Friday, August 29, 2008
Error in weather report
How can the day's high be only 33 degree when it is currently 35 degrees outside? Obviously some programmer in Google is too lazy to just implement an auto-correct procedure when the temperature exceeds the day's high.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Pascal's Wager
I have heard of the Pascal Wager many times, but my recent rediscovery of it on Wikipedia made me realized that I have misunderstood his original intention all along. I have new found admiration for this great giant, whom shoulders have helped support many that came after him.
His starts his argument by highlighting the inadequacy of reason and hence it is futile to try to prove God's existence. As a result, a wager (or a leap of faith) is necessary. The question is, where do you place your bet? His reasoning is that if God exists and you believed in Him, you will have eternal life and hence infinite happiness. If God did not exist and you had lived your life with their error, your loss is at finite (since your life time is finite).
In note 233 of his Pensées, Pascal wrote,
"Endeavour then to convince yourself, not by increase of proofs of God, but by the abatement of your passions. You would like to attain faith, and do not know the way; you would like to cure yourself of unbelief, and ask the remedy for it. Learn of those who have been bound like you, and who now stake all their possessions. These are people who know the way which you would follow, and who are cured of an ill of which you would be cured. Follow the way by which they began; by acting as if they believed, bless yourself with holy water, have Masses said, and so on; by a simple and natural process this will make you believe, and will dull you—will quiet your proudly critical intellect...
Now, what harm will befall you in taking this side? You will be faithful, honest, humble, grateful, generous, a sincere friend, truthful. Certainly you will not have those poisonous pleasures, glory and luxury; but will you not have others? I will tell you that you will thereby gain in this life, and that, at each step you take on this road, you will see so great certainty of gain, so much nothingness in what you risk, that you will at last recognize that you have wagered for something certain and infinite, for which you have given nothing."
Originally, I thought that Pascal was trying to prove that God exists or was simply say that betting on God's existence is the most rational thing to do. But the above passage reveals that Pascal saw his argument as an impetus for faith, but not faith itself. The insights that he shared in the second paragraph is probably only understood by one who had, like Pascal, taken that leap of faith. It is only when you are on the path of faith that you realize that you had forfeited nothing at all.
Lastly, I just wanna highlight that taking a leap of faith is something that we often do. Suppose you meet a really great boy/girl. Can you be sure that this is the right person for you? Maybe not. Should you let the chance pass you by because of your uncertainty. I hope you don't. If you think about it, that's how mathematical induction works. It's a three step process. Find a reason to believe, believe and then see if that works out.
His starts his argument by highlighting the inadequacy of reason and hence it is futile to try to prove God's existence. As a result, a wager (or a leap of faith) is necessary. The question is, where do you place your bet? His reasoning is that if God exists and you believed in Him, you will have eternal life and hence infinite happiness. If God did not exist and you had lived your life with their error, your loss is at finite (since your life time is finite).
In note 233 of his Pensées, Pascal wrote,
"Endeavour then to convince yourself, not by increase of proofs of God, but by the abatement of your passions. You would like to attain faith, and do not know the way; you would like to cure yourself of unbelief, and ask the remedy for it. Learn of those who have been bound like you, and who now stake all their possessions. These are people who know the way which you would follow, and who are cured of an ill of which you would be cured. Follow the way by which they began; by acting as if they believed, bless yourself with holy water, have Masses said, and so on; by a simple and natural process this will make you believe, and will dull you—will quiet your proudly critical intellect...
Now, what harm will befall you in taking this side? You will be faithful, honest, humble, grateful, generous, a sincere friend, truthful. Certainly you will not have those poisonous pleasures, glory and luxury; but will you not have others? I will tell you that you will thereby gain in this life, and that, at each step you take on this road, you will see so great certainty of gain, so much nothingness in what you risk, that you will at last recognize that you have wagered for something certain and infinite, for which you have given nothing."
Originally, I thought that Pascal was trying to prove that God exists or was simply say that betting on God's existence is the most rational thing to do. But the above passage reveals that Pascal saw his argument as an impetus for faith, but not faith itself. The insights that he shared in the second paragraph is probably only understood by one who had, like Pascal, taken that leap of faith. It is only when you are on the path of faith that you realize that you had forfeited nothing at all.
Lastly, I just wanna highlight that taking a leap of faith is something that we often do. Suppose you meet a really great boy/girl. Can you be sure that this is the right person for you? Maybe not. Should you let the chance pass you by because of your uncertainty. I hope you don't. If you think about it, that's how mathematical induction works. It's a three step process. Find a reason to believe, believe and then see if that works out.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Some Singaporeans...
Channel NewsAsia has an article titled Survey shows some Singaporeans contemplate retiring overseas.
