Wilburys

2012-01-23T21:42:00.002+08:00

After watching the movie 'Sherlock Holmes', it brought me back to the original novel which I use to enjoy terribly. And somehow this brought me to the topic of Detective Conan after stumbling upon some forums on detective anime/manga. Going down memory lane, I have to say I enjoyed that series at first. At least for the first 300-400 chapters or so. I quit the series after that. My reasons being:

1)Some cases are really unrealistic. Idk, I don't think people would actually go that far to stage a murder. Like using strings or shits to put keys into locked room or even going as far to make a murder look like a suicide. After watching crime shows like CSI and playing games like Cause of Death, it kind of bring out the contrast. And the fact that the police force is totally inefficient and useless in Conan. They have drugs that make adults grow into kid but no truth serums? Oh, and the fact that little kids (6-8 years old?) can stand looking at victims that are covered in blood (probably with the guts spilling out) and stand the odor of dead bodies.

2)The kid is too clever. He seems to know everything. Write something in code, he'll tell you what it is. Write something in alien language, and he'll tell you nonetheless. And let's not forget the fact that he seems to know all the cultures of many different countries right off the bat. All these without any form of research. And he's a eighteen years old high school student. Sure, he may be a genius. But I doubt there's any genius as great as him. (Note the sarcasm)

3)The show is getting too repetitive. Like pokemon. One fine day Conan and co. are doing something. A murder occurs. Solve murder. End. Murder can be catagorised under "This is a suicide!" murder or "This must be the doings of spirits" murder or just murder. To be more detailed, after murder, Kogoro starts accusations (not included if it's Sonoko). Conan wanders off in search of evidence. Hit obstacle. Suspects complains. Panic. Discover clue at the last minute. I know who the criminal is. Drug Kogoro/Sonoko. Start talking. Random police points to Suspect A. Conan says no. Random police points to Suspect B. Conan says no. Conan reveals it's Suspect C (Last one standing there btw). Everybody gasped and looked at Suspect C. Suspect C tries to get away but got pwned by either Conan, Kogoro, Police, or random person A. Suspect C confessed. Murder solved. And not to mention, like pokemon, the main characters never age. Not much character development I would say, especially for the detective boys.

4)More of action than detective. I'm sure many people read conan because they're mystery fans. Especially Sherlock Holmes fans. I, myself, am a Sherlock Holmes fan and I watch it because I like detective stuff. I like how detectives gather information and use them to solve a case. When I mean gather information I really mean gathering. Like reading up or even checking the internet (if it even exists in Conan). It's call using your resources carefully. Of course, there's the interrogation part where you can start to guess the murderer. The problem in Conan is, the information gathering part is usually incomplete. They try to make it sound like Suspect A is the murderer by leaving out some critical information. So I wouldn't really call it stimulating since I can't really use logic to solve the case until they reveal the very last clue. This method is also so overused such that you can't immediately tell who is NOT the murderer (definitely not the one that's constantly being accused at first). People usually continue reading it for the main plotline which is about Conan vs Black Organisation. And that's action. Not detective anymore. Gunfires and strategies is action. Like a war. And I don't really like action, so yea. Dropped the series.

That's about it I guess although I have to say, it's quite summarised. I can go on for quite long if I want to. But I guess I'll cut it short since it's just my ranting about the series. People may choose to disagree with what I say but like I say, these are just opinions and opinions differ from person to person. I'm just stating my observations and from there, come to a conclusion that I don't like the series (at least the detective part. The action is still good.) as much as I thought I would.

Hitting the books now. D:

First Semester

2012-01-15T17:09:00.002+08:00

Well, first and foremost, I've just started a new live in NUS, majoring in Mathematics. I've survived Semester one last year and Semester two had just officially began a few days ago. Just a bit on the modules that I've taken in semester one and my reflections with regards to them. I wouldn't say I'm very smart nor am I a genius so whatever comments posted here is probably coming from just your average joe.

