alwyn!
raffles junior college
08 08 '89
leo
star wars fan
Judoka





wishlist :

Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion by David Hume
The Road to Reality by Roger Penrose
The Fabric of Reality by David Deutsch
Matter and Consciousness by Paul Churchland
Consciousness Explained by Daniel Dennett
Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn
The Life of the Cosmos by Lee Smolin
Pale Blue Dot by Carl Sagan
The Sacred Balance by David Suzuki
Star Wars Legacy of the Force: Betrayal
Star Wars Legacy of the Force: Bloodlines
Star Wars Legacy of the Force: Sacrifice

Games:
Age of Wonders 2: The Wizard's Throne by Triumph Studios
Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic by Triumph Studios
Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood by Spellbound
Myth III: The Wolf Age by MumboJumbo
The Bard's Tale by InXile Entertainment
Dragon Age by Bioware
Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir by Obsidian Entertainment
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II

Places I'd Like to Visit:
Sweden
Switzerland
Italy
France
Thailand
Brazil
South Korea
Japan (again!)
Norway
Costa Rica

click for more =)

"When I became convinced that the Universe is natural that all the ghosts and gods are myths, there entered into my brain, into my soul, into every drop of my blood, the sense, the feeling, the joy of freedom. The walls of my prison crumbled and fell, the dungeon was flooded with light and all the bolts, and bars, and manacles became dust. I was no longer a servant, a serf, or a slave. There was for me no master in all the wide world, not even in infinite space. I was free.
free to think, to express my thoughts
free to live to my own ideal
free to live for myself and those I loved
free to use all my faculties, all my senses
free to spread imagination's wings
free to investigate, to guess and dream and hope
free to judge and determine for myself
free to reject all ignorant and cruel creeds, all the "inspired" books that savages have produced, and all the barbarous legends of the past
free from popes and priests
free from all the "called" and "set apart"
free from sanctified mistakes and holy lies
free from the fear of eternal pain
free from the winged monsters of night
free from devils, ghosts, and gods
For the first time I was free. There were no prohibited places in all the realms of my thought, no air, no space, where fancy could not spread her painted wings
no chains for my limbs
no lashes for my back
no fires for my flesh
no master's frown or threat
no following another's steps
no need to bow, or cringe, or crawl, or utter lying words.
I was free. I stood erect and fearlessly, joyously, faced all worlds. And then my heart was filled with gratitude, with thankfulness, and went out in love to all the heroes, the thinkers who gave their lives for the liberty of hand and brain for the freedom of labor and thought
to those who fell on the fierce fields of war
to those who died in dungeons bound with chains
to those who proudly mounted scaffold's stairs
to those whose bones were crushed, whose flesh was scarred and torn
to those by fire consumed
to all the wise, the good, the brave of every land, whose thoughts and deeds have given freedom to the sons of men.
And I vowed to grasp the torch that they had held, and hold it high, that light might conquer darkness still."
-Robert G. Ingersoll (1833-1899), "Why Am I An Agnostic?", 1896

Click to join Atheisthaven

We are part of the universe. Our earth was created from the universe and will one day be reabsorbed into the universe. We are made of the same matter as the universe. We are not in exile here: we are at home. It is here and nowhere else that we can see the divine face to face. If we erect barriers in our imagination - if we believe our real home is not here but in a land that lies beyond death - if we believe that the divine is found only in old books, or old buildings, or inside our head - then we will see this real, vibrant, luminous world as if through a glass darkly. The universe creates us, preserves us, destroys us. We are part of nature. Nature made us and at our death we will be reabsorbed into nature. We are at home in nature and in our bodies. This is where we belong; this is where we must find and make our paradise, not in some spirit world on the other side of the grave. If nature is the only paradise, then separation from nature is the only hell. When we destroy nature, we create hell on earth for other species and for ourselves. Nature is our mother, our home, our security, our peace, our past and our future. Science is inherently materialist. It always seek material explanations. It never accepts as an explanation that some spiritual force was at work - if it did, then science and technology would come to an end. Disease was once thought to be caused by witchcraft. Science gave it a material explanation which allowed us to control it. Magnetism at one time seemed like a spiritual force - Thales of Miletus thought that magnets were full of spirits. But then science provided a material explanation. In the same way scientific pantheism believes that everything that exists is matter or energy in one form or another. Nothing can exist, be perceived, or act on other things if it is not matter or energy. That does not mean that spiritual phenomena or forces cannot exist. It means that, if they do, they must in fact be material. In scientific pantheism, science becomes a part of the religious quest: the pursuit of deeper understanding of the Reality of which we are all part, deeper knowledge about the awe-inspiring cosmos in which we live, deeper knowledge of nature and the environment, so that we can better preserve the earth's wealth of natural diversity. In scientific pantheism, cognitive openness - listening to reality, to new evidence, to all the evidence, to other people's needs and feelings - becomes a sacred duty in all aspects of life from science to politics to domestic life. Of course, we cannot say that science endorses pantheism. Many religions today state their beliefs in ways that no-one can disprove, so they can and do co-exist with science. But scientific pantheism positively thrives on science. scientific discoveries continually underline the wonder and the mystery of Being, the immensity of the universe, and the complexity of nature.

