Curious things.

Have you ever wondered about music and its uniqueness?

That if you broke music down on a scientific level, you just get frequencies and amplitudes.

Yet for some reason that concoction of sound interests us. It stirs us. It amazes us. It fills us. It moves us.

How many have watched a horror movie on mute? Not very scary is it. The movie soundtrack is what sets your heart beating. I realised that if you realise what the music is doing to you, you're usually not afraid of what pops up.

The same goes for any other movies. An action movie will almost indefinitely require an adrenalin packed soundtrack with lots of bass beats. One of those sad-want-to-make-you-cry movies will have a touching piece being played at the sad moments. Serious moments get defined by serious music. Jolly moments often play out through jolly sounding tracks.

There is music to soothe, music to excite, music to touch, music to work up, music to arouse e.t.c.

How many have unconsciously sung along to an unknow yet catchy tune?

How many of you have a song going through your head right now the moment you read this post?

In fact, how many are listening to your music players now?

Ahh. Fascinating isn't it?

And sometimes in a song, you get so wrapped up in the music that you find yourself unconsciously mouthing the lyrics.

Honestly, how many have looked at the lyrics they are singing?

(Seriously, on a side note, I think Justin Timberlake has some issues regarding his music. Who calls his album "Future Sex Love Sounds"?)

Some of you might be offended but i think there's a lot of trash out there disguised in amazing music.

Finally: Really

Ok. The Saturday online moment turned out to be a blip.

I went out for dinner, came back and my connection was dead.

I called TM on Sunday evening and they weren't too sure why it happened, except my report was still marked "In Progress". He also assures me it will be fixed by Tuesday.

Great. I call them again on Monday, because I have to get my visa application done ASAP. And then I ask them what happened on Saturday. Seems that they fixed it 'accidentally'. They say it'll be fixed by Tuesday.

Then I come home on Tuesday and my connection is still dead. So I call them and they say tomorrow. So I end up telling them off for lying, and pressing through my point and demanding they send the technician over on the day itself to fix my thing. The flustered person - I felt really sorry for him at this point - suddenly stopped talking.

And I get hung up on.

What??

So I call again. This time a LADY picks up and tells me to hold while she checks my report. The repetitive jingle on hold plays and then suddenly i hear two phone beeps and a GUY picks up. Either the woman just turned into a guy or I obviously got transferred. Turned out it was the billing department - I had originally called the technical assistance department. So I ask for the transfer back and another lady talks to me. I flustered this one quite badly too and she said I'll try to get it done for you by tomorrow.

I: NO. Today.
She: Sorry but I'm not sure whether I can guarantee that.
I: I'm not asking you to guarantee it. Your company already told me Tuesday. So you're really just doing what you said you would do two days ago.
She: Alright I understand what you mean...(and she goes on about something irrelevant)
I: So you'll send over someone later today right? Thank you.
She: Oh sorry but I can't guarantee...
I: Yes. Yes. You told me that already and I'm telling you send your person over here now. You guys don't seem to be taking me seriously. Are you breaking your agreement here?
She: But...

I think the conversation becomes really repetitive after that. But she ends saying that she'll try her best and I apologise to her for putting her through so much of my hassle, not that I think she understood what I was trying to say.

The guy doesnt come but i get a call today in school. And the guy says he had reset my port.

Ahhh. Fantastic... Didn't I tell them to do that about a week ago?

Bryan, you're a genius. It was a port problem. TM, hire better technicians - unless they were really mucking with me and not looking into the problem at all.

Anyways, I have to go get my Visa application done.

So yes, I am finally back.

Fingers crossed, this had better not be another blip...

Finally

The moment you have all been waiting for.

Well, some of you. And definitely not as much as me.

But my internet has finally returned, after 19 days. Urgh.

Was checking my counter the other day. Thank you to all the faithful comers who add me to their favourites and just click open all. Of course if you didnt do that, I thank you even more.

And let the posting resume.

So the question is:

What is life like without the internet

Well the answer is slightly complicated. For the first week it was quite refreshing because I had plenty of time, and I suddenly realised that a sizeable proportion of my time is spent online. Then Friday came, the weekend passed and it was Monday.

That's when the frustration started.

Do you know that it is impossible to live properly today without the internet? E-mail, instant messaging, news sites, research, e.t.c. are all things we take for granted with the internet. And I can say it's extremely annoying when you can't access your e-mail.

So what lessons can I conclude from this fiasco? Well, be wise with your time. The internet is extremely crucial but time wasting if you have something else to do.

As for the fiasco...here's how the events unfolded.

