Gabriel's shared items

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Milgram Experiment

Came across this at the weekly wednessday night research seminar in college...

Answers.com'ed it...

Milgram Experiment

Malaysia Night

Oh, I forgot to mention attending malaysian night on saturday... And was the performance good!

Here's a clip of the performance on YouTube.


Tuesday, February 27, 2007

DIM Haircut!!!

(Did It MYSELF! Haircut!)

Here's the result:


=D

Some admin tuesdays, I vacuum the floor, every three admin tuesdays, i do my laundry.

Today, I cut my hair. MYSELF!!! Woot!

Thanks to Chun for the clipper :D

Not bad for a first time huh? Heh, couldnt go very wrong with a crew cut... Took me about an hour to do conduct the operation. The process felt like a bulldozer falling trees. The clipper can get quite stuck at times, but I've saved 9 pounds, and feel a whole lot more relieved!!!

Next item on my inventory would be my own clipper! :P

Monday, February 26, 2007

Cool!

Was looking over that link i posted a few days back while searching for mit and Cambridge, and I just realised that it's the blog of a theoretical physicist doing part III maths here in Cambridge!!!

His blog is a treasure trove of information for would be theoretical physicists like me!

Also, I found a video clip of the geeky song I posted here some time ago, finally get to see the people who were singing it :D

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Submitted MIT Exchange application essay, Temasek Soc tasks

Just submitted my MIT application essay today. Feel quite optimistic about it.

And came from second TS meeting. I'm off to scouting for suitable CMS'es again! Preferably one which has rss generator abilities.

And OpenSourceCMS has seen a revamp. I hope I find better cms'es there!




Hope to get the rss stuff figured out properly with this... Create both an rss generator and an rss reader in php :)

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

MIT Exchange, ISEC, 5th Week, Thinking of home.

I've completed the application to ISEC and MIT exchange, if all goes well, the next year will be a very exciting one! ISEC interview this Saturday, but so far it seems like it's not so difficult to get in. Submitting the MIT application form tomorrow, am quite excited about the prospects of the next year in MIT.

Was reminded, while reading other blogs, that today marks the conclusion of the 5th week. I'm kinda busier this week cos of all the application deadlines, and activities, but I dont feel like i've been worn out yet. Though it is very hard to sit down and start working my way through the stacks of work left by my side, not like it is any different any other time.

Also suddenly feel like I'm beginning to miss home, after reading Grace's blog. It's probably the thought of spending a mere 2 weeks back home this summer that is causing it. Will be have to make full use of the 2 weeks to meet everyone, and prepare for stuff. Though one year seems a long time to be away from home, and 4 years a very long time, it still feels as if there is scarcely any time in between which i can free up to stay home. The undergrad years are just so limited to waste away!

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

MIT Exchange?

Googleblogsearched "Cambridge Mit Exchange" and found a few useful websites.

http://fliptomato.wordpress.com/2006/12/16/cambridge-for-american-undergraduates/

Monday, February 19, 2007

ISEC, MIT dates.

ISEC

Jun 27 - Jul 1 Fly out to Beijing; mission prepartion camp
Jul 2 - 3 Assemble on Campsite
Jul 4 - 12 Tourist travel and charitable
Jul 13 - 14 On-site preparation I
Jul 15 - 29 Camp I
Jul 30 On-site preparation II
Jul 31 - Aug 13 Camp II
Aug 14 - 19 Debriefing (Beijing?)

MIT for last year.
For the 2005-2006 academic year, following are the dates of each term:
Term Start Date End Date
Fall Term Tuesday, 5 September Friday, 22 December
IAP Monday, 8 January Friday, 2 February
Spring Term Monday, 5 February Friday, 25 May

This year, first tuesday of September is the 4th.

This leaves me with about one week to stay with Chaikoon gugu in Shanghai, and another week to spend in Singapore, before leaving for America. Looks like my summer plans may be able to accomodate MIT afterall.

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Ditching the MIT Idea?

Ah!!! I dunno if I should ditch the mit exchange altogether...

Such a difficult decision, so much stacked in both direction, and more importantly, i'm suffering from writters block over the application essay!

I dont want to go cos there seems to be so much lined up in the next year - Temasek society looks very promising, and if I think of running off to mit next year, i wont be able to wholeheartedly participate/contribute to the society.

Also, I have quite exciting summer plans which may need some consideration if i were chosing the MIT option next year.

And it is so comfortable in Cambridge, which translates to a certain level of assured productivity which i will forfeit for the unknown benefits of the exchange.

On the other hand, if i do think of continuing my studies til a graduate level, I feel like I would be much better off doing it in cambridge, where I would know my way around very well. However, that would lead to a very narrow education path, and spending a year at MIT would be really beneficial.

