Thank you, everyone

I'm sorry I worried a few of my friends. I will be ok. I've deleted that last post because I realized I wrote it out of depression and desperation. A few hours ago I spoke with Bob about the troubles I'm facing. I know that I'm very lucky to have friends like him. Several of my friends have called and expressed their concerns, and I realized that this is a very small hurdle that I have to go through. I think of the people in war zones and know that I am in a much better situation.

While I was at Bob's office today, I looked at the small Airbus hangar that I made out of two USPS boxes and the A350s and the A380s inside the hangar, and realized that I won't let this small problem get in the way of my real goal in life. I am given the opportunity to explore my lifelong interest in aviation by working for Northrop Grumman, a company with a history in building aircrafts. I am very fortunate to have this opportunity and I will not let my troubles get in the way of my goal.

To my friends, thank you so much. This is probably one of the few personal blog entries I will ever write.

Mac vs PC Ads == PAIN (to the engineers)

Most engineers I've talked to (especially the ones from Apple) are not particularly happy with the recent Mac vs PC campaigns...particularly the one regarding that Macs don't get viruses (oh how we CRINGE when we heard that sentence!). Luckily, there are people out there who softens the blow by making parodies of those ads. Below are the ones listed by TechEBlog.

Performance

Gaming

Networking

I Speak In Analogies

I think it's because I'm genetically CHINESE.

Allow me to explain, via a scenario that happened today during my office hours.

************************
Student: I guess I'm still not sure I understand how this whole passing ints work in functions...
Prakash (to me): Want to give it a shot?
Me: Sure... (thinks for a moment)
Me (to the Student): Let's say we're in a bank. You're a customer, and I'm the bank teller.
Student: Ok.
Me: You're interested in knowing the balance in your bank account. What would you do?
Student (confused): Uh, I guess I would ask you.
Me: Ok, let's play out that scenario. "Hi, how may I help you?"
Student: "I, uh, would like to know my balance."
Me: "Your balance is 300 dollars." Now, did you give me anything?
Student: Uh, no.
Me: But did you get something from me?
Student: You told me the balance.
Me: Excellent! We just enacted a function that does not accept any parameters, and returns a double.
Student: ...
Me: Now, let's do something else. Let's say you have something you want to deposit into your bank account. What would you do?
Student: I'd give you a check.
Me: Ok. "Hi, what can I do for you today?"
Student: "I'd like to cash this check."
Me: And what did you just hand me?
Student: ... A check.
Me: I deposit the check into your account and that's it. I don't say what your new balance is or anything.
Student: Ok.
Me: That's a function that accepts a double as parameter and returns a void.
Student: Oh!
Me: Now, if you want to know your new balance, we can change it so that it returns a double, and then I'll tell you what you have.
Student: ... damn, thanks.
************************
You should hear the ones regarding shafting the compiler due to incompatible function declaration...or the moldy bread in produce bags for explanation on local and global scopes. I'm sorry that my students have to suffer through my recitations...

Fedex Diversions!

I'd recommend you to click on the image (away from the play button) and watch this in full screen.

Below is a view of the Fedex airplanes flying to the hub in Memphis, with inclement weather approaching the airport. The black arrows are the planes. Watch as the planes are diverted to other areas when the heaviest part of the storm is hitting the airport. Each plane is given specific instruction where to divert and where to proceed. You'll even see some of the planes holding steady, waiting for the storm to pass.

Again, turn your speakers down. The music is annoying.

Thanks to Garret who told me about this clip.

Resume From 2001

I transferred to FSU at the beginning of 2001 to major in computer science, after spending a year and a half as a piano performance major back at CCM. Today, while I was packing and going through old stuff, I found my very first resume that I made back in January of 2001, when I attempted to apply for internships/co-ops/jobs in a field that at the time, I knew virtually nothing about (beyond how to write command line C++ programs learned back from my high school days).

My objective paragraph for my first resume surprised me somewhat, as I realized that even though my path through computer science was not exactly linear (as I've staggered my way from networking to device drivers to graphics to computer vision), my goal now is the same one that I had set for myself five years ago. Here was my objective back in 2001:

To be a renaissance man; to work either software development in aviation/aeronautics (NASA, Boeing) or in graphics-oriented companies (PIXAR) for computer animation; to be able to speak as many intercontinental languages as possible; to improve technology of music restoration from turn-of-the-century media...and everything else possible in my lifespan and abilities, hopefully.

Man, I was an optimistic sop.

