Lesson 5 of IT Home Learning

I think that building a casino now is a good idea because it provides more jobs for the people, especially in the current financial crisis, where people cannot find jobs. Although some may think that it will cause the number of addicted gamblers to rise, I think that the good outweighs the bad.

People will be able to make money and will be able to spend money, thus causing the economic crisis to get better. If we did not set-up a legal casino, people will still be able to gamble in illegal gambling dens. Also, the casino will attract more people, thus strengthening the tourist industry here in singapore and the tourist industry here is one of Singapore's major moneymaking opportunities.

Therefore, it is better to have the casino built in Sentosa instead of scrapping the idea.

Lesson 1 of home IT learning

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost


Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.







This poem is telling us about why we should take the route less travelled, because even though it may be harder than the usual route, it is more rewarding and makes all the difference. Its shows that you are willing to challenge yourself to do things that are hard instead of taking the easier way out like other people.

Book Review 2: The Last Apprentice

Q45) Advertisement to be a spook's apprentice


Come join me, Old Gregory, to be my apprentice. You will grow up to be as powerful as I am under my teaching. Life promises to be full of adventure, hunting down ghosts, witches and even boggarts. There are several conditions however:

1) You must be the seventh son of a seventh son.

2) You must not be afraid of the unknown.

3) You must not trust girls, especially those with pointy shoes.

4) You must bear with not having any friends.

So, what do you say, it will only cost two guineas for a month's trial, after that if I accept you, it will cost 10 guineas to take you on as a proper apprentice. Then you shall be able to rid the county of all evil and be able to earn money as a respectable spook.

Book Review 1: Charles Darwin

Q23) Diary of James Kincaid, ship's boy aboard the HMS Beagle.


Day1:


Charles Darwin gave me his notebook! I am so honoured by his generosity. I am going to use it as my very own diary. I went exploring with Mr Darwin today. He took notes of every single living thing that he saw. We scoured the coasts and found a strange looking thing. it had eight legs and changed colours when Mr Darwin tried to grab it. It was called an octopus, so said Mr Darwin. He was most disappointed when he heard that it was not a new discovery. Nevertheless, he is putting together his scientific discoveries, making notes and cataloguing finds.


Back on board the ship at night, we showed the crew the octopus we saw and caught in the afternoon. They were all intrigued about why it glows in the dark. To preserve it from rotting, Mr Darwin placed the octopus in a jar of alcohol.


Day 2:


That night we set sail and in the morning, arrived at yet another island. The days continued to be warmer and the waves less choppy. Mr Darwin spends much of the day trawling the waters for plankton and jellyfish. We were travelling to Tierra Del Fuego to bring back the three fuegians Jemmy Button, York Minister and Fuegia Basket back to their village. They had been brought to England as a part of an experiment.


Later that day, Mr Darwin went to collect the countless types of butterfly, beetles and spiders on this new island. He was even glad to be caught in a tropical rainstorm that soaked him through in seconds. But his high spirits did not last for long. When he saw the slaves

If many people think something is true, is it true?

If many people think that something was true, it may not necessarily mean it is true. For example, hundreds of years ago, most people thought the Earth was flat and that if we travelled too far away, we would drop off the face of the world. However, Erastosthenes said that the Earth was in fact round, but no one believed him and he was a laughing stock.

Although, if many people think that something is true, there is more chance that it could be true because in a whole group of people, it is more difficult to make a mistake than when there is just a single person. What would you rather believe in, the word of one person or the word of a thousand? It is obvious which party will have more believers.

What is most important is not how many people believe in you, but whether it is really the truth. So if there are many people saying that there is free money being given away, it is most likely to be just a rumour because, nobody would ever give away free money other then for charities.

So no matter how ridiculous what one person says may seem, it might turn out to be the truth after all. No matter how many people think that something is true, it could just turn out to be exactly the opposite.

Will having fun make you happier than studying?

This depends. It will be a lot of fun to stay at home all day and do nothing except play computer games and watch television and not have to do any homework at all. I would have no worries about completing homework, project and studying for exams. I would be carefree for the rest of my five years untill National Service.

However, when I grow older, I would not be able to read and understand completely the english language. I would be a useless person because no company will want me to work for them. I would not be able to earn much money. I will die penniless. So, I do not think I would be very happy.

Thus, I think that if I want happiness now, I shall have to sacrifice my future happiness. It is not worth it to sacrifice have about five years of happiness for a whole lifetime of happiness.

55 word story

“I need help. You are the only one who can help me.”

“Why do you want to kill Edison and Ford, anyway? You’re still not going to save planet Earth. Pollution will still cause global warming."

“Because, if we do this, someone might be able to save Earth or at least push back global warming.”

