Empathy

Picture: My half completed work of King Varian Wrynn, leader of the Alliance in the World of Warcraft. It was half-completed because I messed it up; I was unsatisfied with the way it was turning out because it was beginning to lose resemblance to the character. 

I know that I mess up in life from time to time - the poor choices that we make from the momentary lapse of judgement that plagues our sentience. Thus, I often remind myself to consistently reflect on my thoughts, my choices, my responses. "Am I right to think this way?" "How should I respond?What if I looked from other people's perspective? Their circumstances, their personality, their feelings. If I were them, would I react similarly?" I suppose this explains my taciturn nature. I simply cannot dish out my opinion that would influence the choices of others who take my words seriously without strongly convincing myself that my words will be in the interests of the greater good and I simply cannot bring myself to lash out on someone so long as there was just a shred of reason behind their choices. 一言既出，驷马难追.

I know that I should never expect others to reciprocate this but of late I am hit hard with the stark reality that empathy is sorely lacking in our society. I have observed people's personality/behaviour and (perhaps even my own) labelled and brushed off. People who leap on the opportunity to speak up for themselves but not for others. I have observed that one's words will be interpreted in the manner convenient for the listener's perspective. One's tolerance is interpreted as one's weakness. The prevalence of this miscommunication kills society. (Perhaps it is encoded in our cognitive limitations?) 

Not many people can think for himself/herself let alone for others. Their lone voices swept by the tide of opinion or muffled in fear of being the lone frequency in this cacophony of voices. To thread one's own path requires one to walk the lonely road. And the lonely road is hard to thread.     

The Cowan-Reines Neutrino Experiment

The Cowan-Reines Neutrino Experiment was the first experiment to prove the existence of a particle known as a neutrino (the experiment actually proved the existence of its antimatter counterpart, the anti-neutrino). 

This particle was first proposed by Wolfgang Pauli. Investigations into the Beta decay after the discovery of radioactivity revealed that the electron emitted during Beta decay possessed a wide range of energy (a continuous energy spectra). Certainly when the energy of the electron is below the maximum, due to the laws of energy conservation, the remaining energy must be transferred somewhere else rather than disappear. Thus the neutrino is proposed as an additional particle released in Beta decay which possesses a certain amount of energy as well. This would be the source of the remaining energy released in the Beta decay when the electron's energy is not at the maximum. 

The set up of the experiment was simple. Two tanks of water was set up with 40 kilograms of Cadmium Chloride dissolved into the water. The entire set up was then placed in close proximity to a nuclear reactor, where the most reliable large source of neutrino flux could be found. 

Should the experiment react in accordance to their prediction of the neutrino, in accordance to the predicted expectation of inverse Beta decay (obviously obtained by the knowledge of Beta decay), the anti-neutrino produced from the nuclear reactor should interact with a proton to create a neutron and a position. The position would quickly annihilate with an electron to create a burst of Gamma radiation, which serves as an indicator that the reactions of the experiment had worked in accordance to their expectations. As an added precaution, Cadmium Chloride was added into the tank as a neutron absorber to absorb the neutron produced as part of the reaction. This absorption by the Cadmium (108) atom would create another isotope of Cadmium, Cadmium (109) with a release of Gamma radiation as well. It was mathematically calculated that the positron-electron annihilation would occur approximate 5 microseconds before the absorption of the neutron as it takes more time for the neutron to encounter a Cadmium atom. Hence if the experiment produces two Gamma ray bursts spaced 5 microseconds apart, it would be the unique signature that reaction occurred in accordance to the theories and thus the theories are correct. 

SUMMARY

Via the inverse beta decay, the predicted anti-neutrino should interact with a proton to produce a neutron and positron. The position annihilates with an electron to create an initial burst of γ radiation. Cadmium Chloride is added into the tank as a neutron absorber. Mathematical calculations implied that it would take approximately 5 microseconds for the product neutron to encounter and react with the Cadmium (108) to produce Cd (109) isotope and γ rays. The two bursts of γ radiation is a conclusive signature for the presence of neutrinos.

Sources: 

1. Cowan-Reines Neutrino Experiment: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowan%E2%80%93Reines_neutrino_experiment

2. ''Neutrino'' by Frank Close

3. Beta decay: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_decay

Reading List 270616

Completed:
1. The Third Chimpanzee by Jared Diamond.

Reading list from 130416-270616
1. The Little Red Dot: Reflections by Singapore's Diplomats, Volume II by Tommy Koh, Lee Li Chang
2. Neutrino by Frank Close
3. Relativity: The Special and General Theory by Albert Einstein (1916) (Paused. Printer broke down, unable to cover remaining sections)

Antibiotics Resistance: What A Layman Should Know

On the 21st of May the BBC posted an article titled ''Global antibiotics 'revolution' needed'' to address the need for a drastic improvement in our habits for antibiotics use. The 21st of May issue of the Economist featured an article that concerns the rise of the antibiotics resistance.

