4 eyed Pete

So yeah.. Peter's getting glasses.. so happy! I always knew that my right eye was noticeably weaker/less focused so it wasn't really a surprise, especially how much time I spend in front of a computer screen, eyes focused intently on the small, fast-moving objects during a game of LoL..

But I always thought it was fine, that glasses wouldn't really make a difference because meh, my good left eye could carry the weight of the poor right eye.. but then... she gave me some type of device which would simulate what it would be like with glasses.. and man.. holy shit, I look at the screen and the pixels are so clear.

Hard to elucidate the experience... Closest thing would be going from watching a movie in a normal cinema (you think, meh, this is good enough for me, I'm used to it etc.) and then watching the same movie in iMax and realising what you were missing out on.. Or a more everyday experience.. watching a movie in blu ray vs watching a movie in standard DVD quality.
^_^

Pic related, my new pair of glasses.

So after that I spent a good 30 minutes choosing a pair of glasses.. until I finally settled on the above. Fits well, looks nice and yeah, slightly hipster but ah wells, I like them. Would have preferred something from Warby Parker or Oliver Peoples but this is close enough (although quite pricey at $440 or something with lenses -_-). Well.... we're only paying like $200 because health insurance covers the rest ^_^

Sigh, this post is so #firstworldproblems it hurts.. "my $440 glasses weren't the first choice I had in mind"

In other news.. I dunno, life's OK. Honestly can't be bothered blogging anymore unless I'm bored and have something exciting to post about

So... Uni v2.0

AAAARRRGGHHHH! NET DIED ON ME SO NOW I HAVE TO RETYPE WHAT I JUST WROTE FROM MEMORY! not going to enjoy this, my memory is pretty bad.

so here is what I wrote to the best of my recollection:

So yeah, been a while since i ranted about something, so here goes:

-computing for engineers, sigh. so boring, doing the same thing i did last year for stats. and the lecturer doesn't speak loud enough for the class. thinking about skipping this one.

-engineering design. seems awesome. I'll be designing and building a water/sanitation system for a cambodian village with a group. actually genuinely interested in this project. so fucking excited!

-physics. lecturer is knowledgable and funny but content is quite extensive and if you miss something the rest of the lecture just gets more and more confusing. meh.

-financial institutions.... oh man, where do i start... okay, the lecturer (an asian lady in her late 20s) genuinely scares me. but in a good way (that sounds.. weird lol, like im into that shit hahaha). No, but seriously, my best teachers were the ones that I was afraid of. Like no messing around, there's no way you're going to be lazy in their class and get a way with it.
seriously, she takes attendance in lectures and has expressed her intention to forbid students from sitting the final exam if they attend less than 80% of their tutorials. scary no?

Alright, I confess, that wasn't from memory. I just flowed once i got started.
okay, it's almost 2am, i'm going to finish writing this later today. 'nite.

Oh yeah, something to break up the text. I'm probably the left side and that's a bad thing. Probably explains my lacklustre uni marks. 

*14 hours later*
welllll.... back. pretty uneventful day. woke up, went to phys lecture, ate lunch, went to engineering design session where we had to build a model water tower from some basic materials. we failed horribly. then went home and now I'm typing this.

so yeah. what was I going to say again? Oh right, recently started watching coffee prince during the trips to and from uni. it actually works out perfectly because each episode ends just as the bus approaches the uni. so weird yeah? my journey takes on average 59 minutes from boarding the train to arriving at uni. lol.

OH YEAH, ALMOST FORGOT. My family are going to Vietnam and an undecided Asian country  at the end of the year. So depressing. Well, atleast you can look forward to my blogging the entire painful experience for your viewing pleasure. stay tuned!

Oh man this is soo cool/sad! *edited again*

I wonder how much it cost to make... 

but really, the way the lyrics are changed is actually quite clever

In other news, taking powerful meds prescribed by my dermatologist. have to avoid the sun and alcoholic beverages at all costs..
sigh, 3 weeks till uni again.
-ptr'

*edit for more cool content*
actually laughed alot at this one:
bahahahahahahaah

*edited again*

Yeah I know.. 4chan. But dang, this makes me feel so sad for him/his dad  :(  =[  D:  D= 

So now you can feel sad with me! yay! sad together!

..

