Just realized that the schedule for commencement ceremony is out. Mine would be in the afternoon on 8th July, which is a Wednesday. It so happens to be the second week into my teaching practicum as well! Oh!
Hope my presiding CT and HOD and P would be fine with letting me off for the day! But I wonder, would it leave a bad impression?
Sunday, 17 May 2009
ASSIGNMENTS
For the past hour, I had been surfing the internet intensively in search of a good educational website with sound creditability. Considering all the restrictions placed upon us, it's really a tall order to meet.
1) All of us are assigned a specific topic. This translates to a loss of freedom. (I'm given the topic on "Reproduction").
2) We are given a checklist of 25 items! (e.g. level of information, sufficiency of information, reliability of website, diagrams and charts, bibliography and citations, indications of last revised date, indications of whether the material is being kept current, verification of legitimacy, credentials of author(s), content impartiality, free of advertisement, ease of accessibility, quizzes, design layout etc)
3) We're NOT allowed to use the websites which were given by the previous 2 cohorts before us.
So many restrictions, how to find, you tell me? Already, meeting most of the 25 item requirements would be quite a headache. Throw in a specific, assigned topic and the limitation of websites to use, the end result? It's like searching for a needle in a haystack!
Okay okay, to be fair, I have to admit this is a good exercise. It teaches us to discriminate information and to evaluate the reliability of internet resources - least we misguide the innocent young.
While searching for a good website, I typed in "human reproduction" in Yahoo! search. Momentarily, I mused would the search engine results reflect pornography site links.
Anyway, I was evaluating one of the websites when I noticed something interesting.
Didn't know all of us used to look like ikan bilis! Oh my goodness...
P.S. Nah, no pornographic link came up!
1) All of us are assigned a specific topic. This translates to a loss of freedom. (I'm given the topic on "Reproduction").
2) We are given a checklist of 25 items! (e.g. level of information, sufficiency of information, reliability of website, diagrams and charts, bibliography and citations, indications of last revised date, indications of whether the material is being kept current, verification of legitimacy, credentials of author(s), content impartiality, free of advertisement, ease of accessibility, quizzes, design layout etc)
3) We're NOT allowed to use the websites which were given by the previous 2 cohorts before us.
So many restrictions, how to find, you tell me? Already, meeting most of the 25 item requirements would be quite a headache. Throw in a specific, assigned topic and the limitation of websites to use, the end result? It's like searching for a needle in a haystack!
Okay okay, to be fair, I have to admit this is a good exercise. It teaches us to discriminate information and to evaluate the reliability of internet resources - least we misguide the innocent young.
While searching for a good website, I typed in "human reproduction" in Yahoo! search. Momentarily, I mused would the search engine results reflect pornography site links.
Anyway, I was evaluating one of the websites when I noticed something interesting.
Didn't know all of us used to look like ikan bilis! Oh my goodness...
P.S. Nah, no pornographic link came up!
Thursday, 14 May 2009
Monday, 11 May 2009
CONCENTRATE
2 MTs, 1 LP, 1 report, and 1 presentation for this week.
Get your act together and CONCENTRATE!
Get your act together and CONCENTRATE!
Sunday, 10 May 2009
CUTE
Came across this in a friend's Facebook, as one of her favourite quotes:
May those who love us love us
And to those who don't love us
May God turn their hearts
And if He doesn't turn their hearts
May He turn their ankles
So we'll know them by their limping
Haha. I find this simple, genuine, unpretentious, and yet funny. All mixed into one.
_______________________________________________
Anyway, like, finally, it is arriving soon! GOSH!
May those who love us love us
And to those who don't love us
May God turn their hearts
And if He doesn't turn their hearts
May He turn their ankles
So we'll know them by their limping
Haha. I find this simple, genuine, unpretentious, and yet funny. All mixed into one.
_______________________________________________
Anyway, like, finally, it is arriving soon! GOSH!
Friday, 8 May 2009
THE WEDDING
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE NEWLY-WEDS! Woot!
There's always something magical about weddings. I sooo love to attend weddings! There's just something in the atmosphere which cannot be found elsewhere!
Anyway,photos pictures speak a thousand words.
The cute lil' pageboy who charmed us all ladies!!!
Awww...
THE NIGHT BEFORE THE MATRIMONY
THE MATRIMONY
ALL men look mightily charming in suit and blazer. Yes, even little pageboys.
The flower girl looks TERRIFIED!
Classic.
THE DINNER
Two hardworking receptionists.
Ok, one of them is not THAT serious. Say, cheese! SMILE!
Actually, both are not THAT serious - at times. Haha!