Also, if I dont stay, then knowing the american system would be crucial too. Either way, if I think of insisting on furthering my studies, the MIT exchange will be very beneficial.

Would I sacrifice what I have now for that? And I cant squeeze a word out for the essay!

ISEC

Ok, just sliped in an application for the trip.

ISEC Website

I'm a good week past the deadline, but i hope that there's still space available...

Also, first temasek soc meeting today. think it's a worth while thing to work on... Not nice to think of this and MIT at the same time...

Saturday, February 17, 2007

CNY CG! =)


Thursday, February 15, 2007

Midway

I'm half way through the middle term of the middle year of my undergrad life!

Man, that was fast!

Update

Havent blogged for a week... been rather busy - did 2 formals, and a ball within the span of 7 days!

Here's the highlight of the past two weeks:

Thursday: Snow! And Hughes Hall formal with Shawn, Daniel and Huiyi.


Friday: Fondue event jointly organised by ciccu and cccf. Mmmm... melted asda dark chocolate...

Saturday: Went cny shopping, and went to Aloysius's for Tang yuan!

Sunday: Overslept, til 1300! Cumsa Ball! CG and Natsci photos! :)


Monday: The second of my 6 Crazy Mondays. Four hours of lectures from 9am to 1pm, an hour lunch break, four hours of practicals from 2pm to 6pm, and a ciccu talk in the evening til 9pm!

Tuesday: Simon's sending away to Bedford Formal at Christs.

Oh yes, and was also dissappointed that the quantum computing company turned out to be a fraud, or a very lousy business proposal, at best. Read shawn's blog, heh.


Wednessday: An almost equally hectic as monday day. four hours of lectures, a supervision, a two hour example class, then went to the maths faculty and took a break at the History of Maths lectures, then printed out song sheets for cg, and completed my maths computational project!!!in the words of Daniel the cat, HOORAH!

Today: Planning for cg cny celebrations. as well as trying to keep up with loads and loads of work!

Saturday, February 10, 2007

The end of the world is near...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6349177.stm

A working Quantum Computer? Cool! My physics degree might get me somewhere afterall!

Now this is seriously life changing... Just read about it on Shawn's blog... I might be graduating into a market with a giant demand for physicists afterall, if this turns out real.

I'm really excited after reading it... I stand with the same awe at this news as when I held the bursary offer letter from the commonwealth trust fund, a pivoting moment in my decision to come to Cambridge.

What a privilege!

Thursday, February 08, 2007

Snow! Yay!



Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Gauge Theory

Was introduced to Gauge Theory today at Electromagnetism Lecture.

Cool! =)

Monday, February 05, 2007

Crazy day

Survived the first of 6 crazy mondays today. 8 hours of pure work, topped off with cf in the night. But it felt fulfilling...

9am-1pm
Started with the maths lecture given for physicists at 9, then went for IB Maths electromagnetism lecture, which is refreshing, to get to see electromagnetism done with a more mathematical perspective, then another hour of nst math lecture, and the last hour of physics.

One hour break for lunch thereafter, back at college, and it's off to the cavendish for 4 hours of practical.

and cf from 6 to 10 pm in the evening, which was a good way to end the day :P

Tommorrow will be quite a contrast - a one hour lecture, and i'm done for the day!

Need to make full use of tomorrow, to do some revision, further applications for MIT exchange, and MAS internship, and perhaps try for a google internship; do some tidying up, vacuuming the room, and top up my card... Focus in the evening.

Falling a little sick... hope I wont succumb to it, and I need to keep up with work!

Sunday, February 04, 2007

MIT Exchange?

Pics from home =)



Saturday, February 03, 2007

MIT Exchange?

Thinking of whether to apply for the program.

The succinct exposure to the american system would be very valuable, but it'll come at the price of foregoing the comfortable life in Cambridge which I have taken so long to establish.

More importantly, I'd need to find out exactly what courses are available, which courses I would want to, and should pursue, in order to minimise the toll this year away would have on my fourth year.

List of physics courses available at MIT.

There's still about two weeks to making the declaration of interest, and submitting the application forms.

Thursday, February 01, 2007

iCrap

a 15 minute essay for the chance to fly to space

It is remarkable how we often take reading, writing and arithmetic for granted.

The ability to encode the most profound of our thought, and to communicate them with such ease, has enabled our civilisation to advance to what it is today - with our ubiquitous and almost magical modern electronic devices, the systems that bring the produce and resources from all over the globe to our doorstep, along with the ability to hand down the very knowledge that sustains this phenomena. These have been made possible with the humble ability to read, write and sustain logical processes.