But seriously, we should appreciate our lives more. ^^

Meh... 2013

Sigh, typing this in Brisbane right now. Last few days was pretty fun, went to wet n wild and a few beaches on the gold coast. Going to go to movie world and seaworld and shiz before coming back home to sydney. And oh man.. NYE in brisbane... it's like so empty. It probably has like 10% of the attendance of Sydney's NYE so it's really easy to get a good vantage spot. Unfortunately, we left at like 6pm so meh.. =/

But yeah.. NYE here in Brisbane is quite lonely. And last year, NYE in bloody Vietnam was even lonelier D: What worse, there's a very good chance that I'll be spending the last moments of 2013 in Vietnam again. Far out man, if that happens it would be 3 years since having a NYE in Sydney. Last one was... at the end of 2010/start of 2011. Pretty sweet. But yeah, don't know when I'll be able to go to atleast have an NYE with friends, not neccessarily in the city but just with any friends anywhere, preferably ringing in the new year with a good drink. And that sort of saddens me...  :(

And another thing, seriously man, in this house in Brisbane, the view/location is awesome. Like if you walk like down the street you can see the Brisbane skyline, but the net here is TERRIBLE. Like LoL and dramas is all I can do at night and yeah.

Pic related- my pretty sweet view 

Soooo.. 2013. Hmm, guess it should be.. honestly, I want to say interesting but I really don't think much is going to change, it's not a completely new experience like going from year 12 to 1st year uni... However, there will be no more easy 12 hour commerce timetables, instead I'll have to face the horrors of being an engineering student. But I guess I shouldn't really be complaining, it's a the path I've chosen to take, as economics is so bloody boring. And I honestly wouldn't mind being an engineer. Well, we'll see.

To 2013, to the same old life, one more year closer to everything that will happen in my life, including my inevitable death (I KNOW, man that was dark!). Time travel in a way.. lol.

Peter, out for the year.
Happy new year to anyone who still reads my shit :)

Results- slightly disappointed.

So yeah, just received my results by zmail. Low 60s for both accounting and macroeconomics. I'm definitely not born to be an accountant or an economist. Distinctions for mathematics and finance, as expected.

So I guess I was right when I predicted a low 70s WAM (just above 70). Okay, I know I might not listen to my own advice/inner "stereotypical Asian father", but it's that time again.. critical self reflection! Yay!!

Okay, what did Peter do wrong during semester 2?

-Skipped entire lectures for the whole semester because they were either on too early or too late (accounting, math)
-Tried to use a laptop to take notes.. but this proved problematic when you had to draw diagrams or write up long equations.
-Tried to use a pen and paper to take notes.. not as bad but I can't write fast enough and I didn't look back at them alot.
-Slept in and missed out on an in-class test, losing like 3% of my total mark for one course.
-Forgot to do a graded online quiz because.. I'm just fail like that. lol, just slipped my mind.
-Skipped some lectures simply to sit around and talk with mates.
-Regularly did not do homework if it did not affect my mark.. when it did affect I mark I did minimum required for the marks

Okay, that was alot of fail right there.

Critical self reflection part 2:

What changes can I make in order to improve?

-Actually do the fucking homework, even if it does not count towards marks

-Turn up to the fucking lectures

-Similar to above, WAKE UP ON TIME

-Limit my "free" time to 2 hours a day on uni days

-Recognise that you can no longer cruise on the back of your high school knowledge

So yeah, slightly disappointed (this is the 2nd time I've spelt that word wrong and needed spellcheck to correct it.. thought it was spelt "dissapointed" but apparently not..)

And yeah, holidays are cool, pretty chill. TOO chill. 

Peter out.

Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox- Hero

A detective who has been with NSW Police for 35 years (and still is an active member) and has investigated countless cases of child sexual abuse and murder. Wrote an open letter  to the NSW Premier calling for a royal commission into cases of child sexual abuse and subsequent cover ups by the police and the church.

Evil flourishes when the good people do nothing.

I'm normally not particularly fond of police, but society does need people to investigate the most horrendous and ugly crimes out there and bring the offenders to justice. Good people like Detective Peter Fox, who I think is very brave to have the emotional strength to face these sick crimes and also to speak out against the institutional practice of protecting paedophile priests by shifting them around and church leaders knowing about but failing to report cases of abuse to police.

First interview

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-08/studio-interview-with-senior-nsw-detective-peter/4362100

PETER FOX: Oh, Tony, I think most people would be absolutely crumpled up in tears to hear it. Just some examples of what I've sat and listened to is that one young boy at the hands of paedophile priest James Fletcher, he was 12 years of age when the priest drove to a secluded park outside of Maitland. He told the boy to remove his pants and the boy was totally unaware of what was going on and quite embarrassed, but that particular priest anally penetrated him.

The boy wasn't aware at that stage that his anus had been torn and he started bleeding. He was screaming in agony on the seat and his knuckles were turning white. And as the priest continued to thrust while he screamed, he said he focused on the St Christopher's Cross on the dashboard and watched it swaying back and forward to try and take his focus off the pain.

The priest never relented at any stage during that, and even after the act was completed, he was totally uncaring for the child and simply sat back in the driver's seat and had a cigarette while he finished sobbing.

