Memrise - the free site that helps you learn faster and easier effectively

This is absolutely brilliant. I'm currently re-learning my French (I had learned some basics 3 years ago :P).

Do check it out if you feel like learning a new language or something :) http://www.memrise.com/

P/S: They teach basic stuff only though - words/phrases/sentences that you may need if you decided to plan a trip to a foreign country :)

Need for Speed movie review

The Ford Mustang that was, disappointingly, not in the De Leon racing competition.

If you enjoy speed and lots of really expensive (2 million dollars-worth) cars tumbling around in the air and exploding into flames, then you should go watch Need for Speed (the movie). Plenty of loud engine noises and very dizzying drifts hehe :P

Oh and don't forget about the fun part in all Need for Speed games, instead of tipping cows, drivers 'tip' police cars. So, do expect to see plenty of flying and flaming police cars as well

But on a serious note, that 'grasshopper jump' maneuver is epic! And the best part, it's not (unlike other movies I suppose) CGI xD

And check this link out :)
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/need-for-speed-movie-the-stunts-are-real/1100-6417730/

A very adrenaline-filled movie, especially for fans of Fast and Furious/ car racing sort of movies/games.

Adult ADD

Okay so I've stumbled upon this webpage while trying to understand why I'm feeling like crap all the time these days lol and I find that I can relate to almost all of these listed 'symptoms'. It's pretty sad I guess :\ 

Credits to the original webpage: http://www.nacr.org/wordpress/91/common-symptoms-of-add-in-adults

I'm just adding my own stuff (coloured in orange) into the list provided in the above webpage.

Adult ADD symptoms

1. We are easily distracted and have difficulty paying attention. We have a tendency to tune out or drift away. For example, we might say:

It is a struggle for me to stay focused or centered. When I least expect it, my brain changes channels, and I respond to the beat of another drum.

Although I can hyperfocus a times, I am more often distracted, and have difficulty staying on target.

At times I feel scattered and confused, like iron shavings attracted by competing magnetic fields.

I set out to clean the kitchen, and often find myself reading a cookbook and deciding to try a new recipe. I eventually finish the kitchen, but it takes me a while.

2. We are impulsive, and we make hasty decisions without considering the consequences. For example, we might say:

I make plans without consulting my family, and then wonder why they don't share my enthusiasm. I jump to conclusions before analyzing all the facts. This creates problems in my personal and business life. I make decisions, commitments, purchases, even major life changes without adequately considering the consequences. I buy things I don't need, and then wonder where all my money went. The worst part is having to justify my actions.

3. We are restless, often hyperactive, and full of nervous energy. For example, we might say:

I usually feel edgy and am always "on the go." My insides are constantly churning. I drum my fingers, twist my hair, pace, shift positions while seated, or leave the room frequently. I'm always looking for a way to release my excess energy. I channel-surf with the TV remote control and find it hard to relax. I am an aggressive driver and love to weave in and out of traffic. My favorite game is looking for "hole shots" and creating my own car race.

4. We have a strong sense of underachievement and always feel that we fail to live up to our potential. For example, we might say:

Whether I am highly accomplished or floundering, I feel incapable of realizing my true potential. I feel like a failure and view success as something that only others achieve. In spite of my accomplishments and a satisfying relationship, I find it difficult to feel happy and fulfilled. In school I was called an underachiever, and that message still affects me today. I tend to be critical of my performance, even if others compliment me for a job well done.

5. We have difficulty in relationships. For example, we might say:

My inability to stay focused in the present moment gives others the impression that I don't care. I get bored easily and have a hard time listening to others. I feel uncomfortable in group activities where social interaction is required. I prefer not to be noticed, because I'm afraid I will say the wrong thing. Sometimes I forget to say hello or goodbye, and others accuse me of being rude.

