Wow its been a while since i wrote anything, so i am back from HK and i am sorta jet lagged i think, but i think i am fine.

Yippeeee

So based on the adsense report, I made nearly 1 whole dollar after posting yesterday. One whole dollar! That is quite amazing, as now I am at $6.90. Although it is quite disheartening to know that I won't get paid anything until I reach $100. So at this rate, it will take me couple years at least.

Only less than a week till I go fly to Hong Kong, and I am excited. Although I do sorta want a DSLR to take some pictures :( Guess I'll have to settle for a crappy 8.0MP camera. Then again I want lots of things :(

Anyways, this post was just a test to see if writing more does actually get me more money. :D

Exams exams examssss

Only 1 to go!!! hoooorayyyy
Too bad math is perhaps the most feared one right now, because only a select people in the class understand what was taught. So here I am slaving away at learning to do math, and I wonder what life would be like if everybody used a different system of measurements (which we sorta do). And on the December '05 Science One Mathematics Final Exam was this:

"Bonus: A certain toper drank one gill of rum every forenoon, and every afternoon, for 6 years;
in consequence of which, he died. How many hogsheads did he drink? [From an 1834
mathematics textbook."

haha that was my lol of the day :D

Safe at last?

So it seems that as medical advances are made daily by researchers sitting in labs, the evolution of bacteria continues. Diseases seen some 100 years ago begin to emerge once more. Often vaccines or drugs are made in order to block and hopefully destroy the harmful bacteria. But like humans, bacteria are able to see the obstacles put before them, and skillfully hurdle these barriers. Medical researchers are frantically attempting to put up more walls, as bacteria born diseases begin to arrive once more. One such disease that is beginning to come back from the dead is tuberculosis. Many may not have even heard of the disease, but statistics report that 1 in 3 people in the world have, or have had, a dormant or active form of tuberculosis.

Complacent attitude toward this disease has slowly allowed it to evolve, and advance. Doctors do not see the risk in such a disease returning. The dormant germs in a hosts body can be activated at any time, with age playing a major role. Once TB is active, doctors inject attack the patient with their first line of offence, anti-TB drugs (grenades). But the bacteria have defenses of their own, and multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) can emerge. This new bug is a result of mismanaged drugs, or misuse of the anti-TB drugs. The war doesn't stop there though; doctors strike again with 2nd line anti-TB drugs, which are more expensive and harder to make (sorta like ICBMs). But once again, MDR-TB is sometimes able to defend itself and evolve into extensively-drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB). XDR-TB is emerging fast today, and the general population is not told about such a thing. The disease is easily spread in close quarters such as buses or elevators. This is a very dangerous disease, and should not be so easily disregarded.

So are we ever really safe from the plethora of disease that may rise from the dead?

This is science

Science as interpretative dance

What a wonderful way to express science. Although I cannot say I would ever do such a thing, those dances are very good. Shows how science isn't just sitting in a lab all the time and reading textbooks.

Also, eating blueberries reverse memory loss, better start eating bags of blueberries everyday.

I love youtube

Taking half steps to infinity

So as it all winds down, it is pretty amazing how the first term is nearly over. Finals are in 2 weeks, and then Christmas. Slowly projects are completed, and as everybody comes to an end, there is always the glimmering light of term 2. I must say that university is different. Textbooks are no longer the primary source of knowledge, and projects never involve anything within textbooks. Spending hours searching for library articles and books have slowly refined my searching abilities. But after all this, it seems that in the future, it will all be worth it. There are always so many things that you want, but only so few that are achievable. Through the months of September, October, and November, although I have learned a great deal from sitting in class lectures, and reading journal articles, I think that it is not what I have learned that is different, but how I learned it. No longer can I just read the textbook and expect myself to understand what to know. I cannot say that I have changed a great deal, because bad habits die hard, but I do try. Waking up everyday in the morning and sitting on the bus going to school, I sit and watch as the people around be wake up and go along their own routine. The boundaries that confine us to what we do make us boring. Spontaneity allows the true expression of what one's thoughts are, and it by doing so, creates interest. Sometimes teachers constrict us, bind us to do what they want us to do. But by doing so, they have revealed how following instructions is merely a fact of life. It is the feeling of breaking these rules, rebelling, that makes us all unique.

If you thought 1 hour lectures were boring...

xkcd makes me happy

So it has been longer than a week since I last posted, and I feel obliged to post something. Although I don't have anything worth while to say, I guess its always good to just write for the sake of writing. Rarely do I ever get to have time to just write what a want; always restricted to writing for school. I must say that I do enjoy writing, and reading, but nobody likes to do things when they are forced into it. But it is this compulsory action that really allows you to get to be better. I never enjoyed English classes in high school, viewing them as a waste of time because how does one learn English from another person? English is like one of those things that you must take on upon yourself to do. Sure you can learn the parts of speech, sentence structure, and how to format essays. But what use is that if you are not able to use it properly? English is a skill that everybody should have, although I cannot say that writing is for everybody. As a young child, my parents introduced me to books, and since then I have always been reading. Writers hold an important part in society, for they are the ones that create dreams for kids, the modern day philosophers. Books hold within them not only stories and fantasies, but to each person it teaches a lesson. Reading as a child allowed me to dream, and also subconsciously learn English. Humans are able to mimic very well, and by reading things over and over again, it is memorized. And it is in this way, that I think I really learned English, rather than from reading poems or short stories.

