Blogs ‘R’ Alex

Heh, poor Friendster got abandoned for Facebook. Anyways, I’m back to my poor neglected Friendster account. Will be off to apprenticeship program in a couple of months, got a major project in the working for the Final Year. Which reminds me: I am gawd-dammed old (spelling intentional) :D. Being the senior-most (relatively) undergrad in campus brings about a kind of a perspective change and reassessment of priorities. So, now I’m taking Chinese classes (only Chinese guy in the class, heh :P).
Other than that, I’m still reeling from price hikes left and right, watching the local news for any signs of civil war, and watching Chuck. Now, can anybody tell me how to make a custom music video of Chuck using music from Pirates from the Caribbean?

A few days ago, I was one of the few "lucky" people who got their online banking accounts, in preparation for the phasing-out of over-the-counter service. Our local bank in MMU will be semi-automated, and any clerk-assisted transactions will have a service charge of RM2. Then it hit me: machines are taking over people’s jobs!! OMG!!

That’s not new news though; machines have been replacing human labour in so many industries all over the world, in the richer countries mostly. Do a google on robots and you’ll see robots everywhere: robots playing football, robots playing musical instruments, robots looking more "human" than humans, robots cleaning house, etc. All this is just a few decades of development since Mr Isaac Asimov coined up the word "robotics".

With "Terminator" and "I, Robot" in mind, I got around to reading some of Asimov’s science fiction on robots and how they (potentially?) can go wrong, even with the Three Laws of Robotics hardwired into them. Did I say science fiction? Could they be predictions of the future of robotics?

Only a matter of time, people, before machines are going to be doing so many of what we are accustomed of doing now. Oh, so machines can’t simulate creative works the likes of da Vinci and Mozart. But machines landed on Mars before humans. Heck, machines (Voyagers 1 and 2) may be the first to initiate contact with extraterrestrials!! Machines don’t let emotions affect their work, machines are predictable, accurate, and punctual, machines do what they are told.

Conclusion: machines make the perfect labor force, leaving us "superior" beings more free time to do what they can’t do -> making life harder for other people with bureaucracy, greed, and ravaging the world’s natural resources at the same time. A civilization, we call ourselves? Agent K in "Men in Black" sums it up for us, "Human thought is so primitive it’s considered an infectious disease."

P.s. I am taking a degree in Robotics and Automation  XD

Going back for the Chinese New Year holidays, all your baby cousins gathered in one place, ever notice something? Usually, they are a pain. Well, the boys at least.
Baby felines wrestling with their siblings? Instinctive behavior.
Little boys smacking one another like Obi-Wan and Darth Maul? Acquired behavior, Type 1.
Blame it all on the over-dramatization of Hollywood movies and television series. Not to say all of the shows are bad. Heck, watch Discovery Channel once in a while. Or one of those "educational" series like CSI and ER. Then again, there are some advocating the message "good guys do violence, reluctantly of course, and gets away with it because he is a good guy."
And then we grow up, and learn a whole new set of acquired behavior, the "feel-good" type of behavior, Type 2. For example, the famous three: sex, drugs, and rock and roll (maybe i’m a little outdated on the latest culture?). All three have a healthy number of practitioners because it feels good to be doing them, excluding long-term effects of course. But then, who thinks more than one year into the future?
Then we grow older some more, assuming we survive to adulthood, and we learn the "manipulative" behavior, Type 3. THE most devious, in my opinion, because it lets people "do good" for other people in the name of "greater good" for the self. Or "do small evil" to a select small category of people in the name of "greater good" for the whole population. Look around, in the nightly news, daily newspapers, in history books. Hey, all the world is a stage, right?
…
Lost all hope for the world yet?
…
Don’t, because not all Type 1 kids mature into Type 2 teens, and (i think) into Type 3. Like little stars against the black of night, many people (young, teen, and adult) are fighting the good fight, the Type 4 people: doing good for that fuzzy, tingly feeling deep inside. Which, in my opinion, qualifies Type 4 behavior as instinctive, because one can’t convince or teach another to do "authentic" good deeds if he does not want to do it. One must achieve that particular enlightenment by oneself, only then the deeds done would be true and sincere.
…
P.S. Let’s admit it: I’m a Type 3 person, so beware of me

About what I said, about 80% of the people you meet are nice? Don’t believe it. Don’t farting bloody believe it. It’s actually 30% good people, 60% people-who-will-seize-opportunity-when-they-see-it-and-devil-cares-about-anybody-else, and 10% who do evil for no reason. Lost my handphone on 30th November. For once, I go by the rules: no handphones allowed in exams. So, like a good little boy, I left it outside, in my bag. One hour later, poof!. Guy who picked it up won’t even answer my calls. Bloody farting idiot.

