A fine line between genius and insanity...
Thursday, May 07, 2009
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
World Championship Snooker 2009
This year I didn't go to Sheffield to watch the above event, because the tickets were already sold out (or more precisely, I'm not bothered to try the phone lines for the "resale" service. There are always plenty of empty seats in each match.) But the BBC streams everything on the web.
Marco Fu plays Joe Swail in the first round. I was quite worried, but somehow Fu got past this easily. Swail wasn't playing that badly, all he lacks is probably luck. Anyway, Fu's next round opponent was Shaun Murphy. Fu lost 3-13 with a session to spare. When he was trailing 1-7 overnight I wasn't too concerned - I saw him won six straight frames to come back from 9-15 to 15-15 a few years back. Never did I imagine that he could lost 2-6 in the next session this time.
He just played very, very badly. It is interesting that players can have complete different performance from day to day.
As for the other players, I'm glad to see Ronnie O'Sullivan crashed out, particularly when he was "potted out", not "bored out" as some may claim for his other losses before. The fact that he has "motivation" difficulties (which is probably genuine, we have students like this) is his own problem, and it doesn't automatically mean that the whole sport is dying.
I managed to see the very last part of Stephen Hendry's 147 live. I have to say, though, that the pockets are incredibly huge and takes almost anything in.
John Higgins eventually won the title. He really is an all-round player, not as exciting to watch as many young players but fully deserves the title.
Marco Fu plays Joe Swail in the first round. I was quite worried, but somehow Fu got past this easily. Swail wasn't playing that badly, all he lacks is probably luck. Anyway, Fu's next round opponent was Shaun Murphy. Fu lost 3-13 with a session to spare. When he was trailing 1-7 overnight I wasn't too concerned - I saw him won six straight frames to come back from 9-15 to 15-15 a few years back. Never did I imagine that he could lost 2-6 in the next session this time.
He just played very, very badly. It is interesting that players can have complete different performance from day to day.
As for the other players, I'm glad to see Ronnie O'Sullivan crashed out, particularly when he was "potted out", not "bored out" as some may claim for his other losses before. The fact that he has "motivation" difficulties (which is probably genuine, we have students like this) is his own problem, and it doesn't automatically mean that the whole sport is dying.
I managed to see the very last part of Stephen Hendry's 147 live. I have to say, though, that the pockets are incredibly huge and takes almost anything in.
John Higgins eventually won the title. He really is an all-round player, not as exciting to watch as many young players but fully deserves the title.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Leicester City promoted
So Leicester City is promoted back to the Championship, and as champion of League One at the same time, with two games to spare; although at one point it looks like losing momentum and wastes all the huge lead that was made in the middle of the season. It is important to get out of this League One in the first season, or otherwise it may take ages to get out, just like Nottingham Forest and Leeds.
Now let's hope "the management" don't make any more silly moves and make sure the team at least survives with some comfort in the Championship next season...
Now let's hope "the management" don't make any more silly moves and make sure the team at least survives with some comfort in the Championship next season...
Friday, April 17, 2009
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Thursday, April 02, 2009
賊喊捉賊
港足聯賽 爆踢假波疑雲
香港足球圈之「盛況」早已人所共知，多年來在一少撮人圍威喂的「緊密合作」下，把球市搞得「有聲有色」，每場賽事觀眾多達數十人。不知何故，近年竟能更創高峰，甲組球隊數目愈來愈多，有人更一人搞兩隊波。如果我是班主，一定提供一條龍服務。試想: 賭仔有波賭，開賭有錢搵，球員有波踢，唔駛踢也有錢收，可謂百利而無一害，對香港經濟將帶來巨大貢獻...
香港足球圈之「盛況」早已人所共知，多年來在一少撮人圍威喂的「緊密合作」下，把球市搞得「有聲有色」，每場賽事觀眾多達數十人。不知何故，近年竟能更創高峰，甲組球隊數目愈來愈多，有人更一人搞兩隊波。如果我是班主，一定提供一條龍服務。試想: 賭仔有波賭，開賭有錢搵，球員有波踢，唔駛踢也有錢收，可謂百利而無一害，對香港經濟將帶來巨大貢獻...
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
I'm now officially in debt...
...for an amount of 8.22 pounds.