Should You Criticise People or The Opinions They Have

We should criticise the opinions that people have, but not criticise people. It is very demoralising to criticise any person. It would hurt their feelings and in turn they would criticise other people. So criticism is a cycle which never stops. Although we should not criticise people, I believe it is alright to criticise their opinions.

What if what you are working on a project and someone makes a bad suggestion that only you know is bad? Should you or should you not criticise? Of course you should criticise and suggest a better solution. But if you cannot suggest anything better, then you should not criticise at all.

It is good to have some amount of criticism. It can help everyone by offering new ways to look at things. But if there is too much, the group will always be fighting with one another and will not accomplish any work at all.

So we should criticise the opinions that people have, though we should only criticise to some extent otherwise there will be "internal war" within a group.

What is Beauty?

Beauty can be almost anything, from a work of art to an attractive person to a person with a beautiful voice. Susan Boyle may not be considered beautiful in terms of attractiveness, her voice is certainly very sweet and may be called beautiful. The masterpiece of Leonardo Da Vinci, the "Mona Lisa" is definity beatiful in the eyes of artists and art appreciators throughout the world. These are always important in the eyes of our sophisticated society nowadays.

All those are physical beauties, which most people always think about. Inner beauty such as kindness are also very important. You would not want to have a friend who always asks for help but never gives any. It is always good to be kind to others instead of the opposite.

What is real beauty? No one really knows, because it is different for everyone. One man's junk is another man's treasure, as the saying goes. It is absolutely true. Just compare me and my father. I hate playing tetris (its also called brick game), but my father, he loves to play it. To me tetris is just a monotonous stream of blocks which one must stack in order to reach higher levels. What I love to play are games that are more complicated and require knowledge (such as cheat codes). So what you might like another might not.

If you could remove one emotion from the world, would you?

If I could eliminate an emotion, I would eliminate jealousy and greed. They are the only emotions that, I think, does no good at all to anyone. Other emotions, for example, happiness, is very important to to the health of a human being. Happiness helps to relieve our stress, anger allows us to let off 'steam' and sadness lets other knows that we need comforting. If we do not have these emotions, we would not be able to express ourselves and we would turn into 'zombies' without any care to other people.

Jealousy, however only lets people have a bad desire to steal things that they want but cannot have. It will control you and make you do things like stealing or worse. If this emotion can be removed, people will not commits sins connected to wanting something that others have. The world will have less worries.

Greed corrupts the mind. If we have a taste of something good, we will want more of it and will commit crimes to get what we want. People rob, loot and steal because of this. Ther shall be no more need for doors to be locked or banks to have vaults. People will live without the fear of muggers.

Don't Waste Food

I often leave my food half-eaten on the table because it does not suit my taste. It did not bother me that I was wasting food until my parents told me to watch this short film. http://www.cultureunplugged.com/play/1081/Chicken-a-la-Carte

It shows very clearly the plight of the poorer people who cannot afford the money to buy food. We must learn from it and not let food go to waste. Since Singapore is such a developed country, I'm sure none of us have ever experienced hunger before. Hence, we need to learn about these people in Philippines who never had the chance to enjoy the cuisines that we could. About 25000 of these people die each day from lack of food.

The next time when you are rushing for time, think about this and do not let this food go to waste, finish up as fast as possible. There are frequent donation drives in Singapore for us to give to the less fortunate. If everyone contributes, we will no longer have any people who suffer from malnutrition.

Electricity

Are we taking electricity for granted? The world is using up more and more electricity, and to make electricity, we need fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas. These are non-renewable energy sources and we will sooner or later run out of it. When we do, we will no longer have any more electricity to power our lights, computer, handphones, etc. Life will become primitive again unless scientists are able to come up with a replacement for these fossil fuels.

Does anyone remember the event, "Earth Hour"? We should not make it a once a year event but turn off our lights and other electrical appliances for one hour every day. Although this will still not save the electricity from our appliances, it will slow down our consumption. Hopefully, by then, scientists would already have invented a new, reliable energy source.

There are many other alternative sources of energy. Soler, nuclear, geothermal energy are all alternatives, but they are not as good as petrol. Solar energy can only be used in sunny places and it is expensive to buy and install solar panals.

So, we should treasure what is left of our supply of electricity. Do not let it go to waste. The future generations should not have to suffer for our selfishness and greed.

Buses: Air-conditioned or Not

Quite often, the buses I take to get home are quite old and non air-conditioned. The newer buses are air-conditioned and can have more seats. I prefer air-conditioned buses because they are a lot more comfortable, especially in Singapore's tropical heat. However, they are more expensive and as the financial crisis is still ongoing, some working adults may not want to take these buses.

Some of these non air-conditioned buses are very stuffy and I sometimes get headaches when going home and the weather is warm. Also, the seats are torn and a few of the "bus stopping" bells are spoilt (I once missed a stop this way). I hope the government will gradually change the older buses to newer, air-conditioned ones.

