DJ Behrouz from 1015 Folsom San Francisco was spinning at Zouk last night and he was just so awesome! The usual crowd was there, with special guests J and RT haha! RT is such a natural on the dancefloor.... I hear So You Think You Can Dance is coming to town, she shld show them how its done! Oh, and J, thanks for the E33, cheers!
So I had dinner with some secondary school friends tonight at some Japanese restaurant called tsubuki in Novena. There's quite a few Jap restaurants there so its easy to get lost, but we all found it eventually. My friends are thinking of organising a vacation to Tibet, to check out the highest railway in the world at Lhasa. Sounds like a plan! We were wondering what the weather there would be like in winter. I said maybe it could hit -40 celcius. I mean, its near the himalayas and its pretty damn high up there, you even need oxygen piped to you on the train!
JM says that at -40 liquids freeze immediately when exposed to the air. i.e. if I threw a cup of hot coffee at you, you'd actually be hit by a black blob of ice? I definitely don't want to be peeing in the bushes then, might get stuck to the bushes!!! I wonder if they have good music and parties in Tibet? I mean Brad Pitt spent 7 years there (just kidding!)...
Anyway, I'll be in California end August. Bay Area mostly but will go down to SoCal for a few days, so I guess I'll check out 1015 and the like, meet up with ol fren's, stroll down telegraph and hearst? Boy I miss the Golden State.... An expensive vacation though, hopefully I can get enough bonus this year to make up for it!
Monday, July 10, 2006
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Fireworks anyone?
Today we celebrate Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness!
:P
It was a long tiring day at work today. Okay, I chose to stay back late to finish up what's left of my computer model, but I also got shot with some big time arrows in the process, sigh.... Anyway, I was just staring at my window's background to chill. That picture is the Tongass Narrows in Alaska, taken 2 years ago in the summer. It's really been quite a while. We got East Coast Park, miles and miles of endless man made beach lined with artificial foot paths..... The skating's good, but somehow it can't match up to Tongass Narrows, Mount St Helens, Poing Reyes, Squaw Valley and the likes. I guess the only nature you can find here is Ubin and Bukit Timah Hill, but that's more like tropical rainforest full of mosquitoes! The only time I was ever swarmed by mosquitoes in the Land of the Free was when I was hunting for the tallest tree in the world at Redwood National Park.
Yeah, bet I never told you about that one. I went to Valley of the Giants and Redwood National Park for the first time with KH on a road trip. We were hunting for the tallest California Redwood, which is incidentally the tallest tree in the world. Found one which was the tallest but had been felled, and another at the Valley which was the next tallest before they discovered one at Redwood National Park. So we drove up to Redwood National which was some miles away but it started to get rainy so we headed back. And we also tried to find the Mouth of the Klamath River on the way, and I so do not recommend that to anyone who doesn't own a 4WD. Basically the dirt road is more dirt that I've ever imagined! Basically just completely strewn with 40mm aggregates, I think I must have messed up my suspension and tire axle real bad on that road. Anyway, a year later, after KH had gone to Stanford, I returned with my parents to hunt for the tallest tree again. Basically there are a few supposed "tallest trees" which are almost the same height except one gets hit by lightning and loses the title etc. We saw almost every one of them (xcept the one with the 5 mile walk) but the last one, called Big Tree, had mosquitoes all over the place. That's when we decided enough is enough.
Anyway, to digress for a moment, I saw this guy skating some weird skates on Sunday at the Park. Basically his skates had 2 wheels on each skate and they were aligned sideways. So he skates sideways like skateboarding, so weird!
Back to reminiscing about my adventures in the Home of the Brave since it's the 4th of July. Skiing really is the Pursuit of Happiness haha, I don't think skating can even come close. Not fast enough, actually hurts when you fall etc.... I still remember my first Black Diamond. I was on a ski trip with TBP in the winter of 2002 and we decided to go to Squaw Valley. The other choice was Donner, which costs only like 20 bucks for the lift ticket but come on, once a year trip you gotta go to Squaw! Anyway, I took the lift right up to the top, and everyone got out on the left, it was kinda crowded. I took a look at the right, looks empty, looks doable. Sign says "for advanced skiiers only" with a black diamond, one way down only. What the heck, I went for it, and never looked back! It was so so fast, but friendly and wide, and the bowls were so huge! I can never forget those bowls. The K2 olympic run was amazing. I tried all the peaks, there was one u had trees around u at the top too haha! And another with gates which were double black, i saw some dude rushing through and almost followed in, but you can't miss the gates, its suicidal! Just round the next bend i saw the cliff behind the gates and I was so lucky I didn't try my luck there.... Some people like the terrain park, but hey, it's all black diamond for me!
