One day, I had nothing to do. I decided to scan and edit some old photos of moi...
I think I should turn this (which is actually my sister's new) laptop off... It's raining quite heavily despite the El Nino.
We had a massive celebration yesterday.
When you mix Fathers' Day and two birthdays celebration at the same time, you get super duper CHAOS plus extreeeeeemeee FUN! :p
We celebrated Adam and Maira's birthday, as well as our very own Ayah in accordance to Father's Day (that should be today but we instead celebrated it yesterday because Ayah went to Jakarta this morning. huhu~). The day ended with a splash! Me and my elder sis, Shazuin shared some money and gave Adam a big water senapang (water gun). He practically aimed and sprayed water at everyone at our lawn. Others started to join in the fun and get chased by Adam and Maira as they both take turns to soak us up. haha~ It was really really awesome... We are so glad we planned a birthday that made them feel like they're the happiest kids on the planet. ;)
Here are some of the photos I captured:
I'm not really good at capturing memories using DSLRs. So, that's the best that I could do.
Anyway... HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, Ayah!! We hope you'd wear that shirt during your weekly golf outing with your friends. Hehe~
Thanks for being a caring, responsible and supportive father. I wonder what we'd do without you.. Words can't describe how thankful we are to have you as a father. We love you so much! Have a nice and safe trip to Jakarta!
I had a urge on searching about phobias... and I ended up founding these types of fear that I've never known before they might exist!
It doesn't have much to deal with willpower, either. People think, "well, just get over it." It's literally like trying to hold your hand to a hot burner. Your mind says no and is much more powerful than your conscious logical mind. The side effect of this is depression. There are two reasons for it in my opinion. First, they get depressed, because they have a phobia. It's depressing to be out of control. Second, if you have a phobia that keeps you in fear most of the time, your body cannot maintain the chemicals coursing through your blood stream. You just crash. The good news is that when the phobia is gone, the depression is gone. Having any constant source of anxiety can create depression.I have Katsaridaphobia, that is, fear of cockroaches. A couple of my friends decided to make a prank on me one day... What they thought would be a laugh turned out to be me crying on my favourite bolster for about 20 minutes and have this feeling of anxiety all day - I felt like cockroaches were swarming all over my body as an aftereffect.
Not all came to class yesterday, but I thought if maybe the whole class would attend this morning's session, I'd like to bring the camera this morning and snap a few photos.
I completely forgot about bringing a tripod... *sigh* But by looking on the bright side, that would mean MORE PHOTOS! Hihiii~ These are a couple of the photos we AI-ans took (I'm too lazy to post all of them out =P):
This class was one of the best classes that I've ever taken. Hmm.. I never had a short-semester (we call it intersession) classes that was not both fun and educational. Alhamdulillah... They're not a waste of the larger amount of money I paid (in comparison with what we usually pay during normal semesters). So I wanted to keep some memory in the form of digitized photos for this class.It's only 1 wedding actually...
For your information, 3 of my seniors and 2 of my batch-mates from Diploma (each of them gave birth to a baby girl) are already married.
This is one of the weddings that I went to...
Ah, I love weddings. The atmosphere is filled with good 'ol reverie and novelty (another word for newness). I'm absolutely fond of anything new. Newly weds, newborn babies, a new day, new books, new dresses, new shoes, new bags, newly withdrawn money... erkk~ back to the topic!
I went to a senior's wedding yesterday - Kak Suhaiza & Chot. She looked beautiful and radiant. It was a spectacular event, held at Damansara Heights Community Center (I had to drive that morning to search for the place because I was not familliar with it and had no map due to the absence of the invitation card. huhu~ thank goodness it's just 20 minutes drive away from my house). The theme was white and blue. I especially love the blue coloured lychee drink (even though I was totally aware that the blueness was made by colouring agent) and the Pelamin, of course. hehe~ At all of the weddings I've attended, I'd be observing the Pelamin first. This one was one of the garden weddings type of Pelamin.
We had fun meeting 2 of our friends that we haven't seen for a while. We had most fun during taking photos using a borrowed DSLR.
The Kebaya that I'm wearing in the pictures is my favourite formal dress despite the fact that I only wore it 4 times - during graduation, dinner at UiTM Hotel, my Ayah's company dinner, and for this wedding. I don't want people to have the impression that I have nothing else to wear. :P
I simply love this photo:
another great day... ;)
Dear Sue.
Please do these things to prove that you're definitely not a waste!
I am petrified.
Why?
Psst... The title above translates to "Why do God create mosquitoes?".
I might sound like a 5 year-old. But really, this question has been stuck inside my head for days. It's actually because I couldn't get a good night's rest because of the agony of bearing all the mosquito bites I've been having for the past week. And all my life, God forgive me, I have been whining a lot about them. That's why I've been thinking why did God create these organisms called mosquitoes. When I was younger, I thought angrily that all mosquitoes do was torment me and their bites resulted in me scratching my skin and leave ugly bite marks all over my body.
