Per Ardua Ad Astra

I did this quite some ago just for the sake of fun. National Geographic sent me this link as part of the monthly email updates. In short, you’re supposed to make a few choices after moving into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue as a newly elected President of the United States of America.

Read on and be amused at how I decorate the White House under the rather unusual but not unheard of pseudonym. Interestingly enough, the choices I made turned out to be ironic in some ways. Enjoy! Unfortunately, I didn’t save the picture of the Oval Room the way I envisioned it to be, so use your own imagination to fill in the blanks will you? Thanks.

At the Office With President bin Laden
Clues to the New Administration
By Mitch Fairly

As Osama bin Laden settles into the Oval Office,
people inside and outside the Beltway wonder what sort of leader we’ve elected.
The Boast sent curmudgeon-columnist Mitch Fairly to dig for hints in President bin Laden’s new quarters.

New President, New Portrait

President bin Laden has been studying history.
Or maybe all the other portraits are out on loan.
Whatever the reason, hanging James K. Polk in the Oval Office shows originality—and a
willingness to work hard, real hard. Polk may have been the archetypal Washington wonk; he and the First Lady toiled days, nights, and weekends. (Sarah Polk, by the way,
essentially served as chief of staff. Imagine a modern First Lady trying that!)
I suppose that’s how he kept all his campaign promises.
On the other hand, Polk’s long hours shattered his health.
So let’s hope the bin Laden Administration takes a break now and then.
And no wars please!

Desk Detective

Hasn’t that old boat fallen apart yet?
What is it about the Oval Office that inspires adults to start messing with models?
I know, I know: President bin Laden loves the sea, as did plenty of predecessors.
I suppose a salty storm might be a welcome break from a press conference or staff meeting.

Will It Really Get Read?

President bin Laden is going back to basics, not a bad idea now and then.
Fighting traffic amid the monuments, it’s all too easy here in Washington to forget that
America started out as a revolutionary sort of place—based on ideas that thrilled,
or appalled, folks in the Old World. Paine offers a shot of intellectual adrenaline for
the bin Laden Administration. After all, he wrote that “moderation in principle is always
a vice.” A Presidency oriented on that adage should at least be interesting.

The President’s Pet

There’s a new First Pooch in town. Busy sniffing the Oval Office and looking for
predecessors’ bone stashes, Bush was unavailable for comment.
Let’s hope this one doesn’t write a book.

First Food

They haven’t quite set up a lemonade stand on Pennsylvania Avenue, but President bin Laden has come close. The new administration has the revived 19th-century notion of a teetotalling White House. They’re hoping a good example will be more effective than those “Just Say No” posters.

And so starts another administration. Osama bin Laden has sent out some powerful signals about what we can expect over the next four—or will it be eight?—years. Now comes the hard work of translating image into action.

P.S. I should have posted this after the Presidential Elections for greater effect, but the procastinating me held sway.

Now, I don’t know why but seems that people love to message me on MSN when it’s clearly on Away status. So, please take note: Do not expect prompt replies. If you’re already offline by the time I read your message, I’ll reply to them for you to read the next time you come online. Thanks to MSN Live, I can do that. So do not mistake that as me replying to you in Away mode. Thanks.

Another thing is that I’m currently quite busy trying to work as well as prevent my brain from rotting. I brought a very nice book from Borders Berjaya Times Square on Monday, partly to achieve the latter and because it’s a nice book. ‘Surely you’re kidding, Mr. Feynman’ costs RM59.90 but so far, it seems to worth every cent. It contains lots of things to make you laugh (which is a godsent, considering how stressful it has been for me lately in a physical and emotional sense), how he made some interesting observations in life and among them, a crash course to cracking safes. No wonder why it’s a bestseller. Nope, not much physics involved, but more like a retelling of his life in brief. So it’s not much of a heavy reading, but it gives a brilliant insight to a brilliant mind.

