This Is Really An Eye-opener. We’ve Roughly Known What Are The Broad Infocomm Topics: Web/software

If you really want to do something, you'll find a way. If you don't, you'll find an excuse.

Jim Rohn

Usually I didn't calculate: Today I just realised that I do at least 20-100 questions/day. Unless it's word problems then just 20 only. 😅 ⁣ I really hope I can make it for 'O' Levels—all subjects! 🙏 https://www.instagram.com/p/BvMOnxIn0SFMvVznk48pGcccVlSaBcK-M7CUKw0/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=11oh1wvw8o9tj

I feel so proud of myself. 😆 What happened was that I had created a Tinder account to explore the then "new, trending social network" before it was closed down for <18yo users. It was viral in US among teenagers that's why. 😅 So Tinder disabled my account (they gave deadline when it wouldn't be available for <18yo, I was June I think) before I even deleted my account. This is actually a huge concern. They "disabled" my account, means it wasn't deleted just that I couldn't log in. I confirmed with Tinder if it was the case and the response was positive. 😮 The moment I received their response, I immediately requested them to delete my account. Few weeks later, they denied my request and said I can log in again when I'm 18yo to delete myself. 😠 I was so irritated. Met with such resistance, I recalled a law that I had read before regarding personal information. So I went to find out more and used the law against them. I formally issued them a legal request, to delete my account in pursuant to the Online Privacy Act. 😛 Few weeks later, they retreated and passively assented my request. 😄 I honestly love laws. I like reading laws. It's fun. 😋

Wow, seems like this “first impression” thing is scientific, known as the Halo Effect. So conversely if you’re late the first time, that negative trait will form an overall bad impression of that you.

This means that the unmentioned bias is real…… if you seem clumsy during the very first encounter. 😝

The halo effect

People who are nice are often perceived as being more physically attractive, due to a cognitive bias known as the Halo Effect. This is because being exposed to a single positive trait of an individual causes us to form an overall positive impression of that person.

My 3km Road Run Yesterday

As a non-sporty person, it was a remarkable feat to have constantly ran throughout the race with minimal walks. It was all thanks to Iskandar, my close friend, who kept pushing me to keep on running non-stop. It was a fantastical moment to see that as a result of his encouragements, my speed was on par with some fitter students that I have known.

His physical push only helps by ⅓ in effect, its success is purely symbolic

Initially, I thought that Iskandar’s physical push would be totally helpful because I had never really gotten someone to forcefully motivate me to run. Only to realised that despite his aid—his physical push to support my run—did not help solve or reduce the effects my physical exhaustion because it still requires tremendous effort to/maintain accelerate.

The continued efforts to run was largely attributed to my desire to keep up with his motivational demands as I did not want to disappoint him. The physical effect of running with and without his aid, would have been mostly the same such as physical strains and fatigue.

For the first time, I could feel a discomfort from my heart

As Iskandar forced me to keep on running, he also pushed me beyond my physical limits. For the first time in my life, I could feel a subtle sensation of pain from my heart. It was a very unusual feeling. Normally, when I am tired or during peak performance, I would expect a tingling sensation — a feeling that my heart can’t breathe any harder, but this time, it’s a real pain.

It was negligible, before gradually becoming more obvious. This was totally unexpected. I always thought those who often complains “heart pain” was exaggerating, but this time round I personally felt it as I pushed my natural limits that I am accustomed to.

Self-imposed a 10-second rule xD

Yes, yes, I know that it is better to strive for a constant run as opposed to short walks. However, that is easier said than done. It was not practical to set that standard to an unfit person like me. It was just a matter of when will you eventually give up and walk.

This is probably because of my natural limits that my heart is not used to work at such rate and so it would be difficult for me to maintain that good, constant pace. Additionally, the early symptom (subtle sensation of pain) forces me to be mindful of a potential fallout.

Hence, I responded to this challenge with a 10-second rule. I could intermittently take a break of up to 10 seconds, so that my body could re-calibrate itself and to relief the discomfort of my heart then continued running. It worked very well, and I managed to complete the entire 3km run with little to no walking at all. Much impressive compared to my 2.4km practice, which I will usually walk ≈0.5-1 round.

This Road Run is significant to me because of this rare moment of a close friend, who truly cares about me, tried his best to encourage me to try my best and effectively sacrificing his potential medals or achievements. He concurs that friendship triumphs achievements.

