ESSAY: Don't be a square, care!

There is an abundance of evidence on what defines a human.  I will be focusing on one aspect, and that is the ability to care.  Caring is a very vague word.  It could mean that you are taking care of someone or that you actually are paying attention to someone.  Doing things that help another person or just being a nice person in gerneral, are other examples of caring.  Although everyone has the ability to care, it's the magnitude of caring that counts.  Without care, everyone would be isolated and distraught.  No one would help each other and, ultimately, make their own lives worst.  There is a quote that specifically expresses that situation:

"First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me." -Martin Niemöller

This quote is to be interpreted literally, not  philosophically.  It is saying that the person never spoke out to anyone, just because he didn't care, so when it was his turn, no one spoke for him because, why should they care?  Humans should be more compassionate and empathetic for other beings, not because they have to, but because they want to. Caring is like leading a horse to water, if it doesn't want to go, it will not go.  However, if you give it motivation, like a carrot, then the horse considers moving.  If you force someone to care, they won't be able to do it because it is against their determination, but if you give an incentive for the someone, then they might start to care.  For example, you needed an object that is located far beyond your reach.  A person passes by that can reach, but you have a decision to make.  If you say forcefully, "Hey, you.  Get me that object.", he couldn't care less and walk away.  In a different scenario, you ask politely, "Mr. So and so, can you please retrieve the object to me? I would be very grateful".  Your politeness triggers the care in him and therefore, he gets the object for you.

Caring can also be an instinctive feeling.  Sometimes, you care for something, but just for the sake of the situation.  I feel that the reason of having an instinct dedicated to care, adds to the fact that we are human.  An example of this reasoning plays out like this: You are walking on the way to your house.  Suddenly, as you turn a corner, you spot a person lying on the ground.  Our natural instincts tell us to go forward and assist that person, which proves that caring is linked to being human.  Of course, other animals have those feelings as well, since mothers care for their child, but are their feelings comparable to us?  You don't see a pigeon helping another pigeon when it is in trouble.  Us humans have our own way of caring, whether it is secretly or publicly.  We protect and help others, without having a reason to.

Of course, there is an opposite to everything, as shown in a ying and yang.  What is the opposite of caring?  Ignoring.  Though ignoring might sound easier than caring, I feel that it is not so.  To ignore, you have to concentrate on the fact that you will not response to a certain situation.  This requires various amount of brain power, but generally, it is slightly harder to do.  Caring on the other hand, is a natural process.  You don't need to have a reason to care, nor do you need to put your mind on it, it just happens.  People don't need a reason to rescue someone in danger.  They don't need a reason to help countries devastated by a natural disaster.  Humans assist each other regardless. 

"By not caring too much about what people think, I'm able to think for myself and propagate ideas which are very often unpopular. And I succeed." -Albert Ellis

There are times when ignoring benefits you more that caring.  Caring is like a double-edged sword, it can make you soar, or chain you down.  You have to learn to use it depending on the situation.  For example, a random person compliments you on your new look.  You can show that you care about his/her opinion and reply.  Another example, a person on the internet tells you that you look ugly, and so does your mom.  This is the time NOT to care.  Just simply trudge through the hurtful comments and hope that they stop pestering you.  Never, and I urge, ever respond to the person with another spiteful comment.  That will simply anger and bring more trouble upon you.  Just simply ignore them.

"I bought a seven-dollar pen because I always lose pens and I got sick of not caring." -Mitch Hedberg

Sometimes, people force themselves to care, because it is more beneficial for them to care, rather than to not.  Though that might not seem as really "caring", if you look deep inside, it really is.  The person above bought a more expensive pen, so he would not have to buy new ones.  However, this shows that he cares about the situation of losing pens and decides to take action on it.  This shows that caring isn't always so obvious.  In fact, care is mostly shown in many hidden situations, where you take them for granted.  No matter how oblivious, you have to take the care with great appreciation and importance.  Otherwise, by the time you start to respond, the other person just might not care anymore.

"From caring comes courage." - Lao Tzu

More often then not, care leads to many new emotions.  It's one of the main reasons why caring is so important in playing a role of human traits.  Sadness can come from caring.  By caring about someone, you inadvertently attach yourself to the person.  If the person is suffering, and you care about that person, it causes you to feel sadness.  This is not a weakness, it is merely a sign that you care enough to express other emotions.

