I can't haz moneys

Ok this is quite annoying.

Just a few days ago, I was pleasantly surprised when my friend sent me a Whatsapp:



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apparently one of her friends had shared my blog on his Facebook feed, helping to publicize this blog. More importantly, I'm glad that I'm making an impact to inspire others to write module reviews too (I just hope certain objective standards are upheld!)

Anyway, this may or may not have contributed to it (probably not), but I got a notification from Wordpress saying 'Your stats are booming!'. I went to check and this was what I saw



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see, there was a certain spike on Dec 24th.  How big was this spike, you may ask. On average, I get 100-200 views a day (close to 100 uniques average). On 24th Dec, I got almost 1000 views (500 uniques)

What!?

Well the most logical explanation is that it was because results were released that day. I'm not sure why people are googling for module reviews when results just come out, but I guess some sort of relief/panic mode set in then. I foresee another spike when CORS opens.

ANYWAY. The whole point of this is to complain about something - seeing the fairly decent stats, I thought of monetizing this blog. So I went to check out several options... Nuffnang, Google. Guess what.

 

YOU CANT ADVERTISE ON WORDPRESS.

ARGH. SCREW YOU WORDPRESS.

 

Ok it's kinda silly I'm getting upset over this because I started out doing these reviews not for money anyway. But it's because of the 'success' of the blog that made me WANT to get money out of it. Success is bad! It makes you crave more. I have to learn to remember the intrinsic motivation I had when I first started doing this. Oh well. Anyway, I'm just doing one more semester of this.

It's a good learning lesson really. We have to remember why we started out doing something we enjoyed, and don't let our success get to our heads. Passion keeps us going forever. Money only lasts till it's spent.

 

 

 

What am I doing in NUS?

This is going to be a rant about the disparities between BU’s and NUS’s academic  standards. They may be a bit disjointed because I’m just going to type whatever comes to mind.

Recently I’ve been hanging out with some Singaporeans here at BU and listening in on their conversations about their academic planning. Many of them are talking about ‘overloading’ so as to graduate earlier. Makes perfect sense, since school fees are really high here ($40k per  year, not including housing, food, etc). At the same time I scoff at it.

Why do I take issue with this? Well, in BU, the standard workload is 4 courses/modules per semester, versus the 5 modules in NUS. You would think that since there is one less per sem, the workload should be correspondingly heavier, right? No. It could be a poor snapshot of things, but from the courses I have taken this semester, the workload in one module here is LESS than one module in NUS. Considerably.

Let’s say I just got lucky and got the easy modules. Even if we overcompensate, the workload is going to be about the same as NUS, per module! Thus, when they ‘overload’ there, they are actually doing the standard NUS semester load of modules, and they get to graduate one YEAR earlier -_-

Are you kidding me?? One year?! That’s a LOT of time. I know for sure because this year, 2012, has been such a long and eventful year that I can’t even believe is only one year.

Back to the course/modules (I use these two terms interchangeably because they call it ‘courses’ in BU but ‘modules ‘ in NUS) issue. I find that some (not all) of the professors here are trying to help you get an A. Like they really try, and set the quizzes/tests really easy such that you don’t even have to study from the textbook, and I know one prof deliberately sets one or two questions from the TB as if to justify the existence of the TB in the syllabus.

I’m SO pissed by this. Like if you are not going to use the textbook much, DON’T include it in the syllabus?? I don’t know why I was so stupid to purchase all my textbooks and end up using less than 10% of them.  So yes, I only had to study from the lecture notes for my exams. In NUS? Hell no. You have to memorize the bulk of the textbook for most of the core modules (can’t speak for other electives and lv4000 mods)

Further examples to show how chillax it is here – Two (out of 4) of my professors ended up not finishing the syllabus due to time  constraints – and simply cut the material out of the exam. For example, if we were originally supposed to study chapter 1-10 for the finals, she only reached chapter 8, so she said 9 and 10 will not be in.

WHAT A JOKE. Let’s first address the root issue here – they fall behind because they don’t really plan out each lesson well? I find that the profs in BU (once again, I have to emphasize that when I say ‘the profs in BU’ I don’t’ mean to generalize to everyone, but it is a lot simpler to say than ‘the profs that I encounter in BU’) do not plan far ahead – half of my courses did NOT have a complete syllabus at the start of the semester, and only gradually shaped up the syllabus as the semester progressed.

And they don’t plan out each lesson too – for example in NUS the professor will aim to complete this topic in one lecture, and will pace himself/herself to really finish it. In BU? No, it’s kind of a play-by-ear thing, and the prof stops it whenever time runs out. I don’ t think they pace their lessons well and spend way too much time trying to answer questions (there’s a lot of question asking here in the US classroom lectures), and as a result lag behind in content covered.