This is the amount due from the "final electricity bill" left over from the previous tenant. Obviously, I'm not the one to pay it. I sent it to the landlord (and the lettings agent) several times long ago, and not surprisingly they won't deal with it; I also told the electricity company, Southern Electric, about this, and also not surprisingly (as they constantly feature on BBC's Watchdog programme) they didn't handle it properly either. In fact, I have set up my own account with Southern Electric (at this same property address), they sent me my bills, and I paid. But they continued to repeatedly issue several threat letters to "The Occupier" (they don't even know their client's name!) about that outstanding bill.
Eventually, they passed it to a debt collection agency called Past Due Credit Solutions. They sent a letter to me as a "new customer" asking me to call them "regarding an important matter". So I called. Before I get to know anything more about the case, they instantly told me, after asking when I moved in, that they should not be sending this to me and apologised. And I wonder, it can't be so simple, right? What's their next trick? Do debt collectors in UK do what those in HK do? Hmm... (And by the way, that Scottish accent was simply unintelligible, especially over the phone.)
Actually, the 8.22 is just my guess because there is also an outstanding water bill (which the water company didn't seem to chase after I set up my own account with them), and who knows how many more debts...
This is the amount due from the "final electricity bill" left over from the previous tenant. Obviously, I'm not the one to pay it. I sent it to the landlord (and the lettings agent) several times long ago, and not surprisingly they won't deal with it; I also told the electricity company, Southern Electric, about this, and also not surprisingly (as they constantly feature on BBC's Watchdog programme) they didn't handle it properly either. In fact, I have set up my own account with Southern Electric (at this same property address), they sent me my bills, and I paid. But they continued to repeatedly issue several threat letters to "The Occupier" (they don't even know their client's name!) about that outstanding bill.
Eventually, they passed it to a debt collection agency called Past Due Credit Solutions. They sent a letter to me as a "new customer" asking me to call them "regarding an important matter". So I called. Before I get to know anything more about the case, they instantly told me, after asking when I moved in, that they should not be sending this to me and apologised. And I wonder, it can't be so simple, right? What's their next trick? Do debt collectors in UK do what those in HK do? Hmm... (And by the way, that Scottish accent was simply unintelligible, especially over the phone.)
Actually, the 8.22 is just my guess because there is also an outstanding water bill (which the water company didn't seem to chase after I set up my own account with them), and who knows how many more debts...
Monday, January 26, 2009
Semester start at Chinese new year
Today is the Chinese new year. Of more relevance however is that this is also the start of the new semester. And I have three lectures to teach today, the first one at 9:00am.
The worst part of all this is, well, that I am the person to make the timetable...
The worst part of all this is, well, that I am the person to make the timetable...
Friday, December 05, 2008
Royal visit
The Queen and Prince Philip visited the university. Since the university is publicizing it as if it is the biggest event in the universe, I would save typing a few keystrokes and just point you to here for what it is all about, pictures, etc.
The Maths and CS Building has, I would say, the best view of the whole thing. One side of the building are offices with windows facing the library directly. Unfortunately mine is at the opposite side. Nevertheless I (and others) went to a room at a corner of the building, which used to be secretaries' office and now half-abandoned; it has a 270 degrees view of the whole thing, high enough to be above the crowd but low enough to see as closely as possible. See pictures below. (Btw, the day before, somebody had already put up a notice on the front door of the building saying there is no public viewing places inside. Depending on your interpretation, you can call it a lie.)
The thing I wondered is the (apparent lack of) security. Given our superb viewing angle, if anyone here is not that happy with them and has some weapon...
The Maths and CS Building has, I would say, the best view of the whole thing. One side of the building are offices with windows facing the library directly. Unfortunately mine is at the opposite side. Nevertheless I (and others) went to a room at a corner of the building, which used to be secretaries' office and now half-abandoned; it has a 270 degrees view of the whole thing, high enough to be above the crowd but low enough to see as closely as possible. See pictures below. (Btw, the day before, somebody had already put up a notice on the front door of the building saying there is no public viewing places inside. Depending on your interpretation, you can call it a lie.)
The thing I wondered is the (apparent lack of) security. Given our superb viewing angle, if anyone here is not that happy with them and has some weapon...