6. We are procrastinators and have trouble getting started or feeling motivated. For example, we might say:

I put things off until the last minute, but the last-minute adrenaline rush makes the task possible, more interesting, and stimulating. I use deadlines as a way to create panic and chaos. This enables me to hyperfocus, so that I can complete the task on time. I allow piles of work to accumulate because I can't get organized. Only in times of hyperfocus can I actually get something accomplished. I'm inclined to start a project the night before it is due, stay up all night to finish it, and be totally burned out the next day.

7. We cannot tolerate boredom and are always looking for something to do. For example, we might say:

I become bored with activities, conversations and situations that do not interest me. I'm always looking for highly stimulating activities that keep my adrenaline flowing. When I sense boredom approaching, I look for something new and stimulating, rather than accept the idea of being bored. All of my waking moments need to be filled with something to do or something to think about. I cannot risk the possibility of having nothing to do.

8. We have difficulty getting organized. For example, we might say:

I have organizational plans, to-do lists, schedules and resolutions, but still end up with piles on my desk, missed appointments and unanswered phone calls. I have difficulty managing my time effectively. I am often late for meetings, and I lose track of everything from keys to commitments. I often feel out of control and confused because I don't know how to organize my time and activities. My kids do a better job of organizing than I do. I do better when others remind me of appointments and give me direction and structure.

9. We are impatient and have a low tolerance for frustration. For example, we might say:

I become impatient when things don't happen fast enough for me. I have a tendency to withdraw or react in anger. I like to know the bottom line without having to listen to all the details that I consider unimportant. If a line is held up because of coupons, price checks or check cashing, I get impatient and want to lash out at the person creating the delay. I don't like waiting for people or dealing with people's problems.

10. We have mood swings with periods of anxiety, depression or loneliness. For example, we might say:

Periods of depression affect my work, relationships and perception of reality. I sometimes withdraw and isolate myself. A simple setback can bring on feelings of overwhelming hopelessness for me. My moods are unpredictable and can cause me to be either verbally and physically active or quiet and inactive. In the midst of a seemingly endless stream of thoughts, a memory of past failure or loss can submerge my mood instantly.

11. We worry excessively and often have a sense of impending doom. For example, we might say:

Within minutes after awakening or after arriving at work, I seem to search my mind for a topic to worry about. I use worry as a way to stay focused. It's like cutting my finger; all my attention can be in one place. A feeling of impending doom seems to hover over me. I worry constantly about my health. I fear that I'm too fat, too thin, or have some fatal or debilitating disease.

12. We have trouble going through established channels or following proper procedures. For example, we might say:

I am a maverick at heart and do not like to follow rules or go through proper channels to complete a task. I tend to be critical of those in charge, and prefer being free to do things my own way. I feel smothered by procedures, policies, and being directed by others. Being required to conform stifles my productivity. I have a hard time teaching my children to respect authority and follow the rules, because I have a hard time doing those things myself.

13. We have many projects going simultaneously, and have trouble following through with a project or task. For example, we might say:

I assume responsibility for more projects than I can realistically accomplish. I lose interest quickly and have difficulty completing one task before starting a new one. I prefer simple tasks that I can complete before I get an urge to start another one. I am capable of juggling lots of projects or commitments at the same time, but it creates anxiety and pressure for me.

14. We are poor observers of ourselves and are often unaware of our effect on others. For example, we might say:

I have difficulty discerning how others perceive me. I rarely pick up the signals that indicate how well I am being received or if I'm talking too much. I tend to monopolize a conversation without knowing it. My friends tell me I talk too much about myself and don't give them a chance to share their story. I often exaggerate a story to make my point, and don't notice that others don't believe me. At work I think others agree with me. In reality they are confused by my "idea-a-minute" mentality.

15. We tend to say what comes to mind without considering the timing or appropriateness of the remark. For example, we might say:

I blurt out inappropriate comments without considering the possible consequences. Later, when I take time to reflect on what I said, I beat myself up for saying something so stupid. I have a hard time waiting my turn in conversations, and I interrupt others while they are talking. I speak out of turn in meetings. This makes people angry, and I often lose the main point of the meeting or lose the respect of those present. I have a reputation for making one-liner comments that hurt people's feelings.