On another note, why Canadian banks don't need help in this slumping depression.

For good or for bad

Obama wins the US presidency, being the first black person to do it. Obama promises change, but is change good?

Stool transplants

Interesting biology news of the day
So out there in the medical field, people do many interesting things to try and cure things. The bacteria C. difficile infects the intestinal lining, destroying all those lovely proteins that break down food for us. Living up to its name, the bacteria is très difficile to get rid of. Sometimes antibiotics will get rid of it, but usually it just returns. The bacteria causes major diarrhea, which is very unpleasant. But it seems like doctors in Minneapolis have successfully treated patients with this bacteria. Because the bacteria destroys all the helpful bacteria within the colon, the solution appeared to put the bacteria back into the colon. Your own normal bacteria wouldn't work because C. difficile would just destroy it again. But it has been tested that by putting somebody elses stool into the colon, it gets rid of the bacteria. Very bizarre and a tad bit gross.

Changes

So there are many things in life that are unpredictable, things that no matter what you do you will never be prepared for. But indeed it is possible to prepare for most things, although many choose the latter. The freedom of choice is what allows the human mind to be unique. We are able to learn, to teach, and to conquer, but does that make us superior? One of the parameters for natural selection is that it increases the fitness of the organism. I constantly feel that human rights laws stops the process of natural selection, allow the weak to survive. Perhaps everybody has the right to live, but these laws are hindering evolution, not allowing humans to evolve into something better.

Genetic variation does occur within our species, with people born with terminal diseases. Such mutations are known to decrease the fitness of any organism, thus the mutation stops there. But in society, the genes are passed on, not allowing natural selection to properly do its job. So we end with fighting against nature, not allowing changes to occur.

It is already truly amazing the feats that humans can do. Our body has evolved over the million years. Organ systems to do every single thing that we are required to survive. These changes do not occur spontaneously, nor are they coincidences. Millions of years have sculpted our bodys into what they are now. But I do not think evolution is over for us humans. There are still many possibilities for further evolution.

Evolution is part of nature, but in todays society, nature is not allowed to move forward. The genetic mutations are welcomed, and everybody is allowed to survive. No longer is it the survival of the fittest, but rather survival for all. Maybe the abolishment of laws would result in no evolution at all, it is possible that evolution may go in reverse, and thus, humans would end up no better than all the other animals. But there is always the possibility of further evolution. There's always the possibility for something better.

KK

Click those ads on the side every single time you visit my site, it doesn't hurt you, and it helps me :D +/0 commensalism

Also, I've added that search bar which searches through this blog and my other blog, so play around with it

Its over nine thousand!

So it seems that today the stock market rebounded back from its ghastly drop, with the Dow Jones rising 11% to 9,387.61. Although the economy is based mainly on the stock market, us Canadians have seen our Canadian Dollar dropping. I think that's enough economics for today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is an average of about 30 different companies, so by looking at the Dow Jones, it gives you a rough estimate of how the other 30 stocks are doing.

So I have been pondering very deeply about the term 1 project, and I have 2 options so far:
Black Silicon a special type of silicon made when treated with lasers and gases. After the treatment, the silicon turns black, and its surface turns into microscopic spikes. When light strikes these spikes, it bounces back and forth, very rarely does it bounce back out. This new material can be used for solar cells or various things, as almost all technological devices have silicon in them.

Bisphenol A(4,4'-dihydroxy-2,2-diphenylpropane) or BPA is a compound that is found in various plastics. I would hope most of you have already heard about this, as this is the same compound found in nalgene bottles and many other day to day plastic objects. Bisphenol A in the body acts as an endocrine disruptor, meaning that it is both a agonist and antagonist. BPA is able to mimic the bodys own hormones, causing hormone reactions when they are not needed.

So these two are the only things I have thought of, although I do have like 3 days before I need to set my mind.

Everything in moderation

So this morning I woke up thinking about my future, with drool dripping down my face. Where am I going to be 5 years from now? 10 years? These are questions that I think I should not avoid, because what I do today affects what I will become. Today I thought about universities, and what I was want to pursue in my life. Med school seems like a very likely possibility, although I honestly wouldn't mind going to MIT to study anything there. There are so many things that I want to do, but am I capable of doing it all? It seems that much of my time is wasted doing absolutely nothing, and I aim to become more productive. Here are some general guidelines I have set:

1. Learn to play an instrument
2. Read more books
3. Write more
4. Take up a new hobby
5. Stay in shape
   

So far I think these 4 rules shall suffice for now.
Without a goal in mind, I think that aimlessly wandering will get me no where.

Also I've been thinking about other things to take up my time, things that will also require the usage of my brain. I might decide to learn the basics of card counting, and perhaps just play around with it as a hobby. Statistical numbers always seem to amazing me, and math seems to answer a lot of things. Basic math can go a long way, and even then graphs make up a lot in this world that we live in. Every person should be able to understand graphs, and easily extrapolate data from them. Graphs serve as a basis of expressing large sets of data into a easily viewable picture. I think it is our intent to be able to understand the simple things, because from simple things arise the complex ideas.