"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around." -Leo Buscaglia

Caring is a simple thing to do. You might not think it does anything, but realistically, it offers the person a sense of comfort. It shows that you understand the person and allows them to know you are someone they can depend on. It also gives a sense of righteousness, like picking up trash next to the garbage can or motivating your team. I don't see a reason why anyone should not care, and probably will never see one. So, grab your best personality, put on your game face, and dress to impress, because there is a whole world out there, waiting for someone to care.

RE: To Infinity and Beyond!

"Wow I really can't believe it... How can something even be able to out-speed "light"? I mean first of all, how can they even MEASURE light." -Ken Phan

My guess on how to measure light is that they first have a starting point.  The starting point shoots out light particles (or waves) called "photons".  Then, they set up an ending point, which detects the photons when passed through.  Using the time it takes for it to travel a set distance, they calculate it using the "distance x rate over time" formula.  The approximate speed of light is 3.00x10^8 m/s.  Now, it takes a very strong machine to detect the instant that light is passed through, since it's traveling at the speed of light.  If you think light is fast, think about the stars that we look up to at night.  That light may be from thousands of years ago.  That gives a new perspective in the vastness of space. 

To travel faster than light, you have to have almost no mass.  As we get closer and closer to the speed of light, our mass increases with it.  Therefore, we can get close to it, but never reach it.  However, you can travel ahead of the speed of light, by using "wormholes" or "distorted space time".  Wormholes can transport from one place to another, sort of like teleportation.  Distorted space time is when space and time gets all mixed up.  That can enable you to "fast-forward", but not speed up.  The time in the distortion area is faster than the area around it, so it seems like you move faster, but you are still traveling at the same speed.

There is a way to travel faster than the speed of light, however, you need infinite energy with an endless amount of time and finite acceleration, or infinite acceleration and a finite amount of time.  That is not possible because we do not have "infinite" energy.  Energy cannot be created nor destroyed, only changed or transferred.  To travel faster than light, means the possibility of "time-travel", which begs the question, has anyone in the future manage to go faster than the speed of light and, therefore, travel back in time to change events?  Who knows...

FREE: Diablo 3

Finally! After waiting for several years, the ARPG Diablo 3 is finally coming out!  For those new to the game, Diablo 3 is an upcoming action role-playing game (ARPG) developed by Blizzard.  It is the third installment in the Diablo franchise and sets the storyline 20 years after the second installment.  The world is called Sanctuary, although the name is completely opposite of what you're going to encounter in this game.  You can choose to play one of the five available classes: the Barbarian, Demon Hunter, Monk, Witch Doctor, and Wizard.  The game includes the option to play with 4 friends, making it an extremely fun and social game to play.  The general objective of this game is to progress through the storyline and collect the best "loot", or items that are picked up by the character.  In the sections below, I will briefly describe the available classes in the game.

The Barbarian:

 The Barbarian is a melee-based character.  He excels in hacking and slashing enemies with his weapons.  He also has a high constitution and defense.  He can wear heavier armor than the other classes, and has more strength.  His powers, or skills, use the resource called "Fury".  Fury is gained when you attack enemies, and in turn you use the fury to kill even more enemies.  The barbarian's Fury, however, decreases while out of combat.  These attributes are perfect for the people that want non-stop slicing and dicing.


The Demon Hunter:

The Demon Hunter is a ranged character, wielding crossbows.  She relies on assassination and quick executions.  She has various traps and tools to aid her in the purge of demons.  She is known to be excellent at elimination large clusters of enemies and snipe down far-away targets.  However, the use of a ranged weapon has a disadvantage, getting cornered and surrounded renders the weapon useless.  To make up for that, she has a wide range of escape abilities.  There are two resources for the Demon Hunter, "Hatred" and "Discipline".  Hatred regenerates quickly, an is used for offensive abilities.  Discipline, on the other hand, regenerates slowly and is used for defensive maneuvers.  Those who enjoy precision and strategy, will enjoy play as a Demon Hunter.

The Monk:

 The Monk is a character with versatile roles.  You could choose to be the healer, support, or damage-dealer.  He is also a melee-based character, and has high maneuverability.  The monk uses a resource called "Spirit".  Spirit can be obtained by executing specific abilities.  It can be regenerated, but it does so very slowly.  The upside of being a monk, is that there are few to none cooldowns.  Cooldown refers to the time that it takes for a skill to be available again.  Having few cooldowns allow the monk to chain a combo of ferocious and deadly attacks.  This is currently the character I want to try out first.