16. We have a tendency toward addictive behavior, and use mood-altering substances to medicate ourselves. For example, we might say:

I use cocaine to help me focus, alcohol or marijuana to calm me down, and food to comfort me. I take prescription drugs as a way to speed up or slow down, depending on my needs of the moment. I use coffee and cigarettes to keep me energized and to numb my feelings. I use work to give me focus, motivation, and a sense of accomplishment. At times I use it as a way to avoid boredom.

17. We have difficulty in the workplace. We either change jobs frequently or have trouble getting along with our coworkers. For example, we might say:

I become bored with a job and cannot convince myself to stay, even though my financial security is at stake. I assume too much responsibility or take on too many tasks, and then cannot fulfill my obligations. I change my mind frequently and create confusion among my coworkers.

I waste time and resources on insignificant projects and spend time on things that keep my interest but have little value to the overall scheme of things.

18. We have a family history of ADD or other disorders of impulse control or mood. For example, we might say:

I have biological family members with strong evidence of ADD or other disorders of impulse control. I can trace ADD symptoms back several generations. I have family members who are considered high-strung and who have unstable careers. A lot of my close relatives have trouble controlling their tempers. I have biological children with ADD, and I learned of my own ADD through their diagnosis.

If in the US, these sort of syndrome are usually disregarded, then in my country, this syndrome is practically NOT a syndrome and will be attributed to bad behaviour, bad attitudes, bad upbringing etc instead.

Regardless, once you've found the cause, you should be able to take steps in order to correctly treat the syndrome. Changes in lifestyle, in thinking, in environment that you're exposed to should help a lot.

Adapted from The Twelve Steps: A Key to Living With Attention Deficit Disorder (Friends in Recovery, RPI Publishing Inc

Rascal Flatts - Rewind

Can't wait for their new album!!! :D Woots, Rascal Flatts is the best country band :D

Wish I could reach up and reset that sun
Reverse these wheels go back and re-pick you up
Went by so fast oh so sweet
Make me wanna remake a memory
Wish I had me a time machine

Oh I float the moon back up in the sky
Put a cork back into that sweet red wine
Put your midnight hair back up so you can let it fall one more time
Untouch your skin
Unkiss your lips and kiss 'em again
So good so right this is one night I'm wishing I could rewind

I turn back that radio dial reopen your door,
Try to talk George Strait into giving us an encore
Re-spin you around replay that sound of you laughing when we hit the ground,
I can see it now how bout we

Float the moon back up in the sky, put a cork back into that sweet red wine
Put your midnight hair back up so you can let it fall one more time
Untouch your skin.. unkiss your lips and kiss em again
So good so right this is one night I'm wishing I could rewind

I wanna re-fall and re-fly
Baby re-live this night

Float the moon back up in the sky, put a cork back into that sweet red wine
Put your midnight hair back up so you can let it fall one more time
Untouch your skin.. unkiss your lips and kiss em again
So good so right this is one night I'm wishing I could rewind

I'm wishing I could rewind

Re-live this night

So good so right

Oooooo...

Damn supervisors

I don't know about other people's supervisors, but some supervisors (my, in particular) can be really rude. I mean, you can see that the chairs were taken (half-eaten meals on the table) and I have already said, without them asking, that I will bring them chairs and that I needed a few minutes to get the chairs, but noes.... he just took my chair and told the other guy to sit in my colleague's chair. WTF. I reckon he's the sort of people who will be like flashing lights at other slightly slower cars (who are following the speed limit) and is speeding dangerously on the highway.

No, excuse me, but is this seat taken (although it was obvious that it is)? No "excuse me, may you help me get some chairs please?" I'm your student, but I do not DESERVE to be treated like a servant... Which age do you think you are living in right now? Can't you afford any courtesy at all; any proper manners for a fellow HUMAN BEING? Even in my family, if I wanted to ask for help from my parents, I will ask politely; and if they needed my help with something, they will also ask politely. For example, 'Dad, would you mind passing that chair to me please?' or 'SY, could you possibly make a powerpoint slide for my KRS students? I need it tomorrow.' [Btw, the second example is a real question asked by my mom to me.] And we always say 'thank you' after the job's done. That's how it should be!