These articles are an excellent reminder to all of us of the lurking problem of antibiotics resistance, a problem with potentially catastrophic results. Antibiotic resistance is an ever-existing problem that researchers have been fighting from the very first use of antibiotics.

The reason for the problem is simple: Bacteria constantly evolves.

Antibiotics acts as a selection pressure to the bacteria, as a result, wipes out bacteria with insufficient resistance to the antibiotics while bacteria with sufficient resistance to the antibiotics continue to thrive, replace the population and create a new population with resistance to antibiotics. A detailed explanation of the mechanism can be easily found online for example on wikipedia, or within the economist article as mentioned above. A example of the problem of antibiotics resistance is with the case of a difficult-to-treat strain of ''super-gonorrhea''.  

Research is constantly conducted to address the issue of antibiotic resistance with the creation of new antibiotics or alternative measures. However, on our side (as a normal citizen), we can help combat the problem of antibiotic resistance by using antibiotics appropriately. Poor usage of antibiotics will work in favour of bacteria as it acts as a catalyse for antibiotics resistance. The BBC reports that in the ''Review on Antimicrobial Resistance'', by 2050, 10 million people could die each year as a result of antibiotics resistance.

Therefore, proper use has the potential to save millions of lives.  

1. One must understand that antibiotics have no use on virus infections.

When one falls sick, make an effort to understand the nature of the ailment. A infection in the respiratory tract or the intestine that causes diarrhoea? That could possibly be an influenza virus infection in which antibiotics does not have an effect on. While most of the time our doctors are able to diagnose and prescribe for our ailments accurately, if one were to purchase medication over the counter, be sure as to buy antibiotics only when it is applicable and required.

2. One must finish the entire course of antibiotics medication. Unless otherwise stated by a medical practitioner.

Often times our doctors will instruct us to finish our entire course of antibiotics medication even if we appear to have recovered from our illnesses. The reason for this is that our apparent ''recovery'' from the illness may not be entirely complete, while what we observe is instead the recovery from the obvious symptoms of the illness. Traces of the bacteria may still survive within your body which may develop a resistance to the antibiotics if effort is not taken to completely flush out the bacteria within your body.

Sources

1. BBC Article, ''Global antibiotics 'revolution' needed'': http://www.bbc.com/news/health-36321394
2. Super-Gonorrhea: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/17/
3. More About Antimicrobial Resistance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antimicrobial_resistance

Reading List 130416

Completed:
1. The Third Chimpanzee by Jared Diamond

Reading list from 130415-190516
1. Relativity: The Special and General Theory by Albert Einstein (1916) (Paused. Printer broke down, unable to cover remaining sections)
2. The Little Red Dot. Reflections of Foreign Ambassadors on Singapore by Tommy Koh and Li Lin Chang. Volume 3.

A Post Dedicated To The Regular Soldiers Whom I've Worked With In Army

"The tempering of steel is a lengthy process and men of steel you must be; anything less has no place in the Singapore Artillery"

I've learnt much in Artillery and I couldn't have done it without the command team. While I must move on, I will miss 21SA and the regulars.

I will always remember the fun and kind S1, the hyper S3, the funny Saitama S4 and Ajax SM, the Godly RQ that make things appear from nowhere, the strict but kind HQ SM, the serious and professional RSM that made me feel proud to be a Spec, the intelligent and calm CO, CPT Leo and MSG Loh that protected us while pushing us to learn on our own, CPT Lim that helped me learn through our rigorous discussions about work, MSG Lim the nice and chill guy that provided much needed reprieve time to time and CPT Hong whom I could talk to like a Bro.

On hindsight it seems that taking up additional responsibilities placed me in closer proximity to people outside of B Battery, which provided me with more relationships, learning opportunities and fonder memories. For that, I am very thankful.

This was first posted on my Facebook profile. In addition, I would like to special mention the two most knowledgeable and professional Sergeant and mentors 1SG Nicholas and SSG WX.

Life lessons from my time in the military: Reflections of one who was too serious in his job

For the international readers to better understand my perspective I am a Sergeant in a conscript army. In a conscript army our Artillery Battalion is run entirely by conscripts such as myself. A batch of conscripts to comprise of our Battalion (Officers, Sergeants and men) will comprise of those from the same batch of recruits who enlisted in the army (needless to say) thus, we are often schoolmates back in our schools. I've had impressive subordinates who were accepted into Cambridge and Harvard etc. We're of the same age, with similar life experiences yet in the army we are ''different''. Conscripts often lack the motivation of a soldier who chose to work in an army. Physiologically, many of us aren't even adept to the life in the army. All in all it was a unique experience. 