Hopefully I’ll be able to finish by this week, so I can go back to another book I’m reading. It’s about that famous play set in Verona, which I’m now somewhere in Act III. I have only this to say: Plays are not meant to be read as a story, best to enjoy it in its original form, a play (or movie, its modern successor). That probably shows how bored I am. Maybe I should just go get Leo Tolstoy’s epic for the overkill.
Oh, that also means that I’m going to blog even less for now (yeah, surprise surprise). For those few of you that actually come here and read my posts, here’s another break. Till then, a g’day to you.
Oh, that also means that I’m going to blog even less for now. For those few of you that actually come here and read my posts, here’s another break. Till then, a g’day to you.

A friend sent this to me yesterday, and the claim at the bottom intrigued me most.

Did God Create Evil?

The university professor challenged his students with this question.

"Did God create everything that exists?"

A student bravely replied, "Yes, he did!"

"God created everything?" The professor asked.

"Yes sir", the student replied.

The professor answered, "If God created everything, then God created evil, since evil exists, and according to the principal that our works define who we are, then God is evil".

The student became quiet before such an answer.  The professor, quite pleased with himself, boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth.

Another student raised his hand and said, "Can I ask you a question professor?"

"Of course", replied the professor.

The student stood up and asked, "Professor, does cold exist?"

"What kind of question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?" The students snickered at the young man’s question.

The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat.

Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (–460° F) is the total absence of heat; all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature.

Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat."

The student continued, "Professor, does darkness exist?"

The professor responded, "Of course it does."

The student replied, "Once again you are wrong sir, darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact we can use Newton’s prism to break white light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it.

How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn’t this correct?  Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present."

Finally the young man asked the professor, "Sir, does evil exist?"

Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course as I have already said. We see it every day. It is in the daily example of man’s inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil."

To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God.

God did not create evil. Evil is not like faith, or love that exist just as does light and heat. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God’s love present in his heart. It’s like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light."

The professor sat down.

The young man’s name — Albert Einstein

One thing, Einstein’s a Jew, not a Christian. Second, it’s apparently a fictualised account, despite what you are led to believe. Now would you actually believe that it actually happened?

Which brings me to the Da Vinci Code (literally, of Vinci code). The Dossiers Secrets that supposedly documented the Priory of Sion is a hoax. Now wouldn’t that mean that the entire story is actually false? The source is fake, so how can you believe anything that is associated with it?

Just a thought.

RTS, the stuff of generals

BFME II teaser

The Rohirrim cavalry rides gloriously into battle once again, only this time they’re combined with the Gondorians in Battle For Middle Earth 2 against bigger and badder enemies. They’re due for release later this summer for console, but somehow the BFME experience just seems underwhelming to me. Not much enthusiasm left in me after playing the first BFME though. It’s just essentially bigger armies to play with and a Risk like style of battle. Custom heroes? Nah, that takes the fun out of the LOTR storyline. I’d rather stick to Gandalf anytime! Not something worth raving about. Been there and done that. The battle of good versus evil starts this June on consoles. For PC, it’s already out. Maybe I’ll get it if I’m bored enough.

No, this is not Risk on PC, it’s BFME II!

Next is something worth drooling over. C&C Tiberian Wars!

Unfortunately there’s nothing much to add from my previous coverage. This time round, there’s more eye candy (one trailer, plus screenshots) to drool over. The good news is, you’ll get to see GDI strutting its stuff (from the grunt to the fighter pilots, pretty much everybody gets a part in the trailer). Oh, and it’s back to the sidebar interface too. I’ll need to adjust later on I suppose, having gotten used to the Generals interface. As for the campaign, it’s going to be like Starcraft style, where you’ll have to play the 3 factions in sequence for the story to unfold. And this time, there are more strategic decisions to take than before. The oft quoted example is that if you choose to retake an airfield, you’ll deprive the enemy of air support and you gain some bonus. Now what about NOD? We’ll have to wait a bit before we see them in action. But one thing didn’t escape my notice. Where did the GDI mechs vanish off to? No dates given, but I’m betting that the alien crystals will engulf Earth in Q3-4 2007.

Come on grunts, pose for the camera. Then we’ll need to chase the flyboys!

