To do something well you have to like it. That idea is not exactly novel. We've got it down to four words: "Do what you love." But it's not enough just to tell people that. Doing what you love is complicated.
The very idea is foreign to what most of us learn as kids. When I was a kid, it seemed as if work and fun were opposites by definition. Life had two states: some of the time adults were making you do things, and that was called work; the rest of the time you could do what you wanted, and that was called playing. Occasionally the things adults made you do were fun, just as, occasionally, playing wasn't—for example, if you fell and hurt yourself. But except for these few anomalous cases, work was pretty much defined as not-fun.
http://www.paulgraham.com/love.html
Showing posts with label interesting articles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label interesting articles. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Don’t work. Avoid telling the truth. Be hated. Love someone
http://mrwangsaysso.blogspot.com/2008/08/life-and-how-to-survive-it.html
This is the NTU convocation address given by a lawyer, Adrian Tan.
An excerpt as follows:
I must say thank you to the faculty and staff of the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information for inviting me to give your convocation address. It’s a wonderful honour and a privilege for me to speak here for ten minutes without fear of contradiction, defamation or retaliation. I say this as a Singaporean and more so as a husband.
My wife is a wonderful person and perfect in every way except one. She is the editor of a magazine. She corrects people for a living. She has honed her expert skills over a quarter of a century, mostly by practising at home during conversations between her and me.
On the other hand, I am a litigator. Essentially, I spend my day telling people how wrong they are. I make my living being disagreeable.
Nevertheless, there is perfect harmony in our matrimonial home. That is because when an editor and a litigator have an argument, the one who triumphs is always the wife.
This is the NTU convocation address given by a lawyer, Adrian Tan.
An excerpt as follows:
I must say thank you to the faculty and staff of the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information for inviting me to give your convocation address. It’s a wonderful honour and a privilege for me to speak here for ten minutes without fear of contradiction, defamation or retaliation. I say this as a Singaporean and more so as a husband.
My wife is a wonderful person and perfect in every way except one. She is the editor of a magazine. She corrects people for a living. She has honed her expert skills over a quarter of a century, mostly by practising at home during conversations between her and me.
On the other hand, I am a litigator. Essentially, I spend my day telling people how wrong they are. I make my living being disagreeable.
Nevertheless, there is perfect harmony in our matrimonial home. That is because when an editor and a litigator have an argument, the one who triumphs is always the wife.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
A very funny article, about physics
It's really funny, and all you physics/non-physics people should check it out.
http://niemann.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/25/unpopular-science/?src=me&ref=general
http://niemann.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/25/unpopular-science/?src=me&ref=general
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Young, Educated, and Unemployed: A New Generation of Kids Search for Work in their 20s
The Lost Generation: What it's like for 20-somethings to go in search of meaningful work—and not find it.
Since January, for 35 hours a week, at a rate of $10 an hour, Luke Stacks has been working for a home-electronics chain. He answers the phone and attempts to coax callers into buying more stuff. This is not how he imagined he would be spending his late 20s.
Like a lot of us, Stacks was given a fairly straightforward version of how his life would unfold: He would go to college and study something he found interesting, graduate, and get a decent job. For a while, things went pretty much according to plan. Stacks, who now is 27, went to the University of Virginia, not far from where he grew up, majoring in American Studies. He later enrolled in a Ph.D. program at the University of Iowa, with the eventual goal of becoming a professor.
http://www.good.is/post/young-educated-and-unemployed-a-new-generation-of-kids-search-for-work-in-their-20s/
Since January, for 35 hours a week, at a rate of $10 an hour, Luke Stacks has been working for a home-electronics chain. He answers the phone and attempts to coax callers into buying more stuff. This is not how he imagined he would be spending his late 20s.
