C'est l'ocassion pour le fete! Pardonnez-moi pour le francais mal. Je suis bete, je sais, si je veux les gens qui parlons francais a me comprendre. Mais, je vais essayer! Un publicite en francais, depuis un singapourien qui connais anglais et chinois tout la vie seulement.
Noel est presque, qu'est que vous fairez pour l'evenement? Moi, je ne sais pas. Meme si je suis catholique, je ne vraiment crois pas que le Dieu existe. A bien de moments, j'ai les pensees... pourquoi beaucoup de gens croyons dans lui? Personne ne le voit! Serieusement, je ne sais pas...
Peut-etre, apres beaucoup de annees, je vais comprendre. Que pensez-vous? Je vais comprendre dans l'avenir? Ou je toujours ne comprends pas? Ah... tout n'est pas importante. Le plus importante en courant, est pour moi a reussir. J'ai 19 ans seulement. Il y a un longue route avant moi.
Dire-moi "meilleurs voeux". Je dois vous remercie pour lire mon francais mal. Et, peut-etre, vous pouvez correcter-moi dans le grammaire (je suis tres faible dans ca!). En tard, humain.
Saturday, 24 December 2011
Sunday, 11 December 2011
Giving everything you've got
Running a marathon is no simple task. I remember running my first marathon a year ago, with a close friend of mine. It was hard, daunting, strenuous. If you're a fit guy, you'd think that running a marathon is simply maintaining a steady pace across 42km. It is quite true, but then again it's not all.
The both of us went into the marathon hardly prepared. The furthest distance I'd run to prepare for the race was probably about 5km or so, not even an eighth of the entire race. Then, the first few kilometres breezed by. It felt so good running past people, just letting our legs fly in the cool morning wind. I felt great.
As time passed by, however, aches started kicking in. Practically every part of my body ached at least once—my thighs, my calves, my abs, my shoulders... not my neck muscles though. At some point of time it felt like I couldn't go on. I'm sure I couldn't have went on if I didn't have company. You know, I was relying on this... spirit bond (no reference to DotA's Syllabear) with my friend—if he could make it, I could; if he couldn't, I couldn't.
To me, a marathon is a test of both a person's physical and mental endurance. One year down the road, I'm pretty sure that I can't run a marathon. First of all, my stamina took a dip for the worse (and is still dipping, I guess). And then, I'm also not motivated to run a marathon.
I wouldn't advise anyone to run a marathon if he just wants to do it for the accomplishment—the pride, the sense of achievement, the medal, and the finisher tee. It's because, at the end of the marathon, you actually start questioning yourself: who, really, is impressed by your run? What's changed after fighting so hard? I don't know. For me, it leaves me all dull and gloomy... I'd advise you to run a marathon only if you want to run it, if you have a desire for it, be it for friends, or... yourself.
The both of us went into the marathon hardly prepared. The furthest distance I'd run to prepare for the race was probably about 5km or so, not even an eighth of the entire race. Then, the first few kilometres breezed by. It felt so good running past people, just letting our legs fly in the cool morning wind. I felt great.
As time passed by, however, aches started kicking in. Practically every part of my body ached at least once—my thighs, my calves, my abs, my shoulders... not my neck muscles though. At some point of time it felt like I couldn't go on. I'm sure I couldn't have went on if I didn't have company. You know, I was relying on this... spirit bond (no reference to DotA's Syllabear) with my friend—if he could make it, I could; if he couldn't, I couldn't.
To me, a marathon is a test of both a person's physical and mental endurance. One year down the road, I'm pretty sure that I can't run a marathon. First of all, my stamina took a dip for the worse (and is still dipping, I guess). And then, I'm also not motivated to run a marathon.
I wouldn't advise anyone to run a marathon if he just wants to do it for the accomplishment—the pride, the sense of achievement, the medal, and the finisher tee. It's because, at the end of the marathon, you actually start questioning yourself: who, really, is impressed by your run? What's changed after fighting so hard? I don't know. For me, it leaves me all dull and gloomy... I'd advise you to run a marathon only if you want to run it, if you have a desire for it, be it for friends, or... yourself.
Friday, 9 December 2011
Thoughts on IT
I went for my first interview yesterday. It was with Microsoft.
OK, I wouldn't say it's really my first, because I've had interviews before this. None of them, however, was about a complete evaluation of me—in other words, those interviews were nothing more than formalities. In this case, however, I had my qualifications looked at, I was observed, interrogated, and came out thoroughly disheartened.
