Surety of Death

Sure, I can see where you're coming from. It's not an uncommon line of thought; some of my clients used to think the same way. There is a certain sense of invulnerability felt when you know your prophesied cause of death is old age. I suppose it lets you sleep easier at night, even.

Not to burst your bubble, but things aren't that rosy. You wouldn't want to be uninsured, not even in today's post-Event world.

You might not know this, but about twenty years ago, there was a sudden spike in sales of tobacco and liquor. Yup, that was immediately after the effects of the Event were publicized and proven true. But why was there an increase in cigarette and alcohol sales?

Because many people learned that they weren't going to die of lung cancer or liver disease. Well, what's the harm of having another smoke or another drink if you knew you were going to die of a car accident?

Do you know how the sales of tobacco and liquor are today? Just about where they were before the Event.

Actions always have consequences. Sure, you won't die from lung cancer. Doesn't mean that your body is suddenly immune to cancer. Same thing with alcohol, doesn't mean that your liver doesn't suffer any damage. The thing is, all you know is your cause of death, not when you'll die. The prophecy doesn't give you a free pass; you'll either die prematurely to other causes, or you'll survive for longer but suffer poor health.

Things do happen. You're never truly safe, even if you know that you will live until a ripe old age. Sometimes, it's the false sense of security that gets you. We've all heard of those in the news. A thrill seeker attempts an extreme sport because he knows he's not prophesied to die from sporting; ends up alive, but paralyzed from the neck down. Or the rise in cases of HIV, spread by reckless hedonists who were sure they weren't going to die from AIDS. Actions always have consequences.

Long term consequences, as the case may be.

Now, are you still sure you want to go uninsured?

My Friend Edmond

Memories are fallible. Personally, I think it's sad that very often, we don't even know what we've forgotten. Instead, what we are left with is a vague sense of emptiness, a fleeting notion of an event or thought that was once important.

My friend Edmond disagrees.

"Our lives are like a cheque. We live only once, acquiring whatever value possible from our experiences. And, at the end of the day, our memories inscribe our final value onto the fields of the cheque, in ink black and bold.

In the end, the ink eventually fades. And so, as our experiences vanish, the meaning of our lives disappear.

On the other hand, a blank cheque is incredibly tempting, particularly if nobody remembers what was written..."

In hindsight, I can't actually recall how I came to befriend Edmond.

The Implausibilty of Political Gridlock in Singapore

The common argument against a two-party system in Singapore is that of political gridlock. I find this to be implausible, given Singapore's political structure. There are three main factors which strongly inhibit the formation of political impasses.

1. Singapore has a unicameral legislature.
2. Singapore adopts a first-past-the-post voting system.
3. Singapore has strict limits on parliamentary speaking time.

Therefore, I think it is unlikely for political gridlock to exist in Singapore. To elaborate upon the previous points:

The United States is often cited as one example of an indecisive (if not impotent) legislature, which is probably true. Yet, it is invalid to extrapolate this to Singapore because the underlying political system is significant. A bicameral legislature, where a law has to be sanctioned by both chambers, is clearly different from a unicameral legistature. At the very least, a law faces more obstacles to being passed. It is also not uncommon for bicameral legislatures to be 'won' by different (and opposed) parties, which contributes to factionalism.

None of these are applicable to Singapore, where there is only one chamber.

When discussing the malalise in American politics, another important weapon to force an stalemate is the fillibuster. A fillibuster prevents the passage of a vote; in the US, 60% of senate votes are required to force a vote, which has degenerated into a situation where 60% support is required for a motion to be passed (otherwise any objecting party can simply prevent its passage by fillibustering).

Singapore has strict limits on the amount of speaking time each MP has. Thus, it is nearly impossible to delay the passage of any law via filibustering.

Beyond simple factionalism leading to political gridlock, an indecisive legislature can also arise due to the weakness of political parties. Some european governments have adopted proportional representation, which allots seats (approximately) based on the voting share each party has garnered in the previous election. Unfortunately, this tends to lead to the formation of legislatures comprising of numerous small, fratictious parties. If major parties are unable to secure outright majorities, the only option is a coalition. Coalitions are unstable, and may lead to shortsighted, incoherent, and piecewise policy.

Singapore has a first-past-the-post voting system, which tends to amplify the vote share of the winner. While this does not guarantee outright majorities (as with UK's last election, which necessitated a coalition), it is nontheless more stable than a proportional represention.

The fear of an indecisive government seems exaggerated. In my opinion, the greater danger is that of having insufficient safeguards to moderate the political process.

