"The simple way of subsuming offensiveness under the harm principle is to argue that that offensiveness is a form of harm in and of itself."

Tym and I got that in 1 reading, and didn't think it particularly abstruse; on the contrary it was very comprehensible (especially as some of these things go). A science PhD candidate friend, on the other hand, took 3 readings to understand that.

Which segues into some bits from a fascinating (though) interminable thread about the difference between the Arts and Social Sciences and the Harder Sciences:


"when I was tutoring for logic (it was called "PH1101" then) in NUS, almost all of the lecturer's examples for the segment on informal fallacies came from the Straits Times, especially the forum page."

"I am not all that comfortable with the term "vagueness" as applied to the humanities--"open ended" might be better. As I see it, there is nothing vague at all. In fact, precision of though is a virtue in any discipline worth its salt. (Ok, maybe my own background in philosophy has influenced my perceptions: I've graded many a paper down for vagueness and lack of clarity before.) Rather, the point is that the questions do not have set answers (unlike physics or mathematical problems) that can simply be discovered; instead different possible answers (that can only be predicted to a limited degree in advance) can be better or worse argued for--hence the room for discussion and debate. In much of philosophy, the debate is exactly over how best to make more precise the problem at hand..."

"[On some scientists being good writers but no writers being good scientists without a science backgroun] the humanities ppl you are thinking of are writing in stuff that are of broad human interests (English lit, non technical sociology and anthropology, etc.)--so that the disciplinary barriers of entry are not as high beyond the usual commitment to logical thinking. But this is not true of all humanities subjects. I've never heard of a scientist who can just switch gear and talk about, say, ancient Hittite linguistics or Shang Oracle bone inscriptions, without first having spent time studying that stuff. The divide you are alluding to is not really one between science and humanities as much as one between generalist vs specialist fields."

"I was both an arts and a pure maths student in the U. I'd say that science is deep, but the humanities is broad. There was this argument that science is somehow "superior" because science people can talk about arts stuff, but not the other way around, fair enough, but fact is, you can program a computer to prove theorems, but you can't program a computer to write essays yet. You can have 10 year olds who are Maths and Science prodigies, but generally the very best people in the arts and humanities have to go through a long period of study before they can be considered a master in their field, simply because you need wider knowledge for that."

***

Someone: so would you argue that philosophers and FASS people play critical underappreciated roles in society?

without being machiavellian... even a nonspecifically critical role is acceptable

Me: I would say they are underappreciated
whether they are critical is another question

you see, science stuff does lead to tangible improvements in daily life, but very rarely do we get quantum leaps (eg invention of the lightbulb). More often we get small bounces (eg a better depilator), and most of the time - nothing.

Someone: eh don't devalue better depilators ok
almost as impt as light bulb

most of science, esp basic science... it's difficult to grasp its impact too
basic science research is the other end of the spectrum from philosophy, really.... for information's sake only. doesn't really contribute to bettering our physical lifestyle, only serves to feed the "fountain" of knowledge
e.g. theory of the big bang, my favorite example, is like studying history

Me: the thing is, ideas in the arts domain also have impact on daily life
theories about democracy affect the world we live in. theories about sociology affect social policies. theories about literature... nevermind.

Someone: the intangibles are what makes humans human after all... even beavers can build dams ("nature's engineers"!!) but without capacity for higher thought we are just funny-looking orang utans

Me: anyway. most people don't do things related to their majors
why is the singaporean bureaucracy so screwed up, uncreative, rigid and inflexible?
it's because they're all engineers!

Someone: if there is no equation to describe it... they have no clue whta to do


Tym: I shd like to think we are living in a world where practical concerns are not our only concerns.
Otherwise, might as well be monkeys.

Me: why do we have to do something "practical"? Singapore mah.
that's why we're all engineers and technicians rather than scientists and thinkers
wait for the Indians and Chinese to undercut us on cost

Someone (in response): don't you think the indians and chinese are kicking our butts on innovation though? we aren't even very good engineers and technicians.

we are a nation of well-trained sweatshop laborers la
high level, but still little more than drones

"Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions." - Albert Einstein

Random Playlist Song: Schubert - Moment Musical No 5

***

Extracts from a conversation with a Foreign Talent based in America: quitting singapore is one of the best decisions that i've made

now when i read the singapore blogosphere it does sound miniscule and sad
confused
full of commentary
and well.. perhaps infantile

its a whole new world here gabriel
every singaporean i know in america is HAPPY
DAMN HAPPY ok

so many of the singapore students here not on bonds, are talking about getting an american passport

we talk about discrimination
but we have discrimination in singapore
as someone succintly put it to me "the minorities in any country get the most shit"
kinda true.. like being chinese/indian in malaysia, chinese in indonesia, malay/indian in singapore

people talk all the time about leaving, talk aboutt this and that, and all the bad parts of singapore
but they don't see the bigger picture
america isn't perfect.. but it sure is honest about its flaws

when my friends here read that bloggers are sent to jail, chewing gum is banned, and students are suspended for writing stuff in their blogs, 11 years jail for stealing
it just feels so much different to have them put things in perspective for me
its like.. "hey wait.. this is ridiculous man"
and its like... 2 years of my life wasted in ns, i got reservist to serve
why bother

i think its true
quit lah quit lah
at least you're happier
my cousin has quit singapore, jobless in san francisco for 9 months
INCREDIBLY HAPPY HE CAME

i don't know gabriel
let's be honest lah
job market squeezed by imports below and foreign talents from above
we're fighting for the middle ground, and its so competitive in singapore
here you finish your work you go home and enjoy life!
everyone here is so laid back .. so relaxed, so happy

and yeah.. there's racial discrimination.. but who cares
not like we don't have it back at home
back home we discriinate according to education qualifications.. race.. religion... sexual orientation
its damn sad

the policies here are very liberal
i agree to say that as a singaporean.. i'm a 2nd class citizen in my own home country
why bother
you know.. let's be more honest
how come so many guys aren't getting married? how come so many women stay unmarried?
let's not generalise but for the sake of listing out a few things
money.. security.. emotional stability.. blah blah
and why bother with the average singapore guy who is SO BORING, when there's always a white guy to entertain
i realise the colonial mentality is something very difficult to shake off

you should just come to america.. live and work
may not be the best thing, but surely something you don't regret
its a free country, do what you want, enjoy your life, be happy

Me: well in america you can be suspended for bringing scissors to school ("zero tolerance")

Foreign Talent: that's nonsense gabriel
the press plays it up so much
you can bring anything you want to class
weed, go ahead

it is a free country... alot of stuff here that is imposing on rights of people are struck down by the supreme court as unconstitutional

they give so much chance
high schools? there are so many high schools
zero tolerance is noted in a small tiny number of schools in california
it is every american's right to an education period
they can't kick you out of school
if they do so.. its a huge beaureaucratic mess of them
school officials and all, to transfer you to another school that willingly accepts you, and you willingly accept it

its a free country
no need to be slave here

70% of harvard receives financial aid.. even if their parents earn 100,000 a year
especially with the private univerrsities
they are generous with the financial aid