It was an interview for an internship position, anyway. A position that went along the lines of developing proof-of-concepts for both aZaaS and Microsoft (in other words, whatever that I was going to work on was a shared project between aZaaS and Microsoft).
My main flaw of the entire interview, was, perhaps, being a little too humble (on hindsight), and also not being able to show my drive and willingness to go the extra mile. To be honest, I'm not exactly the very self-motivated, passionate-about-IT kind of student. I'm more of the, "I know you know I'm good", "We'll see with time" kind of person. I don't know. It's probably got to do with my personality rather than anything else.
Knowledge-wise, I believe I portrayed myself as a person who has a sound knowledge of whatever I've studied before. On the other hand, one of the interviewers' (there were two: a male and a female) questions stumped me. "What do you look forward to when you wake up every morning?" God, hath you forsaken me? I know not the answer to this question!
The male interviewer was the one who spoke the most, and he mentioned that he was working as a janitor. Someone who cleans stuff, stacks up chair... yeah, a janitor being an interviewer?! My frigging ass! I could only look at him in disbelief, thinking about what he could really mean. I think I must have looked really dumb there... So the interview gradually developed into a casual conversation that went along the lines of this... I can't remember the interview word for word, but, here goes:
He: So what do you look forward to when you wake up every morning?
Me: *speechless for awhile* Um, I think I'll need some time to think about it.
He: *smiles* By some time do you mean a few minutes, or a few years?
(I never came up with the answer in the end. Later...)
He: What do you know about ASP.NET?
Me: *ramble about GET, POST, Toolbox stuff, and Entity Framework* I used the database-first approach (referring to Entity Framework).
He: So what's the advantage of using the database-first approach?Me: Erm, I wouldn't say that there's really an advantage of a database-first approach, it's just the one I used when I developed it for the assignment. In the code-first approach, you write the classes first, but in the database-first approach you make the tables first. I guess the only difference is that you have control of the one you start doing first.
He: You know, during the first 5 minutes of the interview, you came across as a bo-chap person. But right now you show that you actually have knowledge of what you're doing.
Me: *feel proud inside*
He: What's stopping you from just going out there and making it big?
Me: Well, I don't really feel like I can make anything tangible. You know, when I was in secondary school, I picked up this book on C++; I'm not too sure whether C# was around at that time.
He: Yes, it was. I'm 10 years older than you.
Me: Oh, OK. Erm... yeah, and anyway, I learnt how to like assign an integer and stuff, but I never saw how I could make something tangible. I mean, even in school, we do assignments and make something out of it, but I never see any of them go into the market.
He: *something alone the lines of But you've never really tried, have you? How would you know?*
So yeah, it went something along the lines of that. I don't think I impressed either of them at the very least, but at the end of the day I hope I get the job! It might really be the "play hard-to-get" kind of thing that people in relationships do, just to tease us internship interviewees, but... I don't know! To cut it short, it was a very unnerving experience. At the same time, it was eye-opening; I learnt a lot from it.
On the other hand, my friend (who went in before me) portrayed himself as a true blue leader, a person who is very motivated and driven, willing to learn... But the questions the male interviewer posed (once again) shook him. Questions such as "what is the difference between mutable and transmutable?", "what is an interface?", and "what is the fundamental difference between C# and Java?" I could probably talk some crap about the first two questions, but maybe not so for the third. I guess, I'm not really experienced at Java.
Overall, I'm glad that I came across naturally, and I tried my first real interview with who I really am; I did not, in any way, try to portray a false persona! this is one thing I'm really happy about. On the other hand, I have no idea if I'd get the job... oh well! Good luck to me.
OK, I wouldn't say it's really my first, because I've had interviews before this. None of them, however, was about a complete evaluation of me—in other words, those interviews were nothing more than formalities. In this case, however, I had my qualifications looked at, I was observed, interrogated, and came out thoroughly disheartened.
It was an interview for an internship position, anyway. A position that went along the lines of developing proof-of-concepts for both aZaaS and Microsoft (in other words, whatever that I was going to work on was a shared project between aZaaS and Microsoft).
My main flaw of the entire interview, was, perhaps, being a little too humble (on hindsight), and also not being able to show my drive and willingness to go the extra mile. To be honest, I'm not exactly the very self-motivated, passionate-about-IT kind of student. I'm more of the, "I know you know I'm good", "We'll see with time" kind of person. I don't know. It's probably got to do with my personality rather than anything else.
