Jinified: I'm Back

 

- THIS IS A SHORT MOVIE -

Grab a bucket of popcorn and get ready to sail through the voices in my head

Finally Jinified is back after what it seems like an eternal break. I miss this blog so much and I felt really bad for neglecting this blog for quite some time. Let's get back to business, after I have officially settled down in Form 6. Talking about Form 6, I am glad we have a pretty strong lineup of teachers.For instance our class teacher is none other than Madam Saw who also teaches MUET. Besides that, we also have the female Einstein, Mrs Chong Lai Yoong. Most "frees" who apply for Physics are placed in 6RB. The class committee also consists mainly of "frees" and did I mention I was voted as the class treasurer, but I exchange with Zhen How for the post of secretary. This holiday comes at the right time when I needed to rejuvenate and prepare myself for some of great battles ahead. 

What is the plan ?

1. GVC 

Although the competition will commence on the 1st of October, but the planning is extremely crucial. I have done some really extensive research on the marking criteria. Maybe I will create a Wordpress blog solely for GVC where the public can share their ideas and thoughts. Besides that, starting from last year, the panel of judges has introduced a new criteria called Helping Focus. From my understanding, this requires the participating schools to help their community with what they are working on. In simple terms, community service. I was thinking of my pro-bono web design plan might be useful here. 

2. NRC 

This year National Robotics Competition Open Category theme is "Robot Improving Life". I am still in the process of laying down the framework for this project. From what I see, the theme could be interpreted in many ways and robots can be used in various ways. I wasn't really sure I should join this competition since the Form 6 classes will be going like bullet train. Somehow my heart is asking me to participate. 

3. School Magazine

I have decided to join the school Editorial board "officially" as the layout designer. at first i was reluctant to join the board because; firstly I really hate to be tied down and forced to be committed. And joining the board means i have to compromise my design for the likes of our great principal. Nevertheless, I join the board because for once I want to create a magazine that I truly want to buy. Who cares about limitation when you can kick reason in the face ? 

4. Designing T-Shirt 

I am planning to design t-shirt for Computer Club and maybe the sixth form society if they allow me to. I have all sorts of geeky ideas for the computer club t-shirt. As for the Form Six society, I don't think they want to label themselves as geeks.  

5. English presentation

Madam Saw gave us this assignment where the students have to find one newspaper article, news (documentary, talks or biography) and a movie. Then, they are required to present these 3 items in class by adding their personal opinions. I am really excited wit this project and the first thing that came to my mind is PowerPoint. I haven't touch this software for ages, and I would really like to use it once again to lay down my present my ideas. I hope what I'm going to talk about will inspire the class and learn something that will change their life. Talking in public always gives this creepy feeling which is like a cocktail with fear and ecstatic feeling. There is nothing wrong withe failures, because they don;t really care if you fail. For some clues on my presentation: Steve Job, gamestorming and hacking.

I know this is a pretty long post and if you didn't get lost in the sea of words; thank you. I just had to lash out all these thoughts in my mind before executing my plans. Maybe some of you were wondering how come studying is not included in my plan ? The reason is pretty simple, if I do that, you could probably call this a short movie instead of a blog post. And I detest the word studying because I don't study. Instead, I execute my plans and study should be treated like a strategy game. 

Happy Holiday !!!! 
 

Pengajian Am : Bab 1 : Konsep Kenegeraan

I will come out with a series of documents and tutorials for the following subjects for Form 6, which is Physics, Chemistry, General Paper & Maths T. I have designed a quiz & recall sheet for Paper 1 of General Paper which is equivalent to your History paper. How do you memorize the mountain load of information into your head ? The answer is, quiz & recall. Research has shown that traditional rote learning which involve repeated reading session is not effective at all. Let me share with you the quiz & recall method that I learn from studyhacks.org.

What is Quiz & Recall ?

This is a superb learning tool especially in tertiary education. This method works by creating a list of questions after reading one chapter of your material. Firstly, you skim through the entire text quickly before making a second round to come out with questions from the text itself. Then, read the material thoroughly before running over your homemade quiz & recall sheet. Try to answer the questions from your memory. I have just finished my quiz & recall sheet just now on General Paper; my version includes the sidebar which contains notes if you have forgotten some of the points. If you look properly, you might see something like (n) which indicates the number of points for the questions.This is the sample of my quiz and recall sheet.

