single...singuLAR...SINGULARITY

hey..I learned about "singular" in English, but what is "singularity"? Why are many scientists and sci-fi writers are so crazy about it? - no idea, sorry~

lol..gotta open my 2.5 inches-thick dictionary again...

Anyway, I enjoy watching Terminator: TSCC drama shows and I just realized that both of them are actually correlated. In what way? hmm...

The concept of "The Singularity" is basically talk about how someday in the future, probably in 2030 or maybe one or two decades from now, human life would be taken over by cyborgs/ autonomous robots. Some of the scientists and computer experts also believe that human being could possibly uploading their mind into the robots after you died. It somehow saying that you might have an ever-lasting life but, not infinitely so. (So, the robot would behave/acting like us? - maybe yea. And if this truly happen, it would become part of the world populations.... whoops!)
It just something like in the drama show right, but the only difference is in the Terminator, those "Skynet" things are trying to extinguish the humanity. And, here, I guess those robots are still good and naive. Btw, click HERE if you wanna read more on this issue.

Well honestly, I'm skeptical with this idea even after reading a bunch of articles about it. I do respect those people who're still holding to this fantasy, but sorry to say that I'm not convinced enough. Especially, when they're trying to create/develop consciousness in the robot. Like what most of the critics say, we are far away to emulate a human brain. The brain is too complex to be imitated. Even after I discovered that in Japan, robots are more advanced than in here, the United States - robot can play violin, trumpet, dance, and so on, I still cannot foresee the future of "Singularity". Maybe it's because I'm still new in this field and lack of knowledge or maybe also because I am a believer...but, feel free to give your opinions on this issue.

"Do you believe that robot could take over the world?"

USS Intrepid (CV-11) - Who cares?

Today in class, Prof Yingying disrupted our attention when she saw a big ship came along the Hudson river. At first, I didn't really bother to look out of the window since I was sitting at the most left and far from it. Moreover, I thought it's not really something unusual for me and for most people in Stevens/Hoboken - there are many big ships and ferries crossing the river including the Queen Mary and Norwegian cruise.

But until one of my classmates that staring at the window said that it's the one which can bring about 30 aircraft or maybe more than that, I got interested, stood up and stood on my toes with a hope that I could see it. Haha~ too bad, I couldn't see the USS Intrepid (CV-11). I should stand closer to the window if I really wanna see how big exactly the ship...Some of my classmates crowded the window to see it passing the Stevens and even the prof too...lol

Hmm, I was so lazy to walk so, never mind.

So, after my class end, I went back to my room and google it online. And now, I can see how it looks like. Click here to see the picture. I also discover about the history of this USS Intrepid and I found out that it's pretty impressive one. Or maybe a better word to describe it is pretty cool~ One of its significant contributions is "participated in the Pacific Theater of Operations of World War I" (wikipedia).

Suddenly, it reminds me of my dad. He is a retired soldier. So, I was thinking if he was here, he maybe interested to know more about this ship. Ok, I think it might be a good idea to bring my parents to the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space museum if they are coming to the States for my graduation. FYI, we can explore the ship if we go to the museum. It is one of its main exhibitions.

p/s: InshaAllah I'm going to graduate on May 2009, but I'm not ready to go back home, yet and I don't wanna go back for good. Can I just stay here, please?

Eid Mubarak :)

"Empire State building turns green for Eid." - terharu skit

What a happy eid mubarak! I just got a good news that my sister delivered her twin girls on Eid eve. best...best! Also, my earliest class today has been canceled since my professor got a conference to attend. So, I don't have to worry about missing that class for the eid prayer :)

Anyway, eid mubarak everyone! Hopefully, last ramadhan ain't the last one for us and may Allah always give us His guidance.

Summer Internship

Aha... summer break!

Last summer was my longest holidays in Malaysia since 2005. Usually I spent half of my summer break at home, but this year I changed my mind due to some reasons. And one of the major reasons was to gain some experience in industrial field before my first entry of working next year, inshaAllah.

After having a long thought during the spring semester, I decided to apply for internships around Shah Alam and Klang/Banting, where my sisters are staying and working. I applied for Toshiba and a few other companies, but never got their response. Most probably because they didn't offer internship or they're not interested. Never mind tho because I actually got accepted to do my industrial training at ShinEtsu (M) Sdn. Bhd. Alhamdulillah ~

The first day of my work, I got really excited and nervous - that was my first time working in a company ever! I could feel butterflies in my stomach and suddenly I lost appetite for breakfast meal =D. I was eager to start off my internship but, thinking of getting into a new place, in one way or another, lose my confidence a little bit. And honestly, I was wondering too many things at the time, likes how's my colleague looked like, was I gonna be ok working there? and, etc and etc... Blessed to Allah, everything turned out perfectly, and I wasn't the only new staff registered on that day. So gradually, I got my strength and wisdom back.

