The Different Kinds of Students

This post is a culmination of my all the observations I've had while studying in the university. I've sent this to our University Confessions page in Facebook and was surprisingly popular for a short time. I'm obviously blowing my anonymity here, but hey, I've graduated! HAHAHA

You'd be surprised how lots of people inside the campus are actually walking stereotypes, and it's fun to identify those kinds of people that you met once in a while in your student life. 
Or maybe you are one of them at some point?

Bye Bye Nokia, You Shall be Remembered

A while ago, I logged into my Google Mail to do a bit of spring cleaning in my Inbox folder when a wild Nokia email appeared:

Hello,
We wanted to share some important information about your data privacy and contracts. 

Nokia currently expects to complete the sale of its Devices & Services business to Microsoft in April 2014. 

With the completion of this transaction, a Microsoft Finnish affiliate* assumes responsibility for your personal data and the contractual relationships for the products and services related to this business. Microsoft cares deeply about your privacy and the protection of your personal data and will continue to collect and use your personal data in the same ways and for the same reasons as Nokia, and you should experience no difference as a result of the sale.

I-It's h-happening

It's surreal to see one of the world's mobile giants being bought and dissolved. Though one can't blame Nokia. They are pretty much forgotten in the phone market. I mean cmpared to their competitor's operating systems and android applications, Nokia got left behind in the race. People are saying that the problem isnt just that, I agree but you should also admit that sticking to Symbian OS contributed a lot to where Nokia is right now. 

In 2011, the then-Google CEO Eric Schmidt had tried convincing the mobile giant to use Android as their primary smartphone platform instead of the Windows Phone. That was like three years ago, and now the android phones have gone a long long way. Nokia already had a strong userbase and it just kills me to imagine the what might have changed if they only listened.

A post in the Official Microsoft Blog stated:

"Today we are excited to share that we have completed the steps necessary to finalize Microsoft’s acquisition of the Nokia Devices and Services business. The transaction will be completed this Friday, April 25, when we’ll officially welcome the Nokia Devices and Services business as part of the Microsoft family. "

Being one of this year's biggest acquisitions, both companies had changes made from the original deal. A few which is that Microsoft will still manage the nokia website and social media sites for up to a year for the benefit of the customers (Nokia would be rebranded anyway so the online marketing will have to stop sooner or later). However they will not acquire Nokia’s Korean manufacturing facility.

As mentioned, Nokia will also be rebranded. It was after a letter to Nokia's suppliers were leaked online saying "...that upon the close of the transaction between Microsoft and Nokia, the name of Nokia Corporation/Nokia Oyj will change to Microsoft Mobile Oy."

Microsoft Mobile Oy

Microsoft Mobile

Jesus Microsoft, be creative for once will you? At least think up a better brand name that could live up to Nokia. That was one brand we all grew up with, it was my mother's first mobile phone, and mine as well. That was the brand we speak because it already have nice picture messages! I remember our class going batshit crazy when a classmate had that new Nokia with colored screen! Everybody borrows a Nokia when we were in fourth grade because we need to beat that high score in Snake and Space Impact. I read the whole Twilight Saga in a Nokia flip phone. We've seen those two hands reaching for each other for a decade.

It reigned in an era Microsoft, I hope you'll give Nokia the justice it deserves. (I know, I'm bitter)

My Hands Doin Gymnastics

I have small hands. Like super small compared to my body size. It's surreal, I always feel like I'm an alien or something. My feet are the same too, they are size 6! I could also get into size 5 if the shoe is wide enough. I remember some friends back in high school teasing me for having "lily feet". But let's go back to my hands, due to their stunted, malnourished feature, I decided a long time ago to put them to good use. Thus here are some abilities I discovered. I have no idea how they're going to benefit in the future (aside from becoming a weird superhero or whatever):

Am I freaky now or what?

Fransisco d'Anconia's Money Speech

Now I'm going to share to you once again a text that is worth reading. For starters, it is actually a speech by Fransisco d'Anconia, a character from a most influential novel by Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged.

