A*STAR Attachment Programme

Posted by HELiX

I hate making decisions… Well, sometimes.

There’s this A*STAR Science Attachment Programme at the end of the year, where you to get to be attached for research with a certain Research Institute of your choice; In my case, Institute of High Performance Computing.

But it spans four and half weeks through the Nov-Dec holidays. Ends on the 14th Dec, pretty much eating away your holidays. Not that I wish to be slacking around, but I’m thinking… it clashes with quite possibly a number of things. Maybe my birthday, maybe BPST’s camp, maybe even my annual overseas vacation.

Yeah, I know, it’s an opportunity most would take, and even though chances of getting into the attachment aren’t very high either, they’re rather strict that you gotta be committed in screwing your holidays over with the attachment before you apply.

Tomorrow I’m submitting my final documents for the application… so within the next few hours, I gotta decide whether to give this a miss or not. Damn.

Comments(0) 8:57 PM 4 April 2007

Why Accountancy is NOT a Suitable Career for Me.

Posted by HELiX

OHOHOHO. What a time I had today.

Today, immediately after Bowling, I went to Bugis to purchase the materials needed for the Tesla Coil project. It’s been really long now, and as it progresses, I’m realising more and more of how big of a project it is. Definitely not something you can just do if you wanna do, like the Airgun project. It involves lots of research, lots of time and MOST FRUSTRATINGLY, LOTS OF MONEY. Sometimes I just feel that it’s not all worthwhile, but I considered how far I’ve gone and there’s no turning back.

So today I headed down to the only industrial area I’m familiar with, somewhere nearby Bugis. Yup, that’s where I get my materials usually. I had to buy them myself this time, cos my dad refused to be of much help. He was alright with me when I started off the lab, but now after I told him about the Tesla Coil, he’s getting worried that I might blow the house’s circuit breakers and stuffs. That might be a problem of course, although I’m pretty sure it won’t happen. Maybe I’ll do a control circuit thing to break the supply if the current exceeds a certain amount. Also, he wants me to stop the lab after this project, but of course, I won’t. (Yeah, cous, you were there when I had to tell him off =__=)

It was about 12pm. I had an entire list of items to purchase with me. They’re for the Primary Coil, Static Spark Gap and Grounding Rod. Of course, these terms will not make much sense to y’all cos I’m the only one bored enough to mug on Tesla theory. I walked around the area twice, not too sure why, slowly found everything. Apparently, a shopkeeper told me that the prices of copper skyrocketed recently, and he wasn’t kidding. There were a couple of main things, each bought from a different shop:

1) 1-inch Copper Pipe - Expected it to be really, really expensive, but it was reasonable~… The shopkeeper told me $70 for 5.8m, and I thought I’m screwed. Then I asked for only 26 inches, and the price dropped down to $10. And since he had a spare 30 inches one, he just gave me that 4 inches for free.

2) Thick (and I mean, THICK) Copper-Cored Wire - The amount of processed copper in the wire makes it really expensive. I asked for one with a diameter between 6-8mm, and the guy gave me a 7.2mm one. It’s required to be thick cos of the extremely high current flowing through it. Then I asked for 7m of it. He measured it out, placed it in a bag, and then I took out a ten dollar note. And his facial expression was like, what the heck? The whole conversation was in Chinese so you can imagine how it went. Anyway, he said, $47. I went, what the f…udgiiiiiing- thing. He understood immediately and looked for a much smaller wire. It’s about 3-4mm, not quite what I wanted, but half the price. So $20+ for dumb wiring.

Also, went I left, I ACCIDENTALLY (really!) took the wrong bag. Yeah, I took the bag with the $47 worth of wire. Ahahaha and that guy ran after me to exchange =__= D’oh!

