Monthly Archives: December 2018

Life as a state machine

Credit: Myself

Had an idea this morning that I could try "programming" my life as a state machine or a giant "if-statement."

When we program an app, we try to anticipate edge-cases and malicious behaviours of our users.

Using that as an analogy, the "user" is myself, and the programmer is... also myself. Except the programmer is the person I want to become — productive, charismatic, determined, decisive, etc. And the user is the person that I sometimes become when I lack the motivation, self-control, and am I dealing with unexpected events and requests.

We can then create a trigger mechanism that we try to "brainwash" or "program" ourselves into adopting.

For example:

if (am_in_productive_mode && girlfriend_called_to_go_see_movie) {
  executeFallback()
}

Once these trigger-response mechanisms get documented and slowly adapted and turned into habits, we will start to gain control over our lives. We can also continuously improve ourselves by adding new response mechanisms and modifying/improving existing ones — just like how we do with building software products.

Anyway, just a quick idea for now. More details can be expanded later on if I decide to come back to expand on this idea.

Be Simply Stylish

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Aenean fermentum vulputate eros, efficitur vehicula nunc accumsan tincidunt. Maecenas a nulla id sapien dignissim tincidunt. Suspendisse efficitur ipsum sit amet purus sodales pulvinar. Suspendisse eu venenatis eros.

Nunc facilisis diam velit, non facilisis justo lobortis ac. Etiam ante tortor, consequat vel felis id, blandit finibus magna. Curabitur vel urna id tortor ullamcorper molestie. Donec accumsan, sapien nec consectetur varius, nisl nibh maximus diam, non vulputate diam dolor at nunc. Suspendisse pulvinar, ante a tempor volutpat, ligula tellus pharetra libero, ac porttitor tortor turpis at magna.
Nunc facilisis diam velit, non facilisis justo lobortis ac. Etiam ante tortor, consequat vel felis id, blandit finibus magna.



Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tbsp. lavender simple syrup (see below)
1/4 tsp. Grenadine
3 dashes bitters


1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tbsp. lavender simple syrup (see below)
1/4 tsp. Grenadine
3 dashes bitters

Proin gravida nibh vel velit auctor aliquet. Aenean sollicitudin, lorem quis bibendum auctor, nisi elit consequat ipsum, nec sagittis sem nibh id elit. Lorem ipsm dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Aenean sapien nu.

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Quick Eye Makeup

Curabitur coldimen ipsum ante, sed tempus lorem .


Aenean fermentum vulputate eros, efficitur vehicula nunc accumsan tincidunt. Maecenas a nulla id sapien dignissim tincidunt. Suspendisse efficitur ipsum sit amet purus sodales pulvinar. Suspendisse eu venenatis eros.

Nunc facilisis diam velit, non facilisis justo lobortis ac. Etiam ante tortor, consequat vel felis id, blandit finibus magna. Curabitur vel urna id tortor ullamcorper molestie. Donec accumsan, sapien nec consectetur varius, nisl nibh maximus diam, non vulputate diam dolor at nunc. Suspendisse pulvinar, ante a tempor volutpat, ligula tellus pharetra libero, ac porttitor tortor turpis at magna.
Nunc facilisis diam velit, non facilisis justo lobortis ac. Etiam ante tortor, consequat vel felis id, blandit finibus magna.



Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur.

Proin gravida nibh vel velit auctor aliquet. Aenean sollicitudin, lorem quis bibendum auctor, nisi elit consequat ipsum, nec sagittis sem nibh id elit.

Consequat ipsum, nec sagittis sem nibh id elit. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Aenean sapien nunc, aliquam et sollicitudin a, mollis sit amet odio.

Proin gravida nibh vel velit auctor aliquet. Aenean sollicitudin, lorem quis bibendum auctor, nisi elit consequat ipsum, nec sagittis sem nibh id elit.

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Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is a Failure

Last week, I was finally able to see the new Fantastic Beasts movie. I had heard from several people, including massive Harry Potter fans, that it was terrible, so I went in with low expectations. Surprisingly, I was still disappointed.

I could write a twenty-page essay on why this movie was terrible, but I’ve tried to condense my thoughts and focus on the biggest problems I had with the film. I still wrote a lot, which I apologize for, but I just had to get my feelings out. This review will have minor spoilers for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet, and if you need a refresher on its premise, click here to watch the trailer.