The first sentence of the article states "a recent survey commissioned by the Tsao Foundation has revealed that two-thirds of young adult Singaporeans surveyed have considered retiring overseas".
I think they should have renamed the article Survey shows that A LOT OF Singaporeans contemplate retiring overseas!!!.
The first sentence of the article states "a recent survey commissioned by the Tsao Foundation has revealed that two-thirds of young adult Singaporeans surveyed have considered retiring overseas".
I think they should have renamed the article Survey shows that A LOT OF Singaporeans contemplate retiring overseas!!!.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
AIDS from Pineapple?
I got the following email recently. It seemed weird that a doctor will ask an AIDS patient what he ate. And it is suprising to me that the AIDS virus can survive the acidity of pineapple. Even my stomach could not take it at times. Btw, doesn't it take a while for the AIDS virus to become detectable. I am under the impression that it will take more than 15 days...
PLS TAKE NOTE AND BE EXTRA CAREFUL. Subject: Buying Cut fruit -Beware - better cut it yourself.Importance: High It happens in Singapore - Waterloo Street . A 10 year old boy, had eaten pineapple about 15 days back, and fell sick, from the day he had eaten. Later when he had his Health check done... doctors diagnosed that he had AIDS. His parents couldn't believe it...Then the entire family underwent a checkup... none of them suffered from Aids. So the doctors checked again with the boy if he had eaten out...The boy said 'yes'. He had pineapple that evening. Immediately a group from the hospital went to the pineapple vendor to check. They found the pineapple seller had a cut on his finger while cutting the pineapple; his blood had spread into the fruit. When they had his blood checked. ..The guy was suffering from AIDS...but he himself was NOT aware. Unfortunately the boy is suffering from it now. Please take care while u eats on the road side and please forward this mail to your dear ones. PLEASE FORWARD THIS MAIL TO ALL THE PERSONS YOU KNOW AS YOUR MESSAGE MAY SAVE ONE'S! LIFE
PLS TAKE NOTE AND BE EXTRA CAREFUL. Subject: Buying Cut fruit -Beware - better cut it yourself.Importance: High It happens in Singapore - Waterloo Street . A 10 year old boy, had eaten pineapple about 15 days back, and fell sick, from the day he had eaten. Later when he had his Health check done... doctors diagnosed that he had AIDS. His parents couldn't believe it...Then the entire family underwent a checkup... none of them suffered from Aids. So the doctors checked again with the boy if he had eaten out...The boy said 'yes'. He had pineapple that evening. Immediately a group from the hospital went to the pineapple vendor to check. They found the pineapple seller had a cut on his finger while cutting the pineapple; his blood had spread into the fruit. When they had his blood checked. ..The guy was suffering from AIDS...but he himself was NOT aware. Unfortunately the boy is suffering from it now. Please take care while u eats on the road side and please forward this mail to your dear ones. PLEASE FORWARD THIS MAIL TO ALL THE PERSONS YOU KNOW AS YOUR MESSAGE MAY SAVE ONE'S! LIFE
Friday, August 15, 2008
Yeah Shawn Johnson!
Shawn Johnson got the silver for the women's all-round (hmm... why is it all-around and not all-round?) in gymnastics. Haha... honestly, I have never paid much attention to the sport, but Shawn is advertising for coke and her face just keeps popping up in front of me every time I restock my supplies. And I have to tell you that she is one lovely lady. Oh, since the gold was won by her teammate, I guess she isn't that unhappy with her silver.
I managed to catch the final event (floor) and I was really glad that many of the gymnasts managed to execute everything flawlessly. I guess in a competition, there will always be winners and losers. It's ok to lose if you had already done all that you can. But it totally sucks if you lost because you didn't managed to execute something you knew you could do. Honestly, my heart was beating real fast for these young ladies, because I really hate to see a 16 year old girl (haha... everyone is still debating if they are really 16) feel sad. Especially one that had accompanied me on my grocery shopping over the past few months.
Honestly, should a young girl be allowed to be subjected to such intense stress at a tender age? I seriously do not know if I will watch another gymnastic competition. On the one hand, it is so heartwarming to see the joy on their faces when everything goes well. In addition, what these young ladies can do is simply amazing. How I wish that I could just jump and flip like them. But the stress of having to see a young girl's sad face may be something more than what this old man can bear. In that respect, these young ladies are so much stronger than me.
Great job girls!
I managed to catch the final event (floor) and I was really glad that many of the gymnasts managed to execute everything flawlessly. I guess in a competition, there will always be winners and losers. It's ok to lose if you had already done all that you can. But it totally sucks if you lost because you didn't managed to execute something you knew you could do. Honestly, my heart was beating real fast for these young ladies, because I really hate to see a 16 year old girl (haha... everyone is still debating if they are really 16) feel sad. Especially one that had accompanied me on my grocery shopping over the past few months.