Like a lot of us, Stacks was given a fairly straightforward version of how his life would unfold: He would go to college and study something he found interesting, graduate, and get a decent job. For a while, things went pretty much according to plan. Stacks, who now is 27, went to the University of Virginia, not far from where he grew up, majoring in American Studies. He later enrolled in a Ph.D. program at the University of Iowa, with the eventual goal of becoming a professor.
http://www.good.is/post/young-educated-and-unemployed-a-new-generation-of-kids-search-for-work-in-their-20s/
Monday, September 20, 2010
Times Higher Education 2010-2011 rankings
As many of you would have already known, this year, Times is linking up with a new data provider--Thomson Reuters-- to present their yearly university rankings. The most publicized change in the ranking methodology is the greater emphasis on research (reputation, volume and income) and a low emphasis on reputation (2009 rankings made use of opinion polls). I personally think that that is what brought CalTech up from 10th last year to 2nd this year, and what brought NUS down, albeit a little bit only i.e. four notches from 30 to 34.
Times Higher Education rankings: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/
The methodology: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2010-2011/analysis-methodology.html
Times Higher Education rankings: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/
The methodology: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2010-2011/analysis-methodology.html
Friday, August 20, 2010
Top 10 Commencement Speeches on YouTube
Carrie Oakley wrote to CollegeTalk about an article called "Top 10 Commencement speeches on YouTube". This article was posted on the online website, Online Colleges: Complete Guide to Accredited Online Colleges.
From the home page of Online Colleges:
"Online Colleges is a nonprofit resource for students considering attending an online college. As a nonprofit website we accept no sponsorships from the online colleges we list, and thus provide students with the single most comprehensive and unbiased list of online colleges and universities on the web. The goal, is to combine existing lists of online colleges and find previously unlisted colleges and list them all in a single page which students can use to make a more educated decision about where they want to go to college. In addition to linking directly to the college, we maintain a brief descriptive overview of the distance education component of the college as well as list the colleges accreditation information.
Currently our database has 343 colleges listed, making it the most comprehensive list of its kind on the web. If you would like to add a college or suggest a change for a schools listing, please contact us."
Many thanks to Carrie Oakley for bringing this article to our attention!Wednesday, August 18, 2010
The Illustrated guide to a PhD
For those interested!
Matt Might illustrated a guide to what most people achieve after getting a PhD.
Matt Might illustrated a guide to what most people achieve after getting a PhD.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Journal Watermark
Journal Watermark is a newly-launched literature/art magazine, an online magazine featuring the literary and artistic works of talented young Singapore-based creators. It looks very meaningful, so do go and check it out and start writing!
Journal Watermark is an amateur online literary journal, written by young writers and for young writers. A collaboration between students of NUS High School and Raffles Institution, it was first proposed by Asra Siddiqui in 2008 and was formally launched in 2010. We remain, nonetheless, both autonomous and wholly student-run.
Our creative works span several media forms, from prose and poetry to scripts and short films. We are looking for the unpublished, the up-and-coming, the young, and – above all – the talented. Beyond medium, genre or theme, our main criterion is quality. We aim to showcase a diversity of works and writers, and to offer our contributors a stable platform for publication.
As a quarterly publication, new issues of Journal Watermark will be released online at the start of every term; that is, at the start of January, April, July and October.
Our present editors are: Kylie Goh and Asra Siddiqui, who made this magazine possible; Annabeth Leow; and Viona Lam.
Annabeth Leow has asked CollegeTalk to reproduce the following here:
[Much thanks to the awesome people at the College Talk blog for helping us out.]
On 9 July, Journal Watermark was launched.
The product of three enterprising NUS High students and one alumnus, Watermark is a collaboration between the four editors and their fellow lit-loving peers in Raffles Institution. We publish every quarter, at the start of each academic term; and we’re open to literary and artistic works by NUS High students and Rafflesians (alumni under the age of 25 are welcome too).