The Witch Doctor:

Witch Doctors are more of the summoning type and his attacks primarily deals poison damage.  He also has a variety of "debuffs", which are skills that inhibit the enemy in some way, and ranged attacks.  Although he relies on summons and debuffs, he can also be a deadly melee character.  His resource is "Mana".  Mana is a vast, but slowly regenerating resource.  Players have to manage their mana efficiently, or suffer the lack of use of abilities.  Summons can help reduce mana problems, as once they are summoned, no additional mana is needed, and can last for many battles.  This class is obviously for the more "safe" players out there, since summons can do the work for you, while you can stay out of the range of an enemy.

 The Wizard:

The last class is the Wizard.  Wizards are spellcasters who use their bodies as a vessel for arcane energy.  They have a wide selection of elemental attacks, and can be quite deadly.  Wizards rely on long-ranged destructive power, which are conducted at a safe range from enemies.  Their resource is "Arcane".  Arcane is regenerated quickly, but the maximum Arcane a Wizard can have is limited.  Also, the spells casted by the Wizards have a cooldown period, so the player must be careful of how many spells to unleashed.  The Wizard is suited for players that want tremendous damage, at a safe range.

I guess this wraps up all of the classes.  I hope this introduction to Diablo 3 is sufficient for all the newcomers out there.  Hope to see you in-game!

BC: One man, One room.

It was dark, and by dark, I mean REAL dark.  I literally couldn't see my hands in the pitch-black darkness, even though I placed them right in front of my eyes.  The temperature of the room was surprisingly chilly, as the cold sent shivers down my spine.  The air was stale, as if it was trapped there for a very long period of time.  The smell of the room was overwhelming and putrid.  I felt suffocated in there.  The first thing that came to my mind was to find light.  I squinted my eyes to try to locate any source of light, but there wasn't any, so I felt my pockets.  I felt a hard, rectangular object inside my right pants pocket, and I reached my hands inside.  I felt cold object in my hands as I tried to figure out what it was.  I was hoping for it to be a lighter, but it turns out it was my flash drive, since the cap fell off when I tried to "light" it.

Bending over, I searched for the approximate location of where I dropped the cap.  As my hands scoured the cold smooth stone, I felt a tiny object and picked it up.  Recognizing it was my cap, I put in on my flash drive, then I stood up.  As I searched all over my body, I couldn't find a source of light to use, so I gave up.  I took a step forward, to examine the immediate area around me, but I stepped on something.  The round smooth object made an eerie cracking noise, and I froze in my steps.  My heart skipped a little because of the sudden noise, and I waited for a few moments to see if anything had happened.  Silence.

I continued walking in a straight line, with my hands reaching out in front of me.  I felt the cool touch of the wall and I stopped.  From that point, I moved my hands all over the wall, looking to find anything that could be a potential source of light.  My hands grazed the wall, and found a recess in the wall.  I also felt some handles and more recesses as I continued to move my hand over the wall.  Curious by the handles, I pulled on it, and it slid open, like a file cabinet.  I reached in to feel what was inside, but I only felt cloth.  I guess it was a dresser.  I pushed the handle back into its original position.

I turned around and started to walk in the opposite direction, with my hands in front.  I was just walking, when I felt a rectangular object hit me on the stomach.  I immediately stopped and felt the rectangular object.  It felt like a long thin table, with a cylindrical base.  I walked around it and continued with my hands in front of me.  I hit a wall again, only this time there wasn't anything on it, just a plain wall.  I decided to check out the right wall, so I followed the wall I was on, with my hands.  This wall was also plain, albeit a rectangular protrusion on the wall.  I felt the object and immediately knew it was a light switch, since a knob was sticking out.  I was a little apprehensive on turning on the lights, since I didn't know where I was, but in the end, I'll have to turn it on anyways.

Guess where I was?

CE: Hacked, son!

"Japan's top weapons maker has confirmed it was the victim of a cyber attack reportedly targeting data on missiles, submarines and nuclear power plants."