Me: NUS doesn't have much financial aid heh

Foreign Talent: i agree
2k.. 1k.. 500 bucks

Me: aiyah
come back next year and tell me if you still feel the same way
the US has the highest proportion of its populace in jail among all the developed countries

Foreign Talent: the jail problem i've studied it
alot of life sentences that were expected to be commuted ended up being stretched from what the judge thought was 12 years.. to 35 years
you dont' always see the whole story in numbers
that's why in anthropological studies in AIDS.. practically no one eeven bothers about % and numbers

well lets see in those day alot of murderers blah blah, rapists were given life sentences because the judges interpreted it to be a 10 to 12 year sentce
harsh enough, and fair for the people
today you find that judges help appeal for the release fo the very people they sentence 35 years ago

i've the stories
social analysis - writing class
its more than the figures
and its not a handful of judges
its ALOT of them

Me: well the fact remains that so many people are in jail
what does that tell you about the judicial system?

Foreign Talent: it was tightened up in later years.. because of paedophilia.. rape.. murder.. terrorism
and as a results.. these men who expected to be free by thei 12th year were implicated in the process
there's always two sides to the coin

the judicial system here is great
you dont' commit crimes, you don't go to jail
you get a parking ticket and you feel its unfair, talk to the judge!
if he thinks its unfair, revoked
simple as that
i know of many students who look to the judge for a 30 dollar fine

i mean i came here with the intention to go back home cos i missed it
somehow.. i don't miss home so much anymore

i hate to say it
but at the end fo the day
singapore isn't as great as i thought it would be or might be or could be
its in the little things that count

Me: one of the most annoying things is that people will say "nowhere is perfect. so there's no point emigrating"
by that logic, since we can't live forever we might as well kill ourselves now

Foreign Talent: true
i accep the fact that its not perfect in america
but overall.. the experience is just way better
this country is full of flaws

still? its pretty worth it you know
not good enough go canada lah


[NB: I was doing a term paper at the time, which explains my uncharacteristic reticence. Readers, especially those who have dwelt in the USA for longer periods of time, are welcome to provide the counterpoint.]

Another SMU student responds: there's a lot to like about SMU
girls are friendlier, more attractive and in greater quantity

curriculum suits one such as myself to a T because fact of the matter is, SMU or not, most singaporeans cannot present anything to save their lives

do i think it's a great university? no. that's why it's 50-50 i'll be transferring to *** next fall.

but i no longer assess SMU according to its academic merits, or against the likes of NUS or NTU
because the way i see it, a local education will doom you to mid-management mediocrity, no matter where you read

what i do know, though, is that i'm having the time of my life in SMU
grades, girls, popularity, authority- i couldn't ask for more from college life

and that's why i'm defensive of my school.

***

Church stops believing in the Bible

"The Catholic Church in Scotland has published a new guide to the Bible which explains that some passages are not literally true...

In fact the bishops go as far as to say that there are "significant dangers" involved in taking a fundamentalist approach to the Bible. "Such an approach is dangerous, for example, when people of one nation or group see in the Bible a mandate for their own superiority, and even consider themselves permitted by the Bible to use violence against others."

... Other examples of passages which are not to be taken literally are the apocalyptic prophecies of Revelation, the final book in the Bible, which details the end of the world. In the US many fundamentalist Christians believe in the literal truth of Revelation and sales of the Left Behind series of novels, which detail the final battle between good and evil, have sold millions of copies.

However, the bishops said: "Such symbolic language must be respected for what it is, and is not to be interpreted literally. We should not expect to discover in this book details about the end of the world, about how many will be saved and about when the end will come."

Father Michael McMahon, a lecturer in scripture and a priest of the Paisley Diocese, who co-wrote the report, said: "In order to believe that every passage of the Bible is the literal truth, you have to suspend your critical faculties. You have to suspend the God-given ability to reason.""


Of course, every good fundie knows that Catholics are going to burn in hell for eternity anyway, so who cares even if they refuse to believe that 1 + 1 = 3?

A: "this is a digress.

But i was just thinking, since men look for different qualities in women when it comes to STM and LTM [Ed: Short Term Mating and Long Term Mating] and assuming that men tend to prefer STM when they are younger and LTM once they reach the age of settling down, does this mean that if women were to surround themselves with men of about the same age range as them, like we are now in University, women who are shy, faithful, appear to have less sexual accessibility would tend to be neglected more or less at a younger age and get pursued more when they reach a more marriageable age? And the vice-versa for women who possess the ideal qualities for STM?"

B: "For younger women who are shy and faithful, i would agree they are low on their sexual accessibility. If they are low on their sexual accessibility, would they be more popular among men then? As we learnt, men cannot tolerate other men inseminating their partners, hence the former would be more than happy to have a partner hardly sexually accessible to other men."


Heh heh.

***

"Being conservative, in the sense of using a very low significance level, has a cost: the smaller the significance level, the larger the critical value, and the more difficult it becomes to reject the null when the null is false. In fact, the most conservative thing to do is never to reject the null hypothesis - but if that is your view, then you never need to look at any statistical evidence, for you will never change your mind!"

This would seem to apply to engaging in arguments with some people too.


"Moralistic punishment is the strategy of punishing others who disobey a moral rule and also sanctioning those who do not punish others for breaking the rule. In principle, moralistic punishment strategies could create cooperation in large groups. However, this mechanism will stabilize any norm that becomes common, whether adaptive or not (wearing ties to work is a humble example of the latter) (Boyd and Richerson 1992)."

***

Bandar Ranked Among World's Top Cities - "Bandar Seri Begawan has been rated 97th in a recent survey of attractive and desirable cities by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The survey was made from 127 cities worldwide"
By that logic, Port Moresby, rated 127th in a recent survey of attractive and desirable cities by the Economist Intelligence Unit, made from 127 cities worldwide, is also ranked among the world's top cities.

M&S in £10m team building dance exercise - "M&S employees are donning fancy dress and dancing in the aisles as part of a reported £10 million team building exercise. It is the brainchild of US business guru and motivator Mary Gober, who calls it "inspirational dancing"... She has been drafted in by M&S boss Stuart Rose to run a series of sessions for the 55,000 shop staff, but shopworkers' union Usdaw described it as a waste of money."

'Whole generation' cannot cook - ""We met some 10-year-old children who could not recognise a bowl of tuna. One pupil called it a donkey," she said. She added that children regularly failed to recognise common vegetables such as leeks and onions."

