Tuesday, September 24, 2002
Perhaps, I am missing my old life so much.
In the middle of the misty morning in Ann Arbor, just after I managed to earn a full mark for my programming assignment, I could remember only one thing :
Bung wak bung wek wek,
Bung kak bung kek kek,
Who are we?
The Malay College,
Can't you see,
Yeah.
I really miss those short years when life was not as hectic as now. I'm starting to miss all of my ex-classmates, ex-dormmates, ex-schoolmates, the teachers; the environment, the atmosphere. I miss the sight of the grand Overfloor, the smell of the old Big Tree, the sound of the cheering Collegians and the taste of foods served in the Carey Hall.
Well,
Hail! to the victors valiant
Hail! to the conqu'ring heroes
Hail! Hail! to Michigan
the leaders and best
Hail! to the victors valiant
Hail! to the conqu'ring heroes
Hail! Hail! to Michigan,
the champions of the West!
To Koleq and to the Wolverines, may we emerge victorious.
p/s - about the food at the Carey Hall, I take that back.
In the middle of the misty morning in Ann Arbor, just after I managed to earn a full mark for my programming assignment, I could remember only one thing :
Bung wak bung wek wek,
Bung kak bung kek kek,
Who are we?
The Malay College,
Can't you see,
Yeah.
I really miss those short years when life was not as hectic as now. I'm starting to miss all of my ex-classmates, ex-dormmates, ex-schoolmates, the teachers; the environment, the atmosphere. I miss the sight of the grand Overfloor, the smell of the old Big Tree, the sound of the cheering Collegians and the taste of foods served in the Carey Hall.
Well,
Hail! to the victors valiant
Hail! to the conqu'ring heroes
Hail! Hail! to Michigan
the leaders and best
Hail! to the victors valiant
Hail! to the conqu'ring heroes
Hail! Hail! to Michigan,
the champions of the West!
To Koleq and to the Wolverines, may we emerge victorious.
p/s - about the food at the Carey Hall, I take that back.
Saturday, September 14, 2002
This is going to be my first serious entry for the first time after a very, very long time.
The whole universe is made up from an abstract and a concrete object – energy and matter in a strict sense. Most physics and mathematical equations that we have ever encountered are made up to explain the behaviors of energy and matter in one way or another. Take the special theory of relativity itself; E = mc² for E is energy, m is mass and c is the speed of light. The equation simply states that energy and matter are interconnected; energy can be converted to matter with a “if and only if” relationship. That relationship without doubt strengthened my argument beyond reasonable doubt.
Both “objects” (if both of these things are allowed to be called as object at all) can be found everywhere where time is defined. The area where time is defined is from the center of the universe to its still expanding edge of course. On our precious planet herself, energy and matter are plentiful where it’s under the water, on land or in the blue sky.
Nevertheless, most the energy presents are wasted without even 1% of its potential tapped successful with full efficiency. Take the unleaded fuel used by the everyday vehicles for a point. The engine, particularly the Japanese-made vehicle, is designed to be at maximum efficiency level allowed by the current technology. Although this may sounds good, the real fact is the current technology does not allow 100% effectiveness. Some of the energy produced (or rather lots of them) are wasted simply by excess heat. There is another case that supports this notion of wasted energy - the production of energy by various power plants. These plants produce energy but this energy is needed to be transported for the plants to the users. During transportation, our technology allows us to reduce the wasting of energy to numerous methods (the usage of transformers for instance) but still, precious amount of energy is still wasted away.
The production of energy is not simply a matter of producing it and transferring it effectively. To produce energy, coal, oil and gas are burned; matters are separated and as a direct result, more carbon dioxide in the air, damaged local ecosystem and the risk of harmful radiation.
The only way to evade these problems is the usage of renewable energy. Renewable energy is a “some type” of energy that could be produced without the need to worry about depleting resources (do not confuse it with the “energy type” that divides energy into heat, potential, kinetics, etc. And certainly, energy can’t be produced. The term “energy production” does not mean the “creation of energy”).
Renewable energy envisions us forever to have the resources needed to produce energy endlessly. Wind, hydro, thermal and solar powers are some of the exciting possibilities. To add to the bright advantage, renewable energy doesn’t pollute badly but then again, they pollute at the lowest imaginable level which literally means no pollution. (The building of dam nevertheless needs to be avoided for although it is considered as an act of producing clean energy, dam destroyed the local ecosystem and forever alters the condition of a habitat.)
