The Leidenfrost Effect is a pretty cool science article I linked two years ago, on a previous blog. It's still a good read, I looked it up again when I saw a semi related post on MeFi.
If only the science we studied in class was as engaging as this, eh.
Thursday
phew
The presentation went okay : I accidentally stumbled upon the correct resolution to the case study even though none of us knew where we were heading.
It was very awkward. What my lecturer said is very true : it's disconcerting being given a study of a company in severe financial difficulty, and attempting to craft a presentation together for potential investors to convince them to put up more money into this venture, or trying to attempt negotiations with their creditors to buy a litle more time before the company goes insolvent.
It was very awkward. What my lecturer said is very true : it's disconcerting being given a study of a company in severe financial difficulty, and attempting to craft a presentation together for potential investors to convince them to put up more money into this venture, or trying to attempt negotiations with their creditors to buy a litle more time before the company goes insolvent.
Tuesday
a relaxed state of high alertness?
I realised just how much I miss proper competitive gaming.
The thrill of knowing how good you are, as your eyes quickly scan the barrage of images and information scrolling across the screen, the Vent chatter coming thick and fast though your headset. The thrill of wanting to dominate and humiliate the opponent. The thrill of knowing there is a living breathing thinking mind behind the actions of your enemy, that can be predicted and manipulated.
Times like this my mind crosses a boundary. Hypersensitivity. Being balanced on a knife's edge. A relaxed state of high alertness. If you're too relaxed your response times drop. If you're too tense, your response times also drop - and you might react to false stimuli that you're not supposed to. Hence the slight shakes and twitches in my hands - it's like a tightly wound spring ready to pounce, yet I cannot afford to hold it together with tension or I risk holding it back when I need the quick response.
World of Warcraft is too slow paced for me. Never felt the need to ramp up my reaction and mental processing times, not even once. You only need to do so when facing human opponents, when split second reaction time matters : when you have to change tactics multiple times in a single fight, when you get the "oh shit" feeling of finding out the enemy team already knows how to counter your strategy.
I am very seriously considering quitting. >_<
The thrill of knowing how good you are, as your eyes quickly scan the barrage of images and information scrolling across the screen, the Vent chatter coming thick and fast though your headset. The thrill of wanting to dominate and humiliate the opponent. The thrill of knowing there is a living breathing thinking mind behind the actions of your enemy, that can be predicted and manipulated.
Times like this my mind crosses a boundary. Hypersensitivity. Being balanced on a knife's edge. A relaxed state of high alertness. If you're too relaxed your response times drop. If you're too tense, your response times also drop - and you might react to false stimuli that you're not supposed to. Hence the slight shakes and twitches in my hands - it's like a tightly wound spring ready to pounce, yet I cannot afford to hold it together with tension or I risk holding it back when I need the quick response.
World of Warcraft is too slow paced for me. Never felt the need to ramp up my reaction and mental processing times, not even once. You only need to do so when facing human opponents, when split second reaction time matters : when you have to change tactics multiple times in a single fight, when you get the "oh shit" feeling of finding out the enemy team already knows how to counter your strategy.
I am very seriously considering quitting. >_<
Monday
first impressions
First impressions count for a lot I guess. Everything about her outfit felt very deliberate and careful. (by the way, ash, this post is for you : I know you like stuff like this =p)
I am lucky, in retrospect, that I was semi dressed up as well : good quality material shirt and pants, with a reasonably smart looking jacket. The shirt was made of the kind of thin shimmery material that causes your skin to tingle, and is pretty cool to look at. I need a more formal jacket at some point though.
Well, this isn't about me. She was wearing a strapless white top, modestly covered with an ordinary looking brown jacket. Matched her shoes, now those looked really cool. Can't really explain, they were a unique design that I had never seen before. Jeans skirt, long wood themed beaded earrings. Her long black hair looked great - you know, luscious not oily, just healthy, with a good bounce to it. And layered just the way I like it too =p And she had a pair of shades pushed up above her forehead to complete the look.
She carries herself well, speaks with a maturity beyond her age. I compliment her lip gloss, and she gets thrown off completely. It suits her : with her fair complexion, she was using mild shiny silver glitter gloss. Not many girls can pull that off effectively : it's one of my favourite colors. A more experienced or older girl would have hid her surprise and smoothly taken the compliment. Ah well, my fault there, will keep in mind for the future. We chat about the common topics : lack of potential guys at her all female boarding house, shopping in the city, family, residential options. She pulls out her tube and brushes on another layer of lip gloss after she finishes her ice cream.
Eating the ice cream calls attention to the fact that she could probably stand to lose a few pounds. Maybe the difference is more obvious, since I haven't seen her for 4 years now. Perhaps we're all too used to the stereotype of painfully thin Asian girls.