BAB 1 : KONSEP KENEGERAAN

1.1 KONSEP NEGARA
Apakah maksud Negara	Masyarakat mendiami wilayah fizikal sempadan ditadbir diperintah kerajaan
Apakah ciri2 sesebuah Negara (6)	Penduduk tetap | sempadan | kerajaan teratur | kedaulatan | ideologi sendiri sistem pemerintahan
1.2 MALAYSIA SBG SEBUAH NEGARA
Nyatakan ciri2 Malaysia sbg negara (6)	Pemerintahan demokrasi | masyarakat berbilang kaum | sempadan | bebas | kedaulatan | ciri2 kenegaraan
1.3 SISTEM KERAJAAN
Apakah itu kerajaan	Menguruskan pentadbiran & pemerintahan negara
Kerajaan terdiri dpd	Kehakiman | eksekutif | perundangan
Ciri2  Konfederasi (6)	·       Kuasa di bawah kerajaan negeri ·       kerajaan negeri kuasa penentuan tinggi ·       kerajaan pusat kuasa terhad ·       wujud dasar perjanjian longgar btw ker pusat & ker negeri ·       perikatan jerman utara amal sistem ·       cth: Negeri2 Selatan Amerika Syarikat
Ciri2 Persekutuan  (4)	·       ker persketuan, ker negeri & ker tempatan gabung melaksanakan pentadbiran & permerintahan ·       setiap peringkat ker autonomi perundangan ·       kesemua ker menjalankan bidang kuasa tanpa gangguan ·       cth: Malaysia, Australia, Amerika, Perancis, India (MAAPI)
Ciri2 Kesatuan (3)	·       ker pusat kuasa dominan ·       ker pusat membatalkan perundangan yg dilulus peringkat kerjaan ·       cth: Great Britain, Malaysia, New Zealand (GAM)
Bagaimana mengelakkan pertindihan kuasa antara ker pusat & negeri	Pengenalan senarai persekutuan, negeri & bersama
1.4 JENIS2 KERAJAAN
Nyatakan 7 jenis kerajaan	Monarki | autokrasi | totalitarian | sosialis | republic | komunis | demokrasi berpalimen
Ciri2 Monarki (5)	·       kuasa penuh raja ·       raja berkuasa & keputusan sendiri ·       raja mempunyai kata putus ·       x  parti politik ·       cth:Brunei
Ciri2 Autokrasi (3)	·       diperintah individu atau badan politik ·       penduduk diperintah paksa & dihukum jika tidak menurut perintah ·       cth: Negara komunis spt Cuba, Korea Utara
Ciri2 Totalitarian (7)	·       pemilihan pemimpin bagi mengekalkan ideologi ·       banyak tanah jajahan ·       arahan pemimpin x ditentang ·       bersifat kemasyarakatan (mengutamakan rakyat jelata terutama golongan pendapatan rendah ·       x mementingkan hak peseorangan tetapi milik Negara ·       kegiatan ekonomi tehad mengikut kehendak permerintah ·       cth:Algeria, Laos
Ciri2 Republik (5)	·       presiden ·       x raja ·       doktrin pengasingan kuasa btw badan perundangan, eksekutif, kehakiman ·       perdana menteri dilantik mentadbir Negara ·       cth: India, Singapura
Ciri2 Komunis (5)	·       masyarakat sama dpd aspek social ·       x percaya tuhan ·       menhafal kekerasan ·       ekonomi dimiliknegarakan kepentingan bersama ·       cth:Korea Utara
Ciri2 Demokrasi Berpalimen (7)	·       pemimpin dipilih rakyat pilihan raya ·       rakyat mempunyai hak ·       konsep ker rakyat, oleh rakyat untuk rakyat ·       raja = ketua Negara, perdana menteri = ketua ker ·       kebebasan bersuara ·       Negara lain mempunyai ketua eksekutif , Presiden ·       Cth:Malaysia, Thailand
1.5 PENGASINGAN KUASA
Pengasingan kuasa juga dikenali	Doktrin Pengasingan Kuasa
Pengasingan kuasa melibatkan 3 aspek	Pentadbiran (eksekutif)| perundangan (legislative) | kehakiman (judisiari)
Nyatakan 3 tujuan pengasingan kuasa	·       Meyelaras pentadbiran & perundangan ·       Mengelakkan pemusatan kuasa instituisi atau individu ·       Mengelakkan penyalahgunaan kuasa instituisi atau individu
Siapa perkenalkan Doktrin Pengasingan kuasa	Montesquieu, ahli falsafah Perancis
Badan eksekutif terbahagi kpd  (2)	·       Ker pusat – diketuai YPA ·       Ker negeri – diketuai sultan/raja/Yamtuan Besar & Yang Di Pertuan Negeri
Badan pentadbiran terdiri dpd (2)	·       Ker pusat – Kabinet ·       Ker Negeri – Majlis Mesyuarat Kerajaan
Badan perundangan diberi kuasa oleh siapa	Parlimen kpd Peguam Negara
Badan kehakiman befungsi ..	Peguam Negara
Apakah fungsi Peguam Negara	·       Menasihati Jemaah Menteri berkenaan soal undang2
Bagaimana membentuk, melaksana & mengadili undang2 (3)	·       Badan perundangan – menggubal/meminda undang2 ·       Badan eksekutif – memerintah & menguatkuasakan undang2 ·       Badan kehakiman – mentafsir undang2
Jelaskan pembahagian kuasa Legislatif (3)	·       Peringkat persekutuan – Majlis Parlimen terdiri Dewan Negara & Rakyat ·       Peringkat negeri – Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) ·       Membuat & menggubal undang2
Jelaskan pembahagian kuasa eksekutif (3)	·       Peringkat perkutuan – Kabinet yg melaksanakan dasar kerajaan ·       Peringkat negeri – Majlis Mesyuarat Kerajaan Negeri (MMKN) ·       Merumus & melaksanakan dasar2 kerajaan
Jelaskan pembahagian kuasa Judisiari (2)	·       Mahkamah Atasan, Bawahan, Khas serta badan pengadilan atau tribunal ·       Menyemak undang2 | melaksanakan keadilan | membatal undang