Honestly, should a young girl be allowed to be subjected to such intense stress at a tender age? I seriously do not know if I will watch another gymnastic competition. On the one hand, it is so heartwarming to see the joy on their faces when everything goes well. In addition, what these young ladies can do is simply amazing. How I wish that I could just jump and flip like them. But the stress of having to see a young girl's sad face may be something more than what this old man can bear. In that respect, these young ladies are so much stronger than me.
Great job girls!
Thursday, August 14, 2008
The world's worst inflation
If you think that inflation has been high recently, check this out. Zimbaabwe has an inflation rate of more than 2,000,000%. Wow!!!
http://money.cnn.com/2008/08/13/news/international/worlds_worst_inflation_spiers.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2008081405
http://money.cnn.com/2008/08/13/news/international/worlds_worst_inflation_spiers.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2008081405
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Poor Citi
The US banks have been hit really hard by the drop in property prices. People are unable to pay for their loans (which is not so usual, although inflation and the weakening market is making it worse) and banks are not able to recover their debts even after the owner is forced to sell the property because of the sharp decline in property prices (this is the killer). The thing is this, how low can property prices go. It has been dropping, it is still dropping, but there will come a time when it just aint gonna go any lower (it seems like a lot of people are forgetting this last important point).
All the pessimism now is largely due to the falling property prices, and when this reason is lifted, optimism is going to spring right back. What the banks need to do now is to survive until that time. Seems like the shorts are pounding on Citi again. Although, I do have some Citi shares now, I really dun mind if they whack it a little more so that I can increase my position in it.
Opps... even Merrill Lynch is not recommending Citi and a few other banks. Hmm... maybe I should put more thought into this.... nah.... if they pound it real low, it's still a great bargain. Haha... after all, I am no professional. Not looking for the real bottom nor need to report my earnings on a periodic basis. Just going in and waiting for the ride to begin.
All the pessimism now is largely due to the falling property prices, and when this reason is lifted, optimism is going to spring right back. What the banks need to do now is to survive until that time. Seems like the shorts are pounding on Citi again. Although, I do have some Citi shares now, I really dun mind if they whack it a little more so that I can increase my position in it.
Opps... even Merrill Lynch is not recommending Citi and a few other banks. Hmm... maybe I should put more thought into this.... nah.... if they pound it real low, it's still a great bargain. Haha... after all, I am no professional. Not looking for the real bottom nor need to report my earnings on a periodic basis. Just going in and waiting for the ride to begin.
Saturday, August 09, 2008
PM's National Day Message
If you haven't caught the PM's national day message, it can be found at http://www.channelnewsasia.com/nationalday/message.htm. Hehe... actually this is the first year that I am listening to the PM's national day message. I guess being overseas on National Day does change an individual.
I am under the impression that our former PMs would give the speech in different languages (not sure if they did all four). On the one hand, it's quite a waste of time (especially for someone as busy as our PM) to pick up a language just to give a speech, but somehow the thought of our PM being able to deliver a speech in another language besides English does feel so much more heartwarming. And I guess especially if one knew that it was as a result of deliberate effort (he try to learn it), rather than just pure coincidence (he knew it all along).
There is one part that I like though. The part which says responsibility accompanies freedom. And yes, Singaporeans do have a lot to be proud about. A Happy National Day to every Singaporean out there!!
I am under the impression that our former PMs would give the speech in different languages (not sure if they did all four). On the one hand, it's quite a waste of time (especially for someone as busy as our PM) to pick up a language just to give a speech, but somehow the thought of our PM being able to deliver a speech in another language besides English does feel so much more heartwarming. And I guess especially if one knew that it was as a result of deliberate effort (he try to learn it), rather than just pure coincidence (he knew it all along).
There is one part that I like though. The part which says responsibility accompanies freedom. And yes, Singaporeans do have a lot to be proud about. A Happy National Day to every Singaporean out there!!
Friday, August 08, 2008
Pure and honest
August is Fairfield's birthday. Yeah!!!
It's strange... I will probably remember my school motto for the rest of my life, but this piece of information is kept at the part of my brain whose primary purpose is storage (e.g. backup tapes) rather than day-to-day processing (e.g. RAM). Anyways, it's great to be reminded of it every now and then. As a Fairsian, I must say that there is no better motto :)
It's strange... I will probably remember my school motto for the rest of my life, but this piece of information is kept at the part of my brain whose primary purpose is storage (e.g. backup tapes) rather than day-to-day processing (e.g. RAM). Anyways, it's great to be reminded of it every now and then. As a Fairsian, I must say that there is no better motto :)
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Change of address
By the way, I am moving house. So please don't send stuff to my old address anymore. Hmm... The hitmen that I have hired to finish off my enemies have not gotten back to me yet. So I think that it may not be wise for me to broadcast my new address on my blog. Haha... but if you wanna send presents to me, just drop me an email. I will be happy to email you my new address.
