iPod craze + IM clients

Today's lunch time discussion is on the topic of iPod. Have you seen the obscene percentage increase in iPod sales? NYTimes article here. So the discussion follows:

wx: "I can't remember when was the last time a product generated so much interest from the public."
RJ: "maybe.... back in the 80s, everyone wanted a cabbage patch kids?"
wx: "Ok, the other thing that came to my mind is the Palm Vx, but that was only in the high tech. circles."
EG: "yeah, everyone here in the valley had one.. otherwise a HandSpring."
wx: "but this is *ridiculous*, I mean, there are plenty of MP3 player competitors out there, with large capacity around 1-2 GB as well."
EG: "true, it's not like the iPod Nano uses new technology, it's just std. solid state storage media."
wx: "for example, Creative labs, RCA, and a bunch of other Chinese IHV/OEM/ODMs make thin MP3 players as well."
EG: "but it's all about the branding and marketing for Apple."
RJ: "you know Creative Labs because you in the tech industry, but think about an average consumer, they've only heard of 'Apple', and through the commercials, they all know about the iPod".
EG: "yeah, everyone in elementary school to my parents' friends want one this holiday season."
wx: "that's true, they do have an excellent marketing campaign, just that the craze for a single item in a catagory is unparalleled, it's becoming a status symbol to own an iPod nowadays."

So after lunch, I browsed around a bit and found this: Cult of iPod, maybe I should have brought some AAPL earlier??

---

IM client comparison from SlashDot. My personal favourite is YahooMsg b/c the audio-phrase/emoticon/enVironment are cute! and one can play games or doodle at the same time. GoogleTalk (Jabber based) has the best VoIP quality, and I favor GAIM over Trillian, open source is the way to go! (p.s. I also miss the simple old Zephyr)

---

Oh my, I can't believe how 633< this is, jm would probably enjoy it.

Happy Turkey Gobble day!

Last night, I had a wonderfully "proper" Thanksgiving meal. That was awesome because I really didn't plan out this holiday weekend, therefore, I am very appreciative that I had a place to go for the big meal. Honestly, I can't remember when was the last time I went home for ThanksGiving weekend.

Last Sunday at church, we also had our Thanksgiving lunch after the All-In service. I was very touched to hear people's testimonies on how they were thankful for God, families, spouse, and friends this past year. I was especially moved when I heard 2 brother's stories. The elder brother came up first and announced that he's thankful that God lead his entire family to come to church together for the first time in over 2 years. Then 10 minutes later, this young teenager came up to say his thanks, and of how he's so appreciative of his parents, how they have forgiven him even though he's been rebellious. Then he said this " .... I am sorry that I was hating them even this morning, for waking me up and getting me to go to church .... but I am now equally thankful like my brother, I want to thank God that he's brought our entire family here this morning to church in over 2 years!" WOW, that's some powerful real life testimony there, even the "toughest" amongst us has a tender spot deep down in their heart, and longs to be cared for!

I guess Thanksgiving is one of those holidays when you definitely do not want to be alone. You know how some people say "Oh, I don't want to make a big fuss for my bday." but you know, secretly everyone wants to be remembered on his/her special day. Along with BDays, ThxGiving, Xmas, and New Years are probably the worst time to be alone and without family and friends. I am appreciative that I spent this holiday with some new friends at my new small group, now I will have to plan for Xmas and New Year's breaks since I will be "homeless" again.

Arh, the holiday season is here, (sabishii ...)

Humanmetrics & Appreciations

undecided, so am I ENTP or ESTP? what are you guys? take the test and let me know!

This past weekend was a packed emotional rollercoaster for me:

I went to the GrX 2005 retreat, experienced a great All-In Thanksgiving service, congratulated WC, managed to blabber and tick off someone I met recently ... found out how nerdy I really am relatively to my circle of friends, and received a heart warming letter from a friend far far away ... (I think I will post a separate note about the retreat and the service later.)

Today I just wanted to share what a miracle an encouraging note from a dear friend can do to one's spirit! Because I did a whole bunch of stuff, and managed to catch a little cold over the weekend, I definitely woke up on the wrong side of the bed on Monday morning. As I am wrapped up in my USB project, I realized I am behind schedule since I didn't get back to work on Sunday night. Oo yes, I was stressed, not to mention being behind on my Japanese studies. Later that day, I received a caring note from someone far far away that completely uplifted my spirit! Apparently the care package I sent out last minute managed to get there on time for a special occasion. My Friend (MF for the purpose of this blog) is really happy and touched by my gesture. In return, MF's note also reminded me of our friendship and mutual understanding, and the writing was very honest, sincere and encouraging to me.