Right now, we’re opening submissions calls for the second issue, which will appear in mid-September 2010. We welcome creative works of any kind: prose, poetry, drama, short films, digital and traditional art (inclusive of photography), et cetera. If you create works in a medium we haven’t listed, go ahead and send it to us anyway! Our submissions policy can be found here, and we can be contacted at this address. We’ll be reading submissions for Issue #2 until 31 August 2010.
If you haven’t checked out our work yet, now’s the time! Issue #1 is available online.
We are also on Facebook.
Journal Watermark is a student-run, student-initiated project. Contributors’ views do not necessarily reflect those of the editors or of their respective institutions.
Many thanks to Annabeth Leow for writing to CollegeTalk about this website!
Journal Watermark is an amateur online literary journal, written by young writers and for young writers. A collaboration between students of NUS High School and Raffles Institution, it was first proposed by Asra Siddiqui in 2008 and was formally launched in 2010. We remain, nonetheless, both autonomous and wholly student-run.
Our creative works span several media forms, from prose and poetry to scripts and short films. We are looking for the unpublished, the up-and-coming, the young, and – above all – the talented. Beyond medium, genre or theme, our main criterion is quality. We aim to showcase a diversity of works and writers, and to offer our contributors a stable platform for publication.
As a quarterly publication, new issues of Journal Watermark will be released online at the start of every term; that is, at the start of January, April, July and October.
Our present editors are: Kylie Goh and Asra Siddiqui, who made this magazine possible; Annabeth Leow; and Viona Lam.
Annabeth Leow has asked CollegeTalk to reproduce the following here:
[Much thanks to the awesome people at the College Talk blog for helping us out.]
On 9 July, Journal Watermark was launched.
The product of three enterprising NUS High students and one alumnus, Watermark is a collaboration between the four editors and their fellow lit-loving peers in Raffles Institution. We publish every quarter, at the start of each academic term; and we’re open to literary and artistic works by NUS High students and Rafflesians (alumni under the age of 25 are welcome too).
Right now, we’re opening submissions calls for the second issue, which will appear in mid-September 2010. We welcome creative works of any kind: prose, poetry, drama, short films, digital and traditional art (inclusive of photography), et cetera. If you create works in a medium we haven’t listed, go ahead and send it to us anyway! Our submissions policy can be found here, and we can be contacted at this address. We’ll be reading submissions for Issue #2 until 31 August 2010.
If you haven’t checked out our work yet, now’s the time! Issue #1 is available online.
We are also on Facebook.
Journal Watermark is a student-run, student-initiated project. Contributors’ views do not necessarily reflect those of the editors or of their respective institutions.
Many thanks to Annabeth Leow for writing to CollegeTalk about this website!
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Criticism of college rankings
Don't get too caught up in college rankings when researching them. Here's why.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Education: The Ivy League's X Factor
I saw this article by Walter Kirn here. I don't agree with everything it says but it does offer food for thought.
I went to Princeton. There: my résumé. Usually I slip it in more casually. I wait for an opening, a cue, a question. I rarely wait very long, though. As every Ivy League graduate discovers, the greatest benefit of that education is social, not intellectual. I went to Princeton. That statement opens a lot of doors. But should it?
The first time I asked myself that question was in the fall of 1980, a month or so after arriving on a campus that struck me as a version of heaven on earth. The buildings cast elaborate, Gothic shadows that I had never seen in the Midwest, where I had attended public high school and dreamed of someday going east to glory. My fellow classmates wore natty outfits that put my dull provincial threads to shame. They also spoke more impressively than I did, dropping the names of ancient Greek philosophers and contemporary French deconstructionists. What was a deconstructionist, exactly? I wasn't sure. But I was dying to learn.
I learned instead--and in only a few weeks--that Princeton wasn't heavenly at all but a flawed, all-too-human institution whose reputation seemed exaggerated compared with the quality of the education it offered. Because I had transferred there from a smaller school--Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn.--I had a basis for comparison. Although Princeton had far more money and mystique, its reading lists were composed of the same books, and its students were filled with the same questions. But the students carried those books with more aplomb, and they asked their questions with more confidence.