3) 1/4-inch Flexible Copper Tubing - THE ULTIMATE OVERPRICED SHAT. I don’t understand. It’s small. The material cost is probably lower. And maybe only justification for its cost is that it’s, well, flexible. But it FREAKIN’ HELL costed $12/METRE. YES, TWELVE BUCKS FOR A METRE. Ok, maybe it’s fine. BUT I NEEDED 7M AT LEAST. In the end, I just asked for 5.5m, an idiotic $65 of my money ($1 discount, WOOHOO).

And here’s the point of this entire entry: I suck at accountancy. I can’t do my accounting for nuts. Let’s do some math. The rough total cost of the Tesla Coil project so far:

Capacitors + Aluminium Air Duct + Magnet Wire = $187
Neon Sign Transformer (2nd hand, luckily) = $50
Copper Pipe = $10
Copper Wires = $25
Flexible Copper Tubing = $65
Acrylics = $8
PVC Pipe + End Caps = $10
Aluminium U Profiles = $5
Bolts/Nuts/Wire Lugs/Misc = $8

Estimated Total: $368 (calculated twice cos I didn’t believe it the first time)

And that excludes the cost of the varnish, which I found at home, and it’s really really fortunate that I got the NST 2nd hand. If not, it would be nearer to $500.

I’ll try to complete the project without hitting $400…

But then I think about it (actually, I just wanted myself to feel better), commercial Tesla Coils would cost in the thousands, and I believe mine can outperform those commercial ones =P

Now, just gotta find feel time to work on the coil! Stupid CTs… and CCAs.

Comments(0) 10:56 PM 4 April 2007

Why can’t we be friends?

Posted by HELiX

Apparently, tomorrow’s International Friendship Day (13th April) according to some National Education website of Singapore.

It’s also apparent that other websites state the date as 7th August.

Whichever is true, it doesn’t matter cos AC celebrated Friendship Day yesterday. Kinda. Just that I was too depressed to blog about it.

How’d it went? 40 mins of music being murdered.

First, there was this… Band. Or group of jokers. Whatever. The guitarist can’t play the guitar. The drummer did alright but wasn’t good enough to cover the band’s ass. And the lead singer… sent horror through the hall. Well, for starters, the band performed Wake Me Up When September Ends. It’s difficult to describe the band’s performance for it couldn’t be considered a music performance. It’s easier to describe it as a comedy. Even the fellas at Chapel do it much better. But to put it simply, they butchered the first song D:

Second item was pretty well done by some dancers, but keeping this entry one-sided helps.

The third and final item, they invited all the performers and people involved to the stage to sing Heal The World. Instrumentals couldn’t go wrong cos they were playing the song Michael Jackson sang himself, and stupidly enough, they didn’t sing at all. So for the full 3 or 4 mins, a whole lot of jokers on stage, swaying to the music in front of a mic where they’re supposed to project their voice into, but didn’t. All they ever did was to add humour to the music by appearing on stage for no apparent reason.

And that’s IFD celebrations for you.

Tomorrow’s IFD, and more importantly to me, World Space Party Day, which commemorates Yuri Gagarin’s launch to space, becoming the first person to do so. There’s an event at the Observatory of the Science Center, and there’s also Movie Under The Stars (or Ceiling) at AC. Mmm Hmm.

Aaaand ALSO, today, I official KILLEEED myself- or my free time, rather.

This morning, after assembly, I got approached by some teacher.

It could be classified under good news or bad news, but my feelings were mixed.

I got into the NUS-NTU Science Research Attachment Programme… thing.

That, of course, at face value, is damn good news. I’m meeting the Professor next week to discuss about the project and stuffs.

But coincidental or not, it was arranged that I gotta go to NUS/NTU every Wednesday. And it’s like, Oh Shit, Isn’t That My Only Freakin’ Free Day?

I ranted enough yesterday, so I’m just gonna say-

Haiz.

Comments(0) 9:51 PM 4 April 2007

Life.

Posted by HELiX

URGHH.

Please ignore this entry. Everyone needs to rant and rave and emo once in a while, but perhaps I’m doing it too often.

