Gah!! Hate the 2nd trial!! And the flaw in BM mark calculation

I've got to admit, the 2nd trial was very tough. I didn't really anticipated the tricky questions they asked in Science and Maths. They really made me panicked during the test. Yesterday, I sat for BM and Moral test. BM was hard, but Moral was even harder. Sigh... it's confirmed that I will get a B in BM. I'm not trying to be negative here, it's true. I have 6 mistakes in my BM Paper 1 already. The BM and BI test in the 2nd trial uses the marks for Paper 2 in the 1st trial. Since I did quite badly for the first trial for BM, I have very small margin of error for the 2nd trial.

See, the first trial for BM, I've got 70/100 for Paper 2, or if you wanna follow my BM Teacher's calculations, 42%. How did he get 42 % from Paper 2?

70/100*60%=42% (Because Paper 2 is 60% of the whole BM test)

The 70 marks/42% for my first BM Paper 2 trial will be used in the 2nd trial.

If you use the normal way of counting BM Marks:
Total Marks=(P1+P2)/140*100

To get an A, I'll need at least 75%:
75=(P1+70)/140*100
P1=35
Work it out and you'll know that I must get at least 35 correct answers to get an A.

But if you follow my BM Teacher's calculation:
Total Marks=P1+(P2/100*60)
75=P1+(P2/100*60)
75=P1+42
P1=33

I've got a bigger margin of error. Obviously, I should use my BM Teacher's way of counting to get a bonus, even though his way is technically wrong, in a way. Why? Okay, here's why:

My BM Teacher assumes that BM Paper 2 makes up 60% of the whole BM test. So, 60% from P2 and 40% from P1 makes 100%. But this is wrong.

BM Paper 2 has a maximum score of 100. The total score of the whole BM Test is 140 (100 from P2, 40 from P1). So, the percentage of P2 from the whole test is:
P2=100/140*100
P2=(approx) 71.4

Yeah, so Paper 2 makes up about 71.4 % of the whole test. Now, you can see there's about 10% difference from my BM Teacher's 60%.

His formula should have been like this:
Total Marks=P1/40*28.6 + P2/100*71.4

This mistake in the calculation can cause some people to have a higher or lower mark than they are supposed to have. The proof is shown in a moment...

Now, the difference in the correct way of counting and my BM Teacher's way of counting can be seen in the equation below:

d=P1/40*28.6 + P2/100*71.4 - ( P1+(P2/100*60) )
Crank it, and you'll get:
d=11.4( (2 P2 - 5 P1)/200 )

Using my marks:
d=11.4( (2 x 70 - 5 x 29)/200 )
d= -0.285

We can make another formula:
R=W+d
where R=the score using the correct way of counting
W=the score using the wrong way of counting

So, using what I have:
R=71+(-0.285)
R=70.715

So, you can clearly see that I have a bonus of 0.285% in my marks, which isn't very incredible.

But, let's say you have 30 for Paper 1 and 80 for Paper 2,
W=30+80/100*60
W=78

d=11.4( (2 x 80 - 5 x 30)/200 )
d=0.57

R=W+d
R=78+0.57
R=78.57
R=(approx)79%

So, the real score is 79, but through the flawed way of calculation, you'll get 78. That's 1 mark less. The worst thing is, that mark will be the mark for BM, despite losing 1 mark. So, people, use the normal way of counting your BM mark.

As a conclusion to the formula I made up above, if you still rely on the flawed calculation method, you can determine if you gain or lose marks from the real not-flawed way of counting by using this:

if 2 x Paper 2 marks > 5 x Paper 1 marks, 2 P2>5 P1, you lose marks, so, use the correct way of counting your BM marks

if 2 x Paper 2 marks < 5 x Paper 1 marks, 2 P2<5 P1, you gain marks, so, use the flawed way to earn some marks.

But, you must ask your teacher first. If the teacher uses the wrong way of counting, then show his/her the proof.

First, count your marks using both of these formula:
A=(P1+P2)/140*100
B=P1 + P2/100*60

Compare both A and B. If A > B, you gain marks by telling his/her the right way of counting BM Marks. However, if B > A, just stick to his/her way of counting. If A=B, then do nothing. A will B if 5 x P1 = 2 x P2.