Some Video Games May Make Kids Less Tolerant of Aggression - "He found that games with a lot of kicking and punching -- as opposed to shooting and killing -- might make kids less tolerant of aggression. The children who played the punching and kicking games were more likely to break up fights when they saw them on the playground, he said."

Psychopaths could be best financial traders? - "A team of U.S. scientists has found the emotionally impaired are more willing to gamble for high stakes and that people with brain damage may make good financial decisions, the Times newspaper reported Monday."

Nice email signature: "Love,Peace, and Chicken Grease, (name)"

"If you give me six lines written by the most honest man, I will find in them something to hang him." - Cardinal Richelieu

***

The Rebirth of the Nonprofit Sector in Post-communist Eastern Europe

"After forty years of communism, people's attitudes are not changed overnight. One of the concerns facing the idea of volunteer service, is that many citizens in the communist days were forced to spy on their neighbors and family members, reporting to proper authorities information they learned. This developed into a deep mistrust of your neighbor, and destroyed much of the cohesiveness of society. Under communism, I am not my brother's keeper, I am my brother's spy.

The Securitate (Secret Police) in communist Romania wielded power over the populace by acquiring information. Neighbors "spied" on neighbors, and earned favor with local political authorities by sharing information -- particularly information of a subversive nature. Over the decades, the entire culture, every relationship is tempered with a cautious -- if not suspicious --wariness. The remnants of this attitude represent a major obstacle to the formation of community and participation in voluntary service organizations. This matter will be addressed further under the topic of establishing legitimacy and credibility for the nonprofit sector."

Frankly, I only read the quoted bit - it was the closest I could find to what I was searching for.

Someone: vague words are the deadliest weapon of an arts essay
can't argue facts? fluff your way out
every one of my paragraphs employs that time-tested method

Me: HAHAHAHA
you're not doing anything to enhance the reputation of a FASS degree ;)

Someone: on the contrary, vagueness is an essential skill
like when clinton said he didn't have sexual relations

Day after day, week after week - the same chant pours forth. The form may vary by a word or two, but always it harps upon a common theme. The theme of the month or half-year might change, but the condescending manner never does, nor does the superior attitude that does not brook the facts of reality, since it works from a pre-determined conclusion.

It is no wonder that so many sacrifice good proportions of their monthly salaries to avoid daily harping.

I'm not going to put anyone else through that misery - ever.

Don't ever let the kiddies know, or they might run away from home.

Before starting to write my term paper, I see that Huichieh has an interesting post pondering the relative sins of offence and harm.

The need to accommodate diverse and sometimes inconsistent styles of life, which may depend for their success on being socially accepted, militates in favor of a "thick skin" approach to the regulation of expressive acts, even where those acts are offensive to others. Friction is a characteristic of social interaction, at least in a pluralistic society. Such societies require of their members a certain robustness of sensibility, so that incivility is sometimes tolerated for the sake of social discourse. But this, it seems to us, is no bad thing.

(As quoted from Simester and von Hirsch)

To which I propose a thought experiment:


Suppose I am part of the 369 gang and a geeky bespectacled schoolboy ("A") offends me by staring at me (actually he likes my spikey dyed ah beng hair). I then get offended, interpreting this as a provocative act, and call my gang members up and start a gang riot.

Can A be convicted both for offending me and starting the chain of events that led to the riot? Especially if Secret Societies have historically been a problem.

Now suppose again that I am part of the 369 gang and a geeky bespectacled schoolboy ("A") offends me by staring at me (once again, he likes my spikey dyed ah beng hair). An upright, righteous and civic-minded citizen ("B"), wary of the damage this could do to the fabric of our society, reports him to the police for offending me and A gets convicted for offending me and potentially causing harm.


Recast the scenario. Now suppose I am still part of the 369 gang and a Mohawked Ah Beng ("C") offends me by telling me that he hates my hairstyle, and that I should change it. I then get offended, interpreting this as a provocative act, and call my gang members up and start a gang riot.

Can C be convicted both for offending me and starting the chain of events that led to the riot? Especially if Secret Societies have historically been a problem.

Now suppose still that I am part of the 369 gang and a Mohawked Ah Beng ("C") offends me by telling me that he hates my hairstyle, and that I should change it. An upright, righteous and civic-minded citizen ("D"), wary of the damage this could do to the fabric of our society, reports him to the police for offending me and C gets convicted for offending me and potentially causing harm.


Should A be convicted? How about C? Was B right to report A to the police? What about D?

Diary of a Chinese High Boy

"I wore my shorts as usual and walked around. Because it was a hot day, I decided to wear my shorts higher so my legs will get more air. So I pull them up to my chest.

I pass this one boy, he look at me and say, "Homo?" which is a dialect for saying "How are you?" I say, "Yes, fine, you too?" Then he smiled at me very funnily. I walked off, but he was staring at my buttocks. Maybe he like the modifications I did to my shorts. Ha ha!

The only ruining of today was that we started with English Literature. What a lousy waste of time! Who in the name of the ancestors wants to learn about old dead people who died long long time ago? Might as well learn about Deng Xiaoping, or Li Bai, or even better, Chairman Mao! And then we read twelfth night, got all this girl dress as guy guy dress as girl nonsense! What lousy decadent Western culture!"

In a survey, 19 males and 19 females were asked whether they preferred an anonymous person's look before or after plastic surgery, or were indifferent. Values of X=1, X=-1 and X=0 were assigned for respondings preferring the subject's new look, old look and being indifferent between the 2 respectively.

1) Calculate Xm Bar (How much a random male will like her new look)

From the data: Xm Bar = -0.26, Standard Deviation = 0.81

(Interpretation: The average guy was mostly indifferent towards the surgery, with a slight tendency to dislike the new look.)

2) Calculate Xf Bar (How much a random female will like her new look)

From the data: Xf Bar = 0.16, Standard Deviation = 0.90

3) Argue that Xi Bar (where i = m or f) represents the sample supporting rate of the surgery

Xi can take values of 0, 1 or -1 which respectively represent indifference, a preference for the post-surgical look and a preference for the pre-surgical look. Xi Bar, being the average value of Xi, thus represents not only the expected response of each respondent, but how supportive the sample as a whole is of the surgery (ie the sample supporting rate).

4) Is Xm Bar less than 0 at the 10% significance level? How about Xf bar? (Are the guys indifferent? Are the girls?)

H0: Xm Bar >= 0 vs
H1: Xm Bar < 0

Since sample size = 19, we must use Student's t distribution with n-1 = 18 degrees of freedom

Critical value: -1.33
T-statistic: -0.26/(0.81)/sqrt19 = -1.40

-1.40 < -1.33, therefore we reject the null hypothesis at the 10% significance level and conclude that most males think she looks worse after the plastic surgery. [Ed: Rejecting the null hypothesis at the 10% significance level means there's a less than 10% chance of rejecting the null hypothesis if it is true.]