But now, I realised the uglier fact that we could get diseases such as dengue, malaria, (once there was) the Japanese Encephalitis J.E. and et cetera. So, in my opinion, there's a good reason behind the creation of mosquitoes besides being the source of food for many kinds of animals. Mosquitoes transmit diseases! And that's a good thing? Well... If we humans never get sick, we tend to forget who we are to Allah, that we are only His subjects. It is His way of reminding us that we are not supreme beings and being sick automatically remind us of death. Muslims believe that being sick means that our small sins are being forgiven. Senang cite, penyakit mengingatkan manusia kepada keinsafan.
He made mosquitoes survive since the very beginning of time and it'll be likely to survive until the end, with His will, of course. We can make a conclusion that mosquitoes cannot easily face extinction due to their nature - they fly, they mate on air and lay eggs easily on water. So no matter how many you smack to their oh-so-sudden death, there will still be more mosquitoes coming to have more bites on you!
I believe in Allah SWT. I believe He creates all things for a reason and He has plans for each and every one of us, and they too happen for reasons in which we may or may not understand.
SubhanAllah...
Note: My first ethics assignment.
(Word Count: 886)
The origin of video gaming stretches out from as early as 1947 with the creation of a device called the Cathode-Ray Tube Amusement Device. It simulates a missile firing at a target using 8 vacuum tubes and contains knobs to adjust the curve and speed of the missile. Small targets were drawn on a simple overlay and placed on the screen because electronic computer graphics are not yet invented during that time. Now, video games are fused with Artificial Intelligence, so that the computer would determine the game player’s pattern of play, learn his strategies and hence, the computer will attempt to defeat the player. Next, the method of interaction between the game and game players has developed dramatically. Now, video games are integrated with controllers equipped with the technology of motion control such as DualShock, which sends a vibration feedback to the game player. In addition, nowadays there are also portable video games that we can fit into our pockets. But as the youths embrace video games as one of their main source of entertainment, I worry about the risks and consequences on their social life and also their health. Sure, playing video games is fun and releases tension and boredom, but it has also its drawbacks.
Hard core gamers would isolate themselves socially from other people, and they could be confused between fantasy and reality due to the real-like gaming experience thanks to the advanced graphics and audio technology, which might cause a change in behaviour. I’d like to emphasis on the likeliness of the gamer to exhibit aggressive behaviour due to the frequent exposure of violence during playing games. These days, video games are usually based on violence, aggression and gender bias. Gender bias, in this context, refers to games usually portray women as weaker characters that are helpless or sexually provocative.
I watched a documentary once, about the relation between violent video games and aggressive behaviour, there were alarming findings made by researchers, that young juveniles commit murders were being driven by video game playing. They seem to lack of compassion and feels that violence is normal. Youngsters who see a lot of violence would see that violence is the most effective way to solve conflict.
I have experienced gaming a lot myself. I used to play PS2 after my SPM exams. I played a game called ‘Need for Speed: Underground 2’ quite heavily and became rather good of playing it that I really wanted to finish the game. And I did after a week of unorganised sleeping time and meal time, that sometimes when I close my eyes, I could see the visuals of car racing that was portrayed in that game. When I finished the entire game, I determined that it is the first and the last time I will be addicted to any video games.
Now, I worry for my younger brother and nephew, who are now addicted to playing games on the computer. I would nag them a lot about using the computer for educational purposes and how games could affect how they behave and that there is no point of playing games that makes mass murdering look cool. There was a case on news about 18-year-old Devin Moore kill people because of a game called ‘Grand Theft Auto’ (GTA) dated June 19, 2005. His attorney said, "What we're saying is that Devin Moore was, in effect, trained to do what he did. He was given a murder simulator.” Murder simulator - that what I would also describe this game, GTA, that both my younger brother and nephew love playing. This game gives people the thought that it is okay to shoot police officers, it is okay to steal and destroy other peoples’ cars and it is okay to pick up a chainsaw and massacre everybody that gets in your way. This game also shows the nightlife of people in Miami, with prostitutes walking about the streets asking people if they want their “service”.
Do we want our future generation to become less humane and corrode them morally by exposing themselves and let them “be” people who deal drugs, steal cars and mass-murder others? Kids nowadays who see people get shot and see blood scattered everywhere don’t feel anything anymore. They have lost their compassion and fear towards violence. They feel that it is normal.
Many other video games have this same effect on other youngsters as well. Parents should mind what their children are viewing and playing. Nowadays there are lots of media that promote aggressiveness being produced and easy to be reached by the mere hands of our youngsters with the existence of the Internet. People who are responsible in producing these materials would do simply anything to sell them. Do they care about our future generations becoming less humane? No is the answer.
