The recent case about Cpl Teo going absent without official leave (AWOL) with the loaded SAR-21 rifle gives a grim reminder of what happened at Virginia Tech some time back, except that he didn’t or hadn’t started shooting people in the cineplex where he was arrested.

There are a few things that I can’t fantom. Firstly, he has one more month to go before he ORD. That means he can do (almost) anything he wants once he’s done his part. A free man, some would say. Well, almost free, if you consider the 10-year reservist cycle; and hence, the burning question in everyone’s mind is why he did it.

It was speculated that a failed relationship may have lead to his actions, and this pretty much reminded me of LTA X. LTA X was the officer who was bao toh’d * by 2Lt Li hong Yi in an incident not too long ago. Apparently, LTA X AWOL’d because of relationship problems, but that’s just a hearsay; but it does show that the human mind is weak where matters of the heart is concerned.

I was once a person who was ruled by my heart than my mind, and that many a times, landed me in, not just hot soup, but boiling soup akin to that of an erupting volcano. Badly scared emotionally and sometimes mentally and physically, I learnt the hard way and hardened my heart to a diamond. Yes, that’s an expensive heart.

Nowadays, as selfish as it sounds, I seldom get myself too emotionally attached where possible, because I am tired of being hurt and scarred and hurt all over again. Sometimes, I just feel that it’s not worth it. Emotions are intangible. They are not something that you can weigh, touch or hear. Whenever I got upset and tried to talk to someone about it, they could only tell me not to be sad and probably not be able to feel what I was feeling. I don’t blame anyone. Afterall, emotions are something that no one else can see.

Anyway… I think I am sounding too sorrowful. When I started this entry, it wasn’t meant to be like this. That’s the thing about blogging. Sometimes you start off blogging about something and it just gets waylaid midway. Heh heh. So, I’m just going to end off proving that girls are indeed evil.

Girls = Time x Money

Time = Money

Money = Root(All Evil)

Therefore, Time = Money = Root(All Evil)

Hence, Girls = Time x Money = Time x Time = Time ^ 2 = [Root(All Evil)] ^ 2 = All Evil

PS: And oh, here’s a special plug to Arzhou, who happened to be able to proof that BitTorrent is evil, although a little unrelated

* bao toh means to be exposed, or betrayed in colloquial terms

There was an iPhone demonstration presented ‘live’! To me, that is… I wasn’t on any camp with regards to the iPhone but have been a quiet listener to all comments - good and bad about the phone.

Well, yes, the battery is not removeable, and all the applications that you have is what they give you (excluding web apps, that is). But hey, this phone’s usability is really cool and it’s the user experience that Apple’s promising to give. At least it seemed to be bug free and seamless when I tried using it for myself. Everything was pretty intuitive and it doesn’t require many steps to achieve something - and I am saying this because I am a WM5 phone user.

What impressed me the most was the portray-landscape-portray automation when you turn the phone. It makes using the phone much simpler, and yes, it’s user experience again!

It might be a tad heavy, and the only worry that I have is whether it will slip off my hands and fingers; but I guess getting an anti-slip for this should solve the problem! Cool stuff!

And yes, you can see more here too!

Venue: Mt. Elizabeth

For 1/2 yearly review, blood tests and all….

The first individual human genome has been sequenced, which was obtained from Dr Craig Venter who was formerly from Celera, who was working on sequencing the first human genome before the US government joined in, and effectively making the genome public domain.

The genome reveal more variations that initially thought of, that, it is more than just Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNPs) that determine differences between humans. Actually, this should have been quite commonsensical because everyone loses some bits of genes here and there, and by pooling different individuals for the first sequenced human genome, there is bound to be gaps and glitches everywhere.

In fact, should they decide to sequence another individual, they may discovered that places once occupied by “junk DNA” may actually be valid loci - places that are occupied by genes. Hence, in fact, humans are not really 99.9% identical!

This result preliminarily shows that we have quite a long way to go in terms of DNA research, which, fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you see it, is what I am doing. This also means that personalized medicine may still have quite a fair bit to go, at least at the holistic level. There may be unknown interactions that linger from what is originally thought as junk DNA, and it is possible that such junk DNA may be reactivated. We’ll never know for sure.

Here’s the article in full from straitstimes.com. Standard disclaimer and rights apply.

PARIS - THE first individual genome ever sequenced - a complete DNA blueprint of celebrity scientist Craig Venter - has revealed genetic variation among humans far richer than previously imagined.
Published on Tuesday in the online open-access journal PLoS Biology, the 2.8 billion contiguous bits of genetic code will also hasten advances in preventative medicine, said Dr Venter, who is both an author and the object of the study.

Within five years, faster and cheaper sequencing techniques could produce complete genomes for 10,000 people, laying the foundation for ‘an era of individualised genomics’, he predicted.

‘Once we have those, we will basically be able to sort out every fundamental question about nature versus nurture, what’s genetic and what’s environment,’ he said by phone.

The findings overturn what had in a few short years become genetic gospel: that all human beings are, genetically speaking, 99.9 identical.

Dr Venter himself trumpeted this idea in 2000 when his biotech firm Celera, which he left in 2003, and a team of US-government scientists simultaneously unveiled - after a bruising race to the finish line - the fist complete human genome.

Both of these earlier efforts were flawed and greatly underestimated genetic diversity, he and his colleagues now say, because the whole had been assembled from a hodgepodge of DNA taken from several individuals.

The variations revealed in the new genome, dubbed, ‘HuRef’, go far beyond previously identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), once thought to be the key to differences in human traits and disease susceptibility.

SNPs are DNA sequence variations that occur when a single nucleotide - the basic building blocks, composed in pairs, of DNA - in the genome sequence is altered.

Also important, however, are previously overlooked variations in stretches of genetic code that were once dismissed as useless ‘junk DNA’.

‘This dispels the notion we had in 2000 and 2001 that we all have exactly the same genes in the human population,’ said Dr Venter. ‘It would have been very disturbing if the range of characteristics that we see all came down to a few simple SNP variations.’

The new data shows that in an individual genome upwards of 44 per cent of genes are variable in sequence. — AFP

Venue: NYP, Blk A, Level 1

Tell security counter that I am meeting Stella/HR. Bring:

1. Transcripts (A/Bsc/Msc)
2. Certificates (A/Bsc/Msc)
3. Last pay slip

Jia you!

Venue: Cityhall MRT Station

Bring thinking hats. As many as possible

Venue: Poolside, Bradell View Apartment, Braddel Hill

You are cordially invited to our daughter Faith’s 1st birthday party on Sunday 2nd Sept @ Braddel View Apartment poolside located at Braddel Hill. Entrance from the guardhouse. Buffet will be served @ 12pm.