Legend : x = tiada, btw = antara, ker = kerajaan,

                                                                                                                       

You can download this quiz & recall sheet from the link below

 http://www.mediafire.com/?47tsq427lzxldm4

 

Linux World : My Experience with Arch Linux

We were talking about Ubuntu in our last post.I guess it's time to share with you guys my experience with Arch Linux. Before I begin my storytelling session, please spend some time watching the videos below to make sure you stay on the same channel:

My Story 

I had installed Ubuntu on my laptop for about 5 months now, and the truth is I did not learn a single thing about Linux at all. The OS is great and the interface is very much like Windows. People from Windows background will really feel like home with the layout and software management system. Ubuntu provides new Linux users with the 'feel' of using Linux, but for someone who really wants to learn the command line or the working principles behind Linux; this is not for them. I am not saying you can't learn to use Linux shell with Ubuntu but the environment is simply not conducive. In Arch Linux, you are forced to setup your system from scratch and install every single components from the start. Did I mention that you don't even have a GUI after the full installation and you have to setup your network without a network manager ? I have to admit that I face many obstacles while trying to setup the system. Every single resistance becomes a golden opportunity for me to learn more about Linux itself. Enough talking, let's get down to business. 


What I learn from this process ? 

The most important lesson I learn is, trust in what is difficult. I sued to shy away from difficult task or any tutorial which requires hell lot of steps. These type of tutorial is so boring and I really could not commit myself to such thing. However, difficult task stretches you ability and make you grow so fast that you could not imagine yourself reaching that level in such a short amount of time.

Besides that, I learn a lot of basic linux command such as cd, cp, sudo, su, ls, pwd, mkdir, rm, iwconfig, ifconfig, and many more. The experience is so satisfying and truly geeky. If you need any tutorials, I would recommend the one below by ThisWeekInLinux:

Something more for you ...

Nothing beats the community of Arch Linux. You can find all sorts of problems with solutions on their forum. By the way, you should check out their Beginner's Guide for the installation. It is very detail and covers every single corner.  

Blog Hub : A Good Blogger - Passion

Announcement: I change the pace of my blog from posting every day to Monday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. i am doing this to ensure the quality of each post and also to focus more on my studies. 