Just dance

So today I experienced my first time driving, and I must say it was pretty exhilarating. Being able to control that hunk of steel, I maneuvered through the streets of Vancouver, dodging cyclists and crazy pedestrians. But driving to me seems very much like a chore. Today was the first time I have been in a car in about a month or so, which is pretty amazing. I have planned to take my road test in January, which gives me plenty of time to become pro at driving. Even though I don't enjoy driving, it seems to be smarter to get my license just in case I ever do require it.

Also today I ventured back into a part of my past, Chinatown. It seems that Chinatown is imposed as a major tourism place for Vancouver, but if I were a tourist, I would think that Chinatown is the shitpit of Vancouver. You see druggies wandering the streets, various decrepit buildings lying in shambles. Honestly, Chinatown isn't what it used to be. There is no longer even a need to go down there, since you can buy everything there at various shops along fraser and main, or better yet, Richmond. This wandering into the past has allowed me to view the changes that have occurred over the years. Often in life we are too caught up to notice these changes that have taken place, and it is always good to go and revisit the past. I grew up in Chinatown, with my dad withing at a grocery store there. I still remember the Chinatown nightmarket, back when it was actually very interesting. I think that we should never forget where we have come from, and often, we should look back and remember our childhood. It is the memories of childhood that allow us to remember where we have come from.

Adagio

The fast pace world blurs by, everybody too busy to stop and observe. Eyes shift left and right while crossing the street. But I am at ease with myself, taking in everything at my own pace, slowly devouring everything I am given. Yet in this face paced world, you cannot help but be swept along. Economic crises arise erupting, and yet people still live lavishly. AIG execs hold a 3rd retreat, after obtaining bailout of several billion dollars. The world economy is no longer as stable as everybody thinks it is. Thailand begins to feel the pressure of the US economy collapsing, and soon the rest of the world will too. "The universe is 13.73 billion years old. The US national debt is $10.27 trillion." Anybody with any sense of math can calculate that that's around $748 every year since the Big Bang. People are oblivious of the current events and I feel obliged to provide some insight into what is truly happening around the world.

Lucky for me, I live in Canada, the land of universal health care, a budget surplus, and maybe the most financially sound banks in the world. According to Reuters Canada has the top banks in the world, which allows us to be at ease while the rest of the world shakes as the US economy topples. But as sound as our banks can get, it seems that us Vancouverites are at the bottom of the barrel. The gas prices in Vancouver right now are quite low compared to what it has been over the summer, but it turns out that on average, the gas in Vancouver is 10 cents more than the gas in Toronto. Luckily oil prices continue to drop, with the price at $80/barrel, prices are expected to drop some more, and hopefully gas prices will once again be under $1. These events I think are things everybody should know about, as they truly do affect everybody. There is nothing worse than a person who knows nothing about what is going in the world around them.

On a more scientific note, this organism seems to have been discovered to be an ecosystem all by itself. Also, here is an article about the effects of the other CO2 problem, acidity in the oceans.

Highwayman

The sun burning into the mind as he walked down the dark street
Little droplets form on his face while in the eternal heat
The sole of his shoes worn out from the jagged, hard rocks of the road
And he sweated along the road
Curving along the road
At the end of the road, a gift that he was bestowed

She was like a flower, the flush of rose petals in her cheeks
The light of heaven in her eyes, brightly shining as she speaks
The voice of a goddess who wields no weapon except for love
A woman whose heart is to love
Purely and simply to love
And to love in return was all that he wanted of

Into her eyes he gazed, not wanting to whisper his farewell
And then her eyes glistening upon the thoughts his words impel
He slowly turned his back on her deeply sadden as he went
Engulfed in darkness he went
Going alone as he went
The deathly silence, as he went, always in torment

His thoughts are always on her as he walked alone down the road
The emotions storming all through his head, waiting to explode
Trying to forget the past, while tears drip down his empty face
A face that once was happy
The troubles that he had to face
Every night as he sleeps his face always in disgrace

SO what am I interested in... sometimes I really do wonder. I spend hours on the computer reading feeds, and yet when it comes to finding a topic for my term 1 project, I am completely clueless. So lately my head has just been so filled with school stuff, trying to understand everything, that I haven't really had time to stop and think about what I want to do with my life. And now that I have stopped and thought about it, I remembered why I don't think about it, it's because I don't know. This fear of the unknown, reminding me why I should never stop and think. Causing me to always question every single moment of my life. These questions strike deep, un-rooting problems and crawl out and swarm me. Many things interest me, yet I have no passion within me for anything. I am simply a slave to my own self, driving myself to accomplish what I consider is the priority. Mindlessly wandering to try and find myself within this mess, I'd rather ignore all this noise and wander aimlessly on.

man i had stuff written down, but now i cannot find it.

Once again

Yeah I haven't written anything in what seems like a very long time, even though I have tons of material to write stuff on. I even have stuff written out on paper cause its more accessible to me. So I have decided to blog about university life.

