE CENTRAL COAST - COASTAL SECTIONS THROUGH WEDNESDAY. THIS IS A WARNING THAT SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL IS EXPECTED OR OCCURRING IN THESE REGIONS. MONITOR WEATHER CONDITIONS..LISTEN FOR UPDATED STATEMENTS.
*Oh boy. 10cm of rain. Will UBC ever have a rain day (you know, like snow days where we don't have to go to school)???
Where is all our precious tuition money going to? Non-progressive construction and muddy puddles in the ground?? PAVE the roads so we don't go to school in a giant lake for goodness sake!
Thank goodness for my rainboots.
Monday, January 5, 2009
I am not an Astrophysicist, but....
Watching the recent Sharp LCD Aquos ads on TV has made me ponder: Is that guy really an astrophysicist? *gawd it took me 3 tries to spell 'astrophysicist' right*
I should have known better. In small words at the beginning of the commercial it says "(His Name), Astrophysicist".. I always wanted to know and today I finally Googled.
But I forgot his name so I just typed in "sharp lcd astrophysicist" in the search bar.
This article came up: (copied directly from here)
I'm Not a Physicist, but I Play One on TV
If you watch television, you might have seen two separate advertisements -- one for high-end LCD televisions and the other for solar panels -- but both are from the same company, Sharp Electronics Corp USA. This summer they began a major advertising campaign for both products, as unrelated as they might seem, as life changing products. Both feature a curious white-haired academician expounding the virtues of Sharp's wares.
The LCD television commercial starts like this,
Seems like you need to be a physics professor to choose the right TV. Luckily, I am one. ...
while the solar panel pitch begins,
I'm an astrophysicist, a star gazer, but here's something cosmic I discovered on earth, ...
Both commercials are narrated by a flaxen-haired, well-dressed man, identified by the caption "Professor Gerard Fasel, Astrophysicist." Who is this man? Is he really an astrophysicist? Read on, you may soon know him better as "Albino Security Guard."
Dr. Fasel is indeed listed on the faculty at Pepperdine University as a "Visiting Professor." His college biography lists courses taught in physics, mathematics and astronomy. He also appears to have teaching ratings at ratemyprofessors.com for the years 2003-2008, so we can assume he has been teaching at least part-time for most of that period of time.
However, according to Dr. Fasel's list of publications in the subjects of physics and astrophysics, his last publication of any sort was in 1995, or 13 years ago. The article, "Dayside poleward moving auroral forms: A statistical study," was published in the respected Journal of Geophysical Research. During his academic hayday of 1992-1995, he published a total of four refereed publications, either as primary author or co-author. All of these publications regard the study of terrestrial aurora, which is in essence a study of the interaction between the solar wind, earth's magnetosphere, and upper atmosphere. By the way, the phenomenon of terrestrial aurora, while very interesting, has virtually nothing to do with what I would call astrophysics, nor with solar-electric power.
But Fasel is much more than an academic! Dr. Fasel's acting career, as listed by IMDB has shown much more activity. In the past six years he has had four significant acting parts, both in television and movies. His next role will be in the movie The Truth About Angels, due out in 2009, where he plays the coveted albino security guard role. I'm sure Rutger Hauer is howling mad that some physicist beat him to the punch!
Sharp Electronics is proud of its spokesperson. In a press release on July 14th, 2008, announcing their campaign, they wrote,
... The commercial will feature Professor Gerard Fasel, a visiting professor of math and physics at Pepperdine University. With a PhD in Physics and a sophisticated and engaging persona, Professor Fasel lends a scholarly credibility to the new solar and LCD commercials.
The important words here are "lends a scholarly credibility." Based on his scientific publishing record, my opinion is that Dr. Fasel is no longer an active researcher in science, and indeed has spent more time acting in the past decade than publishing research papers. I think it's pretty clear that he is not an astrophysicist, since none of his articles discussed astrophysics. For that matter, he has not published work related to solar physics, televisions or solar panel technology either. I don't doubt that Sharp took the time to give Dr. Fasel a tour of the manufacturing plant and its technology development labs, and Fasel probably has a reasonable understanding and appreciation of the physics that goes into the technologies that he is advertising. But judging by his research and teaching history, I doubt that he has any better skill choosing a television or a solar panel than your average Joe Sixpack.
In my opinion, he is simply an actor -- a spokesmodel -- hired by an advertising firm and used to make the company's technology seem more credible. They hired him for his interesting looks, his personality, and yes, the three letters "Ph.D." at the end of his name. Couldn't they just have easily hired him to do a commercial for medicine? Hmm, I think I could write the script...
EXPERT: Seems like you need to have a Ph.D. to understand cold remedies these days. Luckily I have one. ...
Oh Dr. Fasel, will you star in my commercial?
Hahaha. Kids, never believe 100% what you see on TV. Especially commercials.
I should have known better. In small words at the beginning of the commercial it says "(His Name), Astrophysicist".. I always wanted to know and today I finally Googled.
But I forgot his name so I just typed in "sharp lcd astrophysicist" in the search bar.
