Sports - Badminton, Japan Open 2008

In the men's singles Lee Chong Wei who is now the world number one defeated Zhu Weilun from  China 25-23, 21-8. Lim Khim Wah and Wong Pei Tty also made it to the second round of the mixed doubles.

Roslin Hashim has  made it to the second round of the men's singles. He defeated Chan Yan Kit in three sets 18-21, 21-19, 21-13.  Sairul Amar Ayob defeated Lee Tsuen Seng 21-17, 21-18. 

Gong Weijie from China upset  third seeded Peter Hoeg Gade12-21, 22-20,  24-22.

 In the women's singles, Wong Mew Choo defeated Yu Hirayama from Japan 21-16, 8-21, 22-20.

Other results on the 17th Sept  are here

Sports - Athletics, World Athletics Final 2008

Asafa Powell won the men's 100m. 

LaShawn Merritt defeated  Jeremy Wariner by 0.01 seconds in the 400m.

Barbora Spotakova broke the world record for the women's javelin. 

Runners from Kenya continue to do well in the men's long distance events. On the second day Haron Keitany won the men's 1500m event.

Shelly-Ann Fraser from Jamaica won the women's 100m.

Here are some results for the World Athletics Final 2008 (Click to

 read) -

Day 1

Day 2

Sports - Football (Soccer) World Cup Qualifier 2010

Here are some results-

In the European zone, France defeated Serbia 2-1. Goals from France were scored by Thierry Henry and Nicolas Anelka.  The goal from Serbia was scored by Branislav Ivanovic.

England defeated Croatia 4-1.  Theo Walcott scored a hattrick in this match. David Beckham only played in the last few minutes of the match substituting Walcott.

In the South American  zone,  Brazil drew with Bolivia 0-0.

Sports - Tennis, US Open 2008

Roger Federer defeated Andy Murray in straight sets 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 to win the US Open men's singles tennis championship. He is one Grand Slam short of Pete Sampras career record of 14. Andy Murray has risen to number 4 in the world ranking and it appears that Nadal will still remain as number 1.

Sports - Tennis, US Open 2008

Andy Murray will face Roger Federer in the men's singles final. He upset Rafael Nadal 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-4.  Andy Murray is seeking to be the first British man to win a major championship since Fred Perry in 1936. The last British man to reach a major final was Greg Rusedski in 1997 at the US Open. He lost to Pat Rafter in four sets.

In the women's singles final Serena Williams beat Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 7-5 and will  be the world number 1.  Looks like there may still be more events to come so she may not have ended the year as number 1 as previously written. Serena Williams was number 1 before in 2002. 

Sports - Tennis, US Open 2008

Roger Federer will face Novak Djokovic in the other men's singles semifinal.

Serena Williams will take on Jelena Jankovic in the women's singles final. This will be  Jelena Jankovic's first Grand Slam final.

Sports - Tennis, US Open 2008

Newly crowned world number 1, Rafael Nadal from Spain  has reached the semi-finals of the US Open men's singles by defeating Mardy Fish  3-6, 6-1, 6-4 , 6-2. He will face Andy Murray who defeated Juan Martin Del Potro 7-6 (2), 7-6 (1), 4-6, 7-5. 

 World Number 2, Roger Federer will play Gilles Muller  in another  quarter-final later, while world number 3  Novak Djokovic will face Andy Roddick.  

Sports - Badminton, Olympics 2008

Lee Chong Wei lost to Lin Dan in straight sets 12-21, 8-21.

Chong Wei had beaten Lin Dan before and many Malaysians were expecting a close match between the two. However it was not to be - Lin Dan controlled the match right from the start.
Hopefully, Chong Wei will learn something from the defeat and do better next time. Still, Chong Wei has accomplished a lot by being the first Malaysian to reach the badminton men's singles final of the Olympics. For his efforts in winning the silver medal, he will receive RM 300,000 from the government and also RM3000 monthly under the Olympic incentive scheme.

Lin Dan's win marks the second time China lifted the men's singles crown after Ji Xinpeng in Sydney in 2000.

Sports - Badminton, Olympics 2008

Lee Chong Wei defeated Lee Hyun-il in the semi-finals in three sets 21-18, 13-21, 21-13 on Friday. In today's final, he will face Lin Dan who defeated Chen Jin 21-12, 21-18.

