Yes, you see it correctly, ladies and gentlemen! I am charging a 20% tax on my simcity (which I have been working on since I got home today. I’m sorry Ms. Jankowski!) sims, and arranging my city ordinances so I actually profit from them 
And yes, I am making 250k a year, and I do have 30 million bucks.
But no, I did not use any cheats. If you notice the year, you will see why Charging 20% tax for 500 years is pretty good, eh?
It has become painfully obvious to me and many others (obviously) that our school’s science department is notorious for students with a non-academic orientation, and by that, I mean they cheat incessantly, without even an attempt to cover it up.
I like to say that AP Chemistry is forgivable, but the fact that the only true potent competition I sometimes face in that class is from Amy has become quite demoralizing. What joy can I have of doing the “best” if I have no true competition? Sure, my grades are not ailing, nor is Mr. Woo’s respect for me. However, I am thoroughly disgusted at the rampant cheating done by mature, intelligent, and thoughtful AP students. It is just not right. The class is essentially over — we just play chess and watch movies all period — but the legacy of the lack of student integrity will haunt the class forever. (More details if you use the search function to look back at what I said earlier about cheating in our AP Chemistry class)
Now, honors physics is even worse. At least Mr. Woo had a plan to catch the primary culprits. Mr. Monsees did not. I was forced to confront him with the clear cold evidence of the rampant cheating in the class. I had always known that cheating was ubiquitous in “Honors” Physics, but I never felt the need to confront Monsees about the rampant cheating; perhaps he preferred his averages to be artificially inflated, in order to make him look good.
But I did not feel good receiving 85%s, 90%s, 95%s on quizzes where my nearest neighbor — who is a complete idiot, mind you — can receive 100% every single time. I immediately knew something was up, but I did nothing about it, until for the third time, two weeks ago, he flaunted his 100% and criticized my 75%. (I will go into detail about my low scores later on…) I cannot stand being insulted by the complete idiot who unacademically achieved 100%, whereas I failed to even receive an A-. How is this right? I decided right there and then that it is not right, so I devised a plan to catch him red handed, to prove that he did indeed cheat.
The next physics quiz we had (ever since the second quiz of second semester, the calculator was rarely needed — let alone the graphing calculator — so obviously I found it strange how my neighbor (as one example) consistently looked at his calculator, and not his quiz paper, which he had neatly tucked underneath his binder paper, not to be seen. Hint hint!) I caught him doing that again, so afterwards, I borrowed his calculator to “play tetris,” and being a naive and ridiculously dumb person he was, he let me have full control of the calculator, while he wandered 10 meters off to Joey’s vicinity.
What did I do immediately? I scoured through his programs and applications, and saw that he stored EVERY SINGLE QUESTION coupled with EVERY SINGLE QUESTION of EVERY SINGLE QUIZ on his notes application. I did not immediately show it to him; to do that would be for my plan to commit suicide. Instead, I told him thanks for letting me play his calculator, and made sure nothing changed from before.
Then, I confronted Mr Monsees after class about the cheating. I mentioned how we should not need to use the calculator — especially the powerful graphing calculator — on quizzes that ask nothing but conceptual questions (one reason I cannot get 100%s anymore — I can ace the math, but concepts? Hell no. I can’t explain that). I did not mention my neighbor yet. He agreed to prohibit calculator use for the remaining quiz (yes, quiz — singular). Obviously the effectiveness is low, but he did agree to do something right.
I waited in anticipation of Friday, when we had the last quiz. Apparently he forgot about the calculator incident or something, but he did not mention anything about calculators to begin with, allowing people like my neighbor to copy down the answers immediately. But, after around 5 minutes or so, when I was basically done, he “remembered” and yelled out “No calculators.” Ehh, too late?
Perhaps, like I said, he wanted his average to be high, but he also wanted to create an image as a fair teacher, who vehemently fights cheating. He obviously failed at that. However, he did call it just in the nick of time for me to gather convincing evidence that the class does indeed rely heavily on cheating for its grades. My neighbor, for the first time since he stopped looking at his quiz question papers, asked from me the “concept review sheet,” immediately after Monsees called off the calculators.
Suspicious?
It should be.