Predicting Plot Twists from Time Remaining

Recently, I have found television dramas, both episodic and serial, to be increasingly predictable and boring. This isn't because television writing has suddenly degenerated (though arguably it is of low quality), but rather, due to the constraints of the format. What I'm talking about is the time that an episode, or series, has to fit into.

Consider an episodic show. The story can only include a fixed number of twists before coming to a resolution. If we know the amount of time remaining before the end of the program, then this actually provides us with additional information about the plot. Clearly, the show cannot be over with half an hour remaining! In a mystery, if a suspect is revealed with 5 minutes left on the clock, he is most probably the true criminal, as compared to 20 minutes left, where there may be one or two twists to uncover.

For serials, the same rule applies, except that we judge the potential plot twists by the number of episodes remaining. Suppose the antagonist repents with 5 episodes left; clearly he will renegade on his decision soon! If instead it is the penultimate episode, then he will probably sacrifice himself for the greater good and die for some reason in the finale.

I find it easier to predict television than movies, because television timetabling tends to be regular, hence you almost always know how much time is left. Movies have variable runtimes that are difficult to gauge without prior checking, thus leaving more room for guesswork. Is this the final arc, or is there yet another twist remaining?

The Lycurgus Cup

Several years ago, I visited the British Museum and took a pair of photographs of the Lycurgus Cup. The photographs are below:

The Lycurgus Cup.

The same artifact!

The two photographs depict the same object, but clearly the glass is of a different color in each photograph! This is due to special properties of the glass which scatters and reflects light differently. When light passes through the glass, the blue end of the spectrum is scattered to a greater degree, resulting in its normal red appearance. However, when light is reflected off the glass, the spectrum is reflected about equally, showing a green color.

Of course, the Lycurgus Cup is kept secure behind a wall of glass, which makes tampering with the lighting to create the color changes difficult. I managed to capture the color changes using a camera flash; the reflected light off the flash makes the Cup appear green. Signs of the flash can be seen in the first image above.

Golden Ball

It was thought to be a historical fiction, an ancient tale that bore no truth. Similarly, the expeditions were thought foolish, and indeed the expeditions were all fruitless. All but one, that is. The artifact was finally found buried deep under the earth, entombed in a sealed, gilded box.

An international committee was established to oversee the research program studying the artifact. Of course, they were not especially interested in the artifact's scientific value, but instead were wary of the potentially catastrophic economic consequences if the artifact was to be misused.

Despite the oversight, abuses were inevitable and unstoppable. Not everyone was immune to greed, and the markets teetered towards collapse with each influx of artificial gold.

To save the global economy, the oversight committee finally came to a decision: To destroy the Hand of Midas, thus forever preventing its use. The chosen method was destruction by atomization, reducing the artifact to a fine molecular dust.

That was a mistake, the greatest one in our history. The Hand of Midas was not destroyed even when reduced to dust; each atom retained its properties.

As the golden dust was scattered by the winds, the Earth was turned into a golden ball, slowly, but surely.

It was thought to be a historical fiction, an ancient tale that bore no truth. Similarly, the expeditions were thought foolish, and indeed the expeditions were all fruitless. All but one, that is. The artifact was finally found buried deep under the earth, entombed in a sealed, gilded box.

An international committee was established to oversee the research program studying the artifact. Of course, they were not especially interested in the artifact's scientific value, but instead were wary of the potentially catastrophic economic consequences if the artifact was to be misused.

Despite the oversight, abuses were inevitable and unstoppable. Not everyone was immune to greed, and the markets teetered towards collapse with each influx of artificial gold.

To save the global economy, the oversight committee finally came to a decision: To destroy the Hand of Midas, thus forever preventing its use. The chosen method was destruction by atomization, reducing the artifact to a fine
molecular dust.

That was a mistake, the greatest one in our history. The Hand of Midas was not destroyed even when reduced to dust; each atom retained its properties.

In the days to come, as the golden dust was scattered by the winds, the Earth was turned into a golden ball, slowly, but surely. - See more at: http://typetrigger.com/trigger/golden%20ball#sthash.PwQsmFhV.dpuf

It was thought to be a historical fiction, an ancient tale that bore no truth. Similarly, the expeditions were thought foolish, and indeed the expeditions were all fruitless. All but one, that is. The artifact was finally found buried deep under the earth, entombed in a sealed, gilded box.

An international committee was established to oversee the research program studying the artifact. Of course, they were not especially interested in the artifact's scientific value, but instead were wary of the potentially catastrophic economic consequences if the artifact was to be misused.