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
The landlord
Now that I've said about the agent, I'll go on to say about the landlord. It's a company; it may just be the same name, but the only thing I can find on Google is a US-based company listed in NYSE. (I tried to search for it in UK company registration, I do found a company of the same name but it is listed as a "dormant" company. Btw, I cannot even find the lettings agent on this list...)
This company calls itself "a newly-formed specialty finance company" that invest in residential mortgage loans, residential mortgage-backed securities, Alt-A mortgage loans, and CDOs. Hah. They made their IPO last year and their share prices have since fallen about 85%. Just last week they announced a secondary offering of 110,000,000 shares...
This company calls itself "a newly-formed specialty finance company" that invest in residential mortgage loans, residential mortgage-backed securities, Alt-A mortgage loans, and CDOs. Hah. They made their IPO last year and their share prices have since fallen about 85%. Just last week they announced a secondary offering of 110,000,000 shares...
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Parmars!
Parmars (http://www.parmarsestates.com) is a well-known lettings agent, presumably only working in the Leicester area, so this should not concern most people reading this; nevertheless I still want to share my experience with them here, so that people can know how exceptional their service is.
Before I say anything further, I must confess that the problems you may notice below, if any at all, are entirely due to my own fault. All other agents I've encountered so far are fairly reasonable, so I was not expecting such a unique experience with this particular one; I was more on the easy-going side and didn't follow rigidly the general principles dealing with lettings. Had I been more firm on those grounds, however, I wouldn't have a chance to experience this. Also, all these only happened after I paid 225 pounds (under various names of holding fee, application fee, etc.), so I was essentially tied to them and cannot change even if I wanted to. I suppose this is how they make sure their clients can receive their full suite of unbelievable services.
You would have assumed that the rent was the same as the one advertised. In fact, just before I paid that 225 pounds, they drafted a nice little list detailing all kinds of money I need to pay,
specifically the rent and the length of the contract (12 months). However, I was only told a few days later, when I went to sign the contract, that the advertised rent is only for the first 6 months and the rent will go up 7.5 pounds for the remaining 6 months. In fact, it is customary here for the rent to go up by (say) 25 pounds every 12 months, so such an increase is not a problem. What I particularly appreciate is this service of not bothering the client with such minor details until the point of signing.
The other point is that they offer you no choice of start date; you just have to start the tenancy on the date that the landlord/agent decided. Once again, this avoids the client the trouble of deciding when to move.
They also offer various fully automated service, e.g. asking me to sign on a completely blank standing order form. On another day I might have done it, but I was not in any good mood that day so I just turned down this nice help.
Here comes the main point which triggers me to write this article. When I viewed the property, which is a "part-furnished" flat, there was a table and some chairs (among other things). I was told that they will stay. Before I paid that 225 pounds of money, they assured me once again that they will stay (while they also specifically mentioned that some other thing will be removed). When I signed the contract and went to the property, the table and chairs have disappeared. I would like to praise their strict adherence to the legal point that you cannot trust anything that was said verbally (in this case, a staff member's assurance that the furniture will stay), but you need to put things in paper.
Actually, we did: like other agents, they drew up a list of inventory. One particular item on the inventory list is "dining table and 4 dining chairs". We signed the inventory list; strangely enough, we did it in the office, not at the property. I believe this is to avoid the client's trouble of going to so many different places. I believe nobody would bother to remove them anyway, so I trusted them and signed. So when I discovered the table and chairs were gone, I phoned them. They requested me, in their kindest possible tone, to go to their office the next day to sort it out.
The next day they sorted the matter out in the simplest way: they just crossed off that item from the inventory list! (see pic below) To try to make me feel better, they gave an explanation that the item was left behind by the previous tenant and had been subsequently picked up by those previous tenants. Unfortunately I'm a bit too stubborn to accept such an explanation as the tenant has clearly left long before I viewed the property. Then they went on to explain that "part furnished" means cooker and fridge only, any other thing there is only left beind by the previous tenant. Being not as intelligent as them, this somewhat confused me further because if that's the case then I'm not sure what's the point of putting so many items on the inventory list. I could only conclude that the agent/landlord are so nice that they decided to remove the items, at their own cost, so as to create more space for me. I have also learned from them that even things put in paper cannot be trusted.
In addition to these specific virtues, the general level of politeness of the staff also helped me learn how to improve my own patience and politeness too.
In conclusion, I really cannot recommend more about this lettings agent to you.