And, I've finally finished Proud Mode of Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories! I kicked Marluxia's ass like mad!! A very good way of releasing stress!!

Hmm... here comes my stuffed animals!!

I've never talked much about my stuffed animals, apart from introducing them to you right? Well, here they are:

The name's Doggy. He's my oldest pup. I think he's around 6 years old now. I got him since when I was Standard 3. I found him in a cupboard. He is used to be my sister's, but since she dumped it into the cupboard, I adopted it when I found it. Cute, isn't he? Anyway, he's considered as the "tai ko" or the big brother of all the dogs on my bed because of his age. He is very friendly and always smiles. He is loved and well-respected by the other dogs.

Erm... I present to you Chucky. Supposed be named Chocky because of its chocolate-brown colour. Don't let the look fool you. He may be grumpy, but he's incredibly friendly. But then, he acts like a big bully to the two following dogs.

From left to right, there's Licky and Bobby. The two shy and quiet ones. Despite their quite nature, they are quite active. They are always running around here and there. The problem is, Chucky always picks on them whenever I'm not around because of their timidity. In the end, Chucky and these two dogs always make up with each other.

I know, I know, I'm very imaginative. I can't help it. Whenever I'm down, they are the ones who will make me happy again. You can't blame me for having a soft-spot for cute things right?

Anyway, today I sat for the 2nd PMR trial, or erm... school examination. Science was tricky. Very tricky!! But, at least it's gone for now, and I can finally focus on something more important. KH, BM and Sejarah. Those are the subjects which I hate the most. Oh oh, don't forget to throw in Geography!!

To tell you the truth, I find Geo easier to understand than History. To most of my friends, History is better than Geo. I don't know why. It's just that once I read Geography, it's stuck in my head. For History, the first time I read, I won't be able to understand.

Oh, I've got to go search for more HLSL Tutorials!! This is what I got yesterday from playing around with HLSL:


Cool eh? But the lighting needs a little work, because if you look at the back of the teapot, there are patches of light coming from nowhere.

Gah!! The trials!!

I'll be sitting for my second trial exam tomorrow. Well, I'm not as nervous as the mid-terms or the first trials because this one doesn't have Paper 2 for BI and BM. But too me, that's not a good thing. I know, Paper 2 (Composition) can be very torturous, but it's vital that I can do well in my Paper 2 since most of the points come from, yep, you've guessed it, Paper 2!! Tomorrow is Science. Hopefully it'll be easy.

Yesterday, I was busy watching Brainiac: Science Abuse. It's a UK Science show. I wonder why ASTRO doesn't show it here. Yeah, I watched it in Youtube and it was amazing! It's a fun video to watch to learn Science. Trust me. It's incredibly interesting. They even electrocute celebrities, but it's not the harmful type of electrocution lah. Oh oh, and erm... if a civil war were to break out, and you are in the office, your best shields against a flying crossbow bolt is a bundle of papers and an LCD Screen!! Lol! Or if you are in the kitchen, the wok is very good, if the enemies are using longbows and cross bows lah, not very sure for guns though.

In the meantime, I've been searching the net the past few days just to find good tutorials on HLSL, or High Level Shader Language. I need to learn it if I want to learn the XNA Framework to make games. But then, most of the tutorials I found aren't really what I'm looking for. Sigh... Anyway, what's HLSL? According to Wikipedia:

The High Level Shader Language or High Level Shading Language (HLSL) is a proprietary shading language developed by Microsoft for use with the Microsoft Direct3D API

I'm not sure how to explain it, but it has something to do with telling the GPU on the video card how you want to draw the 3D Models onto the screen. Anyway, it's very cool! There are tons of effects you could do with HLSL. At first, I started learning DirectX, you know, the thing you have on your Microsoft Windows computer to run games? Yeah, I gave up learning DirectX when I saw this XNA Framework. It sounded interesting, so I started learning about it. Actually, I have no intention to learn the HLSL, because while I was using DirectX, you can just draw 3D shapes onto the screen easily without it. However, in XNA, you need HLSL just to draw the simplest 3D Triangle. If I'm making a 2D game, then yeah, I don't need HLSL, but then I'm more focused on making 3D games.

