Controversy

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS AIDS

Yeah, you just read it here. I recently chanced across an advertisement for a programme debunking AIDS. I ran a google search and came up with this:

The Big Lie About Aids

Of course, the fact that this article was published in a 1994 softporn magazine (Penthouse) didn't help much in its credibility. But i was still very interested. So i dug somemore and i came up with this:

HIV Is Not The Cause Of AIDS

This particular article is from an Orgone Biophysical Research Lab. Now i googled this lab to see if it is in fact a recognised facility. It didn't help that the website looked like something from the 10th century Internet and that this was a "non-profit" facility.

I was by this point losing interest in establishing credibility of my source and proceeded to keep googling for this controversy. 

In short i can sum it up in one sentence:

HIV and AIDS allegedly do not go hand in hand. HIV is not the cause of AIDS and AIDS is merely a name given to old diseases such as pneumonia which HIV positive people happen to have.

The following equation simplifies this:

no HIV+pneumonia = pneumonia

HIV+pneumonia = AIDS

I think this warrants further digging up eh?

 Anti-evolution activists in the US, who have for years been trying to ban Darwin's teachings in the classroom have launched a new offensive. You see, the US constitution clearly states that the Church and State is seperate, however, these chaps are now tyring to play the "freedom of academia" card.

Now I won't say that evolution is 100% correct. However, it is the most highly likely theory behind the big question of how we came to be. Natural Selection is supported by established biologists whom had to face scrutiny, cross examination and years of research.

The Church on the other hand plies its trade via a book written by man which claims the Earth was created by divine intervention and Intelligent Design. 

Given these 2 theories to choose, i'd choose the one that had to undergo the most scrutiny, unless of course the big man/woman him/herself came down and knocked in my head with a hammer made of lightning and burnt Darwin books. Then i'll kneel and say, "Amen".

I then started thinking of running with the herd. Is it always such a bad thing? I mean, yeah, you can get yourself a Blackberry just to acting like everyone else and buying and iPhone. But truth be told, an iPhone is by far the best interfaced gizmo i've used in years. Its really that good.

This has been rather a random post eh?

Cheers from the,

Matrix

Blog Revival....

Been too long since i posted anything.

I've started working, well interning actually. For a duration of 22 weeks since Jan 11th. And for the record, if you've been hearing stories of all the wonderful time and how much fun interns have on a one semester break from exams and earning moolah monthly, mine's not really a stroll in the park.

I've signed up with a boss who expects (during peak periods) upto 72 hours of overtime per month from his interns (according to a senior), expects us to handle optimization and automation software for multi-million dollar power plants around Asia Pacific and even go on site (the previous batch were sent to a power plant in Shanghai).

A boss who wants a daily report in his email inbox before the next day. A boss who adds you on msn, takes your handphone number and expects you to answer calls as late as 1 or 2 am regarding work the following day.

Not to mention a boss who appears to be on msn ALL the time.

I won't lie and say its all lovely and i love the pressure, yada, yada, yada. But i've got to admit. 6 months from now, come June, i'm going to come out pretty seasoned from a tough working environment and that's enough. Going into year 4, knowing i've handled work seasoned engineers do, not small jobs interns normally get. I mean, how many graduating students can actually say they've handled projects in Pakistan and Indonesia from a computer terminal all the way in Singapore under a gruff boss?

yes, there is a guy named that where i work.

work area. Cabinets of processors and input/ouput modules and rows of connected computer terminals.

You all probably already know i'm slightly obsessed with cycling.


So, no surprises for the following few upgrades *HUGE GRIN*.

beautiful rare TIME cycling shoes. I'm the only one in the team to wear TIME shoes =). A tad bit pricey but absolutely worth it. Stiff soles, good power transfer to the wheels and now i'm zipping about at 32kph, and hit an all time high of 55kph. All i now need is full carbon bike and i'd hit 60kph easy =)

second hand Shimano 105 groupset. I made the huge leap from a cheap 7 speed set to this 10 speed one. Big big investment, but its going to pay off. The way i ride the old mongrel bike, its not going to last unless i did this upgrade.


see what i mean? notice the missing gear mechanism that's supposed to be attached to the gears. It snapped off while i was shifting to ride faster uphill.


bike in a bus.

I went home to KL for a month, flew back in fact, something i regret doing with a bicycle. The airline took one look at the box, asked what was in it, and the classified the bike as a sports equipment and charged an additional 30 bucks for it. Not to mention the MRT staff who didn't allow my bike which was packed neatly into a box, so i had to splurge on a cab to the airport.

