Today I went to brett's wharf where I had the most expensive lunch and then watched Fun with Dick and Jane at Southbank cinema. I fell asleep for about 20 minutes, which is not usual for me, for some reason I always fall asleep in cinemas, so I missed out on the ending. Oh well.
This year in terms of business, was quite good. I made more much than I expected. More than friends who are working full time even. I think I surprised myself and my mum (Didn't tell my dad, otherwise he would expect some money I am sure). If I had a so called "real job" I will probably easily make much more. And I wouldn't deny that some of them probably even work harder (a heck lot harder) than I. Whoever started this myth that working hard makes you more money should be "dragged out into the street and shot" (quote from Garfield). I've made enough to pay for the down payment of an apartment, all this time while
1. being a full time uni student
2. getting good grades
3. maintaining my sanity
In terms of academic performance, I couldn't ask better. I obtained a perfect GPA this year. It's funny how my primary school teachers used to say I'm an underachiever all the time. At the moment I'm not sure if I'm overachieving, but I can possibly say that I could do better in terms of earning more, and helping more people. I'm no joe millionaire, and I'm not making that much, but I'm sure I'll get there one day. I'm actually reading a book on millionaires at the moment, it's very interesting.
What I probably need to improve on is personal relations. I don't talk to many people, and hate crowds. Talking crap is one thing I'm never good at.
Well, onwards and upwards. Next semester's my last semester as a full time uni student. I'll be tutoring little kids this time round instead of uni students because I absolutely hate marking.
Happy New Year, to everyone who reads this.
Saturday, December 31, 2005
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Queue cutting girls and ragaholic customers
So I used to think girls were really decent and sweet things (probably because of my mum). Of course this isn't true anymore. I was catching a cab close to midnight last Friday, the queue wasn't too long, but there were zero cabs. There were 2 guys at the head of the queue, and this girl about 17 or 18 just walked straight into the queue and asked them if she was cutting into the queue if she did that, sort of irrelevant question really, not sure what the guys replied but then she said I'm with the both of you and winked at them. Then of course she got into the cab with them when the next cab arrived. Now I'm not sure what propelled her to do that, perhaps male manipulation at work, but it did (Perhaps it was the first sign of a promosing pr0n star career!). Maybe because they were about the same age as her, but I thought that was really pathetic that she couldn't queue up like everyone else.
Saying that, I know there are decent girls out there however I think it's becoming increasing prevalent that girls are equally as bad as guys. No offense to anyone.
Yesterday I dealt with an angry and frustrated I-require-anger-management customer, who for some reason, was blaming everything on my end except himself. What did he do exactly? He ordered the wrong product, did not read ANY instructions that were provided whatsoever, and then subsequently sent me email messages saying he was going to complain to paypal and ebay, that my company was a fraud, that the website was a deception, and that I was conducting theft. Yes all of that he said, even though I was asleep and he was the one who actually made the payment, voluntarily, with no one pointing a gun to his head, nor a knife to his throat. Sheer genius at work. He said he did not recieve the software, but it was already mentioned that orders may take at least 48 hours. He said the website was a deception, when I have no idea how he gathered that, unless he was drunk, or perhaps suffering from extreme paranoia. That I was not a company located in the US (and the point being...??). Oh that my customer service sucked too because I was not giving him an instantaneous reply even though I did reply to all his email messages. I told him it was not my fault that he did not read any of the instructions or details that were provided, and he could only retaliate with the customer is always right (but not always reasonable) and pride cometh before the fall (Indeed, I wonder who was he referring to). And he attempted to use italian, he used the word "ciao" but spelt it incorrectly, so I corrected him.
Really some people.
Other than that it's all good in the customer world. I think I can handle 1 case of "oh your non USA company and products suck really bad" compared to hundreds of others who disapprove that view.
Saying that, I know there are decent girls out there however I think it's becoming increasing prevalent that girls are equally as bad as guys. No offense to anyone.
Yesterday I dealt with an angry and frustrated I-require-anger-management customer, who for some reason, was blaming everything on my end except himself. What did he do exactly? He ordered the wrong product, did not read ANY instructions that were provided whatsoever, and then subsequently sent me email messages saying he was going to complain to paypal and ebay, that my company was a fraud, that the website was a deception, and that I was conducting theft. Yes all of that he said, even though I was asleep and he was the one who actually made the payment, voluntarily, with no one pointing a gun to his head, nor a knife to his throat. Sheer genius at work. He said he did not recieve the software, but it was already mentioned that orders may take at least 48 hours. He said the website was a deception, when I have no idea how he gathered that, unless he was drunk, or perhaps suffering from extreme paranoia. That I was not a company located in the US (and the point being...??). Oh that my customer service sucked too because I was not giving him an instantaneous reply even though I did reply to all his email messages. I told him it was not my fault that he did not read any of the instructions or details that were provided, and he could only retaliate with the customer is always right (but not always reasonable) and pride cometh before the fall (Indeed, I wonder who was he referring to). And he attempted to use italian, he used the word "ciao" but spelt it incorrectly, so I corrected him.