1. We are capable of much more than we think we can achieve

When an order is issued we are expected to proceed in accordance to our orders. In a real combat situation lives would be at stake. There is no time for procrastination. In addition, we are expected to act as planned on our side. Thus, there are often times when I would find myself faced with feats that seemed... impossible to achieve. However, each time I think I wouldn't survive the ordeal, I eventually survived it. I've marched 24 kilometers with all my equipment, lived a week out in the forest in the mud, marched for nearly 24 hours with a sprained ankle, stayed sufficiently awake for a week to carry out artillery fire with few hours of sleep and lifted dozens upon dozens to 42 kilograms artillery shells each day as we redistributed ammunition. In other units, I've friends who marched over 100 kilometers in a single mission. The point is, when you push yourself, you can accomplish marvelous feats.

2. Effective communication across the entire body of system is critical      

As a Sergeant, I am a commander in the army with a role to enforce discipline as well as to lead other soldiers to accomplish our tasks. From where I come from, the Sergeant is considered as a junior commander whose leadership role is confined to leading the men. The plans are drafted by Officers before they are conveyed to the Sergeants. Thus I had a very unique perspective to the entire system.

As a commander I am instructed on the mission objectives in our exercises. As a junior commander, I also have first-hand access to the complains of the men as we carry out our activities, Being required to carry out the orders from those above in the command chain and deliver the mission objectives into fruition with soldiers of a fundamentally different role from any commander in combat (their primary job is to follow orders without a clue to the bigger picture often as a result of the sensitivity of the information), one must learn to address the men in accordance to this fundamental difference in perspective.

It doesn't make life any easier when one has to lead a bunch of conscripts. One has to deliver his speech in a way to cast their (the conscripts) differences in opinion aside as well as to motivate them to work towards an objective not always within their sight, a feat often met with skepticism from your comrades and once peers and fellow schoolmates. Fear tactics wouldn't work once one is out of the vocational institutes. The hard approach will usually land one with a unmotivated, hateful platoon constantly usurping the authority of the commanders with a rich arsenal of tactics as rich as the creativity of the Human mind.  

Not to mention when the plans of Officers are met with practical difficulties that renders it difficult to achieve in actuality, one has to convey clearly the woes of the men and the impossibility of the task to the Officers to re-evaluate their plans. An unexpected technical difficulty, an unexpected alteration to the terrain or even an accident will require an immediate re-evaluation of tactics. Thus, I've learnt to approach with speed tact and precision in my time as a Sergeant. The success of our missions often relies on the effective communication between the ones on top and below and are facilitated by the ones in the middle.  

3. Improvisation is an essential skill in life

In my time in school perfectionism is a virtue often pursued by most students around me. One can aim for full marks in a science test so a lot of student aim to achieve it. Take the 'A' Levels and we're all told to aim for all As in every subject. Plenty of students do achieve such a score, thus, perfectionism is viewed as a possibility. However, in the practical world one will soon realise that true perfectionism without a blemish from one's expectation is a near impossibility.

Deviations from one's plans is very likely to take place. As I've raised earlier, an unexpected technical difficulty, an unexpected alteration to the terrain or even an accident will require an immediate re-evaluation of tactics. Often, such situations do not warrant the time for one to seek someone else of a senior authority to resolve, other times such situations does not require someone of a senior authority of resolve, sometimes, our mission objectives does not warrant the soldiers with the choice for a different approach. In such situations, one simply must ''Do it'' some way. I remember the time my mechanical projectile lifter was broken when we were evaluated for our exercise, I simply lifted all the rounds myself physically to keep the mission on. Improvisation is a skill just as important as precise formulation of plans.      

Surely some, if not all, of these lessons could be learnt in some other situations. However, for myself, I had the fortune to pick up these lessons from my time in the military as a result of many capable and respectable mentors and commanders. For those hadn't the chance to pick up these valuable lessons from experience I hope this article would be of use to you. 

Artillery, the King of the Battlefield
In Oriente Primus

Reading List 130416

Completed:
1. Guns, Germs, And Steel by Jared Diamond.

Reading list from 261215-130416
1. The Third Chimpanzee by Jared Diamond.
2. . Relativity: The Special and General Theory by Albert Einstein (1916) (Paused. Printer broke down, unable to cover remaining sections)

Realism, Honesty and what it shaped me into

I believe that life is about improvement. Consequently, I believe in the values of realism and honesty. I emphasise the value of realism for I believe in representing a situation as it is. Objectively speaking, a complete picture of the situation enables one to assess the circumstances with the most accuracy and take the most appropriate action to approach one’s goal. Furthermore, acknowledging the existence of one’s weaknesses is the first step towards eliminating it. Realism is critical to the betterment of the system. 

Honesty is a facet of moral character that connotes truthfulness and integrity. Realism cannot exist without truthfulness, neither can actions taken for the betterment of society be executed without integrity from those working towards the noble goal. I believe that in a project when my responsibility constitutes an element of a bigger system, the most logical and effective way to play my part in the system is to fulfil my responsibility in that particular element and, first and foremost, to act within my jurisdiction. A right-hand should not function as the brain nor should the brain function as the right-hand. Accomplishing the objectives within one’s domain will best achieve the team objective. It aligns with my belief in improvement when we work for the right cause.  

