indecision

Electromagnetic Starfield

2011-05-22T12:06:00.001-04:00

Not sure where the electromagnetism comes into play, but oh well.

Having only been exposed to a few of their songs from CCF and Sunday worship sessions, I didn't really know what to expect from a so-called "Christian concert". Coming out of it, it felt like a very powerful musical worship night...catered to certain demographics, of course. (I know the style of music and "presentation" definitely won't fly at my home church.)

There were a few songs that caught my ear that night...usually certain words that stuck out:

Saving One:
A slightly more hymn-esque melody for the verses. This song explains the death and resurrection of Christ, and its effect on those who believe. The bridge stuck out most, which was taken from Joel 2:32 and quoted again by Paul in Romans 10:13. "Anyone who calls upon His Name will be saved."

Rediscover You:
A genuine reflection of a spiritually drained believer. The author touches on David's prayer life. Even though David was a man after God's own heart, his psalms paint a picture of a Christ-follower's spiritual journey.

Revolution:
More of a rocky-punk style song that shows a Christ-follower's faith and determination in the midst of opposition. "I'm a war already won/ I'm a revolution" stood out to me, suggesting that a repenting sinner is already a miracle in itself.

All We Need:
An invitational song that brings fellow Christ-followers together in total devotion and praise to God. "You are all our hearts are beating for." "We don't want what the world gives anymore."

Reign In Us:
Oh man, so much goodness in this song. It starts off with God's omniscience, beginning with the idea of being individually known by Him before the beginning [Ephesians 1:4], and then mentioning that God knew that we would eventually fall into sin and would need His grace and mercy. In response to this, the author submits his life to Christ, wanting Christ to reign in his life.

In all, it was a great worship night. Musically, nothing was off...it was technically seamless. I'm usually a sucker for cool chords and continuous quarter beat bass drumming, and I may get distracted at times...but it felt no different than listening to Greg Liu's guitar playing :D

Sunday's Coming

2010-05-28T11:02:00.003-04:00

Reminder

2010-02-08T00:26:00.003-05:00

So today after worship practice, I met a man named Danny who most people would probably classify as one with mental problems. I thought the same at first, but he shared a lot about what he went through. He can't hear very well, nor can he speak well either...it took a bit of effort to actually listen to what he was saying. He's a pretty cook talkative guy. From what he said today, I could sense that his faith in God was a lot stronger than mine.

One of the things he mentioned was how many of people who call themselves Christians in the church don't act like a Christian outside of Sundays. Although he shared one extreme example that he himself experienced, how many of us are guilty of being Sunday Christians?

Hearing this really gave me a good holy slap in the face. God sometimes uses people you least expect to rebuke you.

Time to restart some Word reading.

I thought this was keith

2010-01-26T18:02:00.002-05:00

"I wait for my cat. His litter box is right beside our toilet. When he shows up we do a synchronized poop, high five and then share a can of tuna."

...wait, what?

Source: http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/all-used-bike-parts-2-jan-30-only-846853/

Urbana 09

2010-01-03T00:11:00.003-05:00

So I finally made it back to the non-Urbana world. So many things I learned, and not enough brain to process and store it all. I actually bought books!! I would have never imagined that I, being someone who falls asleep reading anything on paper after 10 mins, would be buying books and reading them. One book in particular caught my eye during the conference. This was it. It was the book I was looking for!! (well, other than the Bible of course)

From my Urbana experience, I've narrowed down the people I want to help in my ministry: Chinese people.

Yes. The world of Chinese people and their Chinese churches. Yes, we have at least heard of some of the stereotypes of Chinese families...limited career choices, parents pushing their children to work hard, unconditional respect for people in authority, and the list goes on. Now, I'm not saying that these things are wrong, but there are so many things in Chinese culture that seem so unbiblical. Some of these things I see within the church as well, including several aunties, uncles, my parents, and even myself. It sometimes angers me even more that many of us don't even realize that we have this huge plank in our eyes.

I attended a seminar at Urbana that talked about discovering God's calling. (Unsurprisingly, there were so many people who wanted to know it that I had to listen from outside the doors of the room.) One of the billions of things the speaker talked about was finding out what God wants you to do with regards to ministry. Who/what do I have a passion for? Is there anything I hate? The only thing I could think of was...my own people. Chinese people.

Probably the part of the conference that stood out the most was the musical worship. We visited a few different worship styles and languages. Sometimes we were doing the standard stuff, sometimes African, sometimes Egyptian, sometimes Spanish...lots of dancing at times! Although me being brought up in a more conservative background, I preferred to worship more with my voice than the rest of my body. I certainly learned how it feels to try to worship under culture shock, like how the traditional Chinese congregation feels about the contemporary style of worship from the English congregation.

Before the conference, my mom warned me to watch out for "those dancers and crazy people". Yes, I'd get rebuked by church elders if I danced during my church service at NT. This got me thinking...why do we have to be so closed-minded sometimes? Is there only one or two ways to worship, and all other ways foreign to us are wrong? Maybe it's not that, given that NT has allowed the use of musical instruments other than the piano and organ.

Is dancing a distraction to some people, hindering their ability to worship God? Most likely, since not everything that is permissible is beneficial, and cultural differences usually require different contexts (i.e.: style of worship). Okay, I'm fine with this. However, what saddened me the most was how during NT's Summer Conference, some people raised the issue that seeing bare feet of the musical worship team was a distraction. Yes, we are supposed to respect God by wearing our best clothing when meeting with Him, but why is something like bare feet a distraction in the first place? Shouldn't we be focusing on God and God alone while worshiping, not looking at what someone is wearing?

