Journey after SPM

DISCLAIMER: This post is going down a very long-winded road. Grab a coffee or something before reading this because it will easily eat up 10 minutes of your time. It is only appropriate that I share with you guys my personal experience after SPM, albeit I have decided to commit a post for this issue. Listening to Melody Gardot while writing this blog gives me endless stamina to keep writing.

# after the exam
I could only use my computer for one day after the Biology paper. Next day, I was strolling on the street of Ipoh city with my father for two days. The vacation was great and relaxing but I really.........miss my computer for the two days. After coming back from Ipoh, my hands were glued to my Logitech keyboard for two days straight (playing Devil May Cry 3). My daily routine is basically wake up, switch on the computer, watch tv, eat, sleep and the cycle remains unbroken for two weeks. 

# working

Some pocket money is always nice. Therefore, I started working in GNC Live Well on 3rd of January 2011. First day of work was really inspiring and it dawned on me that communication skill is vital to closing a deal. There are over 300 products in the store and I had to understand every single detail from the dosage, benefits, features to the range of promotions we were running at the same time. I made a lot of mistakes during my first week with GNC. My worst enemy is the fear to persuade a stranger to buy your products. I am proud that I had managed to speak to customers on my first day of work. My initial impression of sales life is not a very good one. I always view them evil, negative and selfish beings, but it turned out to be quite the opposite. In GNC, we always maximise saving for our customers  no matter how much they buy. Besides that, we ask questions before recommending a products to the customer. We never push a product just for the sake of the incentive itself. I will like to quote words of wisdom from Ziglar, "they don't care how much you know until they know how much you care". The profession of a sales person is never about blurting out all the benefits or features of products. In contrast, we always relate the condition and lifestyle of customers to the features and benefits of our products. I am working at the rate of 8 hours for 6 days a week. Finally, I am able to comprehend the true meaning of tiredness. I insist on working on my personal projects after working because everybody should always have their personal goals. There is no meaning in one's life if he spend the rest of his life working for his company. There are many people who complain about insufficient time in their life due to restrictions and conditions. In my opinion, you do something because you want to not because you have to. Therefore, invest time for your personal growth and be selfish; say NO to request from friends or employers.

# tertiary education

After some extensive research on subjects like Form Six, Foundation, Matriculation and Diploma, I found STPM very challenging. I really miss Penang Free School and all the teachers. Besides that, doing Form Six will give me significant amount of time to hone my computational skill before enrolling in a degree program. Although entering a Foundation program will provide a better exposure, but I prefer learning at my own pace while studying in Form Six. The experience in Form Six will definitely make my life easier during my degree program. Maybe is it just me that enjoy doing something difficult, but I am not saying that A-level is easy at all. Lastly, one last factor that made me choose Form Six is because I really wanted to win 1st place in Global Virtual Classroom competition. 

Good Luck to all my friend

Study Hack Vol #1: Education from my point of view

 // Intro
Suddenly, I felt the urge to write something on hacking your study method. I am a curious man; a very curious one you could say. Last week, I was on my quest to find some hacks around the most fearsome subject of teenagers around the world; STUDY.

// Problem
In this 21st century, it is weird that parents never focus on the art of studying but rather put the spotlight on particular subjects such as mathematics, physics, biology or social studies. I find the trend very alarming and their approach is not viable at all. Malaysian parents tend to send their children to "tuition center" where the parents imagine their children will be churning extra information out from their tutors. Th reality is most students spent their time talking or chatting with friends in the tuition center. Talking among friends  by any means is not wrong in this situation. The parents may as well organize a party twice a week instead of sending their children for tuition. 

// Is it the fault of tuition teachers ?
My answer will be a big "No". I don't think tuition teachers especially good ones should be held accountable for a simple misconception from the parents. The thought of sending a child to tuition will improve his or her grades is a complete nuisance. Everybody learn at a different pace and rhythm. For instance, two students of the same age will never progress at the same rate as their counterpart, albeit I always idolize an independent style of study. I will go as far as calling it the art of studying. If study is a art, creativity will definitely play a big part in the equation. Enthusiasm and creativity are the main ingredients in Independent study. 