I have to pick up after him some more... He's a messy eater and the table and carpeted floor are littered with his food (the other people took care not to drop any food or at least they have the manners to pick up after themselves)... guess what? I had to pick up his leftovers while he's 'socializing' with other lecturers or checking his phone and since my 'seniors' pretended not to see. 

Heck, one of them is not actually my 'senior' (in terms of the number of years in our lab/group) at all! Although she is older than me ofc. Fck, research labs and hierarchy is so fcked up. I will forever be the 'junior' who has to do all the shit that nobody wants to do because my supervisor is not taking in anymore students (no more funds lol).

Actually, after writing this, I find it funny that I'm ranting about my supervisor's lack of manners. I do have lapses from time to time, but this is just ridiculous! This was not the first time, so I'm pretty certain this is not a lapse.

It's also funny that while my supervisor is finding flaws in me (since I do not conform to his idea of an ideal postgrad student. Damn idealist... with power lol), I'm ranting about the flaws in him here. I should have just said directly in his face (without trying to help him 'save face'), 'Excuse me, but that's my chair you're sitting on. Can you please return it to me? I will get [nicer] chairs for you and the other PhD.' 

Anyway, I ended up having a better and more comfortable chair (At first, I wanted to get these chairs for them, but since he prefers my butt-heated chair, nvm lor~) since he so rudely took mine. I'm still somewhat mad though when I think back of the incident today.

I'm now on Tumblr!

I mean my blog is.... which actually means I am on tumblr...? Doh!

Anyway, I have a Tumblr account since like ages ago but I have never used it, but now, I saw the awesome changes it has... I kinda like it :) It has FB features with blogging capability and some extra features of its own. It's just awesome!

May not be so suitable for long lengthy blog posts, but it looks sound and I'm thinking of trying to carve some time in order to maintain an active Tumblr account without sacrificing this blog (...my preeeeciousssssss blog :D)

Come and uh.. follow(?) me on Tumblr and see some shorter but still equally funny/cool/interesting stuff that I post from time to time.... in the very distant future :P 

Oh and that facebook fanpage *in a very tiny voice* Ihavebeenprocrastinatingcozofmyveryfrustratingworkloadfromallmypart-timejobsandafull-timemastersstudy. There! xD Enjoy decrypting that hehe. Actually, it's just a page for my blog.... not exactly a fanpage but a place where you can see the sort of stuff that I actually like/ statuses that I sometimes post about some interesting aspect of my life/thinking and are too short to be posted here on my blog. I already have it up and ready, just that I'm still don't know whether I'd have the time to maintain it or not. aiks....

10 tips from PhD Comics for getting your thesis written on time

A very well-written piece, with plenty of funny visuals from PhD comics :) Although some comic may, IMHO, not be that accurate to describe a certain tip lol :P

Link: http://www.englishproofreading.co.uk/resources/4

Several questions to ask your potential supervisor

...before confirming your candidature with him/her for Masters or PhD.

1. Ask for his/her expectations.
2. Ask him/her for an estimate on how fast you can graduate. 
3. Inform him/her of any possible limitations (usually financially/ family requirements) on your part - for example, scholarships that only support up to 3 years of a PhD candidate's study. You can try to supplement your scholarship (some only supports your tuition  fees without allowance and that your institute does not have TA position for you to apply for) with part-time jobs, but trust me, part-time jobs won't even cover half of your monthly expenses... and I'm talking about the normal part-time jobs yeah? 

Unless you have plenty of money and time to spend/waste, then you can ignore all these questions.

Plus, I'm speaking this from experience... my main project is approaching 10 months in being delayed and I have no control whatsoever over my main project due to my 'apprenticeship' to a senior who doesn't care a shit about your project and more on his own project. I don't blame him anyway... I mean, hey, everyone wants to graduate, right? 