Perhaps it's not even much of a distraction at all. Maybe we, as Chinese people, care so much about outward appearance that we completely forget about worshiping God entirely. Pastor Ken Foo shared a story about his old church a long time ago. A drug dealer, who had been wounded on his side (but healed) decided to attend a church service one Sunday. He wore the best shirt he had, which was torn and stained with blood at the location of his wound. Before long, he was escorted out of the church, and he went back to his drug dealing life.

Why do we care so much about what non-Christians, or those weak in the faith, think about such small things? The ones we drive away are the non-Christians and the weak in faith! The same can be applied to other social differences, like people of other nationalities and skin colour. In my honest opinion, I think that the Chinese ought to be the most racist people I've ever known. A friend of mine from CCF shared how some members from his Chinese church were so against having a non-chinese pastor serving at their church. Is this really what we're supposed to be doing? Is this going out and making disciples of all nations?

Putting all these together, I've developed a strong passion to reach out to the Chinese church. So far, I'm going to start with one of the things the church picks on, and one of the things I love most: musical worship. I don't know how well it's going to work out, or even where it will lead me. But I've been placed there for a reason (already drafted into Wayne's team), so I'm just going to have to take the step of faith.

My vision for Chinese churches is having a single congregation--regardless of spoken language and culture--all worshiping and praising God together...just a glimpse of what we'll eventually experience in heaven.

Schrodinger Loves MOSFETs

2009-09-23T22:43:00.001-04:00

I think I need to study at DC instead.

He gives and takes away...but gives again!

2009-05-21T18:40:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, some people broke into my house. I managed to lose my laptop, digital camera, PS3, and PSP. Strangely and thankfully, there was one external hard drive that wasn't taken...and has a backup of my laptop's hard drive from a month ago. So I have pretty much all my old schoolwork, documents, etc saved. My dad also lost his old Nikon camera, but somehow still has the wad of cash tucked away behind the clothes in his closet. Little John unfortunately lost his DS....I plan to get him a new one at some point.

For most of yesterday, I was in a state of shock. It's a really uncomfortable feeling in my chest area that you get when you feel like you lost something important. But, I was constantly reminded that material things in this world stay in this world, and they will eventually disappear. In the end, they aren't of any use. I was reminded of this while struggling through exams, but it seems that I needed another reminder. God really knows how to get His point across.

So where's the "gives again" part to this story? I come home, and I realize that I've been working on a Windows 7 machine the entire time. I still have a working computer!! So good....God is really awesome.

Extra: Today, I was talking with a fellow classmate on Communicator at work. I found it quite interesting that we would have a serious conversation, since I didn't perceive him to be that type of person. It somehow went from talking about unloyal friends to me sharing to him a bit about Christianity, which was quite interesting. Totally wasn't expected.

Grace and Mercy

2009-04-30T15:34:00.003-04:00

Lately I've been experiencing a lot of awesomeness this past week. Here's an update:

- Housing inquiries have been pouring in, even from people that sound very sketch on emails. Also, very special thanks for Joses and Jorge for helping out with showing the house. Pray that things will go smoothly, and for others who still haven't found sublets.

- I'm making up my failed TPM by taking a speech & presentations course down at UofT for about 6 weeks during my work term. To my surprise, my academic advisor (Prof Harder) was actually understanding of my situation.

- Just got all my marks back. Ended up with a low 70, two low 60s, and two low 50s, making an average of 59.6....totally God's work here. They will have to review my previous marks to decide whether or not I pass the term since it's under the absolute pass line of 59.8.

- Found out that one of my friends in class finally found a job...surprisingly at AMD as well! Guess I'll be seeing 3 people from my class at work now. Still, prayer for those who are looking for jobs.

This week has been semi-productive. Hung out with some people I haven't seen for a while. I managed to get bingo'd at BBT on Tuesday night somehow....all the other guys decided to go home early. It was quite an awkward experience. It went something like this...names changed for obvious reasons:

Girl 1: "Did you hear about what happened about Andy and Sara?"
Girl 2: "No, what happened?"
Girl 1: "Apparently, Sara flew all the way back to visit Andy, and he dumped her on the spot"
Girl 3: "You mean my ex? Oh...my...gawwwsh!!"
Girl 2: "Are you serious? How could he?"

I sat there thinking to myself...yeah, I'm a guy...totally can't relate to this. (Jon Lin, I need advice.)

Oh, and I managed to put the first collision on my mom's semi-new van. I put a palm-sized dent on the rear right because I backed out of the garage and hit my dad's side mirror. Thankfully, (a) I wasn't the first to hit my dad's car, and (b) only paint was scraped off the mirror. But yeah. As a son of a driving instructor, I'm quite a terrible driver.

End of term reflections

2009-04-22T12:39:00.002-04:00

So 3A has drawn to a close. Things to praise God for!

1) Done exams! Maybe not the best exams written, but God did help me through them. Whether or not I pass them is another story, which I'll explain later.

2) I got a job early at AMD/ATI as my first and only interview this term. Given the economic situation, this is truly a blessing.

Prayers for others:

1) Tim Ng still needs to find a sublet, along with a bunch of others including Alex Yu.

2) Pray for people looking for jobs. Very very tough to find jobs now. There are even some people in my class who are still unemployed.

So I have three things that I need prayer for:

1) Marks. I thought I'd be able to put a ton of more effort this term and be able to achieve at least a 75 average, but I fell short again. Seems like this happens every term...I only end up working super hard as exams approach. Really up to God on this one.

2) Another school related thing: my TPM. It's a presentation that I had to do back in 2A that I failed, and I completely forgot about redoing it or taking the make-up course for it. Apparently I can't go on to 3B if I don't clear it. I'll be talking to the coordinator tomorrow. Up to God on this one as well.