Yes, it’s my fault. My fault for being so trusting and careless. My fault for being a by-the-book person. My fault for not being paranoid enough and giving everybody benefit of doubt. Well, Mr. Bloody Farting Idiot, thanks to you, this victim is now 200% more paranoid than ever, and 90% less trusting than before. Thanks to Mr. Bloody Farting Idiot, I’m going to treat every stranger I meet with a 10foot pole. That means one less good person in the world, and if that even mean anything to you, the loss is all on Mr. Bloody Farting Idiot.

Lost my self-identity that night. Lost all my numbers, including crushes Number One through Number Four. Lost all my ex-classmates numbers. Lost three years worth of identity-investment. Lost my morning wake-up call. Lost my timekeeper and personal reminder. Bloody farting idiot. Wish he will lose his handphone 5 times over.

Busy. Can’t stress it enough. BUSY. Being commitees for both CARE club and Aikido, both with big events on the same week, fuuh, time for headless-chicken-running.
New semester too. Good news, I passed all my subjects, including ELECTROMAGNETICS.
Was feeling good about myself, if I can pass that, what’s Electronics
2? Muahahaha…. A short semester, this one. Only 7 weeks to digest 3
subjects, two of which has group assignments and presentations,
chicken. Plenty of researching and in-your-face surveys, I believe.
Chicken again.

Oh, yes. Books are out, my faves fantasy series by RAYMOND E. FEIST and sci-fi series by BRIAN HERBERT. Only the price tags are in my way from drooling and swallowing both books. Sigh…

On the national side, I believe there’s a conspiracy afoot in Malaysia,
on that’s designed to discredit us in the eyes of the world. Reading
through last few days newspapers, there’s news of power abuse by our
city councillors (only one? Or are there more?); foreigners killed and
blown up, no less; snatch thieves getting bolder, bad-tempered, and
murderous (watch out, all ye who own handbags and riding motorcycles);
grandmothers and daughters raped by teens and fathers (sheesh, how
depraved can humans get?); etc etc etc. One can only hope we don’t
scare off the tourists in time for our 50th Merdeka next year.

Still, bad apples grow with good ones. Malaysian heroes range from
the common (police personnel helping to change tyres) to the uncommon
(Mohd Sobirol, braving a burning apartment), and many many others who
did not make into the daily newspapers. Syabas to all of you who work
day to day for the common good, no matter how small the deed.

Look, up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! Who am I kidding? Can’t see anything through the haze. Muchos gracias to our neighbour, us Malaysians are breathing in ash by the micrograms. Wonder what happens if I leave my white shirt out for one day. Wonder how my lungs look like now. Bad enough for us non-smokers, double the dose for smokers everywhere.

Funny, seems like only yesterday I’m in Alpha year. Time flies, gotta hold on and catch up. Going to be the semester break and one final mountain to climb. Yes, it’s the final exams, ladies and gentlemen, they’re back, during the hazy season too. And Electromagnetics…sigh, bloody piece of work, that.

Third gripe (oh, yes, this post is all about gripes. did i forget to mention it?) is the poor network connection I’m getting these past few days. Can’t even finish downloading an mp3 from my email account. Must be something to do with TMNet’s maintenance work few days ago. Still…this ain’t what I’m paying them for.

Still, silver lining in every thundercloud, right? Hmmm, let me think of one first, then I’ll get back to this post.

Song of the day: It’s Not Easy To Be Me - David Gray

Here’s a question: how sensitive are you? Are you indifferent to other people’s needs? Do you even care?

After two years of living on my own, I have come to realise that I’m a bit more sensitive than the average person. I do not take offense when someone insults me, but I do take offense when someone is blatantly ignoring other people’s needs.

Situations I have encountered:
Chatting in lectures and in libraries loud enough to make me wanna stab a pen in someone’s eye.
Watching videos and listening to music with the volume turned up max. At night. Past midnight. With me having class 8am the next day.
Spitting in public.

While some things do not peeve me as much as the above, I’ll bet they are causing as much grief to someone else. Times like these make me desperate for a sanctuary where I can do whatever I want minus interference. Alas, I’m not thick-skinned (nor stone-deaf) enough to shrug off soundwaves traveling through air. Also I’m not the kind to go yell at people to be more sensitive. So, in silence I suffer.

No wonder foreigners label Malaysians lacking in manners. While most of us do not have bad manners, most of us do not have any kind of manners at all.