Took a bus back, and it went as planned with no extra surcharge.



PS : On an entirely unrelated note, i'm getting good at talking to random women and not making them feel uncomfortable. Probably cos Y tells i have an uber good guy face (whatever that means). I liked that intelligent malay girl i chatted to at the MRT station. She was promoting a charity thing for the local cancer society and her mature opinions on how pragmatic and materialistic Singaporeans are , and how local stagnant politics will be this country's undoing in future were kind of sexy.

I'm frankly getting tired of talking to immature 21 year old girls who's world is limited to bags, shoes, relationships and painted nails. I need a girl that can spew politics and has strong opinions or i'd probably go crazy and tired of playing gentleman to a useless bum.


And cheers to you too!!


Matrix

New Year!

Right, time for another annual review of my life. Its been eventful, 2009 that is.

Sports :

I picked up road cycling and i've stuck with it and have come to love it. Its improved my fitness, made me new friends and is starting to drain me of my money. Still, i'd rather spend on something that will keep me healthy rather than on something pointless like an iPhone or a new bag.

Tennis and badminton is officially over for me...for at least another year. My right arm really cannot take the stress anymore. On the downside, i won't be able to enjoy the challenge BC, Vee and Whei Yeap give me on the court for some time, not that it matters anymore seeing the latter 2 are away for 6 months in moose-land.

Projects :

Started off the year with a mega one involving a giant rube goldberg machine for the 2010 Youth Olympic Games. It was by far the most challenging project ever , stressful and bloody rewarding.

EID success , finishing as champions for the Safety and Security category and as champions of the mechatronics robot building competition. Am awfully thankful and honored to have had awesome people to work with on all 3 projects.

Year 3 however was rather quiet. Overloaded with 24 AUs and was studying and cycling most of the time. Pretty dull if you ask me and i would have lost my mind with the regime were it not for a bicycle.

Exams and Disappointments :

I applied for an overseas internship in Japan with the Ford Motor Company. It really was a sweet deal. All expenses paid travel and lodging in Japan, plus the prestige of interning at the huge auto company.

I was shortlisted twice, ending up going head to head with a 3rd year student from Aerospace Engineering, and i lost to her in the end. Painful defeat and i do admit i hate losing. Its an ego thing and its not bad. It keeps me on my toes, always wanting something better.

Speaking of ego bashing.....my examination results weren't good, let alone to awesomeness i was thinking it would be.

I got a freaking C+ in an exam i actually finished an hour early, checked twice and walked out 30 minutes before time. I am truly baffled, perhaps it was soo easy that everyone in the cohort scored bloody well, pushing the graph up and leaving me in the C zone. Or perhaps in my blazing overconfidence, i overlooked several important things and ended up crashing and burning.

Not to mention the B- i got in a ridiculously simple programming paper. I did score 2 marks less for the practical CA than almost every other super genius in mechatronics, but the paper itself was easy. Overconfidence and carelessness again i suspect.

Anyway, i did finish with 4 A-'s in subjects i thought i had bombed in becos i did not finish the papers and solved some questions after making some assumption because the questions were vague. Hur hur. I seem to do well in papers that are tough.

No matter, i can walk out of this knowing i know the subjects well and did not go into the exam hall unprepared, and that it was just a exam cock up. Pity everyone else is going to judge my knowledge based on the 2 hours plus papers. Damn.

On the upside, i did get my first choice internship and Emerson Process Management. Working on a power plant control software for the Fortune 500 American company is a pretty sweet deal and i'm looking forward to that.

Love life :

Non-existant as per norm and quite frankly after listening to 1 semester's worth of breakups and relationship fiascos and cock ups, i'm pretty glad i've been spared the misery.

21st Birthday :

It was special.

I almost never celebrate my own birthday(though i wouldn't say no if a few buddies turn up with a bottle and lots of ice) and it was awfully nice to be surprised at the door by my closest friends and a simple dinner the next day with Garen and Richelle. Best birthday ever.

My bicycles :

Bear with me will you. I know i've been absolutely nutty about bicycles for the past 1 year. Some of my best memories this year were on a bicycle, and the old Jamis and the new trekki deserve some mention in this annual post.

The Jamis. A 450 dollar investment that cost me an arm (literally) and left me with fond memories of it.