This article came up: (copied directly from here)
I'm Not a Physicist, but I Play One on TV
If you watch television, you might have seen two separate advertisements -- one for high-end LCD televisions and the other for solar panels -- but both are from the same company, Sharp Electronics Corp USA. This summer they began a major advertising campaign for both products, as unrelated as they might seem, as life changing products. Both feature a curious white-haired academician expounding the virtues of Sharp's wares.
The LCD television commercial starts like this,
Seems like you need to be a physics professor to choose the right TV. Luckily, I am one. ...
while the solar panel pitch begins,
I'm an astrophysicist, a star gazer, but here's something cosmic I discovered on earth, ...
Both commercials are narrated by a flaxen-haired, well-dressed man, identified by the caption "Professor Gerard Fasel, Astrophysicist." Who is this man? Is he really an astrophysicist? Read on, you may soon know him better as "Albino Security Guard."
Dr. Fasel is indeed listed on the faculty at Pepperdine University as a "Visiting Professor." His college biography lists courses taught in physics, mathematics and astronomy. He also appears to have teaching ratings at ratemyprofessors.com for the years 2003-2008, so we can assume he has been teaching at least part-time for most of that period of time.
However, according to Dr. Fasel's list of publications in the subjects of physics and astrophysics, his last publication of any sort was in 1995, or 13 years ago. The article, "Dayside poleward moving auroral forms: A statistical study," was published in the respected Journal of Geophysical Research. During his academic hayday of 1992-1995, he published a total of four refereed publications, either as primary author or co-author. All of these publications regard the study of terrestrial aurora, which is in essence a study of the interaction between the solar wind, earth's magnetosphere, and upper atmosphere. By the way, the phenomenon of terrestrial aurora, while very interesting, has virtually nothing to do with what I would call astrophysics, nor with solar-electric power.
But Fasel is much more than an academic! Dr. Fasel's acting career, as listed by IMDB has shown much more activity. In the past six years he has had four significant acting parts, both in television and movies. His next role will be in the movie The Truth About Angels, due out in 2009, where he plays the coveted albino security guard role. I'm sure Rutger Hauer is howling mad that some physicist beat him to the punch!
Sharp Electronics is proud of its spokesperson. In a press release on July 14th, 2008, announcing their campaign, they wrote,
... The commercial will feature Professor Gerard Fasel, a visiting professor of math and physics at Pepperdine University. With a PhD in Physics and a sophisticated and engaging persona, Professor Fasel lends a scholarly credibility to the new solar and LCD commercials.
The important words here are "lends a scholarly credibility." Based on his scientific publishing record, my opinion is that Dr. Fasel is no longer an active researcher in science, and indeed has spent more time acting in the past decade than publishing research papers. I think it's pretty clear that he is not an astrophysicist, since none of his articles discussed astrophysics. For that matter, he has not published work related to solar physics, televisions or solar panel technology either. I don't doubt that Sharp took the time to give Dr. Fasel a tour of the manufacturing plant and its technology development labs, and Fasel probably has a reasonable understanding and appreciation of the physics that goes into the technologies that he is advertising. But judging by his research and teaching history, I doubt that he has any better skill choosing a television or a solar panel than your average Joe Sixpack.
In my opinion, he is simply an actor -- a spokesmodel -- hired by an advertising firm and used to make the company's technology seem more credible. They hired him for his interesting looks, his personality, and yes, the three letters "Ph.D." at the end of his name. Couldn't they just have easily hired him to do a commercial for medicine? Hmm, I think I could write the script...
EXPERT: Seems like you need to have a Ph.D. to understand cold remedies these days. Luckily I have one. ...
Oh Dr. Fasel, will you star in my commercial?
Hahaha. Kids, never believe 100% what you see on TV. Especially commercials.
What a Good Dream
I had a very very strange dream.
I dreamt I was in a secondary school. With morning assemblies and whatnot.
I think in the dream, I was late for assembly. And crossing some "bridge" which wasn't technically an overhead bridge, more of like a linkway to some building..
Underneath this "bridge" stairs, there was this stairway.. I think I had to walk up this "secret stairway" to get onto the bridge to get to the morning assembly.
I was running late, and I saw a sign that points to somewhere underground, under the stairway.. The sign had always been there, but I never thought there was anything worth looking at there.
But that morning in the dream, I was coming up from the "underground area" up the stairway and supposed to cross the bridge to get to morning assembly.. I glanced at the sign and saw the words "__ _____ ______'s Office".
At that moment it looked like signs outside UBC buildings, blue panels with white words, except with those words on them. I looked up and I see __ _____ ______ walking down to where his office is apparently located and for a moment I couldn't believe my eyes.
Hahaha, I was so happy for awhile then. Forget the morning assembly. LOL!
And then I woke up.
-.-
I dreamt I was in a secondary school. With morning assemblies and whatnot.
I think in the dream, I was late for assembly. And crossing some "bridge" which wasn't technically an overhead bridge, more of like a linkway to some building..
