Haiyo…

i turned up for class today, with half the enthusiasm i have been turning up for it with. i don’t know why, perhaps just noticing my college ex classmates finishing in about a month just drove me nuts. i miss home keenly, and wish i can be home now, going out to eat roti prata for breakfast with my dad, then harng hr for dinner. and ipoh hor fun for lunch, by myself, complete with dong gua cha (winter melon tea).

of course, to be completely honest, i don’t think i can make it home anyways. but whatever the fuck la.

anyways, so i sat in class, staring lan lan-ly at the big screen, and started plotting my essays mentally, then my presentations, and whatever not. things like that happens to be routinely, while in the mean time i was semi-absorbing everything he was saying.

but what broke me into peals of laughter again and again was his attempts at humour. he is just so cute, he’s not very funny, but it’s the way he tries to be that just touches me. few teachers bothered to even try make the class interesting. here, the teachers sometimes give you OPTIONS to make life easier for yourself. real choices, hands-on experiences. Uni of canberra may not be the best, but the teachers sure make life seem smoother.

Of the whole entire lecture though, what stood out was how he used really LAY terms to describe things. It must be noted that when one initially join the Arts faculty, while it’s not overwhelmingly full of technical terms like “accounts accruable blah blah blah, monopoly blah blah” (yes i am taking a dig at econs and accounts again), there are terms that can be easily misunderstood by first year students. or… just not understood at all.

and, while he’s not the first teacher i know of who attempts to simplify matters, he is also one of the few teachers that i know of that bothers to clarify terms. and that is of huge importance, particularly to international students from places like bahrain or something in my class who tries hard to understand even the basics of the english language.

Of course… calling states that are being used as pawns are also a plus point. *ahem*

at the end of the class, i tried to ask him what he thought of singapore as. surprise surprise… singapore is classified neatly as liberalism in action. i am fairly amused, but i think it’s time i learn more about my country before i do anything else. WIKIPEDIA!!! hehe… but i am interested in perhaps finding a copy of lee kuan yew’s autobiography in the local library perhaps tomorrow. there’s alot of things i want to know, and i hope i have all the time in the world to do it.

The most interesting find though at the end of the class was…

he owns a hello kitty dangling thing. ALL IN PINK!!!! he dangles it, complete with a bell, from his usb stick. WOAH BABY! i just stared at it, and went, “erm, is that a hello kitty sir?”

he turned red, then looked at his palm, then tried to stuff it into an invisible hole in his palm, and then clenched it tight to hide it from view… “erm, yer well, i enjoyed myself thoroughly in japan..”

“i can see that… sir..”

LAWL…. i love that guy…

technorati tags:lecture, classes, interesting, learnt, opinions, ideas, hello, kitty, metrosexual, me, personal, blog, lol

I am going to list my assignments here so i know wth i am doing. i am so inundated by both small and big assignments that i am having a hard time telling them apart now. not that it matters too much, but more so i can figure out what needs more research and what doesn’t.

Law and Society: (starting with this since i have the more complete list of questions here)

1) Field Work Report/Symposium Newsletter:

Chosen assignment: Newsletter on the DNA Symposium.

Word count: 800 words

Due Date: 21st August

2) Research Brief Plan:

Chosen Topic: uhm well, i am not very sure yet… i am very inclined towards paedophile activities though ^_^

Word Count: 500 – 1000 words

Due Date: 28th August

3) Final Research Brief + Presentation:

Chosen Presentation Format: Webpage (BWAHAHAHA)

Word Count: 2500 words

Due Date: 9th October

Social Policy:

1) Presentation Topic:

Is social justice the same thing ashuman rights and where do either/both fit into social policy? Use examples in your answer. (1 page summary of presentation and a reference list, OHP presentation preferred -.-)

Due Date: 23rd August

2) Social Media Project:

Topic: Students will select a media report (can be either print or electronic)relating to a social policy topic or issue. If the issue is on-going,it is possible to select a series of reports. Write a critical analysisof the media report on the basis of: media’s handling of the issue; howthe issue is being reported; why the issue is being reported; is thereport taking sides or apportioning blame; is the report attempting tomanipulate public opinion or simply provide information; targetaudience; likely intended or unintended outcome of the report; possibleimplications for policy.

Word Count: 1500 words

Due Date: September 1st

3) Major Essay:

Essay Question:

What are the causes of poverty in Australia and how is the problem addressed through social policy?

Word Count: 3000 Words

Due Date: October 27th (no exams then! )

International Politics:

1) Oral tutorial paper:

Question: What was distinctive about cold war diplomacy? (this is tentative because my tutorial time got removed due to lack of participants, my replacement tutorial was not held last week as my actual tutor was away, and i decided to just change tutorial time to late morning/ early afternoon then. but if someone else had picked this topic, i will find something else)

Time Count: 5 minutes (biblios to be handed in though)

Due date: Tentatively in Week 10 (somewhere in the third week of September)

Main Essay:

2) Question: Why did Cold War emerge soon after World War II? How Significant were glasnost and perestroika for ending the Cold War? (i might changed my mind next week though, he was talking about another topic…)

Word Limit: 2000 (so they say… he’s already thinking of lifting this limit to 2700)

Due Date: September 18th

Information Law (OR politically correct: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW DAMMIT!)

1) Seminar:

Question: In 2004 Eduardo Banderas, an employee of Infotrade, filed a provisional patent application for an invention consisting of a method of dealing in Australian stocks anonymously in real-time over the internet. The method enabled traders connected to the internet to access a series of stock prices which they could actually trade, being prices that had been determined via an automated credit check (the Method”). Under the PCT mechanism, the patent nominated the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Japan, Germany and Australia as the countries where the patent was sought. The application stated that the invention was obtained in software coding and a copy of the code was attached to the application. In January 2003 Eduardo had presented a paper on the workings of the Method to a convention of bankers in Jakarta on the Future of Internet Trading. While the paper out-lined the Method it did not disclose the code needed to implement the Method. In June of that year Eduardo demonstrated the operation of the Method to potential customers at an industry trade show held in Palo Alto, California. The demonstration was conducted in a room patrolled by a security guard. In order to obtain admittance to the demonstration potential customers were requested by Eduardo to sign a form under which they agreed to keep the Method confidential. Raphael Devries, who attends the demo, is concerned that the Bandera’s technology is alarmingly similar to an initiative being developed by his own organisation Megabank. He consults Bill, the inventor of the Megabank technology. Bill reassures him that the Banderas patent can be readily attacked as he has documentation in his garage relating to a prototype for the Method he developed years ago. He also observes that he has plenty of mates in the Silicon Valley who have been using the Method for years. Advise Megabank. (*faints* Case-Solutions!)

Word Limit: 1500

Time Limit: 20 minutes (OH WTF MATE?!?!)

Due Date: August 17th

2)Major Essay:

This damn thing is take hom exam style, with 4 weeks for you to do anything about it. i will only know anything about it in 2 weeks…

Word Limit: not stated, but since it’s in the same column at the Seminar’s description, i will temporarily assume it’s 1500 words.

Due Date: September 18th (the monday AFTER holidays. GG.)

After looking at this list, i have concluded i need no sleep. ^_^ humans are so awesome no?

technorati tags:assignments, homework, questions, plans, list, timeline, personal, school, university, classes