Showing posts with label iphone. Show all posts
Showing posts with label iphone. Show all posts
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Miitaristic testing
Today I had my first ever university controlled test. I say this because last semester, the test either consisted of a take home essay or one that the professor administered in class because the class size was so small (Chinese, 8 people). The experience was completely nerve-wracking to say the least.
I found out that day, that I had a reserved seat for the test: N-5. I found this awkward to have assigned seating but thought nothing of it. Normally I strolled there with my iPhone, earplugs in, and listening to my jam session before a big test (Linkin Park). I look inside to see the sport gymnasium lined with chairs and tables, roughly 200 give or take. Each chair corresponding with a different row and column number. On the doors leading inside the room were numerous signs that stated "no cell phones allowed" "no backpacks allowed" "no food or drink" "assigned seating per student number" and lastly "no baseball caps". It was as if I was walking through a military checkpoint. But my biggest concern was I had my phone on me and the attitude given off by the instructors leading the examination process ensured if your phone was noticed or made any type of noise, you were failed, barred and given swift punishment to Bond University and Australian authorities.
Once inside and wandering around looking for N-5, we heard a voice on the loudspeaker detailing instructions and barking orders at us. When to start, what to do, how high to raise your hand if you have a question and the sign in/sign out procedures if you needed to use the restroom. After the orders were given, we were allocated 15 minutes of 'perusal time.' I have NO idea what perusal means and even after taking the test, still don't know. You'd think the university would clarify this as half of us were sitting there blankly looking around as what to do (do we start taking the test?).
From what I observed, perusal time is 15 minutes allocated before the start of the exam to go through it before you actually take it. This would be extremely beneficial if they THEN allowed 5 minutes to go through your NOTES before taking the exam. I don't see the benefit or need of a perusal time as I am already psyched and/or doomed of taking this test, why do I need 15 more minutes of pain and suffering (perhaps someone can better explain the efficient use of perusal)?
Overall, throughout the process it was very strict and militaristic. It def had a private school feel to it with instructors walking up and down the aisles, two timers up front to monitor time and 8 more people at the front to watch over student's wandering eyes. When I was finished, I was extremely glad to be out of there.
We'll see how I did come May when grades are released, but am really glad the test taking procedures within the US are far more lax. By enabling procedures of letting students know just by looking around they will fail due to attempt to cheat, makes it more worrisome then just a simple "hey here is the test, take this". And the day someone aces an exam because the answers are written inside their baseball cap is the day I bring two baseball hats to an exam (haha).
Cheers and 再见！
-H
I found out that day, that I had a reserved seat for the test: N-5. I found this awkward to have assigned seating but thought nothing of it. Normally I strolled there with my iPhone, earplugs in, and listening to my jam session before a big test (Linkin Park). I look inside to see the sport gymnasium lined with chairs and tables, roughly 200 give or take. Each chair corresponding with a different row and column number. On the doors leading inside the room were numerous signs that stated "no cell phones allowed" "no backpacks allowed" "no food or drink" "assigned seating per student number" and lastly "no baseball caps". It was as if I was walking through a military checkpoint. But my biggest concern was I had my phone on me and the attitude given off by the instructors leading the examination process ensured if your phone was noticed or made any type of noise, you were failed, barred and given swift punishment to Bond University and Australian authorities.
Once inside and wandering around looking for N-5, we heard a voice on the loudspeaker detailing instructions and barking orders at us. When to start, what to do, how high to raise your hand if you have a question and the sign in/sign out procedures if you needed to use the restroom. After the orders were given, we were allocated 15 minutes of 'perusal time.' I have NO idea what perusal means and even after taking the test, still don't know. You'd think the university would clarify this as half of us were sitting there blankly looking around as what to do (do we start taking the test?).
From what I observed, perusal time is 15 minutes allocated before the start of the exam to go through it before you actually take it. This would be extremely beneficial if they THEN allowed 5 minutes to go through your NOTES before taking the exam. I don't see the benefit or need of a perusal time as I am already psyched and/or doomed of taking this test, why do I need 15 more minutes of pain and suffering (perhaps someone can better explain the efficient use of perusal)?