I have got to start saving money since the books about the XNA Framework doesn't come cheap. The last time I saw one was over RM130+! My jaws dropped when I saw that. I really wanted it!!

I apologize for sounding so geeky. It's just that I love programming a lot!! It's fun and quite satisfying when you see your program works out. Anyway, I've got to bring in the clothes. Gosh, house chores. How I hate them. But without them, the house would be a mess. Well, everything has its own pros and cons I guess. See ya!

My 100th Post!!

So, since this is my 100th post, I should post something interesting right? Hmm... what to post about? Think, think....

Gosh, I have no idea leh. Ah, I know!!



So, wasn't that interesting, eh? Yeah, yeah, I know. It's pretty lame.

Okay, okay, how about this?



Did you like it?
...Did I hear a no? Dang, you are one tough person to entertain, aren't you?

Alright, I know what will make you happy. Watch this video...


Hmm... you still don't look too happy. Why ah? The video's a little too childish? I find it a little amusing. Fine, fine. I'm not sure how to make this more interesting for you.

Let's do a test, small we?

This small test may include anything from 1+1 type of math to super illogical questions. Ready? The answers are at the bottom. To answer these questions, just write down your answers on a sheet of paper then check with the answers at the bottom. For some questions, like question 2, you don't have to jot down the answer on the paper. Those kind of questions just requires some kind of a very smart way to solve it. And, btw, The answers listed in between the square brackets may not necessarily be correct. For the questions with a text box where you can type text, you've got to type your answer there and press Submit. If your answer is correct, it'll say so, but if it's wrong, it won't respond.


1) 1+1=
2) Describe how does a password look like? Just type 5 characters into the text box.
3) If Tim is taller than Tom, does that mean that Tom is shorter than Tim? [Yes/No]
4) Is question number 3 a little too stupid?
5) I'm gonna give you the answer for question 6. The correct answer to the next question is not here
6) Are you happy? [Yes/No/Maybe]
7) 1,2,3,4,5,6,_,8,9,10. Fill in the blank.
8) HCl + NaOH -> ?
9) Calculate this: 111 222 333 444 567²-111 222 333 444 566²/ You must give the exact answer.
10) Last question. Ready? This will be a hard one!! This involves searching the net.
What's the first year?

I know, question 10 is pretty hard to understand.

Here are the answers:
1) 2 of course!!
2) The answer is "*****". Yes, just type 5 asterisks! That's how a 5-character password look like, isn't it?
3) Yes
4) It's your answer. Anything is acceptable.
5) There's no question, thus, no answer.
6) The answer is "not here", like what question 5 said.
7) It's 7.
8) NaCl + H₂O, or salt and water.
9) 222 444 666 889 133. You don't really need a calculator for this. Just use the law of indices to solve it. Remember a²-b²=(a+b)(a-b)?
10) 1995. Just go to google, search "the net" like what the question said. There should be an article about the film "The Net" and its release year. If there are more than two articles about the net and both of them show the year the film was released, pick the first one, which is 1995, since the question said "first year".

That's it, thx for playing!!

My fear has came true...

Just now, I went to see a dentist. The dentist was nice and friendly, but even so, I was feeling incredibly nervous. I was ushered to the reclining chair. Then...

"Bee Lee, is it? What seems to be the problem?" he asked.

"Well, see, the gum behind my lower-right wisdom tooth is aching for a week already. So, I was wondering, can you tell me if there's anything wrong?" Then he took a small mirror and shoved it into my mouth. Soon, he finally saw it, that annoying wisdom tooth.

"Ah, I see! Bee Lee, your gum is in your tooth's way," said the dentist.

I couldn't think of anything else but "Oh my God!!" and "Mama mia!!" for that moment.

"Do you want to have your teeth x-rayed so you'll know what's happening?" asked the dentist.

"Y-yeah, o-kay."

