Playing with Numbers

I was just going to write a new post, when I noticed that number of posts that I posted in my completely random rambling blog just hit 333. What a pleasant surprise to see another intriquing number to appear in this blog.

Anyway, just when I thought that was the end of it, I happen to check my profile page for fun. This is what I saw:


Notice that I had 666 profile views. Now 333 * 2 = 666...

Should I call it pure luck, or somehow I'm marked as the devil?

Hmm...

People Less Fortunate than Yourself

I just happened to stumble upon a local website called http://www.budpage.com which is a thai website talking about issues related with Buddishm in a rather modern and updated setting of the online realm. After reading an article poking fun about online gaming, I happen to stumble upon the picture above which is a stark reminder that there are so many people who are less unfortunate than ourselves.

"Appearing to be Busy is the most advanced form of Procastination"

~Pisal Setthawong

Worrying

"Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere."

~Glenn Turner

Math Blues

On a short note, I'm having a fit of headache today. I had a long talk with one of the flunking students in my programming class after class, and I finally figured why he had such a hard time.

Here are some answers to questions I've asked him after trying to figure what is the problem based on a few simple programming assignment:

Part I
//Making a Money Exchange program
me: Okay, you withdrawn 1,512 THB (local currency) from the ATM. Now how many 500 THB bills will you get?
him: 20.
me: :o

Part II
me: What is 8 multiplied by 8?
him: 40?
me: ???
him: Not correct? 56?
me: :o
him: I'm sure now, its 48!
me: >:(

Part III
me: What is 11 divided by 2?
him: 6?
me: No?!
him: No its 5.5.
me: Assume you got 5, what is the remainder?
him: 2.

I'm starting to wonder if I'm teaching a undergrad class or either I'm a primary school teacher. Somehow I have a reason to believe there isn't much of a difference between the two levels ???

Teen survey: Fewer drug-free schools

I was just reading through CNN.COM when I stumbled upon an article titled: "Teen survey: Fewer drug-free schools". On a short note, I was tempted to ask the author to add the following to the article - "Teen survey: Fewer drug-free and gambling-free schools". On my own opinion, I think its time that the policy makers, parents, and educational institutes should take note of this trend and do something about it than turning a blind eye to it like now. Though having a standpoint in my blog, I still do admit I still haven't come up with any feasible solution other than cosmetic policies that are done of the present. Any great and practical ideas?

Looking for a Job in BKK in IT Related Field?

Someone asked me to post this in a job posting in the faculty website so I just thought about updating here also just for the heck of it :P

Blogger Toolbar for Microsoft Word

Interested in knowning how to blog by using your favorite word processor - M$ Word?

Look here: http://www.tipmonkies.com/2005/08/16/blogger-toolbar-for-microsoft-word

Stampede!

I just couldn't help but laugh at this. Yes this is a picture of a stampede that is caused when about 12k people were queuing up to buy 4 year old Apple IBooks for only $50 (which there were only 1k IBooks in total). My summary? All humans are greedy and greedy humans are willing to go to the edge of the universe for what they want.

Read more about it here:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/08/16/computer.frenzy.ap/index.html

Organizing GDXCON 2005

During this week I'm starting to look for sponsors for GDXCON (Game Developer Exchange Conference) 2005 in which is in the 2nd year. During the first year, I've teamed up with many other indie developers to hold a whole day seminar GDXCON 2004 on Game Development at Assumption University which had discussions from a wide range of topics - which was an immense success with a huge gathering from both game development companies, educational institutes, and the general public.

For this year, we are going to do things better by changing this to a 3 day event, and hosted in the middle of the City at the ICT Learning Center at Central WTC. Due to this expansion, we need to find more sponsors to help fund this event. We're currently are working on that, and hopefully things would be all right. Wish me and the rest of the team luck, and once things get settled I'll talk more about it here :)

Caught with Your Pants Down

What are you going to do if you are caught with your pants down? I just thought about looking at certain people in our society to see their response, and here are some conclusions I found:

Response#1 - Categorically Deny it Ever Happened ...

