Mathematics Genius on World Cup Outright Winner

As the World Cup 2006 is set to start the quarterfinals tonight, the mathematicians already know who is the outright winner who will hold the Cup in Germany on 9th July 2006. A foreign newspaper article showed the predictions made by mathematicians.

The calculation is based on the years of previous World Cup winners. They use the magic number '3964' and deduct it to the year in which the country won the Cup previously. The resultant number will be the year which that country will win again. For example, Brazil won the tournament in 1962, so 3964 - 1962 = 2002. And we all know that Brazil won in 2002.

Here's the full list of the winners from 1954 till 2010, where the year on the left after deductions from 3964, equals the year on the right. There is however, only one mistake, which is in year 1966/1998.

1954 Germany 2010
1958 Brazil 2006
1962 Brazil 2002
1966 England 1998* (This does not follow the rule, 1998 won by France)
1970 Brazil 1994
1974 Germany 1990
1978 Argentina 1986
1982 Italy 1982

Now, who do you think Brazil will play in the final?

A culture against the foreigners?

As I was driving home, I stopped by one of the stalls along the road that sells Nasi Katok. I think the Nasi Katok got its popularity only recently. It's probably one of the cheapest meal to fill the locals stomach. And especially during this World Cup period, I can see that customers in the Nasi Katok Stalls have increased.

The stall that I visited is one of the most popular stall in Brunei, it even operates in 24 hours. However it was the first time that I went there. I wasn't quite sure the exact location at the time I was driving along the main road. So I slowed down to try to hunt for the place, which is just beside the road side. A few cars were parked at the side of the road, but there was this one car reversing. However at that time, I made a 90 degree turn into the a parking spot behind the car that was reversing. I took his parking spot, not knowing he wanted to reverse to that spot from which he can get down closest to the stall as possible. However there were plenty of space in front of him for him to park, so I thought it was alrite.

So I went down and ordered my Nasi Katok, he came after that.

He said, "Where did you get your license?" I replied, "Why?"

He then said, "I almost hit your car while reversing just now, didn't you see me reversing?"

I said, "Yes I did, but I thought you were just adjusting your car at that time to park at the front, as there is a simpang (junction) behind your car. Anyway, my apologies, it's my mistake."

He mumbled the same thing again, and feeling a bit of guilt I apologised to him yet again.

After a moment of silence while we were both waiting for our orders, he asked me:

"Where are you from?" I said "I'm a local." He then said "That's not how the local supposed to act". I think he is referring to my driving. Smiling to him, I said "Well I apologised to you, what more do you want from me?"

He said, "I accepted your apologies, since you're local I shouldn't talk to you that way".

At that instant, I was bemused. I told him, "It doesn't matter whether or not I'm a local, we should not be rude to anyone." He went on to say "Well we local should not talk like that among each other." I repeated "No, so you are saying if I'm an outsider you could have treated me differently right now?" At that time, the nasi katok seller started asking him questions, so I left.

I am quite disturbed by what he said. This however is not the first time I have heard how the locals mistreated the foreigners. My message to everyone is that, we should not treat the outsiders any different way than how we treat our fellow locals. How depressing to learn some locals to have a 'bully' attitude towards the outsiders.

Sawfish Characteristics

The Borneo Bulletin frontpage today showed fishermen caught a 600kg sawfish or known locally as Yu Gargaji or Yu Parang. Notice this is different from a sword fish. The sword fish has a sharp long snout, while sawfish has a long flattened tooth saw. The sawfish belongs to the group of sharks and rays. If you look at the picture, the mouth of the sawfish is at the bottom, just like a stingray, and has a body similar to the sharks family.

But what is the purpose of the saw-toothed snout? And how does it work? The sawfish feeds on shrimps, crabs and other bottom dwellings small animals along with any small fishes. The saw is used in obtaining food by disrupting the bottom and dislodging any prey items that maybe available. They are also used in slashing through small fishes, stunning them before consuming. Sawfish also use their saw for defense as it is tremendously powerful from side to side.

One thing interesting is that the tooth, once lost, are not replaced. There are a few species in this world, ranging from small toothed to large toothed, and with teeth ranging between 17 to 34 per side.

Because of their shape of the body, they are easily entangled in nets. Sawfish are dangerous to handle when alive, did considerable damage to nets and have little commercial value. Now I wonder if the fins will end up in the chinese restaurants.

Creative? Not really.

The USB pendrive has become one of most popular office gadget. They are small and handy and can store files up to 4GB in size. From the basic shape about the size of your thumb, it has evolved to be incorporated into a pen, a keychain and even the Swiss knife. Then someone came up with a ‘brilliant’ idea for a cuddly pendrive (see below). *Please do not show it to your kids, it might freak them out.

