mugging in progress

I thought it would be nice to inform all my beloved readers (yes, you!) that I won't be blogging till December 5, 2007 due to this evil thing called examination. I know I have the record of blogging even more frequently during exam period for the past 4 semesters, but this time round I'm serious. I think.

Till then, no more bitching, no more engineered rubbish, no more crap, none, nil, nothing, nada, zero, zilch, kosong.

Take care and may the F=ma be with you!

wear resistant coatings

Surface wear is something that all machines face. In the context of the manufacturing industry, this equates to lower efficiency, drop in machine reliability, and decrease in output. This is where wear resistant coatings come into the picture.

"No two coatings work exactly alike in the same environment and no single coating works exactly alike in two different environments." This site has got information on the different types of wear (yes there are different types of wear) and the different coating solution available. Looks interesting and informative =)

Companies like Coca-Cola, Johnson & Jonson, P&G and even NASA are some of their customers. Maybe you can find the coating solution for your industrial product design as well~

post sponsored by Industrial Coatings World

ranting on nus ranking

The Times Higher Education Supplement's World University Rankings 2007 was out on November 8 and this year NUS' ranking took a dip from 19 to 33.

Blame it on scoring revamp? Or should we be humble about it and keep working harder? It is funny to see that when people praise us, we quote them; when people say not so nice things, we wave them off. Zaobao published something interesting that Straits Times didn't.

Ranking drops of course won't feel that nice. But when I asked a friend from Business School what she feels about it, she said what can we do about it? Change school meh?

On the other hand, the University of Hong Kong (HKU) squeezes itself from 33 last year to 18. Not a bad idea, I heard their canteens serve nice food.

peer review

There's this thing called peer review for our design project, and we are supposed to grade our group mates and rank them. Wrong, we are supposed to grade and rank everyone in the group, including ourselves.

Although this is a good way for the prof to know who's doing the work and who is freeloading, but it feels kinda like cultural-revolution-style backstabbing. Pretty cruel.

And so I rank myself at the bottom.
(someone was saying I'm foolish to do that, cos everyone ranks him/herself first. But I think my group mates deserve better)

shading the oval

Exam is around the corner, let's practice shading the ovals on the optical answer sheet!

oopz.
(honestly, can u see the Mashimaro)

shouts of the day

I was shocked when I read the ping.sg shoutbox history this morning. While I was knocked-out last night (yes I was) , some interesting conversations were going on......

(please start reading from the bottom, and cc=chillycraps)
------------------------------------------------