Overall, throughout the process it was very strict and militaristic. It def had a private school feel to it with instructors walking up and down the aisles, two timers up front to monitor time and 8 more people at the front to watch over student's wandering eyes. When I was finished, I was extremely glad to be out of there.
We'll see how I did come May when grades are released, but am really glad the test taking procedures within the US are far more lax. By enabling procedures of letting students know just by looking around they will fail due to attempt to cheat, makes it more worrisome then just a simple "hey here is the test, take this". And the day someone aces an exam because the answers are written inside their baseball cap is the day I bring two baseball hats to an exam (haha).
Cheers and 再见！
-H
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Run Forrest, Run!
Today was a pretty slow day. We had a major pub crawl last night (in the process of getting a video and pics done for the blog) and just wanted time today to relax and enjoy life in the slow lane before it picks back up Monday. While it was mainly library time on campus and quick stop at the IGA to pick up some milk and bread, I decided to go for a run.
Now it had been about 2 weeks since my last run (4km) and about a week since my last workout. I've been somewhat slack these last few weeks as student association, post grad association and classes have taken over my life. Luckily the hectic first week of classes are over and I can get back on track with the working out. Speaking of, look out for a blog in the the next day or two about my impression on classes and the education system in Australia.
When I arrived in Australia I had weighed in at 260lbs. At 5'11 I am classified by the BMI chart index as OBESE. However, I could come off as stocky, perhaps big boned? Oh, who am I kidding, I'm fat. Working 50-60 hours a week in the US did not help my health ethic, so I made it a priority to get back on track while down here Australia. Fortunately so far I have dropped close to 20lbs and since my last weigh in (3 weeks ago) stood at 242lbs. This is a huge achievement for myself as I weighed 225 going into WSU in 2004 and would like to get back to that weight and lower.
Tonight I put on my running shoes and decided to just go run. I signed up for a new program called Map My Run as well as downloaded the app for iPhone, as it seemed like the program with the most positive reviews. Needless to say, I ran a 7.10km (4.41mi) in 48:40. Roughly 11 mins a mile and while that's absolutely horrible to a healthy person's standards, that's amazing for me. In the US, I wouldn't dream of even running a block and constantly drove to campus that was merely 10 mins away.
So with that, I hope to be at 230lbs by the time winter rolls around (April-May) and to possibly 210lbs or so by the time August comes through. My ultimate goal is to go sky diving, and at my current weight I would either be paying overweight fees or just denied the option to fly with some companies. I need a catchy motto for this... Something like "Drop the weight and drop out of a plane" or "Double digit goal" (100kg is 220lbs, so 99kg, you get it...). There we go. Stay tuned!
Cheers and 再见！
-H
Now it had been about 2 weeks since my last run (4km) and about a week since my last workout. I've been somewhat slack these last few weeks as student association, post grad association and classes have taken over my life. Luckily the hectic first week of classes are over and I can get back on track with the working out. Speaking of, look out for a blog in the the next day or two about my impression on classes and the education system in Australia.
When I arrived in Australia I had weighed in at 260lbs. At 5'11 I am classified by the BMI chart index as OBESE. However, I could come off as stocky, perhaps big boned? Oh, who am I kidding, I'm fat. Working 50-60 hours a week in the US did not help my health ethic, so I made it a priority to get back on track while down here Australia. Fortunately so far I have dropped close to 20lbs and since my last weigh in (3 weeks ago) stood at 242lbs. This is a huge achievement for myself as I weighed 225 going into WSU in 2004 and would like to get back to that weight and lower.
Tonight I put on my running shoes and decided to just go run. I signed up for a new program called Map My Run as well as downloaded the app for iPhone, as it seemed like the program with the most positive reviews. Needless to say, I ran a 7.10km (4.41mi) in 48:40. Roughly 11 mins a mile and while that's absolutely horrible to a healthy person's standards, that's amazing for me. In the US, I wouldn't dream of even running a block and constantly drove to campus that was merely 10 mins away.
