With the recent Japanese earthquake disaster, specifically its damaging effect on nuclear power plants, I cannot help but think about the radiation exposure risks.
Therefore, I cannot help but think about the risk of birthing Godzilla...
Monday 14 March 2011
Sunday 13 March 2011
You Know...
I've been thinking about why I have been hearing bad news from Grad Schools recently. It is not a surprise I got rejection letters from top economics programs, but even rejection letters from some programs I thought I had a decent shot of getting in to? On top of that, I do not have any definite grad program plans right now and everything is a tightrope act. I am going to a school next week and hopefully I can talk to a few professors and convince them to let me into their school with substantial financial aid.
(Un?) fortunately, I've also been working on job applications. This was not my primary plan and really hope that I do not have to postpone my graduate plans. Even then, can doing research work really help me out again for grad school? I feel like I've basically crossed a river on a one-way boat ride and am unable to earn enough money to take the boat back the other way.
I haven't heard back from all my schools yet, so here's to some hope!
(Un?) fortunately, I've also been working on job applications. This was not my primary plan and really hope that I do not have to postpone my graduate plans. Even then, can doing research work really help me out again for grad school? I feel like I've basically crossed a river on a one-way boat ride and am unable to earn enough money to take the boat back the other way.
I haven't heard back from all my schools yet, so here's to some hope!
Thursday 24 February 2011
Anxiety and Looking for ... ?
Got into UCDavis, unofficially, of course. They are going to recommend me for admission to the Graduate Admissions Office. So there is a slight chance that I won't actually get in. Naturally I shouldn't hear good news so early. But I am more anxious about my future plans in terms of finding something to do this summer. Anyone looking for a newly graduate who specializes in research methods.
Three exams next week. Econometrics on Tuesday, History of Battle on Wednesday, and Public Health on Friday. History of battle is turning to be a lecture version of a History Channel special, so I have been (unconsciously?) very attentive in class. The only bothersome part is where I have to identify locations on a map. Really? A map? I thought the important parts of history were not memorizing the locations and dates but instead understanding the rationale behind events, (insert critical analysis things), etc. I am not too worried about the exams themselves, just that I have three next week.
Realized last Friday that I have to write my thesis. "Realized" is a soft way of putting it - I was actually startlingly reminded by my Thesis co-Chair that I have to churn out a draft soon. Whoops... currently on page 6. Should finish the theoretical section today and start reporting some numbers and charts by the end of next week. Wait, exams next week. Okay, the week after that then...
Three exams next week. Econometrics on Tuesday, History of Battle on Wednesday, and Public Health on Friday. History of battle is turning to be a lecture version of a History Channel special, so I have been (unconsciously?) very attentive in class. The only bothersome part is where I have to identify locations on a map. Really? A map? I thought the important parts of history were not memorizing the locations and dates but instead understanding the rationale behind events, (insert critical analysis things), etc. I am not too worried about the exams themselves, just that I have three next week.
Realized last Friday that I have to write my thesis. "Realized" is a soft way of putting it - I was actually startlingly reminded by my Thesis co-Chair that I have to churn out a draft soon. Whoops... currently on page 6. Should finish the theoretical section today and start reporting some numbers and charts by the end of next week. Wait, exams next week. Okay, the week after that then...
Saturday 12 February 2011
Neighbor oh Neighbor
So I have some new neighbors.
Well, I know that they play some really loud music. I know that a bedroom is adjacent to my bedroom, so I'm not sure why they have to play music in the bedroom instead of the living room. It is a very curious choice of location and I am suffering from it - I can literally feel the music and clearly hear the lyrics through the wall.
Not sure what possesses them to do this, or what sort of construction so easily lends itself to this but...
Well, I know that they play some really loud music. I know that a bedroom is adjacent to my bedroom, so I'm not sure why they have to play music in the bedroom instead of the living room. It is a very curious choice of location and I am suffering from it - I can literally feel the music and clearly hear the lyrics through the wall.
Not sure what possesses them to do this, or what sort of construction so easily lends itself to this but...
Tuesday 1 February 2011
Positive Externalities
Thank, brave students of Cornell who walk to class in the early mornings when the paths have not been cleared of snow yet. Your commitment and energy is the most commendable.
and thanks for making the first steps in the snow so my feet get less wet.
and thanks for making the first steps in the snow so my feet get less wet.