H0: Xf Bar <= 0 vs
H1: Xf Bar > 0

[Ed: Some may note that my null here is different. This is because I wanted to test my personal hypothesis that guys prefer the old look and girls the new.]

Since sample size = 19, we must use Student's t distribution with n-1 = 18 degrees of freedom

Critical value: 1.33
T-statistic: 0.16/(0.90)/sqrt19 = 0.77

0.77 /> 1.33, therefore we cannot reject the null hypothesis at the 10% significance level. However, at the 25% significance level, the critical value is 0.69, so we can conclude at the 25% significance level that most females think she looks better post-surgery.

Normally this would be a weak statistical result from which to draw a conclusion, but since this is a frivolous little study, we can conclude relatively certainly that females prefer her new look.

5) Is there a difference between the sample supporting rates for males and females? (Does being male or female affect how likely you are to prefer the results of the plastic surgery?)

H0: Xm Bar - Xf Bar = 0
H1: Xm Bar - Xf Bar /= 0

Xm Bar - Xf Bar = -0.42
Standard Error: sqrt( 0.81^2/19 + 0.90^2/19 ) = 0.28

Since 19 + 19 = 38, we can use the normal distribution.

Critical value: 1.64 (10%)
T-statistic: -0.42/0.28 = -1.5

Therefore we cannot conclude that males and females have different opinions of the surgery at the 10% significance level. However, we can do so at a roughly 13.3% significance level (p-value = 0.133)

6) Give a 90% confidence interval for the population supporting rate, regardless of gender (ie How favourable the population, regardless of gender, is towards the surgery). Interpret this.

(-0.05 +- 1.64[0.28]) = (-0.51,0.41)

We are 90% sure that the true population supporting rate lies within this interval.


Discussion:

It is reasonable to conclude that respondents' answers were independent and identical, since I doubt any were bored or clairvoyant enough to collaborate to screw up my study.

There was possible selection bias: My sample was not random since respondents were young, and internet savvy. Also, some people didn't want to take part (they thought I would show them disgusting pictures). Of those who took part, not everyone saw all of the "Before" pictures (most saw only one).

The suvey did not take into account factors other than gender which might have affected preference for the pre or post operative look (eg sexual orientation, age, religion). This is both because I haven't learnt multiple regression yet and because I can't afford to waste any more time on this trivial study.

Most of the "after" pictures are of the subject in question at an older age with makeup, nicer clothes and a new look. Unfortunately it is impossible to divorce the impact of these factors on her looks from the impact of the surgery.

Lastly, the survey did not measure the strength of preferences (ie How much the respondents preferred or detested the subject's new look), but that would've introduced a whole host of new problems (ie Of subjectivity).


Johnny Malkavian: holy fuck. you must be the only blogger i've read EVER that blogs statistics. you've raised the geekbar so high, it looks like a dot

I just viewed some pictures of someone who underwent extreme plastic surgery. The difference is really quite shocking, especially since I've some "Before" pictures.

Someone: "she looks as if she had a nose job
and her eyes r pretty fucked""


A more detailed analysis:

Someone else: her nose... is so badly done
the guy tt did it ought to have his license revoked

she may have had sth done to her cheekbones and chin
her face is elongated and sharper than it used to be
her entire face shape is changed

Me: worse than MJ?

Someone else: no one can beat mj man
but i can confirm she definitely did her nose and chin
these 2 are definite

[Addendum: There is a palpable gender divide. A majority of males prefer the old look, and a majority of females prefer the new one.

Someone (2): makes her look like a Changi Village Ah Gua]

Quotes:

[On the value of suspicion] People who are utterly trusting are either saints... Saints tend to be sacrificed. They get the worst [treatment] in the world.

[On biased recall of memories by suggestion, and emotions] There was a wave of revealed child abuse cases... the psychologists... advised their patients to confront their perpetrators... it gradually became apparent that there were a number of cases where it couldn't be true... when they looked at the video tapes, the sound tapes, it became obvious the psychologists were leading people on... This father was accused of abusing his daughter. He was in jail at the time.

[On tutorials] I received an email saying I talk too much, and I probably do.

If you use humour or wit; that separates an A plus paper from an A paper or an A minus paper... Originality, humour and wit make an engaging paper worth reading, right to the end.

[On someone sitting outside the circle] It will be hard to lead the discussion from there. Come into the circle of trust.

***. She's not here. Oh! You're here.

[On anthropological studies] I have a lot of disgusting studies. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to share them with you.

[On inter-religious dialogue and understanding] There are many answers, but I'll give you the UN answer, since we live in a united world.

[On Durkheim] Catholics go to Mass, for example. Or they go to Suntec City, for example.

[On my sister asking my brother in law and I to feel the padding in Singaporean bras] If there's something wrong with you, there's something wrong with your sister as well.

[On Lennon's 'Imagine'] I wonder if Marx would approve of this song... 'That's what I've been saying all along! John, you're great!'

[Professor: The KKK, a famous group...] 'Famous group'. He makes it sound like a boyband.

[On problems with the projector] Is anyone here a techno sort of person? (technically inclined)

The short answers look alike to the homework questions. (answer questions look similar)

Some multiple choice [questions] are even more difficult than the short answer questions.

I don't like the textbook example. Talking about test scores. It's bothering. (bothersome)

[On multiple regression] If you have 1 y and 15 x values, you will torture eviews. The software will die.

[On MCQ answer D - "indeterminate"] When students cannot get the answer, they choose d).

This is roar (rho)

How many of you choose A? *hands go up* All the men... A is the answer.

[Me on someone: He's a dashing figure.] All in black. [Me: He's cold. Yet there are people who are able to wear hot shorts.] Women - they have a layer of fat.

war'king years (working)

Back to this boring example.

[On 'no perfect multicollinearity'] The most important thing: the spelling. The spelling is so long. Once you get the spelling right...

person'teej (percentage)

there's nothing new

The answer is...? Should we run Eviews first?

In other work (words)

q z'yeah (j)

If these 2 firms can co'load (collude)

This is not crap (correct)

According to the duh minor function (demand)

My solution was crap (correct)

We only need to consider the third guess (case)

Gifted mathematicians can think mathematics. Ordinary mortals like you and I can't... Even mathematicians learn it and practise it until they know it. They're really strange creatures.

[On requests for expert commentary on social issues] 99.9% of the thing the media want to know about are things for which there are no experts in the department... what we end up doing is: "I'm not really an expert in this, but if we work from first principles..."

I like to read what's on people's T-shirts. They tend to forget... [To someone wearing a female top with 'hot and delicious', or something to that effect] You're covering your chest now.