When it comes to renewable energy (a subset of clean energy), cost for sure will follow up and discourage its usage. The initial cost of settings up the equipments is no doubt is high but its long term benefits far exceeds its short term cost. As comparison, coal plants need a continuous supply of coal, a resource which we know is fast diminishing. A lack of supply means an increase in price and therefore, the cost of running a coal plant will increase with time. The cost of running solar panels or wind turbines on the other hand per unit time will continue to be lowered as there is no cost other than maintenance. Sure, it is an economic way of making things done.
As you can see, the habit of using renewable energy does not only favor environmentalism idea but it also helps capitalism to do business for the “good for us all”. And the efficiency of wind turbine and solar panel is increasing steadily and there is no hesitation that it efficiency will be raise to a very efficient level.
The future holds a more thrilling option. Fusion, cold fusion and others provide us the option of producing energy without having to worry about where to get the resources. Although I hate Star Trek so much that I would love to go back in time and eliminated Gene Roddenberry, the idea of warp core very much possible, at least in theory. The idea is mainly based in matter-antimatter reaction which I will not indulge myself to explain as I am no physicist. However, the warp core ability to produce substantial amount of energy from matter, in fact from any matter without concerning ourselves with whether the matter is uranium, hydrogen or any other matters is truly magnificent.
If this happens, energy will be as free as air. No cost with no string attached. Simply free. Isn’t that want we want in reality?
p/s - I've just joined the UM Solar Car Team's Power Team. We are mainly resposible for the vehicle power source. Plus, surprisingly, Malaysia Airlnes is one of the sponsors of the team. And, we had USD 1 000 000 last year to develop the car. Talk about a rich club in a rich university.
The whole universe is made up from an abstract and a concrete object – energy and matter in a strict sense. Most physics and mathematical equations that we have ever encountered are made up to explain the behaviors of energy and matter in one way or another. Take the special theory of relativity itself; E = mc² for E is energy, m is mass and c is the speed of light. The equation simply states that energy and matter are interconnected; energy can be converted to matter with a “if and only if” relationship. That relationship without doubt strengthened my argument beyond reasonable doubt.
Both “objects” (if both of these things are allowed to be called as object at all) can be found everywhere where time is defined. The area where time is defined is from the center of the universe to its still expanding edge of course. On our precious planet herself, energy and matter are plentiful where it’s under the water, on land or in the blue sky.
Nevertheless, most the energy presents are wasted without even 1% of its potential tapped successful with full efficiency. Take the unleaded fuel used by the everyday vehicles for a point. The engine, particularly the Japanese-made vehicle, is designed to be at maximum efficiency level allowed by the current technology. Although this may sounds good, the real fact is the current technology does not allow 100% effectiveness. Some of the energy produced (or rather lots of them) are wasted simply by excess heat. There is another case that supports this notion of wasted energy - the production of energy by various power plants. These plants produce energy but this energy is needed to be transported for the plants to the users. During transportation, our technology allows us to reduce the wasting of energy to numerous methods (the usage of transformers for instance) but still, precious amount of energy is still wasted away.
The production of energy is not simply a matter of producing it and transferring it effectively. To produce energy, coal, oil and gas are burned; matters are separated and as a direct result, more carbon dioxide in the air, damaged local ecosystem and the risk of harmful radiation.
The only way to evade these problems is the usage of renewable energy. Renewable energy is a “some type” of energy that could be produced without the need to worry about depleting resources (do not confuse it with the “energy type” that divides energy into heat, potential, kinetics, etc. And certainly, energy can’t be produced. The term “energy production” does not mean the “creation of energy”).
Renewable energy envisions us forever to have the resources needed to produce energy endlessly. Wind, hydro, thermal and solar powers are some of the exciting possibilities. To add to the bright advantage, renewable energy doesn’t pollute badly but then again, they pollute at the lowest imaginable level which literally means no pollution. (The building of dam nevertheless needs to be avoided for although it is considered as an act of producing clean energy, dam destroyed the local ecosystem and forever alters the condition of a habitat.)
When it comes to renewable energy (a subset of clean energy), cost for sure will follow up and discourage its usage. The initial cost of settings up the equipments is no doubt is high but its long term benefits far exceeds its short term cost. As comparison, coal plants need a continuous supply of coal, a resource which we know is fast diminishing. A lack of supply means an increase in price and therefore, the cost of running a coal plant will increase with time. The cost of running solar panels or wind turbines on the other hand per unit time will continue to be lowered as there is no cost other than maintenance. Sure, it is an economic way of making things done.
