The key flaw of this film is that it went all over the place and lacks focus; it doesn't know what the heck it wants to say nor how to say it. Thankfully Veronica Mars is in there to provide some eye candy. Oh Veronica, how I miss thee :'(.
The flaw is apparent right from the start of the film. It opens with a blatant Apple advertisement, pokes fun at American consumerism, and then nose dives to having a Mac user doing a slide show in Powerpoint. The editing and direction throughout the entire film is extremely awkward, and the film would have benefited by cutting at least one couple out of it--I recommend taking out the obnoxious black threesome.
The premise of the story is that four couples are going to a resort to sort out their marriage troubles, or lack thereof. Each couple represents an unique quirk for the film to explore, which it sort of does. It manufactures odd scenes where the couples opine about marriage, and then jumps to cheap laughs like a yoga teacher dry humping one of the woman.
As much as the script tries to be hip, it comes out being extremely flat, and again, awkward. Why the heck would you have a ex-high school football star mutter a computer simile when you have a video game producer and a Powerpoint junkie standing next to him? For a screenplay that has already forgone the "show, don't tell" rule, I found the script to be woefully inadequate.
It is no surprise then that the film had no idea how to end itself, other then by having Veronica Mars strip down to a bikini after sipping some mystery coconut drink.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Thursday, October 01, 2009
OMG I used exam knowledge today
I actually used something I learned in the CSP exam today at work. I'm wowed and amazed; SOA exams taught me which reserve basis one is supposed to use to calculate IIT.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
End of SOA Exams
As of September 12, 2009, my affair with SOA exams has finally ended.
RIP; May 25, 2006 - September 12, 2009.
RIP; May 25, 2006 - September 12, 2009.
Monday, August 24, 2009
LOL @ Atkinson & Dallas
To everyone who are gutsy enough to write FSA exams and touch the tome known as Atkinson & Dallas: remember to read the foreword. It's a hoot.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Disapproval of FEM (Future Education Methods)
I am writing to inform the Society of my disapproval of the new FEM proposal to grant credits for preliminary exams via university courses.
I am a recent graduate from an Actuarial Science program in Simon Fraser University in Canada. The rigor of the program has more than prepared me to write—and pass—all the preliminary exams with ease. Thus, I do think that a stringent and well-designed university program can instill the mastery of the SOA syllabus that one requires to pass the preliminary exams. However, I do not think the SOA should abandon its control on the accreditation process and allow a university to decide whether a student has demonstrated sufficient knowledge in the materials of the preliminary exams. This is a slippery slope that would inevitably reduce the standards of actuarial education.
In my high school years, I studied in the International Baccalaureate program (http://www.ibo.org/). The IBO is a nonprofit educational foundation based in Geneva which allows accredited schools to teach their high-quality curriculum. In a sense, it is very much similar the current FEM proposal; it outsources the education of a syllabus to an external institution. However, there is a big difference between the two systems, and that is IB never abandons control of the final validation of the student’s knowledge of the material. Grading in IB is based on internal assessments and external assessments. Internal assessments are based on grading done in accredited schools, with a select sample that would be sent out for external review to ensure compliance with standards. External assessments, where thankfully is where the bulk of the marks reside, are examinations that every IB student has to write at the end of their courses. As the name would imply, these exams are all externally graded. My IB experience has taught me that a hands-off, behind-the-scene education can easily become a sham, despite the best intention and controls. I had teachers who did not understand the material that I was expected to understand. Some teachers had their own agenda on what should be taught and what should not be despite the specifications of the IB syllabus. I have had to self-study large sections of syllabi because those materials were never taught. The lab reports of my peers and me were scaled down after being externally reviewed because my teachers failed to convey to us the expectations of IB. Without the externally graded exams, I do not believe IB would have the reputation that it has earned today, nor my genuine appreciation of how the IB experience has molded me into the person that I am today.
No matter how stringent the CIA/SOA/CAS Accreditation Committee plans to be, cracks will inevitability develop due to the distance between the universities and the SOA. This distance is both physical and philosophical—a university’s goals may not (and probably does not) parallel those of the Society. This divergence will weaken the education standards that the Society had built. University education should be a complement to the examination system and not the examination system itself. If a candidate is competent, then he would be able to demonstrate his ability in a fairly administered examination with transparent expectations. If the goal of FEM is to reduce the barrier to entry, then the Society should allow accredited university to administer preliminary exams for free to qualifying students. The abandonment of the final bastion of actuarial education validation, and allowing an external institution to decide whether a candidate is sufficiently competent, is in no way an “advancement”, and it will certainly not “strengthen the profession in the long term”. Rather, it will certainly lead the profession down a path that it might never be able to recover.
p51dray, ASA 2008
I am a recent graduate from an Actuarial Science program in Simon Fraser University in Canada. The rigor of the program has more than prepared me to write—and pass—all the preliminary exams with ease. Thus, I do think that a stringent and well-designed university program can instill the mastery of the SOA syllabus that one requires to pass the preliminary exams. However, I do not think the SOA should abandon its control on the accreditation process and allow a university to decide whether a student has demonstrated sufficient knowledge in the materials of the preliminary exams. This is a slippery slope that would inevitably reduce the standards of actuarial education.
