F Never Changes

Just to make a long matter short, there was a smash hit song called "Love Never Changes" by a local artist called Tik Shiro. In the late 80s and 90s, Tik Shiro has been one of the most popular singers in Thailand. He was known to be a great drummer, plays many musical instruments, a composer, a producers, a singer, and also a great dancer. However in the late 90s up the early 2000s, he pretty much disappeared from the music scene. Most of my peers, or people of the younger generation pretty much ridicule him as an ugly singer, with stupid songs, and who imitates Michael Jackson. That is pretty irksome especially when I go to the Karaoke and open some of his older songs.

Just a year back, he was back with a new album with Grammy Entertainment which was called "Boran (Ancient Man)" which seems to make fun of his past. Anyway, strangely enough, his song "Love Never Changes (Rak Mai Yom Paien Plang)" became one of the biggest hits of the year, and made him extremely popular with the newer generation of fans. Though I don't like the new album like some of his older vintage albums, it is still a solid offering, much of the old stuff, but with a better PR and marketing. Anyway, from all of that, the good thing is that I don't get ridicule anymore for playing his songs on the Karaoke Machine :P

Coming back to the subject mater about F Never Changes, I just happen to drop on a music video posted by a student from ABAC (Assumption University) where I teach, a video at a local online video sharing website. He has covered the song that I mentioned earlier with his (supposedly or real?) struggles with his studies which ended up with Fs. Anyway, at the end of the song, the message was simple - never give up.

Just one more short note from me. Never give up, but don't forget to learn from your mistakes also!

To view the video, follow the following link:
http://video.mthai.com/player.php?id=2M1176266554M268

A Notebook Reunion of the Past!

Yesterday I was just looking for a few interesting pictures to add to one of the presentation that I was supposed to speak at Silapakorn University. During the process I happen to pick up one old picture that still gives me a laugh. As there are classroom reunion, in this case, a collection of notebook computer from a number of guests that visited my home.

On a short note, if I actually placed all the desktops at my home, then it would also be even more interesting. Unfortunately, we were lazy to move the desktops because they were heavy, so this was all we could do with our limited resources.

As being a lecturer by profession, there has been many discussions on the pros and cons of teaching with different media. One of the most controversial issues involve the use of PowerPoint as the main supporting media for the instructors. Though there is a huge push towards PowerPoint, there are certain issues that I don't agree. One quote on a discussion on this issue goes as follows:

"Speaking on behalf of math instructors, there's a reason we use chalkboards.

Pacing.

Writing out your points as you make them forces you to slow down your exposition. This makes it easier for your audience to digest what you're saying, and also gives them time to take notes. Using premade slides or a powerpoint slideshow lets the presenter run unchecked, and the audience tends to zone out rather quickly. I could cover three times the material in a lecture if I used premade slides, but my students would get so little out of it that I might as well have said nothing at all."

As noted, another issue to ponder on, and why there is never any absolute answer in this world!