// How do you do it ? 
Firstly, your biggest obstacle will inevitably be you, and of course your dear parents. Try everything in your power to convince your parents in the advantages of Independent study. Once you have managed to get them to your side, half of the battle has been won. Next, you can follow these simple steps to achieve a freestyle study lifestyle:

1.   Find the syllabus of your particular course or subject from the teacher in charge

2. Create a date/action plan which constitutes of goal oriented study session.

3. Set goals for every session and try to break down your goal into smaller goals. Doing this will make you feel less pressured.

4. Create a review sheet for each chapter which is formed based on the syllabus .

5. Integrate your study schedule about 1 month before your exam. 

CSS 3 : A Simple Experiment

Today I would like to show you guys some features i have explored during last weekends. There are tons of new features been introduced into CSS 3. From all the amazing features, I am blown away by the ability of a web designer to create animation and transition using pure CSS3; how cool is that ? You can visit the amazing CSS3 Animation done by a genius(not me)below:

You can only see the animation using Safari 5, Google Chrome 10 or Firefox 4.

http://www.optimum7.com/css3-man/animation.html

Story of Him: My Forbidden Weapon

 -Genesis-

A forbidden weapon has been bestowed upon me. I will perform my labor dating from tomorrow till the end of time, shouldering the weight of greatness. The weapon is an enigma; he hides endless of potentials behind his metal shell. His shell is tattooed with these letters C-O-O-L-E-R-M-A-S-T-E-R. His body is powered by the heart of Intel Core i7-2600 and 8GB of ram has been inserted deep into his core. A ASUS P8P 67-LE USB 3.0 motherboard relays million of information per second in the body to provide godly speed in reaction. What good is a weapon if his fang is blunt ? He has the fang of an ASUS ATI Radeon HD 6850 and attached with a Coolermaster Silent Pro 700W power supply. I believe Excalibur will be erased from the history book if there is no Arthur in his chronicle of life. Therefore, I shall wield Him with pride and slay everything in my way.

Software Galore:Ommwriter - A minimalist writer

Recently I just discovered a new software called Ommwriter. It is a minimalist writing program which creates a tranquil ambient for those looking for a relaxing writing environment. There is more, you can actually choose different lounge music from the selections. Do you know you can also alter the sound of your keyboard to your liking ?
One of the feature i enjoy most is the ability to switch backgrounds; you can actually change background of your Ommwriter in accordance to your mood. I have embedded an introduction video below:

Be Productive: Haiku

 the old pond, 

a frog jumps in,

sound of water 

                   - Matsuo Basho

Not long ago I was reading some posts on Zen Habits. The word haiku
caught my attention; haiku is defined as a very short poetic form, consisting of three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables each, and must have a special word which evokes the season. My first impression of haiku is a very naive one; I always think haiku can only be written by professional.

My research on haiku proved my initial hypothesis wrong because haiku can be written by anyone, regardless of races and genders. Writing haiku hones one's ability to express his creativity in the most simple and concise form. The limitation of syllables in haiku forces its writer to play carefully with their choices of word.

Maybe some of you may view haiku as unattractive seems each sentence does not really create any pattern or rhythm. In my opinion, haiku is simple and beautiful because it paints picture in your mind.

I will post my own haiku on Monday, maybe you guys would like to give haiku a shot. Just visit the links below to learn more about writing haiku.

Resources:
http://haiku.cc.ehime-u.ac.jp/~shiki/Start-Writing.html
http://howtowriteahaiku.wordpress.com/tag/quick-tutorial/
http://www.modernhaiku.org/mhbooks/gurgaHPG2003.html

Being Productive: Rituals of Creative Minds

Ritual
Do you have lay out a set of rules for your life ? Do you feel weird or uneasy when you miss your morning coffee ?

Does the question above gives a bang in your head ? Sounds familiar ?
People are so absorbed into their daily schedule up to a point where some routines have been turn into auto-pilot mode. I will call this routines that constantly replay itself over and over again as ritual.
Different people have their respective rituals; some had to drink a cup of coffee in the morning while some prefer to hit the day with some music. Nevertheless, these rituals will serve as one's source of inspiration and at the same time reflects one's identity.


Application
How do you use ritual to your advantage ? In my opinion, rituals helps to instill order and solitude in anyone life. I have with me below a list of rituals from creative minds.

1. Addicted to note cards
Those are the people who write down their ideas on note cards so they can play with the sequence here and there. I find the idea very intriguing as you can arrange, group or even break ideas apart. Note cards will prove to be quite an ingenious idea.