Life at UBC is a drastic change from what St. Pat's is life. There is just the feeling of being overwhelmed by everything that is there, and there's nothing you can do but be a part of it. Taking a first year program called Science One, I sit in a classroom with 75 other people, people who you can look at and correctly say "He's probably smarter than me". I can honestly say that i love university. Everybody is here to learn, and so I am surrounded by people who are just as eager to go to class as I am. Meeting new people and learning new things has always excited me.
I feel much more independent, choosing for myself what I what to do, and when to do it. My classes are all interactive, encouraging everybody to take part and learn together. Days flicker by, and it has already been 3 weeks since school started, although it has only felt like 1. I am eager to see what surprises and challenges university brings me, waiting for the best years of my life.

Good watch

Wow it all makes sense!

xkcd explained

Home at last

Finally home and it all seems so out of place.

Left vernon military camp at 330pm on the 16th, got to kelnowna airport at 430pm, found out our flight that was suppose to be at 645 got delayed till 945. Gotta love all these problems we get once we go home. The first bus that left at 8 in the morning arrived at the airport and 2 wheels fell off, just completely fell on and was riding on the axles. Moped around the airport till 8, and then we got white spot to eat, which was pretty good. Found out flight was delayed some more till 1030pm. Our flight route was from kelnowna to fort st. john to price george to vancouver to victoria. Arrived home at 3am, instead of the scheduled 1030pm. Military intelligence, figures.

Hooray

So I got my AP marks, 4s in both English language, and literature. That means I can skip first year English at university. That has been the best thing so far this summer.

Off to Vernon

Well I'm off to Vernon for 7 weeks, be back august 17th. toodles

Life

"The most unfair thing about life is the way it ends. I mean, life is tough. It takes up a lot of your time. What do you get at the end of it? A Death! What’s that, a bonus? I think the life cycle is all backwards. You should die first, get it out of the way. Then you live in an old age home. You get kicked out when you’re too young, you get a gold watch, you go to work. You work forty years until you’re young enough to enjoy your retirement. You do drugs, alcohol, you party, you get ready for high school. You go to grade school, you become a kid, you play, you have no responsibilities, you become a little baby, you go back into the womb, you spend your last nine months floating …and you finish off as an orgasm."


-George Carlin

R.I.P George Carlin

Alas my love

my computer is complete, hooray. Too bad ill be gone by saturday, cant play around with it. Current running prime95 to check stability of my overclock. CPU running at 3.6ghz, temps at 50-52 C.

Who cares about global warming when we can kill the environment ourselves

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/06/16/condemned-lakes.html

“I don’t feel that you’re right, so I know that you’re wrong.”
“How do you know it?”
“I feel it. I don’t go by my head but by my heart. You might be good at logic, but you’re heartless.”
“Madame, when we’ll see men dying of starvation around us, your heart won’t be of any earthly use to them.”
-Atlas Shrugged

A sigh of relief

...for now.
So school final exams have ended, and for once in my life, I feel that my future was actually in my control. Too bad I've got this horrible feeling about doing bad on exams, and then being kicked out of Science One because my marks have dropped too much. On another note, only 2 more weeks and highschool will be over. One chapter of my life gone, with another one being written.
My blogging has become almost non-existent, and I think its because I always forget my ingenious ideas. I think I will start carrying around a notepad, so I can always write stuff down. Maybe one day I will have a million dollar idea, and then I can become rich and famous.

On another note, iphones are finally coming to Canada. It is so exciting to see new products and innovative concepts being introduced everyday. It amazes me to be living in a time where the evolution on technology is advancing so rapidly. New cars being thought of, while the economy of the world erupts.

It seems worthwhile to reflect back on our times, as we will grow old and laugh at our childhood. Gas prices reaching an absurd amount, while 10 years back I can fondly remember the days of 40c a liter. Perhaps change is good, but change will always be here to stay. Nothing can be done against the forces of nature, although actions may be taken to stall it.

And so ends my blog post of the day, bowling calls.

zomgs

so it seems that 1 more week of school and im leaving this tiny school for a bigger one, yay. Exam exams exams, why cant we just have partys instead? Will post tons more laster, i have several thoughts that need to be expressed, but i am currently lazy/studying.

So I have discovered a new favorite tv show, called The Big Bang Theory, I think it is the most brilliant show I have watched in awhile, it is both knowledgeable and humorous. TPB has torrents of the first season.

So I haven't blogged in quite awhile. Graduation is fast approaching, but after that are exams. I have begun to review over my subjects, because I think that reviewing everyday is the best way to prepare for exams. The BC Ministry of Education gives $1000 to every student who obtains 3 A's on their provincials. And if you are within the top 25 students in the province, you get $2500, that is a lot of money. I think that my current method of studying is very effective, review, then test using studybuzz, then actually study.

The best way of studying is to learn the material the first time, so the second time you see it, it will only be refreshing something that is already in your brain. Holistic learning is learning everything not as a specific category, but trying to connect it all together. By connecting ideas, it will be easier to recall a specific term, because there are so many other connections to it. Think in metaphors and by associating ideas with simple everyday objects. And most importantly, it is through sleep that most information is retained, so studying before sleep allows your brain to constantly think about what you have just studied, allowing more time for the information to percolate deeper into the brian.