After that, I was brought to the X-Ray machine. I sat in front of it. The machine looked at me, I looked back at it. Then, the dentist wrapped the small stick that is sitting there in front of me and asked me to bite it. He loaded the "film" into the machine and everyone in the room left me alone. Soon, the alarm started buzzing followed by a sudden movement of the machinery. I closed my eyes for no apparent reason.

I wondered, why did I feel so scared eventhough I didn't even feel a pinch from the radiation that was going through me? Anyway, it didn't take long. The dentist asked me to go sit at the reclining chair while he prepares the x-ray slide.

After a few minutes, he showed me the slide.

"As you can see here, your gum is blocking your wisdom tooth. Because of that, your gum swelled."

"Oh?" I said curiously.

"The permanent method of rectifying your problem would be to remove that wisdom tooth of yours."

I looked at him with my eye wide opened. Then gazed at the x-ray image.

"Oh my God! All of them?" I asked.

"Nah, just the one which is causing you problem."

"Oh, okay..."

"If you want, you can ask your dad to come here so I can tell him about it?"

"Sure, sure"

So, I called my dad and the dentist revealed to my dad the problem. I told the dentist not to do the surgery now since my trials are just around the corner. There are some reasons why I told him that. One, I don't want to be studying with a swollen face or jaw or whatever. I wont' be able to concentrate if my gum or my jaw swell up and waiting for my gum to recover after the minor surgery. Second, I'm afraid. I know, I'm chickening out, but I'm really gonna do this surgery. If I do this when I'm older, it's more dangerous and harder.

After all that, I was given some antibiotics to prevent infection on my gum. Then my father had to cough up RM210 to pay for the X Ray, Antibiotics and Deposit for Surgery.

I have another appointment at 19/9/08 at 3.20pm. It's the surgery day!! Yay!! It's a 1-hour surgery. Sigh...

Rain, rain and more rain!!

Man, it has been raining cats and dogs lately! According to my Geography reference book, May-September is the period for Angin Monsun Barat Daya (AMBD), or in English, South-Western Monsoon Wind. It's really carrying a lot of rain to here in Selangor. The downside is, if there's no rain, it also blows the haze from Sumatera. But I think the haze has stopped, since it's not so hazy now.

Gosh, my gum is showing no sign of recovery. It still feels the same after about 1 week already. Tomorrow, I have a dentist appointment at 3.20pm. Whoa!! Nervous lah!! I think I might have Gingivitis!! Gingivitis is a gum disease. It happens when the bacteria from the plaque starts to deteriorate the gums. Well, it's something like that lah. I always taste dried blood whenever I lick that affected gum. Okay, okay, Julie's right, I'm overreacting!!

Anyway, my second trials are coming next week. I hope I won't forget my Sejarah. Currently, I'm studying Geography. I think I should start KH on Saturday, then Science on this Sunday. Hmm... Moral should take me about 1 day to finish. Well, it's just memorizing the moral values, nothing much.

Hey, wanna know some facts? If you have not heard of the following math facts, the you'll find this interesting. I know I did when I first heard of it.

Area of polygons

The picture above shows the way to calculate the area of a square and a rectangle. Everyone knows that.

Now, what about parallelograms?

Here's the trick: Do you see the triangle after the white, dotted line? Cut that out and move it to the other end of the parallelogram, and you should get the following:

And what do you get? A rectangle!! So, we can now conclude that the Area of a Parallelogram=Base x Height. This applies to Rhombuses as well. (or, Rhombi??) Rhombuses are slanted squares.

I guess a lot of people know about the paralellogram. So, I don't think you'll find that quite interesting. Now, how about triangles? Okay, triangles are quite different. Here's how to find the formula for the area of a triangle:

Right, you are given a triangle, something like what I drew above. I know, it's so pretty!! We all know, Area of a Triangle=1/2 x Base * Height. But how did that formula ever came to be? To find out, first, you duplicate that triangle. Take the triangle's clone, flip it over and place it so that one pair of corresponding sides are touching each other:
(The shaded triangle is the clone)
In the end, as you can see above, you'll get an awfully familiar shape. It's a parallelogram!!! And, as we've just discovered few minutes ago, Area of Parallelogram=Base x Height. So, the area of the figure above, A = Base x Height. Now, since Base x Height is for 2 triangles, 1 triangle will be equal to 1/2 x Base x Height!! Yay!!