Underneath this "bridge" stairs, there was this stairway.. I think I had to walk up this "secret stairway" to get onto the bridge to get to the morning assembly.
I was running late, and I saw a sign that points to somewhere underground, under the stairway.. The sign had always been there, but I never thought there was anything worth looking at there.
But that morning in the dream, I was coming up from the "underground area" up the stairway and supposed to cross the bridge to get to morning assembly.. I glanced at the sign and saw the words "__ _____ ______'s Office".
At that moment it looked like signs outside UBC buildings, blue panels with white words, except with those words on them. I looked up and I see __ _____ ______ walking down to where his office is apparently located and for a moment I couldn't believe my eyes.
Hahaha, I was so happy for awhile then. Forget the morning assembly. LOL!
And then I woke up.
-.-
FISH prof?
Okay! School has officially started. First class of the day was cancelled cos the prof has to go to a meeting, and ENGL329 at 1pm was super boring.. She went on and on in circles round and round about 2 very simple concepts..
I am glad I made one right decision, at least about dropping ECON356, which is taught by Gordon Munro.
But he looks more like a shrivelled up version of this:
Also, according to Google, apparently he supposed to be a retiree? What is he still doing here?!?!
And I went on ratemyprofessors.com and the reviews were so true! (those points I think are true are HIGHLIGHTED)
- "notes are useful, but the way of teaching is boring and wasted my time to attend."
- "what can i say.. he likes to go on and on in circles to the point where you have no idea what he is talking about..but there is some flexibility with exams and if you memorize the notes they're not that bad"
- "very boring and likes to ramble on. Spends hours on end talking about nothing. Tests are a joke as they are the same as past exams. marking is bit more harder."
- "Very boring...likes the sound of his own voice. So easy you will get a bad mark...because you get so bored of classes you will stop going"
This last review was my exact sentiments: "TOTALLY BORING!!! monotone voice"
And comments like these scared me:
- "I did awful on his midterms just because I wrote more than I should. Everything I wrote on my exams are backed by evidence, but he deducted marks off for any analysis that are over the course requirement."
- "Very Very boring. Just read off slides and notes. Don't need to go to class at all. Midterms and exam are very easy because they were the same as past midterms and finals. Just write the same stuff as in the notes and he will be very pleased. Do not add your own extra explanation!"
- "easiest course at 400 level...but i still did badly on my midterms...because it was just so boring...2 months on fisheries...about 3 weeks to condense everything else...final exams questions were the same questions used for the last 5 maybe 10 years...so i hope i did well...but the wierd thing is, our grades haven't been posted as of yet"
- "he's been using the same Qs for finals for the last 10yrs...so...easy? quite...but he taught fish for 2 months...that's boring"
Sigh, I don't think I could live with him teaching fish in a monotonous voice for an entire semester.. At least I made the right choice of not choosing this renewable resource course, and dropping the international finance course which I have not sat in yet.. It is in an hour and I don't look forward to it but I should still go in case any classes go anymore haywire tomorrow!
I am glad I made one right decision, at least about dropping ECON356, which is taught by Gordon Munro.
Apparently, according to Google, he's supposed to look like this:
But he looks more like a shrivelled up version of this:
Also, according to Google, apparently he supposed to be a retiree? What is he still doing here?!?!
And I went on ratemyprofessors.com and the reviews were so true! (those points I think are true are HIGHLIGHTED)
- "notes are useful, but the way of teaching is boring and wasted my time to attend."
- "what can i say.. he likes to go on and on in circles to the point where you have no idea what he is talking about..but there is some flexibility with exams and if you memorize the notes they're not that bad"
- "very boring and likes to ramble on. Spends hours on end talking about nothing. Tests are a joke as they are the same as past exams. marking is bit more harder."
- "Very boring...likes the sound of his own voice. So easy you will get a bad mark...because you get so bored of classes you will stop going"
This last review was my exact sentiments: "TOTALLY BORING!!! monotone voice"
And comments like these scared me:
- "I did awful on his midterms just because I wrote more than I should. Everything I wrote on my exams are backed by evidence, but he deducted marks off for any analysis that are over the course requirement."
- "Very Very boring. Just read off slides and notes. Don't need to go to class at all. Midterms and exam are very easy because they were the same as past midterms and finals. Just write the same stuff as in the notes and he will be very pleased. Do not add your own extra explanation!"
- "easiest course at 400 level...but i still did badly on my midterms...because it was just so boring...2 months on fisheries...about 3 weeks to condense everything else...final exams questions were the same questions used for the last 5 maybe 10 years...so i hope i did well...but the wierd thing is, our grades haven't been posted as of yet"
- "he's been using the same Qs for finals for the last 10yrs...so...easy? quite...but he taught fish for 2 months...that's boring"
Sigh, I don't think I could live with him teaching fish in a monotonous voice for an entire semester.. At least I made the right choice of not choosing this renewable resource course, and dropping the international finance course which I have not sat in yet.. It is in an hour and I don't look forward to it but I should still go in case any classes go anymore haywire tomorrow!
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