During my 4 and so years in university, I’ve developed quite some programs whether for fun, for Omah TI research project, or others.
I think it would be nice if I could upload them so that I can put URLs on CVs and such…
So stay tuned…
One of my blogs was actually featured on a newspaper! It’s kinda cool, so go see it :).
When I opened the drawers on the kitchen today to search for some random foods, how surprised I was when I found a green grasshopper inside! Only God knows how that poor little insect got caught there.
What was more surprising is the fact that she (yes, a female!) has lost one of her back limbs! She only had one of those large legs for jumping! Well, that’s if she could jump at all in that state.
Of course the only sane thing to do was to pick her up and release her back into the wild. But she wouldn’t let me take her that easily! She hopped and hopped as I tried to catch her. With one jumping leg!
It took some effort before I could finally get hold of her. I just put her near the door and in a few moment she hopped skilfully outside.
Just think of how great that creature was. Losing one important organ but still being able to do so much, still being able to jump that high! Nature does indeed teach us humans a lot…
When I was having a walk yesterday morning, I found this praying mantis:
She didn’t try to run when I took him up. Closer examination revealed that both of her eyes seemed to be damaged. She was injured and probably blind. A disease? Poor little thing.
So, rather than let her have a tragic face of being crushed by mechanical whatnots, I took her home. I just let her stand on my hands along the way. After photographing her, I put her on a bush on my back yard.
This is a question of paramount importance to me. If I sleep too much, that’s a waste of time and productivity. But sleep too little and you will easily get sick. How much is this baffling ideal time?
According to NSF (National Science Sleep Foundation), it really depends on your age. And even within an age range, it can vary significantly. Here’s a hint if you’re seeking answers:
Image from NSF
But basically, the optimal sleep time is an individually unique value. If you feel you need more sleep, then you probably need it. Read the multi-page article for more details.
I’m going with 7 hours per day. So at this fasting season, this translates to sleeping at 8 PM and waking at 3 AM. Another option seem to be sleeping like the usual months at 10 PM but getting an extra sleep at daytime.
(and here’s hoping that you don’t break the sleep schedule… again…)
PS: I heard that Indonesia’s first president Soekarno sleeps only 5 hours (IIRC) per day. If he can really endure that, I envy him very much…
After the announcement of Diablo 3, I got worked up to know more lore of the world of Diablo. Recently I finished reading “The Sin War: Birthright” which is written by Richard A. Knaak. Chronologically, it is the first among other novels.
It happens 3000 years before the events of Diablo I. The world of Sanctuary is actually created by angels and demons tired of the eternal war between the High Heavens and the Burning Hells. The first inhabitants of the world, called Nephalem, are actually “children” of angel and demon. They turned out to be more powerful than either of the parents, so the magical Worldstone was used to inhibit their power. The story in this book centers about the unleashing of this magical power inside Uldyssian ul-Diomed, first stimulated by a demon Lilith for her own purposes.
Some points of cultural interest:
“Wake up you.. wake up! We have to get out of here!”
- Imoen, Baldur’s Gate II
At long last, I have regained enough strength. Thanks for all those wishing for my my recovery 
My recent sickness was probably from overtiredness, coupled with the currently very cold weather here. My schedule is actually to sleep at 10 PM every day, but most of the time I slept after 00:00. The lack of sleep piled increasingly more and at some point my mortal body just couldn’t bear it. Cold, vomiting, you name it…
A little tip for you if you get a cold. When things are in order, I always prefer to let the disease heal naturally. But when an emergency measure is required, Panadol seems to take care of the job. After you take one, it literally drains the consciousness left in you so you sleep and while you sleep you’ll sweat a lot as if having a nightmare. But it does seem to work wonder in getting rid of the cold faster.
So, well, I’ll try to get enough sleep from now on. Sleeping at 10 and waking up at 5 should give me a sufficient 7-hour rest (what’s yours?). Ah, and more exercise as my good old friend Tri said.
Anyway, my pal Wim posted his final paper a while back, and that only reminded me to do the proper final ritual for mine also, which is to unleash it on the net. It’s a web-based Japanese IME and I’ll try to prepare it the following days.
I got sick, so I wouldn’t be able to update this blog for probably several days. Let’s just hope things will get sorted out soon.
Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Fly. They’re gross creatures that are disease vectors. So, today I found this big type in my room trying to go outside but blocked by a near transparent window. It just buzzed and bumped itself into the window endlessly, as if hoping its superfly strength can break the thick glass.
The noise bothered me. And as mentioned, they are disease carrying agents that probably are too simple to have self awareness. Killing seems to be, as cruel as it sounds, justified.
So I took an A4 paper and folded it into an adhoc weapon. Then I stealthily approached the thing and… Well, actually I needn’t be too sneaky since that creature is too obsessed with the dazzling sunlight outside… and anyway I whammed! It still moved. Wham! Wham!
From the neighbor photocopy shop, I got the schedule for my area’s scheduled blackout. Call it crazy, but for this month PLN (Perusahaan Listrik Ngaco) schedules 10 blackout!
Because today, July 1st, my area is supposed to be cut from electrical supply from 7:00 to 17:00, I went to GLP to avoid it.
But they didn’t turn it off after all!
I don’t know whether to be happy or mad. For one thing, they’ve made my evacuation plan useless and just time wasting. Can I sue them from spreading pure FUD? But viewed from another angle, isn’t canceling a planned evil deed a good thing?
Next scheduled outage: July 3rd.