I find this app #digime is so cool! 😎 It collects and organises all my data in 1 place, putting everything at glance 😍 Totally free.

Humility pays off… but only in the long-term

Since young, all children are ingrained the common values of humility and integrity. What’s more virtuous than someone with inflated sense of self-esteem who constantly vies for recognition built with a wall of lies than a quiet, well-doing boy/girl?

“Sit down, be humble”

Unfortunately, such notion of true humility is mostly over especially in the Internet age. It’s so easy to “gain reputation” on social media nowadays. There’s nothing more satisfying than seeing the Likes/Loves/Views counter rapidly tickling upwards after every new post/video is made.

Thus, it fuels instant gratification and demands for more posts or fresh content to be made more regularly, which eventually erodes the value of humility in real life. (e.g. literal "updates" on Instagram) This is something unnoticeable that everyone overlooks when interacting on social media. This change of norm slowly aggravates into public request/demand for Likes/Loves on recent posts.

Other forms of inexplicit showing off include asking for advice/comments on the newly purchased accessory or item. Essentially, any action that calls for attention, whether deemed explicit or inexplicit, is sufficient to be labelled “showing off.”

It’s intrinsically recognisable, but unspoken

It seems to be widely misunderstood that just because someone doesn’t point that out, it means they don’t know or don’t notice. The reason why no one points out is because

It’s too miscellaneous. It’d backfire if the person is too picky on things that are too insignificant. And it’s hard to substantiate too.

Risk of social isolation. It’s quite foul to point out such thing to anybody. I’d personally also consider it as an act of hostility if anyone tries to point this to me, whether publicly or privately.

Friends' bias. (True) Friends will always respect and defend for one another. They would rather close an eye than pointing it out.

Generally, in most cases, they fall under (1). No one is that pernickety to point out such trivial matter.

Of course, it's possible that there are instances that go completely unnoticed. Nevertheless, they are still intrinsically recognised but can't be verbalised. That's the reason why ultimately real humble persons are recognised and commended as it's something rare.

So why should you be really humble?

Hmm, I can't thing of any practical benefit other than to gain even more reputation. 😆 This kind of reputation gain is actually more effective and prestigious, which means more enduring than the short-term, instant gratification.

The downsides of being silent about your achievements are…

You'll not receive any immediate flattery. It's all silent. Even though no one talks about it, but the positive image that you exhibit in their minds are cumulative. It's a kind of long-term investment. 😉

Your recognition may never be seen, forever. This is like gambling… becsuse there's no guarantee for the long-term "investment." You presume that they saw it, but they might not. They might be distracted or not be bothered to care about it at all. 😜

However, whenever anyone discovers your achievement by themselves, they would be more impressed and awed than you would show off to them personally.

So what should you do?

It's all about long-term and short-term reputation gain. If you choose humility, the best approach is be yourself. Don't carry any expectations in your mindset, just think it as your own characteristic and you'll eventually get used to resist the temptation of reward.

NB: However, at any point the mindset slips, and you try to vie for attention, no matter how inexplicit it seems to be, it's always intrinsically recognisable.

This is one of the most heartfelt moment in my secondary school life. 😌 Coming from a neighbourhood school, it’s a privilege to be a participant and I’m truly contented just with that. 😇 Different people have different achievements/pivots (whether in games, sports or academics), I’m really happy to formally become an Olympiad medalist in Biomedical Science. (It’s not the best Olympiad as compared to other ~5 Olympiads, but I’m still vv delighted) 🥉🎊🎊🎊 PS: I sacrificed Informatics Olympiad (N.O.I) though. 😅 (at Loyang View Secondary School)

My Apple Music 3-month trial is ending, and I’ve dedicated a detailed review to Reddit that the Internet is missing regarding Apple Music vs. Spotify. Although it isn’t very well-received by the Apple community, I hope it serves as a helpful reference to future users who are looking for advice whether it’s worth to give Apple Music a try.

I’m very disappointed by Apple Music’s missing of essential features and plagued with bugs/glitches.

Nevertheless, I’m glad there’s a strong case for me to switch back to Spotify now since by right I hate copycats and I feel indebted to Spotify because it gave me a chance to get into music with its free streaming service model.