So this is how it ends

Busy busy busy, that is all I can stay in this post, because its the truth. Its been awhile since I've posted anything, so I just felt like writing a post on how busy it is. I guess its the teachers way to saying good bye to us, giving us projects and tests that we will never forget. Since I am too busy to write a good post, I'll just list the things that I have to do still.

• English Project
• Religion Project...(maybe I won't do it)
• Study study study
• Finish building my computer, gotta buy those parts
• study some more

It is time..

Well hopefully, this will be the beginning of a new computer for me. I am hoping that I will be able to go and buy some new parts, and upgrade this antique computer. I like the computer just fine, but I think that its 6 year old parts need some upgrades. So today I reformated my other computer, and now its all for my sister. This computer will hopefully get new parts, and become an elite computer.
Things I need to buy:

1. New motherboard (gigabyte ga-p35? only 100)
   
2. New CPU (whichever one gives the most bang for its buck)
3. New graphics card (128mb or 256mb will suffice)
4. Network card (want a motherboard with wireless on it)
   
5. another HD (i really really wish for a Western Digital Raptor, but that is only a dream)
   
6. some 120mm fans to keep my computer quiet
7. RAM (hmm so cheap, maybe 4gigs then)

That is all I can think of for now. This is only a rough outline of what I want, later on I will search up prices and then hopefully it will be done. I can't wait.

UPDATE: Bought CPU e8400, bought GPU 8600 gt

The square root of three

I’m sure that I will always be
A lonely number like root three

The three is all that’s good and right,
Why must my three keep out of sight
Beneath the vicious square root sign,
I wish instead I were a nine

For nine could thwart this evil trick,
with just some quick arithmetic

I know I’ll never see the sun,
as 1.7321
Such is my reality,
a sad irrationality

When hark! What is this I see,
Another square root of a three

As quietly co-waltzing by,
Together now we multiply
To form a number we prefer,
Rejoicing as an integer

We break free from our mortal bonds
With the wave of magic wands

Our square root signs become unglued
Your love for me has been renewed

- Dave Feinberg

After Apple Picking

Problems caused by the low US dollar

The major problem is that everything is getting more expensive.

As the US dollar is dropping, the main supplier of goods into the US, China, has realized that the profits are not worth it anymore. China has begun to stop its import into the US, causing the rise in products. Everyday groceries have risen in price, and it is not due to shortages. There is plenty of food, but because China does not wish to import it, the prices will go up. As the dollar drops, the economy of the US will also fall. As neighbours, Canada will also feel the emptiness in our wallets.

It is impossible to live in Vancouver and not notice the price of oil. 10 years ago, oil stood on the stock market at $15.35 per barrel, now in 2008 it has reached peaks of $120 a barrel. This is not due to a lack of oil in the world either. Today in the world, there is more oil than there has ever been. The rise in prices is due to the falling of the US dollar, and also due to crisis's overseas in the nations that control most of the oil. OPEC has discussed dropping the US greenback for the Euro, which will allow the prices of oil to drop. Perhaps one day this will happen, as it is become more and more obvious that the United States of America is falling into a recession.

In the words of Henry Kissinger, former US Secretary of State, "Who controls the food supply controls the people; who controls the energy can control whole continents; who controls money can control the world." So who controls the money in the world?

Isn't it always up to us?

So after that Darfur presentation today, it seems that many people do not know what is happening in the world. Darfur has been going on for a few years now, but although not much attention has been paid to that particular place, it is because international leaders have their eyes focussed elsewhere. Skillful magicians are able to divert the eyes of the audience, so that they are able to perform their "magic" without the audience noticing. Just like magicians the authorities are able to divert major attention to the important things by distracting the public. The U.S is considered to be one of the major superpowers in the world, yet its leader, if you can even call him that, states that "outside forces that tend to divide people up inside their country are unbelievably counterproductive." That was the reason George W. Bush provided on what he would not send troops into Darfur. Hmmmmm, makes one wonder why he is in Iraq...Is it for the weapons of mass destruction that were never found, and proven to have not existed? Or is it for the oil? You can decide. What a coincidence, Sudan sits on top of a lake of oil. Along with barrels of oil, it contains a vast number of minerals. The only thing that any government wants is to obtain a piece of that oil, so that they will be able to sell it.

People die everywhere else in Africa, yet it is not made a big deal. In the Congo up to 3 million people are dead after 6 years of conflict. Why aren't we helping the people there instead? Everything is focussed on Darfur because it contains oil and minerals, something all nations want.

So it seems that the cry is for YOU to do something about the genocide in Darfur. But what really can we do, when in Canada, we have nothing. Just this week, a Chinese tanker carrying a shipment of weapons traveling to Africa was went back. Those familiar with Rwanda may know that the Rwandan government bought $750,000 worth of machetes from China. That was enough machetes for every third man in Rwanda. If that Chinese tanker had successfully unloaded the weapons, there could very well have been another war in Africa.

My point is that when superpowers such as China, and the US want something, there isn't much to be done to stop them. My opinion on this matter is to just let things run its course, and soon it will eventually end. Survival of the fittest.

Harry Potter x10

KINSHASA (Reuters) - Police in Congo have arrested 13 suspected sorcerers accused of using black magic to steal or shrink men's penises after a wave of panic and attempted lynchings triggered by the alleged witchcraft.

