55 fiction- random tries again/computer games

Getting together:

You could call it a party. Foreigners, strangers, does not matter. We are chatting about events in our lives.

I see my colleague. Wincing with pain, I grip her arm. She smiles.

Only if everyone could keep quiet, they would hear me shouting. After all, buried alive by debris is a bad way to die.

_____________________________________________________________________

On to the real stuff:

"Teenagers should not be allowed to play computer games"

The probable answer is NO WAY. I mean a teenager not liking to play computer games, what are the chances. Altough computer games have their bad points, but the term responsibility is very important. I play computer games too, but not everyday. You must have self discipline, even during the freer holidays and stop yourself from playing hours on and on. Having this statement is like this argument:

"Want to go to place A?"

"Yes, but going there is difficult, you see... blah blah blah... are you sure you have the time?"

"fine, then we dont go."

" But I want to go to place A."

"Then we'll go."

"But its so difficult."

"Then we wont go altogether."

Computer games may be similar to this. As computer games have many bad points (which adults always LOVE to emphasize) it would be better to just not play them altogether. Like I said, responsibility is important. You have responsibility to stop playing at a certain time (eg midnight) then your parents will definitely allow you to play.

Well to my opinion, not all teenagers do not have self discipline or responsibility (double negatives) so not all teenagers should not be stopped from playing computer games. I believe I have enough responsibility to play computer games (teehee) and unlike somebody, do not spam videos like Arby n the ch33f (ignore that).

Gah. Blocked. Continued if possible.

My first semester as a secondary school student

do not mind, but this mEssage is so Not written in CODE. got that ? Do not try to tell me hat this message is in code. ( all right you should be still able to read this )

Few mnthos sncie my PSLE, and I am porgsesirng wlel. I am sifetaisd wtih my rlusets.

Fine I have to hand this up during before the end of the period so i will REALLY start writing. (inay igpay atinlay)

Summary

1. Plus side
2. Minus side
3. "Interesting" points
4. Future plans

1. Fine. I am satisfied with my school, consortium (GEP), class(not), and CCA. I am in the school band, not one of the choices I once had in mind (actually air rifle). I play the horn, which is a difficult instrument, but band is a fun CCA, there are competitions/ performances and you get to enjoy the music (except the screwed up notes) Even though CCAs in Hwa Chong have HUGE commitment,(we have to go back in the holidays) there are outings/ many, many tours overseas, but we do not have any currently ( because of a particular swine flu *ahem*)

On to the next point. I like the lessons, especially IS (infocomm studies) We get to learn basic skills in whatever, flash, photoshop, DevC++ (this isnt really a english word), movie maker or HTML (computer language, please ignore) And the lessons are very useful, instead of spamming Homework (unlike a certain school in Bishan) Hwa Chong is more projects based. This is more practical as you would not get homework when you grow up to work. So the point of all this is: I like projects where teamates do not slack.

Another plus is blogging. Looking back at P4 (horrible memories of another philmann like person) I realise that there is not much to stuff on a blog, but with hwa chong there is much rewards for your thinking (eg ace points) for topics, usually on interesting things around the world and a bit of current knowledge. And it takes up more time than homework, but I like these as there is usually no time limit. There is also alot of competitons or ace stuff (like tours in history), which demand time but are really fun .

Minus

2. This is not a rant. How I wish it was, So It would be So much easier. A boy from hwa chong is more stressed than most from a neighbourhood school - there is Rarely Any chance to No, not rant, To rest. (codes are difficult to write)

School is more demanding now. Obvious, but now we are progressing into the third term, where it will be the most demanding time, to max out our ACE. Problems may start to crop up, like Philmann (yet again) in another saga of behavior problems. Hwa Chong really pushes you to your limit. That means higher stress levels. But I go along, taking everything as it comes. Now, homework and projects are much more than during P6. Exam results are also important, CCA is a lot of commitment and my holidays are filled up with events. The End of year exams will pose a biger challenge. But for now, I am more slack. Also, troublemakers are also my hates, those who disrupt the class. There are not really many minuses about this school though.

Interesting facts:

3. This is a whole list of facts that encompasses what interesting points there may be.

Firstly, ispark as GEP ers are usually looked down, teased on but this year, the rivalry seems to the extent the consortiums are booing each other now.