I should have got my connection back on the 9th of November. Well, I got my phone line, but no connection, which they said will be online on Friday the next day, and I would have to call TM to get that sorted out. Alright so Friday comes and I call TM. And they say that some jumper has to be installed. Fine. So I wait.

Saturday. Sunday. Monday - still no connection. I call them. And they say that my connection has been active since Friday night. Ahh. So that was genius of me. Maybe i should have called them at night instead of in the morning. Ok. But my DSL indicator is off which means that I have no connection still, despite TM's claims.

So I file a report, which they informed me would take 2 working days. This was on Tuesday, 14th Nov. They said give them two working days. Alright I did that and called them on Friday.

Still no connection. And they don't know what the problem is.

And so I start calling them EVERY day. Spending half an hour pushing them to give me back my internet. Until it eventually gets pushed up to 'management' level. Ooo, management level, my my I must be important.

Important enough that it takes them 8 working days to get my connection back. Of course I pushed them to have my line fixed by the weekend. So i do like to feel that I had some power over the situation - don't ruin it for me.

Anyways the moral of this fiasco is that TM is extremely inefficient. I am behind time on my uni applications. And I have to get my Visa application to the US filled out.

So this is me signing off for now. Daily posting shall now recommence.

Oh yeah and before I forget.

MAN UTD 2 - 1 CHELSEA

Hehe. I hope this doesn't get jinxed.

Disconnect

Alright. This is going to be really strange.

What is life like without the internet?

For the next 3 days, I will be without my broadband connection. So this should be quite an interesting time.

Look out for my next post for the answer to that question - in three days time.

Until then (unless I find time to post later), this is me signing out officially. Will return on Friday.

The Art of Conversation by Weng Yew

"Question, unless asked." - quote taken from Weng Yew's Art of Conversation

Next time you're in a conversation, pay close attention to the topic.

Because you'll be amazed how random conversations can jump from topic to topic in the blink of an eye, or rather in the "uttering of the tongue".

In the meantime, (also because I'm rather busy with the temporary shift), I shall leave you with more 'wisdom' quotes.

"Gossip is noise"

"Conversation is a curious thing. For something so vocal, it is rather more physically expressive."

"The tongue reflects what is in the heart. Blabberers thus have blab in their heart."

"Does empty talk reveal an empty mind? Or a mind full of emptiness?"

"Speeches do not involve spit, or they would be called spitches"

The theory of accumulation

Of junk that is.

Been packing all the stuff in my house over the week. Since I'm moving out for a year while my house gets rebuilt from the ground up.

At first, I thought: Well it can't take that long to pack.

This is one of the few moments that I get it wrong.

So yes, today, I formulate my theory of accumulation. Below is my extremely short thesis.

The law of accumulation states that all matter of a junk-like nature has a tendency to increase at an exponential rate. Here 'junk' is defined as matter which can be disposed of without making the owner worse off.

Empirical evidence has proven that the mass of junk has a positive correlation with the number of years of accumulation, following the formula:

f(x) = a^lnx , where f(x) ≤ V

where a is the initial amount of junk, x is the number of years of accumulation, and V is the unoccupied volume of the house after furnishing.

However researchers are still debating over the reason behind this phenomenon.

One proposed theory seeks to link longevity of residence to an increased disinclination to dispose junk.

Another theory claims that sedentary activity is the factor behind the initial presence of junk, which in turn feeds into a vicious cycle called the "sedentary accumulation effect", whereby laziness creates junk, which creates more laziness as residents become increasingly discouraged by the increased effort required to remove the junk, leading to the accumulation of more junk over time.

There is yet another school of thought which reasons that junk is allowed to accumulate due to the 'live-in' factor it gives a residence, as a certain mass of junk denotes settled residents. This leads to benefits such as reduced echo as empty space becomes occupied, improving communication between residents. It also gives a psychological feel of security, as a sense of permanency is created by the unmovability of junk.

But there are long term cost. When the residents have to move out of the house, the sheer accumulation of junk is not only time consuming, but requires a large mental effort in order to discern what is 'junk' and what is 'not junk disguised as junk'. This leads to much consternation and lack of sleep, whereby wrong decisions will lead to future regret or muscle strain due to the unnecessary weight.

So what are the proposed cures, if this really is seen as a problem? Some propose not allowing the junk to accumulate. Some feel that labelling junk as 'junk' may help facilitate the packing process. Yet others just say: Don't move out!

This has been yet another random musing. Hope you enjoyed reading it.