That is why parents should set in their mind that not only in video games that there is violence, they should also be cautious on what movies, music and other medias that their children are reading, watching or listening. Let’s face the fact – there are parents who never mind of what their children get their hands on. They must not wait until their children become monsters that they come to their senses. As we all know, prevention is definitely better than curing.
News Reference:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/06/17/60minutes/main702599.shtml
Note: This is my ethics assignment. :p
(Word Count: 1,283)
Bullying is simply a deliberate act of causing harm to other people. There are a few ways of how a person can bully another: verbally, physically or manipulation of certain things. Cyber-bullying is a type of bullying under manipulation of the information and communication technology. It has started since even before the Internet was made available to the public. People often associate cyber-bullying with kids, preteens and teens. It has to be them on both sides of cyber-bullying, or at least it is initiated by them. When adults are involved, it is just cyber-harassment or cyber-stalking. There are records of kids killed each other and committed suicide due to this issue. It may take place to the level of misdemeanour cyber-harassment charge. But if the child is below 18 years of age, he/she may be charged under juvenile delinquency. Why do kids cyber-bully? When we relate them together, we often hear that these kids are influenced by the feeling of anger, revenge or frustration. There are many reasons on why these young bullies perform such misdemeanour. Some do it for mere fun or because of having too much time in their hands and lots of gadgets to play and explore with. Some do it by accident and kids are known to do something without thinking. Some do it because of ego and they like the feeling of being the tough guy or girl. Some think that they’re doing the right thing by standing up for other kids. These kids could use almost all types of technology against their target. These manipulation of technology for bullying intentions include text messaging, phone calls, blogging, instant messaging and interfering with web pages and sites. The most significant technology being used for cyber-bullying nowadays would be through social networking and instant messages (IMs). There are two types of cyber-bullying that they could carry out, which are direct attacks and indirect attacks. Direct attacks are acts of cyber-bullying direct to the victims, whereas indirect attacks (also known as attacks by proxy) are the ones using other people to attack their victim, with or without the consent or awareness of the accomplice. On top of that, because indirect attacks usually involve adults in making the attacks, it is actually more damaging to the victim. Technologies can be used to terrorize, stalk and prey on unsuspecting individuals. These problems resulted in a jumble of newspaper articles on paedophilia activity (any sexual activity between an adult and a child, which includes sexual urges, fantasies, and behaviours), cyber stalking and cyber-bullying. These stories later have resulted in a wave of moral panic and there are requests and demands from concerned parents and others to regulate these technologies and to protect the children and other victims from these predators. Predators use the Internet to search for potential victims, win their hearts, set up a meeting and lure them to a trap. This is a scary fact of what has been happening since the emergence of the Internet.
The first time I used the Internet, which was somewhere in the year 1997, I have been exposed to ICQ – the most popular instant messaging service in my group of friends at that time. Afterwards, I found IRC, MSN Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger. Ever since I was exposed to the Internet, I have received direct sexual messages, like people asking what was my “inner” size was, or have I cyber-sexed before. I have also received a harsh comment from an angry, anonymous reader of my blog at Blogger.com. I immediately asked for advice from my trusted friend (whom is quite an expert in IT) and by following his advice, I deleted the comment (to avoid myself reading it again and get upset unnecessarily), turned off the anonymous comment feature (I never thought it was important before) on my blog and went on writing other posts and receive comments from people that have Google account. I was glad that I took all the necessary actions and the emotional pain didn’t last more than a week. Those incidents lead me to realise the importance of education and awareness of how technology may affect us. Even though I have yet received threats from other technology users, I have read a lot regarding cyber-attacks on children. This creates fear within me for my siblings and friends who use technology in daily basis. Because of my previous experiences with the Internet, I usually advice my younger siblings and close friends about the danger of cyber-attacks whenever I see them using this media.
Cyber-bullying is a very complex area and there are actually many issues to consider. As this issue arise from the lack of monitoring and control of these technologies, I wonder if the obligation of monitoring and stricter controls is the solution to this problem. Whose rights would be protected and whose would be violated if this solution is executed? If the authorities regulate such technologies, we might protect the right of our youngsters but violate the rights of involved companies and organisations of the technology. Controlling technologies might even infringe the privacy of youngsters. If certain authorities or organisations (such as school boards) interfere with these technologies and restrict youngsters’ access to them, parents would be furious and claim that the authorities violate their children’s freedom of speech. I’m not saying that this problem cannot be resolved at all nor this issue can be fully resolved. In fact, parents play an important role on preventing and protecting their child. In my opinion, this problem might be reduced if the following are taken into action by parents:
A joint business collaboration between my mother, her sister and daughters (including moi!).
At Al-Fareeda Bazaar, you can get a Burqini at 50% of the usual price! There are 7 designs to choose from at the moment. We'll also have bracelets made from Korean crystal beads and Raya Cookies for you to order in no time.
Why wait?