Monday 31 January 2011
Indecision
With the PSP2 and 3D DS announced, I can't help but feel like I am unable to keep up with the prolific gaming industry. Just as there is a peak performance age for athletes, is there a peak age for gamers to keep up with new games? Gone are the days I chewed up video games are insanely fast rates and now I am struggling to pick up new games, especially when they are offered across different consoles. Here's the list:
Nintendo DS:
FFVI
FFV
FFIV
FFIII
FF Tactics Advanced
FF Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift
PSP
FF Tactics: The War of the Lions
FFI
FFII
FFXIII Type-0
PS3
FFXIII (still have to do all the hunts)
FFXIII-2
FFXIII Versus
So is it worth buying a PSP for just three games? Perhaps now, but I really want to play FF Tactics before I attempt any of its sequels. Looking at the list of games now for the DS, I think the DS really was an excellent investment considering that it cost much less than a PSP.
And I have just been reminded that I am missing out on Metal Gear Solid 1 - 4.... this could be a life long adventure.
Aside from video games, cooking has been looking down. I am all for trying new things, but I am still too lazy to get new ingredients. Is there just a set of recipes I that share the same ingredients? Too lazy to compile it huh...?
Nintendo DS:
FFVI
FFV
FFIV
FFIII
FF Tactics Advanced
FF Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift
PSP
FF Tactics: The War of the Lions
FFI
FFII
FFXIII Type-0
PS3
FFXIII (still have to do all the hunts)
FFXIII-2
FFXIII Versus
So is it worth buying a PSP for just three games? Perhaps now, but I really want to play FF Tactics before I attempt any of its sequels. Looking at the list of games now for the DS, I think the DS really was an excellent investment considering that it cost much less than a PSP.
And I have just been reminded that I am missing out on Metal Gear Solid 1 - 4.... this could be a life long adventure.
Aside from video games, cooking has been looking down. I am all for trying new things, but I am still too lazy to get new ingredients. Is there just a set of recipes I that share the same ingredients? Too lazy to compile it huh...?
Monday 24 January 2011
Really Really Cold
Oh, and it was really cold today.
really cold. -15 degrees in the morning, and now it's 12 degrees. I decided to wear pajama pants under my jeans today, and the same stroke of genius must have stuck many others because when I (sheepishly) admitted fro my friends what I had done, they told me they had done the same!
Nonetheless, really cold.
Snow tonight... ! and tomorrow.
really cold. -15 degrees in the morning, and now it's 12 degrees. I decided to wear pajama pants under my jeans today, and the same stroke of genius must have stuck many others because when I (sheepishly) admitted fro my friends what I had done, they told me they had done the same!
Nonetheless, really cold.
Snow tonight... ! and tomorrow.
Nerdy Thoughts, Start of School
Some disappointing ways to start the semester. Actually, just one thing, I forgot to bring my external hard drive's power source so I am stuck with watching videos off of youtube. Oh, the joys of video hunting, how I miss thee. The experience is making me inclined towards getting a portable hard drive without a power source. But... i feel like I would lose considerable quality in hard drive-ness if I did. I guess I should stick to the more permanent kind, plus it makes me feel cooler to use.
Classes have started, and I am doing the readings! My public health econ classes seems... well I don't have impression of it because the professor wasn't there. He was traveling back from Europe, hopefully he will have delightful stories about public health in Europe. Amsterdam, anyone? History of Battle was alright, but the class was completely full. Talk about learning phalanx formation...
I also have the PS2 here and definitely started to think a bit about the quality of Japanese video games, specifically RPGs. With FFXIII and the rise of western RPGs such as Mass Effect, I could definitely tell there has been a decline in the quality of Japanese RPGs relative to Western RPGs. Why is that? During the better times of Japanese RPGs, there were scarcely any equal-leveled competition from Western RPGs. I don't even remember hearing of Western RPGs when I was in middle school and high school. This made Japanese RPGs the only game in town: whether they were actually good is a different question and difficult to answer because there were not many comparable games at the time. Western RPGs were lagging behind.
But that all changed as Western RPGs saw what Japanese RPGs were doing and made their own games better. Nowadays, you'll be hard-pressed to find an RPG that lacks some sort of encyclopedia, character classes, and more side quests than you can shake your Ultima Weapon at. With the advent of quality Western RPGs, Japanese RPGs finally had some competition. But does this mean that Japanese RPGs will get better in response, or will they maintain their status quo of quality?
To be honest, I only play Square-Enix games, so my view is slightly (largely?) skewed. So of course I am going to talk about (surprise surprise) FFXIII. Which I thought was a good game, don't get me wrong. But it does not compare to its earlier predecessors such as FFVI - which I just started playing. Also compared against FFVII - FFIX, FFXIII illustrates a growing trend for Square: sacrificing the plot line for graphics. Sure the characters look great as my desktop wallpaper, but do I really feel for them? Not really. In some cases, I am more frustrated than awed by their decisions (Hope, anyone?). Square needs to step up its game - but can it? The likes of Mass Effect 2 and other great (yes, they are good) Western RPGs make it difficult for Square to stand out.