These values have influenced the way I approach a problem and handle my relationships, defining my individuality as well as the perception that others have of me. I have become trustworthy. As a subordinate, I am an individual whom others can rely on to accomplish the tasks within my area of expertise and responsibility. I am also one for them to turn to for constructive advice or opinion. As a leader I have become an individual whom others can place their faith in the fact that I would consider all elements to a problem before deciding on a conclusion, taking the most appropriate course of action to meet the ultimate objective.    

My actions in accordance to my values have placed me in conflicts with others to become valuable life lessons with an equally important role in defining the person that I am today. I am continuously learning to become more tactful in my manner of speech such that my constructive criticisms can be delivered in an acceptable manner to others. After all, I provide my criticisms with the intention to improve things to the benefit of everyone around me.       

Reading List 261215

Completed:
1. Jaina Proudmoore: Tides Of War by Christie Golden
2. World Of Warcraft: Rise Of The Horde by Christie Golden
3. Warcraft: The Last Guardian by Jeff Grubb
4. World Of Warcraft: Tides Of Darkness by Aaron S Rosenberg
5. World of Warcraft: War Crimes by Christie Golden
6. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Osar Wilde

Reading list from 300815-261215
1. Relativity: The Special and General Theory by Albert Einstein (1916) (Paused. Printer broke down, unable to cover remaining sections)
2. Guns, Germs, And Steel by Jared Diamond.

I ought to try to finish everything by the end of the year

Rurouni Kenshin: The philosophy of Arai Shakku, creator of the Sakabato.

In my opinion, one of the main themes in Rurouni Kenshin revolves around the concept of moral dilemmas: The internal struggle one has to experience in carrying out his actions because of the tremendous influence his actions have on the lives of others (And many times in the chaos of a revolution in its era, tantamount to deciding between the lives and deaths of others). Even despite the eventual success in one's endeavours, a person with a conscience cannot live without the knowledge that his/her actions which had led to his/her success was taken at the cost of others who had opposing ideologies. In this article, I shall elaborate on the moral dilemma faced by the sword creator, Arai Shakku. More about Arai Shakku could be seen in episode 40 of the anime in the video below. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPvbPqCby_w

In the manga/anime Arai Shakku was a blacksmith and creator of weapons in the ranks of the Isshin Shishi and in the times of the Bakumatsu, was the mastermind behind the creation of many swords of his time. In his time he had forged many of the most unique, efficient and deadly weapons, earning himself fame and notoriety as their creator. Upon the completion of his last sword at the end of the revolution (which was ironically a reversed blade sword whose potential for murder is largely diminished) he carved upon the following words on the sword:  

Each blade I have forged has slain me little by little. 

Though my child may despise me, 

It was for my grandchild's generation. 

These few words have spoken volumes of the tremendous emotional turmoil Arai Shakku had to endure in carrying on his role as a blacksmith as well as his infallible resolve in doing what he believes is best for his people. 

Interpretation: 

Contrary to the public scrutiny and opinion of Arai Shakku as an eccentric man obsessed with the creation of better weapons of murder, Arai Shakku was a man keenly aware of consequences of his actions. The knowledge of the consequences would hurt him deeply, as if each weapon he forged had killed a part of him little by little. 

He forged on despite the negative opinion that the public or even his own son possess with regards to his actions, for he believed that his actions would, in the hands of the revolutionaries, in turn bring about a better era for his people. 

Despite drowning amidst the misconceptions of the public opinion, he set his sights on the betterment of his society that would only begin to surface some time into the future, and worked towards that future as he struggled with his conscience. 

      

''Rurouni Kenshin'' or ''Samurai X'' stands as one of the best manga I have ever read. I believe it is a sentiment shared by many, seeing that is an extremely popular manga of its time. Like any masterful piece of literature, there is much to be uncovered and learnt. Rurouni Kenshin deserves to be dissected and scrutinised in many aspects. I shall attempt to uncover the underlying philosophy and hidden beauty of this manga and describe it to the best of my ability. 

Reading List 300815

Completed:

1. 50 Quantum Physics Ideas you really need to know by Joanne Baker

2. Computing Machinery and Intelligence by A.M.. Turing (1950)

3. The Origins of Quantum Theory by Cathryn Carson

4. Wang Tiles for Image and Texture Generation by Michael F. Cohen, Jonathan Shade, Stefan Hiller, Oliver Deussen

5. Computing with Tiles by Rahul Gopinath, Yonglei Zheng, Madhura Vadvalkar and Junyuan Lin (2011)

6. Tiling Groups for Wang Tiles by Cristopher Moore, Ivan Rapaport and Eric Remila.

Reading list from 040615-300815

1. Jaina Proudmoore: Tides Of War by Christie Golden

2. World Of Warcraft: Rise Of The Horde by Christie Golden

3. Warcraft: The Last Guardian by Jeff Grubb

4. World Of Warcraft: Tides Of Darkness by Aaron S Rosenberg

5. World of Warcraft: War Crimes by Christie Golden

6. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Osar Wilde (Paused)