There's a movie too if you're interested

Now to those who haven't read the novel, you might have heard about how philosophical it is, how deep, sometimes how bad some of Rand's logic were. However, amidst all the debate, the speech I'm going to share to you today is one of my ultimate favorites.

Remember the cliche, "Money is the root of all evil?", the following paragraphs will make think:

Finally Found One of my Fave Stories Ever

The Egg

by Andy Weir

As an introduction, let me just share that I first read this from Galactanet. But I truly fell in love with this simple, mind-blowing short story that I want to have it in this blog too, in case I lost it again. For those who have not yet read this composition, go on with scrolling this page then, I assure you that it's worth your few minutes. If you think Quantum physics, religious debates and political theories are enough to blow your minds, you were wrong (but don't worry it's not going to be too much of a 2deep4u):

You were on your way home when you died.

It was a car accident. Nothing particularly remarkable, but fatal nonetheless. You left behind a wife and two children. It was a painless death. The EMTs tried their best to save you, but to no avail. Your body was so utterly shattered you were better off, trust me.

And that’s when you met me.

“What… what happened?” You asked. “Where am I?”

“You died,” I said, matter-of-factly. No point in mincing words.

“There was a… a truck and it was skidding…”

“Yup,” I said.

“I… I died?”

“Yup. But don’t feel bad about it. Everyone dies,” I said.

You looked around. There was nothingness. Just you and me. “What is this place?” You asked. “Is this the afterlife?”

“More or less,” I said.

“Are you god?” You asked.

“Yup,” I replied. “I’m God.”

“My kids… my wife,” you said.

“What about them?”

“Will they be all right?”

“That’s what I like to see,” I said. “You just died and your main concern is for your family. That’s good stuff right there.”

You looked at me with fascination. To you, I didn't look like God. I just looked like some man. Or possibly a woman. Some vague authority figure, maybe. More of a grammar school teacher than the almighty.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “They’ll be fine. Your kids will remember you as perfect in every way. They didn't have time to grow contempt for you. Your wife will cry on the outside, but will be secretly relieved. To be fair, your marriage was falling apart. If it’s any consolation, she’ll feel very guilty for feeling relieved.”

“Oh,” you said. “So what happens now? Do I go to heaven or hell or something?”

“Neither,” I said. “You’ll be reincarnated.”

“Ah,” you said. “So the Hindus were right,”

“All religions are right in their own way,” I said. “Walk with me.”

You followed along as we strode through the void. “Where are we going?”

“Nowhere in particular,” I said. “It’s just nice to walk while we talk.”

“So what’s the point, then?” You asked. “When I get reborn, I’ll just be a blank slate, right? A baby. So all my experiences and everything I did in this life won’t matter.”

“Not so!” I said. “You have within you all the knowledge and experiences of all your past lives. You just don’t remember them right now.”

I stopped walking and took you by the shoulders. “Your soul is more magnificent, beautiful, and gigantic than you can possibly imagine. A human mind can only contain a tiny fraction of what you are. It’s like sticking your finger in a glass of water to see if it’s hot or cold. You put a tiny part of yourself into the vessel, and when you bring it back out, you've gained all the experiences it had.

“You've been in a human for the last 48 years, so you haven’t stretched out yet and felt the rest of your immense consciousness. If we hung out here for long enough, you’d start remembering everything. But there’s no point to doing that between each life.”

“How many times have I been reincarnated, then?”

“Oh lots. Lots and lots. An in to lots of different lives.” I said. “This time around, you’ll be a Chinese peasant girl in 540 AD.”

“Wait, what?” You stammered. “You’re sending me back in time?”

“Well, I guess technically. Time, as you know it, only exists in your universe. Things are different where I come from.”

“Where you come from?” You said.

“Oh sure,” I explained “I come from somewhere. Somewhere else. And there are others like me. I know you’ll want to know what it’s like there, but honestly you wouldn't understand.”

“Oh,” you said, a little let down. “But wait. If I get reincarnated to other places in time, I could have interacted with myself at some point.”

“Sure. Happens all the time. And with both lives only aware of their own lifespan you don’t even know it’s happening.”

“So what’s the point of it all?”

“Seriously?” I asked. “Seriously? You’re asking me for the meaning of life? Isn’t that a little stereotypical?”