So with that, I hope to be at 230lbs by the time winter rolls around (April-May) and to possibly 210lbs or so by the time August comes through. My ultimate goal is to go sky diving, and at my current weight I would either be paying overweight fees or just denied the option to fly with some companies. I need a catchy motto for this... Something like "Drop the weight and drop out of a plane" or "Double digit goal" (100kg is 220lbs, so 99kg, you get it...). There we go. Stay tuned!
Cheers and 再见！
-H
Friday, November 19, 2010
iPhoneless.
你们好！
Sad to say, I recently sold my iPhone. So the video blogs will be on hold for a bit until I can fancy myself another iPhone or an actual digital camera that can take video.
Nothing new lately. As the semester winds down, you'll see more blogs as I travel around Australia for the holidays. My lease at Varsity Towers ends December 18th, so it is fast approaching. I've put in my application for Varsity Shores, as I want to still be relatively close to campus (just on the other side of campus to be exact). However, if I'm good to go for there, I can't move in until January 8th! Therefore from the 18th of Dec to the 8th of January I'll be officially homeless :-D.
I've been looking at different options to see which would be the best option to go with:
Option 1: Stay in a hostel on the Gold Coast for those few weeks until the place becomes available and then move in.
Option 2: Travel around Australia/Tasmania for those few weeks since I will be homeless anyway. Con for this is I have to lug around all my luggage while traveling.
Option 3: Butter up one of my Aussie mates to hold my luggage so I can travel light.
Option 4: Find short term housing until my lease at the new place starts.
Right now I am looking at Option 3 at the moment, as I have three weeks gap before classes start on Jan 17th. Store most of my luggage and then just have a backpack with all the basic necessities in it. For those of you who know me, you know I pack light anyway. So not a problem.
Still got a couple of weeks to decide, but looking to get it taken care of now so that I don't have to worry last minute. Christmas will either be spent in Sydney or Alice Spring (middle of Australia), so it will be fun!
Also, my facial hair is coming in nicely. I opted to just go with no shaving at all and adhere to my WSU roots instead of just rocking the moustache for Movember. But it's interesting to see all the women who talk to you NOW that you have facial hair compared to when you are clean shaven. Good to see the different tastes in women. No worries though, I'm still single. Plenty of American lovin' to go around ladies!
Cheers! ( 再见！）
-H
Sad to say, I recently sold my iPhone. So the video blogs will be on hold for a bit until I can fancy myself another iPhone or an actual digital camera that can take video.
Nothing new lately. As the semester winds down, you'll see more blogs as I travel around Australia for the holidays. My lease at Varsity Towers ends December 18th, so it is fast approaching. I've put in my application for Varsity Shores, as I want to still be relatively close to campus (just on the other side of campus to be exact). However, if I'm good to go for there, I can't move in until January 8th! Therefore from the 18th of Dec to the 8th of January I'll be officially homeless :-D.
I've been looking at different options to see which would be the best option to go with:
Option 1: Stay in a hostel on the Gold Coast for those few weeks until the place becomes available and then move in.
Option 2: Travel around Australia/Tasmania for those few weeks since I will be homeless anyway. Con for this is I have to lug around all my luggage while traveling.
Option 3: Butter up one of my Aussie mates to hold my luggage so I can travel light.
Option 4: Find short term housing until my lease at the new place starts.
Right now I am looking at Option 3 at the moment, as I have three weeks gap before classes start on Jan 17th. Store most of my luggage and then just have a backpack with all the basic necessities in it. For those of you who know me, you know I pack light anyway. So not a problem.
Still got a couple of weeks to decide, but looking to get it taken care of now so that I don't have to worry last minute. Christmas will either be spent in Sydney or Alice Spring (middle of Australia), so it will be fun!
Also, my facial hair is coming in nicely. I opted to just go with no shaving at all and adhere to my WSU roots instead of just rocking the moustache for Movember. But it's interesting to see all the women who talk to you NOW that you have facial hair compared to when you are clean shaven. Good to see the different tastes in women. No worries though, I'm still single. Plenty of American lovin' to go around ladies!
Cheers! ( 再见！）
-H
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