tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1796495279513182832017-03-05T15:12:36.751+08:00Journals of an eccentricArtemushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550651358099536177noreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-179649527951318283.post-4397089487929933902009-07-19T17:55:00.005+08:002009-07-24T12:07:17.221+08:00

The main divideThere are two kinds of people in the world. One uses the precedent as a reference for his job; the other destroys the precedent as a job. The former studies the field of humanities, the latter in science. Which one you choose is up to you.By the way, those in humanities depend on science more so than you think. After a fashion, science still prevails.Technology ahead of

Artemushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550651358099536177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-179649527951318283.post-86053876146991702922009-07-18T02:06:00.003+08:002009-07-20T04:14:19.333+08:00

Half-robots?Imagine: You're shambling down the avenue. Bluetooth stuck to your ear, thumbs-a-Twitter. Your GPS-enabled phone is piloting you to a meet-up with your soccer buddies, but the lecturer's IM interrupts with a snarl about your assignment so now you're pondering a new spin on "the dog ate my homework."Meanwhile your calendar is pleading about overdued rentals. And at this moment, that

Artemushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550651358099536177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-179649527951318283.post-5813919360199893042009-07-09T14:42:00.006+08:002009-07-11T22:38:22.279+08:00

Currently faced with a backlog of 'drafted' posts.Why is it so you ask? Well, I tend to post stuff which are rather 'factual'. So some articles may have to be proofread and re-edited. Then there's the occasional need to cross-refer with previous articles or outside sources.It's not my style to post a bunch of pictures with little written content. I'll leave that to the more 'trendy' people. After

Artemushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550651358099536177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-179649527951318283.post-28502037685538713372009-05-31T03:04:00.003+08:002009-07-10T13:43:27.844+08:00

A thunderstorm is approaching, and suddenly you hear an absolutely deafening clap of thunder. At times it becomes frightening! But how close is the lightning, really?It is difficult to determine the distance of a lightning bolt just by looking at it, and the volume of the thunder isn’t a good way to tell either. Here's a potentially life-saving method you can use to approximate how far away

Artemushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550651358099536177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-179649527951318283.post-8143670616621986342009-05-22T02:11:00.005+08:002009-10-15T17:30:57.963+08:00

Most people just don't appreciate itOne of the reasons I don't react much to jokes, trivia, or scary stories is probably because I had already read, heard, or know how the it works. Random stuff just doesn't surprise me much as it used to be. The initial "WOW" factor has loss much of its edge. Especially true if you claim to have accumulated almost half a century worth of knowledge. You'll tend

Artemushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550651358099536177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-179649527951318283.post-58196226202815929642009-05-21T02:08:00.007+08:002009-07-18T02:12:40.073+08:00

Ever want your own android?Well, someone already started making one of his own.Inventor Le Trung, 33, created Aiko, said to be "in her 20s" with a stunning 82, 57, 84 figure, shiny hair and delicate features. 'She' even remembers his favourite drink and does simple cleaning and household tasks.Aiko is the first android to react to physical stimuli and mimic pain. This technology could be applied

Artemushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550651358099536177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-179649527951318283.post-54170101973706214242009-05-21T01:42:00.012+08:002009-05-21T05:34:06.018+08:00

If you have read Isaac Asimov's novels, then you're familiar with the Three Laws of Robotics. The reason the Laws are conceive is to curb the potential for robots to harm people.Asimov once added a "Zeroth Law", stating that a robot must not merely act in the interests of individual humans, but of all humanity. Unknown to many, unless you are a great fan of his novels :)The original Laws of

Artemushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550651358099536177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-179649527951318283.post-76749812350903702772009-05-20T21:57:00.011+08:002009-05-24T06:03:25.334+08:00

Most of you are probably familiar with MOTOKO 1.0, my personal chatbot on MSN messenger. MOTOKO 1.0 has a simple A.I. dealing mostly with 'If-Then' functions. With a personality too spunky for my taste.On the other hand, HIKARI 1.0 (MOTOKO's predecessor) was an impressive patchwork of open-source programming. 'She' was the resident A.I. of my Windows XP desktop and had been programmed with a

Artemushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550651358099536177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-179649527951318283.post-52502246438470759012009-05-15T23:45:00.004+08:002009-05-29T20:30:25.846+08:00