Inventory list. The red rectangle shows the thing that were crossed off after it was signed. (They countersigned it; I didn't.)
Before I say anything further, I must confess that the problems you may notice below, if any at all, are entirely due to my own fault. All other agents I've encountered so far are fairly reasonable, so I was not expecting such a unique experience with this particular one; I was more on the easy-going side and didn't follow rigidly the general principles dealing with lettings. Had I been more firm on those grounds, however, I wouldn't have a chance to experience this. Also, all these only happened after I paid 225 pounds (under various names of holding fee, application fee, etc.), so I was essentially tied to them and cannot change even if I wanted to. I suppose this is how they make sure their clients can receive their full suite of unbelievable services.
You would have assumed that the rent was the same as the one advertised. In fact, just before I paid that 225 pounds, they drafted a nice little list detailing all kinds of money I need to pay,
specifically the rent and the length of the contract (12 months). However, I was only told a few days later, when I went to sign the contract, that the advertised rent is only for the first 6 months and the rent will go up 7.5 pounds for the remaining 6 months. In fact, it is customary here for the rent to go up by (say) 25 pounds every 12 months, so such an increase is not a problem. What I particularly appreciate is this service of not bothering the client with such minor details until the point of signing.
The other point is that they offer you no choice of start date; you just have to start the tenancy on the date that the landlord/agent decided. Once again, this avoids the client the trouble of deciding when to move.
They also offer various fully automated service, e.g. asking me to sign on a completely blank standing order form. On another day I might have done it, but I was not in any good mood that day so I just turned down this nice help.
Here comes the main point which triggers me to write this article. When I viewed the property, which is a "part-furnished" flat, there was a table and some chairs (among other things). I was told that they will stay. Before I paid that 225 pounds of money, they assured me once again that they will stay (while they also specifically mentioned that some other thing will be removed). When I signed the contract and went to the property, the table and chairs have disappeared. I would like to praise their strict adherence to the legal point that you cannot trust anything that was said verbally (in this case, a staff member's assurance that the furniture will stay), but you need to put things in paper.
Actually, we did: like other agents, they drew up a list of inventory. One particular item on the inventory list is "dining table and 4 dining chairs". We signed the inventory list; strangely enough, we did it in the office, not at the property. I believe this is to avoid the client's trouble of going to so many different places. I believe nobody would bother to remove them anyway, so I trusted them and signed. So when I discovered the table and chairs were gone, I phoned them. They requested me, in their kindest possible tone, to go to their office the next day to sort it out.
The next day they sorted the matter out in the simplest way: they just crossed off that item from the inventory list! (see pic below) To try to make me feel better, they gave an explanation that the item was left behind by the previous tenant and had been subsequently picked up by those previous tenants. Unfortunately I'm a bit too stubborn to accept such an explanation as the tenant has clearly left long before I viewed the property. Then they went on to explain that "part furnished" means cooker and fridge only, any other thing there is only left beind by the previous tenant. Being not as intelligent as them, this somewhat confused me further because if that's the case then I'm not sure what's the point of putting so many items on the inventory list. I could only conclude that the agent/landlord are so nice that they decided to remove the items, at their own cost, so as to create more space for me. I have also learned from them that even things put in paper cannot be trusted.
In addition to these specific virtues, the general level of politeness of the staff also helped me learn how to improve my own patience and politeness too.
In conclusion, I really cannot recommend more about this lettings agent to you.
Inventory list. The red rectangle shows the thing that were crossed off after it was signed. (They countersigned it; I didn't.)
Monday, October 13, 2008
Moving house again, part 2
Another one I viewed (call it Flat B) turns out to be what I have to stick with unwillingly in the next 12 months. The strange thing about it is that it is exactly opposite to my first flat here (that's the one with bees, if you remember); see the map:
So it means I moved down the road, and after 18 months move back up to the same point again.
I don't really like the location - close to university but a bit too far from city center, and also a bit too quiet - but I told myself, if I could survive the first one for 18 months then I surely can survive this one for another 12 months? I think everything is so-so but acceptable, and since there are no other alternatives, I decided to go for it and paid some money.
The next day I viewed another property at the city center (yes, I decided to go for B already, but viewing doesn't cost money...). Let's call this one Flat C. This one is also nice, though not as good as Flat A. More importantly it is at the same price as Flat B; it is at a better location, newer, but unfurnished. If I have not put money into B, I would definitely go for C.