So after class that day, I thanked Monsees for at least attempting to combat the cheating in his class, and presented three convincing facts of the omnipresence of cheating: 1. my neighbor ONLY asked for the review sheet when he did not have his calculator to cheat from; 2. he never looked at the questions sheet until calculators have been recalled, and 3. he usually finishes first, but now it took him 3x as long to finish the quiz, compared to me.
I also added a side-note: my neighbor’s not very intelligent.
I hope Mr Monsees will reconsider.
EDIT: Ironically Ms Jankowski was just talking about cheating today… but I still think it’s periods 4 and 5 Touchton. They have a culture of cheating; we don’t.
Read my email and you will understand my situation:
SUBJECT: Regarding my earlier purchase at CompUSA (Blossom Hill, San Jose)
Hello,
I made an earlier purchase of a Compaq Presario v2565us that was on sale at the Blossom Hill CompUSA (San Jose, CA) for ~$700 after rebate. (I have the advertisement here: http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g168/orijing/misc/Compusa.jpg )
Only recently, I sought to purchase a 1 GB stick of DDR2 RAM to upgrade my laptop. However, the kind customer support at the location I was scavenging for memory informed me that my laptop, although advertised to support DDR2 SODIMM RAM, does not in fact support it. I did some follow-up research, and found on AMD’s specification webpage for the AMD Turion processor — used on the laptop I purchased — that the processor “Supports [only] industry-standard, widely-available PC3200,PC2700, PC2100 or PC1600 DDR SDRAM memory” ( http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ProductInformation/0,,30_118_12651_12663,00.html ). Obviously, none of the listed types of RAM are second-generation DDR memory (DDR2 memory).
So what did this make me think? It forced me to think of returning the product and getting an alternative that is correctly advertised to support DDR2. However, I only sought to make the memory upgrade a few weeks ago, a little past the 21-day full-refund return period. Is there any way your company may reconcile the blatant error that was left uncorrected — nay, even unmentioned — on the advertisements? Why was I not informed before, during or even AFTER my purchase that the laptop does not actually support DDR2 memory, as the advertisement clearly stated? Was I deceived into purchasing this laptop? Is this a clear case of false advertisements?
Please, because I wish to resolve this issue as soon as possible, I would appreciate a quick and prompt response from one of the representatives of the retail company.
Thank you for your time,
Jinghao Yan
Notice my use of external and irrefutable evidence 
I did not just google some random site! I got AMD’s official website. Damn it, I want compensation, or at least the ability to make a full return. (so I can buy a Thinkpad from Albert :P) The thinkpad is $679 with Albert’s mom’s discount. *drools* (Yes, $679 < $700...)
The email after someone responds will stab at them harder than this. I have it all planned out.
Oh by the way, to tell the truth, I knew about AMD Turion's lack of support for DDR2 before, during, and after the purchase. I just wanted a damn laptop at the time. I didn't care if it was just first generation DDR memory. (Yes, that means my story about looking for a RAM upgrade is also pulled out of my behind) Plus, AMD just came out with new chips that support DDR2. I am hoping that if I can't get a full refund, compensation, or other things I want, maybe I can get my old Turion processor get replaced (by Compusa) with one of the new ones (that do support DDR2) -- for free of course -- so that the advertisements can be said to be truthful, for once.
I would like to personally thank Ms. Jankowski (and all my previous English teachers ... kind of) for providing me with the skills necessary to write emails that can allow me to advance my cause (this is a diversion) in around three to five minutes. Thanks! I knew writing skills would prove very handy and useful in real-life situations (not that Ms. Jankowski's 3rd period is not real life... :P)
EDIT: CompUSA responded to my email, but not with anything useful
Jinghao,
We will forward your information to our Customer Service team and have them to review this issue and update you accordingly.
Thank you for choosing CompUSA !
“We Got it, “We Get It”
aj
Nooo! If they resolve the issue after tomorrow I will be thoroughly disappointed! The Lenovo offer ends tomorrow.
Â
United States of America.
Â
George Bush’s utopia of freedom and democracy will be crushed.
How ironic.
I know Katherine will hate me for this (so just ignore it!), but …
Check it out! I finally got nine queens on Arasan. Granted, I did use the back button at least 100 times (whenever I stalemated or checkmated my opponent :P), and I did take 144 moves. But nonetheless, I got 9 queens!