Expensive food
An article on some of the most expensive food in the world. Some are expected, others unheard of, and a couple may shock you. Haha... strangely, most of them aint the type of food that will make one go hungry at the mere mention of it. Food that have that effect are usually cheap and extraordinarily unhealthy (a neccessary, though not sufficient condition). But none the less, this article is an interesting read. Enjoy :)
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/fsb/0807/gallery.most_expensive_foods.fsb/index.html
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/fsb/0807/gallery.most_expensive_foods.fsb/index.html
Saturday, August 02, 2008
It's ok that you are not hot
Apparently, some Internet travelling magazine ranked Singapore as one of the top ten cities in the world with the hottest girls.
http://www.asiaone.com/Just%2BWoman/News/Women%2BIn%2BThe%2BNews/Story/A1Story20080721-77853.html
Needless to say, that sparked off quite a bit of reaction/articles/comments online. There is this article which assures Singaporean men that its ok not to be hot. Haha... I am pretty sure that the author is sincere and not sarcastic. And she probably meant well. Haha... but I cannot help but feel sorry for us Singaporean guys after reading her article. Haha... she like dug a hole, kicked us inside and buried us alive. Err... I can't really put my finger on it. It might have been the phrase "Yes, Singapore guys are not hot and romantic", "being a mummy's boy" or the word "boring" which kinda pricked my ego a bit.
http://justwoman.asiaone.com/Just%2BWoman/About%2BMe/Columns/Story/A1Story20080730-79730.html
Oh my gosh... there are really tons of trashy stuff on this topic out there.... Haha... I have to force myself from indulging in it further. Oh I just love Singapore and yes, I am proud to be a Singaporean male, regardless of whether you THINK that we are hot or not, because I KNOW we are ;)
http://www.asiaone.com/Just%2BWoman/News/Women%2BIn%2BThe%2BNews/Story/A1Story20080721-77853.html
Needless to say, that sparked off quite a bit of reaction/articles/comments online. There is this article which assures Singaporean men that its ok not to be hot. Haha... I am pretty sure that the author is sincere and not sarcastic. And she probably meant well. Haha... but I cannot help but feel sorry for us Singaporean guys after reading her article. Haha... she like dug a hole, kicked us inside and buried us alive. Err... I can't really put my finger on it. It might have been the phrase "Yes, Singapore guys are not hot and romantic", "being a mummy's boy" or the word "boring" which kinda pricked my ego a bit.
http://justwoman.asiaone.com/Just%2BWoman/About%2BMe/Columns/Story/A1Story20080730-79730.html
Oh my gosh... there are really tons of trashy stuff on this topic out there.... Haha... I have to force myself from indulging in it further. Oh I just love Singapore and yes, I am proud to be a Singaporean male, regardless of whether you THINK that we are hot or not, because I KNOW we are ;)
Friday, August 01, 2008
Happy Birthday Fairfield
Alright! Fairfield is going for the Guinness World Record. You can read the story at http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/364342/1/.html
However, I do have a question though. The photo of the field that they showed in the article doesn't look like Fairfield's one leh. Or have I been away for too long? Actually the field looks horribly similiar to that of our neighbor (ACJC) leh... Can someone please enlighten me on this? Thanks.
Stock market fever
I realise that more and more of my friends are looking at investment opportunties for their savings and are becoming very interested in the stock market. Below is something that I got from an article from CNN.
"Increased volatility is a sign of a market that is still in a downtrend but potentially getting closer to a bottom," said Ed Clissold, senior global analyst for Ned Davis Research. "But we still haven't gotten to that level yet," he added.
That churning also signals heightened investor nervousness about the broader economy and corporate strength. "The volatility comes with the fact that there are uncertainties and investors are looking at anything or everything that might take the market higher," said Peter Cardillo.
The url of the article is http://money.cnn.com/2008/08/01/markets/markets_newyork/index.htm
"Increased volatility is a sign of a market that is still in a downtrend but potentially getting closer to a bottom," said Ed Clissold, senior global analyst for Ned Davis Research. "But we still haven't gotten to that level yet," he added.
That churning also signals heightened investor nervousness about the broader economy and corporate strength. "The volatility comes with the fact that there are uncertainties and investors are looking at anything or everything that might take the market higher," said Peter Cardillo.
The url of the article is http://money.cnn.com/2008/08/01/markets/markets_newyork/index.htm
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