blogger
violation**

the image was not made by violation**.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

R. Daneel Olivaw still spoke quietly, but it seemed to Seldon that there was a subtle change in his voice, as though he spoke more easily now that he was no longer playing a part.

“In twenty thousand years,” said Daneel, “no one has guessed I was a robot when it was not my intention to have him or her know. In part, that was because human beings abandoned robots so long ago that very few remember that they even existed at one time. And in part, it is because I do have the ability to detect and affect human emotion. The detection offers no trouble, but to affect emotion is difficult for me for reasons having to do with my robotic nature-although I can do it when I wish. I have the ability but must deal with my will not to use it. I try never to interfere except when I have no choice but to do so. And when I do interfere, it is rarely that I do more than strengthen, as little as I can, what is already there. If I can achieve my purposes without doing even so much, I avoid it.

“It was not necessary to tamper with Sunmaster Fourteen in order to have him accept you-I call it ‘tampering,’ you notice, because it is not a pleasant thing to do. I did not have to tamper with him because he did owe me for favors rendered and he is an honorable man, despite the peculiarities you found in him. I did interfere the second time, when you had committed sacrilege in his eyes, but it took very little. He was not anxious to hand you over to the Imperial authorities, whom he does not like. I merely strengthened the dislike a trifle and he handed you over to my care, accepting the arguments I offered, which otherwise he might have considered specious.

“Nor did I tamper with you noticeably. You distrusted the Imperials too. Most human beings do these days, which is an important factor in the decay and deterioration of the Empire. What’s more, you were proud of psychohistory as a concept, proud of having thought of it. You would not have minded having it prove to be a practical discipline. That would have further fed your pride.” Seldon frowned and said, “Pardon me, Master Robot, but I am not aware that I am quite such a monster of pride.”

Daneel said mildly, “You are not a monster of pride at all. You are perfectly aware that [it] is neither admirable nor useful to be driven by pride, so you try to subdue that drive, but you might as well disapprove of having yourself powered by your heartbeat. You cannot help either fact. Though you hide your pride from yourself for the sake of your own peace of mind, you cannot hide it from me. It is there, however carefully you mask it over. And I had but to strengthen it a touch and you were at once willing to take measures to hide from Demerzel, measures that a moment before you would have resisted. And you were eager to work at psychohistory with an intensity that a moment before you would have scorned.

“I saw no necessity to touch anything else and so you have reasoned out your robothood. Had I foreseen the possibility of that, I might have stopped it, but my foresight and my abilities are not infinite. Nor am I sorry now that I failed, for your arguments are good ones and it is important that you know who I am and that I use what I am to help you.

“Emotions, my dear Seldon are a powerful engine of human action, far more powerful than human beings themselves realize, and you cannot know how much can be done with the merest touch and how reluctant I am to do it.”

Prelude to Foundation, Isaac Asimov

spacetime rip! by agent quantum , quite possibly at 12/22/2011 01:02:00 am :)



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Wednesday, November 30, 2011

You're not a dream,
You're not an angel,
You're a woman,
I'm not a king,
I'm just a man,
Take my hand,
We'll make a space,
In this life that we planned,
And here we'll stay,
Until it's time for you to go.

Yes, we're diff'rent, worlds apart,
We're not the same,
We laughed and played,
At the start, like in a game,
You could have stayed,
Outside my heart,
But in you came,
And here you'll stay,
Until it's time for you to go.

