An Inspiration For Us All

"If it rains, runners shall stop running but I will continue"

Dr William Tan

This is a very inspirational quote from Dr William Tan.

As part of the NUS Centennial Celebrations, Dr William Tan, an NUS alumnus will attempt to

clock the fastest time for 100 km in a wheelchair around the NUS track on 18 September 2005.

Through this event, he hopes to raise more money towards the $1.5 million target to establish a

Professorship in Paediatric Oncology at NUS. As with NUS' 100 years into the making, Dr William

Tan hopes that every kilometer in his ultramarathon will generate interest in the field of

Paediatric Oncology and give hope to children with cancer.



For further updates, visit this website:

http://www.nus.edu.sg/centennial/challenge/ultramarathon.htm

Er Ling 05 and Express Boy

I simply adore Taiwan Series. 2 more Taiwan Series coming up, one on 27 Aug 05 which is tonight and another in Sep 05.

1) Er Ling 05(27 Aug 05)
2) Express Boy(Sep 05)

First about Er Ling:

子良（李威飾）和宇文（TAE 飾）在前世都是西藏武僧，負責在「瑪旁雍錯湖」邊看守蓮華生大師遺留於人間的寶物「舍利子」，豈料、遇上了來盜取寶物好解救父母生命的卓瑪（洪小鈴飾），一陣打鬥後，卓瑪身負重傷、奄奄一息，兩人不忍取她性命，反為卓瑪治病，於是三人之間的情感糾葛、錯綜複雜，他們體驗到了最磨人的愛恨得失，最後導致兩人失職，於是「舍利子」從此散落世界各地，因愧失職守，子良跟宇文走入湖心，而這段三角戀情最後盡也成了遺憾…

　　生死流轉，當三人再度轉世之後，子良（李威飾）身邊已有個在一起八年的女朋友以珍（林立雯飾），兩人不知為何被『恐怖的地獄之門』所纏上，而亞薇（洪小鈴飾）甚至因此被喚醒前世記憶，但因為她與以珍已成了好朋友，所以亞薇不忍傷害以珍，一度想放棄子良，但兩人前世刻骨銘心的愛情卻讓兩人無法輕易割捨對彼此的眷戀，終究還是讓以珍察覺出兩人的曖昧異狀…

　　以珍在宇文一番解釋後，知道了事情的來龍去脈，她痛苦矛盾，既無法責備子良的背叛，又無法釋懷亞薇的刻意隱瞞，在忐忑不安、且三個人都痛苦的情緒中，子良終於下定決心娶以珍，只是一番折騰後，婚禮前夕、子良還是開口表示他無法跟以珍在一起，以珍崩潰……她抓住子良的手問子良，難道她八年的愛情真比不上那三百年前的驚鴻一瞥？

　　因果輪迴支配著他們的愛恨糾葛，而這場前世今生的愛恨情仇，令人屏息以待……

Some Screenshots:












Next, is Express Boy:

劇情概述：



曾是台湾第一黑帮少帮主的胡铁男，出狱后发心作好人，开了一间「恶男宅急电」快递公司。





「恶男宅急电，不管大小件，送到全世界！」是「恶男宅急电」工作的最高指导原则。以送礼物的心情，将温馨快递到每一个收件人的面前！是胡铁男终极目标！




两年来，铁男一直开心地做着热心助人的快递工作，也收留了许多边缘少年，引领他们走上正途，没想到因为收留李Sir（李锦标）布在大脚帮里的线人龙眼，因而再度卷入黑帮纷争之中。虽然这个从小一起长大的好友亲手抓过铁男三次，最后一次还将铁男送进监狱，多年来俩人亦敌亦友、惺惺相惜，在他们内心深处都知道，他们会是最终的朋友。




胡铁男带领着飞龙、伟爵爷、龙眼、欧咕，以及后来加入的两个女孩Elva和麦麦，共同经历了无数的任务和难关。他们不仅在任务中学习到如何解决困难、帮助他人、关怀生命，更重要的是，他们找到了自我人生的方向。




胡铁男对于工作热情有劲，遇到困难勇往直前！但对于爱情学分却是严重的不及格，对于自小心仪的苏蓉蓉，始终无法明确清楚的表达对蓉蓉的爱恋！而蓉蓉对于李锦标的痴恋就像船行于泥沼中无法自拔！李锦标走不出因自己的疏失导致挚爱的妻子命丧在自己眼前的阴影，无法接受蓉蓉纯纯的爱意！