Chalerm Promlert - Ex Thailand Senator who denied emphatically that he never had sex with underage girls and was a very morally sound person as he regularly gave alms to temples. Later he was sentenced to jail to the maximum extend allowed by law after being found guilty.

Response#2 - Make Light of the Situation?

Prayuth Mahakitsiri - TRT executive who was detected lying about his total assets claimed that his Wife hid some money in case of a rainy day (e.g. he decided to divorce her) and that was why he didn't know about some of the missing money in his asset declaration. He was later found guilty and was bar from having a role in politics for 5 years.

Response#3 - Look at the Big Picture!

Thaksin Shinawatra- PM of Thailand who transfered huge amount of money to servants to hide a huge part of his asset. He claimed that it has nothing to do with his credibility and pointed that he wanted to do for the good for the country and didn't want this problem to derail his efforts. He narrowly won the court case, a clear case of double standard when considering the Prayuth Mahakitsiri and Sanan Kachornprasart were banned from political office for 5 years considering their similarity in offenses. At this moment, the PM is embroiled in a number of key major scandals.

Response#4 -Its the Latest Technological Innovation!

Transport authorities at Suvarnabhumi airport - At the construction site of the Suvarnabhumi airport, there were reports of huge cracks on the construction of the runway. To allay the fears, the PM hired a group of US engineers to inspect the cracks. The team resoundedly recommended a full reconstruction. Later the PM went out with the transport minister along with people from a local engineering association and told reporters it was normal, and it was a latest building technological innovation and nothing was worrisome. Somehow I just thought for the moment it might be fashionable to have cracks in the runway ;)

Thank You Rain!

Today there was a huge sudden downpour. I just love it. Thank You Rain!

p.s. If you don't understand this post don't worry, I didn't meant this rambling to make any sense.

Bad Spelling?

Today I had a meeting about intial talk about a collaboration project between my game lab that I set up in my University and a company when along the way around the Sutthisarn 4-way Intersection with Vipavadee Rangsit I found a poster in front of a shop that reads as the following:

BRA - B - Q

A case of bad spelling or intentional? I hardly can say O_o

Excess Energy?

Today I heard a rather queer news that make me wonder on a few things. They said that 70 policemen were sent to help keep order in a certain local University where students of the Engineering and Communication Arts department were caught fighting each other and could not be stopped by the local security guards. On my own personal opinion, I feel that it is pretty shocking to know that students of the same university could fight each other in such a fashion that the police had to be called to mediate. I mean instead of using the energy that was directed between each other, they could harness that to do productive things instead of using it to fight each other and bring their university to shame. Hmm...

Diamana Mousso

I just bought a new CD called Seckou Keita who was a traditional musician playing the kora (a traditional African instrument much like a guitar) from the country of Mali. The music was kind of strange, but reading through the notes of the songs there were many profound verses that are interesting which is much reflects the poetic nature of the artist. One of the songs that I like was Diamana Mousso and I want to share what he wrote there:

In any relationship, distance between partners will not stop them thinking of each other in a good or bad way. Our ancestors had a more difficult and tiring life but they were an example for relationships based on trust and friendship. We are in a world which has started with love and end with love. Love and friendship are based on trust. Mansali used to say that to listen to each other is very important and used to leave us saying "Good Bye! God give you somebody who stays and care for you."

Today people say, "I will love you for something and I want you for something."

This is not the way! Just love!

Diamana Mousso - Seckou Keita

Some 3D Graphic Programs

This semester I'm teaching a new subject called 3D Graphical Programming. In this course I've taught students the basics of 3D programming using DirectX. During the first half of the class I've asked the students to do different projects based on the material they studied from the start of the class, and the results were rather interesting far better than what I've anticipated. Topics for the first project is limited to simple 3D modeling, basic color (flat/gouraud shading), basic transformation, and basic lighting.

If you are interested, you could visit the project listing at http://forum.s-t.au.ac.th/viewtopic.php?t=1186 to see some of the things we have done so far.