It turns out that maybe it's actually better to give away the deposit - partly my mistake and partly due to the agent...
So it means I moved down the road, and after 18 months move back up to the same point again.
I don't really like the location - close to university but a bit too far from city center, and also a bit too quiet - but I told myself, if I could survive the first one for 18 months then I surely can survive this one for another 12 months? I think everything is so-so but acceptable, and since there are no other alternatives, I decided to go for it and paid some money.
The next day I viewed another property at the city center (yes, I decided to go for B already, but viewing doesn't cost money...). Let's call this one Flat C. This one is also nice, though not as good as Flat A. More importantly it is at the same price as Flat B; it is at a better location, newer, but unfurnished. If I have not put money into B, I would definitely go for C.
It turns out that maybe it's actually better to give away the deposit - partly my mistake and partly due to the agent...
Moving house again, part 1
I'm not dead just yet, although not posted for a long time. After spending months writing something which I myself don't believe in, I have to immediately start a process of finding accommodation. It looks like I have to move house every 18 months (although I really hope the next one will be shorter than 18 months - it will become clear in the next posts), this time because the landlord wants to repossess the property.
Before I go on about how bad this flat-hunting process turned out, I should say that I like the current one very much - it is in a very convenient location, within walking distance to everything, and I find out that I like living in a noisy city center area much more than some more "rural" ones. (It can be quite scary that at night, when you look out of the window, all you see are some trees and shadows waving. Also, I seem to enjoy watching pedestrians, and the current flat has a great view on a busy point in the street. Shops in city center also close as "late" as 8pm, which is more convenient.) Thus, despite some minor problems (like fire alarm ringing at any time it likes, some idiots on the street playing with your intercom, and a bright orange colour scheme in the bathroom), I would be very happy to stay longer if possible.
The city center "regeneration" has created a whole lot of very nice flats, but for one reason or the other I always missed them. One flat that I viewed (let's call it Flat A) is in city center, has very very new furnishing and I like it very much. Except that the price is expensive. After several other viewing disappointments, I think maybe it's time I pay a bit more, and want to commit to it. Only when I actually go to their office and do the application do they try all sorts of tricks to squeeze more money out from me; I refused, and thus no deal.
As you will soon find out from my other posts, other agents are equally bad, or worse...
Before I go on about how bad this flat-hunting process turned out, I should say that I like the current one very much - it is in a very convenient location, within walking distance to everything, and I find out that I like living in a noisy city center area much more than some more "rural" ones. (It can be quite scary that at night, when you look out of the window, all you see are some trees and shadows waving. Also, I seem to enjoy watching pedestrians, and the current flat has a great view on a busy point in the street. Shops in city center also close as "late" as 8pm, which is more convenient.) Thus, despite some minor problems (like fire alarm ringing at any time it likes, some idiots on the street playing with your intercom, and a bright orange colour scheme in the bathroom), I would be very happy to stay longer if possible.
The city center "regeneration" has created a whole lot of very nice flats, but for one reason or the other I always missed them. One flat that I viewed (let's call it Flat A) is in city center, has very very new furnishing and I like it very much. Except that the price is expensive. After several other viewing disappointments, I think maybe it's time I pay a bit more, and want to commit to it. Only when I actually go to their office and do the application do they try all sorts of tricks to squeeze more money out from me; I refused, and thus no deal.
As you will soon find out from my other posts, other agents are equally bad, or worse...
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
垃圾會08
由於今年本人沒投票的分兒，所以在此嘈幾句算了... 本 blog 讀者(如有的話)大概早知本人立場。無他，那XX黨是惡霸，自然要支持其對家了...
(1) 獨立之謎
何解這麼多人這麼容易就幾乎可以當選？只要你自稱「獨立」，加上是「名人」就行，尤以此兩人為甚：
勞永樂 - 因廿三條事件被醫學界選民唾棄而未能成功連任醫學界議席，之後忽然化身民主鬥士，無間道得很...
龐愛蘭 - 此人更無厘頭，睜著眼講大話說自己獨立也有這麼高支持度...