In my high school years, I studied in the International Baccalaureate program (http://www.ibo.org/). The IBO is a nonprofit educational foundation based in Geneva which allows accredited schools to teach their high-quality curriculum. In a sense, it is very much similar the current FEM proposal; it outsources the education of a syllabus to an external institution. However, there is a big difference between the two systems, and that is IB never abandons control of the final validation of the student’s knowledge of the material. Grading in IB is based on internal assessments and external assessments. Internal assessments are based on grading done in accredited schools, with a select sample that would be sent out for external review to ensure compliance with standards. External assessments, where thankfully is where the bulk of the marks reside, are examinations that every IB student has to write at the end of their courses. As the name would imply, these exams are all externally graded. My IB experience has taught me that a hands-off, behind-the-scene education can easily become a sham, despite the best intention and controls. I had teachers who did not understand the material that I was expected to understand. Some teachers had their own agenda on what should be taught and what should not be despite the specifications of the IB syllabus. I have had to self-study large sections of syllabi because those materials were never taught. The lab reports of my peers and me were scaled down after being externally reviewed because my teachers failed to convey to us the expectations of IB. Without the externally graded exams, I do not believe IB would have the reputation that it has earned today, nor my genuine appreciation of how the IB experience has molded me into the person that I am today.
No matter how stringent the CIA/SOA/CAS Accreditation Committee plans to be, cracks will inevitability develop due to the distance between the universities and the SOA. This distance is both physical and philosophical—a university’s goals may not (and probably does not) parallel those of the Society. This divergence will weaken the education standards that the Society had built. University education should be a complement to the examination system and not the examination system itself. If a candidate is competent, then he would be able to demonstrate his ability in a fairly administered examination with transparent expectations. If the goal of FEM is to reduce the barrier to entry, then the Society should allow accredited university to administer preliminary exams for free to qualifying students. The abandonment of the final bastion of actuarial education validation, and allowing an external institution to decide whether a candidate is sufficiently competent, is in no way an “advancement”, and it will certainly not “strengthen the profession in the long term”. Rather, it will certainly lead the profession down a path that it might never be able to recover.
p51dray, ASA 2008
Saturday, July 11, 2009
The Sorry Ass State of Efficiency
How is it possible that for a large, multinational corporation to not even have the basic tools to keep track of inventory or payroll? Is it too much to ask to have a person who understands how to design relational databases to keep track of company inventory? Or for someone to know Excel to design spreadsheets that are actually usable? How about knowing more than just the SUM function in Excel? After installing a POS, why isn't there somebody who can work with the underlying databases in the POS to import/export data? Or by golly, create queries to gain insights of the performance of the underlying business?
It's not even like you even have to hire a guy full time. They can get a contractor in to do all the stuff and then fire his sorry ass. These things are all basically "set it and forget it"; they just need one template before it can be disseminated to the rest of regions. This is either gross incompetence and misallocation of resources, or severe internal communication problems.
Please don't tell me most businesses are like this.
Oh, and is it just me or are most business software junk? I'm looking at you SAP and IBM. Frigging monkeys could design more intuitive and ease of use GUIs.
It's not even like you even have to hire a guy full time. They can get a contractor in to do all the stuff and then fire his sorry ass. These things are all basically "set it and forget it"; they just need one template before it can be disseminated to the rest of regions. This is either gross incompetence and misallocation of resources, or severe internal communication problems.
Please don't tell me most businesses are like this.
Oh, and is it just me or are most business software junk? I'm looking at you SAP and IBM. Frigging monkeys could design more intuitive and ease of use GUIs.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Towers Perrin and Watson Wyatt to Combine to Form Towers Watson
Watson Wyatt Press Release
Towers Perrin Press Release
Wow did anyone saw this one coming?! I think there will be tough times ahead for actuarial grads.
Let the laid-offs begin!
Towers Perrin Press Release
Wow did anyone saw this one coming?! I think there will be tough times ahead for actuarial grads.
Let the laid-offs begin!
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Pixar Does it Again with Up
Up is absolutely a wonderful, wonderful movie. Its filled with believable and touching characters. The creativity, the nerdy references, the colours... just WOW! With a couple more movies like Up, Pixar will surely surpass even the likes of Miyazaki.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
KKKHHAAAAAN!!!!
Ricardo Montalban, 1920 - 2009
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/01/14/ricardo-montalban-1920-2009/
Without him there wouldn't have been Star Trek II, which is easily the best Trek movie--at the time of writing :).
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/01/14/ricardo-montalban-1920-2009/
Without him there wouldn't have been Star Trek II, which is easily the best Trek movie--at the time of writing :).
Friday, January 02, 2009
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