My office hours began at 8:10 in the morning and done at 5:40 p.m. So, basically it's like working in other private companies too. For the first three days, I had to attend courses which are mandatory for all their new workers. That courses covered from the basic stuff regarding safety (since so many hazardous thing around the company compound - machines, etc), their mission (5's - Japanese system to make sure that you have an effective workplace), effects of the chemicals, and noise and the ISO 9002, just to name a few. Besides, I also had to take exam for most of the courses and actually have to pass it too - It's a requirement! The exams are closed notes so, gotta have a good memory =)

In the first week, I had nothing much to do so that my life turned out extremely boring and tiring. The company didn't provide internet access for all their exempt staff except the head of departments and managers. So, I couldn't at least surfing the internet or chatting online to kill the time. I was thinking to bring a novel or magazine but, my sister said that it's really inappropriate since I was just a trainee (and fresh too). And somehow it showed that I didn't have any effort to ask for a work. So, as an alternative, I always hanged out at the workshop and make friends with the technicians. Luckily, they're friendly and very helpful to me.

As the time went by, I started to get assignments and felt comfy with the new surrounding. I also glad to know that there was another girl doing a practical too at the moment - Alin, a polymer eng. student from USM. Although we were working under different departments, we always met during recess time and hang out together. hmm..by the way, I realised one thing about my colleagues...no wonder the single tends to have their own circle of friends and the married too...because their topics of discussion aren't match to each other; the married with their children and family matters while the single with their "single" hot issues.

By the way, here are the stuffs that I did during my practical:

*first task - helped engineers in designing new packaging system, to prevent the magnet from corrosion and rusty. In this assignment, I had to go back and forth from plant 2 and plant 3 in order to get the accurate data for each magnet. (Anyway, this company has 3 branches in S.Alam area and each plant has different production lines. I was assigned to be working under Engineering 2 department @ Plant 2)

*second task - calculate electricity consumption for slicing machines. For this assignment, I had to consider the thickness, shapes and different types of raw materials of the magnets.

*third task - assist engineers in magnet testing and inspection.

*fourth task - learned AutoCAD, designed magnets

*fifth task - helped with bar code system.

In summarize, I enjoyed working in this company. I feel sol happy that I make a right decision to pursue for an internship. I learn many new stuffs and it somehow widen my mind/view on what exactly an engineer does and also knowing my aim. It also provides me with real-working experience that I don't think I could get in my classes. I wish I could work longer because 2 months really a short period of time.

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exempt staff - some co. called it as executive staff. This exempt staff only works during business hours except for a few cases.

5's - Seiri (Sorting), Seiton(Set in order), Seiso(Sweeping), Seiketsu(Standardizing), Shitsuke(Sustaining)

Ouch, it must be so hurt that he couldn't stop crying :( I pray someone will come forward and help this kid fighting his rare disease. amin~

Stop and Stare

"After the last note of the anthem had faded, the children sat in a neat circle and begin copying their multiplication tables. Most scratched in the dirt with sticks they'd brought for that purpose. The more fortune, like Jahan, had slate boards they wrote on with sticks dipped in a mixture of mud and water... [T]here was a fierceness in their desire to learn, despite how mightily everything was stacked against them..." - Greg Mortenson, from the Three Cups of Tea

*Let's ponder on ourselves. Do we feel grateful of what we have ?

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I came across this passage a few weeks ago while reading the book. Somehow, I feel like writing about it as a reminder to you, my beloved readers, and to myself. We rarely appreciate and feel grateful of what we have until we loose it from our grip. And we often feel frustrated and get mad when we don't get what we want or when things don't turn out the way we expected to.

Yeah,...you might have heard these words so many times before, and it's probably a cliche...is it? Hopefully, nope. This is the fact that we have to face on every single day. Our life is never all ups. So, we just have to be patience and put our heart and soul in everything we do even though it's hard.

From the Quran:
"It may be that you detest something which is good for you; and it may be you love something even though it is bad for you. Allah knows, and you do not know" - Surat Al Baqarah, 2:216

=D