• xizor2000: pink> everyone knows Darth Z.
• pinklittlefigure: xz @ i dunno him rite
• xizor2000: ZzzZzzz...
• xizor2000: Darth Z...
• pinklittlefigure: i know cc nice guy :D
• pinklittlefigure: who is duke zhou and duke zhou's daugther?
• malique: pink. cc is a nice guy. :)
• xizor2000: Ladies and Gentlemen... the Arrival of Duke Zhou aka Darth Z.....
• pinklittlefigure: how come everyone think me and cc together?
• xizor2000: * trumpet fanfare *
• pinklittlefigure: hahahahaha
• xizor2000: no lah malique... he setting bedsheet for his MIL... lol
• malique: *play some lionel richie tracks*
• daphnemaia: lol @ malique. why u dash other ppl's impresion of paddy. lol
• malique: he mopping his house now la
• xizor2000: I miss paddy and his jokes....
• pinklittlefigure: hahahahhahaha!
• xizor2000: drag the moon closer...
• pinklittlefigure: hahaha.. cc is nt god k
• xizor2000: but maybe he doesn't need to bring his own candles.. he just need to do the Bruce Almighty thing...
• pinklittlefigure: we went separate ways after dinner
• pinklittlefigure: nothing happened!
• xizor2000: and bring his own candles...
• arzhou: dinner is not impt... is what happened after dinner
• pinklittlefigure: hahahahaha
• xizor2000: turn water into wine...
• pinklittlefigure: eh.. we had simple dinner only k.. no candles and no wine
• xizor2000: pink> then cc will do the Jesus thing...
• arzhou: cc is pro la! candle and wine
• pinklittlefigure: no redwine, only plain water
• xizor2000: and redwine...
• pinklittlefigure: there is no candle la
• malique: and candlelight? :D
• pinklittlefigure: there is nothing much to it just dinner and talk
• arzhou: :p
• pinklittlefigure: it is just a dinner
• daphnemaia: ok im v lost.
• pinklittlefigure: dot dot dot
• malique: dinner is date! :D
• pinklittlefigure: arzhou thinks we are but we are not lo
• pinklittlefigure: we just met up for dinner
• pinklittlefigure: I'm not dating CC and neither is CC dating me
• xizor2000: hungry... hunt for food...
• arzhou: she is la
• daphnemaia: WAAAAHHH. okay. im lost now.. hehehe.. joyce, u really dating CC ar?
• pinklittlefigure: me and arzhou are innocent lo
• sylvdoanx: haa?? cc?? my hammer partner :P
• arzhou: dun bring me into this mess k
• xizor2000: hahahaha...
• pinklittlefigure: i already had a date with cc tuesday evening *blushing*
• malique: oh daphne thats not cool
• malique: dot dot dot
• daphnemaia: hahahaa.. cos u say wanna date arzhou mah.. hehehe! CC ar.. backup lor. in case arzhou doesnt work out.
• xizor2000: cc is sleeping with Duke Zhou's daughter now.
• daphnemaia: latest ping.sg couple!!!
• pinklittlefigure: my poor cc how?
• pinklittlefigure: i didnt come onto ping for like 5 days then I become arzhou's gf edi *shocked*
• daphnemaia: woo hoo! arzhou and pinklittlefigure! adrian and joyce!! woo hooooo!
• pinklittlefigure: yst?
• malique: yesterday
• pinklittlefigure: alamak! when I become arzhou's gf har?
• arzhou: what about me
• malique: feeeeeeeeewit
• xizor2000: the last time I touched one was to eat them. :D
• daphnemaia: u n arzhou!
• pinklittlefigure: who admit?
• pinklittlefigure: the last time i touch a frog was way back in Biology class
• malique: aaron should bring daphne there
• malique: and romantic. ribbit....ribbit
• daphnemaia: wahh finally they admit it
• pinklittlefigure: dates normally dont like frogs!
• malique: pink, thats creative ok
• arzhou: why not
• malique: wah hawt date sia
• pinklittlefigure: you dont bring ur date to frog farm k!
• arzhou: wahaahahahaha
• cendrine: ??
• arzhou: pink: lets go there on a date :p

------------------------------------------------
(speechless)

what is my most common writing mistake

Oh crap, I got double-tagged by xizor and paced to do this crap...

---

Instructions:
To play this game, all you must do is explain what your most common writing mistake is. Then, you simply tag five individuals for the meme. Those five people will, in return, tag five more people. Ultimately, readers should see a tapestry of common grammar and spelling mistakes. Therefore, anyone that is feeling ashamed of their errors will feel a bit more confident and secure.

Copy the person and persons names who sent it to you and add your own at the bottom of the list. It really helps build community.

• Shine with Grace: Mixing the word “from” with “form” all the time
• Trinity’s most common mistake : I sometimes feel confused to use past tense or present tense when I share my stories.
• LadyJava: typing too fast that sometimes I miss words in between
• Genie King: I type too fast too…always end up with “tot he”…when it should be“to the”
• Bobo: makes too many mistakes all the time. She tend to miss out the word “not”.
• Endoh: Can’t differentiate British or American spelling at times.
• Claudia: Although a teach I is, I could everytime made mistook when I wrote and spoke. (Got it?)
• Aaron: I used to always mix up than and then. It even sounds alike to me!
• Daphne: I always use ‘objectively’ and ’subjectively’ wrongly.
• FoxTwo: Tend to overuse the word “anyway”
• Xizor2000: Mis-spell the word separate as seperate.
• Jas aka paced: I can't speel for nuts and always type shortform, even my MS Word's spellcheck has been programmed alrdy=already, pple=people, etc...
• chillycraps: everyday I type "chillycraps" in the login. Try looking up that word in the dictionary.
  

And I tag... whoever wants to join in!
(if u decide to be tagged by me, let me know then I'll really tag you)

leader must do presentation?

It was the poster competition for the design project yesterday and each group was supposed to send one representative for Q&A session. Seeing that I was in my normal casual attire, many people from other groups were like asking me "why leader never present?"

Why leader must present?
(nah, I'm not going to crap about leadership theories)

It's not like seeing Steve Jobs in his black turtleneck and holding an iPod or iPhone on stage everytime.

nus auntie

I was at the faculty's Audio-Visual Unit when I saw this student calling out to a female staff in a loud voice, "AUNTIE AH, [blah blah blah...]". =_="

I was quite stunned there. I mean, even if the female staff looks like she's in her 40s, also don't need to call her auntie right? There are more appropriate salutations like ma'am... Ok, maybe she's really that student's auntie.

