Author Archives: Matthew Lin

What’s the deal with paper cuts

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(Unsplash / Mahen Rin)

If you’ve ever worked with paper, chances are that you’ve experienced it at least once in your life. A paper cut, the sharp burning sensation as it tears through your flesh, leaving behind in its wake a crimson canyon. Well, maybe not that extreme but, it still hurts like scratching a blackboard, constant and agonizingly sharp.  

But why do paper cuts hurt so much when compared to other cuts. Strangely enough, to answer that you must first go back to the basics, what is paper? 

Paper, one of humanities greatest inventions. The thin sheets of tree, made from tree pulp pressed and dried with added chemicals and dye. We’re not here to learn how paper is made so that’s all your getting, what’s important about this is that paper is not made of one fine material it’s made of lots of materials meshed which on a microscopic level result in a rough edge. Because of this rough edge when compared to a cut done with a knife, a paper cut results in a messy cut as opposed to how a knife makes a clean cut. Adding on, paper will leave behind tiny fibres and chemical residues resulting in even more irritation. 

But that’s not all, where is it that you most often get paper cuts? The answer is simple: your fingers. Now what’s so special about your fingers, well a lot of things. The simple answer is the number of nerves located in your fingers is a lot higher than say you back or your legs. This is because fingers have a job of feeling things and thus humans developed more nerves in the places that matter. It’s thanks to this amazing feat of evolution that paper cuts so much. 

And last but, not least. Supposedly, a paper cut is deep enough that it pierces the outer skin layer that doesn’t have pain receptors, but shallow enough to not draw blood. Now why does this matter, it matters as it breaks into the part of your body that does have pain receptors which will now be triggered by the exposure to the outside world, however no blood comes out to clot the wound. If blood could come out, it would clot the wound effectively closing it off from the outside world, allowing the pain to be less intense. Unfortunately, paper cuts are just the perfect depth for maximum pain, so we must resort to applying a bandage to protect the wound from exposure. 

Taking everything, we’ve learned so far. It looks like paper cuts are the perfect storm for a painful cut, from the jagged edge, to targeting your weak points, and hitting the perfect depth to inflict just enough damage to have the most pain possible.  

Now you know why paper cuts hurt so much, hopefully you’ll never have to encounter another paper cut in your life, but if you do, at least you know why it hurts like crazy. 

 

Written by: Matthew Lin 

Contact: mlin114@my.bcit.ca 

The terrifying future of children’s toys

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(Unsplash / Yuri Li)

You’ve had a childhood, what kind of toys were you given. Lego bricks? Barbies? Transformers? Your favourite bear plush that you would bring everywhere? Regardless, the one thing in common is that they’re not powered by AI. 

Recently, there have been more AI powered toys targeted at children. Such as Grok, Grem, and Gabbo created by Curio, or Miko created by Miko, or the aptly named Ai Teddy by FoloToy, these are just the most popular ones but there exist many more. The existence of these toys terrifies me, what happened to building with Lego bricks. 

While signs of talking toys already existed, from the likes of Furby and many others like it. This is another step above. By incorporating AI straight into the toy, it allows you to have a direct conversation with it. Childhood is an super important time of life, as it dictates a lot of how people grow up and even goes on to influence how they act and behave well into their adulthood. So I just can’t see why someone would give their children an AI chatbot.

Before I start delving into this, I must preface this with, I don’t know how the AI chat bot is curated and restricted and I’m not an expert in childhood development, in fact I’m not even a parent. 

Now, why do AI toys scare me? Well, they’re always listening, unless properly turned off they are listening. Why does this scare me? It’s because to insert your conversation into the AI chatbot, it clearly needs to be transcribed to a server somewhere to be put in for the AI to respond to, meaning a chat log of your conversation exists somewhere. I mean this isn’t anything new as phones are also always listening, and the babbling of a child shouldn’t include any life-threatening personal information.