A successful blogger keeps his or her blog updated consistently and always write with enthusiasm. From every single words written by a blogger, you can literally feel his excitement behind the screen while typing them out. The question is; how many bloggers blog from the bottom of their heart ? No doubt there are many good blogs out there, but have you read blogs which exist only for personal gain. I have came across countless blogs with myriad of advertisements to generate revenue. I am not saying bloggers should not monetize their blogs, but it has to be done with careful planning and not affecting your reader. Bloggers should abide by some rules to maintain the balance. For instance, they should NOT: 

1. Place ads near the navigation which might disrupt the usability of the blog
2. Place too many ads which are irrelevant to the content of the blog
3. Trick the readers into clicking the ads by placing it near certain links or pictures

Passion

The first step to become a successful blogger lies in your passion. You cannot fake passion and your readers can feel it from the way you write your blog, your willingness to go all out to present your knowledge with the world. If you don't have passion in topic such as photography, do not attempt to write a blog about photography. You will end up so stressed up trying to keep the blog updated. Sometimes you have the passion on certain topics, but you might lack the required knowledge. What do you do ? I say "Go for it ". 

Nobody is born equipped with library of knowledge. I believe your readers won't mind your lack of knowledge, instead they might be impressed with your courage. You may even meet some friends who will aid in your development. 


What are you waiting for ? Start blogging.

Geek Utopia : Installing Ubuntu

Today is certainly a big day for me. Operating on a stable, lightweight, fast and secure has been the dream of many computer users. I believe there is only one OS that could achieve such feat, yes you have guess correctly; it's the brain child of Linus Torvalds, Linux. I have previously deal with Ubuntu, now I am switching to Arch Linux which is more ........geeky. You are required to customize the installation manually, unlike its counterparts like Ubuntu, Fedora, Mint, OpenSUSE and many more which are more install-friendly. I will share with you my experience with Ubuntu.

Entering the magical world of Linux 

I still remember my initial attempt to install Ubuntu on my desktop computer few years ago. After searching for comments here and there, I finally decided to settle with Ubuntu which is similar to Windows in terms of GUI. Dual booting my Windows Xp with Ubuntu seems to be the best way to experiment with the OS. The installation is really easy and straight forward. It can be summarized below:

1. Download the LiveCD from Ubuntu website here
2. You can either choose to burn the iso or boot it using your USB. I personally prefer the later because it is so much faster and convenient.
3. You can download this software unetbootin which enables you to boot your iso from your thumbdrive
4. Then, you are required to customize your BIOS to boot from USB. Normally, you have to follow the command on your screen as different BIOS have their own keyboard shortcut to enter the BIOS
5. You will be greeted with a usable Ubuntu without any installation as soon as you boot up. This is the great thing about LiveCD which enables you to play with the OS before deciding to install it on your computer
6. Just click on the install file on your desktop if you really want to try out Ubuntu. You can specify how much space it occupied during the installation. I give my 5 GB space.
7. Done. Everytime you boot up your PC, you will be prompted with two different OS. You just dual boot Ubuntu with Windows.

Something more for you ...

I know the tutorial might be a little too short or less informative compared to others. The tutorial is presented this way to enable you to find further information on certain steps from Google by yourself. This definitely makes the process so much more fun and satisfying. I will include some videos on dual booting Ubuntu with Windows below:

 

 

Form 6 Here we come

What happened today ? 

Since there is nothing to share about the registration, I will try to type out every single event that occur throughout the day from my memory.

0800 - I can see the 'gang' gathering at the school canteen. Roger, Esmond, Zhen How and Way Hup were sitting and talking with each other. Apparently, they arrived at 7.30 but since the registration starts at 9, I had decided to come at 8 instead. We were discussing about the combination of subjects we are taking and trying to imagine life of Form 6. 

0900 - The registration took place at Dewan Kuliah instead of the usual school hall. At first we could only see some students occupying front rows. In a few seconds, people started swarming into the hall. Many parents were caught outside the hall, waiting eagerly for their children to settle down. They were five teachers sitting across the room. Each teacher is in charge of different schools. For Penang Free School, we are suppose to register under Puan Retnamala. Before the registration, we were been told that school will start on next Monday and we are required to bring the Borang Ikrar Pelajar. I can see the principal has decided to implement the 'Hanif' style.  

0930 - Zhen How, Way Hup, Roger and I decided to chill out at McDonald. We spent our time talking about JPA, tuition, politics, football and many more stupid topics. We even met Jun Leong and he just arrived to school at 9.30. 