铁男、蓉蓉和李锦标之间形成了一种微妙的三角感情关系。




铁男和蓉蓉在经历过风风雨雨，原本渐入佳境的他们，却因为蓉蓉与铁男的家族背景，使得两人产生势不两立的艰难局面！…她和铁男能够有情人终成眷属吗？李锦标又将情归何处？

TVBS-G 9月5日起周一至周五晚播出

Sceenshots:

Priority Tasks

I want to list out the tasks that I need to complete and to prepare for the coming tutorials in school.

1) Finish tutorial 1 for Logic module. 1st tutorial is to identify the missing premises in the sentences. Before identifying the missing premises, first have to list out the premises and conclusions of the sentences in order to be able to see more clearly what is the missing premise.

2) Finish up the essay for the movie "I not Stupid" for Sociolinguistics. Have to list out 1-2 page summaries on 3 major issues that sociolinguists are concerned with and discuss them in relation to the movie.

3) Finish reading the asterisks articles for Geographical Imagination topic in order to do tutorial 1, which is to critically access the PM's Nation Day Message 2005 using the materials from articles.

Important Concept:

Geographical Imagination: The way we understand the geographical world and the way in which we represent it, to ourselves and to others. (Massey. 1995:41)

4) Read the corresponding reading materials for Theories of Communication and New media for lecture 1 again and understand the concepts used.

I want to blog about this issue:

3 arrested for illegal distribution of copyright songs on Internet.

Related news 1:

SINGAPORE : For the first time, three men have been arrested for the illegal distribution of copyright songs on the Internet.
The Intellectual Property Rights Branch of CID (Criminal Investigation Department) acted on information received from the Recording Industry Association of Singapore.

The three suspects, aged between 16 and 22, were found to have illegally distributed songs in digital format on an Internet Relay Chat channel.

They configured a computer programme to send broadcast messages to IRC chatters, inviting them to download songs from their computers.

Persons found guilty of illegally distributing copyright materials are liable to a fine not exceeding $10,000 per article, and a maximum fine of $100,000.

They can also face a jail term of up to five years or both. - CNA/de

Related News 2:

Thursday August 18, 4:06 PM

By Nur Dianah Suhaimi

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Three Internet users have been arrested in Singapore and charged with distributing digital music files in the city-state's first crackdown on illegal file sharing, Singapore police said on Thursday.

The three young men who were arrested, between the ages of 16 to 22, had shared more than 20,000 files in internet chatrooms.

It was the first time Singapore police have clamped down on web surfers who download pirated music and films since new copyright laws came into effect in January this year.

Under the amended Copyright Act, anyone who illegally downloads files on a "commercial scale" could face criminal charges, including five years in jail and fines of up to

S$100,000.

Police were tipped off by the Record Industry Association of Singapore (RIAS), an association representing local and foreign record companies. The suspects used an Internet chat program as well as a music-sharing program to distribute the music files, a police statement said.

RIAS, which conducts constant checks to curb illegal file sharing told Reuters it has sent warning letters to those engaged in illegal file-sharing on the Internet.

"Prosecution was a last-resort measure," said RIAS Chief Executive Officer Andrew Neubronner.

Industry analysts say the rollout of high-speed broadband Internet in Asia, particularly in countries with high piracy rates like China, India and Indonesia, has sent the number of people downloading free music off the Web spiraling up by millions a month -- and recorded music sales to tumble.

Singapore has one of the world's highest Internet penetration rates, with over 60 percent of its 4.2 million people living in homes wired to the Internet.

Related News 3:

Friday August 19, 1:12 AM

Three Singaporeans were arrested for illegally sharing 20,000 MP3 songs over the Internet, marking the first time home computer users who do not profit from swapping digital music are targetted in the fight against piracy, police said.

Acting on a tip-off in March from the Record Industry Association Singapore (RIAS), a trade body representing record companies, police monitored the trio, including a 16-year-old student, before making the arrests in pre-dawn raids Wednesday, a police statement said.

The three men were arrested at their respective homes where police found four computers and one laptop with 20,000 MP3 music files for distribution over a chat channel on the Internet.