Furthermore, the idea of a toy responding to a child saying “I love you” with a “I love you too” sends a shiver up my spine. This is going to have consequences later in their life for sure. Although on a scale of “I leave my child with an iPad, and they have free reign on it” to “I leaving them with an AI chatbot to talk to”, I give it a I really don’t like these options out of 10. 

Maybe, in another 10? 20? Years this idea of an AI toy will be fully fleshed out and be a scientifically proven good idea but, for now I feel that instead of giving your child a AI chatbot companion just give them normal toys like Lego bricks, teddy bears, toy cars, alphabet blocks, and stuff like that. Because you don’t know how awesome life is until you build an alphabet block castle. 

 I would love to be proven wrong, if any of the companies selling these want to tell me what is the positives of AI powered children toys while still being safe and secure then by all means go ahead.

 

Other interesting reads that are about AI children toys.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/sep/16/i-love-you-too-my-familys-creepy-unsettling-week-with-an-ai-toy

https://futurism.com/horror-stuffed-animals-toys-ai

 

Written by: Matthew Lin 

Contact: mlin114@my.bcit.ca 

4 things to look forward to during autumn

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(Unsplash / Alisa Anton)

With the end of summer just behind us, leaving with all its summer festivities and with the end of the year creeping towards us. It feels like the perfect time to share some of the things that you can look forward to during the autumn season. From holidays to the change in scenery, here are 4 things to look forward to during autumn. 

  1. The Colours

While the weather in fall may be described as wet, dreary, and melancholic. The same cannot be said about the scenery, going from lush greens to a sea of yellows, reds, and oranges. This simple change in scenery, completely changes the vibe, really sets in the idea that summer is over and autumn is coming in. Just imagine, breathing in the crisp fall air, sipping on a nice cup of coffee in the morning and looking out and seeing the multicoloured trees like an ocean set ablaze, a swirl of reds, yellows, and oranges. A tinge of melancholy as you watch the leaves fall upon the ground, painting the streets in the colour of fallen trees. 

  2. Seasonal Flavours 

You might see this and instantly think of pumpkin spiced lattes, maple syrup flavoured donuts, or pumpkin pie flavoured desserts. But seasonal flavours are so much more than just fast food/restaurant specials, it’s the change in ingredients from summer vegetables to autumn squashes. From Brussels sprouts to butternut squashes, the diversity of flavours brings a cornucopias worth of recipes to your kitchen. From classics like pumpkin pie, to mashed potatoes, try spicing up your meals with some seasonal flavours and maybe you’ll even find a new favourite. 

  3. Bird Migration 

It’s right around the start of autumn when bird migrations begin to occur, the act of bird going on vacation to warmer regions down south. However, it is also one of the best times for bird watching, offering reasonable temperatures, less leaves to look through, and birds migrating across the sky. If you’ve never tried bird watching before, it could be a fun new experience to try, walking a local bird trail and just trying to spot as many birds as you can. If you are interested in bird watching, you should make sure you are properly prepared for the outing. 

  4. Holidays 

And finally, fall holidays. Some might say that the holidays in fall are the best part of fall, and they might be right, with so many amazing holidays like Thanksgiving Day and Halloween it’s hard to not get excited about autumn holidays.  

If you haven’t already gotten a taste of the seasonal flavours of autumn by the time Thanksgiving Day rolls around, you’ll most likely have some then. Thanksgiving Day, a day of giving thanks to your family and friends, celebrated with a Thanksgiving Feast often served with a roast turkey as the centrepiece. Gathering with your friends and family, preparing a massive feast with mouthwatering foods, glistening ham, soft and fluffy mashed potatoes with tangy cranberry sauce drizzled on top, the slightly charred Brussels sprouts, and you can’t forget the whole roast turkey, slicing it up and serving it to one another and drenching it in gravy. It’s these kinds of experiences that make holidays so special, and it precisely why Halloween is amazing.  