Knowledge-wise, I believe I portrayed myself as a person who has a sound knowledge of whatever I've studied before. On the other hand, one of the interviewers' (there were two: a male and a female) questions stumped me. "What do you look forward to when you wake up every morning?" God, hath you forsaken me? I know not the answer to this question!
The male interviewer was the one who spoke the most, and he mentioned that he was working as a janitor. Someone who cleans stuff, stacks up chair... yeah, a janitor being an interviewer?! My frigging ass! I could only look at him in disbelief, thinking about what he could really mean. I think I must have looked really dumb there... So the interview gradually developed into a casual conversation that went along the lines of this... I can't remember the interview word for word, but, here goes:
He: So what do you look forward to when you wake up every morning?
Me: *speechless for awhile* Um, I think I'll need some time to think about it.
He: *smiles* By some time do you mean a few minutes, or a few years?
(I never came up with the answer in the end. Later...)
He: What do you know about ASP.NET?
Me: *ramble about GET, POST, Toolbox stuff, and Entity Framework* I used the database-first approach (referring to Entity Framework).
He: So what's the advantage of using the database-first approach?Me: Erm, I wouldn't say that there's really an advantage of a database-first approach, it's just the one I used when I developed it for the assignment. In the code-first approach, you write the classes first, but in the database-first approach you make the tables first. I guess the only difference is that you have control of the one you start doing first.
He: You know, during the first 5 minutes of the interview, you came across as a bo-chap person. But right now you show that you actually have knowledge of what you're doing.
Me: *feel proud inside*
He: What's stopping you from just going out there and making it big?
Me: Well, I don't really feel like I can make anything tangible. You know, when I was in secondary school, I picked up this book on C++; I'm not too sure whether C# was around at that time.
He: Yes, it was. I'm 10 years older than you.
Me: Oh, OK. Erm... yeah, and anyway, I learnt how to like assign an integer and stuff, but I never saw how I could make something tangible. I mean, even in school, we do assignments and make something out of it, but I never see any of them go into the market.
He: *something alone the lines of But you've never really tried, have you? How would you know?*
So yeah, it went something along the lines of that. I don't think I impressed either of them at the very least, but at the end of the day I hope I get the job! It might really be the "play hard-to-get" kind of thing that people in relationships do, just to tease us internship interviewees, but... I don't know! To cut it short, it was a very unnerving experience. At the same time, it was eye-opening; I learnt a lot from it.
On the other hand, my friend (who went in before me) portrayed himself as a true blue leader, a person who is very motivated and driven, willing to learn... But the questions the male interviewer posed (once again) shook him. Questions such as "what is the difference between mutable and transmutable?", "what is an interface?", and "what is the fundamental difference between C# and Java?" I could probably talk some crap about the first two questions, but maybe not so for the third. I guess, I'm not really experienced at Java.
Overall, I'm glad that I came across naturally, and I tried my first real interview with who I really am; I did not, in any way, try to portray a false persona! this is one thing I'm really happy about. On the other hand, I have no idea if I'd get the job... oh well! Good luck to me.
Monday, 14 November 2011
Sonic Generations
I know it's been about two weeks or so already since Sonic Generations got released on PS3, Xbox, NDS, and PC... but, hey! I haven't gotten my copy of Sonic Generations yet.
Now, with all the spiffy game releases at the moment, Sonic Generations is probably the last thing on the mind of most gamers. For me, however, I played Sonic platformers way back when I was a young little kid. And I really loved those times as a kid—the little hedgehog leaping around, landing on Badniks, and whizzing away in an a blue ball of awesomeness! That, was childhood.
I wouldn't call myself a die-hard Sonic fan, because honestly, after Sonic graduated from the 2D platform, it just didn't cut it anymore. I remember when I was playing Sonic 3D Blast—sure, the controls were hard, maneuvering was not simple task—at the end of the day, I made it though. Then came Sonic Adventure DX, which wasn't really all a bundle of fun, but seeing the cool hedgehog getting the better out of everyone else was quite satisfying anyway...
Then there was Sonic Riders, and honestly, I really don't like this game, as much of a Sonic fan I am. It doesn't give me the thrill of a racing game, and neither is it satisfying in any way. It just didn't appeal to me in any way.
