Time - place setting

Time-place setting is a debating term to denote a strategy to restrict the parameters of the debate unfairly. But time-place setting, as expounded in the video, gives an insight to how people perceive time and how that affects their decision-making.

I am amazed at the animation and I love the idea. Now I have something else to blame for my slothfulness. My geographical location.

Saying it ...

... with fans?

Apparently, Georgian flirtation is a lot more subtle than we believe.



Ah, the fickleness of young love ...

(Stolen from Two Nerdy History Girls)

Creative, but ...

... decapitating yourself using the tractor loader possibly isn't how Caterpillar envisioned the use of their machinery.

Oh boy.

Traditions versus Islamic practices

I love how this guy articulate an issue that is plaguing many Muslims, especially in the current global sociopolitical climate.



ETA: Transcript of video under cut for Seorang Blogger.

Honey badger don't care

Not a bad animal to be incarnated into. Honey badgers kick ass, man.

I do NOT have ADD!

(stolen from here)

My fondness for opening multiple tabs in my Firefox browser has NOTHING to do with ADD (attention deficit disorder), thank you very much. Nor my tendency to be working on 4-5 items simultaneously. It's not because of my ferret-like attention span that .... oohh! Sparklies!

... made me jump from subject to subject.

It's just that I have too much brain.

*grin*

That's right. The little grey cells (to quote Msr. Hercule Poirot) of my left superior parietal cortex (the part of the brain that is roughly three finger span behind my left eye) are just too plentiful.

Trust me. Scientists said so.

However, this does not mean that I am any cleverer (hah!). In fact, it actually means that "a greater volume of grey matter may indicate a less mature brain, perhaps reflecting a mild developmental malfunction".

Erk.

How can this be fixed?

Apparently, the team who wrote the paper is working on stimulating the mega-brain area by "placing electrodes on the head to deliver an unnoticeable electrical current to the immediate area".

Unnoticeable electrical current, yeah right. Now pull the other leg.

Time for your electroconvulsive therapy, m'dear.

How do you measure love?

Apparently it is possible to estimate the value of Love using basic algebra of need, perhaps some calculus, maybe a bit of the geometry of innocence, and a lot of wishful thinking.

You start with:

        (Love - 0) / No limit

And other mathematical gobbledygook that I don't understand (since I was this close to flunking Additional Mathematics) ...

Which leads to the conclusion:

1. Love is infinite if X is finite.
2. Love is indefinite if X is zero.
3. Love is infinitely negative if X is negative.
4. Love is imaginary if X is imaginary.

Who says scientists aren't arty?

Don't believe me? Watch this.

As if I'm not paranoid enough in rivers ...

... now I hear that crocodiles can traverse oceans. Granted that this was seven million years ago, but since crocodile design hasn't really changed since then, this is pretty scary.

Oh yeah. Crocs are salt tolerant and can survive six months without food. So by the time they reach the beach where you are frolicking innocently, they are starving and you look like a delicious meal.

Humans are doomed.

(Image ganked from here)

Not these crocs, okay? Only scary near escalators.

Who is afraid of the Internet?

Beautiful, beautiful animated video that makes you smile, and then think. It may be a little long, but definitely worth clicking.



A lot of people are saying that the uprising in Tunisia and Egypt was largely successful because of the Internet. Connectivity helps to fan the fervour amongst those protesting and garner support to their cause. An Egyptian man even named his daughter Facebook as a tribute to the social networking site.  

But are we naive in thinking that the Internet is so powerful?

The Internet is value neutral; but like a sword, the wielder can both cut and also BE cut. It can be used as a tool by the activists; but by the same coin, the authorities working to stamp out dissidence can also use it to track, identify and contravene the efforts of the activists.

But  as Evgeny Morozov pointed out, when the Internet is primarily used to download bootleg entertainment material (all right, porn, dammit) and to tell/troll your friends of your "noteworthy" activities, the likelihood of the "democratic change" extolled by the cyber-utopians are about as real as the Farmville corn you harvest.

Valentine's Revenge

Valentine's Day is not just about lovers reconnecting with one another. It could also provide an excuse for the lovelorn to drive down to the love shack to get some.

But one should also be careful to protect oneself to avoid the fate that inspired this song.



Also, if you are a gentleman trapped in a mine with a few dozen another men (or any on a seafaring vessel, or an oilrig, WHATEVER), try not to share the inflated doll that is made available. It is safer to stick to sudoku.

A picture > 1k words

Ever feel like the information overload is avalanching you? The Internet has changed the way information is being disseminated and traded. Add something like Wikileaks to the mix and you have a real smorgasbord of information and data to analyse and process; some of them more raw than a mooing steak on a plate.