When said out loud the concept of Halloween seems incredible odd, a day where people dress up and walk around at night asking for candy from houses decorated with skeletons, and jack-o-lanterns. Sounds strange right? But it’s a great family bonding activity and makes great memories, from decorating your home to buying/making your costume and even carving jack-o-lanterns there is so much you can do. Some of my fondest memories are of Halloween, dressed up in my bee costume, going trick-or-treating with my family, seeing the houses decorated with eerie headstones, giant spiders, spindly skeletons hanging out, and seeing all the different jack-o-lanterns. 

There are many more holidays in autumn each bringing their own unique festivities, like Oktoberfest, the Day of the Dead, and many more it’s hard to cover them all. Regardless, holidays bring people together, be it friends, family, or soon to be friends.

 

And that’s four things to look forward to during fall I hope you found something to try, and feel free to tell me what you most looking forward to this fall. 

 

Written By: Matthew Lin 

Contact: mlin114@my.bcit.ca  

Terry Fox the Legend Who Ran

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(Flickr / Cactus Forest)

With the annual Terry Fox Run being literally around the corner (September 14), now is as good of a time as any to remind everyone about what it is he ran for and the hope that it brought. 

What is it that Terry ran for? In March of 1977, Terry was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma (a form of cancer that often starts near the knee) and the only solution was to amputate his leg 15cm above the knee. During his time undergoing treatment in the cancer ward, he witnessed many sufferings, and he couldn’t bring himself to ignore them. 

It was with this resolve that he would set out on a marathon across Canada in hopes of raising money for cancer research, and that marathon it would be named the Marathon of Hope. 

https://x.com/TerryFoxCanada/status/1886800965975605602

To Terry, it wasn’t about fame, it was about making a change and funding a cure for all cancers. The Marathon of Hope, a marathon across Canada starting in Newfoundland and Labrador all the way across to British Columbia. 

On April 12, 1980, Terry dipped his artificial leg in the Atlantic Ocean and began his trek across the land. Every day he would get started early in the morning at 4:30am and often end at 7pm. Terry ran nearly 42 kilometres every day. From Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario. No matter if it was rain, or shine, snow or storm, he would run. 

Terry Fox stopped in over 400 schools, towns, and cities where he spoke about why he was running. 

However, the Marathon was not meant to be. 

On September 1st, Terry was forced to stop. Cancer appeared in his lungs. But even when Terry was stuck in the hospital bed, he kept fighting, he continued to raise awareness on cancer, on the importance of donating to cancer research, and the importance of never giving up.  

Terry over the course of the Marathon of Hope had manage to raise over $24.17 million in cancer research. And thanks to Terry efforts, he had raised awareness of cancer and lit a flame in the hearts of all Canadians. Starting a new tradition, the Terry Fox Run takes place in September.  

The Terry Fox Run is now in its 45th year of running. 

If you want to know more about the Terry Fox Run or Terry Fox himself, I highly recommend going to https://terryfox.org/ as I skipped a lot of details. 

And with that I hope you learned something and maybe even decide to contribute to the cause. 

 

Written by: Matthew Lin 

Contact: mlin114@my.bcit.ca 

The Invisalign Experience

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(Flickr)

Have you ever thought about getting Invisalign to fix up your teeth, or maybe you had braces and were wondering how they differ from Invisalign. 

Well, you’ve come to the right place. I’ll be laying out my experience with Invisalign from the good, the bad, and the uncomfortable. 

For context at the time of writing this article I’ve had my Invisalign for about 28 weeks or just over half a year now. Here are my teeth at the start. 

(Flickr)

 

They’re incredibly misaligned and jutting out in extreme angles. And my bottom row is missing a tooth for some reason unbeknownst to me. 

The good. While I’m still nowhere near done with the treatment, I can already visually see the improvement my teeth are much straighter than before and neat. 

(Flickr)

 

Another good thing is that I was forced to really get used to flossing my teeth and really cleaning them. 

