Privacy? Really?

Watching CNN always remind me of a dream that i had. To be a newscaster, to be an anchorwoman, to have a one hour show in my name. Can't tell you how much it flatters and fuels my ego when my classmate refers me as Oprah. Ok..talk show host or anchorwoman..i'm flexible!

But then my childhood dream( still is my dream) is not the point in this entry. While i was listening to CNN and also multitasking at the same time, something caught my ears..the host ( a particularly good looking one) was commenting on how social media is actually stripping our privacy.

Interesting i taught. And out of boredom, i decided to verify for myself if it is as easy or more difficult that what they told us. Of course, i'm just playing the role of a nosy person and not super good hacker, guess that is a whole new context.So where best to start but Facebook!

I started typing in a name.Half of us on fb allows only friends to see our wall and our info. But still i come across an account of "Someone" that allows me to see everything..wall..posts...photos..friends..u name it.

I sure never meet this person before..but imagine what i can find out via facebook. A complete stranger can see where you're from..where do you live..where do you study..whats your mother's name, sister's name..when is your birthday..And all of these are in the first glance..

If i look deeper..i can tell what course are you doing..what club/society you're in..who is your room mate..which hostel you're in..who's your best buddies..your relationship status..

At this point of course, my patience run out. But i think it is clear to everyone how we're exposing bits and pieces of ourselves via social media like facebook, twitter and even our blogs. People can find out so much about us with a few clicks..that is assuming you leave a virtual footprint which would include more than 80% of the gen y. After all, there's got to be a reason why Mark Zuckerberg is so so rich. That's not the end yet..if i'm a hacker (hypothetically speaking)..credit card info, all your purchase be it books or movie tickets will be at the back of my hand.

We gotta realize with a tool that helps us to record our lives and interact with others, we are also inevitably stripping ourselves of our privacy.It is ridiculous to deactivate an account..ask any of the current users. Most will ridicule this idea because we have built either useful or huge virtual network. You got to understand the charm of connecting with people from ALL over the world for FREE and in such an interactive way.

So i know it is impossible to leave social media behind,it will be like discarding our cherished memories altogether( anyone remembers friendster?). But do yourself a favor, at least go look into your privacy setting and see if you're okay with it.

Lucky for my case study, i am just a blogger not a virtual stalker.

Happy Chinese New Year!

It is nothing new to say that Chinese New Year seems to be so much more different now than when we were 10 years old. When we were 10 years old, CNY is THE time, in fact THE BEST time. It is when we go out with parents to get brand new clothes, get lots ang paus from relatives, having to wait while our parents chit chat with their friends during visits while finishing all their choc cookies. As for me, i remembered memorizing some Teochew "gong xi fa cai" so i can re-chant it to my grandpa. It was very very joyous.

Of course, it is still a very joyous festival. We still buy brand new clothes, we still get ang paus, we still do relative visits..but despite the all-too-convincing "still"s I cant help but realized something changed. We still love CNY of course, but we cant deny a big factor of that affection is because we get 1 whole week of holidays for it. We are excited in some way for it, but we no longer have that adrenaline pumping, heart beating super fast moment when we hear the fireworks.

Perhaps we grow up or perhaps we grow out of the CNY cliche...either ways are sad..

I hope it is not too weird coming from my mouth, CNY is still a great and huge tradition we Chinese should always remember and live up to. If ever you're like me, even for one second doubt the meaning of CNY, maybe it will do us good to perhaps drop by at Chinatown to see with our own eyes, how this thousand years old tradition managed to so effortlessly give us all reason to be happy.

And if that wasnt enough, you can still count on the scrumptious yee-sang, beer/wine drinking with your friends, and jin rummy/mahjong to cheer you up!

See really...there is no reason why we shouldn't enjoy ourselves!

Happy Chinese New Year!

My Rule This Time

Ok..i had enough of formulas/equations/laws (from a lot geniuses whose name i cant even pronounce )to last me a lifetime..but now now my turn to get creative..Allow me to introduce to the world Ying Ling's Rule of Good Chances of Success both in the chemistry labs and when you're 23 years old.

Now when you're in the labs, from Ying Ling's Rule of Good Chances of Success came the following equation:

Good immunity towards super bad smell +
Ability to withstand overwhelming annoyance from demonstrators +
Ability to stand for 6 hours straight +
Wisdom to face failures due to bad luck+
Courage to face failures due to bad skills+
Ability to resist the temptation to copy senior's reports
= GOOD CHANCES OF SUCCESS

Now if we can translate this to real life, it would probably be:

Immunity to people who brings you down/pull you low +
Ability to withstand overwhelming criticism +
Ability to persist/to not waver in the face of adversity +
Wisdom to face failures due to back luck+
Courage to admit that sometimes you're not good enough +
Ability to create your own dreams and paths
=GOOD CHANCES OF SUCCESS

See, life does emulates chemistry in some ways.

Disclaimer : The one who derives these laws is not yet successful, but there is a good chance she will. After all, if you went through enough screw-ups, you're bound to come across thumbs-ups some day. I'm just clocking in on screw-ups just so you know.=)

For the wonderful day waiting for me tomorrow..cheers!

The Last & First Day

Today would be the last day of me being 19 years old,in fact i'm just 1 hour away from turning 20.So it means i'm saying goodbye to the last 19 years and hello to a new stage....the 20's.They say if u get on to 20,it will be like just a blink of an eye when u hit 29 then 30 then older and older...erm pretty true,time really flies especially when u dun pay attention to it.I still remember vividly going to school on the 1st day then wondering how was i going to be when i hit 18..then "BOOM!!"..i'm turning 20 in just TOMORROW.

Lets just put it this way,2007 has not really been a fabulous year for me.I didnt give it all my best for my studies from the beginning and thus resulted in a mere satisfactory results.I didnt set my priority straight and caused myself to stray too far away from my real goal.I indulge too much in pleasure and gave insufficient attention to the serious business.I have also some other incidents which can only be said as too unlucky!..But besides that the lesson i have learnt is that i m not determined enough,didnt not give enough effort and probably just aint intelligent enough to notice it earlier...But hell screw it! I cant rewind and undo all the mistakes i did nor can i just copy and paste previous successes.So there really is no point looking back and whine.The faster u can find out about your mistakes, and the faster u chose to deal with it and change it,the faster u can move on in your life,and therefore the faster u can expect the next best thing to happen.
So wat i'm saying is that...no matter how badly i have fell when i'm 19 ...i got up from it.I manage to keep my chin up and say.."I know i screwed up..i'll just make sure i wont do that again."I think thats good enough at least for me it is.

So i'm kind of glad my 20th birthday is here.Its like closing one door behind you...but bring together the lesson u have learnt and all the great memories with extraordinary people i have met along the way..all the wonderful things i have done..and open another door right in front of you which i have no idea now which way it will lead me to.The feeling of a new found confidence and some new thoughts to fill into the missing place deep under is beyond any words can ever describe.

So...hey 20's!!I'm coming!!