That’s better than a triple… oh nevermind. Appealing to a diverse audience is difficult.
I was bored last night (when I should have been working on my choicebook assignments), so I took an IQ test online — yes, free. Here’s what it said:
Congratulations, Jinghao! Your IQ score is 140
This number is based on a scientific formula that compares how many questions you answered correctly on the Classic IQ Test relative to others.
Your Intellectual Type is Visionary Philosopher. This means you are highly intelligent and have a powerful mix of skills and insight that can be applied in a variety of different ways. Like Plato, your exceptional math and verbal skills make you very adept at explaining things to others — and at anticipating and predicting patterns. And that’s just some of what we know about you from your IQ results.
That’s almost three standard deviations up, making me the top 0.38% or so, right? Anyway, I went back (after I got the results) and tried to make sure every question was right, even if it meant using some external sources like Google. I got 144 (which I know is the max) I could’ve sworn it’s possible to get a higher score.
I performed second today for the talent show for Calc BC (Per 2). I was already somewhat nervous when I entered the stageroom, because I did not feel prepared for the presentation — both the playing and the speech. (I should have planned the speech out)
Anyway, this was exacerbated by the rotting piano. Before entering the room, I was already disappointed by the piano I thought Mr Rodriguez would let us use — the black grand. Apparently we don’t even get that. We get a brown rotting and broken piece of timber that is better used for firewood than for music.
See, the problem with the piano is not just the aesthetics. The pedals also were not very effective. It just won’t let go of the sounds! By the end of my song all I heard was a blurb of distant music.
Anyway, P. Chu’s performance was rather entertaining, though.
It’s rather sad this blog is receiving more replies than Origin is, but I’ll use that to my advantage and post mirrors here.
According to this scan/pic I took of a magazine called Answers in Genesis (which I found at our local library more than 4 months ago), the ichthyosaur committing suicide means god exists. It’s hilarious.
EDIT: If the font is too small, complain and I’ll upload the larger image.
I am imitating Joey’s filler technique!
1. Put numbers in the boxes instead of Xs (example: 1, 2, 3, 4…)
2. Repost as “I have lived through ___ of these 158 things.”
[1] I have read a lot of books.
[ ] I have been on some sort of varsity team.
[2] I have run more than 2 miles without stopping.
[3] I have been to Canada. (Vancouver, Banff, Calgary, etc in the west and Quebec and Ontario in the east, etc)
[ ] I have been to Europe. (I wish, too)
[4] I have watched cartoons for hours. (I was “learning English” at 9!)
[5] I have tripped UP the stairs.
[ ] I have fallen down an entire flight of stairs.
[6] I have been snowboarding/skiing.
[7] I have played ping pong. (Don’t I look Chinese enough to you?)
[8] I swam in the ocean.
[ ] I have been on a whale watch.
[9] I have seen fireworks.
[10] I have seen a shooting star. (Astronomy club event in 6th grade)
[11] I have seen a meteor shower. (Above)
[12] I have almost drowned. (Ocean)
[ ] I have been so embarrassed I wanted to disappear.
[13] I have listened to one CD over and over and over again.
[ ] I have had stitches.
[ ] I have had frostbite.
[ ] I have licked a frozen pole and got stuck there.
[ ] I have stayed up ’til 2 doing homework/projects.
[14] I currently have a job. (Being a student’s fun)
[15] I have been ice skating.
[16] I have been roller blading. (Few minutes ago)
[ ] I have fallen flat on my face. (My face isn’t exactly flat…)
[17] I have tripped over my own two feet.
[18] I have been in a fist fight. (I get irritated by those who repeat the same thing over and over again, even when I tell them to stop)
[19] I have played video games for more than 3 hours straight. (At others’ birthday parties!)
[20] I have watched the Power Rangers.
[ ] I attend Church regularly.
[21] I have played truth or dare. (Sleepovers)
[22] I have already had my 16th birthday.
[ ] I have already had my 17th birthday.
[23] I’ve called someone stupid. (Mostly just certain teachers — Don’t worry Ms. Jankowski. It’s not you!)