However, the worse part is that he doesn't allow me to handle ANY part of my project - for example, I knew I needed to do some radioactive work. If I have any say in this, I would have applied for the licence BEFORE I started the first part of my project (which I estimate would take around 5 months). Right after 5 months or so, I would have had my licence and can buy radioactive materials for my project.... BUT NOES!! My senior said he will handle it and refused to let me anywhere near the documents. Okay... fine. But then, my project was delayed for over 5 months before, after all the bureaucratic red-tape for licence application, I even got my radioactive badge. And now, they want to delay some more (I'm on my 5th month now) coz they said radioactive material is expensive and need to wait for more people who needed to use it before they can order it.... No wonder they refused to let me place an order by myself as well. WTF.... How long do I need to wait?!?! And considering that NO ONE else in my lab is doing any RNA work now.... I guess it'll be FOREVER before I can continue the second half of my project. FU all.

300: Rise of an Empire movie review

This will be a short one. Besides being a movie that haz plenty of honor and ego inside it (hehe), this movie is not for the faint hearted... expect plenty of violence.... and CGI blood lol

Oh... and awesome soundtrack/score and plenty of slow-motion xD

It's pretty good, if you're into or can stomach violence, death and destruction... and ofc, men in their undies xD then you should go and check it out. Even for me, this movie is a bit too violent for me lol.... feeling a bit nauseous after watching it.

**Please do not take offense lol... this is just my humorous way of writing a movie review.

When you analyze the spectra

An example of an infrared spectrum

Need a guide to teach you how to read an infrared absorption spectrum graph (for infrared spectroscopy)? Well, look no further! This is a basic yet reliable way of determining which absorption peak on your graph correspond to which type of functional group/s that is/are present in your molecule. :) Have fun!

It's free to download and print on my Scribd account. Link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/199525583/When-You-Analyze-the-Spectra


Credits to my chemistry lecturer for teaching us this.

WoW Resources: Check List of Researched Glyphs

So, yeah, I have a scribe and trying to keep record of all the glyphs obtained via research (3 researching methods and 1 book method :P) is really hard, especially if I wanted to see how many glyphs that remained un-researched.

Anyway, I came up with this checklist, so scribes worldwide can rejoice! Just print these out (3 pages worth of tables) and then start checking the boxes. It's that easy to keep track!

Download it free via my Scribd account here.  If you like it, please leave a comment below or at my Scribd account. It's very much appreciated :)

List of Glyphs - Check List by Aveyn Toh

However, do note that these lists are not meant to provide detailed information about each glyph, they are just for... well, checking!

This list is based on the WoW Patch 5.4.0, but I've typed the original name for Glyph of Inferno Blast (Fire Blast) at its side.

Have fun checking boxes! :P



Source: http://www.elsprofessions.com/inscription/


P/S: Oh and if you would want the word document format of the check list (for reformating purposes or something), feel free to comment below and I'll get back to you asaic.

Epic poetry

I saw this on my facebook news feed and I thought - this is exactly how I want to live, but then my financial problems set in and I've gotten myself depressed again....

I'm sorry for not finding out the actual author who wrote this. He/she should be awarded with something, seriously! :)


Update: Somehow, the image is no longer available on the site I linked to, and I'm not sure if I could find it again. Sorry! 

Tyler Ward - Sunset Dreaming

She said I'm tired
Of all the smiles
And explanations
For all the dreams you never let me see

I'm tired of the trials
And implications of all the words you never said to me
And you (will forever be a part of...)
Of who (I am)

She hides her screaming,
In sunset dreaming
That's where she goes to cry
And crashes down on her knees
Searching for Reasons why.

She said I'm tired
Of all the lying,
I'm through with trying
There's nothing left but scattered memories

Of you (and a love you never gave me...)
And who (I am)

He's lying, She's crying
Where did this go wrong?
He's lying, She's crying
But not for long...