Computer Games

Are computer games nowadays too violent? Games such as GTA (grand theft auto) have some sexual content that may cause some parents to be unsure whether to allow their children to play such games. Other games contain violence and gore and gamers below 18+ may not be able to stomach these games.

Should we all play PG games like Maplestory? I do not think so. Gamers should not allow gaming to affect their lifestyle (like becoming more violent, etc) but instead think of it only as a form of enjoyment. Parents should not ban their children from enjoying such games but if they are getting more violent, I think they should be banned and the games removed. Otherwise, the child will end up being a useless person who will be very violent.

It is good that there are age limits for some games deemed inappropriate for minors. The government should continue disallowing children under 18 to purchase such games.

The Capture of Mas Selamat

A week ago, the headlines on the newspapers were all about the capture of the dangerous JI fugitive Mas Selamat. He was captured in Malaysia. He had swam across the Straits of Johor after his escape from the Whitney Detention Centre last year. I feel that the secrity in Singapore was not tight eneough and Mas Selamat got away. Who knows what might have happened if terrorist plans got carried out. Even though the police have set-up check at the customs and have stationed some officers in forests and on shores. The police have done well to recapture this dangerous criminal, but they should no have even let him escape in the first place. The authorities cannnot afford to make anothermistake such as this or the consequences could be more costly.

Recent Outbreak of Swine Flu

Due to the recent outbreak of the H1N1 virus, better known as "swine flu" , many schools have been stepping up on their measures to stop the spread of this pandemic. Although Singapore has not yet had any confirmed cases of the H1N1 virus, we should still be careful and observe some basic rules,

1. Cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze.
2. Wash your hands frequently.
3. Take your temperature twice daily.
4. Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth.
5. Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
6. Quarantine yourself have been in any countries with the spread of the H1N1 virus.

I believe the Singaporean government should raise the alert level of the country back to yellow as there are more and more people who are suspected of having the virus in the world. Although very few people have died, we should not let down our guard until we are very sure that the virus is gone for good.

The good thing is, the world is very prepared for such an epidemic and cases of this virus has gone gone down compared to last week when everyone was talking about it.

English Premier League

These days, the soccer fans in Singapore keep talking about who will win the English Premier League. Basically, this is a two horse race as only Liverpool and Manchester United have more of a chance of taking the EPL. The other two of the "Big Four" , Chesea and Arsenal, have faded in their recent form. Although Liverpool may be behind in terms of points and number of they have managed succesive big wins and I believe most pundits are betting for them to win the EPL this season. being a Manchester United fan myself, I think that Manchester United will win simply because they have a stronger team, better coach and a better playing stategy.

Liverpool only relies on two star players Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard. When these two cannot play together, it seems like Liverpool are not able to win that easily. Manchester United however, do not have star players and anyone in the team can score (especially evident when new player Marcheda scored). Manchester United may have the upper hand in the EPL, but this is not so when it comes to the European cup. During the match with Porto, they seemed lethargic and lacked energy. Maybe it was because they had only two and a half days to rest for the match. Anyway, Manchester United will have to be the first team in the EPL to beat Porto at their home ground.

The Lottery - Question 5

Relevance to Today

In our time today, we also have lotteries although they are different from the one in the story. The lottery in the story, the "winner" , is stoned by their fellow villagers. However, in modern lotteries like 4D and TOTO, the winner gets an amount of money if he guesses the lucky number. In the story, the lottery is a matter of life and death and people do not want to be stoned like Mrs Hutchinson was. This ritual was a tradition of all villages in the story. It seems to be a form of sacrifice for them to have better crops as Old Man Warner mentioned that , "lottery in June, corn be heavy soon". People in modern times also sacrifice in hopes of having a better harvest but they do not sacrifice humans but maybe fruits or an animal.

We should learn from this story and not commit such heinous deeds, especially towards another human. however much we want for our own gains, we should not resort to killing. In the story there is word among the villagers that a few villages in have already given up lotteries. They must have realised it is wrong and I believe other villages will soon follow suit.

Q4 Which Charlie do you like best - the one with an IQ of 68 or the one with an IQ of 200? Why?

Ans: I like the Charlie with an IQ of 68 more because he was happier and less angry. He could not understand complicated things but he is easier to communicate with as the Charlie with an IQ of 200 has a mind that is too intellectually advanced for common people to understand him. Even though people make fun of the Charlie with an IQ of 68, Charlie would not realise but think of them as him friends. Sooner or later someone, maybe Ms Kinnian of one of his colleagues , will influence the rest of Charlie's colleagues to stop being mean to him and treat him like any other human being.