Lee Chong Wei is the first Malaysian to reach the badminton men's singles final of the Olympics.

Sports - Badminton, Olympics 2008

Lee Chong Wei is in the semi-finals of the men's singles Olympic badminton tournament. He defeated Sony Dwi Kuncoro in straight sets 21-9. 21-11. Chen Jin defeated Hsien Yu Hsing from Chinese Taipei 21-8 21-14.

Lee Hyun-il defeated third seeded Bao Chun Lai 23-21, 21-11. This means that Lee Chong Wei will be facing Lee Hyun-il in the semi-final.

Lin Dan defeated Peter Gade Hoeeg 21-13, 21-16 and will face Chen Jin in the other semi-final.

So You Think You Can Dance Malaysia, Season 2

CC won the competition this year, receiving a cash prize of RM 50,000 and a scholarship from 8TV. The final may not be as exciting as last year but overall it was a good effort. One of the best moments of the show was Zainal Abidin singing Orak Arik. Watch it here - after the dancing from the ones who did not make it to the final.

Technology - 64 bit vs 32 bit

In gaming 64 bit offers greater detail. This can be seen in the Far Cry game. Examples are available on some websites.
I also read from Wikipedia that 64 bit architectures make working with large data sets in applications such as digital video, scientific computing, and large databases easier.

So You Think You Can Dance Malaysia, Season 2

There was a good performance last week from Black. Click here to watch. His performance comes after Sly and Hong. I thought the guest judge was a bit weird though.

Sly and Jojo were sent packing. The final four are Black, Hong, Sim and CC. Who could win it? Anybody's game.

So You Think You Can Dance Malaysia, Season 2

The dancing by the pairs were not as good as the previous episode - but the solo performances by Belalang and Hong were the ones to watch. I thought Ray and Sarah would go but for some reason it was Belalang that left the show instead of Ray. Watch the performances of Belalang and Hong here (the bottom six).

So You Think You Can Dance Malaysia, Season 2

It may not be as big as the Idol shows (American Idol and Malaysian Idol) but So You Think You Can Dance Malaysia can be entertaining to watch at times. There may not be clear favourites or deserving winners in this year's show but there are some performances that are worth noting. Last week, Raymond and Jojo did very well. Watch it in the middle of this clip here (can't seem to quick forward). Ray and CC also did quite well so it is probably worth watching the whole clip.

However, Raymond was in the bottom six. He could not pop as well as Jojo. It appears as though he is more like a classical ballet dancer. Anyway in the end of the show, he was safe.

At first I could not tell - but later when I watched Raymond and Jojo separately, I was able to see that Jojo was better. Yet when they combined together they did a great job.

Sports - Football(Soccer) Euro 2008

Sports can be icky at times especially when one sees those injuries but people still love sport. It can take us away from the difficult moments of our life. Hence there will be some news about sports on this blog.

Today's news is about the Euro 2008 football final which was played this morning. Spain defeated Germany 1-0. The goal was scored by Fernando Torres in the first half. This is quite an exciting and close match as Germany had some chances of equalizing. The goal scored was not spectacular but it was good enough for Spain to capture the title for only the second time since 1964.

Technology

Lecture 21 Introduction to Digital Electronics - Memory, Sequential Circuits


Topics :- Cells, Types of memories - SRAM, DRAM and flash, SRAM from inverter and RS flip flop.

Technology

In lecture 20 Introduction to Digital Electronics - Transistors, CMOS Gates the topics taught were CMOS transistors - NMOS and PMOS, construction of inverter and NOR gates with the use of CMOS transistors. What is interesting in this lecture is how simple the NMOS and PMOS transistors were drawn. This is a good lecture.

Technology

In lecture 19 Introduction to Digital Electronics - Boolean Algebra
the topics taught were amplitude quantisation, sampling clock, inverter, AND gate, OR gate and adder circuit.

Technology

In lecture 18 Introduction to Digital Electronics - Review the topic about bandpass filter was continued here.

Technology

In lecture 17 Introduction to Digital Electronics - Filters the topics taught were frequency domain, low pass filter and bandpass filter. High pass filter was taught in the last lecture. The bandpass filter which is a combination of the high pass and low pass filter can be used in RF (radio frequency) communications.