Bad News
 

Registration is extremely boring and we were allowed to leave after it. That's all. We are supposed to start orientation next week because the school is having their exam. I think we will barely learn anything in May, which puts us ONE week behind everybody since most of the school had already started their orientation this week. I believe we also looking at one week of holiday starting at the end of May. Besides that, I heard that the school may close down one Biology class because the amount of students taking the subjects is quite small


Good News 
 

Can we finish our syllabus before final exam ? Let's keep our fingers cross and hope that the teachers and students can corporate to make this happen. So what if we are down one week behind every schools, we will compensate that with our teachers with high level of experience and not to mention, the students who possess unmatchable persistence and "true grit". I believe the Frees will chase the gap and finish the syllabus in time. I am planning to take Physics, Chemistry, Maths T and General Paper. Hopefully this generation will ace the STPM next year. All the best to everyone

Jinified: 2 Days Before Form 6

I am planning to use Saturday & Sunday to play all I want and also set aside some time to tinker over my plan. Actually, I am planning to do some pro-bono web design for teachers who might need their own blog or Wordpress. I will focus the idea on our school first. My plan is to involve the computer club members so they will gain experience from their work. Anyway, this is just a basic idea. Anyone can give me their comment on this issue ?

There will be no posts for this Saturday & Sunday since I am preparing my mind & soul for Form 6. A great battle is waiting for me, albeit have to do some preparation. On Monday, I will definitely tell you guys how is my Form 6 registration. See you guys then. 

Webified : HTML 5 Vol # 2

Last week, we were talking about the impact of HTML 5 on modern web design and the flexibility it provides to web designers to do more with limited resources. Today I am going to show you some basic HTML 5 tags and some implementation which will greatly improve your web design experience. 

!DOCTYPE
In any html file, the item on top of the list is definitely the doctype declaration. When I first started writing html code, I was so confuse with the types of doctype available such as: HTML 4.01 Transitional, XHTML 1.0 Strict etc. I was befuddled by all the declarations, thus I resolved to using Dreamweaver which let me handpick any declaration without the need to copy from W3C website. In order to use HTML 5, you only need this declaration below:

<!DOCTYPE html>

Header

Here is a comparison of a web design done in HTML 4 compared to HTML5.

HTML 4

<div id="header">

<h1>This is a header</h1>

</div>

HTML 5

<header>

<h1>This is new header</h1>

</header>

If you think the banner in your web design is the only elements that can be used under the <header> tag, then you are seriously wrong !According to the application of <header> by W3C specification:

“The header element represents a group of introductory or navi-
gational aids ... Note: A header element is intended to usually
contain the section’s heading (an h1–h6 element or an hgroup
element), but this is not required. The header element can also
be used to wrap a section’s table of contents, a search form, or
any relevant logos.”

 

Let's wrap it up until here. Nest week, we will talk about <section>, <article> and other features. Before that, remember to visit my blog tomorrow to catch the latest plan for Jinified

 

  

 

  

 

My Experience : How do I download so many stuff as a student ?

Let me tell you the secret to my assemblage of software, songs, ebooks, videos, pictures etc. Some wonder where do I find the time to do all this things especially since I am still a student. This is what I do throughout my high school life:

1. Wake up as early as possible, my time is 5 o'clock or sometimes I can wake up at 4.
2. Let my computer do the job at night
3. Finish all homework at school
4. Decline invitation to hang out
5. Boot up the computer the moment I come back from school
6. Spend the weekends staring into the computer

Firstly, some of you might think I am totally isolated from friends due to my extreme lifestyle.Luckily, I spent a lot of time talking crap at school and most my friends simply don't bother to ask me out after being turned down. See, I have a reason for not coming out. 

The Setbacks 

I suffer from extreme laziness around 1 o'clock. I could hardly keep

my eyes open in class especially during Sejarah. Besides that, this is extremely draining physically and mentally to keep yourself awake. Therefore, I have decided to leave this lifestyle behind. Don't get me wrongly, I will continue my research whenver possible, but I found a better way around this; the polyphasic sleep technique. 

The Revolution 

After Form 5, I made huge attempt to re-organize my life and introduce a lot of good habits into my "system". One of them is to include power naps in my routine. Do you know that a nap of 20 minutes is sufficient to rejuvenate your mind and body ? I have been a user of power naps and the result is simply amazing. While writing my blog, designing a poster, writing codes, or studying,  a power nap will provide me with stamina to continue the momentum. This is simply extremely crucial, because focus is everything when it comes to creative activities.  

Something more for you...

Here is a prelude to what I am going to talk about tomorrow:

1. Polyphasic Sleep : Facts & Myths