Don't ask why,
Don't ask how,
Don't ask forever,
Love me, love me,
Love me, love me now.

This love of mine,
Had no beginning,
It has no end,
I was an oak,
Now I'm a willow,
Now I can bend,
And tho' I'll never,
In my life see you again,
And still I'll stay,
Until it's time for you to go.

Don't ask why,
Don't ask how,
Don't ask forever,
Love me, love me,
Love me, love me now.

This love of mine,
Had no beginning,
It has no end,
I was an oak,
Now I'm a willow,
And I can bend,
And tho' I'll never,
In my life see you again,
Here I'll stay,
Until it's time for you to go,
Yes I'll stay,
Until it's time for you to go.

spacetime rip! by agent quantum , quite possibly at 11/30/2011 07:31:00 pm :)



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Monday, September 19, 2011

Yesterday,
All my troubles seemed so far away,
Now it looks as though they're here to stay,
Oh, I believe in yesterday.

Suddenly,
I'm not half the man I used to be,
There's a shadow hanging over me,
Oh, yesterday came suddenly.

Why she
Had to go I don't know, she wouldn't say.
I said,
Something wrong, now I long for yesterday.

Yesterday,
Love was such an easy game to play,
Now I need a place to hide away,
Oh, I believe in yesterday.



Yesterday, yesterday.

spacetime rip! by agent quantum , quite possibly at 9/19/2011 03:07:00 pm :)



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Monday, August 29, 2011

When you're feeling cold and all the city streets are grey
Walking all alone and watching how the children play
Voices in the wind and faces from the past go dancing by
They're asking why

Will you be there for me, everytime I go away
Will you be there for me, thinking of me everyday
Are you my destiny, words I never dared to say
Will you be there for me?

Can you really want me more than for a little while?
What are the stories hiding there behind your smile?
Wishes in a dream and figures in a world that I could share
And everywhere

Will you be there for me
Will there ever come a day when all the world can see
Things were meant to be that way
Will you be there for me?
Can you hear the people say
That you're just
There for me

There for me

spacetime rip! by agent quantum , quite possibly at 8/29/2011 02:49:00 am :)



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Tuesday, February 16, 2010

"Emotional contact such as you and I possess is not a very new development. Actually it is implicit in the human brain. Most humans can read emotion in a primitive manner by associating it pragmatically with facial expression, tone of voice and so on. A good many animals possess the faculty to a higher degree; they use the sense of smell to a good extent, and the emotions involved are, of course, less complex.

"Actually, humans are capable of much more, but the faculty of direct emotional contact tended to atrophy with the development of speech a million years back. It has been the great advance of our Second Foundation that this forgotten sense has been restored to at least some of its potentialities.

"But we are not born with its full use. A million years of decay is a formidable obstacle, and we must educate the sense, exercise it as we exercise our muscles. And there you have the main difference. You were born with it.

---

He was the twelfth in the line of chief guardians of the Plan, and his title bore no deeper significance than the fact that at the gatherings of the leaders of the Second Foundation, he spoke first.

His predecessor had beaten the Mule, but the wreckage of that gigantic struggle still littered the path of the Plan-- For twenty-five years, he, and his administration, had been trying to force a Galaxy of stubborn and stupid human beings back to the path --It was a terrible task.

The First Speaker looked up at the opening door. Even while, in the loneliness of the room, he considered his quarter century of effort, which now so slowly and inevitably approached its climax; even while he had been so engaged, his mind had been considering the newcomer with a gentle expectation. A youth, a student, one of those who might take over, eventually.

The young man stood uncertainly at the door, so that the First Speaker had to walk to him and lead him in, with a friendly hand upon the shoulder.

The Student smiled shyly, and the First Speaker responded by saying, "First, I must tell you why you are here."

They faced each other now, across the desk. Neither was speaking in any way that could be recognised as such by any man in the Galaxy who was not himself a member of the Second Foundation.