The Mur made an amusing comment that the average between NASA and Boeing is Northrop Grumman, the company I will work for in three weeks. So essentially, I have fulfilled my goal. For now. I probably never should have deviated from my love of aviation, but at least so far my adventure through the different fields of computer science has been an amusing ride.

Irony Of The Day

As of 16 July 2006:

Mackerel

"Nietzsche writes that happiness comes from power. For me, happiness comes from the tender meat of Atlantic mackerel." -- A dolphin, from American Dad

For some reason, I've been craving mackerel sashimi recently, along with slices of duck meat on fois gras. I have no idea why I'm obsessing over expensive and potentially dangerous food. Train of thoughts diverted me to thinking about mercury poisoning and next thing I knew I was wiki-surfing again.

Many people in the U.S. probably don't know or remember much of the Four Big Pollution Diseases of Japan. The most famous case occurred in the 1950's being the Minamata Disease caused by mercury poisoning, specifically concerning methyl-mercury. Effluent discharge from a local factory, the Chisso Corporation, caused a high level of mercury being dumped into the local fishing waters. Initially, the disease victims were ostracized, and the company denied any correlation between the discharge and the disease affecting the local population. The victims were not allowed on the negotiation table, and they were not consulted regarding their condition. It wasn't until much later, in the 1960's, with the support of the Japanese Communist Party, when negotiations began to progress. A few decades later, a settlement was reached and over 1400 people had died from the disease.



























It might be interesting to note that one of Japan's prominent animator, Hayao Miyazaki, was a member of the Japanese Communist Party at that time. It is possible that he was a part of the protests, which influenced his later works to focus on ecological themes such as man vs nature (a la Nausicaa Valley of the Wind to Princess Mononoke).

Japan is particularly affected due the high population density and its reliance on fishing as its main source of protein. Mercury level are especially high in seafood consists of predacious fish, mostly due to bio-accumulation from its prey, which in turn receives trace amounts of the metal through naturally occurring mercury production in the atmosphere. However, mercury contamination is exacerbated by factory discharge. Methyl-mercury is particularly nasty because it is readily absorbed through the gastro-intestinal system and it binds with other chemicals to mimic the shape of one of our essential amino acids, causing it to permeate throughout our bodies. The half-life of methyl-mercury in our blood system is approximately 50 days.

Contamination also affects people who consumes vegetable. The Itai-Itai Disease, though a funny sounding name to the western ear, is actually actually the word the Japanese use when they are in great pain. Water contaminated by cadmium were used for irrigation on local rice fields. The painful effects of cadmium poisoning include severe pain in the joints, kidney failure and brittle bones due to calcium depletion (similar to osteoporosis).

Please keep in mind, that the cases mentioned occurred between 1910's to 1970's. However, even today somewhere in the world, a local village is being affected by ignorance of the people in charge. For our own native soil, we only need to look no further than the PG&E case made famous by Erin Brockovich, the hundreds of Superfund Sites here in the U.S., including the Berkeley Pit (The Daily Show fans will know this one) and the Love Canal, to name a few.

Berkeley Pit (aka yummy sulfuric acid laced with huge quantities of copper, lead, and cadmium, to name a few)

When will the few in charge of the many learn that the very people that they do not care about are the selfsame people who are keeping them in their power? Money does not grow food, people do. For proof, go to a remote inhabited land and bury some change. Sit there for several years and watch yourself disintegrate.

In the words of Kurt Vonnegut:

"Sometimes I think that's the trouble with the world: too many people in high places who are stone-cold dead."

Exercise in Gentle Threats

(or, the things I have to do to get him to do HIS stuff)

Me: The Mur?
Mur: The Bing?
Me: Did you talked to your advisor?
Mur: Uh, I did not talk to my advisor.
Me: *sigh* Check your email.
Mur: Later...
Me: NOW!
Mur: Let me finish this article...
Me: NOW! Or there will be pawing!
Mur: Ok, ok... *checks email* He says to call him at his house.
Me: Give him a call.
Mur: I will.
Me: I mean now.
Mur: Ok.
Me: ... If you do not call him now, I will paw you!
Mur: I know.
Me: PAW!
Mur: I know!
Me: CONTINUOUSLY WITHOUT STOPPING, FOR HOURS ON END UNTIL YOUR SKIN FALLS OFF!!!
Mur: *sheepishly reaches for his cell phone*

(image taken from Invisible Threads)

Merging Lawnmower With Jet Engines

If this modification can deliver the kind of power similar to the yellow Vespa from FLCL:

HOOK ME UP.

