Henry Cavill rocks PC

Henry Cavill posted a video that shook many of us. It didn’t involve a challenge or a stunt for his next movie. It was simpler. At the same time, it meant a lot to some, including me.

 

Henry Cavill, a famous actor best known for his roles as Superman and The Witcher of Rivia, apparently has a hobby which can be called nerdy. Gaming.

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Photo by Borja Lopez on Pexels.com

Video games have been always been frowned on. It keeps you indoors. It’ll probably make you procrastinate from your studies and will make you skip your workouts. Video game addiction was even recognised by the WHO as a diagnosable condition, and here’s my story. Yet, even food is addicting and no one seems to want to stop enjoying food.

While everyone fights to get their agenda across on this matter, people still love video games. Lately, it’s becoming increasingly more accepted. Esports and streaming games aren’t for basement bachelors anymore.

The legend himself, Henry Cavill, not only a seasoned veteran pc gamer but he had been planning to build his own personal computer. When he did, he recorded it, shared it on his massively followed Instagram, and people went wild.

Henry is now venerated as the PC Master race idol the world over. He’s the man who proved you don’t have to be a nerd to be a PC gamer. He’s the new face of PC!

Can’t lie, I seem to start developing a man crush. I mean, who wouldn’t?

Featured Image: https://www.needpix.com

 

Intelligence…but what is it really?

Intelligence is something we all look for, be it in employees, colleagues, best friends or partners. Yet, its definition seems vague. No one really knows what intelligence is until they actually see it.

Intelligent people are usual those that understand a concept quickly and don’t need to study hard to get straight ‘A’s in their exams. Or is it? Is that a good mind coupled with a somewhat even better memory? We had a debate at work on who is really intelligent, those that study hard or those who put little effort and still pull out brilliance. Well I lean more to the latter. Studying hard is a kind of academic intelligence, but it stems from character. Should people who study or work hard be looked as less brilliant? There is room for endless debate.

forty four intext

Emotional intelligence and creative intelligence are of equal importance in our lives, and are usually forgotten or disregarded. Not all people can understand emotion even if brilliant in academical studies. Many savants are proof of this. They’re geniuses in their field but tend to lack in other areas such as social interacts. To analyse better the importance of emotional intelligence I performed a thought experiment. Let’s say an alien lands on earth and knows nothing about science equations and the likes, but can communicate and truly understand your deepest emotions.

Will you deem it to be intelligent life?

Intelligence in my eyes, branches in two, emotional and problem solving. The latter encompasses an understanding of concepts and using those concepts in a creative way. Emotional intelligence is the ability to understanding emotions or to convey them creatively through a medium, be it art, spoken words or gestures. For me, both branches are as important. Picasso as brainy as Einstein.

I still remember a classmate of mine at university that really didn’t care about grades, but in the laboratory he used to always find a creative way to solve problems. That always struck me in people. Their ability to come through where others get stuck, in emotions, creativity or problem solving alike.

For me those are our everyday geniuses.

Featured image: Image via www.vpnsrus.com

Intext image: Alejandro Zorrilal Cruz (28/12/2008)

Science in the City, Malta 2018 – all you need to know

Science in the City is an annual event taking place not only in Valletta, but in another 320 cities around the world. This will be the seventh anniversary of marriage between the arts and science. Science in the City, the brainchild of Dr. Edward Duca is now fixed in Maltese cultural calendar.

The message of this year’s event is that everyone starts from zero. Even experts started with no knowledge whatsoever. We encourage everyone and anyone to visit and start or continue to understand, admire and discuss the world around them.

The QA with the folks handling the PR for this event was amazing so I’ll leave it as is, and you can see the entirety of it here.

#scicitymalta #MSCAnight

Here’s a small TL;DR for whoever is lazy in his reading.

Words of Osiris Note: The shows featured are those that cropped up in our Question and Answer session, and should only be taken as suggestions. Feel free to wander around the stands and shows, especially those featured as main events! (Use the App)

1. Crowd Favourite: Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

2. New Science in the City App:

  • Map with show time schedules and age appropriateness.
  • Listed Transport arrangements, to avoid parking hassles.
  • Interactive Map of all the restaurants offering a Science in the City discount, great for drinkers and foodies.

Words of Osiris Note: After installing the App myself I could only see two fast food chains advertised around the main show area. The only true restaurant is out-of-the-way, at the Valletta Waterfront. Hope they won’t be the only ones. #moreandhealthieroptions

3. Not for Kids only:

  • Talking Science at Palazzo Ferriera (Facebook event) features topics such as blockchain, biohacking, gender assignment and terrorism amongst others.
  • Honourable mention: Ro-Botanicals: mixing plant tech with delicious cocktails + talks about the future of food.

4. Theatrical and Musical spectacles:

Theatrical

Musical:

Once again the full Question and Answer can be found by hitting this link

This blog post is in no way sponsored and has no affiliation with the Malta’s Science and Arts Festival organisers.

