http://www.courts.gov.bc.ca/jdb-txt/CA/11/00/2011BCCA0077.htm
If I had more time, I would definitely try to read more legal judgments. They are very logically laid out and for the most part a very interesting read.
I was intrigue on CBC that Heyes' damages was appealed. Basically she ran a shop on Cambie and sued Translink for damages because of nuisance. She argued that she suffered harm from a disruption in her business, which was caused by a reduction of traffic because of the cut and cover tunnel construction of the Canada Line, an inference initiated by Translink.
Let's set the record straight: I thought Heyes deserved to lose. She was hindering progress.
It boiled down to the finding that Translink was acting under the statutory authority of the city when it redirected traffic (the interference that caused harm) during the construction of the Canada Line. However, it didn't have statutory authority of cut and cover tunnel construction, which directly caused the need to redirect traffic.
Translink though did have the authority to construct the Canada Line, and the Appeal Court found that there was no viable alternative to cut and cover tunneling when the whole project was looked at holistically; the trial judge erred in measuring the gain in social utility by choosing the cut and cover method, and that other options, such as tunnel boring, were not a viable alternative.
Therefore, the fact that Translink had no statutory authority to use the cut and tunnel method was rendered inconsequential, as it was the only viable construction method when it exerted its statutory authority to construct the Canada Line. Thus Translink did not commit nuisance under the defense of statutory authority--that it had the right to commit the inference as dictated by a statue (law).
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Project
I got myself a project after my exam. I will need to get a DVI to HDMI cable.
Oh man and I want to get back into Rubik's cubing. Damn it I don't want to do this stupid exam anymore :'(.
Exam progress:
Notes compilation complete.
Notes editing phase.
Oh man and I want to get back into Rubik's cubing. Damn it I don't want to do this stupid exam anymore :'(.
Exam progress:
Notes compilation complete.
Notes editing phase.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
OMG I'm bleeding like a facet. I hate this crazy hot, dry weather.
Exam progress:
Freidland done and all notes taken. Read through Blanchard and took notes. Going through the other reserving notes now. Mack, and Brosius are not bad. Barnett and Zehnwirth is sort of WTF. I think I would find it interesting if I was still in school and they had provided more proofs in the paper. Currently, it just pulls results out of the their ass and then switches to applications; gah.
Exam progress:
Freidland done and all notes taken. Read through Blanchard and took notes. Going through the other reserving notes now. Mack, and Brosius are not bad. Barnett and Zehnwirth is sort of WTF. I think I would find it interesting if I was still in school and they had provided more proofs in the paper. Currently, it just pulls results out of the their ass and then switches to applications; gah.
Thursday, August 05, 2010
Manulife Posts 2.4B Loss in Q2 2010
You really need to listen to the investor call. It's full of gems. Personally, they are overexposed to the market due to their VAs, period. Their URR assumption in their actuarial liability is still very high. The road ahead could still be VERY ugly for Manulife.
Gems:
-Fortress of capital is now 221%
-Other "contingent" options other than issuing common equity
-Whining about CGAAP
Gems:
-Fortress of capital is now 221%
-Other "contingent" options other than issuing common equity
-Whining about CGAAP
Sunday, July 25, 2010
CF-18 Crash
It definitely looks like he had lost engine power while flying at a low speed close to the ground and didn't have enough attitude to recover. It was sad to see a piece of awesome machinery go up in flames :(. Don't use this as an excuse for spending 9 billion for F35s though!
Exam progress:
All sources gathered.
Reading progress: currently at Chapter 13 of Freidland. The book is a little painful to read because of all the tables. It reminds me of the crazy flipping one have to do while reading Loss Models, though at least I can spread the pages of this one all over my desk/bed.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Son of a gun: Save-on-Foods can't do math
It appears Save-On's POS system has an option for "SOM SAVINGS-RET" built-in for people who wants to do a price adjustment for forgetting their Save-On More card. However, the system doesn't adjust for taxes! I thought the amount I got back was odd but it didn't hit me right away what was wrong. I hope the federal government spends the 5 cents I donated wisely.
But this does bring up the point that once the HST kicks in, people will need to be more careful--12% is a lot higher than the 5% that I lost today.
On another thought, I got a free cash advance because I paid by credit but the cashier gave me cash. Come to think of it, I think it's possible that the cashier just looked at the "You could have saved $1.00" line on the receipt and just keyed that into the system as my refund. If so then Save-On's has bad training and not a dumb POS system.
To wrap it all up though, I found a 4GB Memory Stick Pro Duo on the ground on the way home. No racy pictures on the stick though (DAMN!!!). So overall it was a good day even though I lost 5 cents.