Love is in the air!
Who's the one who unintentionally stole the limelight? No prize for guessing right. YH!!!
Why you take my picture?! You tell me?! Tell me?! WHY YOU TAKE MY PICTURE, HUH?!
In the mood for love!
One narcissist person, one hungry person, and one _____ person. I can't think now. Fill in the blank as you please.
A table photo! One of the last photos the groom took before he got sloshed with alcohol by his entourage!
YA-AAAMMMM SEEEAA-EENNGGG!!!
I like this photo!
There's always something magical about weddings. I sooo love to attend weddings! There's just something in the atmosphere which cannot be found elsewhere!
Anyway,
TWO DAYS BEFORE THE MATRIMONY
Act guai.
Act cool.
Act guai.
Act cool.
The cute lil' pageboy who charmed us all ladies!!!
Awww...THE NIGHT BEFORE THE MATRIMONY
THE MATRIMONY
ALL men look mightily charming in suit and blazer. Yes, even little pageboys.
The flower girl looks TERRIFIED!
Classic.
THE DINNER
Two hardworking receptionists.
Ok, one of them is not THAT serious. Say, cheese! SMILE!
Actually, both are not THAT serious - at times. Haha!
Love is in the air!
Who's the one who unintentionally stole the limelight? No prize for guessing right. YH!!!
Why you take my picture?! You tell me?! Tell me?! WHY YOU TAKE MY PICTURE, HUH?!
In the mood for love!
One narcissist person, one hungry person, and one _____ person. I can't think now. Fill in the blank as you please.
A table photo! One of the last photos the groom took before he got sloshed with alcohol by his entourage!
YA-AAAMMMM SEEEAA-EENNGGG!!!
I like this photo!Thursday, 7 May 2009
ERM...
This was shown by one of the groups doing their Biology presentation yesterday.
Call me mountain tortoise, but this is really the first time I'm watching any video/animation of this kind.
It seriously looks painfully. Although it's just an animation, it's still OUCH! to watch. It makes one cringe in the seat. Okie, I know it's supposed to be painful, but this? Oh my. Thank goodness I'm still young and healthy. If I'm, like, you know, 35-year-old (HIGH-RISK PREGNANCY!) and unmarried, or have no children, or am not yet done with building my own family, and so happened to watch this video, think my knees will go weak or something.
Call me mountain tortoise, but this is really the first time I'm watching any video/animation of this kind.
It seriously looks painfully. Although it's just an animation, it's still OUCH! to watch. It makes one cringe in the seat. Okie, I know it's supposed to be painful, but this? Oh my. Thank goodness I'm still young and healthy. If I'm, like, you know, 35-year-old (HIGH-RISK PREGNANCY!) and unmarried, or have no children, or am not yet done with building my own family, and so happened to watch this video, think my knees will go weak or something.
Friday, 1 May 2009
BERI BERI GOOD
Have been researching on this certain Dutch physician who was awarded a Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1929 at the age of 81 - Dr. Christiaan Eijkman. He is the dude who - while attempting to determine the cause of Beriberi - eventually discovered vitamins.
Prior to his discovery, Louis Pasteur's and Robert Koch's Germ Theory was the dominant train of thought then. Almost all physicians and scientists worldwide believed that all diseases are caused by certain types of bacterium or germs. The same goes with Beriberi.
Like all scientists and physicians before him, Eijkman also tried to isolate the cause of Beriberi. He examined blood samples, body fluids and etc; but all were futile. It was also Eijkman who, after numberous frustrating attempts to isolate the bacteria that supposedly causes Beriberi but repeatedly failed to do so, thought out of the box.
By a stroke of luck, he discovered that something in rice brans helps to prevent Beriberi. He confirmed his findings by carrying out experiments using chickens. Almost at will, he was able to easily inflict Beriberi on whichever chickens he wishes - simply by controlling their diet: brown unpolished rice (i.e. rice with husk) verses white polished rice. (Isn't it amazing? The power of something which appears so seemingly trivial? I guess this underlines one of the basic, foundational principles: whatever that goes in, comes out. What goes in determines what comes out. Input relates to output.)
He concluded and postulated that rather than germs, could it be that there is something missing which is essential to the proper functioning of the human body? Rather than being parasitic, could Beriberi be caused as a result of a deficiency of this essential "substance"?
This idea was something "new" and "novel" back then. Unfortunately, his findings were met with skepticm and controversy; and all other scientists/physicians scoffed at his suggestion. The Germ Theory was just too dominant back in the old days. In addition, it did very well in explaining the cause of many diseases. The thought of Beriberi not caused by germ/bacteria was something out of the world, or so it seemed.