Despite the oversight, abuses were inevitable and unstoppable. Not everyone was immune to greed, and the markets teetered towards collapse with each influx of artificial gold.

To save the global economy, the oversight committee finally came to a decision: To destroy the Hand of Midas, thus forever preventing its use. The chosen method was destruction by atomization, reducing the artifact to a fine
molecular dust.

That was a mistake, the greatest one in our history. The Hand of Midas was not destroyed even when reduced to dust; each atom retained its properties.

In the days to come, as the golden dust was scattered by the winds, the Earth was turned into a golden ball, slowly, but surely. - See more at: http://typetrigger.com/trigger/golden%20ball#sthash.PwQsmFhV.dpuf

It was thought to be a historical fiction, an ancient tale that bore no truth. Similarly, the expeditions were thought foolish, and indeed the expeditions were all fruitless. All but one, that is. The artifact was finally found buried deep under the earth, entombed in a sealed, gilded box.

An international committee was established to oversee the research program studying the artifact. Of course, they were not especially interested in the artifact's scientific value, but instead were wary of the potentially catastrophic economic consequences if the artifact was to be misused.

Despite the oversight, abuses were inevitable and unstoppable. Not everyone was immune to greed, and the markets teetered towards collapse with each influx of artificial gold.

To save the global economy, the oversight committee finally came to a decision: To destroy the Hand of Midas, thus forever preventing its use. The chosen method was destruction by atomization, reducing the artifact to a fine
molecular dust.

That was a mistake, the greatest one in our history. The Hand of Midas was not destroyed even when reduced to dust; each atom retained its properties.

In the days to come, as the golden dust was scattered by the winds, the Earth was turned into a golden ball, slowly, but surely. - See more at: http://typetrigger.com/trigger/golden%20ball#sthash.PwQsmFhV.dpuf

It was thought to be a historical fiction, an ancient tale that bore no truth. Similarly, the expeditions were thought foolish, and indeed the expeditions were all fruitless. All but one, that is. The artifact was finally found buried deep under the earth, entombed in a sealed, gilded box.

An international committee was established to oversee the research program studying the artifact. Of course, they were not especially interested in the artifact's scientific value, but instead were wary of the potentially catastrophic economic consequences if the artifact was to be misused.

Despite the oversight, abuses were inevitable and unstoppable. Not everyone was immune to greed, and the markets teetered towards collapse with each influx of artificial gold.

To save the global economy, the oversight committee finally came to a decision: To destroy the Hand of Midas, thus forever preventing its use. The chosen method was destruction by atomization, reducing the artifact to a fine
molecular dust.

That was a mistake, the greatest one in our history. The Hand of Midas was not destroyed even when reduced to dust; each atom retained its properties.

In the days to come, as the golden dust was scattered by the winds, the Earth was turned into a golden ball, slowly, but surely. - See more at: http://typetrigger.com/trigger/golden%20ball#sthash.PwQsmFhV.dpuf

Remember-Me

According to projected medical advances, human life expectancy is expected to peak at 100 years within the near future. Within a century of your death, those who know and love you will themselves be gone. None will remember you, and even those scarce and meaningless traces of you, the proof of your existence, will be eroded to nothingness.

You will be forgotten in the sands of time.

Does this scenario worry you? Do YOU want to avoid this fate? Worry no more, Remember-Me is here to save the day!

Remember-Me is a revolutionary service designed to enshrine the memory of your existence! For a flat-fee of $99.99, Remember-Me will specially arrange for a person in the far future to study your biography and to remember YOU! With Remember-Me, you can expect to not be forgotten for at least 200 years!

And if that's not enough, you can opt for the enhanced package, Remember-Me-Forever! For a modest sum of $999.99, we offer an UNLIMITED renewal of the basic Remember-Me package, lasting FOREVER! Now you can lie secure on your deathbed, knowing that even in the eons to come, someone somewhere will be aware that you once lived.

 

Call now to avoid disappointment!

A Report on the Feasibility of Terrestrial Expeditions

The preliminary finding of this scientific committee regarding the feasibility of terrestrial missions is NEGATIVE. The reasons for this conclusion are summarized below: 

As per prior computer simulations, the density of external medium is insufficient to support any sort of directed propulsion. The measured density of external medium is approximately 0.1% of standard medium, which provides too little reaction force for motion. 

