Archive for December, 2003
11 Dec, 2003
What’s Wrong With Suicide?
If the whole world commited suicide at the exact same moment, would there be anything wrong with that?
The wrong of suicide taken from a non-theistic sense would be that it is a “social problem”. Why is it a problem?
Conversations with a semi-suicidal pro-choice advocate
“There is no sense in suicide”
Some say that there is no sense in suicide: “Suicide is a meaningless act, so why do it?”
But if a person perceives life to be meaningless, then why live?
“Your body is not yours”
Some people argue that the body belongs to God or the state. If I don’t believe in God, that argument just goes down the drain. As for the state: just who is the state anyway? Am I not part of the state? If I’m part of the state, do I not get a say in what my body does?
“It is murder”
When you kill your body, you are murdering yourself. This brings up another moral issue: If I killed somebody, what would be wrong with that? I take away his freedom of choice that’s what. I refuse him the opportunity to live. If I murder myself, what do I take away? My freedom of choice to live?
“It’s a selfish act”
Yes, suicide is selfish. You refuse your body to other people who liked you better alive. Family, friends, relatives — generally people who liked you; but does this mean anyone who doesn’t have friends or family is not discouraged from taking his/her own life?
If I continue living, and suffering endlessly and needlessly, are not the ones who want me alive the selfish ones?
“Life is better than death”
And blue is better than red. Some people intuitively believe that death is all this “badness”, while life is somehow inherently “good”.
Life is good, but it can also be bad. The same thing with death: it can be bad, but it also can be good.
“If everybody thought like you, there’d be no world”
If everybody thought like me, there wouldn’t be this debate. People will make their own choices, and others will respect those choices.
If you know that killing yourself won’t affect anyone, I say go ahead. Only thing is, all of us seem to know at least someone whom actually cares about us — even when it seems like nobody really does.
11 Dec, 2003
Web Developer Humour
If you’re using Netscape (any version), Mozilla Browser or Firebird, type in “about:mozilla” into the address bar for a little easter egg.
Oh, and if you’re using Internet Explorer, try this one: type “about:anything” and notice how the error screen looks like an error screen. Then type “about:mozilla”, and notice the difference. It’s Microsoft’s subtle way of telling you Netscape causes blue screen crashes!
Web Developers
If you’re a web developer/designer, and have been around long enough, have you ever wondered how the infamous Netscape <blink> tag came about? Well, here’s the story:
And the beast shall come forth surrounded by a roiling cloud of vengeance. The house of the unbelievers shall be razed and they shall be scorched to the earth. Their tags shall blink until the end of days.
– The Book of Mozilla, 12:10
In response to the death of Netscape:
And they watched as the beast cast off its chains, and with a terrible roar burst forth and slew those who had bound it. And for days the rivers ran red with their lifeblood.
– from The Book of Mozilla, 7:15
Contrary to popular belief, developers have a great sense of humour!
8 Dec, 2003
My (Half) Marathon Story
Went for the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon yesterday. The atmosphere was great. Expected to be one of the slowest runners, but for most of the race I was not.
How the race went
Before the race I had a runny nose, and my first instinct was to take medicine to dry it up. I looked for the medicine, found it, and read the label: May Cause Drowsiness. I had woken up only a little earlier, and thought that the drowsiness was no match for my night’s rest — I was to find out how wrong I was later.
Right after taking the medicine, I was surprised how much more easily I could breathe. The difference was like dusk and night, not very different, but different enough. Soon after taking it, off I went.
Many people
Many people were there for the run. Officially, there were 9000++ participants, though I bet many people didn’t make it — I was obligated to go as I had promised my friend to accompany him. If I had signed up alone, I would have stayed at home and rued my sloth.
Wow… would you be my girlfriend?
If there was one thing I really like about running, is that girls tend to wear very light clothing. They wear less to make themselves feel less hot — it has the opposite effect on men.
Due to the very high number of participants, we (my friend and I) had to wait about 10 minutes after the official start of the race before we eventually reached the starting line and headed off on our run. My friend ran off and left me behind — he had been looking forward to this day with anticipation, I had been looking forward to it with apprehension.
The race started very well for him, and well for me. I picked my pacer, an expatriate with an orange shirt and blue pants. He had a good pace and was easy to spot. I followed him for about 8 kilometers before I decided to increase my speed a little.
My fear of running slower than the majority of the girls had been unwarrented — my pace was pleasantly faster than I had anticipated, and I had over-taken many of the girls to my great relief.
The unlucky 13th
Then at the 13th kilometer mark it happened — I started feeling a little drowsy, my legs felt like bricks had been attached to them. By the 14th kilometer, I was getting giddy, and suffered some numbness in my hands and feet — flu medicine or not, I don’t know — I slowed to a walk. All the girls I had gleefully overtaken returned like ex-girlfriends seeking revenge.
What made me walk?
Between the 14th and 17th kilometer, I had one of those epic psychological battles. Half of me kept telling me to push on (and to my dismay, so did the numerous cheering teams — they really pulled my spirits lower than the pits of Hell itself).
My self-talk went like this: “Push! Push! Push! You are not feeling unwell, it’s all in the head! Come on Donn, this is all bullshit. You are here to do your best, not give up at the first sign of trouble! Look at all those girls over-taking you. Flu medicine giving you trouble? Hah, bull; the only thing giving you trouble is your poor attitude. Giving up so easily, loser.”
The other half of me though, was more forgiving.
“Take your time, don’t push beyond what your body is capable of withstanding. It’s the flu medicine. If there’s one thing you can learn from this is that one should never take flu medicine before going on a long run. You can even advise people on your blog on this matter! If you run too hard you may just collapse and die, like the recent case of the National Service Man who did just that. Honestly, the part of you telling you to carry on even when you’re feeling unwell is just your inflated ego.”
I don’t know which side was telling the truth that day — perhaps a little bit of both?
The 18th kilometer
On the 18th I felt much better. The giddiness was gone, the numbing feeling too. Walked past a water station, took a gulp, and with renewed vigour I charged on. 200 metres later, minor cramps in my calves caused me some concern, and I slowed down, and then yet again returned to my favoured walk.
20th kilometer
Got hold of a isotonic drink, and armed with the knowledge that only one kilometre separated me from the finish line, I ran once more, only to be stopped by severe cramping soon after — never increase speed to quickly, or risk cramping. I walked, trotted and lumbered towards the finish line…
The finish line
An anti-climax if I ever knew one. Sense of achievement, satisfaction, accomplishment — feelings I imagined I would feel — were non-existent. But there was a feeling of being part of something larger than oneself though, a very “connected” feeling; I imagine myself preparing for the next marathon held in Kuala Lumpur next year in February — and this time, no flu medicine.
5 Dec, 2003
Download Wolf3D
“Wolf3d” or “Wolfeinstein 3D” — my very first 3D game. Follow the link, and you’ll be brought to a page where you can download the shareware version of the game, something I paid US$10 (S$17 / 20 Euros) for back in 95/96! Download Wolf3D now!
If you’ve never played it, play it. If you’ve played it, what’s the harm in reliving those days? I tested it on my Windows XP computer and it still plays, so none of the computers should have any problems. I used to play this during pre-pentium days…
If you’re interested, there’s this site which has lots of interesting Wolf3D things, including Wolf3D for the Mac! Included are additional custom levels and such. Visit the site now!
Wolf3D Cheats
At any time during the game, press “ILM” at the same time. You will receive 100% health and full ammo (including the almighty chain-gun!). Caution though, as your score will be reset to zero once you use this cheat! Happy cheating!