Technology

In lecture 16 Introduction to Digital Electronics - Bode Diagrams the topics covered were magnitude response, decibels and Bode plot of high pass filter. Node Voltage Analysis can be used to analyse the circuits. For simple circuits, Voltage Divider Rule can be used.

Technology

In lecture 15 Introduction to Digital Electronics - Phasor Calculations the topics taught were time domain and frequency domain. Some parts of these lectures can be tough. Additional notes would help. Could not really catch all of what was taught. Nevertheless, I have definitely learnt something from this course.

American Idol 7

David Cook has won the American Idol this year. Based on the surveys this week, the result was not a big surprise. Of course, I still feel that David Archuleta deserves to win it . Strange enough according to some some sources from the internet, all three judges had also favoured David Archuleta but from what I saw Paula Abdul did not really state a clear winner. She did say that his performance left her speechless and he was stunning. However, David Cook did sing the song " Dream Big" quite well. Click here to watch it.

Technology

In lecture 14 Introduction to Digital Electronics - Phasors the topics taught were Fourier analysis, network analyser, analysing circuits with sinusoidal inputs, use of complex numbers and Laplace transforms, examples of using complex numbers for solving circuit problems, magnitude and phase of complex numbers.

Author K. A. Stroud wrote about complex numbers in his book Engineering Mathematics (Fifth Edition, 2001) , which is the first programme in part II of the book. This is a useful book and there is a website of the Personal Tutor available too. Click here to access

Technology

In lecture 13 Introduction to Digital Electronics - Frequency Domain the topics taught were revision of boost converter, efficiency, initial transient, steady state, periodic signals, sinusoidal signal, average power, root mean square voltage for sinusoidal and sawtooth signals, sinusoidal signal for processing of other signals and skin effect.

Technology

In lecture 12 Introduction to Digital Electronics - NVA with L and C (Due to technical problem, lecture is only 30 minutes long. The audio is low)
the topic taught was analysis of switching converter circuit which has an inductor and a capacitor. As the lecture is only 30 minutes long, I looked for more information for this part and the notes are available here . Click on ''Notes'' and then "Lecture 13" or to go straight to it, click here.

Technology

In lecture 11 Introduction to Digital Electronics - Capacitor and Inductor Examples the topics taught were cancer diagnostic, capacitors in series and in parallel, what happens - (a) when a voltage source is connected to a capacitor, (b) when a current source is connected to a capacitor , building a current source, goal of building a function generator, calculation involving a circuit with a capacitor and resistor in series, time constant and timer.

Technology

In lecture 10 Introduction to Digital Electronics - Capacitance and Inductance, the topics taught were (i) use of capacitors for building timer circuits and filter high frequency noise, (ii) the new concept of electronic memory in capacitors - the storage of charges in capacitors, (iii) structure of capacitors, (iv) building a sensor to detect how much fluid is inside a container with the use of capacitors, (v) touch sensor, (vi)formulas involving current, power and energy (vii) super capacitors, (viii) discussion on how to build low power microprocessors.

Technology

In lecture 9 Introduction to Digital Electronics-Review the topics covered were revision of inverting and non-inverting amplifiers, input resistance of an inverting amplifier, use of a buffer and discussion of a problem involving an instrumentation amplifier.

Technology

In lecture 8 Introduction to Digital Electronics - Input/Output Resistance, problems regarding op amps were solved by applying Node Voltage Analysis, Kirchoff's Laws and Superposition theorem. A non-inverting amplifier was also taught in this lecture.

Technology

In lecture 7 Introduction to Digital Electronics - Operational Amplifiers the topics covered were superposition theorem (completing circuit analysis), amplification, feedback, inverting amplifier, ideal op amp, real op amp and op amp design.

Technology

In lecture 6 Introduction to Digital Electronics - Source Transforms, Superposition, Professor Bernhard Boser teaches about linear circuits, Thevenin's theorem and Norton's theorem. I was taught differently about these theorems too but it appears that the methods used here are effective and serves to strengthen one's knowledge about these two theorems. This is a good lecture.