7. Relativity: The Special and General Theory by Albert Einstein (1916) (Paused)

8. Guns, Germs, And Steel by Jared Diamond.

Reading List 040615

It has been over a year since I updated my Blog! Time flies when you're busy in the military. However, having little time to myself made me treasure every little bit of it that is available to me.
I am determined to maintain my touch on academics in my absence from school. Although it's no simple task to achieve (Honestly speaking I think I've forgotten alot of the technical details related to Chemistry, Geography, Biology and Mathematics), I've found myself reading a lot more than I had ever done in my life and I've learnt quite a fair bit in the process, so I believe at least that makes up for it...

At least a little...  

Without further ado, my reading list as of 040615! As I'm into research, many of them are research papers.

1. 50 Quantum Physics Ideas you really need to know by Joanne Baker
2. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
3. Computing Machinery and Intelligence by A.M.. Turing (1950)
4. The Origins of Quantum Theory by Cathryn Carson
5. Relativity: The Special and General Theory by Albert Einstein (1916)
6. Wang Tiles for Image and Texture Generation by Michael F. Cohen, Jonathan Shade, Stefan Hiller, Oliver Deussen
7. Computing with Tiles by Rahul Gopinath, Yonglei Zheng, Madhura Vadvalkar and Junyuan Lin (2011)
8. Tiling Groups for Wang Tiles by Cristopher Moore, Ivan Rapaport and Eric Remila.

Euler's Identity- Algebraic Proof

                                             e^iπ + 1 = 0

Euler's Identity as seen above is often described as the most beautiful equation in the world, where the most fundamental constants of mathematics come together to produce a simple equation.

The term e refers to the base of the natural logarithm, ln, of value 2.71828....
π, 3.14159… is the ratio of the circumference of the circle to its diameter.
The term i refers to the imaginary number of the square root of -1.

The proof for the equation is easily presented through the use of an argand diagram http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complex_plane

The algebraic proof of the equation can also be achieved fairly easily with some prior knowledge on complex numbers, differentiation, Maclaurin's series and a little bit of algebraic manipulation.

Firstly, obtain the Maclaurin's series for e^x. A Maclaurin's series is an expression of a function as a power series. It can be obtained by substituting the variable 'x' of each term of the function with 0, with the first term of the function as the function itself, and each subsequent term as a differentiated form of the previous term.
The Maclaurin's series for sinx and cosx should then be obtained. (Obtaining the first few terms for each series should suffice.)

List of several Maclaurin's expansion for various common functions.

Next, replace the 'x' term of the e^x series with 'ix' and we will soon realise that the real part of the solution corresponds to the Maclaurin's series for cosx while the imaginary part of the solution corresponds to that of sinx. Thus, replace the series for the real and imaginary parts with cosx and sinx respectively.

Thereafter, we would obtain the equation e^ix = cosx + isinx
                                                              e^ix = cosx + isinx

By replacing x with π, we will obtain e^iπ = -1. Hence e^iπ+1=0

Sources:
Proof: The pleasures of Pi,e and other interesting numbers (By Yeo Adrian)
Photos are obtained from:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euler's_identity (Equations)
2. http://www.seab.gov.sg/aLevel/2014Syllabus/ListMF15.pdf (Standard series)

Woes (Part 2)

A little personal experience and views about things. 

Singapore is not simply a competitive society. Such an assumption would only be made by mollycoddled individuals oblivious to the fact that it is human nature to be competitive. The strides taken in the path of economic development among our Asian counterparts were not a result of sloth but their ferocity in driving towards better economic conditions. It is safe to assume such spirit seen in a country would have manifested itself into the society and hearts of many individuals. (Or vice versa) The Western world had not been idle either. Perhaps a better way to describe my society would be one which is competitive yet fearful of failure and afraid of trying alternative approaches towards success.

Moving on to the topic of a society who is competitive while sensitive to failure, too often have I seen parents who enforces unnecessarily strict schedules on their children for their education. This is in fact the most deeply entrenched within the memories of my schooling years in my primary school. I could remember the frustrations expressed by the parents as they did their usual 'interrogation' on some of the kids following the release of the examination results only to find out their own children were not performing as well as the others. I have had many childhood friends who were deprived of a chance to play in the park simply for an extra hour or two of revision. However, although I do believe in nurturing other aspects of an individual (Which I would probably talk about someday because it's frustrating to see machines being produced in school), I have no qualms with taking education a little more seriously.

However, often my frustrations lie on the fact that my parents care too little with regards to my education. In my childhood days, while others had parents urging their children on to achieve in their examinations to enter top notch schools in the city despite their poor performance in the examinations, I was simply encouraged to enter the better of the ''neighbourhood schools'' within the region despite being in the top class in the school.