Some people ask me why I am so chill here – no, it’s not because I only have to pass/fail. It’s because the content is so skimpy and little, what is there to really mug?? The absence of stress for me is not because I only need to pass – I don’t have that mentality, I have quite a lot of Asian pride and want to get As (trololol) – the absence of stress is because I don’t find the volume of content particularly challenging (vs in NUS, when I really have to study regularly)

So back to the lagging behind. So as a result of poor pacing, we seem to be stuck on the same topic for weeks (we spent like 2-3 weeks on Classical Conditioning alone and another 2-3 weeks on operant conditioning alone.. and it’s not even like in-depth coverage of the available theories it’s very surface and basic. ) and I just begin to switch off during lectures. And at the end of the semester, oh oops we can’t finish the syllabus ok nvm this is not tested.

Man, if I was paying $40k/year for this, I would be pissed.

So why am I pissed? Well I think it’s ridiculous how at the end of the day, when you graduate from BU, NUS or wherever, you still end up with the same thing, a college degree. Before you even start to argue that NUS is more prestigious or anything, refer to this table on employability of graduates from global universities.




BU is actually ranked #17 in the world. Where is NUS? #36. WTF.

So let me get this straight, I spend one extra year in university, slogging my guts out in a more stressful, competitive environment with a heavier workload, and I end up half as employable as those who study in BU? (fine, the ranking is an ordinal ranking and not an interval so #34 is not half as employable as #17 but you get my point) FML seriously.

Ok end of rant. I need to go do research for my project next semester, back in NUS. Hooray.

 

False Confessions

Would you confess to a crime you didn't commit?

I watched a short film today in my Psychology and Criminal Justice class which really disturbed and annoyed me because of what transpired in it. It was a documentary on an actual criminal case in Norfolk, where four men separately confessed to a gang rape and murder which they didn't commit and were convicted to life sentence in prison without parole. How did it all happen?  Read on for the ridiculous story.

Nonsensical Spam Bots

You know those spam bots that post spam links on tagboards, comments on blogs, and everywhere they can? They are annoying right? Even worse, they could be malicious - clicking on any of the links may infect your computer with some sort of malware or virus.  But the fact of the matter is, spam bots typically have a purpose - to get you to click on a link.

On the other hand, there are some spam bots which... to me, really serves no purpose, besides to spam? I have seen some spam comments that make no sense or are just pretty hilarious. Here are some of them:

"To want a spninakg is to need a spninakg.  This is not true in all cases but in this one I feel that want and need are one in the same.  A spninakg is a serious thing.  Most people develope a reson to be spanked and therefore feel as if they deserve a spninakg.  If you feel as if you deserve a spninakg then you feel you need it.  If you feel like you want it, then you need it so that you can stop thinking of the reason you deserve it.Now, I don't know if this makes sense to anyone besides me or not.  When I want a spninakg, that feeling doesn't leave me until my wife gives me one, and from our conversations, it doesn't leave her until she recieves what she feels she deserves.  So when one developes a want for a spninakg, in order to move on with their daily life, a spninakg is needed!

Does this make any sense to you? Well it took me several seconds but I realized 'spinankg' is not some new-fangled drug that they're selling but it's 'spanking' rearranged.

Another one:

Phenomenal baerkodwn of the topic, you should write for me too!

In this case, it's 'breakdown'! I'm actually quite intrigued by these anagram bots and trying to figure out what they mean lolol

Master composer of the National Anthem Captain Ram Singh Thakur’s tune cuneinots to infuse a spirit of patriotism among millions of Indians. Captain Ram Singh Thakur (15 August 1914-15 April 2002) was an Indian freedom fighter, musician and the composer of the music of the current version of the Indian National Anthem. He also composed, while serving in the Indian National Army a number of patriotic songs including Kadam Kadam Badaye Ja… and Subh Sukh Chain . Later in life, Captain Singh worked for the Provincial Arms Constabulary band Uttar Pradesh (PAC).Ram was born in Village of Khanyara, Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh on August 15, 1914. As the son of a serviceman, Ram was encouraged to enroll in the army. After completing school in 1922, Ram joined the 1st Gorkha Rifles as a recru...

WHAT ON EARTH IS THIS HAHAHA. This actually goes on for quite a bit, this portion I quoted was 1/4 of the whole comment.

Why do spam bots do these??

Fitness Journal #9 - Pet Peeves

I am quite the newbie at gymming, having only started gymming 2 months+ ago, but being the bitchy judgemental observant person I am, I already have some pet peeves in the gym.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="400"] From cartoonstock.com[/caption]

Fragility of life

Yesterday, one of my church friends fell out of a window in her home and... died.

What? Yes, she died. She was only 17.

Why do you do good?

Something that my mum said angered me greatly and got me thinking about a few things.
For context, I did something which she perceived to be wrong.
She then said to me 'If you keep being like that, you will lose your blessings (from God)'

Ok, join me in a collective 'wtf' together. 1... 2.. 3. No? You don't see why it's ridiculous? Let me elaborate.

Damn, I ONLY got an A-

This blog entry has to do with the issue of complaining - how do you know when and how to complain?