Since it is not possible to rely on external medium, the only feasible alternative is to carry a supply of reaction mass, which can be forcefully expelled to generate a propulsive force. This is similar to the locomotion mechanism of cephalopods. However, since all reaction mass has to be carried locally, this greatly restricts the range of a terrestrial vehicle. The cost of any terrestrial mission will also be prohibitive. 

A final technical point is that while external medium contains a sizable concentration of oxygen, our organs are not adapted to extract oxygen from external medium. Thus, external suits are necessary for any exploration outside the landing module. However, the general opinion of this committee is that manned explorations are cost-ineffective and provide little scientific benefit. Besides the cost and weight of extensive life-support systems necessary to sustain the crew, any manned exploration would require additional specialized equipment for terrestrial locomotion. After all, it is impossible to swim on land.

In light of these technical obstacles, we do not advise any terrestrial undertaking. Instead, we recommend further research into alternative modes of locomotion, perhaps by making trade-offs into the possible axes of motion.

Agent Response to Stimulus

We cannot peer into another mind; all we can do is to observe an agent's reactions to stimulus. Nonetheless, it is possible to model an agent solely by its reactions to stimulus; the agent's mind may thus be considered as some hidden internal states of little importance.

Can we predict with some certainty the future behavior of a simple agent, such as a small insect or animal? With sufficient observation of the agent in a controlled environment, it ought to be possible. We might then describe the complexity of the agent's mind by the number of factors that need to be determined before the agent's actions can be fully predicted. 

Space Weapons

It has been suggested that militaristic civilizations will not develop spaceflight; the reason being that any aggressive civilization will sooner destroy itself. I think this is rather true. To be more specific, any civilization with the capacity for interstellar travel, if even the lowest grade of travel that takes centuries, will have acquired simple means of destroying themselves. Interstellar travel implies the capacity to accelerate and propel large masses to high velocities, possibly near-relativistic speeds. In other words, any space-faring vessel is necessarily a weapon.

In that vein, I wonder if a simple means to create a weapon of mass destruction is to simply launch a tungsten probe into space, let it acquire velocity through gravity-assists, and redirect it at a planetary target. If the probe is sufficiently hardened to survive reentry, then this is essentially an artificial meteor impact.

It would be a fitting weapon for any bond villain, and probably cheaper and easier to build and acquire than a nuclear weapon.

NUS Matriculation Number Checkdigit 2

Previously, I described how to calculate the checkdigit of the NUS matriculation number. Unfortunately, the numbering scheme for the matriculation number has changed since the turn of the decade, which means the old calculation method no longer applies.

I have studied the new matriculation numbers (which are prefixed with A) and have managed to reverse engineer the new checkdigit scheme.

Assume the numerical digits of the matriculation number are C1,C2,C3,C4,C5, C6. Take the sum of the digits C1 to C6, and find the modulus (remainder) of this sum when divided by 13.

Compare the remainder with the following table to obtain the checkdigit.

Y	X	W	U	R	N	M	L	J	H	E	A	B
0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12

Reverse-engineering the checkdigit scheme was easier this time round, for two reasons. First, the ordering of the checkdigits followed that of the earlier scheme, albeit reversed. Second, and more importantly, the checkdigit scheme was of a lower complexity, being a simple sum of the component digits. This I found puzzling, because it actually fails to preserve an important property that was present in the previous scheme.

A checkdigit serves only one purpose: it is a quick way to determine if a given registration number is correctly entered. Taking the remainder of a sum of the component digits allows us to detect if one digit has been wrongly typed; if one digit is mistyped, the checkdigit would be different. Also, if several digits have been mistyped, the error is still detectable, though there is a small chance that the sum of errors just happens to be a multiple of 13 and hence undetectable.

The weakness of taking the modulus of the sum is that it does not allow transposed digits to be detected. For example, if any or all the digits in a registration number were scrambled around, this would be undetectable as the sum of digits would remain the same. A more robust checkdigit scheme accounts for this by weighting each digit position with a different weight, thus allowing for most digit transpositions to be detected.

Transpositions are fairly common when typing strings of numbers, so it is fairly unacceptable for the checkdigit scheme to fail to account for this.

Practice makes Perfect

Practice makes perfect, so they say. In general, that's true; at the very least, it's difficult to become worse with repeated practice.

I work hard, and train everyday. My skill of choice? Lying. 

Now, the problem is that you can't simply lie alone. Lying to a wall, or to an inanimate object, isn't lying- that's called neurosis. You need someone else to lie to. 

Practice makes perfect; so my lies became better and harder to detect. The downer? Practice makes perfect; everyone got better at seeing through my lies.