Also, what can be more fun than to confound the cops with a VW Beetle Hybrid? (and by hybrid I mean...well, I'm sure the picture speaks for itself)

Delivering street-legal 1350hp engines for all your Hello Kitty speed-need.

All photos taken from the Jet Beetle site. Thanks to Fernando who sent me the link.

Stephen Hawking Mad Pimpin'

Oh yeah, baby, pass a little of that booty my way.

Stephen loves his Chinese biznatches, as featured on the Daily Show:


The photo from the top taken from this article: I like Chinese culture, women

Some thoughts on team sport

A few thoughts, before going back and working on my project.

Just so you know, I'm not the only one who's confused. If we have a Chinese living in Canada rooting for Argentina, then it is not impossible to have a Taiwanese living in the USA rooting for Germany. The photo above in this case is even funnier because I believe those kids were rooting for Japan as well.

*** RANT ALERT ***

Yesterday, we had our weekly amateur soccer game out near the Tallahassee Skate Park. This time, the turnout was huge: we had a 10 vs 10 game going on. Since there were so many people (and we have no jerseys), we decided to do shirts versus shirtless. Initially, I was the only girl on the shirtless team (aka "The Skins"), and even though I had a sports bra on, I didn't take off my shirt (didn't want to scar anyone's mind). We had three players that joined us on the fly, and all the other players brought their own friends.

Though it was a spectacular attendance, I didn't get to play much and was crestfallen halfway through the game. There were some great players on the field for both "The Skins" and "The Shirts", but some of my teammates ended up hogging the ball and not passing it to the other teammates. I know I'm not a great athlete, but the whole point of starting this little match is so that everyone could play and have fun. Scoring goals is not important as we never really kept track of the points. Basically, I was the defense for the first quarter of the game, then Juan asked if I would like to be one of the forwards. When we switched, only one or two players passed the ball to me, and I was running up and down the field most of the time with four of my teammates constantly hogging the ball. Poor Fernando also rarely got the ball, even when he was open. Our opponents "The Shirts" did much better and scored several goals because they worked better as a team, whereas "The Skins" rarely scored because most of the players were trying to go solo instead of working together. Then we had the one player who was just a stickler to the rules, and got angry when we didn't take any fouls seriously. It just took a lot of the fun out of the game.

I'm beginning to have doubts about attending the next session. I wanted to have a fun game, but if this kind of atmosphere continues, I might just only attend the impromptu night sessions that Em has been setting up the last few weeks.

*** END OF RANT ***

Portugal and Germany played today, and to be honest with you, I would rather see those two teams at the World Cup Final tomorrow. On the other hand, it might be a good thing for France to win, since currently the EADS and Airbus are in a mess, a boost in morale would be good for most of the personnel in the company.

Both teams played very well, and Portugal made one beautiful goal. Germany scored two goals that was just amazing. Oliver Kahn finally played today as the captain of the team. I am very sad that the World Cup is coming to an end, and that there's a chance Miro will not be back in the next World Cup. Strikers have a shorter life span on the field than the goalkeepers or the defenders. Hopefully, I can follow Miro and the other players as they go back to their respective clubs.

All the photos were taken from FIFA Website.

Germany Lost, 2-0 to Italy

I have to admit though, it was a great game. The Italians played very well, and the first goal in the second 15 min tie-breaker game was phenomenal. Jens Lehmann had some great saves, and the goalkeeper for the Italian team Gianluigi Buffon had several incredible moments on the field.

One of my favorite players, Miro, made a nice quote regarding the game. It was short, honest but respectful: (taken from FIFA 2006)

Miroslav KLOSE (GER) - We are obviously incredibly disappointed. It was an even contest and both teams had their chances. Well done to the Italians. They were clever on the break and scored two lovely goals. We can still be proud of what we have achieved.

It is possible that this could be a blessing in disguise. Germany recently elected Angela Merkel as Chancellor of Germany. Some of the changes that she wishes to see during her appointment alarms me somewhat, as they seem very anti- social welfare. I won't go into detail here, but direct you to read the wikipedia entry on her if you choose. Some of you may agree with what she wants to do, but I do not. Germany National Team losing the chance at 2006 World Cup will contribute a slight decline in her popularity as Chancellor. As much as we would like to believe that a sport is just a sport, we all know that politicians and the voters who placed them there are really just ordinary people, prone to bouts of emotions.

