"On Being Certain" by Robert A. Burton has got to be one of the most depressing book I've read so far. You know what Kurt Godel did to Math? And what Descartes did it to EVERYTHING?
Well, using the latest results from psychology and neurology, Dr Burton finished the job by doing it to "Cogito Ergo Sum." Nice one, doc.
To sum it up,
Godel + Descartes + Burton = Massive headache.
Pick it up from your nearest library. If you dare.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Saturday, March 07, 2009
The flowers have bloomed in my army camp. Maybe the quick transitions between the blazing sun and the pouring rain serve as signals for the jasmine flowers to bloom together, thereby improving their chances of successful cross-pollenation. Whatever the reason, it remains a fact that there was a huge bloom of Jasmine flowers in my camp, and it's really fragrant. Since young I have always been told that flowers are fragrant, but I never actually associated flowers with fragrance because all the flowers I've seen (i.e. bougainvilla, ixora, hibiscus) have no smell.
Yes, so if you wish to make your house fragrant naturally, plant jasmine. You can't really smell many other flowers.
Only if you are prepared to have them visited by bees though. The jasmine bloom in my camp received good patronage from them.
Yes, so if you wish to make your house fragrant naturally, plant jasmine. You can't really smell many other flowers.
Only if you are prepared to have them visited by bees though. The jasmine bloom in my camp received good patronage from them.
Sunday, March 01, 2009
"How's the bread?"
"Pretty good. You want some?"
"No! I'm genuinely interested in knowing it's quality."
"Hello, is John in?"
"Ahh, please hold on."
"No, it's okay! I just want to know if he's at home."
"Excuse me mister, are you in the queue?"
"No, I'm not in the queue. *steps aside*"
"It's ok! I was just wondering why you've been standing there for so long."
"Pretty good. You want some?"
"No! I'm genuinely interested in knowing it's quality."
"Hello, is John in?"
"Ahh, please hold on."
"No, it's okay! I just want to know if he's at home."
"Excuse me mister, are you in the queue?"
"No, I'm not in the queue. *steps aside*"
"It's ok! I was just wondering why you've been standing there for so long."
Friday, February 27, 2009
Random idea.
Suppose you invent a head-dress (could be a cap, hat or visor) which contains a patch that measures skin-conductance. The head dress would display the scaled skin-conductance graph of the wearer. This would allow other people would know how stressed you are, and to a certain extent, whether you are lying. However, the display for the skin-conductance is designed such that you can only read the skin-conductance of other people if you are wearing a particular kind of goggles.
Experiment one.
1. Get a bunch of people. Give half of them special goggles.
2. Split them into pairs, so that 1/3 of the pairs have 2 goggles, 1/3 of the pairs have one, and1/3 of the pairs have none.
3. The researcher, while wearing the special goggles, observes them having a conversation with each other, with perhaps some prompting questions.
Which of the cases is the most stressful? Both partners having goggles? Both without goggles? Being the only one without goggles? Or being the only one with goggles?
Experiment two. (Same thing, except the bolded parts)
1. Get a bunch of people. Give half of them special goggles, and give the other half of them similar-looking but normal goggles.
2. Split them into pairs, so that 1/3 of the pairs have 2 special goggles, 1/3 of the pairs have one, and1/3 of the pairs have none.
3. The researcher, while wearing the special goggles, observes them having a conversation with each other, with perhaps some prompting questions.
Which of the cases is the most stressful? Both partners having special goggles? Both without special goggles? Being the only one without special goggles? Or being the only one with special goggles? Would they be able to tell if their partners have special goggles?
Suppose you invent a head-dress (could be a cap, hat or visor) which contains a patch that measures skin-conductance. The head dress would display the scaled skin-conductance graph of the wearer. This would allow other people would know how stressed you are, and to a certain extent, whether you are lying. However, the display for the skin-conductance is designed such that you can only read the skin-conductance of other people if you are wearing a particular kind of goggles.
Experiment one.
1. Get a bunch of people. Give half of them special goggles.
2. Split them into pairs, so that 1/3 of the pairs have 2 goggles, 1/3 of the pairs have one, and1/3 of the pairs have none.