That was the Ivy League's X factor. It bred confidence. I remember taking an exam once next to the heir to a legendary fortune who kept peeking at my test sheet. I knew a few things that he didn't, it turned out. Me, the striving, uncertain country boy who had aced the SATs as though by accident, only to end up surrounded by aristocrats who stole my answers when they felt stumped.
Later, many years after I graduated, as I watched my former classmates climb to the top of enormous corporations, publish prizewinning books and dream up hit TV shows, I felt I was rising with them. I knew deep down, of course, that they, and I, were no better than anyone else, but the world seemed to think we were, and that was thrilling. Even though we learned nothing at Princeton that we couldn't have learned elsewhere, the place gave us a calling card whose impact and power were undeniable. I assume it has opened doors for me, but none of the gatekeepers have said as much.
I went to Princeton. A winning ticket in the social lottery. And although I might not have deserved it, I cashed it anyway. Advancement is partly a game, I learned in college, and while games are not always fair, they're still worth playing. So say the victors, anyway.
I went to Princeton. There: my résumé. Usually I slip it in more casually. I wait for an opening, a cue, a question. I rarely wait very long, though. As every Ivy League graduate discovers, the greatest benefit of that education is social, not intellectual. I went to Princeton. That statement opens a lot of doors. But should it?
The first time I asked myself that question was in the fall of 1980, a month or so after arriving on a campus that struck me as a version of heaven on earth. The buildings cast elaborate, Gothic shadows that I had never seen in the Midwest, where I had attended public high school and dreamed of someday going east to glory. My fellow classmates wore natty outfits that put my dull provincial threads to shame. They also spoke more impressively than I did, dropping the names of ancient Greek philosophers and contemporary French deconstructionists. What was a deconstructionist, exactly? I wasn't sure. But I was dying to learn.
I learned instead--and in only a few weeks--that Princeton wasn't heavenly at all but a flawed, all-too-human institution whose reputation seemed exaggerated compared with the quality of the education it offered. Because I had transferred there from a smaller school--Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn.--I had a basis for comparison. Although Princeton had far more money and mystique, its reading lists were composed of the same books, and its students were filled with the same questions. But the students carried those books with more aplomb, and they asked their questions with more confidence.
That was the Ivy League's X factor. It bred confidence. I remember taking an exam once next to the heir to a legendary fortune who kept peeking at my test sheet. I knew a few things that he didn't, it turned out. Me, the striving, uncertain country boy who had aced the SATs as though by accident, only to end up surrounded by aristocrats who stole my answers when they felt stumped.
Later, many years after I graduated, as I watched my former classmates climb to the top of enormous corporations, publish prizewinning books and dream up hit TV shows, I felt I was rising with them. I knew deep down, of course, that they, and I, were no better than anyone else, but the world seemed to think we were, and that was thrilling. Even though we learned nothing at Princeton that we couldn't have learned elsewhere, the place gave us a calling card whose impact and power were undeniable. I assume it has opened doors for me, but none of the gatekeepers have said as much.
I went to Princeton. A winning ticket in the social lottery. And although I might not have deserved it, I cashed it anyway. Advancement is partly a game, I learned in college, and while games are not always fair, they're still worth playing. So say the victors, anyway.
Friday, April 30, 2010
How to get into Harvard University Without Really Trying
Whoever wrote this really knew how to think out of the box =D
http://www.instructables.com/id/Get-into-Harvard-University-Without-Really-Trying/
http://www.instructables.com/id/Get-into-Harvard-University-Without-Really-Trying/
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Another hit by Stanford!