MA1100 Fundamental Concepts of Mathematics
Like how my lecturer, VT had put it, fundamental concepts of Mathematics is not very fundamental at all! But I had to take it anyway since it's one of my core modules. With regards to the difficulty of the module, the questions in the midterm and final are really challenging and I would say it's more of a "either you know it or you don't" situation. Furthermore, competition is really stiff. I got a 33 out of 40 but I'm in the 75th to 90th percentile only. Homework assignments and tutorial are manageable. Overall, proofs are not something that can be learnt overnight. However, despite the difficulty, the module was really interesting and I throughly enjoyed myself during the lectures especially if you're interested in proofs and logic (I am). I didn't get to sleep for all 14(?) lectures thanks to my lecturer and his clicker buddy system. Didn't really go for any consultation since I don't know what to ask my tutor (he/she doesn't seem to understand what I asked anyway). Yea, in short, it's an enjoyable module but not easy to score. At all.

MA1102R Calculus
Your ol' pals differentiation and integration. This module would be a favourite among those who love calculus (duh) and yes, it is one of my cores again. It's fun to differentiate and integrate but damn, when you get assignments with really tough questions it's another story. What can I say, I spent 5-6 hours doing 8 questions being the average joe I am. So imagine me finding out that others finished theirs in 2 hours. Demoralising. Well, sad to say, I screwed up my midterms and got into the 25th and below percentile. You need to get 60+/70 to be in the 90th percentile and trust me, there are alot of those people out there. Maybe it's just me. Well, luckily the finals saved me and I've managed to get a B+ despite the terrible, terrible midterms. I think I slept through some of the lectures since lectures are usually after lunch. More importantly, if you're bad at calculus, it's better to get someone to 'teach' (in short copy) you the assignments since they're graded. I think my friend totally leeched off from my assignments and tutorials. Lol.

MA1101R Linear Algebra
You'll love this module if you love matrix and applications of matrix. Unfortunately, I don't. Which probably explain why I practically slept through the whole course. It's not the lecturer's fault I swear. In fact, the lecturer was really good. His lectures are really detailed and easy to comprehend (Yes, there's webcasts). All my doubts and questions on the concepts are clarified by watching the webcasts over and over again. And the questions in the textbooks are really useful too. It exposes you to the different types of questions you expect to see in the tests. The midterm was okay and the most surprising thing was: I scored best for this module. My only complaint was the tutor who didn't really explain the concepts behind the tutorial questions. It's more like a copy-the-answers session and even if students asked questions, there always seem to be a miscommunication. In fact, half the class disappeared after a few tutorials and the answers uploaded were actually more useful. A regret. I still dislike matrix though. But maybe not as much after the module.

GEK1517 Mathematical Thinking
A really interesting module. In fact, it made me feel like taking philosophy. Yep, the module is not really about maths but more on the history of maths and the famous philosophers like Descartes, Socrates etc. However, be warned, the examination involved calcuations and maths. And it was the first time I wrote an essay for a maths module. The lecturer is really engaging and interesting even though he may tend to repeat stuff many times. And he really dislike people talking, sleeping or getting too focused on examinations. In short, he doesn't like it when we become too exam-orientated as it defeats the purpose of learning for the sake of knowledge. Despite his habits (which may unintentionally offend some people), he is really a nice guy. Gave us hints and extra time during midterm. His tutorials are comprehensive too and if you don't understand, feel free to ask though he may not always give you a straight answer. You won't fail as long as you attempt AND attend his tutorials. In conclusion, a very interesting module where you learn about many achievements in science and creativity in science (really creative).

SP1202 Communicating with the Academy
Many people shunned this module when they learnt that it is a writing module. I didn't since I love language. In fact, I can't bring myself to hate writing (General Paper too) even though I suck at writing essays. Which is probably the reason why I can spend a whole day reading a bloody book on grammar and essays. Weird. Anyway, I didn't regret taking this module at all and I firmly believe that those who took it didn't either. It is a fun module with a class of about 10 people and the only module where you get to bond with your classmates and the tutor/lecturer as well. Throughout the module, one important task would be churning out a 3000 words essay. 3000 words may sound hard, but trust me, it's not enough. In fact, I had to take out one whole paragraph and further summarise to meet the target. And there's also a presentation to do. You may feel nervous presenting in front of a crowd but hey, you're not alone... everyone else who's presenting is nervous too! It's not as bad as one thinks since everyone in the class is practically your friend (including the teacher) and the things that are taught are really useful in the future, when you write reports and stuff.

It's just the beginning of my life in NUS. Hopefully, I'll be able to survive Semester two and continue my updates here.

2011-07-05T00:49:00.005+08:00

New blog, new skin, new pictures!