Why do women and not men like to cover their mouths when they laugh?

Ah, late. You get to sit next to me then. That's your punishment for the day.

ed chatterer (et cetera)

I left a blue curtle / kettle / curtain / laptop here. (bottle)

He's the lecturer. He can do what he wants. I'm the... teaching assistant. 'Make me a cup of coffee c' *mimes stirring*

[Student: He should really bring back webcast] I'm just the guy who makes coffee c.

[Student: All he talks about in his lecture is going to a CD shop] And then he plays John Lennon at the end.

"One of the keys to happiness is a bad memory." - Rita Mae Brown

Random Playlist Song: Riku Nuottajarvi - Yehat (3DO version)

***

Someone on SMU: IMO theyre getting a very watered down version of management and organization theory
i read a lot of HBR/Sloan/K@W and a lot of it is fluff and ambiguous, but theres some useful stuff in there

im actually quite optimistic that SMU is on uptrend
currently its sucky
but i predict that with some reforms they can do pretty gd in 5-10

they need to reposition themselves into being hardcore on quant
what they call soft skills is secondary import
priority should be hard stuff like quant stats

i think that theyre not positioning themselves right
higher ed is very strategic
their focus on soft skills detracts from developing their core

in the end its useless to try for grad sch
so they end up making all these entry level ppl with an smu degree

i think it would be really hard to get into a good masters prog in econ, finance
or even the social sciences they claim to study
because its clearly not academically rigorous

that said its on an uptrend
if it was a stock i would buy now
and if i were at that level i might consider going

that said, im willing to do a serious study into the business model of SMU
we should make it a project of ours to document whats done right and whats lacking
then we sell it back to them as consultancy work


Heh heh.

***

Bunny suicides - I find these cartoons inexplicably fascinating. It's just like slowing down to view a car crash, really.

Asian Prince on Wikipedia - Naturally, I added to it.

***

Most attached people put pictures of their significant others as their handphone wallpapers. If they are not, girls usually put a picture of themselves with friends or of some cute thing (then again, attached girls sometimes do that). Meanwhile, male slaves put pictures of Japanese bikini models, and when they get their letter of parole they either switch to pictures of women flashing less skin and cleavage, random funny pictures ("like.. photos of... toilet bowls or sth"), the default wallpaper or something similarly simple like smiley faces.

So during one lecture, I saw this girl in front of me who'd put her own picture as the wallpaper. I remarked on that to a friend somewhat too loudly, and I think the girl in question heard me, because she looked at me funnily and then left the lecture early.

Someone tells me she knows guys who do that too, and one friend says he uses "a specially design wallpaper with myself on it", so.


Seen in the library: "Feature films in our library is (sic) strictly for use in relation to a course of study. This is a condition imposed by the Media Development Authority as our films are not censored"

I love these academic privileges. Our young and innocent 19 year old girls get to view filth that even 21 year olds (and indeed everyone else in our fair nation) are considered too immature to consume; that we, as a society, are not ready for. The flower of our youth are being corrupted by the malign influence of unwholesome foreign films.

Better send them to re-education camps in Third World countries to do hard labour, through which they will be spiritually cleansed and purged of evil thoughts. Going to rural Thailand to build toilets, for example.

Oh. They already do that sort of thing.


There's this tutorial room which I have a weekly lesson, and every week when I go in, it smells of cows.

Routing The Race Deniers (Not That They’ll Notice)

"In response to PBS's claim that, "Race is a modern idea. Ancient societies did not divide people according to physical differences…," Miele writes a definitive chapter showing,

"The art of the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece, Rome, India, and China, and the Islamic civilization from AD 700 to 1400 shows that these societies classified the various peoples they encountered into broad racial groups. They sorted them based upon the same set of characteristics—skin color, hair form, and head shape—allegedly constructed by Europeans when they invented 'race' to justify colonialism and white supremacy."

... Rejecting the straw man argument that the existence of race would require a race for everyone and everyone in his race, Sarich and Miele call races "fuzzy sets." They write,

"Human races are not, and never were, distinct, mutually exclusive, Platonic entities into which every living person, unearthed skull, or set of bones could be pigeonholed."" [Ed: Emphases original]

Unfortunately, the rest of the site does not seem as lucid.


I find the fact that some people deny the existence of race amazing. Many trumpet the fact that genes vary more within races than between them.

Using this same logic, species don't exist either since genetic distances within species can overlap with those between species.

Fearing the implications and corollaries of facts does not mean you have to deny them and commit intellectual suicide.

[Addendum: Race may not be a clear cut thing, but it definitely exists, even if it's more a gradient than a collection of neat categories.

People of different races have different susceptibility to different illnesses, for example. And often, it is a convenient proxy for bureaucratic expediency, though all too often in the interests of expediency exceptions are forgotten.

Even if race is used to justify domination and discrimination, that does not mean that we should deny its existence. It's like saying that since Social Darwinism led to eugenics and the Holocaust, we should pretend that Evolution is bogus. Or that since nuclear research may be used for making weapons of mass destruction, we should then stop using nuclear. Even if the concept of race was totally useless, does that mean that we should tell a lie in order to prevent racial discrimination? Surely what we should do would be to educate people and show them why racial discrimination is wrong. And how many convenient lies could or should we then tell? And who would decide when lying was acceptable?]

***

"[W]ith a bit of nerve, time and ingenuity, many rules can be dodged. A firm must by law have a physical (not electronic) file on every worker. Another Cracow technology company tracks its employees' activity using modern software, but keeps a paper-based system recording an entirely bogus reality where everyone arrives at 0800 and leaves at 1600.

The real routine—enthusiastically accepted by the well-paid staff—breaks both daily and weekly statutory limits on hours worked. But that's not the point. The harried manager explains, “When respectable executives in respectable companies are forced by lunatic legislation to break the law because it is impossible to run the company legally, they have to focus on issues that have nothing do to with competitiveness or adding value. It is extremely demotivating. Plus respect for politicians and administration crumbles and ‘thin end of the wedge' issues arise—if we are breaking some laws, where do we stop?”"

--- The Economist on Poland

This sounds like the SAF. Or indeed, any company or organisation which is ISO-certified.

***

Vegetarian Shoes

"I had started to teach myself to make shoes four years earlier after leaving Art College. I was inspired to hear that in parts of Africa, car tyres were recycled into soles. This got me thinking and soon I was making shoes out of anything I could lay my hands on, but being veggie I didn't want to use leather.

Then I made an exciting discovery, -a synthetic Microfibre material used for yachting upholstery. It looked and felt like supple leather, but was 'breathable', unlike other plastics. After some experimenting, I realised that this was what I had been looking for, and Vegetarian Shoes was born."

