His full-volume ring tone woke him up at 7.20 am, just about 4 hours after he got to bed. It was "Over You" by Daughtry.

Almost automatically, he opened up his laptop and switched it on. The ceiling lamp for the study area was lit as well. Then he filled some water in the plastic kettle and started boiling it. This guy would be wasted without electricity.

This morning was really early for him. Yesterday, he got up at almost 12 pm. He wouldn't get up for nothing. It's winter break, and the indoor temperature probably hovered around 15°C, plus or minus two degrees. His holiday started about 10 days ago. Waking time had been irregular for him; every other day, there was always something on. But this was, perhaps, something more important than the ones previously.

On the night before, he had thought to himself (and to some other friends): Would tomorrow be a historic day for me? (for us?)

He plugged his wireless modem in, and connected to the Net. He launched Firefox.

"Result is coming out, right?" That was yesterday's tagline with his other coursemates. He didn't know what he felt. Just before bedtime on that night, he had decided to adopt an "it's all right" mentality; he said his words of prayers and words of thanksgiving to God, for he then realized that it had been a time of supernatural power during the exam period. "Give me the best for me; give me what I deserve," he prayed.

The bookmark on top of the browser window was clicked. He entered his login name and password.

He played the song "Surrender" on his phone. "I wouldn't have got this result without You, Almighty God," he praised, even before the result page loaded.

Then there it was. Second Class Honours Division A - H2A. For both of his subjects. (H2A: 75%-79%. H1 > H2A > H2B > H3 > P > N)

His eyes closed, he then took a deep breath and once again gave thanks to his Lord. He wasn't all too happy with that result, but he was content.

First semester isn't counted in the cumulative result. And second semester is waiting to be conquered.

Inside him, his passion was reborn and renewed. He's bringing home two H1's for Sem 2.

A new hobby

It began 4 weeks ago on 22nd June '08. And it just got me hooked.

Proverbs 2:1-9 (NKJV)

1 My son, if you receive my words,
* And treasure my commands within you
2 So that you incline your ear to wisdom
* And apply your heart to understanding
3 Yes, if you cry out for discernment
* And lift up your voice for understanding
4 If you seek her as silver
* And search for her as for hidden treasures
5 Then you will understand the fear of the Lord
* And find the knowledge of God
6 For the Lord gives wisdom
* From His mouth come knowledge and understanding
7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright
* He is a shield to those who walk uprightly
8 He guards the paths of justice
* And preserves the way of His saints.
9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice
* Equity and all good paths.

I'm into brains. So if cognition and memory are the functional aspect of the noodles in our heads, then I guess memorizing Scripture is an excellent brain workout. It's called laying up His words in our hearts, and also hiding His word in our hearts (Job 22:22, Ps. 119:11).

It kept my brain warmed up during the chilly winter break.

Show My Love

---written on 11 Dec '06


Entry for "Show Your Love" Event

CeresRO

Ever since (I’ve been) hunting for private RO servers around last year, many things have changed. Perhaps the most central tool in the process is the Top 200 site, which shows how servers come and go, climb and fall, promote and demote (other servers), etc, etc.

I’ve been playing on Ceres-RO since late October 2006; not that long, but not too recent either. I initially selected it due to its position in the top 5 (or 10) at that time. My expectation of having a stable, lag-free, no-wipes, and adequately-staffed high rate private server was well met. It was even exceeded, in fact. The idea of global PK (plus limited no-PK zones), the player ranking system, and the non-existence of extreme custom/unbalanced GM reward items add to this server’s rating.

Of course, my experience playing on this server had not been shiny all the time. I usually play a Swordsman (yes, you got me: a swordsman named Crezki II. I have another Lord Knight, by the way), so dying is quite inevitable. Especially in Pyramids 4 when a Wizard/High Wizard decides to test his/her Lvl 10 Storm Gust on a (presumed) weakling like me. But I do survive on a number of occasions. And besides, I usually take the deaths as part of the package of a PK server. If surviving brings glory, I believe that in the same way, dying brings honour. I die sometimes, I kill at other times, and I also occasionally hit F3 for Butterfly Wing!