Irony at it's finest.

Not to mention, it frustrates me to no end that as my A levels approaches they have no clue with regards to my education: Not a single clue of my exam dates or the days which I have to attend classes. They could've at least known when my June holidays had started.      

I apologise for this unnecessary post and the irrelevant content before expressing what I wish to say. Nevertheless, this is not an essay which we have to cut to the chase.
 
Nowadays I often find myself ranting about life more than I am writing about interesting facts of our world, the latter of which I personally enjoy doing so. However to live our insignificant lives as a useful human being is indeed an endeavour that contains just as much complexities as the world around us and is on its own a fulfilling topic to discuss. I will rant to allow myself some reprieve from my frustrations. However, I will also do so so that I am able to look back some day and perhaps find answers for my frustrations.

Assembling the puzzle of life (Part 1?)

There are so many ways to live a life. In this post, I would like to share a part of my revelations with regards to life. The points are numbered 1, 1.1 and 1.2 since I believe that the second and third point are simply derived from the first.

1. There are too many factors which contribute to a single outcome, many of which are beyond our control. Trying our best for something might not guarantee the expect outcome, (although we can actively increase our chances in achieving our goals). Therefore, do not despair in the face of defeat, accept the fact that we do not have the ability to control everything in life.

1.1) Since unexpected outcomes do happen in life, there is little need to gloat over achieving better than another individual. Obtaining better results than your rival in a single examination or project is certainly not a direct result of superior skills.

1.2) While unable to control every factor that would lead to success, we have the ability to control as many as possible to increase our probability of success which we should actively do so. While Heisenberg's uncertainty principle suggests that any measurement involves some degree of uncertainty, that never hinders scientists from obtain the most accurate results as possible in any experiments.

A brief summary of the points would simply be 'Do not be afraid of setbacks, try your best and be humble'. There are so many ways to live a life. I'm glad I've figured three of them out, not because I think they're the right way of doing things, but simply because it's my way of doings things.

Pieces of my childhood: Clinging on to the memories of my arts class.

Although this post was labelled as Anime I'm not really talking about this anime per se! Boring stuff here I suppose but it's good to keep a record of things I guess so that's why I'm writing this post. It could also update my blog as well anyway!
The ending theme of the original Yugioh series. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdk-6oCiSYI&list=RD02b5A1dJpoclk

Ending credits in the first season of Yugioh.  Credits from  http://www.4shared.com/video/1423hUDD/yugioh_ending_1.html

Yu-Gi-OH! was a huge part of my childhood. I used to watch the anime every weekends and I've played the trading card games for many years when I was younger. This theme song however always reminded me of another, bigger part of my childhood, because it was exactly at that period of time when the Yugioh fever set off in Singapore that I was having my arts classes every Saturday at 430 p.m. I could still remember visiting my cousins after class every week to play the card games and the one occasion when I bought my first deck in the neighbouring mall, a fake one for two dollars because my mother felt it was a waste to spend on cards. (I still ended up getting many more real Seto Kaiba decks afterwards so it didn't matter!) In the end, my arts class ended somewhere along the way because the money used for the lessons had to be channeled for other classes. It was a huge disappointment and I remembered hearing from my mother that I would be able to go back to my arts classes once we have enough money to afford for them because the other classes take priority. Unfortunately, I never had a chance to go back for my arts classes.

Nonetheless, this theme song still bring forth a very strong feeling of nostalgia and never fails to remind me of my happy childhood.      

Horrible Horrible Week

Having a horrible time in school recently and I'm just going to spill it all out in this post. If you are not fond of reading things like this, it is best that you give a miss on this post. I really hate to talk about rather insignificant things like this but its been really frustrating to say the least, not to mention having all my close friends being too preoccupied with their own activities to meet up,  

These few weeks of school had been ghastly. Could it be that I am suffering from some form of withdrawal symptoms as a result of not training Wushu? It had afterall been a part of my life for quite awhile and I used to spend at least 8-10 hours a week training. I'm having a major exam this year with a science practical examination next week and all I've been doing is repeatedly make blunders in every assignment so far. Huge mistakes which could have been completely avoided if I had paid more attention, but I simply can't stop making them!

Let's search my memory of the recent weeks and confront these idiotic mistakes, then get on with it once and for all..

1. Physics test: First law of thermodynamics Change in U = Q + W where W is work done on the system. For some reason, I subtracted my value of W from Q and I know it's the work done on the system throughout the entire test! That would have costed me a grade or two.

2. Physics quiz, question asked to determine resistance of a variable resistor in a given circuit, found the voltage across the resistor instead.

3. Multiple errors while entering my values in the GC

4. Giving the wrong units for my physics practical, writing the wrong standard form, drawing the graph wrongly, giving the wrong scale for the graph...