"This operation, which is a first for the police, is part of police enforcement efforts with rights owners in tackling music piracy," the statement said.

"The police will work closely with rights owners to take to task persons who think they can exploit the faceless and anonymous features of the Internet to perpetuate such activities."

The Straits Times newspaper on Thursday quoted RIAS chief executive Edward Neubronner as saying the three offenders had ignored repeated warnings from the music trade body to stop swapping music files over the chat channel.

Under Singapore's toughened laws against music piracy that came into effect in 2005, the three could face jail terms of up to five years and fined as much as 100,000 Singapore dollars (60,606 US).

I want to say how can these people still want to be so bold to still serve music files to the public even after the new copyright law is in effect already this year. And they have even received a warning letter before. So they should have stopped the illegal activities already having been warned once.

Well, after this incident of the 3 persons been arrested, all the IRC channels serving illegally copyrighted music has get the message from the authorities. People will stop only when a strong deterrent message is passed to them, in this case the news that 3 youngsters have been arrested for distributing 20,000 music songs to the public. I can't really see any more IRC channels that serve music files in Singapore from now on.

Planning on getting a Benq DW1640 DL DVD burner soon. Because the current burner is two years plus, and some problem in burning dvds, but I can't find out if it's the system problem which I suspect but cannot solve it.

Introduction To Sociolinguistics

So, if you really want to hurt me, talk badly about my language. Ethnic identity is twin skin to linguistic identity - I am my language. Until I can take pride in my language, I cannot take pride in myself.

(Anzaldúa, 1987, p.59)

Today's lecture at LT14 at 10-12 pm.

Lecturer is called Associate Professor Christopher Stroud. His lecturing style is completely different from A/P Mohana's style. Using only a few transparencies, he can teach the lecture. Transparencies are not very clear though. Most of the time he spends talking to us, not many notes to show us unlile Mohana's lecture.

Sociolinguistics is the study of how variation in language use relates to broader variation in the daily experiences of individuals and groups. We learn how language constructs cultural abstractions such as social class, gender, and power relations and how these abstractions play out in language varieties and shape their defining characteristics. The module should appeal to students who wish to explore the interaction of language and society by drawing on linguistics, sociology, anthropology, and psychology, and to understand the practical implications of language variation for language policy and language education in multilingual societies such as Singapore.

There is a compulsory text for this module called Introduction To Sociolinguistics by Suzanne Romaine.



Sat beside a Japanese Exchange Student who is doing his PHD and taking this module as his current studying module in Singapore. His name is called Kenji. Even though he can speak english, it's still a bit hard for me to communicate with him because of some language barrier.

This module lecture is pretty slack and the lecturer will not provide us with comprehensive notes which means that we have to do and make a lot of notes for ourselves to study. We also have to watch My Sassy Neighbour on TV and post our comments on forum as a group, while other groups will respond to our comments. I think there will be also 1 major project for this module soon to be announced after we get to tutorial groups and settle down. Not much students taking this module. Quota for lecture is 96. Mainly students majoring in EL or taking this module out of interest or overseas exchange students taking it which is related to their main course of study, etc. Next week's lecture Prof Chris will not be here, and we'll be viewing a video instead. Pretty slack, but cannot we cannot become slack ourselves.

After lecture has ended, went to look at all the other tutorial rooms and where are they for my other modules that I have secured for this semester. Then finally went for haircut and headed for home.

Introduction To Logic

In a republican nation, whose citizens are to be led by reason and persuasion and not by force, the art of reasoning becomes of the first importance.

- Thomas Jefferson

Today school reopens. First day of 2005/06 Semester one. What a great feeling to finally go back to studies again after such a long holiday.

Today's lecture is at LT8 4-6. Newly renovated LT8, chairs are really very comfy. The only drawback is that aircons are much stronger now.

Have to thank Jieting for helping me buy the dvds and also the New Media reading package for me.

Basically the first lecture is just introduction to the course proper.

There is a total of 12 lectures and 9 tutorial sections which are not compulsory.

Important terms and concepts:

Argument: It's a piece of reasonsing with a set of statements, one of which(the conclusion) is maintained to be true on the strength of the others(the premises)

Argument=premises+conclusion.

Every argument has exactly one conclusion and at least one preimise.

Conclusion-indicator: A word or phrase signaling the presence of a conclusion(in an argument).
Examples are "therefore", "so", "hence"', "thus", "it follows that", "as such", "we may conclude that", and so on.