Germany will play another game against the losing team from the France vs. Portugal match. Jens shows great potential as a terrific goalkeeper, and I have a thing for dark horses. Jens's rise to the German National Team was not easy, but he demonstrated his skills within the last few weeks. In 2010, I hope that I will see Jens and Miro on the field again in South Africa.

Ecuador vs Argentina

Amit and I were talking about the various games at occurred recently at World Cup, and I was in rage when I saw the way the Argentinians behaved after the match. They acted like sore losers, not like a proud team who understands that this is only a game. The Argentinians put up a great offense against Germany, but their behavior after the game shocked me (though it did not surprise Fernando) when they started punching the Germany coaches.

I decided to read the reactions of the Ecuadorian players vs Argentinian players after they lost their qualifying rounds against England and Germany respectively. The differences were astonishing.

Quotes taken from FIFA World Cup: England vs Ecuador and Germany vs Argentina

Ecuador	Argentina
Luis VALENCIA - We gave our all on the pitch and I'm happy with the work of all the team. We had a little bit of bad luck today. I think that England could play more offensively.	Juan Pablo SORIN - My heart just feels empty because we deserved more than a draw. We did the best we could but we didn’t have any luck. Penalties are a lottery but at the same time they’re part of the game. It would be stupid to blame (Leo) Franco because we’ve got the best keepers in the world, and I’d just like to add that I’m very proud to be part of this team. We’ve got a great side and we can get our revenge in four years' time.
Agustin DELGADO - We showed to the world today that Ecuador have a very good team. We worked step by step in this World Cup but I'm very sad because this is our last game. We were happy here and we enjoyed it.	Hernan CRESPO - We played really well and it hurts so much to lose. The boys are really down because we’ve got an exceptional team, we gave it everything we had out there and we deserved so much more. Germany weren't better than us and the game was decided by the smallest of details. For me, we’ve had a disappointing tournament because we’ve been knocked out. That said, I’m very proud to be part of this group. I’m not really bothered who wins it now to be honest. I support Argentina and that’s it.
Giovanny ESPINOZA - We can hold our heads up high because we’ve proved we can play good football. On a personal level, I’ve learned a lot at this tournament.	Carlos TEVEZ - Naturally I’m very angry - we’ve just been eliminated. The fact that we played well doesn’t make it feel any better either. They attacked twice and scored a goal but Argentina were the better side. We put in a good performance but it doesn’t mean anything because we lost, and there’s nothing that has happened today that will make me feel any better about it.
van KAVIEDES - Before we came here, the press in Ecuador and elsewhere wrote off our chances. Now I’m sure they’ll have an inquest into what happened and why we’re out.	Gabriel HEINZE - It hurts a lot to lose like that. We didn’t deserve it but we gave it all we had. I really don’t know why we lost. And don’t ask me if I think Germany will win the World Cup or not because the truth is I really couldn’t care less.
van HURTADO - I feel very privileged to have experienced all this. We’re a little sad to be going home but we can hold our heads up high when we get there. Now we’ve got to make sure we qualify for South Africa 2010. European teams don’t improvise much. They play a simple, direct game, but they don’t take any risks.	Javier MASCHERANO - We tried to play and represent the country as well as we could. I’ve got nothing to say because if you watch the game you’ll see that we were the better team. We showed we’re up there with the best teams in the world, and in my opinion there’s no such a thing as justice in football.
Carlos TENORIO - We weren’t quite up to standard and we weren’t able to go raise our game. I’m happy though, and it doesn’t get any bigger than this for a player. If that shot in the first half hadn’t hit the crossbar, it might have been different, but it’s just a question of luck.	Esteban CAMBIASSO - We’re still standing tall. We outclassed them and we can go home with our heads held high.

The difference? Ecuadorians spoke proudly of their achievements and discussed the tactics of their opponent how they can do better for the 2010 game. THEY HAD FUN. The Argentinians? Revenge and bitterness.

Ecuador National Team, I hope you make it to the final round next World Cup. Until the Argentinian players learn that the World Cup really is, JUST A GAME, they do not deserve to win.

Mrs. Chen Menu: 7/03 - 7/17

Mrs. Chen has a new bento menu!!! After several weeks of absence, they are back in business!!! :D

小盒5元,大盒6元
Small Box 5 USD, Large Box 6 USD

Mon	韓式蔬菜飯(牛)	Korean Style Vegetable Beef Stir Fry
Tue	豬排飯	Pork chop
Wed	炸醬麵	Noodle Stirfry
Thr	牛排飯	Steak
Fri	咖哩飯(豬)	Curry pork