The world and 'me'

Imagine a world where the norm was:

• For people to be aversed to slim people - not obsessed with being thin
  
• To be honest in everything in you did
• To be considerate, and not cut the queue just to get your food first
• To not get a girlfriend until you were old enough to marry
• To not do anything your parents would disapprove of
• To not smoke or drink - where the drinking person gets drunk
• To not vent our anger when we felt like it

And the list would go on if I had time to think about it.

But really, what kind of world would that be?

Today, everything seems to be about 'me'. How do I look? How can I exploit this situation to my own benefit? I want to be first. I want to please myself - doesn't matter what my parents think. Even Apple calls their music player an iPod. We have that MeGo thing on MSN, whatever it is.

So try this out.

Tomorrow, adopt a 'you' attitude rather than a 'me' attitude.

And see what happens.

Approximately approximate

That title makes no sense whatever.

But today's random musing is on the word 'approximate'.

Such an interesting word.

'Approximate', according to the Webster dictionary, means 'nearly correct or exact'. It's like the phrase 'close but no cigar'. That was an extremely random insert but anyways going back to the topic.

Let's look at examples of the word 'approximate' being used. Here's one I heard today:

"It will start around 7.30 and finish at approximately midnight"

Such a vague word isn't it?

'Approximately' could mean as far as an hour either side, which is quite a significant proportion of our waking day - although this would depend on how long people sleep, and this would approximately be 8 hours, give or take 4 on either side :)

But I do want to reveal another side to the story.

'Approximation' is something that can't be ignored. Of course, there are the trivial approximations, like your weight is approximately 100kg or something. And there are the more earth shattering approximations.

When we start approximating truths, we began to infuse an element of non-truth into it. They become half-truths. And half truths are really just lies, but one so subtle that you will buy into the whole 'truth' without noticing the implicit assumptions, which really come with the whole package.

Take for instance, the subject of homosexuality (someone mentioned to me I should post something about this). Yes, I'm about to raise a few eyebrows here, but let me make it clear I'm not a homo-basher. I can love the person but hate the act.

Anyways, this post will not be a conclusive view on homosexuality - I don't have quite the time to formulate that post. But I do want to touch on how approximation is slowly infiltrating this very vital truth of homosexuality as hated by God.

Here's the progression:

"Homosexuality is wrong, because God said so"
"Homosexuality might be wrong, but how can a loving God condemn something like this? Perhaps He's not so loving as He claims to be."
"You can be born as a homosexual so you don't have a choice about it. So it can't be wrong. I'm sure God didn't really mean it like that when He said homosexuality was wrong, after all how can you condemn people for things they aren't responsible for"

That's a very concise 3 stage progression of the opinions across the century - I could stretch it longer but I think it's time for me to get my point across. Let us see where truth breaks down.

The first statement is true.

The second is where we let our faulty reasoning cloud the truth statement. Here there are two truth statements. God is a loving God. And homosexuality is wrong. But because we fail to reconcile these two truth statements, we approximate the truth of homosexuality, that it can't be wrong; either that or God is not a loving God.

The third statement reiterates the same conflict, but adds a piece of evidence to give greater credibility to the stance of homosexuality.

And if you haven't realised it, you've just been fooled by yet another approximation of truth. I don't want to get bogged down into whether homosexuality is inherent from birth or whether it results from environmental causes because either way the approximation of truth is actually this:

"You don't have a choice about it"

I'm convinced that at this point people are going to get confused about the phrase 'approximation of truth', because I was equally confused to be honest. But rephrased, it really just means a half truth. A deception. A lie so utterly convincing that it has to be true.

Anyways, going back to that phrase, note how the argument that follows it is that therefore it can't be wrong. Whoa, big jump there.

Because the fact is that you have a choice about the way you choose to live your life. Even though you may not have a choice whether you're born with homosexual tendencies (a view I very much doubt is true in the first place),

Anyone watches House? In the first episode of Season 2, when they were treating that guy on death row, and found out that he was born with a raging tendency due to abnormal spikes of adrenaline caused by a tumour, the black doctor (can't remember his name) feels compelled to testify on behalf of the death row convict. But House sums up the point I'm trying to make very well.

"A person's upbringing and their biology are completely different"
"Yeah. And he only overcame one of them...removing that tumour only puts a stop to those random shots of adrenalin, it doesn't absolve him"

So what has this all got to do with earth shattering approximations? This ties back in to how we often determine right from wrong.

"We do what we think is right"

And that sums up how we often approximate truth according to what we feel it ought to be, rather than what it should be.

So next time, go for the whole Truth rather than the approximate truths.