But hey! I've never really given up on Sonic. I still remain a Sonic fanboy deep within me. If any one of you out there actually played Sonic the Hedgehog 3, you'd probably remember this...
Now, with all the spiffy game releases at the moment, Sonic Generations is probably the last thing on the mind of most gamers. For me, however, I played Sonic platformers way back when I was a young little kid. And I really loved those times as a kid—the little hedgehog leaping around, landing on Badniks, and whizzing away in an a blue ball of awesomeness! That, was childhood.
I wouldn't call myself a die-hard Sonic fan, because honestly, after Sonic graduated from the 2D platform, it just didn't cut it anymore. I remember when I was playing Sonic 3D Blast—sure, the controls were hard, maneuvering was not simple task—at the end of the day, I made it though. Then came Sonic Adventure DX, which wasn't really all a bundle of fun, but seeing the cool hedgehog getting the better out of everyone else was quite satisfying anyway...
Then there was Sonic Riders, and honestly, I really don't like this game, as much of a Sonic fan I am. It doesn't give me the thrill of a racing game, and neither is it satisfying in any way. It just didn't appeal to me in any way.
But hey! I've never really given up on Sonic. I still remain a Sonic fanboy deep within me. If any one of you out there actually played Sonic the Hedgehog 3, you'd probably remember this...
Yeah... that's the Sonic fanboy I am, remembering the little funny things that I really enjoyed as a kid... ;) I'm so looking forward to giving Sonic Generations a go!
Oh, if you haven't checked out OCRemix, do give them a go. Click here to pay them a visit. Basically, they give game soundtracks their own remixed renditions... with all the funk and iffiness to go. It's pretty cool; I mean, just listen to the following track, and you'd understand what I mean.
I'm so looking forward to giving Sonic Generations a go!
Sunday, 13 November 2011
French vocabulary
I won't try to deny it, but French vocabulary is probably more important than grammar. Fluency, on the other hand, is how someone carries the whole package together. Grammar is like the architecture—without it the whole building falls. Vocabulary is like the materials: the better materials you get, the better buildings you can build. Fluency, then, is how the whole thing is put together, and involves the intricacies—the nuances, of the language.
I wouldn't say that learning French vocabulary is easy. It's probably far easier than Japanese, or Korean, however. When learning a new language, I subconsciously try to find similarities between my strongest language (English) and the language I'm learning... and boy, I've got to say that similarities between Asian languages and English are few and far between.
Now, I'd like to ramble more and pretend to be the language master that I'm not, but I'm gonna try to talk about certain things I've noticed...
False cognates
libraire—bookshop
actuel—current
monnaie—small change (yes, it's money, but we use argent to refer to money en general)
chair—flesh (fauteuil, or chaise is used to refer to chair)
course—races (not really a false cognate, because it also refers to course; faire des courses: do grocery-shopping)
robe—dress
sang—blood
Similar words
toilette—toilet
épouse/époux—spouse
amour—love
morose—gloomy
lieu—place
soudain—sudden
lien—link, bond (doesn't alien mean somebody without bonds?)
ligne—line
sang—blood (sanguine anyone?)
Direct translations (sort of)
surtout—above all (sur: above; tout: all)
parfois—sometimes (par: by; fois: time, occasion)
malheureuse—unfortunately, unhappily (mal: bad; heureuse: happy)
en general—in general (en: in, preposition)
en ligne—online (en: on, preposition; ligne: line)
longtemps—long time (temps: time)
Words that have hardly any link
bibliotheque—library
pécheur—fisherman
magasin—store
pomme—apple
vert—green
apitoyer—pity
There are probably many other words, but these are stuff I can write off my head (and bien sur, with the help of Google Traduction). I'm definitely not a maître de langue, but there many things that interessent moi—the fact that langue means both "language" and "tongue". Now, when you talk about mother tongue... and speaking in many different tongues, it makes a lot more sense, doesn't it? ;)
All the best to any language you're learning. Wish me all the best, too. Would trade French fluency for my left nut.
I wouldn't say that learning French vocabulary is easy. It's probably far easier than Japanese, or Korean, however. When learning a new language, I subconsciously try to find similarities between my strongest language (English) and the language I'm learning... and boy, I've got to say that similarities between Asian languages and English are few and far between.
Now, I'd like to ramble more and pretend to be the language master that I'm not, but I'm gonna try to talk about certain things I've noticed...