As you can see, the habit of using renewable energy does not only favor environmentalism idea but it also helps capitalism to do business for the “good for us all”. And the efficiency of wind turbine and solar panel is increasing steadily and there is no hesitation that it efficiency will be raise to a very efficient level.
The future holds a more thrilling option. Fusion, cold fusion and others provide us the option of producing energy without having to worry about where to get the resources. Although I hate Star Trek so much that I would love to go back in time and eliminated Gene Roddenberry, the idea of warp core very much possible, at least in theory. The idea is mainly based in matter-antimatter reaction which I will not indulge myself to explain as I am no physicist. However, the warp core ability to produce substantial amount of energy from matter, in fact from any matter without concerning ourselves with whether the matter is uranium, hydrogen or any other matters is truly magnificent.
If this happens, energy will be as free as air. No cost with no string attached. Simply free. Isn’t that want we want in reality?
p/s - I've just joined the UM Solar Car Team's Power Team. We are mainly resposible for the vehicle power source. Plus, surprisingly, Malaysia Airlnes is one of the sponsors of the team. And, we had USD 1 000 000 last year to develop the car. Talk about a rich club in a rich university.
Wednesday, September 11, 2002
Remembering Sept 11th.
A year ago, I woke up from my slumber and thought it was a joke. I thought it was something that is impossible but it was more than real.
May peace prevail and may hatred be vanquished for the face of the earth.
A year ago, I woke up from my slumber and thought it was a joke. I thought it was something that is impossible but it was more than real.
May peace prevail and may hatred be vanquished for the face of the earth.
Wednesday, September 04, 2002
It has been awhile since I last updated this site. In fact, the last time I wrote something here was almost a month ago. Now, that’s a record.
Last week, I had to live without the internet connection and tell you what; I was seriously messed up without the internet. For some reason, the ITCS office yet again troubled me by not connecting my computer to the University network. The only IP address that my computer offered me was 169.x.x.x, 192.x.x.x and 0.0.0.0. Sometimes, I couldn’t even release my IP address.
I was frustrated at first because I thought was because of my network card gone sour but I bought it just about eight months ago. I disassembled my Ethernet card and reassemble it again and again. I even tried to reinstall the PCI slot although I didn’t really know what I was doing.
In the end, I contacted the ITCS team, told them problem (hoping it was not my computer settings problem) and gave them my network physical address. A few hours later, surprise, surprise – my address was finally assigned by DHCP instead of by automatic private/manually configured address. Damn. I almost thought I have to waste another USD 12 for an Ethernet card.
I made a huge chance this semester. I have decided to go to computer science instead of joining the aerospace engineers. By next semester, I’ll be in that department as I need only one more course and that is EECS 203. I did what President Mary Sue Coleman said, a move forward, a step backward and a quick side step. I can’t recall the exact words but it was something like that. Bollinger was great but Mrs. Coleman, I’ll remember you for helping me sort out my life. I sincerely thank you and am glad to see you at the helm of the University.
And Toni, thanks.
I was supposed to go to a library meeting but I missed it. It was all caused by CAP. If I hadn’t been busy for it, I would already have gotten a place as a librarian in Strauss Library.
Lastly, one thing to ponder; a Czech is teaching Modern Southeast Asia. The professor is an old man in a class of about 40 people. I like him. I looked like my late grandfather. Well, just little a bit.
Nevertheless, Liebermann is still my favorite professor.
Below is the current situation of my province in Utopia Battlefield. I left it alone for almost a week and surprisingly, I suffered no invasion. Battlefield is tough. If I was still in World of Legend, I would have certainly reached half a million of networth.
The Province of Shadow Chaser (xx:xx)
[http://www.UtopiaTemple.com Angel v1.35 Beta]
Utopian Date: January 22nd, YR7
RL Date: September 5th, 2002 (3:00 GMT)
Ruler Name: Sir Chiron the Rogue
Personality & Race: The Rogue, Faery
Land: 1,045 Acres
Money: 1,479,819gc (20,706gc raw daily income)
Food: 60,642 bushels
Runes: 70,978 runes
Population: 28,633 citizens (27.40 per Acre)
Peasants: 8,400 (100% Employed)
Content: b:100%, t:2.9gc, p:99%, m:98%
Trade Balance: 668,939gc (0% tax rate)
Networth: 155,960 (149.24 per Acre)
Thieves+Wizards+Science Networth: 35,874gc
Soldiers: 45 (66.9% estimated draft rate)
Swordsmen: 0
Magicians: 12,798 (51,192 defense points)
Beastmasters: 1,847 (7,388 offense / 11,082 def.)
