Last Thursday and Friday, my entire department and I travelled by bus to Hotel Neo+ in Penang. Instead of being a participant, the management slotted me in to present about the effect of ChatGPT in assessment and evaluation of students. Being mostly early adopter of a lot of online tech – except LiveJournal and TikTok – the management thought it was up to me to tell my colleagues about how prevalent artificial intelligence (AI) will change — is changing — the education landscape. The first workshop was about assessment and evaluation in general, ran by a person from UUM. My workshop was scheduled for after dinner. I began by going through my AI-generated slides. A few days before, I used beautiful.ai, a site that uses the ChatGPT AI to help users automatically generate full slides! It was not perfect, but it was enough for a fake presentation. Then, I moved […]
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STA: Taken
Star Trek: Emergency Deep S01 E02 “Taken” Previously on Star Trek Adventures: Emergency Deep. Here is the second session report from yesterday, once again in the form of a Captain’s Log written by Dan who plays the Captain Ellison. Captain’s Log, Supplemental. USS Östergötland (NCC-72227). Captain Greg Ellison in command. The biggest question is why was Sally abducted? Why wait till she boarded the USS Östergötland unless the abductor(s) were onboard. It makes sense as clearly the ship’s computer had been tampered with. As Cmdr. Drake was leading investigations in the aft torpedo, Initiated a search to search whether there were any missing crew members. Within seconds, the reassuring voice of the ship’s computer replied that all crew members were accounted for. Could it be that the abductor was still onboard? Investigation As if to answer my question, Cmdr. Drake reported that he along with Lt. dos Santos had found […]
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STA: Gravity of the Situation
Star Trek: Thine Own Self S02 E05 “Gravity of the Situation” *** Previously… With the flotilla led by the USS Ibn al-Nahfis headed towards the nearest Starbase, the USS Sienkiewicz is left to deal with the last 70 scientists, engineers and admin personnel. A huge asteroid, part of the extreme outer edge of the black hole’s accretion disc slammed onto the planet’s surface over the horizon. The shockwave devastated the planet surface, but the Away Team managed to activate the colony’s shields. Now a shield dome is protecting the city from an extreme atmospheric disruption – dangerous storm with ionized particles in the dust whipping at 200 kph around the city. Communications and transporters are useless outside the city. Stardate: 57995.9. 30th December, 2380. Starfleet Dramatis Personae Capt. Vosgal Toor, Zaranite commanding officer of the Sienkiewicz (NPC) Lt. Cmdr. Kodar Tamat, Cardassian engineering officer and mission commander (PC) Dr. Thomas […]
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STA: Deep End of the Pool
Star Trek: Emergency Deep S01 E01 “The Deep End of the Pool” Here’s a new style of Star Trek Adventures session write-up. A Captain’s Log as written by Dan who plays Captain Ellison. Dramatis Personae and GM’s synopsis is posted after the log. Beginning Captain’s Log. Stardate 58457.8 USS Östergötland (NCC-72227). Captain Greg Ellison in command. Reykjavík Experimental Shipyards, Earth The day started off, well ,normal enough, with me reporting to Admiral Kathryn Janeway at Reykjavík Experimental Shipyards, Faxaflói Bay. A very straightforward encounter, with the usual pleasantries and small talk. She was much smaller than I had imagined. As she was briefing my orders, it was hard not to miss noting that she had her left hand on her hip. Perhaps it was her way of asserting authority or just a quirk of hers. I wonder what my crew would identify me with. Also present at the briefing were […]
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Cortex Prime: Missing in the Southern Forest
Cortex Prime: Missing in the Southern Forest Yesterday, I ran another Cortex Prime session for Anya. We were in town overnight and she brought out her Cortex Prime rulebook and asked me to GM for her. Because I did not bring her Agent Walker character sheet, she played a new character. So for the first 15 minutes, we brainstormed a very simple fantasy setting… Dramatis Personae Alexandra “Alex” Purplecat – Mythical Creature Protector The Sunday Morning Crisis It was a Sunday morning at the outskirts of the village of Bluehorn in the realm of Green Home. The two suns Bee and Moth had just risen from the west. Bluehorn was one of the villages that surrounded the city of Green Tiger. The city and its surrounding region was the only place in the real safe from the deadly Mythical Creatures that roamed the land. To the north were icy wastes. […]