---

-Isaac Asimov, Second Foundation

spacetime rip! by agent quantum , quite possibly at 2/16/2010 01:19:00 pm :)



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Monday, December 07, 2009

Think of me, think of me fondly
When we've said goodbye
Remember me, once in a while
Please promise me you'll try
When you find that once again you long
To take your heart back and be free
If you ever find a moment
Spare a thought for me

We never said our love was evergreen
Or as unchanging as the sea
But if you can still remember
Stop and think of me

Think of all the things
We've shared and seen
Don't think about the things
Which might have been

Think of me, think of me waking
Silent and resigned
Imagine me trying too hard
To put you from my mind
Recall those days
Look back on all those times
Think of the things we'll never do
There will never be a day
When I won't think of you




Can it be, can it be Christine?
Brava!
Long ago, it seems so long ago
How young and innocent we were
She may not remember me
But I remember her.

spacetime rip! by agent quantum , quite possibly at 12/07/2009 06:28:00 pm :)



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Sunday, October 18, 2009

You see it all around you
Good lovin' gone bad
And usually it's too late when you, realize what you had
And my mind goes back to a girl I left some years ago
Who told me
Just hold on loosely, but don't let go
If you cling too tightly
You're gonna lose control
Your baby needs someone to believe in
And a whole lot of space to breathe in

It's so damn easy, when your feelings are such
To overprotect her, to love her too much
And my mind goes back to a girl I left some years ago
Who told me
Just hold on loosely, but don't let go
If you cling too tightly
You're gonna loose control
Your baby needs someone to believe in
And a whole lot of space to breathe in

Don't let her slip away
Sentimental fool
Don't let your heart get in her way
Yeah, yeah, yeah

You see it all around you
Good lovin' gone bad
And usually it's too late when you, realize what you had

Just hold on loosely, but don't let go
If you cling too tightly
You're gonna lose control
Your baby needs someone to believe in
And a whole lot of space to breathe in

spacetime rip! by agent quantum , quite possibly at 10/18/2009 05:07:00 pm :)



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..Daily, fleets of ships in the tens of thousands brought the produce of twenty agricultural worlds to the dinner tables of Trantor....

Its dependence upon the outer worlds for food and, indeed, for all necessities of life, made Trantor increasingly vulnerable to conquest by siege. In the last millennium of the Empire, the monotonously numerous revolts made Emperor after Emperor conscious of this, and Imperial policy became little more than the protection of Trantor's delicate jugular vein....

-Encyclopedia Galactica, Foundation

spacetime rip! by agent quantum , quite possibly at 10/18/2009 04:57:00 pm :)



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Wednesday, September 30, 2009

"Dr. Seldon, you disturb the peace of the Emperor's realm. None of the quadrillions living now among all the stars of the Galaxy will be living a century from now. Why, then, should we concern ourselves with events of three centuries' distance?"

"I shall not be alive half a decade hence," said Seldon, "and yet it is of overpowering concern to me. Call it idealism. Call it an identification of myself with that mystical generalization to which we refer by the term, 'humanity'."

-Foundation

spacetime rip! by agent quantum , quite possibly at 9/30/2009 12:02:00 am :)



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Thursday, August 13, 2009

It all made sense now. All the nagging doubts and questions could be answered. And somehow, it didn't matter one bit. All that mattered was Dors.

"We can't let this happen."

"It must." Dors's eyes fluttered open and looked at Seldon. "Must. Tried to save you, but missed - vital point - who will protect you now?"

Seldon couldn't see her clearly. There was something wrong with his eyes. "Don't worry about me, Dors. It's you - it's you - "

"No. You, Hari. Tell Manella - Manella - I forgive her now. She did better than I. Explain to Wanda. You and Raych - take care of each other."

"No no no," said Seldon, rocking back and forth. "You can't do this. Hang on, Dors. Please. Please, my love."

Dors's head shook feebly and she smiled even more feebly. "Good-bye, Hari, my love. Remember always - all you did for me."

"I did nothing for you."

"You loved me and your love made me - human."

Her eyes remained open, but Dors had ceased functioning.

-Forward the Foundation

She's gone. ='(

spacetime rip! by agent quantum , quite possibly at 8/13/2009 09:49:00 pm :)



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Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Headed to Mac, PC This Fall

Aspyr Media has announced that it's bringing Star Wars: The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition to the Mac and PC this fall.

Peter Cohen, Macworld.com

Monday, July 27, 2009 08:10 AM PDT

Aspyr Media has announced that it's bringing Star Wars: The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition to the Mac and PC this fall. Pricing and system requirements were not announced.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed has already made its rounds on video game consoles (a version was also produced for the iPhone). The game puts you in the role of a "secret apprentice" trained by Darth Vader himself -- you go on a series of missions with the ultimate goal of fostering a rebellion against the Empire. You develop and master Force powers along the way, fighting others with a light saber and a variety of skills you develop over time.

