Monday, January 24, 2011

Shield DOWN ! Storm NEAR !

Our planet, the Earth has 2 layers of "shield"

1) Earth's Magnetic Field

2) Earth's atmosphere.

We can technically see the atmosphere but not Earth's Magnetic Field.

Earth's Magnetic Field is what I am going to talk about & it looks like this.




What is its function ?

It protects the Earth from SOLAR WINDS, a stream of energetic charged particles emanating from the Sun.

Sometimes, the Sun generates a storm due to large explosion in the Sun's atmosphere.
This results in a solar coronal mass ejections which leads to a geomagnetic storm.





What are the harmful effects to us humans & other living creatures ?


1) Intense solar flares release very-high-energy particles that can cause radiation poisoning to humans (and mammals in general) in the same way as low-energy radiation from nuclear blasts.


2) Pigeons and other migratory animals, such as dolphins and whales, have internal biological compasses which rely on the magnetic field, so their navigational system may go haywire due to a geomagnetic storm.

3) Navigation systems such as GPS are affected due solar activity.

4) Satellites are damaged due to hardware failure and quicker orbital decay,
so there goes satellite TV & entertainment. NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

5) TV gone, at least I got my computer & internet right? Well, they run on electricity. IN an intense solar storm, electrical transmission equipment, especially generators and transformers are damaged as they heat up.

There goes the power supply. In fact, a coronal mass ejection on March 9, 1989 lead to a severe geomagnetic storm struck Earth on March 13, 1989.




What happen ?

a) Extremely intense auroras at the poles. The aurora could be seen as far south as Texas.

b) Some satellites in polar orbits lost control for several hours.

c) The northeastern U.S., the electrical supply was cut off to over 6 million people for 9 hours.

That are the effects of a geomagnetic storm.

Now more bad news.

Research now has found out that the the Earth's magnetic field is WEAKENING !

In fact it is shifting in a phenomenon known as Geomagnetic reversal.

IT has taken place before and WILL happen again.


But for now , here are the facts :-

1) The overall geomagnetic field is becoming weaker; the present strong deterioration corresponds to a 10–15% decline over the last 150 years and has accelerated in the past several years.

2) The Earth's magnetic north pole is drifting from northern Canada towards Siberia with a presently accelerating rate — 10 km per year at the beginning of the 20th century, up to 40 km per year in 2003,and since then has only accelerated.

However, these events often involve an extended decline in field strength followed by a rapid recovery after the new orientation has been established.

Not to worry it is not a permanent thing but the recovery time is UNKNOWN.
Could it be a year, a decade, a century ?

What to do IF IT OCCURS ?

My advice would be:-

1) Try NOT to stay outdoors. Wearing sunscreen or sun lotion only protects you from UV-A not UV-B. In fact, UV-B is more dangerous & penetrates DEEPER causing skin cancer.

2) Prepare to go back into the stone ages. No electricity, no mobile phone,
no computer, no TV & no INTERNET !!!! Prepare for the WORST CASE SCENARIO.


By the way, how do you know when it has begun? The shield is DOWN when you start seeing this in the night sky.

Auroras




Don't worry there is always an end to everything, even this EVENT !

It will not be end of the WORLD, we will survive like how our ancestors did !

Even of the darkest night, dawn always come ,

so be strong and you will see the NEW DAY dawning .

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Time




No Time !

The usual excuse for anything.

What is time ?

The famous definition of time is "...is what keeps everything from happening at once"

Well, I don't know what that means !

The basic unit of time is a second.

What is a second ?

A second as been defined to be the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium 133 atom.

Well, again, I don't get it.

I think that is the problem with time !

IT is too complicated to define & there are many theories about time.

If you think the stuff above was not complicated, get a load at these jargon :-

- Arrow of time( Time appears to have a direction – the past lies behind, fixed and immutable, while the future lies ahead and is not necessarily fixed)
- Chronon (a proposed quantum of time, that is, a discrete and indivisible "unit" of time as part of a theory that proposes that time is not continuous.)

As a layman, this stuff really is COMPLICATED !

But what I do know is that :-

1) When you are doing something fun, exciting & entertaining,
you don't know how much time has passed !

2) When you are doing something boring or waiting for something to
happen, it takes like forever !!!!!!!!!!

3) When you need time the most, it is not there &
when you no need time the most, it is there !

It's just weird !

Some people think time travel is more weird & impossible.

But, I think otherwise ! I rather say, " WHY NOT ?! "

The physics is complicated & extremely theoretical & full of paradoxes.

One paradox I find intriguing and not too complicated is the Grandfather paradox.

What is it ?

Is sounds something like this :-

Suppose a man travelled back in time and killed his biological grandfather before the latter met the traveller's grandmother. As a result, one of the traveller's parents (and by extension the traveller himself) would never have been conceived.

Complicated ?

Let me try breaking it down again :-

You go back in time and kill your grandfather. That means no father and no you !

Does it really exist ?

I personally don't think so.

There is a theory which is known as Parallel universes.

Imagine 2 parallel lines, you are in line 1.

When you go back in time , you are in line 2, so even if you kill your grandpa,
you will still EXIST as you are from line 1 !

This paradox can be seen in the Terminator movie series.



I'll be back !