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STA: Black Hole Sun
Star Trek: Thine Own Self S02 E04 “Black Hole Sun” *** Previously… Stardate: 57995.5. Starfleet Dramatis Personae Lt. Cmdr. Kodar Tamat, Cardassian engineering officer and mission commander (PC) Dr. Thomas Crane, Human medical officer (PC) Lt. JG Mason Bentley, Human security officer (PC) Lt. Leahman Barclay, Human conn officer (PC) Ensign Sparik, Vulcan conn officer (NPC). Captain’s Log. Stardate: 57995.5 The USS Sienkiewicz has been assigned to the Federation colony of Khotan 34 light years from Rho Capricorni. Khotan is an M-class planet orbiting a black hole designated XG-7909, also known as Das Schwarze Auge. For some unknown reason the planet’s orbit has begun to greatly decay. It will be enveloped by the accretion disc in seven days. But even before then, there will be a lot of radiation and debris that would wipe life off the planet in a blink of an eye. A rescue fleet led by the […]
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Blade Runner RPG: Electric Dreams
Over the course of January and February I played in the Blade Runner RPG Starter Set introductory adventure, entitled Electric Dreams. So, this write-up contains spoilers for a relatively brand new published product from Free League. Spoilers beyond this point. Read with caution. Dramatic Personae Willem Novak, Human, Inspector – me Fenna 9-2..39, Replicant, Doxie – Dan Oelsen Bakker, Human, Enforcer – Ivan-β and Ivan-α as the Game Runner. PART 1 – DEAD NEXUS 9S TELL NO TALES 15th May 2037. Morning. I am Willem Novak, Blade Runner. When the Blackout fell, I was a young LAPD cop. I remember what the Replicants did. Nexus-whatevers. I was having a steaming bowl of Indomie when an LAPD spinner set down. She introduced herself as Fenna 9-2.39, a Nexus-9 Blade Runner. She tells me we’re needed back at LAPD Tower. Sorry, steaming bowl of Indomie. We enter Deputy Chief Holden‘s office. He […]
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DnD: Six Sessions in Six Classes
Once upon a time I ran five sessions of Dungeons and Dragons in five classes over the course of a week. Last month, in what purported to be a sequel long overdue thanks to the pandemic, I ran six sessions of D&D in six classes over the course of that week. It was during a Consultation Week. After all the consultations have been consulted, I had an average of 75-80 minutes to run a session. Not much time, so I used the same scenario framework for all six classes. Besides their own character names, I also allowed the students to name the region’s sovereign and their castles. Because there were many students each class, each player character is controlled by a team of more than one student. I have chosen to post text written by one player characters group from each class. As usual, please do not disparage the students […]
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Bye Old New New Office
Once upon a time I moved into this office. Now it was time for me to move out. It took a while to take out my personal effects. I had a lot of books and notes in here. Today as I was clearing out the last of my books, Jasin was also in the building managing the transfer of materiel from this building to our new location closer to town. We had a mock award ceremony with a bookend. What else could we do? Hope the new place is good.
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A Forgotten Cthulhu Art Commission
Back in early 2014, I was commissioned by someone to create artwork for his Kickstarter project. It was a Lovecraftian Cthulhu Mythos role-playing game using the Fate system. Unfortunately, the guy who ran the Kickstarter campaign over a period of time shirked his responsibilities and left his backers hanging. Fortunately, he did pay me for the work I did before he vanished. I rarely think of this project these days, and recently I realised that I have never blogged about it. So, here is a gallery of the artwork I did for the guy in this ill-fated Kickstarter campaign. Don’t ask me for this guy’s name. You can probably search for him on the internet.