[24] I’ve been in a verbal argument. (They’re fun until my opponent asked me why spending money is good for the economy…)
[25] I’ve cried in school. (Yeah, didn’t know how to say “I want to go to the bathroom” in 4th grade — Come on, did you know how 10 weeks after you first heard English?)
[ ] I’ve played basketball on a team.
[26] I’ve played baseball on a team. (4th grade! I was actually pretty good … compared to others on my team. Too bad our team (”Lions”) lost all our games. Ironic eh?)
[ ] I’ve played football on a team.
[ ] I’ve played soccer on a team.
[ ] I’ve done cheerleading on a team.
[ ] I’ve played softball on a team.
[ ] I’ve played volleyball on a team.
[27] I’ve played tennis on a team. (Middle school: 6 & 7th grade. Our coach “Dexter” was not dextrous at all. He was fat, and consequently, all he could do was serve. And he was mean.)
[ ] I’ve been on a track or cross country team.
[28] I’ve been swimming more than 20 times in my life. (Often during summers)
[ ] I’ve bungee jumped.
[29] I’ve climbed a rock wall. (I tried…)
[30] I’ve lost more than $20. (How about $20+ equipment?)
[31] I’ve called myself an idiot. (Just for fun though. I would never think that is true :P)
[32] I’ve called someone else an idiot. (Most likely opponents in debates or teachers)
[33] I’ve cried myself to sleep. (It works when you have too much to flush out of your eyes)
[34] I’ve had (or have) pets. (Yup. All gone though)
[ ] I’ve owned a spice girls CD.
[ ] I’ve owned a Britney Spears CD.
[ ] I’ve owned an N*Sync CD.
[ ] I’ve owned a Backstreet Boys CD.
[ ] I’ve mooned someone.
[35] I have sworn at someone of authority before.
[36] I’ve been in the newspaper. (I was good at art in preschool)
[37] I’ve been on TV. (look above)
[38] I’ve been to Hawaii. (It was fun!)
[39] I’ve eaten sushi.
[40] I’ve been on the other side of a waterfall.
[ ] I’ve watched all of the Lord of the Rings movies.
[ ] I’ve watched all the Harry Potter movies.
[ ] I’ve watched all of the Rocky movies.
[ ] I’ve watched the 3 Stooges.
[ ] I’ve watched “Newlyweds” Nick & Jessica.
[41] I’ve watched Looney Tunes.
[ ] I’ve been stuffed into a locker/I have stuffed others into lockers.
[42] I’ve been called a geek. (Many times)
[ ] I’ve studied hard for a test and got a bad grade. (That’s why I don’t study much — I’d feel bad if I studied for a bad grade)
[43] I’ve not studied at all for a test and aced it. (I’m lucky)
[ ] I’ve hugged my mom within the past 24 hrs.
[ ] I’ve hugged my dad within the past 24 hours.
[44] I’ve met a celebrity/music artist. (myself)
[ ] I’ve written poetry.
[ ] I’ve been arrested.
[ ] I’ve been attracted to someone much older than I AM (Use nominative form, please!)
[ ] I’ve been tickled till I’ve cried.
[45] I’ve tickled someone else until they cried. (Tears of joy)
[46] I’ve had/have siblings. (8 year old sister)
[ ] I’ve been to a rock concert.
[47] I’ve listened to classical music and enjoyed it. (Is it that surprising?)
[48] I’ve been in a play. (Including in preschool … in Japan, yes)
[49] I’ve been picked last in gym class. (My last name Yan often puts me last)
[50] I’ve been picked first in gym class. (Sometimes they go in reverse)
[ ] I’ve been picked in that middle-range in gym class.
[51] I’ve cried in front of my friends. (tears of joy!)
[52] I’ve read a book longer than 1,000 pages (Books explaining the center of stars generally have tooonnns of huge pics)
[53] I’ve played Halo 2. (I played the system of my dad’s friend’s son. Boy, I got shot within a minute)
[54] I’ve freaked out over a sports game. (Idiots can’t understand rules)
[ ] I’ve been to Alaska.
[55] I’ve been to China. (Tons of times)
[ ] I’ve been to Spain.
[56] I’ve been to Japan.