Trekkie. The second hand 400 dollar energy draining 40 km/h plus speed demon which introduced me to long distance cycling, sprinting, climbing and riding in large groups with riders from all over singapore. Met new similar minded people on it and improved my fitness on it.

And so, here's to a new year!

Cheers from the,

Matrix

Chatroom...

I'm home for a month for the holidays. The last time i was home for this long was more than a year ago and its because i get bored easily at home. There really isn't much to do. On campus on the other hand, I could be working on my research project on microbubble pumps, cycling, and of course move about more easily since it had very good public transport.

This time however, things are a little different.

Since i'm going to be interning next semester at Emerson Singapore, and won't be able to come back for another 6 months, i just decided to bring my bicycle back to keep me occupied and healthy for a month. And its working surprisingly. My evenings are spent cycling and playing football, and strangely, that's enough.

And now, i found something new to do online besides the blog reading, online gaming addiction, news and facebook.

Chatting with random strangers online.....

I know, it sounds distasteful, but lets look past the many weirdos and sexual fantasy addicts out there and just concentrate on one fact. You meet new people very easily and rather safely. You get fresh perspectives, new ideas, insights into a place you've never been to, all from the comfort of a laptop chair.

I am painfully aware that many people, my friends included, are incredible uncomfortable with this idea, obviously having heard and possibly experienced horror stories regarding internet chatrooms.

Ignoring the remarks i've got from mates when i tell them about this, i do find this annonymous chat thing rather interesting. Truth be told, i'm a bit tired of talking to the same old friends everyday. Its not that i don't value them as friends and all that rubbish. Its just, i like meeting new people. Not for the sake of fulfilling some deep yearning for more companionship and other psycho-babble, but rather because it is very interesting.

I have, within the span of 3 day of using this website :

1) Met a chap in Sao Paulo, Brazil who introduced me to life for the common man i Brazil, and that its not the party town filled with hot women and men and cheap yet good beer that we have all come to associate Brazil with.

2) Met a 17 year old who's writing a final high school year history paper on Singapore, and had an interesting conversation about the lack of civil liberties and controversies regarding how the ruling party is maintaining control in Singapore, to add to the many good things she has already researched. It did amaze me, the depth of thinking, regarding potential economic and political consequences an asian city she has never visited, that she had, something i wished more Singaporen youths had. Heck, even I wasn't thinking on such a matured level at that age about my country!

3) Talked to a girl from Massachusetts who was doing a Bachelor in Fine Arts, and was a stage manager. Its great to talk to someone about a field i have never even considered. She's now a pen-pal. I did have one previously though. A girl from Australia during the snail mail era, but the i got tired of writing letters.....

4) A 23 year old woman from Shanghai, China who was fed up with trying to live upto to her parents expectations of marrying and settling down and is on the verge of migrating to the US after secretly securing a job as an analyst for a financial institution.

5) A guy called Dieber from Amsterdam who think the city's reputation as a "fun town" doesn't make it very conducive for raising children and had some whacky ideas on what would happen if weed was oulawed in the Netherlands.

Of, course, i did have exceedingly brief conversations with sex starved men and women, and one chap who wanted to know what color were my underpants =.="

Well, you have no choice but to filter these weirdos out and find the really interesting people out there who genuinely want to share their life stories, experiences, local cultures and lifestyles and then you start gaining new perspectives.

All said and done, all that's left is to try it out here , IF you dare.....

Cheers from the,

Matrix

Interior Designer?

This is kinda random.........

Right, my room here has a pretty good view. Just open the door, and you get a fabulous view of the forest on the border of the campus. The room however can get a little depressing if you happen to spend heck a lot of time in it..........i dunno why, but somehow, tubelights always give any room that depressing look and feel.

Did three changes to my room to preserve my sanity.

-bought a floor lamp cum a study lamp from IKEA
-bought a nice blue rug from IKEA
-stuck posters on the walls


Now, people walking by my room at night can always see into it as i love leaving the door wide open to enjoy the view as i work and to have the cool forest air blowing into the room.

Three seniors on different occasions actually stopped and gave the room a second look before spitting out:

'waaaah, so cosy one. How much did it cost you ar?'
'err....less than 25 sing dollars, posters were free'
'wala, nice effect'
'easy ma, just let the light bounce off the table and softly illuminate the room, you will get the cosy effect'
'must try'


Interior designing? Heck, why not?