3) Housing. Still haven't found a sublet for next term. I have about a week to find someone.

Extra stuff:

During the exam time, my relationship with God has dwindled. My big study bible has been sitting on the floor for quite some time now, and I know it's wrong to just call on God only when I'm in tight situations. Despite this, I know that God allowed these things to happen to me. I don't know what's going to happen, but I'm ready to face what God has in store for me for the upcoming months, whether or not it will be to my liking. Whatever it is, I know I will benefit from it. He truly gives and takes away.

netbooking?

2009-04-04T00:01:00.006-04:00

So I decided to buy an ASUS EEE 1000HE netbook to see if it was really all that useful. Okay, maybe it was just an excuse to try out a new electronic gadget, since I seem to have a natural affinity to them. Yesterday, I was about to boast about resisting the urge to buy things I don't need, but Keith managed to easily convince me otherwise.

And so, Staples shipped it to my door today. For once, I could actually say "that was easy". When I took it out of the box, it looked pretty sleek. The top lid was so nice and glossy (although with a gritty-looking texture, so fingerprints aren't as noticeable). It looked like a really nice oversized DS or something. However, it was a bit on the thick side when compared to my 15" Macbook Pro (around 1.4 inches vs 1 inch), although it's about two pounds lighter (3 lbs vs 5 lbs).

As a size comparison, I've stacked up a few other things. From the bottom, there's my Macbook Pro, Keith's NEC MobilePro 780, and my Nintendo DS.

As I opened up the lid......to my horror, I was greeted with.....a FRENCH KEYBOARD!! The moment I saw this, I wanted to return it. That's how much I dislike non-US keyboards. I need both shift keys to be long, I need the enter key to be long, and the "\" key to be right above the enter key.

From my few hours of use, I've already made many typos from this keyboard. Aside from that, they keys look something similar to the Macbook keyboards, although the build quality definitely feels a lot cheaper. Keys are slightly smaller, which I do notice a bit with my big hands.

I think the mouse touchpad is what I liked the most. It features something similar to Apple's MultiTouch, where you could use multiple fingers to do different gestures for, let's say, scrolling, right clicking, zooming, rotating, etc. Most of it is pretty customizable, so I made it behave as close to a Macbook's trackpad as possible. Sure, it doesn't have the same feel to it and can be a bit finicky at times, but it works.

In Windows XP, I was limited to a small 1024x600 screen resolution. This was my biggest turnoff for any netbook, as I tend to enjoy super high resolutions so I can fit a bunch of windows on a screen. When I'm severely limited in screen space, it feels very crowded and sometimes frustrating when windows are too big for the screen (ex: Windows Live Messenger, unresizable configuration menus). I wish they at least included an option in Windows to change the overall sizes of things like fonts, windows, taskbars, etc. Oh well.

Video playback was pretty impressive. I installed the Combined Community Codec Pack to watch some soft-subbed anime clips. Anything in SD would work flawlessly (like the first episode of K-On!), but started lagging once I threw a 720p Zeta Gundam opening clip. However, trying out CoreAVC allowed smooth 720p playback (presumably had better decompression algorithms). Super impressed.

Hooking up my trusty Dell 2407wfp LCD monitor, I tried video playback through that. Strangely, I couldn't set the resolution too high, or else it would result in a distorted image. When I got to a working resolution, I tried the 720p clip again with CoreAVC. To my disappointment, the video and audio went out of sync again. Meh, oh well. Wasn't expecting too much out of the integrated graphics.

I'm quite impressed that Asus created a separate backup partition on the hard drive, so you could restore your C: to factory settings easily. Most manufacturers leave you with a single install of Windows XP, and you're on your own if you need to re-install it.

Battery life is freaking ridiculous. I haven't had all that much time to test it out thoroughly, but Asus claims a 9.5-hour battery life. I'd presume with the wireless adapter on and a bunch of applications open, it would work out to about 7 hours or so. Nevertheless, I wouldn't have to worry about battery life like I did for my Macbook Pro running on an old 1.5hr battery.

Lastly, the price. I paid about $410+tax for this, which works out to be about $463. At that price, I could have gotten maybe a decent CoreDuo based laptop. Maybe not with the same features, but you get the idea--a netbook, made designed purely for the convenience of having the Internet "at your fingertips" wherever you go, is relatively expensive. I'd say it's more of a luxury thing.

Now, for the big decision: do I really need this? Definitely not. Is it nice to have? Yes. However, I already have an existing laptop, and having this would merely be just for convenience of being able to bring a small, lightweight computer around whenever I may need to use one. Problem is, I haven't had the need to do that. Sure, it could be a good laptop to bring to SLC to study, but again...I'd rather just bring my other laptop. It has more screen space, better hardware and operating system, etc.

I started to think a bit further, past the "good deal" and "practicallity/usefulness" train of thought. Why do I indulge myself in worldly things so much? After I received the netbook and used it for a bit, there was still this dissatisfaction...sort of a craving for more. It's like the law of diminishing returns. It's probably safe to say that I've been idolizing material wealth over these years. It's one of these things that I'm constantly struggling with. I could have used all that time that I spent surfing RedFlagDeals and read the Bible more, or even my baptismal books that I planned to finish by the end of the year.

Well, on that note, I think it's time to say goodbye to this nice little laptop. I'll be returning it to Staples tomorrow after the Maple Syrup Festival.