Secondly, table tennis is played alot in school this year (wonder if last year was the same)

Thirdly, Music is looked on as a joy, or fear, because of a certain teacher...

Also, for this semester, Monday is the best day for 1i1ans. (arent you supposed to HATE mondays)

And to add on, the stuff in a classroom spoil unbelievably quickly

Amazingly, there are so many reports of lost things in Hwa Chong.

Also, on some days, everybody stays in class to rush homework

eight (darn ran out of stuff), it is nice to sit in your class as the wind just blows, and it is very cooling

nine when we have to make trips to eg. the computer lab or to the science/ art block and to music class, we rely on Matthew as a marker (to get there before him)

ten, it is tradition to stay in class on certain days because of long queue at the canteen

eleven, we give a stare or keep away from people at the end of the term who get an MSG of more than 4.0 in 1i1

twelve, the computer always needs fixing

Future plans:

4. I believe I have a few goals to achieve

• To get into icouncil
• get an MSG of below 1.5 (currently not)
• to beat xianda at playing the horn
• To get a new horn/ mouthpiece

But with these I probably have to work harder (be more enthusiastic in lessons and Band) and then get into CSE in sec 3.

to be continued??

55 fiction- random tries

Just some random tries:

Target down

I zigzag around the area, scanning for a target to steal.

Aha! The queen!

Security looks tight. I think:

The crown? Jewellery? No. It’s something more important

Waiting, I aim. She's walking near the crowd.

With precision, I strike. A perfect hit and run!

Her Majesty restrains.

A glorious steal! Pity I’m just a mosquito.

H1N1- Influenza A

Recently there have been cases of H1N1 in the world and the flu is quickly spreading. It aims to give the entire world a fever (Even global warming is doing that). So here are some quick facts about the flu, hope to clear up doubts:

H1N1 for the Completely clueless:

1- The flu once called swine flu, DOES NOT come from pigs. Yes it does not come from Mexicans either. If you do think that, you don't catch up on your newspapers. And yes there is such a flu. If you don't even know that there is a coming pandemic, or if there is even such a flu, there is a chance that you are slightly retarded. Technically it is a mix of avian, swine and human flu. It is spread from human to human, (by sneezing and coughing, not by smooching or hugging!) No, the human flu does NOT come from Mexicans either. Just think it like this. A virus infects someone and turns him/her into a zombie (Resident Evil much) and then the zombie goes around infecting people. This goes on slowly until... maybe not such a good analogy. No, you wont get turned into zombies either.

2- Since the flu does not come from pigs, you must be asking,"Then where does it come from?" Well the answer is , it comes out of nowhere! Just that the Mexicans were unlucky. A person may show no symptoms even when infected (Well thats clever of a flu virus) but H1N1 may be difficult to detect because of this characteristic. Batches of sesonal flu may also be mixed up, just like H3N2. No, you cannot go on holiday if you are infected. No, the virus is not shooed away if you eat lots of garlic. It sure drives your friends away though. Have you seen this game called Pandemic? you control the virus/ bacteria/ parasite. To win, you have to devastate the world leaving NOTHING left. Either that or kill as much as possible. So the easiest strategy is to make sure the micro-organism as a high infection rate and practically no symptoms, support it with resistances, then when the world is infected, increase lethality rate. The world will come up with a vaccine, but if everyone is infected, there will be noone to cure. This seems to be what the H1N1 virus is doing, it has a low mortality rate of 6-7%. No, computer viruses do not originate from the flu.

3- Singapore is supposedly more prepared then in the period of SARS. SARS also came out of nowhere, but at that time, we did not know what it was, so there was a high mortality rate. We werent prepared for SARS, but even though we are prepared for H1N1, the fight wont be over in a short while like SARS. No, not because SARS came from the Mexicans (sheesh) but because infectious diseases come in waves, one after another, getting more lethal every time. We know what the flu is (unlike somebody) so Tamiflu and Relenza can be used. Quoted form Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan, "For healthy Singaporeans or those who have not been overseas recently, get on with your life. Go out , exercise, cycle, brisk walk, go dancing, whatever. We all know when you are active and have enough sleep, you are in top form, you are less likely to get the flu." It is just a matter of time before the flu hits.

