Time flies.

If computers talk

Hey.
"What?"
What you are loading on me is kind of heavy. And it is aggravating.
I checked the RAM indicator at the bottom-right corner. The number was dropping steadily. The green bar shortened every second until it turned red.
"Come on, just hang on for another few seconds. I just need a little time for Thunderbird. It's carrying an important message."
Remember that I am already very old and outdated. I can't handle modern programs well. Keep in mind that I belong to the last era."
The number continued dropping. It will reach a single digit in a short time.
"Hey, I fine-tuned you with many tools. I stuck to old software and portable software. I optimized your networking performance. I kept your memory defragmented. I installed a RAM manager to free up space in tight times. Isn't that enough to keep you cruising?"
No, Nova, no. If things were that easy to maintain, you wouldn't have to buy mechanical pencils from time to time.
Sigh.
"Yeah."
A moment of silence as the old machine struggled to hold on and I watched the mail program's progress bar. The RAM indicator continued displaying numbers in descending order.
"Too bad."
No, Nova, you shouldn't think like that. If things wreck fast, technology will advance faster. Humans will have an incentive to invent things. Isn't that good ?
"Are advances in technology considered good? I don't think so. Many side effects surfaced with the rise of technology."
Even if it isn't good, it is important.
The number dropped to a single digit. At the same time, the progress bar shows 91%.
At least it is for an outdated computer.
The number halted at 4 MB. That's the lowest digit it can show.
Correction:a very outdated computer.
The progress bar reached 93%.
"Come on ! Hang tight! Just a little more !"
I can't go on. I'm afraid you'll have to redo everything.
"No! No! Just 7% ! Finish it !"
The avast! antivirus icon that was animating beside the RAM indicator froze. I pushed the mouse. No reaction.
"Oh great. Again."

PERMATAPintar Recollection : Food & Beverage

Students had 6 meals a day: breakfast, tea, lunch, tea again, dinner and supper. Two years ago, all of us used a giant tent as a temporary cafeteria. All our meals were prepared there except for supper. Supper was directly delivered to our colleges.

In 2010, KUO utilised their own cafeteria which was located upstairs in the foyer. We had our breakfast, dinner and supper here. Tea and lunch were delivered to the facility we had our classes except on Saturdays and Sundays. On these days, we have them in the college.

For breakfast, we often had bread, nasi lemak and bihun. Lunch, during weekdays, was always in a plastic container. Rice, our staple diet appeared everyday except once when we had a western-style lunch. With the rice came meat in the form of fish or chicken and varied vegetables. Lunch and dinner in the college's cafeteria was often rice with a lot of dishes to choose from:vegetables, fruits, chicken curry, fried chicken, fish curry...(I forgot the rest). Let's make this simple : we ate buffets in the college.

For tea, we had a variety of little cakes and rolls, and some donuts as well.

In college, we often got to drink "teh tarik", syrup, coffee(in the morning) and sometimes they simply provided bottled water. Lunch and afternoon tea in the weekdays came with bottled water as well. On the other hand, tea in the morning came with a packet drink.

Conclusion : It was impossible to starve in such an environment.

PERMATAPintar Recollection : After

This year, I made my way again towards the holiday camp held by Pusat PERMATAPintar in UKM. It's only as long as 3 weeks, but a stay there makes one year elapse ahead of time. It matures me and makes me grow faster.

When I come out, I will never be the same. Life in Kolej Ungku Omar built my will power to do things I'll be reluctant to. As if I have a new switch installed in my control panel.

Will power is never unimportant. All our actions are fueled by motives. To follow motives that we like and we have to is easy, but to follow motives that we have to but don't like requires a match between mind and heart. Our psychology is a bit funny sometimes. We can get stuck in conditions like this. It seems a bit queer that our heart stops our brain sometimes in doing something essential. Will power is a source of fuel for the mind. Yes, we need mental strength to combat despair, pressure, fury and many other things, but don't you agree that we must first solve our internal conflict ?

I patched the tip of the iceberg, but I did not forget the part hidden under the water. I never set it aside. We are a mixture of emotions and rationality. Lose one, and don't consider yourself a living soul. I trust my instincts when I need them. When the brain freezes in a maze of confusion, the heart can always light a torch and lead the way out. I trust my heart as much as I trust my brain. And at the same time, I trust my heart to trust my brain and I trust my brain to trust my heart.

Through the Holiday Camp, I equipped my control panel with many new things. But are they sufficient for me to handle the year to come ? I don't know. I'll just ride through the bushes like a galloping horse, and pick up the berries on the way.

Happy Christmas.

150 meters

Tomorrow is Swimming Gala. Today I can't sleep. Really. Too excited. I never failed to sleep, no matter it is Robotics, Mighty Minds or exams waiting for me the next day. But not this time.

Tomorrow I will swim 150 metres in total, timed. It will be the best chance to wash my reputation of a bookworm.

For today, I kept looking at my watch and did a countdown: 19 hours to the start, 18 hours to the start...

Now I count another 11 hours. Argh! When will today end and tomorrow begin?