War-Horses: 0
Prisoners: 0
Total Attack points: 7,478 (7.16 per Acre)
Practical (0% elites): 90 (0.09 per Acre)
Total Defense points: 62,364 (59.68 per Acre)
Practical (100% elites): 62,364 (59.68 per Acre)
Thieves: 4,462 (4.27 per Acre / 100% Stealth)
Wizards: 1,081 (1.03 per Acre / 100% Mana)
Buildings: 1,222gc to build, 611gc to raze
Away bonus: 42,000gc (12h) / 126,000gc (20h)
Last week, I had to live without the internet connection and tell you what; I was seriously messed up without the internet. For some reason, the ITCS office yet again troubled me by not connecting my computer to the University network. The only IP address that my computer offered me was 169.x.x.x, 192.x.x.x and 0.0.0.0. Sometimes, I couldn’t even release my IP address.
I was frustrated at first because I thought was because of my network card gone sour but I bought it just about eight months ago. I disassembled my Ethernet card and reassemble it again and again. I even tried to reinstall the PCI slot although I didn’t really know what I was doing.
In the end, I contacted the ITCS team, told them problem (hoping it was not my computer settings problem) and gave them my network physical address. A few hours later, surprise, surprise – my address was finally assigned by DHCP instead of by automatic private/manually configured address. Damn. I almost thought I have to waste another USD 12 for an Ethernet card.
I made a huge chance this semester. I have decided to go to computer science instead of joining the aerospace engineers. By next semester, I’ll be in that department as I need only one more course and that is EECS 203. I did what President Mary Sue Coleman said, a move forward, a step backward and a quick side step. I can’t recall the exact words but it was something like that. Bollinger was great but Mrs. Coleman, I’ll remember you for helping me sort out my life. I sincerely thank you and am glad to see you at the helm of the University.
And Toni, thanks.
I was supposed to go to a library meeting but I missed it. It was all caused by CAP. If I hadn’t been busy for it, I would already have gotten a place as a librarian in Strauss Library.
Lastly, one thing to ponder; a Czech is teaching Modern Southeast Asia. The professor is an old man in a class of about 40 people. I like him. I looked like my late grandfather. Well, just little a bit.
Nevertheless, Liebermann is still my favorite professor.
Below is the current situation of my province in Utopia Battlefield. I left it alone for almost a week and surprisingly, I suffered no invasion. Battlefield is tough. If I was still in World of Legend, I would have certainly reached half a million of networth.
The Province of Shadow Chaser (xx:xx)
[http://www.UtopiaTemple.com Angel v1.35 Beta]
Utopian Date: January 22nd, YR7
RL Date: September 5th, 2002 (3:00 GMT)
Ruler Name: Sir Chiron the Rogue
Personality & Race: The Rogue, Faery
Land: 1,045 Acres
Money: 1,479,819gc (20,706gc raw daily income)
Food: 60,642 bushels
Runes: 70,978 runes
Population: 28,633 citizens (27.40 per Acre)
Peasants: 8,400 (100% Employed)
Content: b:100%, t:2.9gc, p:99%, m:98%
Trade Balance: 668,939gc (0% tax rate)
Networth: 155,960 (149.24 per Acre)
Thieves+Wizards+Science Networth: 35,874gc
Soldiers: 45 (66.9% estimated draft rate)
Swordsmen: 0
Magicians: 12,798 (51,192 defense points)
Beastmasters: 1,847 (7,388 offense / 11,082 def.)
War-Horses: 0
Prisoners: 0
Total Attack points: 7,478 (7.16 per Acre)
Practical (0% elites): 90 (0.09 per Acre)
Total Defense points: 62,364 (59.68 per Acre)
Practical (100% elites): 62,364 (59.68 per Acre)
Thieves: 4,462 (4.27 per Acre / 100% Stealth)
Wizards: 1,081 (1.03 per Acre / 100% Mana)
Buildings: 1,222gc to build, 611gc to raze
Away bonus: 42,000gc (12h) / 126,000gc (20h)