Other than the fact that it is rude, I find it unwise to offend any faculty staff. They can be the admin staff in the office or lab officers or workshop technicians, but you won't know when you may need their help. Workshop technicians are definitely one group of people that I won't want to offend.

Please, don't think that you study a few more years than others then you are a greater person than the rest. Respecting others is respecting yourself.

singapore library week

Although it's a bit late, but it's Singapore Library Week!

Ending 9 November (which is like this Friday), check out their website to see what's happening!

I just went to the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library on Monday and although I couldn't find what I wanted =_=" I still find their engineering collection quite impressive! They have like one whole row of books on vibration~

Anyway, check out this library musical, "Reading on a Dream"!

quote of the day

siu hang: [...] there you will have impulsive force.
dajun: then?
siu hang: then you will have Force Impulse Gundam

That's the thing when you do engineering project with Gundam fans.

tuesday with joycie

Had dinner with Joyce last night. Yes, Joyce my scandalous/rumoured girlfriend! The funny thing is, I was waiting for her at her boyfriend's hostel. Then her boyfriend came down with her and asked, "you are chillycraps right?" (then *bish* in the face) =P

We went to Blooie's, which is near Science Park II. The ambient was really nice, although a bit dark at the alfresco area. =P

Talked a lot of craps, found out a lot of stories about some people in our cohort, then talked about blogging, funny things happening online, etc etc. Both of us were like dead tired but we still chatted quite happily/hyperly. =)

One line I find meaningful. People were like asking Joyce why she's always so cheerful, and her reply was, "is there a reason why I shouldn't?" hmm...

non-mechanical pencil

The other day I was studying with yuka-chan, and I saw her writing with a very cute Sesame Street pencil, those non-mechanical, wooden type pencil.

At this mechanical age, do you still use traditional pencil?

I for one prefer to use the wooden pencil. I love this feeling of applying force, the carbon rubbing against the paper and making that "writing" sound. I have this tendency to apply a lot of force when writing, so much so that I always engrave the words on a few pages. With mechanical pencil, slightly more force and you break the delicate lead. (although I used to break the thicker lead of the wooden pencil before also =P) And do you remember the times when you sharpened your pencils the night before school?

Sometimes it feels wonderful to be back to basic.

(by the way, have you seen my black pencil with that exotic black eraser?)

small delay with big consequence

Today I broke my record, I was late for lesson.... by 30 minutes somemore!

The reason was... I was bugged by an insurance agent all the way from Bukit Timah. For 1 and half hours he was explaining to me about insurance and stuff, then at the end I just told him it's useless, cos I'm worthless -_-" (no lah, that's my friend mk from chemical engineering, but he's a "life planner" also. Hmm should have asked him to plan when I should chase a girl)

Anyway the real reason for being late was, I left home 5 minutes later than usual. But normally I'm half an hour to 15 minutes early before lesson time, so that means, 5 minutes delay amplified to at least 45 minutes late, not just 30 minutes.

Road condition is not a linear function of time.

fragile, handle with care

A while ago this blog's header was showing this 4 icons that you always see at the side of cardboard boxes.

This side up. 10kg. Handle with care. Fragile.

Somehow, the things that have happened around me make me feel that our lives are so fragile. Just so fragile.

If we always handle with care, does it matter whether it is fragile or not?

prof fool

Let's call this professor Jelly Fool. There are funny things about him that you may not know:

• there was once in the toilet, I saw him peeing at the urinal with his left hand holding his coffee mug high up above his head. Ermm.. ok, he didn't want extra liquid added to his coffee, maybe?


• another time at the toilet, I saw him peeing at the urinal with his left hand pressing the buttons on his handphone. Ermm.. ok, he's a busy man.


• another time at the toilet, I saw him peeing at the urinal with his left hand pushing hard on the wall. Ermm... ok, equilibrium position.
  

Yesterday there's another case of student power. First some students emailed to the prof asking him to change the time for the poster presentation cos it clashes with lecture timing, then the prof replied with that not-my-problem attitude, saying that he set the timing long time ago (so? you set but never let us know...) Then the prof finally succumb to pressure and agreed to change the timing of the presentation. It's fun to see his attitude change 180 degree.