Reports of so-called penis snatching are not uncommon in West Africa, where belief in traditional religions and witchcraft remains widespread, and where ritual killings to obtain blood or body parts still occur.

Rumors of penis theft began circulating last week in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo's sprawling capital of some 8 million inhabitants. They quickly dominated radio call-in shows, with listeners advised to beware of fellow passengers in communal taxis wearing gold rings.

Purported victims, 14 of whom were also detained by police, claimed that sorcerers simply touched them to make their genitals shrink or disappear, in what some residents said was an attempt to extort cash with the promise of a cure.

"You just have to be accused of that, and people come after you. We've had a number of attempted lynchings. ... You see them covered in marks after being beaten," Kinshasa's police chief, Jean-Dieudonne Oleko, told Reuters on Tuesday.

Police arrested the accused sorcerers and their victims in an effort to avoid the sort of bloodshed seen in Ghana a decade ago, when 12 suspected penis snatchers were beaten to death by angry mobs. The 27 men have since been released.

"I'm tempted to say it's one huge joke," Oleko said.

"But when you try to tell the victims that their penises are still there, they tell you that it's become tiny or that they've become impotent. To that I tell them, 'How do you know if you haven't gone home and tried it'," he said.

Some Kinshasa residents accuse a separatist sect from nearby Bas-Congo province of being behind the witchcraft in revenge for a recent government crackdown on its members.

"It's real. Just yesterday here, there was a man who was a victim. We saw. What was left was tiny," said 29-year-old Alain Kalala, who sells phone credits near a Kinshasa police station.

Source

I guess this was their dream, maybe thats why people tend to stay away from Africa. I would be terrified of penis-shrinking sorcerors. This post is due to my laziness to make a post on Earth Day. Everyday should be Earth day, so nothing really special, so don't forget to save some energy and take short showers.

Wait, isn't it spring?

So with these snow flurries in spring, it seems that global warming is at play. But how many people just believe that global warming is the reason for the oddities in weather, rather than to go and find out themselves? Although it is true that the world is warming up, the irregular weather patterns may not have all that much to do with global warming. The tilt of the Earth's axis is changing ever so slightly every year, and with this change, seasons are longer. Global warming is just a scapegoat for people, a reason to sounds like they care about the environment. How many people complain about global warming, yet they buy plastic water bottles, slowly polluting the worlds oceans and destroying the Earth. So before you complain about global warming, stop and think about what you are doing to help solve it.

Since I am on the topic of global warming, it seems proper to insert a pin to prick the bubbles of those who love to tan. It seems that sun-screen may protect you from the two most common types of skin cancer, Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and Basal cell carcinoma (BCC), it does not protect you from malignant melanoma. Malignant melanoma is a very rare type of skin cancer, but its responsible for 75% of all skin cancer deaths. Melanomas are easily visible for they look like little blotches on your skin. If spotted and treated early, they are nothing more than mere nuisances. But if allowed to grow, they can go down into the skin and travel around in the blood. Melanoma is usually cause by sunburns, so usually sunscreen would be the natural answer. But what sunscreen has been discovered to do is, it stops the skin from showing warnings that melanomas are developing. UVB radiation stimulates the skin to produce melanin to protect the skin. Putting on sunscreen blocks the stimulation of melanin, and the skin does not produce melanin. Melanin is what accounts for the skin pigment, and it acts as a natural barrier to UVA and UVB radiation.

Just some food for thought, enjoy.

Process of Elimination

I think that the process of elimination is one the best things I have learned in high school. After doing countless tests and exams, the process of elimination sure helps to pass. Although this is not something they teach in the books, this problem solving skill is something everybody should have in their pockets. The process is not difficult to learn at all either. The process involves removing all other possibilities that cannot be correct, and by doing this, raises the probability that the correct answer will be within the choices left. Now that you know how to use it, I'll explain some uses for it.

First and foremost, you should almost always use this method whenever you are doing multiple choice questions on a test. 1 out of 4 is only 25% that you will get it right, but by eliminating 1 incorrect answer, you will have a 33% chance! By eliminating another answer you will end up with a 50% chance of guessing the correct answer. This shows that you don't necessarily have to know the answer to get it right, as long as you know what the answer isn't you can just work backwards.

A more ghastly use of the process of elimination could be to eliminate your opponents, allowing you to win at whatever you may be doing. Although most circumstances it would be illegal to do this, its a guarantee win. (unless you get caught :p)

There are many many more possibilities out there for using the great problem-solving technique. So just remember, every time you are stuck with a problem, try using the process of elimination.

Welcome to my life

Ahh the bittersweet taste of disappointment. How truly numbers on a page can attack and undermine even the greatest. Set yourself up high, and you are only doomed to be disappointed. Well I guess it was about time for me to realize that everything in life isn't as easily obtained as I imagined. While I moan and groan about getting 80% in a test, others would gladly trade their marks for mine. From today forward, I am hoping to start trying to focus once again on school. I think that I am too easily discouraged, but I am also easily encouraged. So hopefully I will once again get into my routine of homework first, then some reading, then computer. But lately, it seems that going out and having fun is quite the distraction.