“Well it’s a reasonable question,” you persisted.

I looked you in the eye. “The meaning of life, the reason I made this whole universe, is for you to mature.”

“You mean mankind? You want us to mature?”

“No, just you. I made this whole universe for you. With each new life you grow and mature and become a larger and greater intellect.”

“Just me? What about everyone else?”

“There is no one else,” I said. “In this universe, there’s just you and me.”

You stared blankly at me. “But all the people on earth…”

“All you. Different incarnations of you.”

“Wait. I’m everyone!?”

“Now you’re getting it,” I said, with a congratulatory slap on the back.

“I’m every human being who ever lived?”

“Or who will ever live, yes.”

“I’m Abraham Lincoln?”

“And you’re John Wilkes Booth, too,” I added.

“I’m Hitler?” You said, appalled.

“And you’re the millions he killed.”

“I’m Jesus?”

“And you’re everyone who followed him.”

You fell silent.

“Every time you victimized someone,” I said, “you were victimizing yourself. Every act of kindness you've done, you've done to yourself. Every happy and sad moment ever experienced by any human was, or will be, experienced by you.”

You thought for a long time.

“Why?” You asked me. “Why do all this?”

“Because someday, you will become like me. Because that’s what you are. You’re one of my kind. You’re my child.”

“Whoa,” you said, incredulous. “You mean I’m a god?”

“No. Not yet. You’re a fetus. You’re still growing. Once you've lived every human life throughout all time, you will have grown enough to be born.”

“So the whole universe,” you said, “it’s just…”

“An egg.” I answered. “Now it’s time for you to move on to your next life.”

And I sent you on your way.

Fin. But see why I love this?
Quite a fascinating and fantastic concept on the idea of life. It's not usual to get a good story like this where we are forced to really think it over. It's not supposed to be literal of course but the one soul-for-everyone thing just gets to me. Putting relationships with different people under a whole new spotlight all of the sudden. Just fucking brilliant.

 

When Husband and Wife Keep Diaries

Introducing, Nunu's House!

Ever since 2001, Tomo Tanaka of Nunu's House produces one of the most amazing miniatures I've ever seen online. Each and every one of his creations boasts such fascinating clarity of details, the cuteness factor as well as the perfect texture for every . Seeing them at first glance, one would have mistaken them for normal sized things, but most of them were even smaller than a coin.
His most popular pieces were the miniature food. Here are some of my personal favorites:

Look at that sauce, and those bananas!

When Karma Takes the Wheel

A Dollhouse Everybody Lusts for

My first dollhouse was plastic and pink and I thought it was from Santa. Years came and go and I realized The Truth, but the magic of that dollhouse stayed with me. The last news I had of it was it's with a younger cousin somewhere. Now I'm in my teenage years, I am hoping to own another, but a more sophisticated dollhouse someday. Miniatures have always fascinated me and nothing could keep my eyes off The Queen's Dollhouse.

So what is it really?

Song of Ice and Fire Beotches!!!

I am in love with Jon Snow. Anyway I started reading the books way back when I was 14. I only stopped at the third book since it was a 'trilogy' back then, and I seriously thought it has ended and was depressed. Then I saw the series and the two more books and saw I was truly stupid.

This March, I dedicated myself to reading the existing five books of The Song of Ice and Fire, I am now at the fifth book! Of all the characters in the books, the most interesting is ( obviously ) Jon Snow, especially who his parents are. Personally, I don't believe Ned's his father. I mean come on, the guy's so honorable his entire body is squeaking clean, up until splattered by his own blood that is. Besides, why all the secrecy? Jon Snow's a bastard! Surprise! Why make a huge deal out of it??! To make everything clear, I lurked in many GoT forums and found many that are satisfying. Of course I'm biased.

Pretty Faces

One day, I read an article about how all the best known Batman actors were morphed together to create one perfect Bruce Wayne. Morphing all of them billionaire/hero faces got a nice result. Now I decided to try morphing four of Korea's most beautiful actresses Note: the women I chose are from my own preference, I'll try to add Han Ga In and Yoon Eun Hye's faces later.