All in all, I think I lost more through practice than if I had just slept everyday.

Thoughts on Education

I doubt that education is a universal panacea to society's woes.

Education is often held to be a solution to the problems that ail society; the moral degeneration of our youth, the stagnation of our economy, the increase in incivility, the demise of the family, all these and more. While education may indeed prove helpful to these issues, I don't think it's wise to consider it a silver bullet to each and every problem.

At the very least, pushing everything to schools and teachers isn't going to work.

Every problem that affects us on a national level isn't a simple one that can be traced to a single root cause, much less a cause stemming from an inadequate or flawed education. If we fail to recognise problems for what they are, and address the entire basket of root causes, not only will we fail to resolve the initial problems, we will also end with a compromised education for an entire generation of students.

My belief is that most issues are socioeconomic in nature, and can be better addressed by dispensing funds to social programs, or to needy receipients. While increasing funds alloted to education isn't a bad idea per se, I believe that funds can be spent more intelligently. Improving school facilities, raising teacher wages, or increasing teaching staff aren't bad ideas, and will indeed help resolve problems stemming from inadequate infrastructure or low quality of teachers. However, simple initatives like school lunches have been shown to have as great an impact on educational outcomes. Thus, we should make proper assessments as to whether our spending is directed to obtain the greatest effect.

The Wish and Miracle Stones

I was tasked to collect two different, but related, artifacts- a wish stone, and a miracle stone.

Of course, these artifacts do not exist in reality, which is why I can discuss it with you.

On the surface, these items work in the same way: while grasping the stone in your hands, you state your desire, and it is fulfilled. Then it vanishes from your possession.

The difference between a wish stone and a miracle stone is the difference between a wish and a miracle.

A wish is fundamentally a strong desire for something to happen; that something is not impossible, but merely difficult or unlikely to occur.

A miracle is an impossibility that has manifested itself.

A wish is a wish, and a miracle is a miracle. It is not possible to perform a miracle, even with the power of a wish stone.

Similarly, a miracle stone cannot grant any wish.

Of course, from the perspective of us humans, a miracle stone is far more powerful than a wish stone, and should thus be able to duplicate the functions of a wish stone.

A saw is far more capable of cutting wood than a knife, but just try carving wood with a saw.

The problem with miracle and wish stones is that aside from their powers, they are utterly impossible to distinguish. Not only do they share the same appearance, they share the identical size, weight, texture, etc. Every single detail is the same, as if they were manufactured from the same mystical source. One can easily mistake a wish stone for a miracle stone, and vice versa.

It is not difficult to see the problem here. The stone is used up when one states his desire to be fulfilled. Whether the desire is realized is another matter altogether.

The difficulty of finding even a single stone makes this a troublesome issue. One cannot simply keep trying until they find a correct miracle or wish stone.

I have heard rumors of someone asking for the ability to know the locations of every miracle stone. Such an ability would enable him to tell the difference between a miracle stone and a wish stone, which is an impossibility that can be granted by a miracle stone. Another rumor tells of someone that asked to be able to find thousands of stones, which is insanely difficult, but not impossible, and thus can be granted using a wish stone.

Those rumors end with them just having the wrong type of stone for their requests.

In fact, there are few tales of someone successfully using a wish or miracle stone. The successful stories are apocryphal at best.

I did, of course, manage to complete my task, and deliver the required artifacts.

Of course, such a thing is impossible, which is why I can tell you how I did it.

It simply isn’t very difficult to acquire stones that vanish when spoken to.

A Piece of Paper

I have heard rumors of a special paper that allows one to lose his memories. If somebody consumes a sheet of that paper, he soon forgets whatever is written on it, even if the written information was something close to him.

Of course, such a thing is impossible, which is why I can discuss it with you.

It isn't something you'll want to use daily, certainly. But at the same time, its value lies in being able to eliminate unwanted memories. Unhappy memories, hateful recollections. These don't occur everyday, but rubbing out the occasional blemish is something that's desirable.

Is it?

Not in excess, of course. Few things are entirely good if taken to extremes. Any tool invented to help inevitably brings forward criticisms of it weakening us. Eliminate the necessity of labor, and the strength of humans will decline. The terrible ease of forgetting trivializes the impact of harsh memories; they are sooner forgotten than overcome. 

Perhaps it might reduce us to psychological weaklings, unable to accept any mental blows without whiting it out.

Of course, such a thing is impossible, and doesn't exist.

Yes, you've heard me right. Have you gotten that all written down? Great. Now for the next step...