The machines send a terminator back in time to kill John Connor's mother so that
John Connor will not be born.

John Connor still exist in Line 1 aka the future when the machines send a terminator to Line 2.

So, he sends another terminator to protect his mom.

In the movie, the setting is in line 2 aka the present & the action starts !

That is only in movies I guess !

For now, just focus on the task ahead & stop wasting time !!!!!!!!!

Time & tide wait for no man !

Monday, January 10, 2011

UP




In Malaysia recently everything seems to be going up.

Let's see :-

i) Petrol price went up from RM 1.80 to RM 1.90.
Small change of 10 cent ? Whats the big deal ?

ii) Sugar will also cost 20 sen more at RM2.10 per kg.

iii) Evaporated milk will cost 30 cent more.

See the effect of a 10 cent hike in petrol price!

The effect must multiplies itself like a nuclear chain reaction.

Our addiction to OIL will lead to our UNDOING.

WE are so dependent for oil from food production to electricity generation.

Once we run out of it, the effect will be again like a nuclear chain reaction.

Do you know the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse ?

You should !

IN my case , I would like to focus on the 3rd Horsemen.

The one who rides the BLACK HORSE.



This is the third horseman of the apocalypse called 'Famine'

When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!"

— Revelation 6:5-6

What that means, our one day salary will be enough for our food alone only.

The cost of living will become so high & this will be the consequence !

Enough bad news, let's look at the good news.

SHARE prices are expected to continue their uptrend this week as investors are bullish on rosy outlook for global economic recovery.

By the way, REMEMBER :-

WHAT GOES UP MUST COME DOWN
!

1 down 51 to go !




1st week of 2011 over !

It was quite fast but not very stressful .

This year will be (I hope so) more relaxing as I am only taking 2 papers for ACCA for now.

I think all ACCA students should just chill & take 2 papers !

You will have more time to live & enjoy life.

Why go through hell while studying & hell again when working !

I never got the idea of the whole RAT RACE !

Let's see the 2 papers I am taking this semester :-

F8- Audit paper. New lecturer which seems to know her job & is focused.
Difficulty : Average. I think I will be able to manage.

P2- One of the HARDEST paper in ACCA. Like duh, it's a PROFESSIONAL level paper !
Lecturer is like an army officer. Class is like a battlefield !
Got to start READING & MEMORIZING the IAS (International Accounting Std)

Health wise, I have started going to the gym this year from Monday to Friday.

I must admit that working out keeps you MORE active & you feel better.

Moral of the Story : PLEASE , exercise especially if you are F_T !
&
All ACCA students, it's not an obligation to take 3 papers
just because all your friend's take 3 papers.
&
You are not a rat,
so get out of the RAT RACE !

Saturday, January 1, 2011

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!!!!!!!




Good-bye 2010, Welcome 2011.

Happy New Year to everybody.

I think it is going to be a fantastic year.

New Year Resolutions ? I think I will make 3 i.e.

i) Study more consistently and pass F8,P2,P1 & P3 with flying colors
ii) Lose a few pounds. (OK to be honest, A LOT of POUNDS !)
iii) Do more stuff related to accounting carrier(read finance news,magazines & etc)


BTW, another 1 year to 2012. For all those people who believe in THE END , chill out.

The world is not going to end !!!!!!!!!

Be positive & enjoy life, so even if the world does end & you have to go to
HEAVEN / Hell, go with a smile :)

Holidays, Nice but over.





2 weeks plus of holidays will be over on Sunday @ the stroke of midnight.

It was nice, relaxing, joyful & bla bla bla.

I spent my holidays (location perspective ) as follows :-

5% in KL
5% in Bukit Tinggi
25% in Melaka
75% in JB

I must admit that JB is way better compared to KL.

The malls in KL are freaking crowded & its so freaking hard to watch a movie
AND
KL is always JAMMED up.

JB on the other hand is peaceful, not VERY crowded especially the malls
AND
NOT jammed up like KL
+
In JB everything is cheaper especially for FOOD !

Bukit Tinggi was a 3 days 2 nights holiday.
It was peaceful, surrounded by greenery & amazing landscapes.


Rest of the holidays were spent watching movies in cinema which I really like.
Maybe it's because of the popcorn !
I LOVE POPCORN !

I watched :-

1 movie in KL (cuz its so freaking crowded).
That is Due Date. Funny & Robert Downey Jr. did a good job.

2 movies in Melaka i.e.

i) Gulliver's Travels. It was amusing but not up to expectation.

ii) Manmadan Ambu. It is a Tamil romantic comedy film.
Really funny & entertaining.

2 movies in JB i.e.

i) Tron: Legacy. It was kinda boring.
The cool gadgets, vehicles & clothing kept me awake.

ii) The Tourist. It was really thrilling, funny & quite
action packed. Johnny Depp has done it again !

That is as far as it goes for movies.

As for games, I was playing a bit of Dawn of War: Dark Crusade & Counter Strike 1.6

I met up with Eu Vin in JB & he gave me CoD: Modern Warfare 2 & Black Ops.

Finished Modern Warfare 2 & man was it AWESOME !

Based on the facts above, I have certainly enjoyed my holidays.

I hope you have too & even more sincerely hope so if you are an ACCA student.