(2) 唔做野之謎
長毛之類經常被指「唔做野」。我真不明白怎樣才算是「做野」。 抬棺材是「搞事」，議案投反對票也是「搞事」。我只希望議員們能夠：
You don't just give up. You don't just let things happen. You make a stand. You say no! You have the guts to do what's right when everyone else just runs away!
正因為大部分人都不敢 make a stand (包括我，連XX黨大名也不敢說啊)，才更需要選這些人出來代替我們「搞事」...
(The link should make no sense to most people, so don't click it.)
(3) 我只想拜託各位新界東選民，不要投劉江華，唔該...
(4) 順便一貼:
其實觀眾無錯啊，那 proposition 是「我地唔係咁蠢 」，主持問是否同意，那當然是「係」嘛...
(1) 獨立之謎
何解這麼多人這麼容易就幾乎可以當選？只要你自稱「獨立」，加上是「名人」就行，尤以此兩人為甚：
勞永樂 - 因廿三條事件被醫學界選民唾棄而未能成功連任醫學界議席，之後忽然化身民主鬥士，無間道得很...
龐愛蘭 - 此人更無厘頭，睜著眼講大話說自己獨立也有這麼高支持度...
(2) 唔做野之謎
長毛之類經常被指「唔做野」。我真不明白怎樣才算是「做野」。 抬棺材是「搞事」，議案投反對票也是「搞事」。我只希望議員們能夠：
You don't just give up. You don't just let things happen. You make a stand. You say no! You have the guts to do what's right when everyone else just runs away!
正因為大部分人都不敢 make a stand (包括我，連XX黨大名也不敢說啊)，才更需要選這些人出來代替我們「搞事」...
(The link should make no sense to most people, so don't click it.)
(3) 我只想拜託各位新界東選民，不要投劉江華，唔該...
(4) 順便一貼:
鏡 頭 一 轉 ， 民 建 聯 譚 耀 宗 、 張 學 明 等 人 在 台 上 扮 八 仙 演 話 劇 嘲 諷 有 人 想 分 裂 中 國 ， 主 持 搞 gag 問 ： 「 我 地 唔 係 咁 蠢 ， 係 唔 係 ？ 」 台 下 高 呼 「 係 ！ 」 主 持 忙 糾 正 「 唔 係 」 。 蔡 素 玉 是 片 中 女 主 角 ， 蔡 菜 子 對 婦 女 選 民 堅 稱 ， 今 個 選 舉 是 場 「 奪 權 與 非 奪 權 之 戰 」 ， 民 主 派 一 旦 取 得 優 勢 ， 香 港 的 政 局 會 不 穩 、 國 際 評 級 會 下 降 、 股 票 會 跌 、 失 業 率 升 … … 選 舉 論 壇 是 戲 肉 ， 當 年 大 家 力 爭 2007/2008 年 雙 普 選 ， 蔡 菜 子 咄 咄 迫 問 民 主 派 的 余 若 薇 ： 「 如 果 2012 有 普 選 你 地 支 唔 支 持 ？ 」 今 天 ， 民 建 聯 支 持 的 是 2017/2020 年 雙 普 選 。
(apple 3/9/2008)
其實觀眾無錯啊，那 proposition 是「我地唔係咁蠢 」，主持問是否同意，那當然是「係」嘛...
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
degree inflation
I think I should keep my mouth shut, so here are just some links:
Watchdog: degree grades arbitrary
Email leak of degree inflation
Or maybe I could say just a little...
The one reason that I've seen to support the current degree classification instead of GPA is: "students' effort and qualities cannot be represented by a single number". Well, if it cannot be represented by a number then why can it be represented by a even more meaningless label such as "upper second"? (Those labels remind me of the credit crunch crisis: there are only two quality levels for mortgages, prime and sub-prime. They may sound like "very good" and "not as good", but actually they mean "acceptable" and "rubbish".)
If it cannot be represented by a single number then give me an array of numbers then. As someone involved in admissions, I like neither GPA nor degree grades. Just give me all the marks and the average.
As for "arbitrary grades", the following is a purely hypothetical situation:
Watchdog: degree grades arbitrary
Email leak of degree inflation
Or maybe I could say just a little...
The one reason that I've seen to support the current degree classification instead of GPA is: "students' effort and qualities cannot be represented by a single number". Well, if it cannot be represented by a number then why can it be represented by a even more meaningless label such as "upper second"? (Those labels remind me of the credit crunch crisis: there are only two quality levels for mortgages, prime and sub-prime. They may sound like "very good" and "not as good", but actually they mean "acceptable" and "rubbish".)