Those in the scientific field are quite used to this; after all it is their job to generate data and then crunch it to create another piece to the puzzle of the universe (and then bend over backwards trying to fit it into the story). Most of us are the end-users who swallow and accept whatever conclusion that has been generated by someone else; be it political information, or economic and financial tips or even sports statistic.

Data crunching oftentimes lead to dry numbers and incomprehensible graphs.

Displaying information in a way that is attractive, elegant and comprehensible takes a great deal of patience, creativity and hard work. Thus, I doff my hat off to Mr. David McCandless. His ability to condense a great deal of information into concise, attractive graphics that convey the message directly with clarity and objectivity is amazing.



Here are some of his work (ganked from his website) for you to enjoy and admire.

 

Iron Chef ... not quite

We don't eat much turkey in this part of the world. I don't think I have heard of a traditional Malaysian dish (be it Malay, Chinese, Indian, Iban, Orang Asli, Kadazan-Dusun, Bidayuh, Melanau, Bajau, Siam or Sikh) that is made with turkey, even if we do have those flightless birds in the rural area. What happens to them if they don't end up on our plates? I don't know. I only see non-sandwich turkey on the menu during Christmas season; many restaurants offer them for both dine-in and delivery.

For those who actually cook the turkey themselves and decided that roasting their turkey is old fashioned (or having discovered that your oven couldn't accommodate the bird), please watch this video before contemplating deep-frying your turkey.



It wouldn't do to join the inglorious ranks of Darwin Award winners just for a bird.

However, if you would prefer another version of turkey ... like this one:

go here for the cooking instruction. And don't forget to invite me to come over for a taste.

Literature demystified by Kurt Vonnegut

Kurt Vonnegut is one of those lauded authors whose books I am not tempted to seek.  But if the graphs below were what he used to teach literature, man, what would I give to audit that class. *props chin in admiration*

 

The story arc of a romance novel. Tried and true trope it may be, but romance is still one of the largest and most profitable genre of the publication industry.

Staggered build up of this nature is usually pleasing to the readers of fairytales. Cynics would say that fairytales fall under the romance genre; however, the truth is that readers of the romance genre are generally discerning and clever. We may like the happy ending guarantee, but there has to be a plot that makes us keep flipping the page.

If you are into nihilistic, post modern literature (IDEK what that means), this is the story arc you get. By the end of the book, you would either be insensate from alcohol imbibement to dull the existential pain or bleeding out into your bathtub/on your bed/some random surface from the neat, parallel cuts on your inner forearm.

Ah, Hamlet. Did he get justice for his father? Were all his sacrifice worth it? If you want to know what Vonnegut thought of Hamlet and Shakespeare's writing skills go to the site whence I ganked these graphs (which would be here).

The cowboy movies and story books got it right ...

Whiskey does kill the pain. And according to this guy, it is a viable alternative to morphine for chronic pain.


Does that mean bottoms up? IDEK.

Better living through chemistry

Interested in coming up with your own personal psychedelic cocktail? There are books that will teach you how to whip up your own concoction in the comfort of your home. Written by the godfather of Ecstasy.

Results will vary and any prison/death/lifelong embarrassment -related outcome may ensue.

While on the topic of ingestible material, there are some food that should also be categorised as dangerous/controlled substance. If you are what you eat, why would you eat these?

*shudder*

It's okay, I don't need to prove mine is bigger than yours.

However, if consuming questionable materials/chemical/food in the chase of that adrenaline rush doesn't do it for you, why not try blowing things up to exercise your creativity? Marvelously, there are books that will teach you how to create your own IED without stepping out of your house. For the aspiring Unabombers out there, check out this page in Amazon.com.

New agrarian economy?

Apparently, the Canadian government reaps roughly C$20 billion a year from weed. That's right, peeps; selling TWENTY BILLION CANADIAN DOLLARS worth of marijuana to their southern neighbour annually, providing employment to near a quarter million citizens.

Who said agriculture is not profitable?

I discovered this guy courtesy of Manolo for the Big Girl; the awesome ladies of wit and style.

Go to his website for more dark hilarity.

More than plugging the leaks

Platelets.

No, they are not small dishes for food. Dengue patients often proclaim proudly how low their platelet count was and still they didn't die.

"Mine was only 9*, you know? I'm lucky to be alive!"

So what do platelets do?

They are tiny cell fragments that circulate in your blood and stop you from bleeding to death.

Don't look so tiny now, eh?

And apparently, they do more than that.