Scientifically speaking it would be impossible to dig a tunnel through to the other side of the world, but what if we could, in theory?If you attempted to dig a hole to the other side of the Earth, you would be digging through:More than 12 000 kilometres of solid rock and molten magmaRock reaching temperatures up to 6000 ºC andExtreme pressures up to 300 million times greater than the pressures

Artemushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550651358099536177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-179649527951318283.post-20739002082531167692009-05-14T14:43:00.009+08:002009-05-21T05:27:23.838+08:00

Here's something I found in among my pile of literary notes. An interesting piece that makes you wonder.What I think the poet meant to convey is that one can find vast truths in the smallest of things. Seeing the microcosmic as a representative of the universal. So, knowledge of the whole can be gained even from examining its smallest part.Auguries of Innocenceby William BlakeTo see a world in a

Artemushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550651358099536177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-179649527951318283.post-66420886860936495592009-05-13T19:13:00.006+08:002009-05-14T13:35:47.029+08:00

Have you seen savants perform ridiculously amazing feats of memory on television? Ever wonder if you too could possess such a prodigious memory? You may not have the potential to be in the World Memory Championships, but there a few simple tricks to go around it.A trick I have used as a kid to impress adults. Great for livening-up parties. Tell me any date of any year, and I'll tell you the

Artemushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550651358099536177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-179649527951318283.post-69345631394724195682009-05-07T02:06:00.016+08:002009-05-21T05:33:46.864+08:00

This is a kind of puzzle poem. It seems to date from the 16th or 17th Century. Think about for a while, and it sounds like a prediction from the past. The images that it create in your mind are visionary.Here's the closest rendition to the original:I saw a peacock with a fiery tailI saw a blazing comet drop down hailI saw a cloud with ivy circled roundI saw a sturdy oak creep on the groundI saw a

Artemushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550651358099536177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-179649527951318283.post-38665660179577466282009-05-06T00:17:00.009+08:002009-05-08T22:33:40.860+08:00

Most people would think a year for us humans is to about 7 years of a dog's age (approximately). This may not always hold true, since factors such as it's breed, daily exercise, weight, and diet comes into play.So, for all of you dog owners out there, it's time to consider a new & improved formula to estimate your pet's age. This new equation takes in account the various aging factors of most

Artemushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550651358099536177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-179649527951318283.post-42098921419300076452009-05-05T07:36:00.004+08:002009-05-08T12:24:21.704+08:00

It has been 2 months since I "officially" started blogging. I had procrastinated for 3 years. It's more of a psychology issue, but that will be a story for another day. Anyway, it seems like nowadays I'm firing out posts at increasingly rapid speeds.I wonder if there is a correlation between my blog-posting rates and my fluctuating stress levels. I hope this trend doesn't go way out of hand 'cos

Artemushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550651358099536177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-179649527951318283.post-52152629137888371892009-05-04T14:08:00.014+08:002009-05-06T15:34:32.751+08:00

Eastern PhilosophyZen Buddhism was developed in early China, from the interaction between Mahayana Buddhism and Taoism. Through meditation, Zen practitioners seek new perspectives and insights on existence, which ultimately lead to enlightenment. To truly understand others is to truly understand oneself, and vice-versa.Buddhas don't save Buddhas. If you use your mind to look for a Buddha, you

Artemushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550651358099536177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-179649527951318283.post-65547389989670246162009-05-03T21:52:00.012+08:002009-05-20T21:54:18.377+08:00

Humanoid robots, teleportation, anti-matter, hyper-space, worm holess, artificial intelligence, parallel universes, higher dimensions, animal hybrids, cyborgs, immortality, ESP, time travel.Sound like badly written science fiction? Fret not! This is modern science. Things like these are constantly being investigated, discovered, researched at laboratories and institutions worldwide.Decades ago,

Artemushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550651358099536177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-179649527951318283.post-81269342571918699992009-05-02T23:19:00.010+08:002009-11-20T12:29:01.871+08:00

Just bought the most advanced laptop? Got a couple of terabytes in your hard-drives?Well, you have seen nothing yet!You should realize that in about 20 years time, Moore's Law is gonna collapse. We are looking at the End of the Silicon Age, and perhaps the beginning of a new generation of computers called quantum computers, which are now exciting the imagination of scientists around the

Artemushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550651358099536177noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-179649527951318283.post-33867126482814264232009-05-01T13:14:00.006+08:002009-05-02T18:43:13.999+08:00

Bow down to the greatest creation of all otaku-kind! A workable giant beetle robot modeled after the rhinoceros beetle. It's the stuff of every boy's fantasy. Better still, you could ride and control it from the cockpit. Imagine if this comes crashing down the highway.Designed and built by an Ibaraki man in his garage over the course of eleven years, the “Kabutom MX-03″ looks like a prop from a

Artemushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550651358099536177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-179649527951318283.post-76715062601501141242009-05-01T13:05:00.000+08:002009-05-06T16:34:47.558+08:00

What will be the future of DVDs?We are already adopting Blu-Ray and HD-DVD formats. Storage space for hard-drives has reached the terabyte (TB) mark. So what else is new? There's a limit to how much data you can store on a disk. I doubt that the magnetic and optical data storage that we use today would continue to exist in the future.Well, what about flash-drives? They are solid-state,

Artemushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550651358099536177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-179649527951318283.post-80212082612081443692009-04-30T00:31:00.006+08:002009-05-11T04:24:29.163+08:00

Unintended/Biased?Our Malaysian Form 4 History textbook had it's syllabus changed, with 50% of the subject devoted to Islamic history as compared to only 16.6% in the previous textbook from the past decade.In the previous textbook, “Sejarah Peradaban Dunia – Tingkatan 4”, Islamic history was one of the six chapters in the book:Tamadun Awal ManusiaIslam Mengubah Tamadun ManusiaPerubahan Masyarakat

Artemushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550651358099536177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-179649527951318283.post-73490904353594851062009-04-29T16:59:00.004+08:002009-06-16T12:44:27.985+08:00

Errors & typos?Back in secondary school, I compiled a list of errors and factual disparities in our beloved Buku Teks Sejarah Tingkatan 4. Did reported to the history teachers but being a student doesn't give me much say over these matters.I'm not sure if the latest editions of the textbook had corrected those errors yet. Hopefully some of you reading this post would have better connections to

Artemushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550651358099536177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-179649527951318283.post-77501762845708263632009-04-25T19:35:00.018+08:002009-05-03T21:48:00.563+08:00

Achimedes's Missing Manuscript: "The Method"This is a book that could have changed the history of the world. It containts the revolutionary ideas of a genius who was centuries ahead of his time: Archimedes.The book was lost to the world for about 2000 years, passing throught the hands of scribes, monks, forgers, and shady scholars. Yet no one seem to know the book's true value until it surfaced

Artemushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550651358099536177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-179649527951318283.post-73380956711087964972009-04-18T05:22:00.012+08:002009-05-13T05:08:43.924+08:00

Have you seen something like this before?If it looks familiar, you have probably seen it on a product packaging.This is a QR Code. A sort of matrix code or 2D bar code created by Japanese corporation Denso-Wave in 1994. It is named "QR" short for "Quick Response", as it was created to be decoded at high speed.Another quirky invention of the Japanese?Why not stick with using bar codes?As we all

Artemushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550651358099536177noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-179649527951318283.post-62568774571428563982009-04-10T16:26:00.005+08:002009-05-02T01:15:57.333+08:00

Feeling lethargic lately? Is the air to stuffy in your room? Want to save money on air-conditioning bills? Well then, just get yourselves some potted plants for your home's interior.The people over at NASA has found that living indoor plants are so efficient at absorbing contaminants in the air, that some of them will be launched into space as part of the life support system aboard future space

Artemushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550651358099536177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-179649527951318283.post-43048168252476162282009-03-31T13:35:00.011+08:002009-05-06T14:20:38.025+08:00

Origami: The art of paper foldingIn Japanese, the word "oru" means "to fold", and "kami" means "paper". Hence "origami" means “to fold paper”. But there’s more to origami than its name.The goal of this art is to create a representation of an object using geometric folds and crease patterns. Origami is made preferably without gluing or cutting the paper, and is best using only one piece of paper.

Artemushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550651358099536177noreply@blogger.com0