If it cannot be represented by a single number then give me an array of numbers then. As someone involved in admissions, I like neither GPA nor degree grades. Just give me all the marks and the average.
As for "arbitrary grades", the following is a purely hypothetical situation:
[1 hour 45 minutes into a meeting]Of course, it certainly isn't like this in reality, is it?
A: Now we have a Mr. X who got this set of marks, which is just a bit below 2-1 degree, should we consider putting him to 2-1?
B: But according to our regulations, rule 37.1.2(a)(iii) says he needs at least N marks in M subjects in order to be considered as a borderline case.
A: Yes but if we raise this mark by 0.5 then his marks satisfy the condition in rule 4.69.12(f)(iv), after we execute this rule then his marks satisfy rule 15.1.2(b)(ii), after executing this rule then his marks satisfy rule 37.1.2(a)(iii) which means he can get a 2-1!
Sunday, August 17, 2008
A trivial algorithm
I seldom talk about my research here. First, there's not much (...); and second, most of them are on very simple (a.k.a. "fundamental") problems. Recently, we have a paper where the "main" result is so simple that some of the reviewers' comments were:
So here is the problem. A set of equal-length intervals arrive online. Each interval carries a weight. The objective is to choose a set of non-overlapping intervals in an online manner such that the total weight of the chosen intervals is maximized. An interval can be discarded (preempted) in favour of another newly-arriving interval.
A deterministic 4-competitive algorithm is known and is optimal (Woeginger, TCS, 1994). The question is: give a better randomized algorithm.
Our trivial algorithm is 2-competitive. Since it is so trivial I'll not describe it here but leave it for you to imagine. Either people do not care about the problem (except this, this and this) or people have come up with this many times and didn't bother to write about it...
- simple to the point of triviality
- The new algorithm is almost trivial. It can be seen as a "real" result only due to the fact that several researchers tried to design improved algorithms in the past but did not succeed.
So here is the problem. A set of equal-length intervals arrive online. Each interval carries a weight. The objective is to choose a set of non-overlapping intervals in an online manner such that the total weight of the chosen intervals is maximized. An interval can be discarded (preempted) in favour of another newly-arriving interval.
A deterministic 4-competitive algorithm is known and is optimal (Woeginger, TCS, 1994). The question is: give a better randomized algorithm.
Our trivial algorithm is 2-competitive. Since it is so trivial I'll not describe it here but leave it for you to imagine. Either people do not care about the problem (except this, this and this) or people have come up with this many times and didn't bother to write about it...
Friday, August 08, 2008
cosplay @ leicester...
我仲以為香港先有「動漫節」呢味嘢, 點知今日係學校出現大批 cosplay 人物... 原來本校歷年嚟都主辦呢項「盛事」, 仲要係全UK最大 (第二樣又唔見咁叻...), 只係通常每年呢個時候我都唔係到, 所以先唔知. 我一行入 canteen, 見到一大班鬼仔鬼妹係到扮架仔架妹, 感覺很 surreal...
Thursday, August 07, 2008
What should I post?
I originally hoped that this blog can contain posts on a variety of topics - academia, politics, fun, teaching or even research. Over time however it becomes more or less a place of complaining about my miserable life, mostly about travelling. I hope to change this, and to make sure I do, here is a list of topics that I will post in the near future:
- how algorithms teaching went here
- project supervision and project reports
- politics: upcoming Legco'08 election
I'm not so sure how I can write about the teaching thing though, since there are many things like this that I can write but I don't want to get fired just yet.
Also, in order to update this blog more frequently without putting in any content myself, i would just quote other people's stuff that I've come across.
Here is today's quote:
- how algorithms teaching went here
- project supervision and project reports
- politics: upcoming Legco'08 election
I'm not so sure how I can write about the teaching thing though, since there are many things like this that I can write but I don't want to get fired just yet.
Also, in order to update this blog more frequently without putting in any content myself, i would just quote other people's stuff that I've come across.
Here is today's quote:
曾遭少女記者責備：「說什麼『行將就木』，誰聽得明？快死了就說快死了，行將就木，說了就學問很好麼？」
(倪匡, apple daily 07/08/2008)
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