False cognates
libraire—bookshop
actuel—current
monnaie—small change (yes, it's money, but we use argent to refer to money en general)
chair—flesh (fauteuil, or chaise is used to refer to chair)
course—races (not really a false cognate, because it also refers to course; faire des courses: do grocery-shopping)
robe—dress
sang—blood
Similar words
toilette—toilet
épouse/époux—spouse
amour—love
morose—gloomy
lieu—place
soudain—sudden
lien—link, bond (doesn't alien mean somebody without bonds?)
ligne—line
sang—blood (sanguine anyone?)
Direct translations (sort of)
surtout—above all (sur: above; tout: all)
parfois—sometimes (par: by; fois: time, occasion)
malheureuse—unfortunately, unhappily (mal: bad; heureuse: happy)
en general—in general (en: in, preposition)
en ligne—online (en: on, preposition; ligne: line)
longtemps—long time (temps: time)
Words that have hardly any link
bibliotheque—library
pécheur—fisherman
magasin—store
pomme—apple
vert—green
apitoyer—pity
There are probably many other words, but these are stuff I can write off my head (and bien sur, with the help of Google Traduction). I'm definitely not a maître de langue, but there many things that interessent moi—the fact that langue means both "language" and "tongue". Now, when you talk about mother tongue... and speaking in many different tongues, it makes a lot more sense, doesn't it? ;)
All the best to any language you're learning. Wish me all the best, too. Would trade French fluency for my left nut.
Wednesday, 9 November 2011
Elle me dit
Here's Mika's first French single, entitled "Elle me dit":
I'm sure many of us here has heard of his song Grace Kelly. It's another fun, light-hearted song that gets him sailing breeze-like past his falsetto, and back down. It's nice, actually! just not my cup of tea. All the while I thought he was an English-only singer, but, well, this song proved me wrong.
"Elle me dit" means "She tells me" in French. When I first heard the song, and read the lyrics, I thought it was a song about a naggy girlfriend. After all, the chorus goes "pourquoi tu gâches ta vie", very much like an irritating hoe trying to change her boyfriend's direction in life.
I was wrong though! In his life performance, he said that "it's about all the horrific things a mother could say to her son to get him to fuck out of her house".
Whatever the meaning behind it, it doesn't really matter. This song is great. It has a very colourful melody to it, light-hearted lyrics, accompanied by a dynamic beat. It has so many flavours to it, it's actually hard not to like it! ;)
Man against the virus
Now, this man Timothy Ray Brown, a HIV patient, received a bone marrow transplant from a guy who was immune to HIV. Soon after that, the HIV virus inside Brown disappeared.
Take a look at this article.
Magic? Perhaps not. The bone marrow is a flexible tissue found in our bones that produces red blood cells. While I'm no expert at viruses or medicine, it's safe to say that the blood the new bone marrow produced triggered this cure. In rare cases of a bone marrow transplant, the blood type of the person changes.
HIV is a worldwide epidemic that especially affects the poverty-stricken. HIV has no known cure. HIV will eventually lead to AIDS, and AIDS will eventually lead to death. The virus demolishes a person's immune system, such that even the slightest flu bug can be fatal to him. AIDS isn't exactly the harbringer of death, but rather more of a messenger.
While this piece of news is probably not much of a cause for celebration to HIV patients worldwide, at the very least, it brings the human race a glimmer of hope against this dangerous virus. At the very least, we all now know that the virus is not invincible, and there is perhaps some way to counter it. That, is some cause for celebration for humankind.
In Man's battle against the virus.
Take a look at this article.
Magic? Perhaps not. The bone marrow is a flexible tissue found in our bones that produces red blood cells. While I'm no expert at viruses or medicine, it's safe to say that the blood the new bone marrow produced triggered this cure. In rare cases of a bone marrow transplant, the blood type of the person changes.
HIV is a worldwide epidemic that especially affects the poverty-stricken. HIV has no known cure. HIV will eventually lead to AIDS, and AIDS will eventually lead to death. The virus demolishes a person's immune system, such that even the slightest flu bug can be fatal to him. AIDS isn't exactly the harbringer of death, but rather more of a messenger.
While this piece of news is probably not much of a cause for celebration to HIV patients worldwide, at the very least, it brings the human race a glimmer of hope against this dangerous virus. At the very least, we all now know that the virus is not invincible, and there is perhaps some way to counter it. That, is some cause for celebration for humankind.
In Man's battle against the virus.
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