High school students and their parents agree on at least one thing – their dream college. Stanford ranked No. 1 in The Princeton Review’s 2010 “College Hopes & Worries Survey.” All but one of the questions in the 15-question survey were multiple choice. In the one in which respondents were asked to fill in the blank, both college applicants and the parents of applicants indicated that if all other considerations such as cost were set aside, and if acceptance was a given, the school most students and parents consider the “dream college” would be Stanford.
http://news.stanford.edu/thedish/?p=5973
Some call it " the other March madness." It's nail-biting season now through April as college acceptance/rejection and financial aid letters land in family mailboxes.
http://www.thestreet.com/story/10709802/1/princeton-reviews-2010-college-hopes-worries-survey.html
http://news.stanford.edu/thedish/?p=5973
Some call it " the other March madness." It's nail-biting season now through April as college acceptance/rejection and financial aid letters land in family mailboxes.
http://www.thestreet.com/story/10709802/1/princeton-reviews-2010-college-hopes-worries-survey.html
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Happiest students
1. Brown University
2. Clemson University
3. Claremont Mckenna
4. Stanford (we were 1st last year :) )
5. Bowdoin
6. Yale
7. Stonehill
8. Rice
9. St. Mary's college of Maryland
10. Colorado Springs
11. University of Alabama at Birmingham
12. Prescott
13. Dayton (where Karyen is in now!)
14. College of William and Mary
15. Whitman
16. Franklin W Olin College of Engineering
17. Colgate
18. James Madison
19. Duke
20. Worcester Polytechnic Institute
I got this ranking from http://www.princetonreview.com. You can register for an account if you want (it's free) and you will have access to a lot of other rankings as well other than happiness ratings. If you all have any rankings that you want me to put up do let me know. :)
2. Clemson University
3. Claremont Mckenna
4. Stanford (we were 1st last year :) )
5. Bowdoin
6. Yale
7. Stonehill
8. Rice
9. St. Mary's college of Maryland
10. Colorado Springs
11. University of Alabama at Birmingham
12. Prescott
13. Dayton (where Karyen is in now!)
14. College of William and Mary
15. Whitman
16. Franklin W Olin College of Engineering
17. Colgate
18. James Madison
19. Duke
20. Worcester Polytechnic Institute
I got this ranking from http://www.princetonreview.com. You can register for an account if you want (it's free) and you will have access to a lot of other rankings as well other than happiness ratings. If you all have any rankings that you want me to put up do let me know. :)
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Applications for unis are up, as usual.
I saw this in the Stanford Daily last week.
Increase in applicants continues
More than 32,000 apply for Stanford Class of ‘14
The Office of Undergraduate Admission received more than 32,000 applications to the Class of 2014, trumping last year’s school record of 30,428.
With a larger pool of applicants and the same target class size of 1,675, a record-low seven percent of applicants will be offered spots, said Shawn Abbott, director of admission. Stanford last year was the third most selective American college or university, behind Harvard and Yale, each with seven percent admit rates.
http://www.stanforddaily.com/2010/01/26/increase-in-applicants-continues/
Increase in applicants continues
More than 32,000 apply for Stanford Class of ‘14
The Office of Undergraduate Admission received more than 32,000 applications to the Class of 2014, trumping last year’s school record of 30,428.
With a larger pool of applicants and the same target class size of 1,675, a record-low seven percent of applicants will be offered spots, said Shawn Abbott, director of admission. Stanford last year was the third most selective American college or university, behind Harvard and Yale, each with seven percent admit rates.
http://www.stanforddaily.com/2010/01/26/increase-in-applicants-continues/
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Yale's new admissions video
I havent actually watched it thoroughly cos I have been busy now that school has started, but this link has been going around my friends and I thought I'd post it up here for you all to look at, maybe you will figure out why it is making the rounds?
http://chrisblattman.com/2010/01/18/come-to-yale/
http://chrisblattman.com/2010/01/18/come-to-yale/
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Alternative uni options: Israel
Some of you may know that last year I applied to the Technion Institute of Technology in Israel, among other schools. You're probably wondering why. One of my reasons was Israel's reputation as a tech powerhouse.