Classes have started, and I am doing the readings! My public health econ classes seems... well I don't have impression of it because the professor wasn't there. He was traveling back from Europe, hopefully he will have delightful stories about public health in Europe. Amsterdam, anyone? History of Battle was alright, but the class was completely full. Talk about learning phalanx formation...
I also have the PS2 here and definitely started to think a bit about the quality of Japanese video games, specifically RPGs. With FFXIII and the rise of western RPGs such as Mass Effect, I could definitely tell there has been a decline in the quality of Japanese RPGs relative to Western RPGs. Why is that? During the better times of Japanese RPGs, there were scarcely any equal-leveled competition from Western RPGs. I don't even remember hearing of Western RPGs when I was in middle school and high school. This made Japanese RPGs the only game in town: whether they were actually good is a different question and difficult to answer because there were not many comparable games at the time. Western RPGs were lagging behind.
But that all changed as Western RPGs saw what Japanese RPGs were doing and made their own games better. Nowadays, you'll be hard-pressed to find an RPG that lacks some sort of encyclopedia, character classes, and more side quests than you can shake your Ultima Weapon at. With the advent of quality Western RPGs, Japanese RPGs finally had some competition. But does this mean that Japanese RPGs will get better in response, or will they maintain their status quo of quality?
To be honest, I only play Square-Enix games, so my view is slightly (largely?) skewed. So of course I am going to talk about (surprise surprise) FFXIII. Which I thought was a good game, don't get me wrong. But it does not compare to its earlier predecessors such as FFVI - which I just started playing. Also compared against FFVII - FFIX, FFXIII illustrates a growing trend for Square: sacrificing the plot line for graphics. Sure the characters look great as my desktop wallpaper, but do I really feel for them? Not really. In some cases, I am more frustrated than awed by their decisions (Hope, anyone?). Square needs to step up its game - but can it? The likes of Mass Effect 2 and other great (yes, they are good) Western RPGs make it difficult for Square to stand out.
Thursday 13 January 2011
School Soon
Going back to Ithaca in six days. It's going to be a fun time, I hope. I'm really looking forward to my History of Battle class and Econ of Health Policy classes. I'm taking econometrics too, but since it's just the theoretical aspect of what I already know and I've had more than enough of my fair share of proofs from analysis. I'm definitely excited to finish my thesis too! I also happen to be presenting it at the National Conferences of Undergraduate Research in late March to early April. While exciting, this also means that I have to have something presentable by late March!
I also started replaying xenosaga, to be continued during the semester. It was so easy to remember that xenosaga is more like a movie than a video game - all the frustration for the story to progress so that I could get to a save point. I can also spot the horrible lip-syncing job they did with the first one too. Hopefully that has changed with the later games...
I also started replaying xenosaga, to be continued during the semester. It was so easy to remember that xenosaga is more like a movie than a video game - all the frustration for the story to progress so that I could get to a save point. I can also spot the horrible lip-syncing job they did with the first one too. Hopefully that has changed with the later games...
Tuesday 11 January 2011
Saturday 8 January 2011
Jobs? Jobs.
Yesterday I wrote my first real cover letter. By "real," I mean I actually want someone to read it and think, "Oh, I think I can hire this guy or call him in for an interview." I mostly been faking this whole look-for-a-real-job-after-graduation-thing, but I realized (aka my parents finally convinced me) that I need to set up a back-up in case my grad applications completely fall through.
Which they were in danger of doing so.
They (well, some of us) call this era the Golden Age of Information. Obviously, this means that when a professor submits a recommendation online, the system does not follow through and actually acknowledge and file away that recommendation. What to do? Some Internet stalking (Golden Age of Information ftw!) later, I called his house number because he had been unresponsive to his work email and office number (Golden Age of... Information?). Everything should be solved, but it turns out that until we get cybernetic implants that allows us to remain constantly connected to information networks (Ghost in the Shell, much?) the most important factor is how close to can keep ourselves to that information highway.
Which they were in danger of doing so.
They (well, some of us) call this era the Golden Age of Information. Obviously, this means that when a professor submits a recommendation online, the system does not follow through and actually acknowledge and file away that recommendation. What to do? Some Internet stalking (Golden Age of Information ftw!) later, I called his house number because he had been unresponsive to his work email and office number (Golden Age of... Information?). Everything should be solved, but it turns out that until we get cybernetic implants that allows us to remain constantly connected to information networks (Ghost in the Shell, much?) the most important factor is how close to can keep ourselves to that information highway.
Monday 3 January 2011
A New Low
Not much has been happening... definitely making a lot of progress on my Winter Break goals (what were those again?) but I can't help but feel rather bored these days. Maybe I can't wait until school starts up again?
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