I don’t feel good. It just sucks, I mean, I don’t really know how to put it down in words.

I’m thinking… stress. Overcommitment. And the utter wasting of time.

CCA 5 times a week, 2 tests a week for the next 6 or 7 weeks, and now, worse still, I wanna help BP. I reach home about 7-8pm on days which I have something after school, something like… everyday?

I reach home, a couple of hours left. Dinner. Homework. Study a bit for upcoming tests. Little bit of the necessary internet. And then sleep. I aim to sleep at 12am for a mere 6 hours of sleep, but no, I’ve been sleeping at 1.30am, suffering through the lectures and tutorials in school.

I look at Shaun’s msn nick and it perfectly summarise the kinda thing I’m in, although I’m pretty sure he’s much more free than me.

"[TWIS] friends,play,sleep,work. choose 2"

Friends? Yeah lately I don’t chat much on msn anymore, transforming me (back) into an antisocial being. Play? I haven’t seriously gamed on the PC for the past 2/3 months, perhaps a record for the past few years.

I try to finish my homework, usually fail doing so and get extremely frustrated with myself for not being able to manage time properly. It seems as though there’s a never ending stream of work to be done.

And heck, I don’t even clock in enough sleep. Less than five hours a day.

Of course, occasionally there are other depressing thoughts that go through my head, but it’s being stupid to blog about them. 

Blogging about this even makes me feel even more guilty now. People are gonna like, ask me to relax, blah blah blah but you know what? It doesn’t work that way. Relaxing in my situation doesn’t solve problems; It creates more.

Ah crap-

Sorry.

Comments(0) 8:19 PM 4 April 2007

WHAT IS THIS GAME?

Posted by HELiX

I don’t know.

I really don’t know what’s this game, but a jelly guy jumping around a keyboard is incredibly fun.

Too addictive, dammit, too addictive.

Try it, http://www.gamenet.com/jellyjumper/. 

Comments(0) 11:53 PM 4 April 2007

Cute.

Posted by HELiX

This is cute. Too cute.

… 

Let me tell you a story.

Go back a month or two, slightly before the release of the O Levels results. It’s around February I think.

It’s a horrible time for me. Over the past 4 years in BP, I’ve submitted Edusave forms to pay for stuffs which my Edusave could never afford.

Hey c’mon, gimme a break. I got my Edusave at Sec 1 or 2 or something, stupid 4th child thing and now the government (aka. PAP) wants more children. <strike>Dumb ‘tards</strike>

Ah, anyways, yeah, I paid for quite a number of M’sia astro retreats, random courses and programmes the school throw at us and even, the obscenely overpriced, OBS.

Perfect. The school sends me letters every few months, requesting that I pay up. I’m quite surprised they didn’t send someone to my house to hang a pig’s head or something.

And then near the release of the O Level results, I start to hear stories about people being held back at BP, unable to collect their results because they owe the school money. <strike>And I was like, SHIT SHIT SHIT WTF I DO NOW.</strike>

I did some elementary math that I couldn’t go wrong in, unless, of course, my knowledge of math didn’t was below elementary. Let’s see, 3 years of astro retreats? $300. OBS? $300. Add all the additional smaller payments, it’s between $600 to $700, but I always like to think that it’s just $600.

The day came. Perhaps my math was really below elementary.

The school just asked me to pay up just $120+, and I happily, happily, did so. I mean, I’M LIKE WOOHOO SO LITTLE? I JUST NEED TO PAY $120+?!?!?! And others around me were like, "WTH IS WRONG WITH THIS GUY. MY EDUSAVE STILL HAS 300PLUSPLUSPLUS BUCKS AND THIS JOKER OWES THE SCHOOL MONEY." That, of course, is not my point here.

But my point is, I did paid up. $120+. And I got my results, ultimately ending up in a JC where money is supposedly used as fuel for lights.

AHAHAHA.

Now, a month or two later I’ve got new mail.