Note to self: Soundproof private room when I have my own house or office.
P.S. the guy I’m listening to right now can win the MVL award. What’s MVL? Ask me for a demonstration.

Ok, stuff slowed down a bit. Still lots to do, though. Sigh… On the good side, being VP of Aikido club means I get to order ppl around :D.

Got the bloody cough and cold virus thats spreading around. Like 1 in 3 people I meet are either coughing or sneezing. Can’t sleep well at night, too. Coughed till me throat is still raw two weeks later. AND I CAN’T SING MY FAVOURITE SONGS!! On the plus side, all the coughing actually contracts my stomach muscles, so, nice abs…

Finally this sem we get to play around with HARDWARE!! 8051 microcontrollers…where would we be without them? And so useful, like a thousand and one uses, with the right programming and peripherals and stuff…

Ahem, ok, so missed a couple of TV shows I wanted to watch, but managed to get the soundtracks, so YES!! (PS, it’s “I dreamed a dream” in “Les Miserables” and “Wishing on a star” in “10th Kingdom”). Also discovered another gem by ELO, “Twilight”. Got a nice anime sequence too. Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VycCt4jh1aY

Now, midterm holidays are here. Not going home, though. Sigh…gotta catch up on tutorials, assignments, upcoming midterm tests. All in a student’s life, and an Engineering student at that…
Now, gotta find more time and stuff to blog…

Wooo, busy busy busy. No time to even go online ;P. Plus already in 3rd year out of a 5 year degree (engineering degree, mind you…) means more busyness. Have to give a miss to aikido seminar, damn it.

Moral assignment is almost done, and i’ll have nightmares about flyblown bodies for weeks (PS, watch our video on the 18th July, might even upload it to Youtube ;P). Plus, doing research, I’ve found out more stuff than I care to know, i.e. Agent Orange, 450 Hiroshimas dropped on Vietnam, Hitler’s list of casualties, etc.

After this would be Microprocessor assignment. 8 weeks to make a memory-piano-keys game. Circuits provided. Components provided. 8 members in a group. All we have to do is program. Piece of cake, you say? Hah. *Slap* you for even thinking about it.

Besides academic stuff will be the Red Crescent charity projects, CARE club charity and games, Aikido training and grading. 24 hours a day is going to seem very limited…

“Ring!” goes my phone on a Friday evening, and it was TJ asking me to represent the club and attend a leadership talk by some CEO that MMU Student Affairs Division had invited. By that time, I was going on the 4th day since I contracted the flu (wonder who infected me?!!) and I was not at all keen to go. Reasons I changed my mind: I was bored and I had already slept for half the day ;P.

So, off I went as the unofficial “ambassador” for the Aikido club to some talk that I had completely no idea of in the first place. Once I reached there, I went “Yikes!” for everyone was wearing super-formal and all I was wearing was a T-shirt and pants. Luckily, I brought my jacket along and managed to improvise. Muahahaha :D.

So, the ball kicked off at half-past eight, and Mr. Man-of-Mystery arrived… a certain Dato Shazalli Ramly, recently appointed CEO of Celcom, previously CEO of ntv7, worked with British-American Tobacco, etc. And he had long hair. And he took the centerstage. And he was good at it.

First he talked about his humble beginnings (don’t every successful person had humble beginnings?) and his rise to a leader to four thousand employees, while along the way, forming a few bands, played soccer (kaki bangku, the way he tells it) and pingpong, president of a few clubs, plus straight As all the way and 4-flat through college.
The trick was, he did not tell it like a biography, instead more like a setting, or example, for several trait-attributes for leadership skills. The way he put it “A true leader does not know that he is a leader until he looked backwards and sees people following him.” Or something like that.

Leadership skills and traits be damned, the one thing that REALLY got my full attention was the four attitudes for success. PACE: passion, authenticity, credibility, and ethics. That was when I know I had missed an ingredient since my pre-SPM days. I lacked passion in studies. Heck, anyone can ace UPSR and PMR with zero passion in studies, I know I did. SPM showed me up with 6As and 4Bs. Even now I’m getting substandard grades in university; all because I lack passion in studies.

Attending that leadership talk was a real defining moment for me, because before I had not known what’s wrong with myself. Now is the time to see if I can really change, with the only fuel that burns at 110%. Just in case one of you reading this happens to be the man himself, thank you Dato Shazalli, for you have given me more than I expected from a mere talk. And to be sure, I’ll continue to be a Celcom user for a long, long time.

p.s. Switch to Celcom ;P

Song of the day: Edwin Starr - War, what is it good for?