FPS, the one man show

We’ll begin with a WWII FPS, Medal of Honor : Airborne! Hooray! Thumbs up for EA for developing it for PC! And it’s already the 8th in the series! I didn’t realise that it had come such a long way since the original MOHAA. That said I haven’t seen much except the opening sequence for Operation Varsity, supposedly the final mission. Quite nicely done I’d say. The audio included Sally on Radio Axis taunting the airborne troopers and boasting that the flak is thick enough to walk on, so those parachutes aren’t needed. The visuals are quite impressive, but not spectacular. The environment is bound to be immersive (if you can play at max. settings), but some parts are just plain unrealistic.

Like it? Wait till you hear this! According to the game developers, from the moment you jump out, you can control where you land, and hence the development of the mission objectives! Plus, you can customise your virtual body and weapon! First up, I’m getting an extra set of grenade satchels. Second, I’ll capture some German rifles and start taping extra cartridges all over it. And if I could, perhaps add a scope to a MP44.

MOH: Airborne takes off in the Q1 2007, so it’s quite a wait soldier!

From the action of WWII, let’s move on to the future!

Potential US Marines recruitment poster in the 22nd century?

We shall move on to 2142, into the next Ice Age and the colossal battle between the American-EU Alliance and the Pan Asian Coalition for ground left unclaimed by ice! Before the trailer showed the action, it displayed the announcement ‘Actual game footage’. For those who never saw BF2: MC, they’ll need the reminder since the graphics are at least as equally good compared to its predecessor. In short, it’s just like BF2: MC but with all the weapons ‘upgraded’. Hmm, EMP grenades, standard issue pulse rifles, mechs, personal turrets and more! Not much in story (it’s a melee game, so why bother so much with it?) but the eye candy and the multiplayability are going to make this a worthy addition to my list. Now the AI better be good or else I’ll need to find 63 online players. The next world war starts in Q4 2006.

Actual game footage, believe it!

So, what we’ll all need to start doing is to start saving up for a graphics card if we’re to survive the next round of battle! In the meantime, if you still want more you can go visit Gamespot, IGN, Gamespy or CNCDen. As for the trailers, I got them from Gamespot since I got the basic membership. It’s free, and the low-res isn’t exactly that low-res. Now, let’s entrench ourselves for the long wait…

Images are copyright of Gamespot, seriouszone.com and CNCden.

Hehe, it’s the time of the year again for gamers. All hail the E3! The (almost) Holy Grail of Gamers! The world’s third largest game exposition comes alive again at Los Angeles Convention Centre!

Ok, back to Earth. If you don’t know what the E3 is all about and the E3 2006 was held earlier this week, you’re probably :

1. Not a gamer (Good for you, for not being a computer zombie)

2. Been spending your recent life fanatically dotaing or engaging in some sort of online gaming (Well, they’re the Internet gaming zombie, so you know…)

3. Anime (Do I even need to explain further?)

4. Only bothered about games when your friends tell you about it or read about it in In.Tech (which incidentally should be publishing its own coverage of the event next week or something).

So for people under category 1, 2 and 3 you can probably stop reading and do something more ‘useful’. For people in category 4, read on if you want to.

What’s the big deal? Apart from gaming, gaming and more gaming, not much actually. It’s one huge event to go through and see what the game developers have to offer, so I only stopped at Electronic Art’s booth. After all, Sierra’s Half Life 2 Aftermath: Episode 1 is already prepped for release on May 31, 2006 so they didn’t showcase the game there. The time for you to don the HEV suit and wield that crowbar is closer at hand than you think. Furthermore, there’s no hint of F.E.A.R. 2 coming out soon, so I didn’t bother checking for it. Activision did come up with Call of Duty 3, but it’s going to be released for console. I don’t have a console, so damm you Activision for ditching us loyal to the PC platform! What about Microsoft? They already came out with Age of Empires III and planning to do a sequel for it. That leaves EA, the Microsoft of games in North America.

What do they have to offer? In short, quite a lot (especially in terms of RTS and FPS). To the uninitiated, that stands for the Real Time Strategy and First Person Shooter genre respectively.