What if you had the power to launch missiles, deploy submarines, and shutdown a nuclear power plant?  That's what the hackers, who had targeted Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), feel like.  Although it is unknown on whether the information stolen is important or not, this incident still leads to concerns on the security of MHI.  What's even worse, was that the government wasn't even aware about the attack.  Normally, I thought that the government would know immediately after the discovered the breach, but in this case, the government found out through local media reports.  Now, the defense ministry is demanding MHI to carry out a full investigation on the attack. 

The worst part is that the computers were accessed in August, when the news story was posted on September.  The hackers also might've gotten some IP addresses from the network.  If the incident reveals that sensitive data was leaked out, the defense ministry could impose a penalty on MHI, as it is a main domestic arms supplier.  Another concern is that the hackers were operating outside the comapny network, which means that the hacker would be more difficult to locate.  MHI isn't the only company that has been targeted, IHI has also been a victim of a virus attack.  Suprisingly, IHI had been receiving emails that conatined viruses for months.  I wonder if the security of the company is sufficient, as the viruses were spread through email.

The companies should be more alert on computer attacks, especially since we're in the age of expanding technological advances.  Also, these companies specialize in weapons.  That reason alone is enough to take secuirity to a whole new level.

RE: Mmmm, Human Flesh...

"Even though I say that, I do not think I would be able to survive a zombie invasion unless the zombies are unbelievably stupid and incompetent."- Andrew Fan

 Well then, you have no need to worry!  Zombies are pretty dumb and they should stay that way, unless a new form of pathogen allows the reasoning part of the brain to function.  A normal zombie is infected with a pathogen that takes over the host's brain and basically reduces it to mush.  The only function of their brain is to produce movement and have a hunger for flesh.  That's why it is critical for the victim of a zombie attack to aim at the head.  Also, the zombie pathogen may be able to be transmitted to animals, but that is probably unlikely, since our body composition is different.  If somehow a zombie attains the ability to think for themselves, they're going to think that you would be dangerous (if you had a weapon) and back off.  The downside of that, is the zombie can plan an ambush, in which case, you're probably f%$ked, as well as most of humanity.

The most ideal place for shelter in a zombie outbreak, is underground.  The zombies would probably not be able to find you, and if they do, make sure your entrance is a narrow hallway, so the zombies have to enter one by one.  This strategy enables you to kill the zombies easily, if the need ever arises.  The only problem with an underground shelter, is the lack of sunlight, which can cause vitamin deficiency and require you to venture out for electricity.  Another important part of surviving a zombie outbreak, are weapons.

Your weapons definitely have to be efficient.  Having a durable, damaging weapon is a must, especially if you plan on surviving through the hordes of zombies.  My first recommendation is the crowbar:

Portable, yet unbreakable.  Sharp, yet blunt.  I really think it should be your primary melee, as it has a variety of uses.  You could use it like a bat and break the zombie's skull, or use the sharp end to stab through the zombie's eyeball.  It has many other uses as well, like prying a door open, or breaking glass.  My second reccomendation is a tactical knife:

 The tactical knife is not used as a weapon, but rather as a multi-purpose tool.  Having a knife is pretty much necessary in any form of survival, it just has too many uses.  Do not use it as a weapon (unless absolutely necessary), as it has too short of a range and might get stuck in the zombie's body.  A word of caution, properly disinfect and wash your knife, or anything that has came in contact with a zombie.

Well, that's my opinions on zombies and how to survive them, hope you guys enjoyed reading this.  Feel free to post some tips on how to survive a zombie outbreak!

CE: Terrible, Terrible Damage...

Seriously, why do people do this?  According to the latest news from Al Jazzera, a man, armed with an axe, killed 3 adults and a child as they were walking to the Kindergarten school.  He also seriously wounded another child and adult in the attack.  The attack was carried out in Henan province's Gongyi city, early on Wednesday morning.  I sort of understand targeting adults for murder, but children?  Can you imagine the many years that the child would never experience?  I truly feel empathetic for the loss of the children.  Just the thought of my life ending early gives me a scare.

This hasn't been the first attack either.  This report is the latest in a chain of violent attacks on children and has forced Chinese officials to increase security around China's schools.  Another attack includes a stabbing incident at the end of August.  A female worker wielded a box cutter to slash at children, who were aged between three and four years old, belonging to migrant workers.  The stabbing occurred at the Little Happiness Star nursery in an eastern suburb of Shanghai.  Both of the attacks, as well as may others, were the result of having a mental health problems.