Macross Launch Day

2009-02-07T17:49:00.002-05:00

I figured I should have written about the Macross series as a whole sooner or later, and today seems to be a good day for it. It happens to be the launch date of the SDF-1 Macross, as well as mankind's first alien encounter, war, etc. Awesomeness.

Super Dimension Fortress Macross was created around the time when the first Mobile Suit Gundam aired. I mean, back in the 80s, what young boy didn't like big robots?

Macross played around with 3 major themes, one of which was the idea of transforming jet fighters (hello decepticons? o_O) called Valkyries. I certainly think it's an awesome idea, despite going against nearly all the physics knowledge I have. The second theme is the power of music and song, which will be explained later. Thirdly and least important, there are love triangles of some sort. I know, it's lame. But hey, we're living in the 80s.

According to the Macross story, a war breaks out between humans and the Zentradi, an alien race that arrives just as the SDF-1 Macross is launched. The Macross attempts to fold (or warp) away from the attacking Zentradi, but accidentally takes the island below with them into space. The people on the island were rescued from their supposedly airtight shelters and inhabit the Macross itself. I have no idea how this would actually work, but I'm willing to suspend my disbelief.

So where does music fit in here? The humans eventually learn that the Zentradi were 'made' as proxy warriors who live only to fight, and are psychologically shocked by culture (music, love, etc). And aboard the Macross is Lynn Minmei, who becomes a famous pop singer and eventually sings to stop the war. Cue awesome valkyrie fight scenes and music.

Fast forward to 2043 (1994 actually), humans and Zentradi live together peacefully. Many new Macross ships have been launched from earth to colonize other planets. We then get a new alien, the Protodeviln who attacks the Macross 7, hence the title of the new series. The Protodeviln are revealed to require "spiritia" to live, a form of energy that humans and Zentradi produce on their own.

Macross 7 introduces Nekki Basara, a lead vocalist and guitarist of the band Fire Bomber. It is eventually revealed that his music generates "anima spiritia", a form of spiritia that can restore people's lost spiritia, but is too pure for the Protodeviln to absorb. Again, cue awesome valkyrie fight scenes and music. Personally, Macross 7 is my favourite.

Most recently (set in 2059), we have Macross Frontier, where yet another new alien attacks, called the Vajra. This time, we get two singers: Sheryl Nome, and Ranka Lee. Of course, music helps drive the aliens away, but this time more logically sound. There are lots of references to the original Macross with regards to characters and events. Last but not least, cue awesome valkyrie fight scenes and music.

There are a few more Macross series, such as Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love?, Macross II: Lovers Again, Macross Plus, Macross Dynamite 7, and Macross Zero. For those who haven't watched anything from the series, I would recommend starting with Do You Remember Love? and Macross Plus. They are relatively short and should get you on your way for the more modern stuff like Macross Zero and Macross Frontier. I can't really recommend Macross 7 despite it being my favourite; watch only if you have a high tolerance for old shows.

...cue awesome valkyrie fight scenes and music.

getting dunked

2008-12-16T09:17:00.002-05:00

Many people who have known me for a long time (mainly aunties and uncles at my church) were surprised that I haven't been baptized yet. Maybe it was an age expectation they had...or maybe that other people around my age group had already been baptized a few years back.

It hasn't been much of an issue though. I think the only thing that I had to deal with was being mistakenly given some communion bread while I'm playing the piano while the deacons passed the plates around. Thankfully I didn't eat and drink judgment upon myself those times.

Anyway, If I haven't already invited you guys to my dunking session, it's at NTCBC this Sunday at 3:30pm.

...sploosh...

O Hi

2008-11-14T00:29:00.002-05:00

Maybe it's a good thing I haven't posted in a while, but oh well. I'm still alive and kicking.

Oh, and I can't wait to go back to school. I've been wanting to go back after the first week of work. I must have some form of A.D.D...

study break 2

2008-08-04T14:25:00.003-04:00

as i was studying at slc, phil was working on his micro and multitasking skills. I didn't think that he could play sc and read the bible at the same time. pwnage.

study break

2008-08-02T19:13:00.001-04:00

So i was talking to my mom on MSN while studying at SLC today, and here's an excerpt:

Mom: is anyone renting your room for the next 4 months?
Me: yup, that's all taken care of
Mom: thanks God, you are winner

...what??

(dzeh...what are you doing??)

The Reverse-bias Dan Au Effect

2008-07-19T16:28:00.002-04:00

Dan and I got to dc today at 2pm, and we didn't do any work until 45 mins later. I think i was influencing dan this time around...the Jon Wong effect? =P

Back to work with transistors.

The Dan-Au Effect

2008-07-06T21:16:00.002-04:00

def'n: the propensity to follow Dan Au's actions w.r.t. academic study

e.g.1: If Dan feels like going to the library to study, I would also want to.
e.g.2: If Dan would rather stay home and watch Macross, I would do likewise.

There are a few exceptions where the Dan-Au effect does not impact my actions at all, for example tonight. I decided to stay home and work on my labs, but I'm more prone to distractions...like blogging.

back at home

2008-06-30T00:48:00.003-04:00

It's almost 1 in the morning, so i'm making a brief summary of my long weekend so far.

- I've done little to no work lately, and I have 2 more days before everything's due.

- my little aunt/uncle/cousins/whatevertheyare have started to drink tea when we went to a chinese restaurant on saturday. YAY!! Now their teeth won't have as many holes due to all that sugar content in the apple juice they drink. I think i'm gonna have to force them to eat more vegetables again sometime. ooh, what fun =P

- i've sort of forgotten what it's like to be at home, having not been back for a while. oh well, it's all good.

- WHY IS IT SO HOT IN HERE?? I LIKED IT BETTER IN MY GHETTO BASEMENT IN WATERLOO. okay, maybe not, but still...ac was only turned on like, on thursday.