Let's blog, but do it properly

I refer to the articles 'Teach students the dos and don'ts of blogging' (ST Sept 29) and 'School act against students for 'flaming' teachers on blogs' (ST Sept 27).

Have we reached a blog-kage? It is a widely held axiom that citizens of a largely multiracial nation must strive to preserve racial harmony.

It is therefore imperative that seditious, racist remarks be barred from surfacing in public domains which can result in serious ramifications such as the jeopardy of our long preserved social cohesion.

Therefore in my opinion, it is absolutely justifiable that the trio who made inflammatory remarks in their blogs be hauled to the court.

More recently, some junior colleges meted out punishment to students who 'flamed' their teachers on the net.

The Singapore Teacher's Union offers backing to teachers who wish to take legal action against students who included diatribes in their blogs.

There was even a response in The Straits Times Forum which suggested that the do's and don'ts of blogging be taught in school.

Here are some alternatives which I can think of that one may wish to employ to ensure that our contents will not provoke any discontent.

We could install identification checks at blogging websites to prevent under-aged users from blogging.

After all, there is a great deal of responsibility involved in blogging, so we have to teach it in school.

If not, we can always impose our draconian tried and tested rating system of Gs, PGs and M18s on local blogs for the viewer's discretion.

A uniform set of blog contents and parameters can be imposed on our netizens through virtual laws to prevent them from venturing away from the circumscribed sphere of sanctioned topics.

We will then have effectively become blogger-citizens of the Stepford nation and disneyfied the virtual world in a way no other country has achieved. Kudos for showing the way!

With the thought of being sued for defamation for penning our thoughts too honestly on the net, the truncheon of authority that is wielded over our heads guarantees the curtailing of interesting contents, literary expressions and subjects which our young bloggers can concoct.

We will have succeeded in creating a newer, more banal species of blogs and bloggers. Andrew Sullivan, an essayist for Time magazine, has mentioned that blogging is 'serious inasmuch as it conveys real ideas and feelings in as unvarnished and honest a form as possible'.

We will have proven that Sullivan has made a fictitious point!

Let us all enthuse blogging and show the others the correct aptitude we should have for blogging.

Xu Hong Ming


In the words of my Upper Secondary A Maths Teacher: "WELL DONE!"

Wow. This must be the first ST forum letter parody/satire I've ever seen.

I wonder if the editor realised that this wasn't written by the usual gang of idiots. Either way it tells you something about our most esteemed broadsheet!

Miss NUS was being irrational:


Me: http://www.boobiethon.com/

Her: they are all fat ugly boobs mostly anyway. gross if u ask me

Me: haha
ang mohs are big
you're just jealous ;)

Her: americans are fat
i am so glad i'm not american

not all angmohs are big.. goodness dont u know -slaps forehead-
only americans. cos they are fat, land of macdonalds it is

Me: eh hello
on average ang mohs are bigger
the mean and median are higher

duh

don't play statistics with me ok
I'm an economist

Her: i dont know where the hell u got ur info from
ur source is all crap
ditch it

thais are huge also. are they angmoh

Me: they have breast implants
you looking at too many transsexuals ah

Her: i'm basing my knowledge on the actual bra sizes available in those countries
french girls arent as big as americans for example
and thailand has all sort of sizes it's scary

and designs too.
according to my friends thailand is the best place for underwear shopping in this region

Me: my info: observation, interviews
yes but they're bigger than chinese

maybe thais are luckier than chinese then heh

Her: anyway some chinese have humongous breasts too
like u . HAHA

Me: SOME

Her: yah same for angmohs. dont cap them all the same u bloody generalising economist
there are so many countries whose people fall under 'angmoh'. too generalise already

and americans are fat
hence the huge boobs from america
europeans arent as tua neh neh

Me: ...
in general, ang mohs are larger than chinese
larger does not mean HUGE

Her: now which part are u referring to when u mean 'larger'
how confusing
body size or chest size
nahbey ur argument got movable standards one

Me: BREAST

hello. what's wrong with you
denial :)

Her: hahahahahahaahhaahahhaah
u are cheating
still dare to say
and i'm tired and grouchy

Me: Use of the contraceptive pill can also cause an increase in breast size
haha

Her: no wonder i've read so much american chick literature which mentions that
and i think i read much less trash than the average female singaporean population

imagine what other silly ideas are being planted in their head
therefore ur interviewees are probably biased as well. due to exposure to only one type of materials (rubbish books from US)
therefore ur interviews are declared void

hence i say ur sources are crap.
wahlau u're the one in denial

Me: ???
you're being irrational

what are your sources

Her: walking in the underwear department of 3 different continents
and collating information from other people who have done the same hahahahahaa

eh beats getting 2nd hand info right

curious : have u any figures of asian americans and asian asians

anyway last point: americans are the most overweight in the world
wouldnt that make for significanltly fatter boobies than the rest of the world

Me: wait
let me log into nature

"In a study in Hawaii, Maskarinec et al (2001) found that Chinese and Japanese women had a lower absolute area of mammographic density than Caucasian, Philippine or native Hawaiian women, but due to their smaller breast size, had a higher percentage density (which would correspond more closely to the Tabar pattern IV and V than absolute area of density)."

"The ethnic difference in absolute mammographic density was particularly evident among women older than age 50 years. Additional adjustment for breast size reduced these ethnic differences."

"Breast size differed across the three ethnic groups. Asian Americans (361,300 pixels) were significantly smaller than African Americans (662,900 pixels) or Whites (495,400 pixels), whereas Whites were significantly smaller than African Americans."

[Ed: Information is taken from papers published in Nature and the American Journal for Epidemiology on breast cancer]

Her: no i dont think u ah hahahahaha
this is an american study
find an international one [Ed: One of the studies was from the United Kingdom]

Me: so you claim only ang moh women eat a lot
chinese women in the US don't

I think they adjusted for body weight
they're not that dumb [Ed: There was talk of multivariate regressions so I assume body weight was controlled for.]

Her: no i claim the diet in america makes all the people there significantly fatter
u never know how the lard might affect the fats in ur breasts hahaha

Me: yes
so in america, ang mohs have bigger breasts than chinese
tada

Her: maybe they angmohs have more adverse reaction to fats hahahahaha
u place them in europe they might end up smaller than the chinese

Me: you're being irrational

Her: u're taking what u read too literally
studies can be manipulated to reflect personal bias
studies can be found to support personal bias

Me: you do know that an A in Singapore is equal to an AA in Spain?

hah! and what's your personal bias?
you're being ridiculous
nothing I say will convince you like this

Her: u sound like a crazed christian. if bra sizes were god

Me: wth

I have statistical evidence from 2 studies. You have personal bias.


Information on this contentious issue from wider minds is solicited.

Why I wasted so much time arguing something that is immediately visually intuitive is beyond me.