5. Forgetting the proper presentation for the math test which costed me a bundle despite having most of the answers correct!

I hate it so bad when teachers ask me if I need help because these mistakes are not made because I have a weak understanding of something! I resent the feeling of being looked down upon. And it seems I do not have an affinity with physics recently, although its supposed to be my strongest subject which gets on my nerves so much! Leaving that aside I do have other reasons for my frustration...

First of all I would say that many people (Including me) agree that EQ is so important in today's world, more so than IQ. Given that I've already plummeted my way into despair its really a kick in the shin to hear from a close classmate of yours words that would drag you further down into the depths of agony. Picture yourself sharing your woes to a close friend like any ordinary human being would. Then picture yourself lamenting about how your presentation for the math test screwed up and you lost marks unnecessarily or that you screwed up your science experiment only to hear responses like 'Can I take a look at your answers so I know what not to do for the test' and 'Oh this is the last trail we have before the actual examination'.

Well, to begin with, I fully comprehend the predicament which I am in right now and pointing out the obvious doesn't seem to be the most tactful response, much less to say replying with a completely unnecessary response which would only serve to aggravate the receiver! I can't get mad over something unintentional, but that doesn't in the least minuscule bit make me happier than I am at that point. This is where emotional quotient plays a critical role in maintaining social relations with one another I suppose...

Since I've spilled a whole length post about all these S*IT that has been happening to me recently, let's make the most prudent decision in coping with problems by confronting, accepting and then letting go of whatever which had happened. Wouldn't want to shorten my lifespan anyway.

Relieved that I got my A for project work. I knew I put in enough effort to deserve an A but anything can happen. Anyway, with this grade, at least I know I didn't upload any substandard pieces of work in my previous blog posts! Unfortunately, having reformatted my computer, I am unable to upload the rest of my work onto the blog... Sorry about that!

GetBackers: Beautiful anime, interesting facts.

This entire post would talk about the elements of the manga Getbackers that we might not have noticed throughout the series, so it's really meant for manga/anime fans who have watched or read the manga in its entirety.

Getbackers is a beautiful anime, with a plot that invokes thought in the reader, the action that would appeal to any Shonen manga reader and the intricacy that makes this manga a notch above the rest. A little fact about the author and the manga today: it was written by Shin Kibayashi, (the same author for Bloody Monday and Kindaichi) between 1999 till 2007 spanning 39 volumes. Unfortunate the manga is now out of print. In truth, I have only come to realise last year, how much detail the manga had built up with concepts and knowledge derived in the real world. This post would focus on the main character Midou Ban and the relation to the plot.

A first look at the Infinity fortress and the GB duo's destiny which is already established. The battle between the devil and the god for the salvation or destruction of the GB world.

By creating another dimension with the use of physics, the GB world was born. After its creation Midou Ban's grandmother had the desire to keep the GB world in its chaotic form free of intervention by the control of mankind or in this case, Brain Trust. The Brain Trust wanted the GB world to resemble the real world. Due to Ban's grandmother, actions had been taken to free the GB world from the real world. This led to the creation of Ban and Ginji in the struggle over whether the world is to be free or not. Midou Ban and Ginji were destined to battle each other for the chance to ascend to the top of the infinite fortress to alter the world according to their desire. Ginji was described as the God, for he is created to help shape the world according to the desire of the Brain Trust, which were the creators of their world. Ban was created to destroy Ginji and prevent that from happening, and so he is the Devil.

Details about the subjects, lifted from Wikipedia and GetBackers Wikia.

Infinity fortress.

''Limitless Fortress is subdivided into three specific tiers – Lower Town, the Beltline and Babylon City. ...

Babylon City, the upper most level of the Limitless Fortress, is said to be where the Brain Trust resides, and is the home of Ginji's mother. ... Only those who have won the Ogre Battle may enter Babylon City and when that happens, they can change the world as they see fit....'' 

''In the manga, the Brain Trust is akin to its counterpart in the anime - a secret cabal formed by the best scientists, engineers, artists, politicians, patrons, and super-natural beings. … The members of Brain Trust, and Brain Trust itself, actually originate from a separate plane of existence. It is not just Infinity Fortress that is a virtual reality, but all of the world of GetBackers. In fact, the world of GetBackers was essentially a "backup copy" that Brain Trust, existing in the "real world", had hoped to create using the Archive as a template of the world. However, Brain Trust soon realized that their "virtual world" was going rampant, diverging off actual reality, creating new rules of physics and phenomenons that would otherwise be impossible in the real world; this might explain why the characters of GetBackers are gifted with superhuman abilities, and why pseudoscience is prominent in their world. They soon realized that their efforts were sabotaged by the Witch Queen, Ban's grandmother, who led a small group of traitors against Brain Trust. With little options left open to them, Brain Trust decided to "reformat" their virtual world, which they deemed too corrupted and damaged to be salvaged, a full "restart". To achieve this end, Brain Trust ordered the Archive to begin the reformatting of the virtual world, all while selecting a single person within that virtual world with the proper willpower and strength to ascend to Babylon City and assist in steering that world back it the right path with his willpower.''