- Stuff i've been compiling over the last couple days to watch:
-gurren lagann
-denno coil
-g gundam
-macross frontier
-soul eater
-spice and wolf
-bamboo blade
-potemayo
-ex driver

PC, Mac...can't we live together?

2008-05-21T10:39:00.004-04:00

The most common things I hear:
"Macs are stupid. You can't play any games and are only for graphics."
"Windows sucks. They get too many viruses and crash often. Macs don't have any of these problems."

I remember how I used to cringe when I had to use a Mac. What? Only a one-button mouse? I need to press Command+Click for Starcraft? Garbage!

Then there was the time at work at Espresso where I was told to install windows through Bootcamp on another person's Macbook. I basically didn't know how to do anything in the OS...yes, I thought that the nice Apple icon on the top bar would act like a Windows start menu. It was like playing DDR with all the arrows mixed around in different order. I don't know how to do anything!! ARGH!!

During my 2A term, Keith gave me the first real exposure to the Mac OS (ironically on a PC, but that's besides the point). It did take a bit of time to learn simple tasks like opening and closing applications, installing applications, making new folders, etc. Tim, being a long time Linux and Mac user, also helped me get familiar with the operating system, including using the terminal.

My work term was when I decided to take the step in buying a Mac. It was probably because my co-worker Hash bought an iMac with his first payroll. He also learned how to use Linux through the help of his friend Jack who was an open-source purist (running all open-source software on gentoo linux and swapping out all his proprietary hardware in his laptop).

I bought my Macbook Pro from a student from Western. He was apparently the Apple Campus Representative there. He got a brand new Macbook Pro from work, so he wanted to sell his 2-year-old 1st-gen one...surprisingly at a decent price, so I bought it on impulse. I needed a desktop replacement laptop anyway.

Even after buying, I still used my old desktop Windows XP machine. However, I got so used to running programs and opening folders using Quicksilver that I found having a perfectly neat and laid-out start menu wasn't efficient enough for me. So I got a Windows equivalent of it...wasn't perfect, but I was happy.

I also experimented with ubuntu Linux on another computer lying around. I was surprised by the amount of work that had been done since the last distribution update. The GUI was just more user friendly, as if the developers were trying to have a sweet-looking interface that rivals OSX with the core functionality of Linux. Then I started to think that my Macbook Pro wasn't so special anymore. It was just like another laptop (albeit with a capability to play games hardware-wise). It seemed like I had just bought a PS3 at launch...expensive, few games, unpopular...then realized that the Wii and Xbox360 were also great consoles.

Anyway, I wanted to respond to some of the common sayings about Macs and PCs. First of all, Macs DO have games, but not every company writes their games for operating systems outside of Windows. If you want to play any Steam games or a majority of those Korean MMORPGs, you're out of luck unless you're running Windows. However, companies like Blizzard and idSoftware have ported their games to OSX, and in some cases, Linux as well. Yay OpenGL!

It's a common misconception that Macs are only for graphics work. There are a TON of stuff for Windows, Unix, and Linux as well. Heck, Windows machines were used for the Lord of the Rings movies.

A lot of Mac fanboys (I'm not a Mac fanboy, btw) proclaim that their precious little computers will never crash and don't get any viruses. This isn't completely true. From experience, my Macbook Pro does crash, but rarely...only if I do something stupid. It handles application crashes a little better by not hanging up the entire system. I know my old PC has trouble with this, most likely because it's pretty darn old. Otherwise, if I don't overwork my PC, it's mostly trouble-free.

Viruses. Yes, there are much fewer viruses for Mac, but they still exist. It is possible to not need an antivirus software even on a Windows machine. Tim had one running for a few years, virus free. Don't click random links, download random files, etc...and you'll be fine.

Mac advertisements have built a certain negative reputation. I personally find some of them stupid, or just bashing PCs in general. The remaining ones, however, are somewhat clever and interesting. There's also a reason why you see so many Mac ads...Windows is more popular.

There are probably a ton of other complaints about Windows, OS X, and even Linux that I won't go into. They're all great operating systems in my opinion. They have their flaws too. It's just a matter of preference: Which interface am I the most comfortable with? Do I want to play (insert game here)? Do I want to use (insert application here)?

C'mon, be nice. Mac wants to be friends with Windows. Oh, and don't leave out Linux! He wants to join in too. Can't we live in harmony, despite our differences?

EDIT: A little interesting tidbit...Microsoft products on my Macbook Pro, like Officemac, run quite a bit slower than their Windows counterparts.

EDIT2: In Japanese Internet culture, operating systems are represented by cartoon characters. More on that here and here.

mePhone

2008-04-07T08:45:00.002-04:00

no, it's not mine. just holding on to it for a friend.

Stress Testing

2008-02-21T13:59:00.011-05:00

Today, I was told to stress test a computer. And this was what I got to play around with:

The massive duct on the dual Xeon heatsinks was quite awesome. Topping that, there are two removable exhaust fans as well. Naturally, I removed them because they were FREAKING loud. Overall, the airflow design is pretty good. Even the power supply above and the FireGL card below get cooled.

Stress testing involved some OpenGL rendering and a few instances of Prime95. And some CS Source, which i don't have a picture of. It wasn't really anything spectacular, since the video card wasn't intended for games in the first place.

My co-worker, on the other hand, got to tinker around with a gaming-pc-turned-server machine. For some reason, there's an LCD display at the back. Maybe for troubleshooting?