In cute, nice, big CAPS, "TO THE PARENT OF LOW MING YUAN DEREK"

"AN APPEAL TO SETTLE UNSUCCESSFUL EDUSAVE AD-HOC WITHDRAWAL FOR ENRICHMENT PROGRAMS"

And in a font slightly easier on the eyes, "Building our Dream School for the 21st Century"

Immediately, I went "PFFFFFFT". A big fat "PFFFFFFFFT".

It’s silly, you know, how the education system expects us to have a good standard of English to argue and persuade in letter writings and argumentative essays, but the fella who wrote the letter to me, Admin Vice Principal I believe, sounded incredibly boring in the letter than I went "Pfft" a couple more times. Pfft.

Skipping all the persuasion to get to the payment, there they have a nice little table, adding up the amount I owe the school. A sweet FOUR HUNDRED AND TWENTY-ONE DOLLARS, AND TWENTY FIVE CENTS.

So I went, "Dad? The school wants me to pay FOUR HUNDRED AND TWENTY-ONE DOLLARS, AND TWENTY FIVE CENTS. They’re being funny."

I can’t remember exactly what he said next, but it was to the effect of "Pfft."

Till now, I still find it stupidly incredible of how the school wants a post-graduate to pay up. And I clearly remember the Colins financial officer guy of the school telling me (when I collected my EAGLES award from him), "You can’t run from paying. We will track you down."

Oh? Watch me.

Comments(0) 10:45 PM 4 April 2007

PW: The Pain, The Horror

Posted by HELiX

I had a horrible misconception. Back in secondary school. I like project work(s). I love them.

Partly because, you have others to help you do your work; Partly because, you can divide the work unevenly and do the least; Partly because, you get to piss off teammates; And partly because, I can’t forget winning $2000 for DnT as a group. Woohoo!

Aha.

Enter JC life. They come and tell you intimidating facts like… "With this PW, your A Level starts now" and even a Cambridge issued booklet with the words written in cold hard CAPS, "GENERAL CERTIFICATE OF EDUCATION ADVANCED LEVEL" was given out and I’m like, wth? I just finished my Os. Gimme a damn break.

Among the stupidest thing in PI is that, MOE chooses your grouping for you. I can’t imagine working with people who… you and I don’t wanna work with. 

So my first ever graded assignment for the A Levels is here. PI. Something like… preliminary idea. That’s the sad part. It’s only about a month into proper schooling, and we’re shown the Cambridge crest again. If history is of any indication, any work that is done over a long period, chances are, I’ll screw up.

Also, the topics just suck. Groundbreakers? One that isn’t well documented? Pfft.

And the 2nd topic about entertainment, it was badly set. The requirements/description of that task does not tally with the task title itself.

Oh heck, I just finished the PI, a miserable 471 words, but ah well.

…

…

…

Sometimes I feel as though I just blog about miserable moments, so let’s have some random stuffs!

…

I wanted to talk a bit about the tesla coil but I’ve been so busy lately that not much has been done. Gimme a week or two more. I’ll try to complete it within this month and the next~! Next components are the spark gap and the primary coil. It’s a much bigger project than I ever imagined. Kudos to all the tesla coilers out there.

…

I still owe Wei Rong a tag, I think.

…

…And, I still can’t hook the bowling ball.

…

Erm, what else?

Of course, the standard ranting about homework, I’ve got lots of them piling up, and it’s an insane torture to try to finish them.

Let’s be honest. I haven’t touched a good PC game in months. I’ve been doing other stuffs lately, I’m not too sure mainly what, but ever since UT3 was delayed to Q3 of this year, I lost interest in gaming quite a bit.

Ah but now, C&C3 and STALKER are released. 6 GB of downloading hell, 60 hours of uber fun single player gameplay which follows, finally resulting in a 60% decline in grades over the next 8 weeks’ common tests.

Nicely done.

…

Aww crap?! None of the above are happy thoughts.
 

Comments(0) 10:06 PM 4 April 2007