Midou Ban and Ginji's destiny.

''It was then revealed that Ban Midou has a destiny. He was born to complete the destiny that his grandmother, the Witch Queen had set out for him. His grandmother believed that the world Professor Amano was trying to create is a hollow world, devoid of soul, of choice. It is a world not suitable for human habitation. That is why she sealed the door to Babylon City, to protect the people in the world of Get Backers. Protect the world from the whims of those that live in Babylon. She wanted to create a vacuum between the two worlds, so that no one from that world could lay their dirty hands on this one. However, Ginji Amano was sent to the world, to reset the world according to the original design. Thus Ban Midou was destined to fight and kill or be killed by Ginji Amano in the Ogre Battle. Ginji was sent to the world as God of the world. Ban Midou was sent to this world as the Devil. They both had the willpower to alter the rules of reality and change all of existence.''

Beauty of the manga. 
Here is where the intricacies of the manga came into play. Interestingly, the Babylon city of the infinity fortress which is the gateway to where the Brain Trust resides is similar to the ancient city of Babylon which had been described as the 'Gateway of the God'.

But back to the focus on Midou Ban as I had mentioned earlier and examine the amount of details that make the character fit together and into the entire concept of the manga as a whole.

1. In the manga it was stated that Midou Ban was born under the star of Asclepius with his birthday on the 17th of December. 

2. The term Asclepius was also raised in his incantation whenever he summons his strength to defeat an opponent: ''I shall be the herald of Asclepius. Only he who accepts that accursed fate shall receive the power of the highest heaven and the deepest hell that lay hidden within thy venemous fangs. Thus, let thy hammer fall upon the heads of the foolish. With all the wrath of a Demon God." 

So why the link with Asclepius? 

We are under the 13th constellation, Ophiuchus between 30 November and 17 December. Ophiuchus, also known as the Serpent Bearer is actually Asclepius of Greek mythology. The Rod of Asclepius, the Serpent entwined rod, is wielded by Asclepius, the man killed by Zeus and then had his image placed among the stars.  

Draw some parallels with the character? 

In essence, this is why Midou Ban mentions the word Asclepius as he draws the infinite power from the cosmos because he was born under the constellation. Fitting it all together, is why his trademark attack is none other than the snake bite from his hand: Because he wield the power of the snake in his arm just like Asclepius wields the Serpent.

Asclepius,  

The next level of detail: Relation to the plot.

Remember when it was said that the destiny of Midou Ban and Ginji were similar to the battle between the Devil and the God for the fate of the GB world? Whether it is to be left in its 'chaotic' state or it is to be recreated back to something similar to the 'real' world? Again parallels can be drawn between the details in the design of Midou Ban and the texts found the real world. 

1. Midou Ban was sent to fulfill the wishes of his grandmother in separating the world of the GetBackers from influence of the real world, leaving it to develop in the state which those of the Brain Trust had perceived as chaotic and violent.

2. Midou Ban's grandmother was a member of the Brain Trust of the Babylon City of the infinite fortress, otherwise viewed as the 'Heaven' of the GB world. 

In essence he could be seen as an entity that had been cast upon the Earth (GB world) from the heavens (Babylon city) by his grandmother. Otherwise known as a fallen angel. In addition, the fallen angel can also be identified with the devil which is also the portrayed role of Midou in his destiny. Here is a quote taken from Wikipedia that was referring to the New Testament (I'm not very knowledgeable of these things) ''In the New Testament, Revelation 12:3-14 speaks of a great red dragon whose tail swept a third part of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. In verses 7-9, after defeat in a War in Heaven in which the dragon and his angels fought against Michael and his angels, "the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world - he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him." 

And lastly, there is a portrayal of serpents in religions as a symbol of evil power and chaos, and is many times being used synonymous with the word Satan. Which also explains why Midou had the power of the serpent.   

The amount of detail that we probably wouldn't realise which is being put into the manga makes it one of my favourite. This truly makes it one heck of a good read! Sadly, the 50 episode anime couldn't even scratch the surface of the entire story, instead presenting a more simplified concept of the infinite fortress. Despite the anime's positive reviews, I certainly hope more people would get to the manga rather than the anime, and I truly wish for a remake of the anime that follows the entire story much more closely. 

Sources:

Ophiuchus:   http://www.neptunecafe.com/Ophiuchus.html 

                    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophiuchus

                    http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/starfinder3/

Asclepius:     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asclepius

Serpent:        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serpent_(Bible)

Fallen Angel: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallen_angel

Photos are obtained from: 

1. http://www.zerochan.net/871403

2. http://www.crunchyroll.com/forumtopic-2475/best-anime-hair?pg=72

3. http://earthsky.org/space/what-is-the-ecliptic