I think i'll be getting back to playing CS. I am technically stress testing the computer, aren't I?

vectors

2008-01-29T15:30:00.001-05:00

"Graham's number, named after Ronald Graham, is a large number often described as the largest finite number that has ever been seriously used in a mathematical proof. Guinness World Records even listed Graham's number as the World Champion largest number. It is too large to be written in scientific notation because even the digits in the exponent would exceed the number of atoms in the observable universe so it needs its own special notation to write down." [1]

No, it has nothing to do with vectors. I was playing around with the pen tool in Illustrator CS2 today out of boredom at work, and this is what I came up with. I really didn't know how to do the 64, nor where to position them. But whatever.

So, if you ever decide to colour an n-dimensional hypercube, just remember this.

[1] Wikipedia, "Graham's number," January 2008, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham's_number.

Pointless Studying Procrastination

2008-01-22T22:25:00.000-05:00

Stuff that's cool:

Pretty interface. Like, it looks incredibly slick. No wonder why they used something similar for the PS3.
African huge screen for a portable system. 480x272 resolution is nothing short of impressive.
The browser. I can even check my email. And it does WPA...cough DS cough...
Sound. Expected nothing less of CD quality; but coming from a DS, there sure is a big difference.
DJ Max. It's awesome.
DJ Max looks so sweet. It would be almost impossible to port it to the DS.
DJ Max is crazy.
Did I mention DJ Max?

Stuff that's bleh:

Maybe preference, but I don't quite like the cellphone-style of keyboard entry yet.
Wireless B only? Oh well.
Video playback requires conversion. Guess it's the same situation for my DS.
It's bigger than my calculator.
The browser supports flash, but it's an old version...so no Youtube on the go. Meh.
With a UMD loaded, it drains the battery like a vampire.
The square button is awfully close to the screen. I keep leaving fingerprints on it when mashing away on DJ Max.
The circle button feels weird...kinda clicks when it's not pressed directly down the middle.
Whoever decided to place that analog pad that low deserves to be shot. Or has hands the size of a baby...and still deserves to be shot.
Ditto the L and R buttons. And the rest of the buttons. Maybe I need a grip attachment.

Guess I can't go wrong with $160. Came with a 2GB Sandisk memory stick. Also got GTA: Liberty City Stories, as well as The Matrix and 8 Mile movies...not that I'd watch them on this though.

Work, work...

2008-01-18T09:47:00.000-05:00

Never thought work could be this relaxed. Meanwhile, I'll try to update this page.

Last night, I tried sleeping early...well, earlier than usual. Then I woke up 10 mins before i had to be at work.

I'm never sleeping early again.

Time management

2007-11-04T22:55:00.000-05:00

I think i've spent way too much money on games. and consequently, time.

- Beatmania IIDX 8th style - $40 + 13 customs
- Beatmania US bundle - $35
- Random stuff on DealExtreme.com - probably about $30
- Mario Kart DS - $25
- Taiko no Tatsujin - $30
- R: Racing Evolution - $5
- Pop'n music controller - $55

My marks, however, are probably quite low. Sigh....

halftime

2007-02-08T17:25:00.000-05:00

I've finished about half of my midterms, and I've already switched to relax mode. Ahh well.

This morning, I realized that I was missing a palm pilot. Couldn't find it anywhere; I must have dropped it sometime before or after the physics exam last night. Hopefully, the person who picked it up bothered to check my phone number on the contact list. But meanwhile, there goes my planner T_T

Today, with only one class to attend, I decided to bus over near Conestoga Mall to buy DDR Max and some extras. And here it is! ^^

Ahh...feels nice to own a legal import game. And it only cost about $19! WINNER!!

Anyway, random Youtube video! Or at least an interesting one..there are 5 parts, so yeah. Kinda liked it. A little predictable, but a powerful message.

EDIT: That vid would make the best valentine's day video. Be sure to watch it!!

ice

2007-02-04T12:38:00.000-05:00

First laundry experience didn't really go well. Either the washing machine didn't fling the clothes dry, or the dryer didn't work. Or both. But whatever it was, I ended up lugging around a bag full of clothes and water.

Thankfully, I could hang clothes around in my room to air dry. Or even in front of the heater, where I made a little grill. Mmm...toasty socks...XD

This morning, I woke up late for the bus to church. I had about 10 minutes to run all the way from Village 1 to UWP, about 2/3 across the campus. So, with Bible and french vanilla in hand, I departed on my first morning run. Being sore from playing DDR last night didn't exactly help either.

I made it to the stop with about two minutes to spare, at which time I enjoyed my nice somewhat-fresh caffeine serving for the day. Oh yeah, that was real good. =)

After I got home from church, I noticed some ice on my window. On the inside. Window was frozen, and there was a pool of water on the windowsill. Nice.

Kay, back to studying.

EDIT: forgot to add....I met my calc TA at church today. lol

ta: "I didn't see you at the tutorial last week!"
me: "...um...yeah."

ahh, nice to wake up to a saturday morning...err, afternoon

2007-02-03T12:04:00.000-05:00

I slept in till about 12 today. Boy, was I tired. Yesterday, I had the most terrible midterm ever. Our prof said that the exam was easy. It was (somewhat), but he didn't tell us that he wasn't going to include the equation sheet. Sneaky sneaky...-___- So, it was as if I didn't study for this exam at all. I'm sure I won't hear the end of it from my prof on monday.

Speaking of monday, I have a calc midterm on that day, and some more afterwards. And reading week in two weeks!!! yaaaaaaaaaaaa~~~~

Ahh yes..the joys of using a laptop/tablet. Now I can write my notes (probably not going to happen), or just replace the many sheets of paper used for studying and reviewing. I can even play Linerider and even doodle. Thanks to my bro who lent me his laptop for university.