She slyly asks me to take her clubbing, and I dance around the question, turning it elsewhere. One telling point I pick up : she tells me her relationships with guys never last long. Because she gets tired of them and tells them to leave her alone =p They all bore her eventually, she says. My ears prick up.
That's exactly the cousin I know.
( hah, gotcha =p )
We've known each other forever, but I never really bothered getting to know to her properly, since we lived worlds apart. Our paths in life are pretty much chosen by our parents, and her parents chose a vastly different life for her. I could never imagine being able to relate to her.
But now, perhaps, things are different. We've both grown up, and, in this place thousands of miles from home, living away from our parents, we finally have enough things in common that we can start being friends.
I am lucky, in retrospect, that I was semi dressed up as well : good quality material shirt and pants, with a reasonably smart looking jacket. The shirt was made of the kind of thin shimmery material that causes your skin to tingle, and is pretty cool to look at. I need a more formal jacket at some point though.
Well, this isn't about me. She was wearing a strapless white top, modestly covered with an ordinary looking brown jacket. Matched her shoes, now those looked really cool. Can't really explain, they were a unique design that I had never seen before. Jeans skirt, long wood themed beaded earrings. Her long black hair looked great - you know, luscious not oily, just healthy, with a good bounce to it. And layered just the way I like it too =p And she had a pair of shades pushed up above her forehead to complete the look.
She carries herself well, speaks with a maturity beyond her age. I compliment her lip gloss, and she gets thrown off completely. It suits her : with her fair complexion, she was using mild shiny silver glitter gloss. Not many girls can pull that off effectively : it's one of my favourite colors. A more experienced or older girl would have hid her surprise and smoothly taken the compliment. Ah well, my fault there, will keep in mind for the future. We chat about the common topics : lack of potential guys at her all female boarding house, shopping in the city, family, residential options. She pulls out her tube and brushes on another layer of lip gloss after she finishes her ice cream.
Eating the ice cream calls attention to the fact that she could probably stand to lose a few pounds. Maybe the difference is more obvious, since I haven't seen her for 4 years now. Perhaps we're all too used to the stereotype of painfully thin Asian girls.
She slyly asks me to take her clubbing, and I dance around the question, turning it elsewhere. One telling point I pick up : she tells me her relationships with guys never last long. Because she gets tired of them and tells them to leave her alone =p They all bore her eventually, she says. My ears prick up.
That's exactly the cousin I know.
( hah, gotcha =p )
We've known each other forever, but I never really bothered getting to know to her properly, since we lived worlds apart. Our paths in life are pretty much chosen by our parents, and her parents chose a vastly different life for her. I could never imagine being able to relate to her.
But now, perhaps, things are different. We've both grown up, and, in this place thousands of miles from home, living away from our parents, we finally have enough things in common that we can start being friends.
Sunday
Wired 14.04: Geekonomics
Comment which I have to agree with :
In this way, the process of becoming an effective World of Warcraft guild master amounts to a total-immersion course in leadership. A guild is a collection of players who come together to share knowledge, resources, and manpower. To run a large one, a guild master must be adept at many skills: attracting, evaluating, and recruiting new members; creating apprenticeship programs; orchestrating group strategy; and adjudicating disputes. Guilds routinely splinter over petty squabbles and other basic failures of management; the master must resolve them without losing valuable members, who can easily quit and join a rival guild. Never mind the virtual surroundings; these conditions provide real-world training a manager can apply directly in the workplace.
link
I sit and observe. I don't have the desire for leadership. But from where I stand, I can more clearly see the mistakes made. And I hope to learn from them. And I know that if I were to be put into that position, I'd be able to do a pretty damn good job of it. I've made my share of friends and enemies, but I've nonetheless gained their respect.
In this way, the process of becoming an effective World of Warcraft guild master amounts to a total-immersion course in leadership. A guild is a collection of players who come together to share knowledge, resources, and manpower. To run a large one, a guild master must be adept at many skills: attracting, evaluating, and recruiting new members; creating apprenticeship programs; orchestrating group strategy; and adjudicating disputes. Guilds routinely splinter over petty squabbles and other basic failures of management; the master must resolve them without losing valuable members, who can easily quit and join a rival guild. Never mind the virtual surroundings; these conditions provide real-world training a manager can apply directly in the workplace.
link
I sit and observe. I don't have the desire for leadership. But from where I stand, I can more clearly see the mistakes made. And I hope to learn from them. And I know that if I were to be put into that position, I'd be able to do a pretty damn good job of it. I've made my share of friends and enemies, but I've nonetheless gained their respect.
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