Technology

In lecture 5 Introduction to Digital Electronics - Node Voltage Analysis (NVA) is taught. After looking through some of my old text books, I found out that author Bernard Grob wrote about this in his book, Basic Electronics (First Metric Edition, 1984). Examples of NVA are discussed in this lecture. It is good that Professor Bernhard Boser emphasises that this is one of the best methods of solving circuit problems involving voltage and current - there are really quite a lot of methods of doing so.

Technology

In lecture 4 Introduction to Digital Electronics - Circuit Analysis quite a few things are covered.

Topics taught- Kirchoff's Laws examples, resistors examples, voltage divider, current divider, strain gauge and orientation sensor for Iphone.

Technology

In the third lesson Introduction to Digital Electronics - Circuit Elements
Professor Bernhard Boser revises Kirchoff's Laws. He talks about the voltage source, current source and resistors. This is quite simple but he manages to explain it in an interesting way.

American Idol 7

Here is a funny video of Robin Williams the comedian- not the singer Robbie Williams - at Idol Gives Back.

American Idol 7

Great performances by David Archuleta and Jason Castro. In particular, David Archuleta showed why he is favoured to win this with his cover of Robbie Williams "Angels" . Watch it here.

Below are the lyrics for Angels-

I sit and wait
Does an angel contemplate my fate
And do they know
The places where we go
When we're grey and old
'cos I've been told
That salvation lets their wings unfold
So when I'm lying in my bed
Thoughts running through my head
And I feel that love is dead
I'm loving angels instead

Chorus

And through it all she offers me protection
A lot of love and affection
Whether I'm right or wrong
And down the waterfall
Wherever it may take me
I know that life won't break me
When I come to call she won't forsake me
I'm loving angels instead

When I'm feeling weak
And my pain walks down a one way street
I look above
And I know I'll always be blessed with love
And as the feeling grows
She breathes flesh to my bones
And when love is dead
I'm loving angels instead

Chorus

And through it all she offers me protection
A lot of love and affection
Whether I'm right or wrong
And down the waterfall
Wherever it may take me
I know that life won't break me
When I come to call she won't forsake me
I'm loving angels instead

Repeat Chorus

Technology

Just went through the second lesson of Introduction to Digital Electronics - Electronic Circuits. This time it was taught by Steven Lanzisera.

In this lesson he explains what a node is. Later, he talks about Kirchoff's Voltage and Current Laws. I think I was taught a different method from this but I still feel it is interesting. The point to note is that when we measure the voltage and current according to the direction of Kirchoff's Laws, the laws hold true.

He also talks about power - that the power dissipated is more than zero and the power delivered is less than zero. Therefore, the total power of an electrical circuit, being the sum of these two values should be equal to zero.

Worth watching. He is a potential in this field.

Technology

Had to change this quite a few times. Have actually found a website that contains the Computer Science and Electrical Engineering courses from UC Berkeley

Now looking through this course - Introduction to Digital Electronics.

In the first lesson- the Introduction Professor Bernhard Boser explains how to build an Iphone.

Child Geniuses

After the failures of child geniuses, Chiang Ti Ming and Sufiah Yusof, the question now is can child geniuses contribute to society and live successful lives? I believe that they can but the people surrounding them do play a part in their success. It is quite clear that the best institutes of higher learning do not always bring out the best in people. It needs to be actually looked into why it does not do so.

What are the factors that stop these people from progressing?

I was playing this computer game called Silkwood and the main goal of the game is to set up a program to take care of a digital organism. The digital organism would thus follow a routine of eating, sleeping, working etc. If the program was not effective, the digital organism would quite likely end up dead!

I think this is what needs to be looked into - that whether there is an effective program that could bring out the best in people and that this program should be the basic requirement of all institutes of learning.

As I mentioned earlier the people surrounding them also play part in their success. Hence the importance of living in an environment that really cares for them.

Child geniuses need to be constantly reminded that they have a special gift and be encouraged to use that gift for the good of society.

Stress Management

Listening to music especially classical music can help to relieve stress. Here is a link to some music by Bach.

American Idol 7

On a more positive note, the Dolly Parton week was a good week for American Idol. I was never really fond of Dolly Parton but now I realise that she has produced some good songs. There were some really good performances by the singers which include David Archuleta, Michael Lee Johns, Carly Smithson and Jason Castro. Carly Smithson did not look like a star but sang like one.
However, I still think David Archuleta is the one to beat.