Also with all this graduation stuff coming up, it just adds to the immense aberration. Grad is overrated, and thats all there is to it. Why can't it just be a simple "Congratulations, here is your diploma," and then we're done. All this fancy shmancy just for graduation. If only people did not make such a big deal about graduating. But I think my mom is right, its overrated because most parents have no graduated, so their like "OMG they're sooo smart! Let's all celebrate." Such minor things in life are not deserving of celebration, and if such minor things are made to be more than what they are, its just creating a false sense of accomplishment. I could go on for a few more paragraphs, but I must go and try and do something with my time other than ranting about the uselessness of many things.

Large Hadron Collider

So the LHC is going to start its operations this summer, and there has been quite a bit of talks about the 8 billion dollar particle accelerator lately. So for those who don't know about the LHC, its a massive underground accelerator that is about 27km long in a circular shape. Along the collider are large magnets placed to accelerate the particles that will be fired into the tunnel. With particles being fired at each other at extremely high speeds, scientists hope to discover new particles, such as the Higgs boson particle. The Higgs boson particle is a theoretical particle that is suppose to be responsible for the mass difference in matter. The LHC will also hope to uncover some more information about black holes. And it is with the black holes (RIP John Archibald Wheeler) that the controversy arises. Many skeptics are scared that within the LHC, the crashing particles will create a mini black hole which will suck up everything. Perhaps this is true, but it is very unlikely this will occur, as the black hole will only form for a nano-second, and then disintegrate. By performing these collisions, scientists wish to gain more information about the creation of the universe, and the moments in time after the Big Bang.



So that is the Large Hadron Collider. Why am I talking about it? Well it seems like today we live in a world where knowledge is so easily accessible, yet there is still so much to know. What if everything we learned was false, and that the truth is the most absurd thing you can imagine? But then again, somebody out there in the world has to be right. My love for knowledge stems from the fact that there is always something to be found. As years pass, there will always remain something that humans do not know. And within all humans, there is the innate longing to know.

And its all in my head

So, the last 2 months of school, isnt this suppose to be the time when everything is finishing up, and just cruising along? Nope, all lies. There doesnt seem to be a break in sight for me, stacked up with homework and tests. AP English exams coming up, Euclid Math contest, Biology competition. Woot all these things to do, no time for actual school homework.

But at least it is the weekend, and I am so excited for our school play. Hearing from all those who have already seen it, I just can't wait. This post is a wee bit short because for some reason I am super tired today, and I just want to sleep forever. Too bad I have math tutor tomorrow morning at 8:30.

Day by day

So as you might have noticed, i have posted a few homework articles up. I will continue doing this, and hopefully it benefits some people. My explication received a 6, so im assuming thats its a pretty decent explication. I have been lagging behind on blogging lately, as it seems that i have once again become introduced into the world of video games, namely, Battlefield 2. But i have promised myself to restrict it to only weeks, unless it is a weekday where i have no homework.

Todays interesting topic:
"Every week, an average of 88 children are expelled from American schools for bringing a gun to class. Nearly one in three American households with children have a gun in them. In a study of 37 school shooting incidents between 1974 and 2000, two thirds of the students involved had taken their guns from their own home or that of a relative. Death rate from guns in the US is by far the highest in the developed world. Of the 639 million small arms worldwide, nearly 200 million are in the homes of Americans."
I dont know how reliable the source on this info is, but it seems pretty scary. It seems that our neighbouring "friends" are quite the trigger-happy bunch. Violence in our world is ever increasing, and it brings forth images from the book "A Clockwork Orange" by Anthony Burgess. Everyday as we live in this sheltered microcosm, the world erupts in violence. I dont think that violence will ever be rid of, but perhaps there is a way to end it. There are always controversial issues pertaining to video games and violence, but i have always considered that just a scapegoat for the violence. When people do not know something, it is always easier to just blame it on something else. In most American states, people may keep guns without licenses, and that i think is what really is the issue. Guns in themselves are not dangerous, but when adults buy them, then leave them lying around, it is just trouble waiting to happen. So i shall end this with the cliche, guns dont kill people, people kill people.

Billy Fung

English 12

Ms. Ignacio

Block F

April 2^nd, 2008

Dover Beach

The poem “Dover Beach” is a lyric poem written by an English poet Matthew Arnold during the Victorian Era. The poem is separated into 4 stanzas of unequal length. The rhyme is irregular in the poem, and no set meter is used. The poem is written by Arnold on his honeymoon, presumably on Dover Beach. The poem shows the author’s loss of faith, and shows Arnold concern over the English culture.

In the first stanza, Arnold starts by creating images of confidence and beauty. The speaker starts the poem saying “the sea is calm tonight.” The speaker is looking towards the sea, which gives him a sense of calmness. The speaker continues to illustrate the great beauty he sees, seeing the “cliffs or England stand glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay.” Arnold uses the first few lines of the poem to draw the audience into the wonders of the beach, conveying its beauty. Although the euphonious sounds of the first lines make the beach sound wonderful, the audience is lulled into a sense of sadness and dullness. The speaker calls out to his “love” to observe with him the “long line of spray.” As they stand by the window, the boundaries hold them in. Within the window, it seems that everything is serene and tranquil. But the “grating roar of pebbles” shatters the illusion of tranquility. Arnold uses the dissonant sounds of the grating to pull the reader out the beautiful moonlit beach. The waves begin to bring the “eternal note of sadness in.”