EDIT:
OMG I just realized because of my MBNA smart cash, my net loss from this transaction is actually 0.
I think I'll start an Exam 6 study log. It will encourage me to write more on my blog and I have never logged myself while studying. This should be an interesting experience; I wonder how I will feel about all the hours I devoted to this exam in the end. So far this Exam 6 looks VERY intimidating. Just by glancing over the articles on the syllabus there are definitely more than one thousand pages of material.
Exam 6 progress:
-sources gathered: 4/30
-sources read: 0/30
But this does bring up the point that once the HST kicks in, people will need to be more careful--12% is a lot higher than the 5% that I lost today.
On another thought, I got a free cash advance because I paid by credit but the cashier gave me cash. Come to think of it, I think it's possible that the cashier just looked at the "You could have saved $1.00" line on the receipt and just keyed that into the system as my refund. If so then Save-On's has bad training and not a dumb POS system.
To wrap it all up though, I found a 4GB Memory Stick Pro Duo on the ground on the way home. No racy pictures on the stick though (DAMN!!!). So overall it was a good day even though I lost 5 cents.
EDIT:
OMG I just realized because of my MBNA smart cash, my net loss from this transaction is actually 0.
I think I'll start an Exam 6 study log. It will encourage me to write more on my blog and I have never logged myself while studying. This should be an interesting experience; I wonder how I will feel about all the hours I devoted to this exam in the end. So far this Exam 6 looks VERY intimidating. Just by glancing over the articles on the syllabus there are definitely more than one thousand pages of material.
Exam 6 progress:
-sources gathered: 4/30
-sources read: 0/30
Monday, June 14, 2010
Watches that cannot be used to tell time
In this day and age, a watch is useless. Face it, when you have a phone or an iPod (because there really is no other MP3 player), why the heck does one need to carry a ribbon on their wrist to tell time?! It's absolutely absurd.
And now they have watches that you can barely use to tell time. For example, http://www.01theone.com/products/zerone/ or http://www.nixonnow.com/watches/mens/the-rotolog-A028.html
Really. WTF.
And now they have watches that you can barely use to tell time. For example, http://www.01theone.com/products/zerone/ or http://www.nixonnow.com/watches/mens/the-rotolog-A028.html
Really. WTF.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Couples Retreat - 1/5
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.
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.
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
Monday, November 10, 2008
CIA
I'm currently reading Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA. You know you are around actuaries when they go "WTF why would you want to read about that?! Get a life!"
It's, um, the other CIA people. The one with spies instead of actuaries?
Anyways it's a pretty interesting book. It really shows how incompetent the CIA is.
It's, um, the other CIA people. The one with spies instead of actuaries?
Anyways it's a pretty interesting book. It really shows how incompetent the CIA is.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Financial statements are useless!!!
Financial statements are suppose to be measuring the health of a company at a point in time. For an insurance company, this is difficult because of a funky liability called reserves. While it is based on sound mathematical and statistical principles, there is a certain level of subjectivity involved; that's why I have a job :).
Some might criticize the insurance business for this; even going as far as to say financial statements of life insurers are useless because all sorts of stuff can be "hidden" in the reserves. All they show is a stream of smoothed earnings.
When the market is doing well and the insurer doesn't realize gains by releasing capital or reserves, he's being prudent. When the market is down and the lose is being cushioned by releasing reserves, the insurer is making stuff up. Leave it to the actuary to have a long term outlook! I'm reminded of a CIA ad that compares actuaries to other professionals like stock brokers and investment analysts. See page 10 of this issue's Beyond Risk (PDF).
Some might criticize the insurance business for this; even going as far as to say financial statements of life insurers are useless because all sorts of stuff can be "hidden" in the reserves. All they show is a stream of smoothed earnings.
When the market is doing well and the insurer doesn't realize gains by releasing capital or reserves, he's being prudent. When the market is down and the lose is being cushioned by releasing reserves, the insurer is making stuff up. Leave it to the actuary to have a long term outlook! I'm reminded of a CIA ad that compares actuaries to other professionals like stock brokers and investment analysts. See page 10 of this issue's Beyond Risk (PDF).
Saturday, November 01, 2008
DP-IC Exam: Done.
It's finally over but I feel so pwned. I'll try my best not to think about it. In general it wasn't really what I was expecting. I thought the exam had a lot more calculations than the last year's exam and that just threw me off totally. During reading time I was going double-you-tee-eff at all the tables of numbers. Another thing that I wasn't expecting to be tight is time. I wasn't totally out of time but it was for sure tighter than I thought it would be.
Time for a short break and then off I go to the FSA modules!
PASS ME SOA!!!!!
Time for a short break and then off I go to the FSA modules!
PASS ME SOA!!!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