Anyway, I find this Eijkman guy pretty amazing.
For one, he thought out of the box. Unlike other physicians, when the primary idea doesn't work, Eijkman sourced for an alternative one. He was open-minded. Relentless. Persistent.
Secondly, despite the norm belief of Germ Theory, Eijkman's mind was flexible. He was not rigid. In a way, to put it in today's context, he believed that "one size doesn't fit all". He was flexible in his approach and mindset.
Thirdly, he stood by what he believed. A thousand and one physicians/scientists mistakenly believed in the wrong thing, but Eijkman - in the face of an army of opposition - dared to go against it. Despite the ridicule when he presented his findings, he did not doubt himself and his work. He knows what is good, and while so many more prominent physicians or scientists worldwide around him say otherwise, he still stood by it. No one supported him, but yet he still trusted his foresight and guts. He saw deeper than what logic tells him. He saw, he knew, he defended, he believed, he invested, and he waited. And what he believed in yielded fruits.
Finally, after years and years of failure in finding the cause of Beriberi, Eijkman's theory finally got accepted. More intensive researches and experiments were carried out by others, and his findings appeared to be heading in the right direction. It was then accepted that Beriberi is not caused by germs/bacteria, but due to something missing in the diet - and this essential substance was coined "vital amine". A chemist later shortened it to "vitamins".
And Eijkman? His theory triumphed in the end. One year before his death in 1930, he got his Nobel prize. 36 donkey years after he first made his discovery.
Prior to his discovery, Louis Pasteur's and Robert Koch's Germ Theory was the dominant train of thought then. Almost all physicians and scientists worldwide believed that all diseases are caused by certain types of bacterium or germs. The same goes with Beriberi.
Like all scientists and physicians before him, Eijkman also tried to isolate the cause of Beriberi. He examined blood samples, body fluids and etc; but all were futile. It was also Eijkman who, after numberous frustrating attempts to isolate the bacteria that supposedly causes Beriberi but repeatedly failed to do so, thought out of the box.
By a stroke of luck, he discovered that something in rice brans helps to prevent Beriberi. He confirmed his findings by carrying out experiments using chickens. Almost at will, he was able to easily inflict Beriberi on whichever chickens he wishes - simply by controlling their diet: brown unpolished rice (i.e. rice with husk) verses white polished rice. (Isn't it amazing? The power of something which appears so seemingly trivial? I guess this underlines one of the basic, foundational principles: whatever that goes in, comes out. What goes in determines what comes out. Input relates to output.)
He concluded and postulated that rather than germs, could it be that there is something missing which is essential to the proper functioning of the human body? Rather than being parasitic, could Beriberi be caused as a result of a deficiency of this essential "substance"?
This idea was something "new" and "novel" back then. Unfortunately, his findings were met with skepticm and controversy; and all other scientists/physicians scoffed at his suggestion. The Germ Theory was just too dominant back in the old days. In addition, it did very well in explaining the cause of many diseases. The thought of Beriberi not caused by germ/bacteria was something out of the world, or so it seemed.
Anyway, I find this Eijkman guy pretty amazing.
For one, he thought out of the box. Unlike other physicians, when the primary idea doesn't work, Eijkman sourced for an alternative one. He was open-minded. Relentless. Persistent.
Secondly, despite the norm belief of Germ Theory, Eijkman's mind was flexible. He was not rigid. In a way, to put it in today's context, he believed that "one size doesn't fit all". He was flexible in his approach and mindset.
Thirdly, he stood by what he believed. A thousand and one physicians/scientists mistakenly believed in the wrong thing, but Eijkman - in the face of an army of opposition - dared to go against it. Despite the ridicule when he presented his findings, he did not doubt himself and his work. He knows what is good, and while so many more prominent physicians or scientists worldwide around him say otherwise, he still stood by it. No one supported him, but yet he still trusted his foresight and guts. He saw deeper than what logic tells him. He saw, he knew, he defended, he believed, he invested, and he waited. And what he believed in yielded fruits.
Finally, after years and years of failure in finding the cause of Beriberi, Eijkman's theory finally got accepted. More intensive researches and experiments were carried out by others, and his findings appeared to be heading in the right direction. It was then accepted that Beriberi is not caused by germs/bacteria, but due to something missing in the diet - and this essential substance was coined "vital amine". A chemist later shortened it to "vitamins".
And Eijkman? His theory triumphed in the end. One year before his death in 1930, he got his Nobel prize. 36 donkey years after he first made his discovery.
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