3. The researcher, while wearing the special goggles, observes them having a conversation with each other, with perhaps some prompting questions.
Which of the cases is the most stressful? Both partners having goggles? Both without goggles? Being the only one without goggles? Or being the only one with goggles?
Experiment two. (Same thing, except the bolded parts)
1. Get a bunch of people. Give half of them special goggles, and give the other half of them similar-looking but normal goggles.
2. Split them into pairs, so that 1/3 of the pairs have 2 special goggles, 1/3 of the pairs have one, and1/3 of the pairs have none.
3. The researcher, while wearing the special goggles, observes them having a conversation with each other, with perhaps some prompting questions.
Which of the cases is the most stressful? Both partners having special goggles? Both without special goggles? Being the only one without special goggles? Or being the only one with special goggles? Would they be able to tell if their partners have special goggles?
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Random thoughts:
Some of the recent advertisements are seriously bad, or as Nelson puts it, "No effort!"
Like, the "London Choco Roll" advertisement just involves some airy voice chanting "London Choco Roll" while a yellow fairy dances in front of the said product.
Or, the "Jia xiang mian" advertisement.
"Jia Xiang!" "Mian!"
"Jia Xiang!" "Mian!"
"Jia Xiang Jia Xiang!" "Mian Mian!"
"Jia Xiang Jia Xiang Jia Xiang!" "Mian Mian Mian!"
"ooooooooooh Jia Xiang Mian!"
That's like some secondary school cheer, dude.
The Shop N Save advertisement is painful to even recall.
Some of the recent advertisements are seriously bad, or as Nelson puts it, "No effort!"
Like, the "London Choco Roll" advertisement just involves some airy voice chanting "London Choco Roll" while a yellow fairy dances in front of the said product.
Or, the "Jia xiang mian" advertisement.
"Jia Xiang!" "Mian!"
"Jia Xiang!" "Mian!"
"Jia Xiang Jia Xiang!" "Mian Mian!"
"Jia Xiang Jia Xiang Jia Xiang!" "Mian Mian Mian!"
"ooooooooooh Jia Xiang Mian!"
That's like some secondary school cheer, dude.
The Shop N Save advertisement is painful to even recall.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
OH. MY. GOD.
Shawn(now 14) has broken his voice.
And in this new campus superstar, there is ANOTHER guy called Jarod Lee(now 13). This guy sings damn well too!
What's best, Shawn and Jarod are gonna sing together!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_xfwBR3Lk0&feature=related
My goodness.
Shawn(now 14) has broken his voice.
And in this new campus superstar, there is ANOTHER guy called Jarod Lee(now 13). This guy sings damn well too!
What's best, Shawn and Jarod are gonna sing together!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_xfwBR3Lk0&feature=related
My goodness.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Random:
Here's what you get when you google-translate the chorus for Britney Spears' "Womanizer":
Here's what you get when you google-translate the chorus for Britney Spears' "Womanizer":
Womanizer ，女性womanizer ，你是一个womanizer
噢， womanizer ，哦，你是一个womanizer婴儿
你，你，你，你，你，你是
Womanizer ， womanizer ， womanizer
（ Womanizer ）
男孩不要前端
一只是我知道，只要你是什么，是
男孩不要前端
一只是我知道，只要你是什么，是
(男孩不要前端? What the heck?)
Actually, we don't know whether the guy she's talking about is really a womanizer. But she asserts her claim so confidently with such great frequency, that if it's true that a lie repeated oft' becomes the truth, then that guy is almost certainly a womanizer. Especially since this song is played like EVERYWHERE almost ALL THE TIME.
噢， womanizer ，哦，你是一个womanizer婴儿
你，你，你，你，你，你是
Womanizer ， womanizer ， womanizer
（ Womanizer ）
男孩不要前端
一只是我知道，只要你是什么，是
男孩不要前端
一只是我知道，只要你是什么，是
(男孩不要前端? What the heck?)
Actually, we don't know whether the guy she's talking about is really a womanizer. But she asserts her claim so confidently with such great frequency, that if it's true that a lie repeated oft' becomes the truth, then that guy is almost certainly a womanizer. Especially since this song is played like EVERYWHERE almost ALL THE TIME.
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