Really some people.
Other than that it's all good in the customer world. I think I can handle 1 case of "oh your non USA company and products suck really bad" compared to hundreds of others who disapprove that view.
Thursday, December 08, 2005
Summer and salaries
I hate summer. Really I do. Walking to school makes me sweat like I've been through a marathon. Wish I could transform myself to a fish and live in a bowl. But then I would need to get someone to feed me. Clean my bowl. How troublesome. Knowing me I might do something crazy too like jump out of the bowl and end up experiencing a near death experience too. Eek.
I was planning on enrolling in a summer project this semester but then the co-ordinator said you couldn't do that if you were a full time honours student, you could only do it if you were a part time honours student. Turns out today my supervisor tells me that you can enrol in one, that's no problem with the school. Then she tells me 4 students have. And I said well obviously they didn't ask the course co-ordinator. Argh. Stupid university ambiguous rules! Hopefully I can still do one, less workload next semester. I realise I'm competing with some really smart arses. There was this one person who had 7 publications upon completion of honours. Not sure if he recieved the university medal or not, but probably yes. I'm sure he will end up being a PhD doing research for the rest or most of his life. Not sure if that's good or bad, but anyhow the best thing is to always compete with yourself. Besides, I'm not doing that bad. It's good to be a generalist, i.e. one that has multiple skills, in today's society rather than a specialist, i.e. one that only has a single specialised skill. Actually I would say it's essential to survive. If the area that you're working in experiences some economic disaster at least you can always branch out into a different area.
The education system in today's society is flawed especially in the way salaries are paid. Why would I say that, well look around you, the brightest people are not necessarily the ones who make the most. My parents used to say work hard so you can get a good job with good pay, and I'm sure everyone's parents have said that to them but it's not true. In fact, a few months back over at UQ where there was a summer research internship thing going on for undergraduates, the PhDs who gave the talk actually said do not do undertake this research program if you want to make money. It was paying about $200 a week, you can probably survive by eating grass off the ovals, okay it's not THAT bad, just really awfully bad. So the students are conditioned to acknowledge that hey, even though I make a slightly pathetic salary, at least I will get something done in my resume. I don't think that's the right thing to do. Heck someone I know who will be doing a PhD soon has said to me she just wants to study and doesn't really care about the money she makes as long as she has her own nice apartment. Do people look upon themselves so lowly (lack of ambition) nowadays??
99% of the honours students who graduate with me will probably be made use of (aka "hired") by someone who wants their skills but not give them the salary they deserve. Then again everyone has their price, so I suppose as long as they are happy, but I know I won't be working under anyone unless we were joint partners.
I was planning on enrolling in a summer project this semester but then the co-ordinator said you couldn't do that if you were a full time honours student, you could only do it if you were a part time honours student. Turns out today my supervisor tells me that you can enrol in one, that's no problem with the school. Then she tells me 4 students have. And I said well obviously they didn't ask the course co-ordinator. Argh. Stupid university ambiguous rules! Hopefully I can still do one, less workload next semester. I realise I'm competing with some really smart arses. There was this one person who had 7 publications upon completion of honours. Not sure if he recieved the university medal or not, but probably yes. I'm sure he will end up being a PhD doing research for the rest or most of his life. Not sure if that's good or bad, but anyhow the best thing is to always compete with yourself. Besides, I'm not doing that bad. It's good to be a generalist, i.e. one that has multiple skills, in today's society rather than a specialist, i.e. one that only has a single specialised skill. Actually I would say it's essential to survive. If the area that you're working in experiences some economic disaster at least you can always branch out into a different area.
The education system in today's society is flawed especially in the way salaries are paid. Why would I say that, well look around you, the brightest people are not necessarily the ones who make the most. My parents used to say work hard so you can get a good job with good pay, and I'm sure everyone's parents have said that to them but it's not true. In fact, a few months back over at UQ where there was a summer research internship thing going on for undergraduates, the PhDs who gave the talk actually said do not do undertake this research program if you want to make money. It was paying about $200 a week, you can probably survive by eating grass off the ovals, okay it's not THAT bad, just really awfully bad. So the students are conditioned to acknowledge that hey, even though I make a slightly pathetic salary, at least I will get something done in my resume. I don't think that's the right thing to do. Heck someone I know who will be doing a PhD soon has said to me she just wants to study and doesn't really care about the money she makes as long as she has her own nice apartment. Do people look upon themselves so lowly (lack of ambition) nowadays??
99% of the honours students who graduate with me will probably be made use of (aka "hired") by someone who wants their skills but not give them the salary they deserve. Then again everyone has their price, so I suppose as long as they are happy, but I know I won't be working under anyone unless we were joint partners.