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First Visitors of 2023
Our first visitors for the year were Teik Sing, Michelle, Ashley, Emma and Ezra. Day One As mentioned before, Teik Sing and I have been best friends since we were 7 years old at ACS Sitiawan. Here we are decades later – with homes timezones apart – still being friends, talking about ideas and stories, old and new. I wish I had the resources to someday visit his home and talk shop there. Because Ain had to take care of her parents who had been visiting since last month, Irfan and I went to their hotel to greet them. Coincidentally we were using similar models of cars. First of all, we went to have some lok chin along the Kuala Perlis shoreline. We talked and the kids got to know each other some more. En route back to Kangar, we stopped at Kota Kayang Museum, but it was about to […]
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BELSA 2022
Recently I was invited to join Phase 2 of BELSA 2022, the Basic English Language Camp Satun organised by the Language & General Studies Department at our university. The Fun Begins We welcomed them for the first day with a sukaneka, followed by a “Create Your Own Island” activity later that night. Check out the gallery below to see all six entries. They assigned me to Group Two. The students of Group two were quite creative in my opinion. They even planned their island and flag using a IbisPaint X on a tablet. During the event those who were more proficient in English helped those who were not. The next day, the students had to fill in the blanks in an English song lyrics. They needed to listen to a song that was played thrice. Also, the groups had to create their own storybook cover and write microfiction using a […]
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Anya in Alor Setar
It’s not every day Anya headed up north. So it was great to hang out with them when they came up north for the wedding of Ayah Cik Farid’s cousin. The wedding was held at Hotel Seri Malaysia in the middle of the city. Because Tok Bah and Tok Ma were staying with us, we all went for a jaunt to Alor Setar for the day. Here are some photos of the excursion:
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Cortex Prime: The Walker Files
Cortex Prime: The Walker Files Today Anya played Agent Walker of the town of Meepville. I brought Cortex Prime rulebook with me to KL to read, and upon reading some of the pages, expressed a wish to play. So, I came up with something simple for her to play solo. I also created an NPC for her who might seem familiar, but wears a fake thick mustache. Dramatis Personae Anya – Agent Walker Agent Walker’s superior Agent Zero assigned her to investigate a missing school bus with schoolchildren aboard. The bus disappeared along the forest road in the woods on the side of Great West Hill. Firstly, the young agent needed a set of wheels, so she went to her parents’. Her mom, Lily, was sweeping the porch when she arrived. She asked to borrow her Lamborghini, but her mom gave a resounding NO. She wanted to explain further, but […]
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AOR: The Intelligent Tree Whisperers
AGE OF REBELLION The Intelligent Tree Whisperers It was mid-semester break. Although the students are on a week-long break, we teachers still have work to do. So we set up a Tabletop RPG Workshop for any teacher to join, stretch their imagination and communication skills and have a bit of fun. So I ran an Age of Rebellion roleplaying game session for my colleagues using the Beginner Box material. Dramatis Personae Fal – a Human ace pilot who once lived on Ryloth in the same city as Oskara. (Nana) Lorick – a Wookiee hired gun, whose family was taken to be science experiments and slaves to build Imperial cities. (Shih Min) Oskara – a green-skinned Twi’lek bounty hunter, whose home city on Ryloth was bombed by the Empire. (Farah) Pashten – a Human smuggler, who was rebelling against cruel Imperial taxes. (Faten) Reyhana – a Mon Calamari engineer, whose people […]
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Our Grandparents’ House
By “our”, I mean Sila’s and mine, on Atok Irfan’s side. As children, when Sila and I balik kampung, one of the locations we would go to was to visit our grandparents. We would sleep over with our parents here, celebrate Hari Raya here with cousins, and it used to be surrounded by fruit trees. Coconut trees were of course plentiful, but there were mango, papaya, rambutan, jambu air and even nam-nam trees. We used to pick and eat the fruits off the trees. Some required a galah for us to reach, but some were accessible to us. Under the house, I used to fish for ant lions. Sometimes, I used tall grass or weeds. But sometimes, I used an actual live kerangga. There used to be a well behind the house, but early on when I was still a youngling, they built a proper bathroom. They also reared chickens and […]
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