Heheh. Farming for 2- and 3-carat diamonds is like a routine here; no doubt it’s efficient for people who can’t lay my hand on rare items by MVP’ing all the time! The same goes with farming Yggs, DB’s and all…Farming reminds me of the virtue of patience. And over-upgrading! Oh my! Those moments at Hollengren’s room sure left lots of good memories. So far, I’ve only got a couple of +7 slotted Boots (but plenty of +10 weapons thanks to Whitesmiths!). I think the fun factor drives us to work diligently and consistently toward our goals. And it multiplies when we eventually get the hard-earned reward! (One particular instance was when I earned enough to pay for a Baphomet card. Now working for a TG and a TGK. Maybe an LK or a SinX, too. Heheh.)

PvM parties are super-fun! Especially in (Lighthalzen) Bio Labs 3! Luring, tanking, spamming, healing, etc…it’s part of the team. Maybe it’s even more evident in WoE. I just haven’t had the chance to hop in during the guild wars. Maybe I’ll try doing so on one of these days.

I’m not a full-time RO-er. I am currently doing my pre-University studies, which means that I am fully occupied with a student’s responsibilities. Yet, I find that Ragnarok Online brings with itself the pleasures and challenges as an MMORPG (Thanks for the fun!). And I think I can call Ceres-RO a SUCCESS in terms of a private RO server.

Congratulations for making it through 1 year, Ceres-RO!

Crezki

In game:
Anyone with “Crezki” in the name, e.g. Crezki II



Appendix (acronyms used and their meanings, listed alphabetically):

DB’s – dead branches
GM – game master
LK – Lord Knight (Seyren) [Card]
MVP – Most Valuable Player [Boss Monster]
PK – player killer
PvM – Player versus Monster
RO – don’t tell me you don’t know this…Ragnarok Online
SinX – Assassin Cross (Eremes) [Card]
TG – Turtle General [Card]
TGK – Tao Gun Ka [Card]
WoE – War of Emperium
Yggs – Yggdrasil berries

How to chill --

--in the last minutes before (and perhaps during) semester exam.


1. Grab a laptop/PC that's online and read the latest headlines

2. Get up from the seat and get a glass/cup/sip of water

3. Walk around the room and stretch the neck, arms, legs, and body

4. Go to a less crowded place and call Mom and Dad

5. Draw figures integrating 4 weeks of lecture material. Or more.

6. Write a blog post. Or a comment.

7. Read up about piracetam, modafinil and vinpocetin.

8. Volunteer in simple-task, large-group works. Perhaps one that's more than 5 hours straight. Then you'll want to study again.

9. Do a math question (e.g. from first-semester Calculus 2). Or if that's part of your exam, do a 10-mark ethics question.

10. Play guitar; or violin; or piano; or sing. Or DotA. Otherwise keep quiet and go back to studying.


Happy SWOT VAC & Exams.

"Exam condition"

An idea during study week.

It might be easy to integrate the function
f(x) = (x-3)(x²+1).


But what about its reciprocal 1/f(x) ?
(I couldn't type it out easily; so I described it in words instead.)

Maybe we should give it a few moments of thought.

While doing my usual study/revision this week, I realized - like numerous times before this - that learning, or input, can actually be really fun. Making mnemonics, drawing mind maps, producing charts and tables to organize newly-learned materials, etc., could be quite addictive. It also has a lag tendency, unfortunately. It's like a comfort zone of learning where there's nothing else that I'd rather be doing.

And the purpose of this study week is for preparation for next week's end-of-semester exam. The assessment is the real output. Not the mnemonics, mind maps, charts, tables, etc. They do help, but if I can't reproduce them within the exam time limit, then I wouldn't score excellent marks. In fact, I've experienced that the act of deciding which mind map is relevant for a question itself actually consumes so much time! It's so different from the input phase. The writing process is accelerated. The thinking process must be spontaneous. And it involves high-precision work.

Which brings to my idea for today.

The exam condition is like a pressure cooker. Time is very limited. Every second is utilized for the cooking process.

And, by the way, I tried solving the above problem (1/f(x)) by some substitution step, which was futile. A friend whom I asked told me that I need to use partial fractions and then use inverse trigonometric integration for one of the terms.

No way could I have done it efficiently under exam condition, because that would be cheating.


Happy SWOT VAC.