YESHHH!!! My circuit finally works =) After re-wiring my entire circuit board last night, it is finally working properly. And just in time for my demostration too =) Finally =)) Before that, my circuit keeps shorting and I burnt my microchips =( SHITT.

For the next part of the major project in making an interrupt button, I am seriously considering buying a multimeter, power supply and solder depump. Those 3 are the must have tools man.. If I had the multimeter and power supply earlier, I would have an easier time debugging. Plus, the amount of time spent on debugging would be lesser.



I'm really thankful to the people who helped me out. Especially Kenny for helping me debug my code, Peng Rend for giving me a brief run through of the entire code before demostration, Mervyn for lending me his multimeter, Govind for always being there =D

My circuit
I'm soooo glad that I used a decoder. The coding was much simpler thanks to the decoder =) See those resistors over there? It can actually be reduced from 14 to 2 resistors =p

 The wiring that was sooo troublesome. But it works =)


The dates it is supposed to display:

After 1 second of delay, the month will appear.
And finally, the year =)
 The tools I used:


And that's all for today.

Hmm...I wonder, should I work for a company dealing with hardware? Frankly speaking, I don't have much confidence in my hardware skills =( Not at all. I think I will die there if I ever get accepted into the company.

But it seems interesting. The new markets I will learn, how the company actually deals with such high tech stuff...

I hope, that more software companies will approach me though...

Sleep deprived. =(

This is one of the few moments I feel like giving up. Somehow, I feel a sense of impending doom. Like for my circuit it is never gonna work, like for the interviews I haven't gotten when a few of my friends received emails for interviews, like for eg1413 where I think murphy law will strike during oral defense.

I feel like giving up, even though I have gotten so far. Sighh...I need a spark of optimism, from somone, anyone.

That said, I am weeks behind schedule.

I'm afraid, I might screw up this semester real badly...

=)))

Loads of smiles this time. =) One, this week is nearly over. And two, looking back, I'm feel really lucky for getting an opportunity like that. =)

Last hurdle to jump over. =)) I can't wait! =D

The next few weeks is gonna get crazy. =((

For him, it's a matter of being supportive. For me, it's a matter of being understanding. I wonder.. which will prevail in the end.. =(

I wish I could have the best of both worlds.

I got a call from them again.

This time, I'm making a gamble. Let me just get it over and done with.


And it seems like history is repeating itself again...=( Or maybe I'm just thinking too much.

I got so far as the 3rd interview. But I screwed up. Big time.

I couldn't answer any of the questions. All I did was just sit and stone and accept. When I walked out the interview room, in fact even during the interview, I knew I wouldn't pass at all. =X

At first, I would rather they not call me up for the interview at all, and let my fate be decided already. But now, I think it's a good experience. I brought back many learning points from this interview.

1. One of the thing I regretted most was not having enough sleep. After sleeping at 1.30am consecutively since monday, it is no wonder that my brain stopped working during the interview. I had lessons from 9am to 4pm continuously without any break(okays, maybe 30 mins?) on wednesday. Thing is, I would wake up at 6am and reach school at around 7.15am. It's no wonder I was a zombie then.
2. The questions I hope and pray not to come out was asked in the interview.
3. Don't prepare before the interview.
4. Do work in advance, because you never know what might crop up if you do last minute work. By then, everything would be too overwhelming to handle or even complete.

You know, throughout the interview, Lavinia's words were repeating in my head. "No matter how you dress up the facts, they still remain as facts." I went to the interview and accepted everything they asked as facts. I couldn't answer their questions, at all. In fact, I expected a different set of questions to be asked. Perhaps it's not so much of sleep that I am lacking. Perhaps what I needed most before my interview was motivation. I needed to convince myself that I have what it takes to work in a startup. Now that I think about it, if I really had no chance, I would not even have gotten a 3rd interview call. They wouldn't even bother to ask me for a reference letter.

I was nervous too. For the past 2 interviews, at least I had a rough idea of what the interviewers might ask. The 3rd interview was just a surprise. I felt strangely nervous for the 3rd interview. In addtion, after the demotivation session, my confidence was at an all time low. If I had deftly answered the interviewers question, I might still stand a chance.

It's not like I could talk to anyone about it. Dearest was busy with 5 midterms this week. He is stressed enough with problems of his own. It wouldn't be fair to add my problems to his. I dare not tell anyone because I don't want my friends who applied to get stressed. But I don't think any of them would be reading this. For my other friends, please be considerate and not tell them either. =X

I just want to write to alleviate my feelings, because writing helps me feel better.
Surprisingly, the tears didn't fall out after the horrible feeling of failure. It might have, if either Sy En or Zhi Wei probe about how I am feeling in thinklab. I would have broken down in school in front of dearest had I not asked Zhi Wei to dinner. I didn't want to cry, at least not in front of anyone. Besides, I think I already cried buckets on monday after that consultation. It was just a demotivational session. But what she said is true.


I wish I could let it go. For those who have known me since Year 1, I have been talking about applying for NOC for quite sometime. This time, it's especially bitter for me since I put in effort into preparing for the interview. And my hopes were raised only to be dashed vehemently.
Thank you En Chou, for listening and encouraging me. Thank you Sy En for motivating and giving me advice about who to get reference from. Thank you Zhi Wei and Jansen for listening and giving advice to me after my interview.

And Govind, for everything, from jio-ing me to apply, to chasing me about the application to before and after support for the interview and consoling me about the last interview. =)) It really helps to know that I have friends supporting me =)
I know that in time, I would look back on this week of events and be proud that I survived it. And that I know, what to do next time.