Anyway it didn't affect our group much. We hire presentation expert from Business School.

project poster

Seems like the hottest topic for the time being in ME3 is the A1 poster for the design project. Our evil group thought of using Ivan from the other group to advertise for our group...


Very soon the 2 groups will merge to form a consortium... muhahahaha!

engineering shopping

After the triathlon yesterday, hj and I went to Parkway Parade. (you know there is this shuttle bus in NUS that says "we are going Parkway Parade"? Ok no link)

Anyway I kind of dragged hj into Isetan cos I wanted to check out the toys section. Then while we were at the kitchen utensil section, hj went on and on about the manufacturing processes of stuffs like cups and pots and straws and whatever things that can be manufactured. I was kinda impressed by him. Looks like someone has been revising the textbook...

Going out with chillycraps is always a learning experience. All I know is Gundam is injection molded. =P

(oh Parkway is having 7th Annual Crazy Sale. The aunties were really crazy. Think today is last day)

osim singapore corporate triathlon 2007

Went to help out at the OSIM Singapore Corporate Triathlon 2007 this morning at East Coast as safety canoeist. It was pretty uneventful, and I am not complaining. It was pretty interesting that they had something called the "Mini Bosses Challenge" category. So in the business world they are already competing, now weekend still had to compete... =S

This time most of us were using double kayaks, with only one person onboard. Weird, but after a few strokes it was alright. At least my butt was dry. For the moment... Oh and there wasn't a safety brief! But like I said, luckily nothing much happened. Nice weather~

But with me around, there were always funny things happening:

• hj waved hi to 2 dogs on the beach, which then went berserk at him. Luckily they were leashed. See? You be nice to others, others may not think likewise.


• Supposedly I was totally dry even after the event. Then dunno which guy's kayak transformed into yellow submarine with water filled to the brim, so I went in to help. The water was shoulder deep.


• When hj and I inverted that someone else's submarine and were about to drain the water out, Joanna sticked her head into the kayak and *splash* all the water got her.
  


• While helping to drain the water from the submarine, things started to swim out from my pocket. I was on the shore trying to recall what was missing when hj pointed out my bright orange sunblock floating out in the open sea -_-" I swam out to retrieve it. (hey don't litter in the sea ok!)


• hj stood motionless in the water. I announced to the whole world he was peeing.


• While peeing or playing with water (+ urine), hj's spectacles dropped into the water. He was like "siao liao!" I found it on the seabed. Always wear spectacles band.


• I had already left the event venue when I realized another safety kayaker had left his wallet in my Baja dry bag which I brought along out to sea. (no I didn't dump his wallet into the sea) I went back to the venue and saw him there eating lunch, not aware of what could have happened if I had gone home.
  

are we blind

I was waiting for bus at Dunearn Road when I saw a visually handicapped man at the bus stop, alone.

I have seen before bus drivers who stop just nicely and shout out the service number to blind people, but I guess this doesn't happen all the time. So yesterday this visually handicapped man was standing there, facing no one in particular and asking what service number was that. No one bothered. The bus stop was crowded.

I went forward to him, told him the bus number, and asked which service was he taking. Just at that moment, my bus came... I told him my bus had arrived and apologised to him, but he said it's okay and thanked me... On my ride home, I was feeling really guilty why didn't I wait for his bus to come before I go off.

(now, with satellite tracking and what-not on buses, can they come up with a gadget that can announce the service number to blind people?)

quote of the day

L Hospital rule
-- Dr Lee Seng Guan
Department of Mechanical Engineering
National University of Singapore

This is the first time I find the ME3122 Heat Transfer lecturer funny.
Do you know l'Hôpital's rule?

plastic surgery

Have you seen these little icons at the bottom of your plastic containers?

These are the resin identification codes devised by the Society of the Plastics Industry. Introduced in 1988, this coding system helps in the recycling effort of plastics.

So what do the numbers and the letters mean?

• 1 PET (PETE): Polyethylene Terephthalate
• 2 HDPE: (not HOPE!) High Density Polyethylene
• 3 PVC: Polyvinyl Chloride
• 4 LDPE: Low Density Polyethylene
• 5 PP: Polypropylene
• 6 PS: Polystyrene
• 7 OTHER: Other (duh...)

I dunno what has it got to do with us consumers, but to those in the recycling industry, yes. Imagine sorting out a sea of plastic... eek.