Okay, time to go eat lunch, possibly learn how to do laundry (yes, it's sad lol), and relax!! err, i mean study..

burp

2007-01-18T00:39:00.000-05:00

ahh...i've really learned to love those french vanillas from Tim Hortons. It tastes better than coffee, and STILL manages to keep you awake for most of the boring classes. All in all, it's so WINNER...XD

Res isn't too bad; occasionally I'd hear some loud subwoofer resonating with my cork wall (yes, cork) and some guy and girl in towels asking to borrow the phone. Can't forget the drunk people outside breaking bottles during the weekend.

Oh! oh! Then there was this time when I heard thumping noises coming from the upper floor. I wondered who would be annoying enough to dribble a basketball indoors. Then I realized the thumps were on beat....nooo waaaayyy......... Then I went up and asked if i could play. XD

Food wise, the caf food is good whenever they know what they're cooking...like pizza, burgers, wraps, sandwiches, or most "western" food. When they try to make something nice, it always looks better than it tastes. Namely the steak, which is essentially a slab of grilled burger meat. Pork chops are too well done and dry; and the rice absolutely FAILS. The only place I can get remotely good chinese food is at the DC library, where I usually go for lunch everyday now. The chinese cooks may be soulless now, but at least they can cook something relatively enjoyable.

Anyway, it's been kind of a rough start at school, but I'm slowly adjusting. I hate those computer delivered tutorials on friday (they're similar to the computerized version of the G1 exams). Great way to make you feel stupid and hopeless for the weekend.

Job postings start today, and I still need to edit and convert my resumé into html format, as required by the online JobMine system. I hope i can get a job in toronto; I heard there were plenty in markham. And one in HK. wheee!!!

I better sleep. I'll need a french vanilla tomorrow.

EDIT: Boy, there sure is an unexpected DDR popularity at CCF.

back at the 'loo

2007-01-02T14:47:00.000-05:00

the residence isn't too bad. It's still kinda quiet around since people are still moving in, but it'll probably get noisier in a few hours.

Two things that bother me now...first, the lack of internet. ResNet doesn't seem to like my computer, so I have to go downstairs to use the local internet terminals (which are Macs with windows XP, lol). My other qualm is the lack of hot water in the bathroom. I stood in the shower for five minutes waiting for the water to get warm, and it didn't. bleh. least productive thing i did so far.

anyway, classes start tomorrow, so i'll be trying to buy books. bleh. -_-

i'm freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee~~~

2006-12-20T03:22:00.000-05:00

quote of the time period: "Why are you wearing bare feet?" -joanna

the beginning of the term felt like yesterday...time sure flies whether you're having a good time or not.

I'm probably going to miss this environment with nevin and kenneth. i'm probably going to become completely antisocial at the res since i don't really know anybody... =/ ahh well, hope all goes well next term.

meanwhile, i've been bumming around at the apartment by myself, and boy is it quiet. no nay's or u's anymore, but at least they're there while playing cs XD

arghh, i have to pack tomorrow...i mean, today. I'll probably stuff everything into a corner of the room until i move to the new res for next term.

anyway, i really better sleep. I haven't been up this early since..the lan party a couple years back? hahah...

oh yeah moneeeyyyy!!!

2006-11-18T14:44:00.000-05:00

Kenneth's going to sell it soon. Soo, while i had the chance.....

strange happenings

2006-11-01T23:48:00.000-05:00

First of all, some funny things i've heard in the past few weeks...

Linear algebra prof:

"Diagonalization is like making muffins."

(pastor tim replied with: "u making muffins? i'd like to try a diagonalize muffin. will a square muffin fit in my round mouth? just use a bigger hammer to get it in?")

"Vector projection is like Humpty Dumpty....you can't put it back together again."

"It's like the Goldilocks of vectors..not too big, not too small, but just right."

*Me, standing beside some guy playing stepmania on his laptop. Both this girl and I are tapping our fingers.*
Her: "We're such dorks!!"
Me: "Oh yeah...we're total geeks. =)"

/me!

Okay, onto midterms. I apparently barely passed ECE and calc; chem was okay with a 77. Linear algebra was pretty high, as expected. 90!! XD /me
Then here's the kicker....Physics, considered to be the hardest midterm in 1st year, I managed guess a few multiple choice questions that i didn't know, and got 100 after a bell curve. YAAA!!!! I thought i'd fail...but i seriously need to work on stuff and actually understand the material. Marks probably won't mean anything in the working world.

/u

2006-10-12T16:50:00.000-04:00

through all the stress of upcoming assignments and preparing for midterms, i needed a break. People playing Initial D on their PSPs and Stepmania on their laptops was good enough to keep me awake through lectures. And I thought everyone (except me) were all studious hardworking learners. It's nice to know that there are others who are as lazy as me.

Back on the break topic...my bike lock rusted out on me right before my mock midterm exam yesterday, with half the key inside. Thankfully, the exam room wasn't far. Today, Pastor Tim came over with a giant bolt-cutter to cut the lock. Hopefully I can get a more durable lock soon...or maybe a new bike as well. My rear wheel is sure bruxxed. XD

As I was leaving for class today, I realized the wind was really picking up. Not only that, it was SNOWING. omigooooshh...the first thing that came to mind was my sister dancing around like a maniac. Sigh...... -_-

[nerdmode]
I had a random nerd moment today after my last lecture. God is infinite; I'm the inverse of infinity.
I am close to nothing compared to God, but I'm still something in God's eyes no matter how small I seem to be.