"We have really everything in common with America nowadays except, of course, language." - Oscar Wilde

Random Playlist Song: John Lennon - Imagine

Imagine there's no heaven,
It's easy if you try,
No hell below us,
Above us only sky.
Imagine all the people
living for today...

Imagine there's no countries,
It isn't hard to do,
Nothing to kill or die for,
And no religion too.
Imagine all the people
living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possesions,
I wonder if you can,
No need for greed or hunger,
A brotherhood of man,
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer,
but I'm not the only one,
I hope some day you'll join us,
And the world will live as one.


I first heard this song when it was held up in a classroom setting as a song advocating an utopian vision of peace. Perhaps because my close reading skills (hah!) weren't well developed at the time, or more likely because the lyrics weren't flashed for us (IIRC), I didn't realise at the time that it was an anti-religious song. On a second reading, all its anti-establishment sentiments come gushing out.

Interestingly, the socialist verse doesn't seem to have been present in an earlier version of the song, so originally the song's sole subject was religion.

Musically, it doesn't feel very developed, for some reason - more like an afterthought.

***

In a discussion on whether alcohol is Haram in Islam, beowulf points to this fascinating Wikipedia entry on Hanafi Islam:

"Hanafi is the largest of the four schools; it is followed by approximately 30% of Muslims world-wide. The other three schools of thought are Shafi, Maliki, and Hanbali.

The Hanafi school is considered to be one of the more liberal-for example, under Hanafi jurisprudence, blasphemy is not punishable by the state, despite being considered a civil crime by some other schools.

Another telling example pertains to the consumption of liquor. The Hanafi school defines liquor (khamr) only as wine made from the pressing of grapes, and this interpretation does not include other alcoholic beverages (e.g. beer, mead etc), which are classified as muskirāt (intoxicants). As such, if one follows the strict interpretation by Hanafi, only the consumption of grape wine, no matter how little the amount, renders an offender liable to the Sharia punishment of 80 lashes. However, this does not mean that the drinking of other alcoholic beverages is permitted; Hanafi calls for the same punishment on those who consume liquor (other than wine) to the point of being intoxicated."

***

Coverup girl

"In her 45 years, Barbie has been a doctor, pilot and figure skater, to name just a few accomplishments of this busty vinyl overachiever. But some in the Muslim world also consider her a decadent symbol of the West - hence Saudi Arabia's recent decision to ban Barbie along with her "revealing clothes and shameful postures."

So what's a kid to play with?

We don't know about the Saudis, but in at least one other conservative Persian Gulf nation the answer is . . . Fulla!"

***

Professors fight to keep Swift on syllabus as Pakistan's Islamists target 'vulgar' classics

"A review of books studied in the English courses at Punjab University in Lahore singled out several texts, including Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock, Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, and Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels as containing offensive sexual connotations which were deemed "vulgar".

The review appears to have been triggered by complaints made about the syllabus by the wife of a retired army general. She criticised the inclusion of two poems, including one by WH Auden, which she said promoted Jews, and a poem by Vikram Seth, who she said was too pro-Indian. She also said the poems of Adrienne Rich were unsuitable for study because she is a lesbian. "We have been tolerant for too long," the general's wife said in a meeting with academics from the department...

... Perhaps the most bizarre criticism is of a Sean O'Casey play, The End of the Beginning. Dr Arif makes no specific comment on the text but quotes several passages in which the apparently objectionable phrases are underlined. They include the phrase: "When the song ended, Darry cocks his ear and listens." Dr Arif has underlined the word "cocks"."


The Koran, Surah 56 - The Event, Verse 35-38

"Lo! We have created them a (new) creation
And made them virgins,
Lovers, friends,
For those on the right hand"

Excellent essay on what Power Rangers is, and why SPD sucks:

"PR doesn't just have aliens and wizards, it has alien wizards. Sorcerers using incredible super-technology spanning galaxies and tens of thousands of years. PR is never simply about science or magic over one another, it's about both run together in inventive ways. Up until about Lightspeed and Time Force, PR understood that -- and when TF would try and introduce magic (like Wes' ancient Battle Fire armor), the graft was so jarring over the otherwise unrelentingly tech-y Timeranger that it became downright comical. Forever Red is a great episode -- in a season otherwise bereft of technology or "created" Zords. Taken solely as a part of Wild Force, it makes absolutely no sense. NS and DT were the first time in years PR had again mastered the science/magic balance so necessary to the franchise's ludicrous suspension of disbelief.

As much as we deride season one MMPR (and god knows I do), it was heir to something remarkable. PR was co-developed by Tony Oliver, one of the voice actors and writers on the series Robotech. Robotech grafted three wholly unrelated anime programs together, creating a generational saga about an alien fuel source spanning worlds and two major galactic civilizations. It was incredible. Robotech had the freedom to grab what elements it needed from the source material and aggressively redialogue the material in order to take those elements to the fore.

PR has a similar freedom of scope. Can you imagine doing anything like MMPR with Jetman or GoGoV as the central element? Somehow Oliver had the vision of what could be done with Zyuranger's gorgeous aesthetics and "blank slate" storytelling approach, how two of the villains could be made into flying monkeys and force the fantastic Oz aspects to the fore. And yet, like Robotech was Southern Cross and Mospeda slaved to a reinterpretation of Macross, PR was Dairanger and Kakuranger slaved to a reinterpretation of Zyuranger. PR was such that further Sentais like Ohranger or even Gingaman could be bent almost unrecognizably out of shape in stark defiance to the source material in order to accommodate "PR" elements.

Megaranger was a "space" Sentai that never went into space. I've seen the original concept artwork, with jet harnesses taking the team into orbital battles. It was gorgeous. Saban Entertainment clearly looked at that concept art, looked at the finished high school dramedy Megaranger, and said "fuck it, we're doing space." PR used to be free enough that it could work in utter defiance of the source material and it held together. Most of the sequences in Space that had the Megaship out of Earth's orbit looked awful, but the narrative weight of the program held it together."

Seeing the Penniless in Singapore project done for a SMU "creative thinking" module has prompted me to pen some thoughts on that wonderful place. I was considering going there to do some field work and engage in participant observation, but I'd stick out like a sore thumb because I can't do gymnastics.

The SMU experience starts off with a compulsory $300 3 day orientation, at which "they had absolutely no fun at fuck", there were briefing and execution phases before each game and debriefings and After Action Reviews after, and at which people threw away their waterlogged SAF sports shoes after wet games.

You have to wonder at a place that requires one to pass courses in "analytical skills", "creative thinking", "leadership and team building" and best of all: "The Finishing Touch" (including modules on networking, etiquette and personal grooming) to graduate. It all sounds more like a finishing school or something out of NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) than an academic institution. And of course there's the compulsory 80 hours of community service a year - easily fulfilled by going on an overseas expedition, since even sleeping hours are counted this way.