Featured Image: European Science Engagement Association

Run, the Clock is Ticking

It has been around for millennia and is still being practiced today. The sport of the classical era, athletics. Truth be told, running as a sport is as simple as it gets. Nothing to it really, just putting one foot in front of the other. Piece of cake. or is it?

Running might well be the only sport where you have to be active through the whole event. A true endurance sport which, in my opinion, is under-appreciated. There’s no need of cumbersome equipment, no dependence on enormous and expensive stadiums, just you and the road. As pure as it gets.

For me, running off into the distance is the best feeling ever. It frees the mind and keeps your heart healthy. Some say its as good as having chocolate. Scientifically speaking there is some truth to that. Good old endorphins are released into your blood stream, and chemicals called anandamides gush to your brain to give you the famous runner’s high.

Competitive or not, running will always have a special place in my heart as a sport. While beating down the track, trying to improve your time, you harbour that determination and spirit that fuels you through life. Seconds turn to minutes, shredded from your personal best. It may not be flamboyant as football or other team sports or as action packed as a video game, but few are the sports which are completely about you and what you’re capable of.

You fight your demons, while persuing your goals. It’s you against the tick of the clock.

Just run.

Feautured photo: U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Natasha Stannard

Maltese cyclist handing in his car’s number plates

Joe, a 35-year-old native Maltese citizen is daring to give up his beloved car and make cycling his commuting medium of choice. After getting frustrated in the “back to school traffic” around two years ago, he rode his bike to work and never looked back since.

Joe ended up using his car perhaps twice a week on the weekends. During our interview, he told Word of Osiris that “the cost to keep [the car], compared to the benefits, did not justify keeping the car”. Many react in disbelief to his decision, but after some consideration, they see eye to eye on the matter. He definitely recommends cycling to work for anyone living within 6 to 10km from their workplace. Having shower facilities available would be the cherry on the cake. He added “it only takes me two minutes longer cycling than driving to work in normal traffic. In comparison then [sic], driving to work in the “back to school traffic” take me twice as long as it takes me when I cycle”.

Therefore, Joe is handing over the number plates to his personal car, only keeping a shared family car for errands.

Talking with Joe about cycling in Malta, he sincerely recommends staying sharp while cycling and “kind of expect the worst so you might be able to anticipate a situation before it is too late”. Having said that, he also acknowledges that there are hundreds of motorists who show cyclists respect. He continues by saying that many infrastructural initiatives are “impractical to say the least and at times down right [sic] dangerous”. Joe argues that cyclist safety is always a compromise and never a priority, and when cyclists choose not to use precarious infrastructure they are labeled as downright law-breakers, ending up giving “a wrong message to motorists”.

In a spree of sincerity, Joe told us that he doesn’t think Malta will become a bicycle haven anytime soon. He encourages the practice of teaching children the benefits of cycling and introducing government incentives for employers who install showering facilities in their workplace. With these initiatives we could hope for more bicycles on the road, and the dismantling of the ever-looming traffic gridlock.

As a friend of Joe once asked him “…why on a country so small we [sic] need to go everywhere by car when we are barely the size of a large city”. Cycling helped Joe lose weight, improved his metabolism, while also giving him a sense of accomplishment once he arrives at work.

For the European Mobility Week, try change your habits and explore other alternatives.

Grab your bicycle, and whizz off.

Big thanks goes to Joe for taking time to answer our questions. The whole interview can be viewed here

Featured Image: www.wikipedia.org

What are you willing to do to succeed?

In this day and age, we look at various go-getters and enterpreneurs reciting their stories on how they started with nothing turning into undoubted success. We’re bombarded with it people posting pictures of their lavished lifestyle or their incredible ventures.

It’s safe to say that most would give an arm and a leg for the fruits of success. The metaphor might sound outlandish but how far would you really go?

In 2011, the now infamous Lance Armstrong was being seriously investigated by the USADA, accusing him of doping and drug trafficking. The investigation started on the basis of blood samples results from previous years and the testimonies from witnesses such as former teammates. As all of them do, he denied the claims and kept on doing so until he was under oath. In his admission, he admited of being and I quote “a guy who expected to get whatever he wanted, and control every outcome”. For him, it felt like the right thing to do. He ensured that everyone on the team was on it and they all used he same dopants.

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Cornischong

He was a controlling success freak. Anything for that trophy. The actions of psychopath.

Psychopaths, and to a degree, sociopaths, show a lack of emotion, especially the social emotions, such as shame, guilt, and embarrassment.

Psychopathy could range from ready to kill to doing everything in your power to achieve success. Their cold-hearted attitude with respect to people and rules, would disgust many.

This case was definitely an extreme, but what are you ready to sacrifice for your goals? Are you ready to trade time with your kids to hit those work targets? Would you ever consider investing in your savings to start a business instead of having that dream holiday your partner always wanted?

Striking a balance is never easy, but should be easier when considering your true priorities. Make sure you don’t harm the people or things you take for granted while you’re tunnel-visioned on your so-called path to success.

Those were the days…

Just yesterday I was small talking with a colleague and she mentioned the good old days. The days when she was young. Days in which her young self would go buy items from the grocer’s alone. Nowadays, she exclaimed, it’s not safe. Too much harassment, too many cars, and a whole list of other reasons.