I recently read a very relevant article in the Straits Times, reproduced from the New York Times, about how Tel Aviv (the capital of Israel) is becoming a hotbed of technological innovation. I've uploaded the article here:
Even if you're not interested in studying there, read the article. It'll broaden your perspective and perhaps cast some light on my thought process!
Monday, January 11, 2010
The College Admissions Scam
NOW IS the winter of high school seniors’ discontent. But then every winter is one of discontent as seniors file their college applications with a mix of dread and hope - mainly dread. Those applying to the most selective schools have the odds stacked against them no matter how sterling their high school records, though college admissions officers typically offer the cold comfort that rejection is not equivalent to failure and that, as one Yale admissions officer put it, “It matters far less which strong college admits you than it matters what you do with your opportunities once you are there.’’ To which most high school seniors would say, “Hogwash.’’
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2010/01/10/the_college_admissions_scam/
I dont actually agree with this article, but it's interesting. Correlation does not imply causation. Maybe there is a higher proportion of rich and influential people attending these schools, but it may be due to other lurking factors (e.g. better education from young?) rather than the social class directly influencing admissions. Nonetheless, form your own opinions about it and be thankful that Singapore employs a meritocratic system instead of anything else. :)
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2010/01/10/the_college_admissions_scam/
I dont actually agree with this article, but it's interesting. Correlation does not imply causation. Maybe there is a higher proportion of rich and influential people attending these schools, but it may be due to other lurking factors (e.g. better education from young?) rather than the social class directly influencing admissions. Nonetheless, form your own opinions about it and be thankful that Singapore employs a meritocratic system instead of anything else. :)
Friday, December 4, 2009
University will maintain international student aid
I saw this in the Stanford daily and thought it was interesting to put it up:
University will maintain international student aid
As the endowment tumbled by 27 percent, University officials vowed to maintain Stanford’s current financial aid system. Lesser known, however, was their promise to uphold the same policies for international students on financial aid.
According to Director of Financial Aid Karen Cooper, the University will uphold the same pledge in financial aid security to international students, who comprise approximately seven percent of the total undergraduate population.
The actual percentage of international students on aid is nearly half that of the total undergrads — approximately 25 percent of international students receive need-based aid directly from the University, compared to 48 percent of all undergraduates.
http://www.stanforddaily.com/cgi-bin/?p=1036514
University will maintain international student aid
As the endowment tumbled by 27 percent, University officials vowed to maintain Stanford’s current financial aid system. Lesser known, however, was their promise to uphold the same policies for international students on financial aid.
According to Director of Financial Aid Karen Cooper, the University will uphold the same pledge in financial aid security to international students, who comprise approximately seven percent of the total undergraduate population.
The actual percentage of international students on aid is nearly half that of the total undergrads — approximately 25 percent of international students receive need-based aid directly from the University, compared to 48 percent of all undergraduates.
http://www.stanforddaily.com/cgi-bin/?p=1036514
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Welcome to Princeford.
I am obviously biased since I am a Stanford student, but here you go:
http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2009/10/26/24264/
Ratings can fool you, and university ratings often do. Read U.S. News & World Report, and you find Princeton, Harvard and Yale nestled comfortably on top; check out Forbes, and you find Princeton, Caltech and Harvard there. But if you listen to the presidents of the great American private universities, follow their policy decisions and their big investment plans (now mostly on hold, but they’ll be back), they seem to work from different criteria. Stanford — the Farm — looks like the model that the others are trying to emulate.
http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2009/10/26/24264/
Ratings can fool you, and university ratings often do. Read U.S. News & World Report, and you find Princeton, Harvard and Yale nestled comfortably on top; check out Forbes, and you find Princeton, Caltech and Harvard there. But if you listen to the presidents of the great American private universities, follow their policy decisions and their big investment plans (now mostly on hold, but they’ll be back), they seem to work from different criteria. Stanford — the Farm — looks like the model that the others are trying to emulate.
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