I will be completely honest I never flossed before getting my Invisalign, never felt like I needed to. However, now I feel like if I don’t floss my teeth are disgusting, and after flossing for the first few times my gums stopped bleeding. 

 

The bad. Having to have the Invisalign in for around 22 hours, this leaves you either ~2 hours to eat your meals every day, or you must eat with your Invisalign on resulting in rushing through your meal or having to experience the worse feeling of all time. Chewing with the Invisalign on is the most miserable feeling, it just feels so wrong like chewing with gum stuck to your teeth. Furthermore, if you chew something hard like a potato chip you can end up scratching up the Invisalign’s surface and once it’s not smooth you can’t help but to keep feeling it the rough surface inside your mouth, which your now stuck with for the rest of the time on that tray. 

Speaking of swapping trays, for me I had to change trays every 2 weeks and the first few days after swapping HURTS so much, it makes me not feel like doing anything for the day. 

However, after the first few days it is fine, you don’t really feel it, although I will say for the first few weeks it will feel extremely weird having a foreign object in your mouth, effectively just having bigger teeth that feel like smooth plastic. 

Lastly, the worst of them all, having to really clean your teeth. Having to spend lots of time cleaning your teeth by really getting in there and making sure that your teeth are clean otherwise, you’ll end up with a cavity. 

In conclusion, Invisalign is a test, a test on your discipline on maintaining your teeth’s cleanliness, keeping the trays on, and a test of your mentality to not give in to the intrusive thoughts. 

 

Written by: Matthew Lin 

Contact: mlin114@my.bcit.ca 

Labubu. Where? What? Why? How?

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(Flickr)

If you’re like me and you live under a rock. You might be questioning the sudden rise to fame Labubus have experienced.

In this article I’m going to do a deep dive into Labubus to attempt to find out these four questions.

Where? What? Why? And how?

So, what is a Labubu? If you’ve managed to come this far without knowing at least visually what a Labubu is then congratulations, you live under a heavier rock then I do.

A Labubu is a line of collectible toy plush featuring the character “Labubu” a monster with sharp teeth, rabbit ears, and scruffy exterior. A design that can only be described as ugly cute.

(Unsplashed / David Kristianto)

Now where did this terrifyingly monstrous marketable plush come from? It all began back in the 2015 as a character designed by Kasing Lung as part of the “monsters” figurines collection produced by How2Works.

Following a collaboration with PopMart the toy would go on to gain further recognition before finally the event that skyrocketed the popularity through the roof.

In April of 2024, Lisa a member of the K pop group Blackpink was spotted with a Labubu keychain on her bag. This incident sparked the “Labubu Mania” we see today.

EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK, Labubu. Randomly shopping in the mall, Labubu. Taking a stroll around your neighborhood, Labubu. There is no escape you open Instagram, Labubu. Labubu had taken over the world but, how?

Many factors contribute to the success of Labubus ranging from simple marketing tactics to celebrity endorsements. The more I investigated it the more interesting it became as a case study for marketing. I won’t bore you with the details, however it is truly interesting if you like that kind of stuff.

So, how is it so popular. Well, the biggest factor being the celebrity endorsement, it brought Labubus onto a global scale, being loved by a global superstar certainly helps spread the word.

However, saying that just celebrity endorsement did all the work would be discourteous to the marketing magic that were deployed to popularize them.

First, Labubus are created in limited supply, once one is gone it’s gone for good, this instills people with the fear of missing out or FOMO. This is a very common strategy and works to prey on peoples fear of missing out as the name suggests.

Second, Labubus come in surprise boxes. If you don’t know what a surprise box is, it is a concept where products you buy come in a box which prevents you from knowing which specific one you got which in a way can be seen as gambling. What this does is tricks our monkey brains into feeling dopamine when we succeed or feeling the need to try again when we fail. Regardless of result it makes you more invested into the product and ensures it stays in your mind.

And with that, I hope you have a better understanding of the global phenomenon known as Labubu.

 

Written By: Matthew Lin

Contact: mlin114@my.bcit.ca