For starters, they set up a nice booth at the South Hall, practically smack in the middle of the entrance. As you can see in the photo, it’s a nice circular booth, complete with a 360 degree panoramic projector screen to play their game trailers (BF2142, MOH:Airborne, BFME, C&C3:TW and Spore) and subwoofers built into the floor for the audio effect. That’s not all folks. The smaller displays are also around, to showcase their console or for the in-game preview stuff. There’s also a theater for closed door viewings (one of them was that evolution game, Spore). BTW, the picture further up at the top is Activision’s booth.

So on with it then! What’s in store for us? Stay tuned for a little while longer, and I’ll whet your appetite.

Images are Copyright of e3insider.com. Click on image for a bigger view.

Ok, this sort of news has already made the headline in the papers recently. Recently, The Star reported on an outbreak of fungal infections in Singapore in its Down South column.

It doesn’t seem to be an isolated incident anymore.

Today on CNN, CDC is investigating Bausch & Lomb Inc’s lens cleaners products after a series of cases involving fungal infections that can be potentially blinding called Fusarium keratitis. Seems like it’s safer to change solutions after all. But of course, glasses can’t give you fungal infections! More on the news here.

Yes, the title of this post is self explainatory. I have 18 people on my blogger’s list! Oh well, it isn’t quite a lot though, but considering the length of my entire list of links and the person I’m adding it’s something to trumpet about.

And the 18th person to make it into my list of Bloggers is…

(Drums rolling)

Brandon Tan Jiann Hann!

Well, you were right Bran. I couldn’t have guessed the blog site. After all, I was guessing that http://click.blogdrive.com would be your first choice. Oh well, the blog name is still photography related, so no surprises there. hehe

Want to see his beautiful pictures and his narration about that trip to Lang Tengah, head to: http://immortalizedmoments.blogdrive.com/

On another note, my days at Starbucks is now numbered. So stop begging me for discounts. For those of you who are slighted because you’re not on the list of blog links, my sincere apologies (especially for those of you on FriendsterBlogs). See, I didn’t add those of you on FriendsterBlogs because I could see when you update your blogs, hence there’s no need to to keep the link somewhere. Maybe when I have less things on my mind to deal with, I’ll go and add you guys in.

Apologies for the silcence lately people. Went for a short vacation and needed some time to find my train of thought.

Previously, we’ve seen why gravity is not a force per se and the acceleration we feel is actually the manifestation of gravity itself.

So now we shall simply get to the barebones version of Einstein’s general theory of relativity and be done with it.

Basically, his idea is that mass and energy warps spacetime. To get a clearer picture of how this works, let’s use a light beam passing near the Sun as an example. Of course, the beam gets deflected as it travels in the vicinity of the Sun.

Newtonian physics would explain that phenomena occured as the Sun’s gravitational forces deflect the photons (the fundamental units of light which are not massless) towards the Sun as it travels. Einstein, however explains that the geometry of spacetime itself is warped, hence the light beam’s path is bent by the warping.

To get an even clearer idea on how it looks like, we’ll use the rubber sheet analogy. Here, a two dimensional rubber mat is substituting for the four dimensional spacetime and the red line is the light beam deflected after passing close to the Sun.

Photoshopped image from www.zarm.uni-bremen.de

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

That’s the crux of general relativity (without the accompanying equations).

Although both universal gravitation and general relativity predicts a deflection, general relativity predicts a deflection angle twice that of what was predicted by universal gravitation. To settle the dispute, a British expedition consisting of two teams went to Brazil and Principe Island off the coast of Africa to observe the deflection of starlight caused by the Sun during a solar eclipse in 1919. After careful analysis, Einstein’s theory was validated. The spectacular fashion in how it was proved subsequently made Einstein immortal. The London Times announced the news with the headline "Revolution in Science…Newtonian Ideas Overthrown" and another "Light Caught Bending". Little wonder why he became so famous right?

P.S. : If you wonder why we’re still being taught Newton’s theories although they’re outdated and surpassed by Einstein’s theories of relativity, it is because Newton’s formulas are simpler yet sufficiently accurate for everyday use. Only in the regions of extreme gravitation (eg around black holes) and relativistic speeds would general relativity and special relativity be important.