The second stanza brings in the literary allusion of Sophocles, and how he also heard the eternal note of sadness “on the Aegean.” The speaker also knows that Sophocles has experienced the “turbid ebb and flow of human misery.” The speaker begins to show that he is truly miserable, and yet the reader does not know for what reason.

The third stanza begins with a metaphorical “Sea of Faith,” that was “once, too, at the full and round earth’s shore.” The speaker uses the metaphor to show that he once had faith, but now the faith is receding, like the waves of the sea. The speaker compares his faith to the tides of the sea, and now he only hears its “melancholy, long withdrawing roars.” All alone, the loss of faith leaves the speaker naked, and hopeless.

The final stanza ends the poem with the speaker calling out to his love. Without his faith to rely on, the speaker makes a final attempt at love, telling it to “be true to one another!” The speaker has no more hope left in the world, seeing the faith of everybody begin and cease. The speaker acknowledges the world as a “land of dreams, so various, so beautiful, so new.” Yet the speaker knows the world has “neither joy, nor love, nor light, nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain.” Everything is devoid in the world, and the loss of faith is further expressed as the speaker feels truly hopeless. The poem ends with the speaker being “swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight, here ignorant armies clash by night.” The couplet that ends the poem offers a little bit of relief from the harsh sounds of the poem. But the rhyme and juxtaposition of the couplet is not enough to compensate for the chaos of the poem. The speaker acknowledges the world that he is in, and that he too will be swept away into the tides of ignorance.

Do not go before you turn off that light

Poor men should burn and rave at close of day

Rage, rage energy wasting through the night

Wise men should know that going green is right

Because their noble actions always say,

Do not go before you turn off that light.

Leave them on and you think it is alright.

The electric bill arrives in dismay

Rage, rage energy wasting through the night

Your wallet weeps at the ongoing plight

Up the stairs you already know the way.

Do not go before you turn off that light

So you, I hope resist this ending blight

Sitting in this dark room alone I pray,

Do not go before you turn off that light

Rage, rage energy wasting through the night

Science One

As part of completing the Application Form for the Science One Program you must provide a 600-word essay addressing the following two questions:

1. What are your goals and expectations of your university experience and why to you want to participate in a rigorous broad-based program like Science One?
2. What makes you passionate about studying Science?


So I have to write an essay talking about my goals and expectations of taking the science one program at UBC. For those who dont know, the science one program is a broad-based program, in that it incorporates all the sciences and math. The first year program unifies all the sciences, and it is very challenging. Although I feel that my marks are not good enough to get in, it never hurts to try. The only thing left for my application is my essay.
This post will be sort of a brainstorm for me, and somewhat of an open discussion for you guys who read my not very well known blog.
My goal of the program is to get a deeper understand of how the world works, and hopefully while going through that process, i will also be able to know what i really want to do in the world. It is truly evident that science will certainly play a major role in the shaping of the world. As of this moment, i feel that by taking a broad-based program, it will allow me to see what my strengths are in, and it will also help me understand that beauty of the world.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

MRSA as it is most commonly referred to, is beginning to rise in numbers within Canada. Many of you have heard of this bacterium as it is commonly known, the "superbug." Methicillin was introduced in the 1950s to treat infections caused by a penicillin-resistant staph. Within a few years, reports came in that the penicillin staph was starting to show signs of methicillin resistant. It seems that humans are just creating more and more problems for themselves.

As MRSA enters your body, first signs may be of infections in several different parts of the body. Pimples or boils are the simplest of the symptoms, with death being the most severe. Ironically, most people are infected with MRSA within hospitals, and any contact will do. Most of the time, the bacteria will enter the body through an open wound, and only then will the real problems begin.

Most staph infections can be easily treated by antibiotics, but what happens when you try to fool it too many times? It begins to learn and adapt. The bacteria is able to multiply rapidly, and while some antibiotics may work, most will not. MRSA has become resistant to almost all antibiotics used in the past. As more and more antibiotics are used to try and stabilize MRSA, the bacteria just adapts and becomes immune.

Although MRSA does not cause serious deadly infections, it is the fact that it has become immune to almost all antibiotics that worries doctors. I feel that this approach to combating the bacteria will just lead to more and more resistant strains of bacteria. Although action just be taken, I think that there is a better way. The bacteria acts as if it had a brain, if we keep hitting it with the same stick, soon it will know how to avoid or block the stick. I think the solution to this, and many problems should be to either take away the antibiotics and let the bacteria run its course, or to try and completely destroy the infection, rather than to try and avoid it.

Sadly the only real way of avoiding getting infected is to wash your hands, avoid contact with sick people, and cover up all open wounds. The superbug has become a true problem in Canada, so watch out people.

Torschlusspanik

New blog, getting bored of the other one. This blog will mainly focus around just random thoughts that I will have, so stay tuned. Torschlusspanik seems to be a good word for me right now.

A stoic German term meaning "the fear of diminishing opportunities as one gets older".