Sufiah Yusof - from the top to the bottom

She was once a Maths prodigy who was accepted into Oxford University at the age of 13. She was the pride of Malaysia as her mother was from Malaysia. Now, Sufiah Yusof is a prostitute.

How could this happen? What went wrong? If she was in Malaysia, would things have been better for her?

There are no definite answers to such a problem but if what I hear is true, then it was due to a lack of commitment to do what is right. Whether she was in Malaysia or UK it did not matter because she had lost her faith in God and was not committed to her faith.

We can only hope and pray that she will realise what is wrong, get back her faith in God and be more committed to do what is right.

American Idol 7

It seems to be a bit more interesting this week. Kristy Lee Cook appeared to have redeemed herself slightly after some weak performances. I did not like it that much but it is probably her best performance at this stage of the competition so far.

The song she sang was "God bless the U.S.A."

American Idol 7

To me. there have been many interesting finals in this show but probably the best final was the one between Carrie Underwood and Bo Bice. There probably has never been a more distinct Idol than Carrie Underwood - a person who has won Grammy awards for two years consecutively.

Even though Simon Cowell thought that Carrie Underwood was going to win it, Bo Bice did impress me with his version of " Inside your Heaven".

This year, 12 singers will be battling out again to win the coveted title. To me, at this point in time out of this twelve singers, David Archuleta may have the best package to be the American Idol. However he is just a potential and is not as distinct as Carrie Underwood and Bo Bice. After all, he is only 17 years old. Here is a summary of my opinion:-

Best performance so far: Jason Castro - " I just want to be your everything"

Best performance last week : Amanda Overmyer - " I hate myself for loving you"

Who could win it : David Archuleta

Best choice so far: David Archuleta

Technology - Basic Electronics

Standard diode - The diagram which was shown under the definition of diodes on my website is that of a standard diode. These are the diodes which allow current to flow in one direction.

Zener diode - is a diode which allows current to flow in both directions. However in the reverse direction, current will only flow when its voltage is higher than its breakdown voltage known as the Zener voltage.

Varicap diode - also operates in the reverse bias mode but this time its reverse voltage can be used to vary the capacitance. The higher the reverse voltage, the lower the capacitance.

Light Emitter diode - operates in the forward bias mode like the standard diode and it will emit light while doing so.

Schottky diode - is a very fast switching diode that can be used in circuits which have a very high frequency. This operates in the forward bias mode.

Photodiode - operates in the reverse bias mode. It is a diode which allows current to flow through when it is exposed to light. The stronger the light, the higher the reverse current.

Stress Management

Prayer can sometimes relieve stress. As a Catholic I pray the rosary everyday but here is a short prayer that may get rid of some bad dreams - a prayer to your Guardian Angel:-

Angel of God,
my guardian dear,
To whom God's love commits me here,
Ever this day be at my side,
To light and guard,
to rule and guide.
Amen.

American Idol 7

Luke Menard, Kady Malloy, Danny Noriega and Asia'h Apperson were cut from American Idol today. Probably the only surprising result was Asia'h Apperson instead of Kristy Lee Cook. David Hernandez who did well this week despite the controversy about him being a male stripper, remains in the competition. However his past reputation could hurt him in the long run for this. Amanda Overmyer was probably the best performer this week.

Technology - Basic Electronics

This is for the basic electronic site within http://geocities.com/jwlchin/
Types of diodes - standard, zener, varicap , light emitting (LED), Schottky, photodiode.

Stress Management

Here are some tips to reduce stress

(1) Listen to some music

(2) Do some physical exercise

(3) Practise prayer, meditation and contemplation.

(4) Eat well and sleep well. (Cheese can be good for the brain)

(5) Try to avoid anything that causes stress. For example, do not use the computers for too long as they can cause stress!

American Idol 7

David Archuleta could win it. Spare a thought for people like Julie Dubela, Amy Catherine Flynn, Jeff Johnson (Season 4) and Jaclyn Crum (season 4).

Jason Castro did well last week. Did not agree with most people that Luke Menard and Kady Malloy were bad two weeks ago but they did not do so well last week.

New to this

Just checking this out. Seems editable.