2. Write 10 pages a day
This is a particular ritual of Mr Stephen King. He will devote himself to 10 pages of writing per day before calling it a day. From the list of best seller he had written, you can see that this method is really his ace.

3. Work early in the morning
Many creative minds prefer to work in the morning where there are no distractions and the morning air seems resonates with their inner genius. I really admired this ritual ad have since try hard to include it into my list of rituals.

4. Asking questions 
Most of the people who excel in their line of work begin his or her day by asking themselves a question. The question can encompasses objective, achievement and also other stuff.

Care to share with us your rituals.

Jinified: Final Prototype

Please click on the image to see the real prototype.



This is the final prototype of Jinified. Please feel free to comment but I definitely won't change the core concept. The final logo should be done on Friday.

In my opinion, this logo reflects the ideas behind Jinified which is:

Simple

Open

Formless

Jinified: Fall of The Giant

 

"The entity called failure seems to wear a negative aura around it and those who approach him will be sucked into a vortex of dismay. Some feel powerless before him and submit to his influence, while there are those who kick "Failure" in the face. I truly hope all my friends embrace failure and live a better life."

Today, I would like make my failures into the public for there is no better way to improve yourself other than announcing your own failure. Last week was an unproductive week for me after I have gone through my review session. Many tasks had failed to be executed and completed within the deadline I set. I hope the blog will serve as a journal for me to record down my mistakes and serve as a device to push myself even further. After some analysis, I have listed loopholes and failure that have been committed last week. 

1. Jinified's Logo

Too much time has been spent on designing the logo and in the end I face a serious problem when the time calls for real action. Initially I had used Photoshop as my primary design tool. The major problem is a logo should be designed using a vector software like Illustrator. Therefore, I have to check out some tutorials before been familiar with Illustrator. This might be a failure but an opportunity pops up that allow me to learn to design in other software besides Photoshop. 

2. Distractions

Too much time has been spent online feeding my curiosities in everything I came across. I have trouble focusing on my task at hand because suddenly I will find myself checking the latest tips and tricks from some tech websites. I just spent so much time collecting tutorials, videos and books without actually make full use of the. ( If you need any books or tutorials on graphic design, web design, programming, hacking, chess, psychology, science, blogging, and interview please leave a message on my blog or facebook at jinified@gmail.com)

3. Planning

I am a guy who enjoys planning everything and execution is really not my thing. Therefore, my planning that has been carefully crafted always fall apart. I believe the techniques I acquired in my search for the holy grail of productivity is really useful to tackle a lot my problems. I have realized that being productive is not important compared to being effective. For instance, one can be unorganized and still get the his job done simply because he possess the drive to finish things up. My favorite phrase to counter this endless web of productivity is "Crush It" by Gary Vaynerchuk. Sometimes we should just crush things that we wanted to do instead of spending so much time procrastinating on a particular problems. 

Improvements

Enough with the failures that I have committed. Here I would like to share with you might successes after applying my framework of productivity:

Jog around my house every morning 

Drink a cup of oatmeal every morning ( this an amazing achievement since I really I hated oatmeal long time ago. It is really good for the heart )

Record my expenses in my finance book

Blog three times a week

Meditate very morning

Writing journal to record any new ideas 

Announcing my failures to the public

Sync all my three computers with the same content

Conclusion

Failure is not scary, embrace it.Commit more mistakes because there are no heavy consequences when you commit them now as a student. The world is very forgiving and take the opportunity to try out different things before working in the real world. I am also learning to use Wordpress as we speak. Lastly, I will like to quote Harry McKenna from the movie "The Mechanic" and it sounds like this:

Amat Victoria Curam 

( Victory loves careful preparation )

Jinified: Last Revelation I

A logo is merely a visual representation of a company, thus the process of designing the logo should not weight more than the construction of the company itself. Procrastination does not signifies laziness because when someone procrastinates over an issue, it shows that he or she really cares deeply in the issue. When procrastination sticks to someone for too long, it will create a never-ending maze around its host.

In my case, my passion for Jinified has delayed the launch of Jinified logo. Yesterday, i had decided to post the logo in my next post on Thursday. I just need a little extra time to finalize the design and make it presentable. Therefore, I am not procrastinating.