The Computing Club’s Annual General Meeting was held last night.

This year there was no contesting positions so all the candidates just needed a vote of confidence. Needless to say, everyone got voted in, with me getting the most. haha. But still less than Ting Ting’s last year.

A scenario like this seems like a small scaled down version of the govenment here. Almost everyone of the candidates come from the same “party”, and they were the people who we have worked with, marked out, sat down and discussed their positions way before the nomination period.

In a way, given how candidates are voted in for the individual postions rather than as a party, it’s good not to have competition. Imagine what trouble there would be if there were are 2 opposing parties, and half of each got voted in.

Some might still think the elections is a farce but think of it as we select the candidates, and you approve them. The aim of the club is for the students, and a functional committee would be most effective to the students.

After all, we do like to choose our own project groups too, don’t we?

Isn’t it ironic, that the very memories which you make with hopes to fondly recollect in the future, actually become those that you so wish you can forget?

Called up The Hardware Place yesterday to enquire about the shipment of the Pioneer DVR-A09 and was told that the new DVR-110 OEM has just arrived. Yay!

So went down to Sim Lim to get it. Being an OEM version, the front panel was all black and dull, without the nice white logos and the “Pioneer” word. But still it’s no different inside from a box retail version.

Got a bunch of TDK 16x DVD-R to test out the 16x burning through the external case and made an expensive coaster. But also can’t bear to use it as a coaster cos the TDK discs look really nice and shimmery.

Finally managed to burn at 16x via the firewire instead of USB.

There’s something about Pioneer that it takes a couple of months for the firmware to mature before producing really good burns. But I don’t mind. Good things come to those who wait, which reminds me of how God sometimes work.

From dictionary.net

meme
n. A unit of cultural information, such as a cultural practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another.

So it’s not a blogger invented word!

More about the word on wikipedia!

… not Science, not Mathematics and not Engineering. So what is Computer Science?

Great lunch time talk by Prof Tay Yong Chiang on the topic Is Computer Science Science?

Like Prof Tay’s lectures, the way he present his talk was like a story teller, guiding you through the story, slowly building up the suspense, making you believe the argument and then dropping a bombshell by saying it’s wrong.

His almost bringing the arugment round in circles is almost comedic but entertaining. By first showing that Computer Science is Engineering, then showing that’s it’s not but actually Maths, then no wait.. if we do this… then it’s Science.. but no, actually we’re back at Maths.. and so on

At the end, after showing that Computer Science could not fit into any of the categories, he cooly put on his sunglasses, and flashed the final 2 slides…

Computer Science is … an elephant!

Great ovation from the audience. Must learn from him man…

Tutorial balloting started today at NUS. For those unfamilar, it’s a time when the students are supposed to choose the tutorial slots they want and they’ll be balloting for it.

Imagine the every student in NUS accessing it at the same time. No surprise that the server was down this afternoon.

Cos we know that the admin never learn. About 2 weeks ago it happened during the module bidding period. Not to mention it happening in previous years.

It’s a wonder why they do not test the system, why they cannot increase the capacity, why they cannot upgrade the system (I don’t think JSP is very efficent) or why they would not just stagger the timings for different faculties?

Or maybe it’s intentional

Ahh…. Peiwen was down at Sim Lim today and a shipment of black Pioneer DVR-A09 came in this morning.

But then it’s very difficult to be paying about $30 more for a box version which has the nice logos on the front. )=

How how?

Host training concluded early in church this afternoon, and I had like 2 hours to idle before presenting at Kenric’s birthday dinner. Was feeling down lately so decided to buy some toys to cheer myself up.

Thus Sim Lim I thither.

Wanted to get myself a DVD Rewriter. In actual fact, the thought has been with me for the past few weeks but now I felt down enough to actually execute it. It was not like I needed it urgently, I mean since when does a procrastinator needs anything urgently?

So there was this great surge of the BenQ 1640 DVD Writer in Sim Lim these days going for $90 apiece. You can see it popping up like the Pox in most every shop there. It’s not a bad drive but one thing is I don’t fancy buying things solely due to culture, and furthermore my heart’s with another:

The Pioneer DVR-A09

So I hunted the entire place for this elusive beauty. It was a tough search, especially with the BenQ 1640 tempting me in every bit of the way.

“I have slightly faster burn specs than the A09, cheaper by almost $30, and I have a large fan base with good firmware support. Look, everybody is buying me…”

Argh. To compare the BenQ 1640 would be like that popular girl everyone’s after. Your typical girl, pretty to all, and just so easy to like. But somehow you’ve been hearing little rumours of what she really is like. Whisperings of how some have had run ins with her, and how questionable her reliability is.

On the other hand, the Pioneer A09 would liken to be a sleek sophisticated lady, a beauty in her own way. What she lacks is made up for in other unseen ways. Evasive, private and hard to reach, but once attained, stable and promises the best quality you can get.

Bah! The BenQ is for the common folk. I shall continue the relentless search of my heart.

To conclude, I found three! shops that had her in stock. But alas! It is not her but her cousins in Beige and Silver. She herself might take weeks to arrive.

So I hurriedly left, saddened and empty handed, not staying to be further tempted by her cousins. But a discovery as I was leaving, that a shop did stock her sister, an OEM version for $30 less but she too is unavailable at the moment.

She shares the same colour but her face is plain, her elegance hidden. Woe, what am I to choose? Sometimes, is love really where the heart is?