2006 World Cup Underdogs

The 2006 World Cup sees a number of new or not so familiar teams. Any idea where Trinidad & Tobago is? How about Ivory Coast? Togo? If you have a limited geography knowledge like me, I've done a bit of homework for you:

ANGOLA
Location: Southern Africa, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Namibia and Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Natural Resources: Petroleum, diamonds, iron ore, phosphates, copper, feldspar, gold, bauxite, uranium.
Land area: 1,246,700 sq km
Population: 12,127,071
Nationality: Angolan
Capital: Luanda
Language: Portuguese (official), Bantu and other African languages.
Reiligion: Indigenous beliefs 47%, Roman Catholic 38%, Protestant 15%.
Export Commodities: Crude oil, diamonds, refined petroleum products, gas, coffee, fish and fish products, timber, cotton.

ECUADOR
Location: Western South America, bordering the Pacific Ocean at the Equator, between Colombia and Peru.
Natural Resources: Petroleum, fish, timber, hydropower.
Land area: 283,560 sq km
Population: 13,547,510
Nationality: Ecuadorian
Capital: Quito
Language: Spanish (official), Amerindian languages.
Religion: Roman Catholic 95%, other 5%
Export Commodities: Petroleum, bananas, cut flowers, shrimp.

IVORY COAST (Cote d'Ivoire)
Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Ghana and Liberia.
Natural Resources: Petroleum, natural gas, diamonds, manganese, iron ore, cobalt, bauxite, copper, gold, nickel, silica sand, clay, cocoa beans, coffee, palm oil, hydropower.
Land area: 322,460 sq km
Pop: 17,654,843
Nationality: Ivoirian
Capital: Yamoussoukro
Language: French (official), 60 native dialects
Religion: Muslim 35-40%, indigenous 25-40%, Christian 20-30%
Export Commodities: Cocoa, coffee, timber, petroleum, cotton, bananas, pineapples, palm oil, fish.

SERBIA & MONTENEGRO
Location: Southeastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic Sea, between Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Natural Resoures: Oil, gas, coal, iron ore, bauxite, copper, lead, zinc, antimony, chromite, nickel, gold, silver, magnesium, pyrite, limestone, marble, salt, hydropower, arable land.
Land area: 102,350 sq km
Pop: 10,832,545
Nationality: Serbian; Montenegrin
Capital: Belgrade
Language: Serbian 95%, Albanian 5%
Religion: Orthodox 65%, Muslim 19%, Roman Catholic 4%, Protestant 1%, other 11%
Export Commodities: Manufactured goods, food and live animals, raw materials.

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
Location: Caribbean, islands between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Venezuela.
Natural Resources: Petroleum, natural gas, asphalt.
Land area: 5,128 sq km
Population: 1,065,842
Nationality: Trinidadian, Tobagonian
Capital: Port-of-Spain
Language: English (official), Hindi, French, Spanish, Chinese.
Religion: Roman Catholic 26%, Hindu 22.5%, Anglican 7.8%, Baptist 7.2%, Pentecostal 6.8%, other Christian 5.8%, Muslim Christian 5.8%, Muslim 5.8%, Seventh Day Adventist 4%, other 10.8%.
Export commodities: Petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, steel products, fertilizer, sugar, cocoa, coffee, citrus, flowers.

TOGO
Location: Western Africa, between Benin and Ghana.
Natural resources: phospates, limestones, marble, arable land.
Land area: 56,785 sq km
Population: 5.5 million
Nationality: Togolese
Capital: Lome
Religion: Indigenous beliefs 51%, Christian 29%, Muslim 20%.
Language: French (official)
Export commodities: Reexports, cotton, phosphates, coffee, cocoa.

Having the basic facts stated, there is a very interesting fact which is shared among all them. All of the countries are transit location for cocaine or heroin while Ivory Coast is the illicit producer of cannabis, mainly for local consumption.

Energy Drinks

Just last week I bought a can of Glucose drink and eversince been amazed with the results. I normally have intense game of badminton a few times a week, changing my clothes 2 or 3 times in a 2-hour game. My shirt is always drenched with sweat, hence prompted me to get some energy drink.

In an intense exercise, we normally loses 3 to 4 grams of carbohydrate per minute. Carbohydrate is the most important form of energy as they are easier to be broken down compared to fats or protein. They are stored as glucose in liver and muscles. For a 70kg adult athlete there are about 90g of liver glycogen and 400g of muscle glycogen. At that rate of depletion during exercise, in about two hours we will normally be exhausted and performance degrades. If sports drinks are not consumed, we can get dehydrated and eventually circulatory collapsed and heat stroke.