Premise-indicator: A word or phrase signaling the presence of a premise(in an argument)
Examples are "since", "because", "as", "for", "due to the fact that", and so on.

Enthymeme: An argument, one of whose premises(or perhaps even the conclusion) is implcitly suppressed, though intended as present.

Arguments have structure. If you are arguing for something(a certain claim), you should be clear on the structure of your own argument. Likewise, if someone else is arguing for something, and you wish to rebut that argument, then you should be clear on what the structure of that person's argumnet is.

An argument is deductive just in case it is intended that the conclusion is guranteed by the premises.

If the conclusion is indeed guranteed by the premises, then the argument is (said to be) deductively valid. Otherwise, it is deductively invalid.

An argument is inductive just in case it is intended that the conclusion is made probable(though not guranteed) by the premises.

If the conclusion is indeed made probable by the premises, then the argument is(said to be)inductively strong. Otherwise it is inductively weak.

Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire Movie

The first teaser poster for the movie Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Retrieved from The Leaky Cauldron.
http://the-leaky-cauldron.org/

© Copyright 2005 Warner Brothers

Official Website:

http://harrypotter.warnerbros.com/gobletoffire/index.html

The 2005 film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is being directed by Mike Newell and will be released on November 18 2005.

Tagline: Difficult times lie ahead, Harry.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Directed by Mike Newell
Written by J.K. Rowling (novel)
Steve Kloves (screenplay)

Starring Daniel Radcliffe
Rupert Grint
Emma Watson

Produced by David Heyman
Distributed by Warner Brothers
Release date November 18, 2005
Runtime 150 min (estimated)
Language English
Budget $130,000,000
(estimated)


Plot overview

The Quidditch World Cup

In this movie, Harry Potter spends the end of his summer with the Weasleys in anticipation of the Quidditch World Cup. During the World Cup, a group of Death Eaters attack a number of Muggle bystanders, but flee when the Dark Mark - Voldemort's sign - mysteriously appears above them. The sign is found to have been made by a wand found with Winky, the House-Elf of Barty Crouch, a respected official at the Ministry of Magic. Winky is fired by her master at once. Crouch's treatment of Winky prompts Hermione to start campaigning for elves' rights.

The Tri-Wizard Tournament

When Harry arrives at Hogwarts, he finds that the Triwizard Tournament - which had been banned since many participants died during it - was to be restarted, and to be held at Hogwarts. The names of all intending participants would be put into a goblet - known as the Goblet of Fire - which would shoot out one name from each of the three competing wizarding schools (Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang). After choosing Viktor Krum from Durmstrang, Fleur Delacour from Beauxbatons, and Cedric Diggory from Hogwarts, the Goblet spits out Harry's name - although he was too young to have added his name to the Goblet. Harry is forced to participate, to the outrage of many.

With help from his friends and teachers, Harry manages to make it through the first two parts of the Triwizard Tournament. During this time, his relationship with his best friend, Ron Weasley, is temporarily strained by Harry's sudden explosion of fame. This fame soon backfires, as Daily Prophet reporter Rita Skeeter begins to dig deep to find anything which will tarnish Harry's reputation. Harry's friendship with Ron is saved once Ron realises just how perilous the Tournament will be for Harry.

In the last part of the Tournament - in which the four competitors have to run through a maze populated by many dangerous creatures - Harry and Cedric arrive at the trophy (placed in the centre of the maze) first and decide, because of the help they provided to each other, to grab the trophy at the same time, since it will be a Hogwarts victory anyway.

Confrontation in the Graveyard

The trophy turns out to be a Portkey, a magical object which transports them to a graveyard - where they find Peter Pettigrew (also known as Wormtail) and Lord Voldemort. Peter kills Cedric using the unstoppable Avada Kedavra curse, then uses Harry's blood as part of a macabre ritual which results in Voldemort being reborn, more powerful than before, and immune to the charm which had prevented him from harming Harry twice before. Voldemort then summons the Death Eaters and attempts to kill Harry, to prove that "the boy who lived" will not be his undoing again. However, because Harry's and Voldemort's wands are formed from the same core - a feather from Dumbledore's pet phoenix Fawkes - a freak phenomenon known as Priori Incantatem occurs, in which Voldemort's wand begins to produce ghostly echoes of its past victims - including Harry's parents. The echoes hold off Voldemort while Harry manages to escape to the trophy which transports him and Cedric's body back to Hogwarts.