MF proceeded to continue on the topic of spiritual matters we started a while ago, and I found out that we are both in need of spiritual encouragement though we are in different situations. Some of the things we struggled with are similar in different disguises: (heavily edited version)

"Things have been a little bit difficult lately spiritually and emotionally for me. I don't know, maybe it's the ... and maybe it's spiritual attack, but it has been a trying time lately. Spiritually it has been kind of dry and good devotional times with God has been infrequent. ... about hitting "The wall" ..... It's at a point where you are no longer in the honeymoon period where everything is ... exciting. Instead, you are left with the thought of what are you doing here and now..., would it be better for you to be ... , are you really doing or contributing anything .... I would appreciate it if you could pray for me regarding this. ..... Please pray that God will be speaking His words through me."

======
This prompted me to start thinking about my own posses, and along with the thanksgiving spirit of the holiday, I just want to say that I am really really appreciative of my circle of friends.

Chatting with LC last night on GoogleTalk, we were both lamenting that it's much harder to build new friendships after college, everyone's sort of settled in their own crowd and we hardly meet new people nowadays. Even when we do, it's hard to find people we click with right away! I've met quite a few acquaintances since I moved to CA, some of those friendships are very short lived. At times I get close to people but we inevitably drift apart after the initial "new friend" stage is over; some times we grow apart, other times we just never traverse beyond the "glass" wall.

So I am especially appreciative of my "real" friends, those who were there before, are there now, and will be there for me in the future! They were there when I was emotionally and spiritually weak, they spent time with me when I wanted to share and listened to me patiently, gave me constructive advises, lend me shoulders to cry and rest upon, as well as played games and watched anime with me to keep me entertained. They *cared*, listened, supported and prayed for me. I really can't imagine my life without them and I'd be bored to death. Most of all, one thing that really bonded us together is the harmonious mutual understanding between us, that our values and our backgrounds are very similar. I am lucky that I have met a few cherished friends like these, I pray to God that our friendships will continue to deepen in the future and we will be looking back and laugh at the way we were years from now.

Nerd Test + Zubbles!

Urr... I knew that I was a bit on the nerdy side, no surprises given my edu. background. what I didn't know is that I am ranked in the 90+ percentile on the Nerd Test?!! come on, those questions are not even that hard or anything..

Overall, you scored as follows:
10% scored higher (more nerdy), and
90% scored lower (less nerdy).
What does this mean? Your nerdiness is:
Supreme Nerd. Apply for a professorship at MIT now!!!
Am I *really* that off center? My self-estimate was slightly above average, (especially considering that I am in the Valley) maybe ~55% compared to everyone else in my social circle? Now you guys (u # hu u r) have to try it and see if your scores shot into the twilight zone!

---

=== fun colorful Zubble Bubbles!! ===

Zubbles, wonderful colored bubbles! and a heart warming story of a diligent and persistent inventor! The 11-Year Quest to Create Disappearing Colored Bubbles - Popular Science

101 Faces of Pooh-san + FF7

Since I am blogging along the lines of FF7, Doraemon, might as well introduce my favourite classic Canadian Winnie-the-Pooh and the bear from the darkest parts of Peru - Paddington Bear!


Of course, one cannot forget my other favourite children's books: Le Petit Prince, and The Giving Tree, both of which I've shed countless drops of tears for.

---

A note on FF7 and Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, I can't wait until it hits the major screen release in the US in Jan, 2006. It has *awesome* graphics and ultra cool fight sequences!!

Doraemon - how it all started for me ...

I know this is very childish, but under my desk today, I found a Macy's bag containing a big blue stuffed cat with a 4-D pocket!! a surprise gift --> Doraemon!!
There are countless Eshrines and fansites on the web, he's voted the "cuddliest hero in Asia" by Times, (how suitable for my new cuddly? ) here is an entry in Wikipedia.org and it's JP official site.

I've adored Doraemon ever since I was little. My "affair" with Doraemon started when I was in JHS, when I met these new friends after moving to the States, they first introduced me to the Chinese translation of the manga. Ever since then, I have read various versions of the manga and anime OAV plus movies in Chinese (traditional and simplified), Japanese, and English. The countless times Dorayaki and rice cakes being mentioned in the stories must have projected a subconscious mental message for me to list them as top favorite sweets!

Let's see, Doraemon served as the my introduction into the whole fascination with the JPop thing. Now I've seen many JP drama sets, collected a few sets of "ninki" Jpop CDs, studied a few years of JP language, exchange-studied in Tokyo for a few months, and watched countless JP anime series.
And I blame all my subsequent "crushes" on smart/nerdy guys due to my fascination with the "smartest" robot cat from the future!

It's INDEED a small world!

Just got back from a pool game, those things are totally "practice makes perfect".. I am very grateful to my teammates whom had to tolerate my insufferably terrible judgement and lack of skills, thank you for the lessons!

On a side note, there is someone new at the dinner table, we chatted for a bit after finding out that he just relocated from NYC. It's funny how we played the Asian connections game, by starting to narrow down the circles, eventually he said "Oh, I know you!!" WHAT?! ... "My sister is '####'" (pause...) "NO way! you are one of the TWINS?!"