If Charlie's operation did not fail, he might have made tremendous breakthroughs in the field of increasing human intelligence artificially. However, he would not be understood by other scientists who may not have as much knowledge as him so the information would be useless to the rest of the world. Also, he would not be happier with an IQ of 200 as well because he would have no friends, no one can understand him and all he can do is read books listen to music or watch the television.

Little Ironies - The taximan's story

Q1. What is the irony in the story?

Ans: The irony is that the taximan picks up young girls and their foreign boyfriends in his taxi to make more money, his daughter also hangs out with foreign men for money.

Q2. What are the themes raised in the story?

Ans: The themes raised are the behavior of young people nowadays and what does the taximan do to earn more money at night.

Q3. How realistic is this story?

Ans: I do not think this story is very realistic as most young people teenagers I see would not make themselves so 'cheap' and I do not see many young people when I go out at night with my parents.

Q4. What do you think of the taximan? Do you feel sympathy for him?

Ans: I think the taximan is showing bad example for young people and especially his daughter for giving rides to those young people and their boyfreinds. I do not feel sympathy for him as, if he really wanted to help the young people, he should not give them rides but lecture them.

Q5. Do you agree with his lamenting?

Ans: Yes, because if most teenagers behave badly and do not go to school like they are supposed to , Singapore would have a bad government in the future generations and would result in the decline of our country.

Q6. What about the other characters in the story? Do you feel sympathy for them?

Ans: I sympathise with the teacher if she has a child because she did not know the tricks that teenagers could be up to nowadays if left on their own too much.

Happy Lunar New Year

Happy Lunar New Year everyone, and welcome the year of the ox. I am really tired as I stayed awake the whole night watching the television with my father. I think all of you will be going to your reunion dinners(yay hong bao), so will I. Have fun tonight and I wish all my friends "nian nian you yu".
0000 << mandarin oranges

Reunion dinner

On Sunday, I went to my relative's house(mentioned that in my last post) and met my relatives again. Then we had dinner which was all vegetarian because some of my relatives are vegetarians and after that we watched Garfield then all we got our red packets. We got three each and were about $40 richer.

Weekend

Hi all, its the weekends again. Happy for some but not for me as I've got lots of homework, and I need to complete them before Sunday's reunion dinner. I get to meet my relatives again (and to get red packets ☺).

P.E.

Today during recess P.E. my P.E. teacher had us run 4 rounds (1.6km) around the field. After that he talked for a really long time before he let us go for recess. We were late for almost 30 for our recess. I hope the school would improve on that and not let us have only 10 minutes for recess.

All About Me

I am from Singapore, I like to play soccer, i support Manchester United, I like McDonalds, I am 13 years old, I hate homework, I like computer games , I like Ben10, I am from a school-which-name-must-not-be-revealed and I live in a normal 5 room HDB flat.

Tagboard and banner

Do you guys like the cbox and the banner?Yang helped me make the cbox and I made the banner and the Ben10 theme song (provided by chin kiat).

About the tagboard

Hey guys I tried to get a cbox but i coud'nt put it on my blog so if u guys want to comment can you please go to www.idunnolehs.cbox.ws thx.

Computer games

Do any of you play computer MMORPGs like Maplestory, Gunz or CitriX? If you do please whisper to my characters.

Maplestory: magebenji, ditbenji or rangerbenji (all aquila)

Gunz: gunsbenji (I only play in server 1)

Citrix: BEn100 (just pm me, usually I'm in the channel with least people)

I need help

Can anyone please tell me how to add a chatbox in my blog? I want to let people comment on my blog more easily.

Guide to alt plus (number)

You can do different icons using alt plus a number on the number pad. Here's all i know...

alt1 = ☺
alt2 = ☻
alt3 = ♥
alt4 = ♦
alt5 = ♣
alt6= ♠
alt7 = ◘
alt9 = ○
alt10 = ◙
alt11 = ♂
alt12 = ♀
alt13 = ♪
alt14 = ♫
alt15 = ☼
alt16 = ►
alt17 = ◄
alt 18 = ↕
alt19 = ‼ (closer together than !!)
alt20 = ¶
alt21 = §
alt22 = ▬
alt23 = ↨
alt24 = ↑
alt25 = ↓
alt26 = →
alt27 = ←
alt28 = ∟
alt29 = ↔
alt30 = ▲
alt31 = ▼
alt32 = (nothing)
alt33 = onward are boring except for the ones below and maybe others
alt222222222 / alt654 = Ä
alt789456123 = √
alt963852741 = ┼
alt456123 = ╗
alt951 = ╖
alt951 = ±
alt987654321 = ▒


The rest you can find out yourself :p

New gadgets

Do you guys like my new gadgets? I wanted to add more but i didn't know what else to add. Any suggestions?

Can anyone tell me how to add banners for my blog??

Welcome

Hello everyone welcome to my new blog!!!!!!!!