GM foods vs organic

composed some random poem to do with this:

Genetically Modified Food
Is it bad? Or is it good?
However I am positive, sure
Larger produce provides a lure.
Have you tasted some potatoes
Same to do with tomatoes
Their survival rate cut short by pests
Insecticides? No, the only success
Is with GM! Its GM you hear
driving away diseases just like a cure
Changing their structure to feed our needs
fruity and juicy, even without seeds
Change it to be grown, in hot or cold
Also nutritious, we are told
Better than normal variety
In theory, attractive like a flower to a bee.
Right now you may be nodding your head
agreeing with whatever I have said.
Wait! Is this.. as far as we can get!
Whats that article on the Internet?
GM FOOD, BEHIND THE SCENES.
How scientists play around with plants and genes.
There are many potential harms
GM food may bring to the farm.
not targeted species could actually die,
after ingesting toxins they could go bye-bye
Pollen spread genes to the weeds
giving them resistance and destroying the seeds
Children could get an allergic reaction
Unknown effects a cause of protection
Health warning, carcinogen
Consume these and your life will burn
But who knows if its a rumor, is it fake?
Just like swimming to the bottom of a murky lake.
Will it affect, will we live in fear
this is because the truth is unclear
Minimal experiments little research used
So many rumors, we are confused.
To listen to whom? study biology?
The whole reason: GM is a mystery!
GM food is unknown, so we fear it,
but clear up the doubts, bit by bit,
and maybe the truth would be found,
and the explanation given is sound.
We are just over catious
the thought of sickness makes us anxious
So we advance forward, moving day by day,
the reseach adds up - we wait for that day!


" Whats right is right, whats wrong is wrong. There is never a maybe."

Mother's Memorable read

One of mom's favourite book that she can remember..is TOTO CHAN - A Little Girl by the Window . The Author she knew was a Japanese author - we had to search on the Web for her name . Tethusko Kuroyanagi . Mom read this book many years back. She can't really remember the details of the story but what she could remember is that this is actually a Children's Story , written in a fascinatingly simple language and it is ideal for both children and parents .

The Storyline as she remembers was that the story was about a little japanese girl and her journey through her elementary school . In a way, this is an Ultimate School that allows the author to learn what she likes, there is no compulsion to do subjects that she has no interest in.
The books should be read by children , adults, educators .. so that we can learn the ways that qualities can be developed in a interesting and carefree manner.

The reason why Mom still remembers the story is that it is something that struck her. Learning is an interesting journey and none of the children in the story had to learn things they do not like . This is really something that the current education system does not offer today.

This IDEAL , FASCINATING and even FAR-FETCHED education system is something one would dream of .

Unseen Horrors - Crater Lakes

August 1986 Lake Nyos - Cameroon

The village was intact, however unusually quiet. Nothing seemed to have changed at all, but there was a deathly silence, even the surrounding forest was silent, as if they were looking onwards to see what had happened. A defeaning crackle, that was a tree snapping like a twig, rolling down to rest at the foot of the mountain Cameroon sat on, a deathly white. However, this all paled to lake Nyos, its waters hissing lethaly, a bright orange colour. The murky mysterious lake had claimed 1700 victims in a single night. The forest around the crater lake Nyos was suffocated, draining trees of their colour and life and not even sparing the ground, weakened and crumbling and unable to support life any more.

A wave of sweeping gas had covered Cameroon the day before. The gas was virtually poison, wiping out almost every sign of life. There was no time to run or anywhere to hide. Cattle had died, seemingly sleeping on the ground on the way to the village, but their eyes were open, having been strangled by the gas. The village was a ghost town too, with the villagers dead in their everyday activities. A woman, holding her ladle in one of the thatched huts, was boiling a pot of soup. Also, many others, also suffocated, were doing things like reading and sleeping. The area was dead, and many had died horrifically, their eyes wide open, suffering burning sensations in their eyes, strangled by the gas.

The lake still sauturated with carbon dioxide, the area is still contaminated, going grey near the lake from the loss of vegetation. The disaster could strike again. Not on there, but in various crater lakes in Africa. Lake Nyos was a warning. It could happen, so we must always be prepared.