Turns out his sister is my best friend from HS!!! Wow, what are the odds of that?! We lost touch after I moved to CA, but I found her on Friendster a few months back, and she looked really happy in her travel pictures. We used to hangout all the time and visited each other's homes, we shared so many similar value/ideas and talked about a lot of things growing up together... Ooo... think I am going to shoot her an email tonight. =)

X * 0.5 + 7 = ??

Someone told me this last night: guys can date any girl that's half their age + 7.
I have never heard of this rule before, so I thought of the obvious question: WHY 7?! Is it because it's the magical number used in the Bible? Is it some magical constant? Does it exhibit interesting mathematical patterns? then immediately I realized how shrewd whoever that came up with this formula is!
Basically, if you do the math, then one realizes that this guy was working the numbers so it would be justifiable for him to cover the entire age range from 13 to life!

--- on the side note:
a few of my coworkers came back from TW today, chatting with one of them about the experience, the funniest comment was:
me: not knowing Chinese, did you have a difficult time getting around outside of lab?
Mr. X: I figured out a wonderful formula -- all the good looking girls speak English very well!

Addiction!

I am addicted to NTK! Yes, I've had it 5 times in the past 2 weeks, and I am dying for more!!

NTK recently reopened and changed its name to "Luu noodles". I found it really convenient to drop by for a bowl of steamy hot noodle soup before Japanese class at nights. Actually, this is not the first time I am addicted to them - I was quite into their #1 combo for a while back in 2003. This time, I've been trying out various different egg/rice noodle combinations.

Um.. maybe it's time to switch back to a healthier diet.
yes, more MSG!

The blog originated...

www.m-w.com
The Word of the Day for November 7 is:

detritus \dih-TRYE-tus\ noun
1 : loose material (as rock fragments or organic particles) that results directly from disintegration
2 a : a product of disintegration, destruction, or wearing away : debris *b : miscellaneous remnants : odds and ends

Example sentence:
"The blog originated ... as a catch basin for mental detritus, for the kind of stuff not good enough for print, but too good to waste on casual conversation." (Joel Achenbach, _The Washington Post_, August 21, 2005)

Fire!

I just got back from a long lunch break. I was stressed and not in a very good mood this week so I decided to go roller blading on the trail near campus. I haven't bladed in a while now, and am a bit rusty for the first part. You know how exercise and adrenaline affect people's mood? well, for me it works like a charm, I was happy as a camper in a few min.

In addition, I also did a good deed today. While I was admiring the gorgeous weather over the bay and (if one turn away from the 101 traffic) the beauty of the vast expanse of wetlands in BayPoint park, I noticed there is a thick black smoke coming from behind the hills. Turns out that there's a big fire in the trees, and these olderly couples nearby don't have cell phones or something. So I called up 911 (a valid call, not an accidental "Ops, quick-dial keypad" kind) and within minutes the fire trucks arrived. I am glad that I played a small part in helping preserve the wetland environment and maybe saved a few ducklings in addition to trees! Those firefighters must have a really great sense of job satisfaction today!

Chinese Calligraphy

During Japanese culture class, I got to practice Chinese calligraphy! I have not touched a calligraphy set in almost 20 years. (aiya!) It was both fun and relaxing in a way. I was laughing at my EuroAsian friend who also happens to be left-handed. Any Asian person know that left-hand and Chinese calligraphy does not mix well. Well, he promptly snickered back at me when I "mis-spelled" dragon on 3 different strokes! Time to write my Christmas cards in Chinese again.
See my Chinese name (top-down, left-right)

"Things that matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least." - Goethe

Cry of My Heart (Terry Butler)

It is the cry of my heart to follow You
It is the cry of my heart to be close to You
It is the cry of my heart to follow
All of the days of my life

Teach me Your holy ways, oh Lord
So I can walk in Your truth
Teach me Your holy ways, oh Lord
And make me wholly devoted to You

Open my eyes so I can see
The wonderful things that You do
Open my heart up more and more
And make me wholly devoted to You

Dr. Phil Greenspun's site

I have met Dr. Phil Greenspun in person once while at MIT, and I have seen his early websites many years ago while I was still a student. Somehow the picture of him and his big fluffy white dog stuck in my mind, that's why I vaguely recognized the picture on photo.net this morning.

Being a travel enthusiast, I spent my lunch hour reading his journey with Samantha throughout North America. It amazes me that he's not like my other MIT professors, he definitely has a creative artist side to him outside of EECS. But I will leave you to judge that for yourself.

The recount of his journey started with the death of his companion dog, George. It's heart wrenching to read the first chapter and to experience the genuine feelings expressed throughout his writing. The readers are able to vividly relive his experience through the photos and writings in subsequent chapters. I have always envied people who are able to fully and accurately express their feelings through language or art (painting, photography, printed media, etc). I am thoroughly impressed by the combination of photography and story telling skills demonstrated here.

http://www.photo.net - check out the POW (Photo-Of-the-Week)
http://www.photo.net/samantha/index -- see his other travel photo journals under the "travel" section.