....

TONY JONES: This is actually - this is - as horrific as the litany of sexual crimes against children are, to me one of the most disturbing lines in your letter was along these lines: "I can testify from my own experience the Church covers up, silences victims, hinders police investigations, alerts offenders, destroys evidence and moves priests to protect the good name of the Church." You're saying you have evidence of all of this?

PETER FOX: Oh, not only do I have evidence, it's irrefutable. Most of that is fact that's been admitted by many of them. We encounter it all the time. For people to sit back and say it's not going on, they've got their head in the sand. The greatest frustration is that there is so much power and organisation behind the scenes that police don't have the powers to be able to go in and seize documents and have them disclose things to us.

TONY JONES: If things were covered up, if there was serious cover-up, how high up the chain did it go to your sure knowledge?

PETER FOX: I have definite information that - of some covering up certainly to a number of diocese bishops. It potentially goes even higher than that.

TONY JONES: Higher than that? You mean into the top levels of the Church hierarchy, is that what you're saying?

PETER FOX: That's correct. I've got no doubt. 

Second interview
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-12/interview-with-detective-chief-inspector-peter-fox/4368082



PETER FOX: I don't want to go into it too deeply, but this is the end of my policing career. I realised that from the moment that I decided to speak out last week. As much as it's denied, the culture within the police force would never allow someone like me to move back into it.

.........

And he then went on to point out, he said, "We have wonderful big churches, we've got wonderful places of worship and they're ordained with jewels and they're all empty." They need to start asking why are they empty? Because if you can't change, that's not going to change. If the Church really is genuine, they need to stop making the comments that Cardinal Pell made today.

If he can't stop moving them - saying those comments, move along and let someone else come in that is a little bit more conciliatory, that has got more of a compassion, an open ear. The way Cardinal Pell treated the foster family in Melbourne whose two daughters suicided after abuse was nothing short of disgraceful.

I think he needs to have a real hard look in the mirror and go back and say, "Why did I want to become a priest? Somehow I've got into this position now where it seems to be all about how much money can I save through the compensation schemes? How can I protect the reputation of the Church? How can I protect this priest that I used to go through the seminary with?"

That doesn't matter. It should be: "How can I protect these little children? How can I look after these victims? How can I care for them and give them compensation and help them get over the trauma?" That's where we should be looking. So I'm hoping that the royal commission will do some of that.

One more to go.

So yeah, finished my.. macroeconomics, business finance and accounting 1B exams already... only math1131 to go.

Outlook? I'd say.. low 70s on average/maybe 68 or 69 if I'm terrible. Be so happy if it were over 75 WAM but I really doubt it.
And the accounting exam today.. ARGHHH.. I'm such a dumbass. Spent the morning looking at tech news instead of actually studying. As a result, not feeling too confident in that one D: Looking at around 70%.

.. *incoming technology rant*

In other news... although it was a long time coming, the new nexus devices are out. And holy shit, those prices. Seriously bro, the nexus 4 (available in 8/16GB) has:
- a 1.5ghz quad core processor (next generation standard, the current generation, A9, is what the galaxy s3 and most other popular phones are running)
-2GB RAM
-a (slightly) better screen than the SGS3 and iPhone 5
-NFC and wireless charging, Android 4.2 etc.
The only thing it's missing is a microSD card slot and a removable battery and it would be absolutely perfect (LTE is a battery drainer and just isn't that useful in Australia ATM).

And the price... $400 in Australia. That's insane compared to the top of the line phones ATM, with the iPhone 5 16GB costing twice as much, $800 (for inferior specs too) and a galaxy s3 retailing for around $600.

Yeah, I'm a tech nerd. I've accepted it for a long time already. But yeah... dang. I want a nexus 4 now. Google/LG's profit margins must be insanely low for this product.

OH and not to mention the Nexus 10 which has a superior screen to the iPad retina and is also like $100 cheaper.

You may think I hate Apple from reading that- I dont, I just think their products are overpriced and playing catch-up on competitors that they used to be miles ahead of (iPad, iPod touch, iPhone 1 to 4 led the market when they were released IMO)

*end rant*
So it has come again to that time where I make my end of year break resolution. Remember last year's one where I said I'd watch all these movies and get my Ps and learn to pick locks... Well I eventually learned to pick locks and got my Ps but still haven't gotten around to those movies yet.

Okay, so here are the movies that I must watch because I haven't seen them before:

-Titanic (only seen half)
-The Lion King
-Matrix trilogy
-LOTR trilogy
-Schindler's list
-Godfather movies
-Ponyo

Also, I have to catch up on Naruto.. I'm like a year behind- stopped reading at the very start of the great ninja war. Oh yeah, and have to gym and get a job (ha. ha. haha.)