There are 3 types of sports drinks: Isotonic, Hypotonic, and Hypertonic.

Isotonic eg. 100Plus, Lucozade quickly replaces fluid lost from sweating and supplies a boost of carbohydrate.

Hypotonic quickly replaces fluid lost from sweating. Suitable for athletes who need fluid without the need of carbohydrates. Eg. gymnasts.

Hypertonic used to supplement daily carbohydrates intake normally after exercise to top up glycogen in muscles.

Eversince I bought the Glucose, I drink that in addition to 100Plus. I guess I just use too much energy at sports. I normally drink it 15minutes before exercise, and always been amazed by the results. It's quite instant and I can actually feel the 'energy-boost' not long after. Do try it in your next work-out.

Sleeping well?

Ever come back from work, feeling so tired that you just lay face down on your bed and fall asleep? That actually has certain meaning in it. It could mean you are trying to get away from something you don't like. How about laying on your back, face up? It normally means you are ready to take on anything and have nothing to worry.

Sleeping position, apart from describing your current feeling, it also defines your personality. There are 6 common sleeping positions that are linked to certain personality types:

Foetus - curled up sleeping position. Those who sleep in this position looks tough on the outside but they are quite fragile at heart. They also tend to be shy when they first meet someone new, but soon relax. This is the most common sleeping position.

Log - lying on your side with both arms down by your side. These are easy-going and social people. At the same time, they can trust people too easily.

Yearner - sleep on the side with both arms out in front. People who sleep like this are said to have open nature but can be suspicious and cynical. They are slow to make up their minds, but once they have taken a decision, they are likely to stay with it.

Soldier - lying on your back with both arms on your sides. Tend to be quiet and reserve, they don't like a fuss, but set high standards on others and themselves.

Freefaller - lying on your front with hands around the pillow. Can be sociable yet impulsive and tend to get around people of similar personality. Don't like criticism or extreme situations.

Starfish - lying on your back with both arms up. These sleepers make good friends and are always ready to listen to others. Don't like to be the centre of attention.

Again, we may have varying sleeping positions which are related to our daily undertakings. There are more studies to that, which I might blog about in future.

0-100 km/hr

I know I haven't written a proper blog lately. Today will be no exception. I received a joke a moment ago and thought it's a really good one. But please read the text first before looking at the photo.

Three men are sitting at a bar and talking about the last birthday present that they got for their wives.

The first one says, "I bought my wife something thatgoes from 0 to 100 in 6 seconds!." The other two ask him what he got her. "I got her a Porsche. And she's never been happier in her life."

The next guy says, "I know what you mean. I bought MY wife something that goes from 0 to 100 in 4 seconds! -and she's on cloud nine!"

"That could only be a Ferrari," the other two say. "And what did you give your wife for her birthday?," they ask the third.

"Now, I don't want to brag, but I bought my wife something that goes from 0 to 200 in 2 seconds." "No way," say the other two, "That's way faster than the Ferrari and the Ferrari's the fastest thing there is!"

"Nope." the other man says, I got my wife something faster, but the funny thing is that she's really not all that happy about the fact that it goes from zero to 200 in 2 seconds."

"Wow." one of the men said, "That's hard to believe, do you have a picture of it?" (see below)

World Cup Techniques Exposed!

Integrated Utility Billing System

Do you find it troublesome having to pay electricity and water bills in two separate payments? I mean for electricity bill, you can easily go to any post-office to pay, while water bills you will need to go to the water department or Public Works Department building. Ever wonder how nice it will be to have electricity and water in one bill?

This is not a new idea. It is an existing system, but only to the residents in the housing area in Lambak Kanan & Lambak Kiri. They implemented this system because of the mounting amount of debt from the public, which has increased to tens of millions. Some gave reason saying they never receive the bills. Some never bother to pay.

This system, which they called 'Integrated Billing System for Water and Electricity' has proven to be quite effective. In the past, the Department of Electrical and Department of Water Services have two separate group of people to read the meters. In this system, they cut the manpower to have just one group, which read both meters. They carry a metering device, where they input and store the values of the meter into it. The device then print out a bill for both the water and electric in one slip. The meter reader then gives this bill directly to the owner of the house. Now, there is no excuse to say they did not receive the bill. Smart.

Statistics show that 60% of the people pay the bills now compared to 40% in the past. In the meantime, the residents can pay the bill only at the PWD building. In future they will be able to pay in the post-office. I don't know how soon this system will be implemented nationwide. There are also plans for e-payment on utility bills. Soon we do not need to wait in long queues just to pay bills.

Oh I just adopted a tiger. He stays in the side-bar. Please do feed Lionel once in a while.