GOD = infinity
ME = 1/infinity = approaches zero (limits! yarrr)
therefore, ME > 0, meaning that I'm something in God's eyes

[/nerdmode]

pie

2006-09-25T22:09:00.000-04:00

on saturday, kenneth decided to make seagram pie for the potluck. unfortunately, it took a very long time; and we wasted a lot of time playing Ninja Turtles III on the oldschool Nintendo. by then, we had an hour before the potluck started. It took us more than 3 hours to make the pie. But boy, was it good. Kenneth opened the lid while we were in Mike's car...ooooh man...it was killer.

That night (while dreaming of counterstrike), i felt a terrific pain in my lower chest area, as if i've been stabbed. I thought it was just part of the dream, but as I tried to fall back asleep, the pain grew worse. It got to the point where I thought i was going to die or something, so i prayed those typical God-i'm-helpless-out-here-please-help-me prayers in all honesty.

on a lighter note, i also got up and searched "heartburn" on wikipedia, convinced that i had it. I drank some water (stupid disconnected water filter), and went back to sleep. Then I woke up late the next morning, and the church bus was coming in ten minutes.

Now here i am, slowly (and painfully) making the transition to university life. hopefully you'll learn not to be lazy like me, and not to eat Seagram pie without drinking gallons of water afterwards. although that not have been the cause.

but that pie was sooooo good....*drools*

nerding out

2006-09-20T22:14:00.000-04:00

nerding out (nûrd-ĭng-out)
slang term

1) The act of transforming oneself into a nerd.
2) Studying vigourously until the death.
3) Doing calculus as a pastime. (Note: equivalent to solving word/numerical/geometrical puzzles)

Term coined by Uncle Johnny Lim

Unfortunately, I learned that it isn't as easy and fun as it sounds. It takes so much time, patience, brainpower, and dedication to do it. I just came back from my Physics help session, and I've learned that I really need good algeo and calc skills to do physics. No, not just plugging in numbers into equations anymore.

I think the Secondary School system should seriously revise the curriculum. I can't believe how unprepared people can be (myself included) for university, especially "brand name" ones like Waterloo.

I really shouldn't be surprised from this educational ambush, especially when I've been told millions of times that 1) university is very quick-paced with less time, and 2) engineering is a very heavy field of study. Unfortunately, even after many reminders, I wasn't ready for the rush. Oh well, I'll learn by nerding out more. Thanks Uncle Johnny!! I feel honoured to be a Waterloo student now. =)

UW Catacombs

2006-09-17T22:54:00.000-04:00

okay, not really. but tunnel systems - especially the large networked ones - seem quite cool. I think i'll be having a blast just finding all the locked and sealed entrances. Wow, i have no life =)

Today at church, Erica did some cool chords for Forever. I wasn't surprised that she would do something like that, but i was astonished at the sheer sound of it and how well it fit the melody. The instrumentation was pretty l33t...baby grand piano, bass and regular guitar, drum kit, and violin. I tried writing down the chords, but i couldn't remember what it sounded like after the other songs. After service, I just looked at the chord sheets they had on the stands =P

Now i'm feeling pretty darn tired, and I don't think I'll survive another week of stress now. Bleh.

EDIT: Turns out after the math test, i do need extra help. I couldn't pass that test even if i tried (which i did). ahh well....i need that help anyway. =)

random

2006-09-14T11:58:00.000-04:00

yesterday, while i was at my sis' place upstairs, we had some strange misunderstandings...

Jo: "Do you know how tall he is?"
I heard: "Do you know who Polly is?"

Then we couldn't stop laughing. Boy, my abs really got a workout. Maybe i'll be getting a 6-pack soon. Ahh, the infomercial possibilities....

"Proven to produce better results than the Abtronic! The Laughing Ab Workout package contains three Russel Peters comedy DVDs and a year subscription to the Daily Joke service. If you order within the next ten minutes, we will send you a FREE two-month supply of laughing gas (not recommended for automobiles). That's right, all of this for just 10 easy payments of $499.99! Call NOW! The lines are waiting!"

Anyway, I better finish my lunch and head off to class now.

balance

2006-09-11T23:26:00.000-04:00

the average 1st year undergoes the "frosh 15 ", where your weight increases by 15 pounds. hey, I'm cool with that, since i'm not much of a weight watcher (yay high metabolism!). I'd really like to see if my weight fluctuates by even six pounds. Now, i wonder if i could model my weight in a normal distribution with some standard deviation...hopefully not too high. stats...ick.

school is all about balance. you can't study all the time; you still have to maintain the rest of your regular activities like eating, sleeping, relaxing, socializing (people-ing for some), and stuff. Ing. Or whatever. Hopefully, the balance board doesn't tip all the way over to the other side, which i have a knack of doing. stupid me.

I think i finally realize what they mean by "twice the workload of high school". Classes/lectures are only 50 minutes, and the professors cram in a heck of a lot more material. I wonder how long i'll hold up to this before i crack.

oh crap...i have a math proficiency test tomorrow. I haven't reviewed anything!! arghh!!! *desperately tries to remember high school calculus*

wait, if i fail...then i can get extra help. great!! I love win-win situations. XD

the "real" beginning

2006-09-11T00:20:00.000-04:00

"Yup...that line you crossed there wasn't actually the end of the long, 12-km hike up the mountain. There's actually another 5 kilometres more at twice the incline, then a vertical wall that's covered in mist and fog. Where that will lead you, somebody out there knows. Just strive for the top and don't fall back down the hill." - The Bored Mind

I guess I sorta need some mind dump area again. I kinda miss using a space/blog. No tutorials this week! Sweet...I get to sleep in tomorow!! =D