You're probably scratching your head thinking I have lost it. I'm asking how to ... COMPLAIN?? Isn't that supposed to be Singaporean's #1 pastime besides eating and watching soccer? Well, the problem comes when you consider empathetic thoughts - when you start to consider other people's feelings. Let's go through several scenarios and you'll see what I mean.

Psycho Douchebag

I am a drama magnet.

Well, at least when it comes to group projects. I seem to attract the weirdest and most complicated group members in my projects in school.

If you have not read about my experience last year with my SEA group, do check it out here.

This post is about my philo group this semester, and the drama that has occurred. Here's a sneak preview:

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="There's apparently a convention for using exclamation marks, according to Psycho Douchebag"][/caption]

My MLM Experience Part One

Wow the last entry I made was exactly one month ago. And now I'm back!

I've been wanting to write about this for quite some time, but never bothered to get down to it! I finally decided to pen it down now before I forget the details.

So yes, I was very briefly involved in MLM before! Multi-Level Marketing has been talked about endlessly and there are many reasons why it is bad. Just in this sentence I've included 4 links for you to check out what it is and why it's bad if you don't know.

I shall recount the events chronologically, as I think it's the best way to present things. It is a VERY long read, but should no doubt be eye-opening to some of you.
So, grab some chips, a drink, and enjoy!

The myopic gamer

Life can be reduced to a video game. Everything and anything we do can be described as some aspect of a game. Many parallels can be drawn between things you do in a game as well as things you do in life.

I will list each example with the real life activity first, followed by the gaming example.

Real Life: Earning money
We all need money. To eat, to travel, to buy frivolous things for ourselves. Unless you were born with a silver spoon or you grow a money tree, most of us would have to actually work to earn money. We slave for hours to end and when we get home everyday, deadbeat and exhausted, we ask ourselves, 'Why am I doing this? Oh right, I need the money."

In a Game: Farming Gold
We have all done it. From breeding Air Dragons to sell in Dragonvale and spamming collect on the Plant Habitats, memorizing mining routes like these to level our Mining profession in World of Warcraft to trade more lucrative ores,

Typical Mining Route in World of Warcraft

to killing more mobs in Skyrim to collect more material for sale. We often do things that are boring and monotonous and grind-like to get more gold. When you are extremely bored and tired and ask yourself "Why am I doing this? Oh right, I need more gold."

Real Life: Multi-tasking
If you have a dog, a girlfriend, a clique, and a family, that is already 4 different groups that you have to divide your attention between them. You fail to do so in any aspect and that could mean soured ties, and the effects could snowball and just come back and bite you in the butt later on. You could even lose your girlfriend.

In a Game: Multi-tasking (Macro)
In Starcraft 2, players have to multitask constantly to keep their economy going. If you are unable to multitask to keep up your larva injects, Chronoboosts and MULEs, it could snowball and come back and bite you in the butt later on when you cannot produce enough units to defend a push. You could even lose the game.

Don't lose your MULES!

Real Life: Building friendships
Psychologists list many types of relationships, and a famous related principle is the social exchange theory, in which individuals focus on the costs/benefits of a relationship to determine whether it's a worthwhile relationship.
Whether we like it or not, relationships involve investment, effort and time to maintain, and you have to put in some amount of these, otherwise you will never have good, healthy, friendly relations.

In A Game: Farming Reputation
Anyone who has played some kind of RPG that requires reputation with a faction will know what this point is about before even reading on.
In many games, you have certain ties with groups of people (factions) in the game. You will need to do quests for them, kill monsters for them, etc, to improve your honor/reputation with them. There are various thresholds such as Neutral -> Friendly -> Honored -> Exalted, etcetc, to indicate your level of relationship with the particular factoin.
Whether you like it or not, forming these reputations involve investment, effort and time to do so, and without these, you will never have a good, solid reputation with any faction.

Someone with leet In-Game reputation but probably terrifail Real Life relations.

Real Life: Work in a Team
School project groups, work project groups, teammates in a sport... I could go on and on listing the different types of teams we work in. You can't escape it, you have to learn how to work with other people and coordinate efforts to contribute to a joint result. You may have problems such as people not turning up, people being late, conflicts within your group, etc. But if you are the leader, you're going to have to mediate and iron these out, in order to have any level of success in your group's tasks.

In A Game: Work in a Team
Whether you are in a 25-man raid in World of Warcraft or playing a 5v5 DoTA game with your buddies, teamwork and coordination is usually crucial in winning/killing a boss. You can't escape it- you can be the best Rogue, the best Lina Maiden, the best Holy Paladin in your group, but if the rest of your team f**ks up, you're going to fail.
You may have problems with people being late or not turning up for raid, and maybe even conflicts over whose fault it was that you failed the last wipe. But if you are the leader, you're going to have to get everyone focused on the task at hand and stop pointing fingers, in order to have any level of success in your group's tasks.

Mid-fight in a game of Dota 2

These are just 4 of the more common examples, there are probably others more trivial cases which you can easily draw a gaming parallel as well. I think this will suffice to prove my theory though.

Life is a video game.