[57] I’ve had a fight with someone on AIM. (I did get to threaten Chris and Erik for messing around with Origin)
[58] I’ve had a fight with someone face-to-face. (I want my points!)
[59] I’ve had serious conversations on any IM. (I have something to confess … I forgot)
[60] I’ve forgiven someone who has done something wrong to me. (tons of time)
[61] I’ve been forgiven. (I hope)
[ ] I’ve screamed at a scary movie.
[ ] I’ve cried at a chick flick.
[62] I’ve watched a lot of action movies.
[ ] I’ve screamed at the top of my lungs.
[ ] I’ve been to a rap concert.
[ ] I’ve been to a hip hop concert.
[63] I’ve lived in more than 2 houses. (if apartments count, then 9 or 10)
[64] I’ve driven on the highway/been on the highway. (I drive ~1 hr on the highway every week)
[65] I’ve driven more than 40 miles in a day/been in a car that went more than 40 miles in a day.
[66] I’ve been in a car accident. (Bumper intrusion!)
[ ] I’ve done drugs.
[67] I’ve been homesick. (As commie as China is, I wanna go back)
[68] I’ve thrown up.
[ ] I’ve puked on someone. (Unlike someone, I puked on the grass and not my mom)
[69] I’ve been horseback riding.
[ ] I’ve filled out more than LJ surveys.
[70] I’ve spoken my mind in public.
[71] I’ve proved someone wrong. (HAHAH… lots of times)
[72] I’ve been proven wrong by someone. (:P)
[ ] I’ve broken a leg.
[ ] I’ve broken an arm/fingers.
[73] I’ve fallen off a swing.
[74] I’ve swung on a swing for more than 30 minutes straight
[75] I’ve watched Winnie the Pooh movies.
[ ] I’ve lost my backpack
[ ] I’ve come close to dying
[ ] I’ve seen someone die. (It wasn’t specified that this must be in person, sooo)
[76] I’ve known someone who has died.
[ ] I’ve wanted to be an actor/actress at some point. (Mad scientist is more of my role)
[ ] I’ve done modeling.
[77] I’ve forgotten to brush my teeth some mornings. (I don’t know. I don’t think I started brushing until I went to Japan, so…)
[78] I’ve taken something/someone for granted.
[79] I’ve realized how good my life is.
[80] I’ve counted my blessings
[81] I’ve made fun of a classmate.
[82] I’ve been asked out by someone and I said no
[83] I’ve slapped someone in the face
[84] I’ve been skateboarding.
[85] I’ve been backstabbed by someone I thought was a friend.
[86] I’ve lied to someone to their face. (Mom, I was doing homework)
[87] I’ve told a little white lie.
[ ] I’ve taken a day off from school just so I don’t go insane
[ ] I’ve fainted.
[ ] I’ve had an argument with someone about whether cheerleading is a sport or not.
[88] I’ve pushed someone into a pool.
[ ] I’ve been pushed into a pool.
[89] I’ve been/am in love.
Wonderful. I’ve been in 89 of those 157 events. Yes, 89 also happens to be my birthyear.
After 5th period, I walked with Al to his car and we drove to Blossom Hill. While we were looking for Big 5, we found Sports Authority, so we walked into it after I gave Al the money. We found out their archery equipment were depleted, so Al asked someone (who works there) where Big 5 is, and surprisingly, the lady informed him although both are competing sports shops. What happened to the competitive capitalism spirit?
So when we got to Big 5, we discreetly walked in, and we met up at where the archery set is. I pointed at the set that had the highest draw weight (80 Newtons, I calculated, approximately), and said that was cool. Then I left, waited outside, and after 2 minutes or so, I saw Al exit. He returned, but we noticed that there are supposed to be two arrows, but only one is packaged inside, so Al went back in to get another one.
Anyway, we left, and he let me drop off the bow at home, and then we went back to school. After saying hi to several people, I got on my bike and went home.
When I got home for the second time today, I took off the cardboard box and the bow. I took the bow and arrows outside, and shot my chair twice, individually. Then I stuck both arrows on at the same time, and shot them. Apparently they don’t go as far. After it started to rain again, I shoved the stuff into my closet, and put all my clothes on top of them.