Now, where to start? The Crimes of Grindelwald has so many flaws, but the most striking one is the lack of any discernible plot. Aside from a few major events in the beginning and end, nothing really happens in this film. It mostly consists of exposition, and feels like a buildup to the real story, which we never get. I was surprised when it reached the climax, because it felt like nothing had happened yet. Part of the cause of this problem, in my opinion, is the fact that Fantastic Beasts is going to be a five-film series, which is clearly just a cash grab. This second installment shows that there is not enough material to cover five films, as it is not a self-contained story with a typical story arc and conclusion, but rather a prolonged exposition setting up the next movie, where, presumably, stuff actually happens. The Crimes of Grindelwald is meant to be watched immediately before watching the next film in order to understand what is going on, instead of being watched because it’s a complete and enjoyable story on its own.

Another gaping problem with The Crimes of Grindelwald is the characters, as there are too many, their arcs are either nonexistent or not believable, and, despite the film being almost two and a half hours long, it felt like I spent very little time with each character. Unlike the first Fantastic Beasts film, which has four main characters and a couple side characters, the sequel has a large cast of characters, new and old, and it just feels crowded. There were so many people to keep track of that I eventually gave up, and I genuinely can’t remember the names of some of the new characters. To make matters worse, the characters are broken up into small groups, so the story constantly shifts to show what is going on with other characters, and this makes the time we spend with each character feel shorter. It also feels short because nothing really happens to these characters, and most of them don’t grow or change at all. Contrastingly, one of the characters changes significantly, but the change is extremely radical and receives little explanation, so it does not feel believable and just serves as shock value. The issues with the characters make this already unappealing film even more difficult to care about.

Lastly, one huge issue that I (and most Harry Potter fans) have with The Crimes of Grindelwald is that it commits the worst crime possible: it goes against Harry Potter canon. Casual fans of Harry Potter may not notice or care about this, but for hardcore fans such as myself, it is unacceptable. J. K. Rowling spent years crafting this world and making sure she got every detail right, so it is extremely strange and disappointing that she could either forget what she originally wrote, or decide to change it after the fact. One example of her going against canon is that Professor McGonagall is teaching at Hogwarts in this film, despite the fact that she wasn’t even born yet. Perhaps J. K. Rowling decided to change her birthdate to include her in the film, but she has such a small part that it seems unnecessary; she is essentially only there so fans can go, “OMG, it’s McGonagall!”. The other option is that she forgot that McGonagall wasn’t born yet, which is even more disappointing, because it shows that she does not really care about this series, and that makes it difficult for me to get invested in it.

The other instances of breaking canon are different; she did not make a mistake or forget something, but rather changed certain aspects of the Harry Potter storyline. Fans such as myself who have read the books will notice this immediately, and likely feel angry that she carelessly went back and changed her original story in big ways. I have seen arguments attempting to explain why these changes were not included in Harry Potter from the beginning, but I don’t buy any of them. She describes everything in detail in Harry Potter, so there’s no way she wouldn’t have included these aspects of the story. It is clear that she decided to change these after the fact, despite the fact that these changes make no sense in the canonical story. One big revelation changes everything, and it doesn’t even make sense in the film itself, as there are no hints or clues for it. It seems to exist almost entirely for shock value, which is very disappointing and once again shows how little effort and care were put into this story.

Now the question remains: Can the Fantastic Beasts franchise be saved? After seeing the second installment, my hopes have dwindled significantly. If the subsequent films have actual plots and character development and explain the choices to go against canon, I could potentially get behind them, but I’m not going to get my hopes up, and neither should you. I would give The Crimes of Grindelwald a 4/10, and I would suggest that potential viewers just stick to Harry Potter

Week 8: Remixing and Choosing

So for the mini assignment this week was about remixing something. At first I was very interested in the smartphone trends. For example, Tik Tok is gaining popularity over here in North America where you can post a video of yourself acting or lipsyncing to a song and someone can add onto yours or remix it. I thought that would be a great idea to do a remix, but it would just be copying someone else.

But just a few days ago, my girlfriend was in an elevator when these 2 dogs were interacting with each other. The Shiba Inu in the picture was very affectionate to the other dog, and the dog was quite hesitant. We exchanged a few edits back and forth then that gave me the inspiration to make my own.

While it was focused primarily on what I feel in studying, I guess I should give some background too. The courses that I’m taking in my last semester are heavily involved in technology. Sending in assignments, writing emails, and writing blogs. Mixed in with what I have to check for things I bought, my work schedule, updates on graduation, etc. it becomes exhausting. The Shiba Inu is representative of that. And I, kind of just taking it. I’m not claiming my remix to be deep, but a better context to how it fits overall!