The intention for killing children is absolutely illogical.  What has the child done to you?  If they're being annoying, for god's sake, they're children!  If they broke something of yours, then get the parents to replace it, instead of taking it out on a child.  I really can't think of any reasons to kill a child.  Having murderous intents on children is not normal, and they should've looked for doctor to remedy that.  Hearing these sorts of news really shifts my perspective of the world and how it operates.  Next time, I hope I wouldn't have to write on something this tragic.  'Til then, keep safe!

FREE: Time to take notes!

The end of the 2011 year will be known as the "mobile-frenzy months".  With the release of the Samsung Galaxy S2, the upcoming iPhone 5 (Although it is uncertain when the release date of the iPhone 5 is, since Apple has not specified a release date, nor made a public announcement of the official phone), the Droid Bionic, and now, the Samsung Galaxy Note.  Samsung has been really busy in its mobile department, releasing the new Galaxy S2, which has over 5 million sales, the Galaxy Tab, and the new announcement of the Galaxy note at the IFA electronics show in Berlin.

The Galaxy Note sports a 5.3 inch, Super AMOLED screen, which is really a suprise because a previous smartphone (Dell Streak 5) didn't do so well with a large screen.  The reason why the Dell Streak 5 declined was the lack of a smooth operating system.  The combined problems of having a buggy operating system and the removal of features from the previous software version caused the Dell Streak 5 to fail.  Samsung, however, might stand a better chance with the 5.3 inch screen, due to the fact that they have more experience in producing user-friendly smartphones.  In my opinion, the 5.3 inch display is a great idea, allowing the consumer more freedom to navigate on the screen and making typing on the phone easier.

The next feature of the Galaxy Note, is the S-Pen.  Now, Steve Jobs says that with styluses, we are going backwards, in term of technology, but I beg to differ.  The sharp and sleek pen allows for controlled and precise movement, compared to our fingers.  With the pen, there are also more features included in the phone, including the note-taking app, the ability to annotate photos, and even a drawing pad.

The hard ware includes a 1.4 Ghz dual-core processor (for a snappy interface), a 8 megapixel camera (with a 1080p recording quality on a 1280 by 800 pixel resoulution), a 2 megapixel front-facing camera, and 16 gigabytes of internal memory.  These qualities put this smartphone in the category of one of the most powerful smartphones on the planet.

With my phone contract expiring soon, I have already decided to get the Samsung Galaxy Note (which comes with a £600 price tag) if it becomes available.  If not, then my next choice would be the iPhone 5.  The Galaxy S2 will be the third option if the iPhone does not get a new form factor and a larger screen.

After reading this post, I hope you've gotten a new view of the smartphones available.  Feel free to leave any comments or questions for me to answer. (Quick question: Which phone are you planning to get?)

RE: Terror-ism.

"I think that the Department of Homeland Security partially only arrested this person to calm the public and assure the people that they were safe even after 9/11." -Andrew Fan

I also agree on your opinion about calming the public after a terrorist attack. For one, the attack on September 11th has caused a tremendous amount of panic on the topic of terrorism. People were afraid of another possible bombing that might've occurred in the days after the attack. On the other hand, people had just lost their loved ones and were going through a really emotional phase. If not for the arrest on the "Dirty Bomb", panic would've escalated even further, causing irrational actions. The arrest gave a little bit of relief for the worrisome, and a feeling of justice for the ones that lost their friends or family.

However, there are other concerning problems to this case. First of all, why did he even send the letter stating that he had a bomb? It would be unwise and cause a lot of public disorder. If the reason I think of, for the threat, is true (causing public panic), then that shows that terrorism is ever increasing in and out of the US and that, is a bad situation for the country to be in.

I don't even know why terrorism is so widespread. Is it because it gets the message though? Well, the message gets through alright, but people rarely ever pay attention to what the terrorists want, it's always the acts that the terrorist goes through, that people pay attention to. I don't even remember what the 9/11 bombing was a result of. Something about a "holy war" on the US? Anyways, in my opinion, terrorism is not efficient. What IS efficient, is persuasion through peaceful means.

I would like to thank Andrew Phan for his post on 9/11, and encourage everyone to read his post in the highlighted text above. Leave any reactions/comments below!

CE: Fired, Fired, and Fired.