Talking about my 31-year-old myself, young me would bike at night, all the time, driving my mother dead worried. As a thirteen year old I also started catching the bus to go to my athletics sessions. All this unsupervised, free from watchfully eyes, on my own. I think the sense of liberty and responsibility did change my view on life, and is healthy for every kid.

nostalgia (noun):
a sentimental longing or wistful affection for a period in the past.

This longing nostalgic tone is ever-present in our day-to-day talk. Yet, we should thread carefully on these idealisations. We forget the limitations our previous generations had when growing up. The eldest of kids forced to take care of the younger ones, few job opportunities, little to nowhere to go or do in the weekends and the list can go on for ages. One can argue that it was a simpler life, but it was confined to our small island. Our kids will see horizons few of us had the pleasure to lay eye on.

I won’t even go into the thousands of social, medical and scientific advancements we take for granted.

In a way I do feel bad for children growing up today, but for different reasons. My kids will face more global warming and men’s greed side effects, probably have to rent house that they will never own and be void of many green spots in our little island.

With time everything changes, and there is no stopping it. Let’s only hope time changes things for the better.

Featured photo: Edson Chilundo

Answering the age old question…

For centuries great philosophers have battled to solve this question. Even Deep Thought spent 10-million years pondering about it in the book by Douglas Adams, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

What is the meaning of life?

Seems quite ambitious to write down an answer in a couple of hundred words, but here’s my take on it.

For most, life is a struggle. Work, family, social pressures are all daily battles we are confronted with. A film springs to mind, one starring Will Smith, ‘The Pursuit of Happiness’. How many the struggles, life seems worth for those happy moments, the simple pleasures in life. We just want to be happy, and some go as far as to claim it is all they want in life.

Thirty seven

Is happiness all we strive for? Is the pursuit of happiness the key to give meaning to our lives? For me it certainly isn’t. While being happy on this earth is definitely something we all strive for, there is definitely more to it.

We must dig deeper and understand why we want to be happy. We’re happy when we or someone at heart manage to fulfill their heart’s desires. Be it financial security, having a relationship with a long time crush or scoring a high score in Tetris, they are all indelible marks in our future. While bragging rights on high scoring tetris doesn’t get you far, having money and a soul mate are all signs of a brighter future.

Our future takes centre stage when making many existential choices. For me, making our future promising is the crux of living life. While pleasure and happiness are fleeting, being a positive change can outlast our mortality. Be it to yourself, your kids, workplace or the entire planet, your efforts will make a difference.

Some call it acting on ‘God’s will’, improving your karma, or straight up doing ‘the right thing’; call it what you want but, being in the driver seat to a positive and evergreen future definitely breathes meaning into your days, months and years.

 

Featured photos: ‘In deep thought?’ by Andreas Eldh

What inspires us?

The monotony of the every day life is something we all face at some point or another. Everything becomes routine, everthing becomes mondain. We all need that something to tickles our brains, and make life gleam with interest.

Inspiration (noun): the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.

As a full time laboratory analyst, compliance is the name of the game. I have to be creative elsewhere and this is why I started this blog in the first place. Our creative nature drives us to accomplish something we are proud of. It could be a sunset or a fast lambo which triggers you to grab a brush and paint or open the business you always dreamt about opening.

Yet most of us need an external catalyst. Youtubers, sportsmen, colleagues, friends and family are your weavers of inspiration, your role models. From this stems the importance of surrounding yourself with great people. Go-getters will always open your eyes to how much more you can do.

We are still missing the last piece of the puzzle. The cherry on the cake. The focus of all inspiration goes into aspiring for awesomeness , greatness, beauty, or success. You want to get that rush and overwhelming feeling of satifaction after you have achieved your goal.

Therefore remember, if the journey to greatness has a long learning curve, keep your inspirational catalysts close and never forget why you started in the first place.

If you feel inspired, don’t hold it in.

To Hell and back!

Hey there,

After disappearing for months, I’m back to give this blog another shot, another spree of life.

During the past months, I focused myself completely into finishing off my degree’s final project. It was titled ‘A Review of Electrochemical Research into Reduced Graphene Oxide, N-Graphene and Co-doped Metal-Free Graphene as Catalysts for Oxygen Reduction Reactions in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells’

Scary isn’t it?

That was my life, but now it’s done and dusted. Hopefully I’ll get a good mark to finish off my 5+ years of part-time studying.

Time to move on and do other things. I feel just like a kid in summer vacation, and here are my plans for the near future:

  • Revitalise my blog with fresh content
  • Try my hand at video editing, will start off with mixing a video of my last vacation
  • Rank up in League of Legends
  • Maybe try out streaming on Twitch
  • Swap my car with one that actually works
  • Buy a house
  • Start planning my wedding

To be honest, while writing these points, I’m thinking that I definitelly have a lot on my plate. I’ll have to prioritise but I’m sure that I’ll dip my hand in all of them to some degree or other.

Feels good to be back, excited for what the future may bring.

Until the next one, take care.