Interesting reads: The 100

I guess this book needs no introduction, as most of us already know that Michael H. Hart has placed our beloved Prophet Muhammad at the top of the list as the most influential person in history. The top 5 of the list is mostly dominated by religious leaders, while the rest consists of scientists, inventors, political leaders, philosophers and explorers.

It is interesting how these people became to be so influential. Some by sheer luck, like how Becquerel discovered radioactivity; while some through being ruthless and ambitious (like Hitler or Pizarro). There are also those through who achieved recognition through years of hard work and dedication (like Mendel who discovered basic principles of heredity, carried out about 21000 experiments); but most impressive and motivating are the story of those who raise above the odds... Beethoven was deaf, John Dalton suffered from color blindness... and of course our beloved Prophet who was orphan and illiterate.

Although the book did help to broaden my general knowledge on history, I'm rather disappointed that there are none of the Islamic scholar in the list. I believe Ibn Sina (Avincenna) and Jabir ibn Khayyan (Geber) deserve a place in the list more than Pablo Picasso or Gregory Pincus. Watching the documentary 'Science & Islam' on the History Channel, it is said that Copernicus obtained his idea from the works of Islamic scholar, but there is no mention of that in this book.

However, I think Hart has tried his best to come up with the list and gave good reasons on why his opinions or the rankings are as such. At the beginning of the book, Hart did challenge his readers to come up with their own list! Anyone wanna try???


P.S.: Thanks to Azizan for lending me the book =)

Lapang sebelum sempit...~

I just submitted my FYP report last week, so kiranyer I'm done with my responsibility as a student. There's so many things I want to do, so far I've only managed to finish the novel Kite Runner (thanks rumet bagi pinjam =D) and bake these:

Comments to my baking skill? Hmm... my mom and Azizan said "xpela... baru blaja" =). My brother, Izzat loves anything sweet, so he doesn't complain much. The best comments would be from my brother, Mubin. A few days ago, he said "When I look at your face kakak, I can taste failure"!!!! Hahaha. But then, just a few minutes ago (after baking that marble cake), he said "Honestly la kn...lg sedap dr mak punyer"! Hehehe... terharu~!

At the moment, I'm not allowed to look for any temporary jobs (I wanted to jadi guru sandaran), at least not until the exam results are out. The house is a complete mess thanks to the renovation, and I'm more needed to be home accompanying my mom and clean the house. So that kinda gives me plenty of time to do whatever it is that I wanna do. The only downside to that... no income.

And what are the so many things that I wanna do? Huhu. Here it goes: learn arabic, finish cross-stitch, finish reading novels (yg beli tp x baca2 lg), learn french, learn cooking, learn baking, learn mandarin, watch kenichi, learn adobe photoshop, watch full metal alchemist, do proper household account for my mom, finish reading the tafsir, complete house cleaning, do volunteering work for charity, learn sewing, learn aikido. Hmm... quite a list~!!!

Sementara still lapang ni... I'll just try to do whatever possible kn. Fighting~! =)


P.S.: That picture is edited through picnik.com and photoscape. Hehe. Mmg beginner's level of editting la... =P

Bargain hunt ~ =D

When I went out with my dear rumet today, I was surprise that the bus ticket from Bangsar LRT station to Midvalley is now RM2!!! It used to be only 50 sen (back when I was in Form 5) !!! That's 4 kali ganda dah naik harga!!! And uncle taxi (who was extremely nice) warned us that soon taxi starting charge would be RM3!

Adding salt to the wound... cross-stitch benang now cost RM1.50 each! It cost only 80 sen back when I first started...~ Sedihnyer, my mom commented it seems as though it's not worth it to continue doing it any more.

So, the more reason to go bargain hunting and aim for sales whenever possible. I read an article in The Star aper newspaper a few days ago about warehouse booksale and why consumers should take advantage of that. The columnist managed to buy 100 books with average price of about RM7 each! Giler jeles...

I just want to share these two websites I found... they give updates on where warehouse sales and stock clearance can be found around Malaysia (especially KL):

http://www.shoppingnsales.com/warehousesales/

http://www.bigsale.com.my/

The sites had made both Gta and Alin tension gler... hahaha... maaf~ =P


P.S.: Uncle taxi tu pesan klau nak go from Midvalley to Bangsar station naik taxi, exit from the South Court, it's cheaper coz closer distance. And rumet sorry... being guided by KLite yg sesat around KL wasn't exactly the plan =P

Educating?

Ok...let's play a game, spot which part of the scenes below is educating a student:

Scene 1:
Examiner 1: What is the boiling point of MEA?
Student: I'm sorry sir, I don't remember (ok, fine... the student's fault there), but you can refer to my report, I've included it there.
Examiner 1: Where? I don't see it!
Student: Please refer to so-and-so section sir.
Examiner 1: How is it you don't remember? I want you to guess the value.
Student: I don't have it memorized sir.
Examiner 2: Is it below 100 or above 100?
Student: Below 100 i think sir....
Examiner 1: Wrong! (duuuuhhhhh........I already said I don't remember) It's 170 degC ... so it's above 100!
Examiner 2: Do you even remember your own name?!

Scene 2:
Student is trying hard to smile, to hide the fact that deep down wishing the the Death Note is in hand.
Examiner 1: I'm talking to you, why are you smiling? This is no laughing matter. If you were my staff I would have fired you already!

Scene 3:
Examiner 1: Do you want to pass or fail this course? (hahaha... I though this guy is SUPPOSE to be smart?!)
Student: I would like to pass, sir.
Examiner 1: Why do you deserve to pass?
Student: Because I've put hard work and my best effort to it.
Examiner 2: In real world, hard work and sincerity are not enough. You did not produce good result, I think you should fail.
Student: Sir, bad results are still result. Thomas Edison tried about 99 times to create the light bulb... he didn't fail 99 times, he found out 99 ways of how not to do it!
Examiner 1: Yes...but he learned from his mistake
Student: So did I.... I've proven (bla bla bla ...)

As you might have guessed, that student was me. All that happened during my FYP final presentation. That would be the worst presentation I have ever done and provided me with a good reason wanting to grad ASAP. I can accept constructive criticism openly (as done in OM, Fluid Mech, PCS and PDP presentations)... but that?!

I honestly don't see which part of it is educating. Plus, if I'm so smart and can produce excellent data given the condition I was in, I wouldn't be terhegeh2 trying to complete my degree, would I?!



P.S.: Thousand thanks to my dearest and bestest friend for the happy food... roti naan with ayam tandoori and Sushi King the next day really cheered me up. See what happy food can do... turns you from sad to happy and if you're already happy to happier~! =D