Apparently SMU's philosophy is that a lot of what you learn in normal universities is useless anyway, so they try to inject a dose of practicality into the curriculum. In that case, they should introduce courses which are *really* practical in the workplace to make them even more popular with corporations; "Taichi for the workplace - how to push your work to others", "Sucking up to your boss", "Backstabbing for climbing the corporate ladder", "Meeting annual goals through creative description" and "Making use of watercooler gossip for fun and profit" - they should just subscribe everyone to Dilbert for the duration of their course in SMU. In any case, we have a name for Institutions of Higher Learning which focus on practicality: Polytechnics. [Ed: I don't usually do disclaimers, but since this is Singapore, it is conceivable that I am biased against polys, so.]

One source told me that a common greeting there is "cheers", and that normal people go in and come out "false", "pretentious" and speaking with funny accents. My source then affected a bimbotic valley girl accent. I'm not sure how generalisable the experiences of this source are, but another little bird claims that "normal" (ie probably abnormal) people who go in come out "liberated". Meanwhile a third person (a native source) describes the place as soulless - people are only interested in networking, making money and getting good jobs (but since Singapore is soulless anyway it's "ultra practical").

Academically, the first source told me that the way to score presentation marks is to talk with gusto, even if you spouting bullshit, and that you get marks for shooting people down (so I guess it's good for the business world). He continued and described SMU as the 'centre of banality in Singapore', and related how during their 'creative thinking' module, the students were given the phrase 'tabula rasa', and told to do anything with it. The students asked the Professor, but he just replied 'up to you' - exactly like business bullshit.

Perhaps they have been coasting by so far on all their marketing hype, so much so that some students have started believing it (some of them have the "We're from SMU. Therefore we must be special" attitude), just as some NUS students believe that 18th place on one of the many extant global University rankings is significant, but when the bullshit is discovered, the game will be over. Then again, Business has a good deal of bullshit anyway, so maybe SMU is doing something right (for Business at least).

Despite (or maybe because) of all this, SMU is loved by many of their students (more so than NUS at least), and they turn out better dressed, more confident students ("i have not met a senior, who after all their years in SMU is meek" - though that's probably mostly due to their intake in the first place). So maybe they are doing *something* right.

***

Me: SMU people don't bitch about bidding right

Someone else: not as much as u all. got online petitions. haha

i think smu ppl all scared of offending the administration
but that time there was this guy who sent out mass emails to protest against the fee hike.

the sch suddenly raise sch fees to 6.5k. then that guy damn courageous. pointed out that all the "dialogue sessions" with the dean, provost, president etc are all wayang becoz the student representatives invited are all sCholars! naturally they'll agree with whatever the sch does. and they dun have to pay sch fees anyway. then he gain alot of support, ppl kept fwding the emails he sent out.

at first the sch was damn firm on the fee hike. iin the end they had to back off a little and raise it in stages.
but such courageous ppl are rare in smu. he's probably the only one. haha.
we only learn how to wayang

Me: haha didn't whack him
what happened to SMU people being different?
bah

Someone else: aiya cock 1 la. haha


Someone: my professor just used newton to prove that we could do well in class
he's from NUS.
F=mA. he claims m and a are motivation and aptitude

Me: ...
and F is your grade?
no wonder NUS didn't want him haha

Someone: the F part was a joke
and nobody laughed other than some india students who thought it was very funny

Me: I think it's very funny. for different reasons
haha

Someone: i immediately received 3 msn messages saying "this guy's jokes are very cold"
from different people in my class


Also see: Previously posted conversation on silly grading methods in SMU (from November 2004 archives)

[Addendum:

Someone (2): business is 80% shit and 20% real stuff
it's true

i've studied business, i've studied computing, i've studied maths
business is the ultimate bullshit
not only in coporate world
but also in texts]

"Anyone can do any amount of work provided it isn't the work he is supposed to be doing at the moment." - Robert Benchley

Random Playlist Song: Raffles Chorale - Mate Saule

***

Magnatune: MP3 music and music licensing (royalty free music and license music)

"We're a record label. But we're not evil.

We call it "try before you buy." It's the shareware model applied to music. Listen to 418 complete MP3 albums we've picked (not 30 second snippets).

We let the music sell itself, because we think that's the best way to get you excited by it.

Our selection is intentionally small: we never waste your time with mediocre music.

If you like what you hear, download an album for as little as $5 (you pick the price), or buy a real CD, or license our music for commercial use. And no copy protection (DRM), ever.

Artists keep half of every purchase. And unlike most record labels, they keep all the rights to their music.

No major label connections.

We are not evil...

Give 3 Free Copies to Your Friends

While other record labels are busy suing their customers for introducing their friends to great music...

At Magnatune, we want you to copy our music for your friends.

Yes, at Magnatune you can legally copy any album you buy for up to 3 of your friends."

***

Event Title: Exploring The Da Vinci Code

Organizer: Campus Crusade For Christ

Description: Hello everyone! Heard about the bestseller novel The Da Vinci Code? Read it already? This fictional thriller, being a mix of fact and fiction has intrigued many and raised controversies on the true origin of Christianity! Was Jesus really married to Mary Magdalene? Is the bible collated by Constantine? Find out the biblical truths behind this novel by Dan Brown. This is a video talk lasting 65 mins by apologeticist Mike Licona, director of Apologetics Evangelism at the North American Mission Board. So come and join us in discovering the truths behind the claims made in the The Da Vinci Code! Refreshments will be provided after the video. All are welcomed!


Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Unfortunately, I'll be having a midterm then.

***

EULAlyzer - Analyze license agreements for interesting words and phrases - "EULAlyzer can analyze license agreements in seconds, and provide a detailed listing of potentially interesting words and phrases. Discover if the software you're about to install displays pop-up ads, transmits personally identifiable information, uses unique identifiers to track you, or much much more."

Lithium Ion battery care tips - So troublesome. I'd rather get a new one. Even longer essays on batteries at Battery University.

I Am A Terrorist Or “How I Threatened To Burn My Professor At The Stake” - "According to the bible, “Thou shalt not suffer a Witch to live.” (Exodus 22:18) I feel strongly that “Dr.” Patton’s heretical teachings in the voodoo field of neuroscience constitutes witchcraft. Therefore, next Wednesday before lecture, I call on my fellow Christians to gather rope and kindling so that we may burn “Dr.” Patton at the stake. It is my firm belief that we must set fire to ALL heretics who seek to destory our most cherished Christian beliefs. This may be crazy or irrational, but it is the only recourse I have that might actually accomplish something. Sure, I could boycott class all semester, but who else aside from me would care?" (Link from Post Hoc, Egro Propter Hoc)