"Yahoo has now replaced three CEOs in a little over four years. "

A recent firing of Carol Bartz, CEO of Yahoo, has led readers to view the situation in various different lights.  Fired by Roy Bostock, chairman of Yahoo, on Tuesday, Septermber 6 over the phone, one can wonder what she did wrong.  First of all, was the financial downturn.  Bartz led an austerity, a reduction in the amount of benefits and public services provided, that helped increase Yahoo's earnings, but failed to increase its revenue even as the advertising market on the internet grew rapidly.  Another reason was the integration of Microsoft's search engine "Bing" into Yahoo's search engine.

There are many reasons that leads to the decline of Yahoo.  One of many is the rise of G-Mail.  Although Yahoo was a major email provider a while back, when G-Mail came out, it blew Yahoo's email service out of the water.  G-Mail had more features and benefits than Yahoo's plain emailing system.  The layout of G-Mail was also more professional looking, which attracted many businesses that wanted to emphasize its class.  Another competitor was Facebook, which revolutionized social networking, and provided fierce competition for Yahoo.

In my opinion, I think the reason why Yahoo is declining, is that they don't have innovation.  Take a look at Apple.  With more money than the federal government, one of their major money-making skills is innovation.  Apple revolutionized the smartphone industry and the tablet industry with the arrival of the iPhone and the iPad.  Their innovation led to a professional device that had a smooth user experience and user-friendly software.  If Yahoo had some innovation from the new CEO, who knows?  Maybe they might just bounce back on track.

BC: Who am I? Well...

So, as you all know (I hope), my name is Calvin Lin.  I am 15 years old (as of now) and attend Alameda High School. As with all teenagers my age, my favorite hobby is to play video games, preferably on the computer.  I don't like to play on a Xbox360 or a PS3 because of the controls.  I do better with a mouse and keyboard, then with a controller.  There are also more varieties on the computer platform, than on the Xbox360/PS3.

Video games are an important part of my life.  It helps me relieve stress, as well as provide entertainment on days where I have nothing else to do.  I also learn a lot from video games, from the assembly/dismantle of a gun, to difficult vocabulary, like "Vox Populi" (Voice of the People in Latin) or Biochemical Augmentations.  While adults tend to think video games are wasteful because they just take up time and divert peoples attention from their goal, video games are actually very informing and can sometimes help exercise the brain.  Take for example "Deus Ex: Human Revolution".  Its game-play consists of many strategic actions that  must be thought out, instead of rushing in with guns blazing.  You have to track the enemy's movement, plan your way through, locate an escape point, take inventory of your supplies, and execute them simultaneously.  You don't have one route to follow either, you can take multiple routes and still  reach your goal, but you have to find the most efficient one.  Another feature of the game is to persuade the in game characters to give you information.  This action makes you use your reasoning and common sense skills while enjoying the game at the same time.  Games aren't bad, it's just how you play them that decides its value.

In terms of "who I am", I would like to think of myself as "tech-savvy" or whatever people call it these days.  I have various knowledge on computers, mainly because I have faced the problems myself, and had successfully solved them.  At the same time, after I solved them, I usually look deeper in the solution and try to understand why the problem happened and how it works.  In terms of how I started getting involved and intrigued by computers, it all started when my uncle gave me a computer and a copy of  "StarCraft".  As my interest grew in the game, I started looking for other games.  Most of the games I've played worked out fine, but as the graphics of the games got better and better, I wondered why my computer was running so slow.  I researched on the problem, and soon I hit the solution.  Get a better computer.  At first I searched for brand computers, like Dell, HP, Asus, Gateway, etc...  Then I found a post on the internet saying that there was a cheaper, more efficient way of getting a fast computer, build your own.  I was stunned.  What?  You can build your own computer?  Ridiculous!  Nevertheless, I searched on Google and found out how.  I also asked some older friends of mine for any information that could help me on building a computer.  I actually didn't build my computer first, I built my friend's computer first.  After the build was successful, I began to research more on the parts itself and gained more knowledge about computers from that.  From that point on, I've improved a lot, in terms of technical knowledge.  Even now, I'm still learning a lot about computers.  Hopefully, once I have enough experience, I might be able to make a living out of it.


In this school year, writing-wise, I hope to learn more about making my sentences transition a lot more smoothly.  I also want to expand my vocabulary, so I can specifically express what my opinion towards a topic is about.  That's it for my biweekly column.  Feel free to leave any comments or questions below, and thanks for reading my post!