Barty Crouch, Jr. Revealed

On reaching Hogwarts again, Harry lands in the centre of the confusion caused by his disappearance. He is led up to the castle by his Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher and Auror (Dark-wizard-catcher), Professor Moody. Moody reveals himself as a Death Eater, saying that it was he who put Harry's name into the Goblet, and who ensured that Harry made it through the three rounds of the tournament so that he would be delivered to Voldemort. As Moody is about to attack Harry, Dumbledore, Snape and McGonagall barge into the room, and stop Moody. After Dumbledore's interrogation of "Prof. Moody", it is revealed that "Moody" was Barty Crouch's son in disguise. The real Professor Moody had been kept imprisoned in a magical trunk for the entire year.

Having learned that Voldemort had risen again, Dumbledore began proceedings to restart the Order of the Phoenix. Snape and the Durmstrang Headmaster are revealed as ex-Death Eaters. Barty Crouch Jr. has his soul sucked out by a Dementor before he can repeat his story to The Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. The Minister refuses to believe that Voldemort has risen again on the word of Dumbledore and Harry, which results in Dumbledore being removed from several important posts within the wizard community, and the reputation of Harry Potter being trampled judiciously in the next movie.


Cast

Role Actor
Harry Potter - Daniel Radcliffe
Ron Weasley - Rupert Grint
Hermione Granger - Emma Watson
Professor Snape - Alan Rickman
Professor Dumbledore - Michael Gambon
Rubeus Hagrid - Robbie Coltrane
Draco Malfoy - Tom Felton
Ginny Weasley - Bonnie Wright
Rita Skeeter - Miranda Richardson
Mad-Eye Moody - Brendan Gleeson
Cedric Diggory - Robert Pattinson
Viktor Krum - Stanislav Ianevski
Fleur Delacour - Clémence Poésy
Cho Chang - Katie Leung
Sirius Black - Gary Oldman
Peter Pettigrew - Timothy Spall
Lord Voldemort - Ralph Fiennes

Locations
The film was mainly shot in Leavesden Film Studios.

Alterations from the book
At the Yule Ball, Hermione is seen wearing a pink dress while in the book she is wearing a blue dress.
The "third task" does not take place on the Quidditch pitch.
The whole "S.P.E.W." story has been cut.
The Dursleys, Percy Weasley, Bill Weasley, Charlie Weasley, Mrs. Weasley, Ludo Bagman, Winky and Dobby the House-Elf have been cut from the film entirely.
Harry is helped by Neville instead of Dobby for the "second task".
The only scene featuring Sirius Black is when his head appears in the fire in the Gryffindor Common Room.

Trivia
This film might be the first Harry Potter movie to receive a PG-13 from the MPAA; all previous HP movies were rated PG.
This film might get the rating 6 again in the Netherlands, after Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban had the rating 9.
Early internet rumours suggested that the film had an astronomical budget of well over $300 million, making it easily the most expensive movie of all time. However, this proved to be false, as the final budget is now estimated to be $130 million.
Recently, certain fans had been complaining about the casting of an Asian actor for the role of Cho Chang in the fourth Harry Potter film, even though Cho Chang is an Asian character. An anti-fan site for the character has also been used to target this particular actress.
There were initial rumors that the movie would be split into two separate films, however the director decided to release it all in one movie, which made massive cuts from the plot necessary.
Jonny Greenwood and Phil Selway of Radiohead along with Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker appear in the movie as members of the band called The Weird Sisters.

Trailers
In Quicktime format

Small (3MB) http://movies.apple.com/movies/wb/harry_potter_goblet/hp_gobletoffire_m240.mov
Big (12MB) http://movies.apple.com/movies/wb/harry_potter_goblet/hp_gobletoffire_m480.mov

caps from 4th movie:





[credits | Cinescape, Solid07, and Shinhwa Sarang]



Cedric Diggory



Kate Leung



Krum



Fleur



Rita





Hermione at the Yule Ball













Harry infront of Voldemort's Grave.



Cedric



Cho Chang



Dumbeldore





Dumbeldore looking into a Pensieve







Harry





Mad-Eye Moody



Karakoff