The "Ultimate Sith Edition" of the game features the original title along with three new levels set in iconic Star Wars locales along with new costumes and character models. New locales include the Jedi Temple on the planet Coruscant; a new "Infinites" storyline that reimagines what would have happened if you, as the secret apprentice, had taken Darth Vader's place beside the Emperor; and a trip to the planet Hoth (snowy scene of the beginning of The Empire Strikes Back).

The Ultimate Sith Edition also enables gamers to play as Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Count Dooku, Jango Fett and C-3PO.

I'm pretty sure just about the entire SW gaming community is screaming right now, but i reserve the right to scream as well.

spacetime rip! by agent quantum , quite possibly at 8/05/2009 11:26:00 pm :)



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Sunday, July 26, 2009

yaxy2k says:
hi
` alwyn - raffles judo an airman! says:
howdy hi hi
yaxy2k says:
i am sad. can you happify me?
` alwyn - raffles judo an airman! says:
i am sad too!
why are you sad?
yaxy2k says:
in sooth i know not why i am so sad
` alwyn - raffles judo an airman! says:
it wearies me, you say it wearies you; but what stuff 'tis made of, wherefore it is from, i do not know.
OMG
yaxy2k says:
WOAH

:O

spacetime rip! by agent quantum , quite possibly at 7/26/2009 11:25:00 pm :)



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Tuesday, July 14, 2009

I HAVE FREE MOVIE TICKETS TO HALF BLOOD PRINCE! TWO OF THEM, IN FACT!

No wait, let's check out the fine print.. only available at GV Tiong Bahru.. which is fair enough, given that it's a Moviemax offer (by the way, what about my three email requests for a replacement card after I lost mine more than a year ago? Strange..), and with the time slot fixed on next MONDAY at 7.30pm!!!

Score one for SAFRA, folks. This is what you call having the customers' best interests at heart.

spacetime rip! by agent quantum , quite possibly at 7/14/2009 10:42:00 pm :)



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Thursday, July 09, 2009

This is a joke:

Dear Singaporeans,
As most of you agreed that Rachel Kum does not deserve the crown of Miss Singapore Universe 2009!

These pictures posted by her are degrading and does not represent her country in any ways. Her scandals are one after another even before she was crown.

Check out this link:
http://missosology.info/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=11400


The women of singapore are not c---k sucker like Miss Kum portrays.

Let us stand up and speak for what is right for our nation!

We are enough of her nonsense! We want her OUT !

Please show your outmost support for this petition!

With Love,
Fellow Singaporean



----------------------------------------------------
Added by: Vaness_Moven_Allan on July 1, 2009, 4:21:38 pm

You want to know what's "degrading", darling? Your English. Not a cute little birthday cake shaped like a dickie.

spacetime rip! by agent quantum , quite possibly at 7/09/2009 06:31:00 pm :)



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Monday, June 15, 2009

Someday she would lose him, she knew, and she found that the thought afflicted her. It had not seemed it would at the start, when her task had been the simple one of protecting him for the sake of what he knew.

When had it become a matter of personal need? How could there be so personal a need? What was there about the man that caused her to feel uneasy when he was not in her sight, even when she knew he was safe so that the deeply ingrained orders within her were not called into action? His safety was all that she had been ordered to be concerned with. How did the rest intrude itself?

She had spoken of it to Demerzel long before, when the feeling had made itself unmistakable.

He had regarded her gravely and said,"You are complex, Dors, and there are no simple answers. In my life there have been several individuals whose presence made it easier for me to think, pleasanter to make my responses. I have tried to judge the ease of my responses in their presence and the unease of my responses in their final absence to see whether I was the net gainer or loser. In the process, one thing became plain. The pleasantness of their company outweighed the regret of their passing. On the whole, then, it is better to experience what you experience now than not to."

She thought: Hari will someday leave a void, and each day that someday is closer, and I must not think of it.

-Forward the Foundation, Isaac Asimov

spacetime rip! by agent quantum , quite possibly at 6/15/2009 02:23:00 am :)



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