Hmm... let's try something harder. Maybe a trapezium??
Alright then. A trapezium is a quadrilateral with only 1 pair of parallel sides. The formula to find its area is 1/2(a+b)h, where a+b is the sum of the parallel sides. Odd right? Why? It's simple to find out. Just do the same as what you can do to a triangle to find out it's area. Duplicate the trapezium, flip it over, place it at one end of the original trapezium. Let me bring out my trusty old friend, Paint!!


As you can see, when you do the cloning and flipping, you'll get a parallelogram!

Cool right? Well, that's all for today!!

I'm addicted to Hamsterball!!

Well, some of you might ask, "what's this Hamsterball of which you speak, Bee Lee?" It's a game, made by Raptisoft. It's basically sort of like the modern-day version of the game, Marble Madness, from Atari. The objective of the game is to roll the ball, with a hamster inside, to the goal, avoiding the nasty monsters which will try their best to stop you from getting to the goal. But mostly, you'll waste your time falling off the stage and breaking the ball. I find this game kinda cute, especially the monsters.

I recorded how I suffered in the last two stages. Now, if you're a pro player, you'll probably laugh at me, but I've got to admit, the last two levels are incredibly tough. I was playing in Pipsqueak mode, the easiest mode without the monsters, rather than normal mode with all the monsters. It's too hard. And, I kinda cheated a bit to get more time limit, so in the last level, the Impossible Race, I'm not supposed to get 200+ seconds of time limit.



Oh yeah, I have also cheated in the level you saw above. There's too much time to spare.




Okay, let's talk about something else.

For about 4 days already, my gum behind my lower-right wisdom tooth is hurting for no apparent reason. After surfing the net, I suspect my wisdom tooth maybe the cause. But, I'm not exactly sure. I'm supposed to go to the dentist today, but then my father's not home. I'm getting a little nervous about my situation. If the dentist also suspects that my wisdom tooth is causing the pain, he might recommend an extraction of that tooth. It won't be like those normal tooth extraction. It's not like just clip the tooth with the caliper thingie and yank it out. No. It depends on how deep the tooth is in the gum and whether or not it is easily accessible. If the tooth can be access easily, then, fine, just pluck the tooth out. But since my wisdom tooth has, almost, no good place to grip on to, I might need to undergo a surgery. Okay,I think I'm jumping to conclusions. But if it were to happen, I will be really scared, even though I will be under anaesthetics. What if my tolerance to anaesthetics is high? And the doctor doesn't know that I'm still conscious even after administering anaesthetics? I can't scream out to him since I won't be able to feel my body. Now you see the problem? It happened to a lot of people before, but it's actually a rare occurence. But rare doesn't mean never. OMG!! Okay, okay, calm down.

I know I'm really jumping to conclusions. I can't help it. My heart is thumping fast just by thinking about it. Alright, exactly how does a wisdom tooth can cause problems to the gum. It's just an innocent tooth, sitting there and waiting to chew.

If the wisdom tooth, or the 3rd molar as it is called in medical terms, came out facing the wrong way, it could affect other teeth. If it didn't fully erupt out of the gum, and there's still a flap of tissue above the tooth, food debris could get stuck over there. It's very hard to reach those places with a toothbrush and a floss, so, bacteria starts to from due to inadequate care for that place. After that, gum infection might start. And then there's tooth decay. I found some sites that might help explain things better, so, here are the sites:

Wikipedia: Mandibular Third Molar

Wisdom Teeth Removal

Wisdom Teeth Basics: Pain, Removal and Recovery

What are impacted Wisdom Teeth? This is a good site if you wanna know how does the problems caused by Wisdom tooth start.

Extraction of Wisdom Tooth
This is a youtube video of the extraction of a wisdom tooth. Be warned, this is very gory. If you wanna watch this, and you lose your appetite after this, don't blame me.
I won't embed the video here.