This is the reason why people should stop believing that just because something is a scientific fact, it is immutable. Science evolves, people. As we develop more new toys to look at tinier things, calculate bigger numbers, the more we learn how little we know.

* 9 X 10⁹
The normal range for platelets is 150-400 x 10⁹ per litre. (Wikipedia)

Spearing your destiny

One of the longest post I've written here was a spleen venting on the sad state of the National Museum. However, I am pleased to see that things are a-changing, as evidenced by the new look to the Jabatan Muzium Malaysia's website and the multitude of exhibitions planned.

The list of museums under the Jabatan Muzium Malaysia is also quite impressive, something I am sure that many are unaware. However, this does not include the museums by the respective state governments and other institutions such as the Islamic Arts Museum under the AlBukhary Foundation. All in all, there are roughly 150 museums in total in Malaysia; from the government sponsored (federal and state), institutional or departmental (e.g the Muzium Seni Asia in Universiti Malaya) as well as private museums.

What cinched it for me was the Sg Lembing Museum of Mining in Pahang. A lovely bijou nestled in the highlands of Pahang, it documented the hey days of tin mining in Malaysia, but particularly of the state.

I had an opportunity to see it during a Kuantan family trip; a massive one comprising of 9 families to a total of 45 people.

The grand melee.

Sg Lembing was once the hub of tin mining in Pahang, boasting the deepest tin mine in the world. It is also the home of my uncle's in-laws, who kindly hosted us for a lovely morning tea. We took a moment to splash around in the deliciously cool waters of Sungai Kenau; its rich mineralised landscape evident in the colourful striations of the rocks and pebbles of the river.

Don't ask why is the Jeep resting in the river. I have no idea.

The museum is housed in what used to be the mining company manager's residence up on a steep slope of an already hilly country. Climbing up towards it was quite a challenge to some of the gang members hampered by less than ideal health condition.

The harmonious blend of colonial and local architecture, no?

The environment surrounding the museum was wonderfully landscaped to make the most of the undulating surface and the cool temperature of the highlands lent a vigor to the flowers.

Antique water tap?

Not as cool as Cameron Highlands, but delicious nonetheless.

It was documented by historians both local and foreign that tin mining has been a crucial element in the economy of the Malay states even way back during the Malacca sultanate. This means that tin mining was actively engaged in the Malay states even before the British colonialist wangled it into becoming the backbone of the British empire.

Some of the ledgers and cashbooks of the mining company.

The exhibit displayed implements used in the open mining and deep mining methods. The mining done in Sungai Lembing was the latter process, as the grounds made it impossible to have the open type mining more popular in the flatlands of Selangor and Perak. Those open mines brought about thousands of mining pools that have been converted to either aquaculture ponds or covered for commercial development.

Some scary looking instruments, yeah?

The old fashioned fire engine.

The dulang for the mendulang is actually made of wood.

The miners wore minimal clothing as the temperatures in the mines reached hellish proportions.

Tin that was extracted from the ground was processed nearby the mines for export purposes. Plating using tin made processed food production for long term storage possible in the 19th century, indirectly contributing to the economic domination of the Western powers. Today, tin is mostly used as solder, in the plastic industries and as anti-fouling agents. However, it was found that organotin compounds may have undesirable effects on the environment; hence its use is becoming more and more limited.

The granite containing tin ore.

Processed ore.

Jongkong timah. :D

Tin mining was done on mega scale by the British colonialists who brought in the Chinese coolies to work in the mines. I won't go into detail about the impact of this exercise upon the socioeconomy of the indigenous population here, but suffice to say that this changed the ethnic landscape of the Malay states dramatically. To this day, the Chinese community is very prominent in Sungai Lembing.

Lanterns to mark the lunar new year.

The managers of the mining company were usually from Great Britain. They lived in style here and some even brought their family over.

Old school trike.

Grand bedroom.

It was a pity that I didn't have much time to really go through the exhibits as I would have liked. I dawdled enough that my Mum rang me on my mobile to remind me to get down as everyone had left for lunch. There were so many more things to see; the diorama at the outside as well as other items placed outside the museum. Oh well, them's the breaks when you travel in a large group.

However, I must say that the museum was as finely appointed as the mining museum that I visited in the Blue Mountains while I was in Sydney last year. It gave me an appreciation of the impact tin mining had not only to the socioeconomy of the country but also how it contributed towards our subjugation by foreign powers. The museum brought to life a slice of history that was unbearably dry and unexciting when it was taught in school. I hope that more people make full use of the museums in the country to learn of where we came from so that we can chart where we are going next.