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
One step closer to the university medal
Well I scored all high distinctions this semester for my first honours semester, YES! Basically a high distinction is the best grade that you can achieve at the University of Queensland, and universities around Australia. So one large step closer to the university medal! For someone who is academically ambitious so to speak, grades mean a lot, especially since I'm striving to be more than uber. Anyhow, I can afford to get all distinctions next semester and still get 1st class honours, AND qualify for the university medal. The lowest I've ever scored for any semester is 3 high distinctions and 1 distinction, so that's a low probability that I will get all distinctions. We'll see next semester anyway, but I'm pretty sure I'm on the right track. For the curious this semester I took COMP4001 which is the course code for complex systems, INFS3204 which is service oriented architectures, COMP4809 which is research methods, and COMP6804 which is my thesis project (and the mark hasn't been finalised yet, not until next semester since it's a yearlong subject).
Anyhow I'm flying back to Brisbane tonight. Tata Sydney you've been nice but really, why are things so expensive around here ?!?
Anyhow I'm flying back to Brisbane tonight. Tata Sydney you've been nice but really, why are things so expensive around here ?!?
Friday, November 25, 2005
In Sydney
I'm currently in Sydney taking a break from finishing my exams. It's the same as I last remembered it. The last time I was here was last year around February. Nothing much has changed, if at all. I'm staying with a friend who lives in Parramatta. Parramatta has quite a large Asian population, something which I'm not really used to, but that's fine with me. So anyhow today I spent around 8 hours in a karaoke booth. Well not really 8 hours because we left after an hour or something to have dinner, then went back. The place was called K-Mix. Anyhow it was $10AUD per person. The English songs were all pirated, but the other songs were original! Actually some of the English songs were clips of Australia, there was one of Sydney. That was funny. Today I had yum cha as well, and had pork ribs and chicken feet, first time I've tried both. They actually didn't taste that bad. But I doubt I'll have it again. I only ate it cos my friend convinced me too. Haha!! I've been having Asian food since I've been in Sydney, which I am not really used to because I don't usually have it all the time. In Brisbane anyhow.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Why go to university and why get good grades ?
The matter of fact is, you do not need a university degree to do well, earn big bucks, etc. However we all know education is important. Because it's what we are judged upon if we aren't rich and famous, have so called celebrity status, etc.
There are varying levels of how "good" your academic capability is, based on grades. Every subject that we study is graded upon. If you get good grades, it would mean you would be a better person suited to the job, or better qualified, but does it really matter ?? Well if you look upon it in a personal perspective, yes it does. If you do well for the subject, you would be more capable in providing the services when you start to work. Therefore this would make you "less selfish" so to speak, because you will provide value for money to the persons who you provide services to. If you score badly, then it would mean you do not provide value for money to the person you provide services to, and in many cases, weave a story and hopefully the poor person will believe you (or not!). This would therefore make you a selfish person. So, are you a selfish person? Are you someone who just aims for a pass for your subjects? Because if you are, you know you can do a better job than just aiming for a pass. And if you ARE aiming for a pass, perhaps you should just drop the subject and take up a different subject. Otherwise you will only make yourself suffer. And inevitably others as well.
So aim for good grades. You will make the world a better place if you do!
There are varying levels of how "good" your academic capability is, based on grades. Every subject that we study is graded upon. If you get good grades, it would mean you would be a better person suited to the job, or better qualified, but does it really matter ?? Well if you look upon it in a personal perspective, yes it does. If you do well for the subject, you would be more capable in providing the services when you start to work. Therefore this would make you "less selfish" so to speak, because you will provide value for money to the persons who you provide services to. If you score badly, then it would mean you do not provide value for money to the person you provide services to, and in many cases, weave a story and hopefully the poor person will believe you (or not!). This would therefore make you a selfish person. So, are you a selfish person? Are you someone who just aims for a pass for your subjects? Because if you are, you know you can do a better job than just aiming for a pass. And if you ARE aiming for a pass, perhaps you should just drop the subject and take up a different subject. Otherwise you will only make yourself suffer. And inevitably others as well.
So aim for good grades. You will make the world a better place if you do!
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
First scandalous entry
I'm bored, so bored that I've decided to create a blog. Whether or not this results in anything productive, I do not know. I'm supposed to be working on my thesis but I have no wish to do work at the moment. Go me! I'm supposed whoever is reading this is dead bored too. Hahaha!!
So who am I anyways ? I'm a full time student pursuing the university medal at the University of Queensland in Australia in the area of Computer Science, I own a software development company, with a relatively comprehensive portfolio. I believe in working smart and helping people. I like to aim for the impossible, be above average, and so on and so forth. I have a background in multimedia and e-business, and can possibly provide some really handy tips for you, the reader, if you own a business, on improving pagerank and traffic.
This blog, at this point in writing, will talk about my life in uni (or what's left of it!), my aims, my business, and other things.
So who am I anyways ? I'm a full time student pursuing the university medal at the University of Queensland in Australia in the area of Computer Science, I own a software development company, with a relatively comprehensive portfolio. I believe in working smart and helping people. I like to aim for the impossible, be above average, and so on and so forth. I have a background in multimedia and e-business, and can possibly provide some really handy tips for you, the reader, if you own a business, on improving pagerank and traffic.
This blog, at this point in writing, will talk about my life in uni (or what's left of it!), my aims, my business, and other things.
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