I think we should all pursue Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. That makes life so much more worth the living than just money or power.....
:P
It was a long tiring day at work today. Okay, I chose to stay back late to finish up what's left of my computer model, but I also got shot with some big time arrows in the process, sigh.... Anyway, I was just staring at my window's background to chill. That picture is the Tongass Narrows in Alaska, taken 2 years ago in the summer. It's really been quite a while. We got East Coast Park, miles and miles of endless man made beach lined with artificial foot paths..... The skating's good, but somehow it can't match up to Tongass Narrows, Mount St Helens, Poing Reyes, Squaw Valley and the likes. I guess the only nature you can find here is Ubin and Bukit Timah Hill, but that's more like tropical rainforest full of mosquitoes! The only time I was ever swarmed by mosquitoes in the Land of the Free was when I was hunting for the tallest tree in the world at Redwood National Park.
Yeah, bet I never told you about that one. I went to Valley of the Giants and Redwood National Park for the first time with KH on a road trip. We were hunting for the tallest California Redwood, which is incidentally the tallest tree in the world. Found one which was the tallest but had been felled, and another at the Valley which was the next tallest before they discovered one at Redwood National Park. So we drove up to Redwood National which was some miles away but it started to get rainy so we headed back. And we also tried to find the Mouth of the Klamath River on the way, and I so do not recommend that to anyone who doesn't own a 4WD. Basically the dirt road is more dirt that I've ever imagined! Basically just completely strewn with 40mm aggregates, I think I must have messed up my suspension and tire axle real bad on that road. Anyway, a year later, after KH had gone to Stanford, I returned with my parents to hunt for the tallest tree again. Basically there are a few supposed "tallest trees" which are almost the same height except one gets hit by lightning and loses the title etc. We saw almost every one of them (xcept the one with the 5 mile walk) but the last one, called Big Tree, had mosquitoes all over the place. That's when we decided enough is enough.
Anyway, to digress for a moment, I saw this guy skating some weird skates on Sunday at the Park. Basically his skates had 2 wheels on each skate and they were aligned sideways. So he skates sideways like skateboarding, so weird!
Back to reminiscing about my adventures in the Home of the Brave since it's the 4th of July. Skiing really is the Pursuit of Happiness haha, I don't think skating can even come close. Not fast enough, actually hurts when you fall etc.... I still remember my first Black Diamond. I was on a ski trip with TBP in the winter of 2002 and we decided to go to Squaw Valley. The other choice was Donner, which costs only like 20 bucks for the lift ticket but come on, once a year trip you gotta go to Squaw! Anyway, I took the lift right up to the top, and everyone got out on the left, it was kinda crowded. I took a look at the right, looks empty, looks doable. Sign says "for advanced skiiers only" with a black diamond, one way down only. What the heck, I went for it, and never looked back! It was so so fast, but friendly and wide, and the bowls were so huge! I can never forget those bowls. The K2 olympic run was amazing. I tried all the peaks, there was one u had trees around u at the top too haha! And another with gates which were double black, i saw some dude rushing through and almost followed in, but you can't miss the gates, its suicidal! Just round the next bend i saw the cliff behind the gates and I was so lucky I didn't try my luck there.... Some people like the terrain park, but hey, it's all black diamond for me!
I think we should all pursue Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. That makes life so much more worth the living than just money or power.....
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
On the catwalk
Did you just watch Project Runway 2? Diana is cute man! Creative nerd who knows how to dance, how cool is that? Too bad she got kicked out.
I was on course today, had so many coffees, but still managed to doze off several times. But now I cannot sleep. Sigh. So much for China professors I guess.....
I was on course today, had so many coffees, but still managed to doze off several times. But now I cannot sleep. Sigh. So much for China professors I guess.....
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
I ran and I ran and I ran
One of the great things you can do in Singapore which you wouldn't do in California is to run by the beach in the middle of the night. Even when it's deserted. Okay, the other thing you can do is drink with an open can in the middle of the street, anywhere, even when you're 18, but let's not go there. I can't imagine running down the Ohlone Greenway in El Cerrito or at Caesar Chavez in the middle of the night. If you don't get killed you'll probably get mugged. Or mugged and killed....
The only time I ran in the middle of the night (once) was in freshman year. The route was standard, one round around campus, but no it wasn't a nice flat round! First leg out of the dorms you go right upslope on Bancroft. It feels okay at first, but you just want to die when you hit Piedmont. Then its flat along Piedmont and you run down Hearst, which is such a breeze! The flat stretch along Oxford really feels like a warmdown, but then up Bancroft past the RSF and back to Unit 3 and that's a real test of endurance! I always made it though, my dorm mates thought I was a commando or something. But those were the days when I was actually slim and fit haha!
One of my other running routes was one round around the back of Albany hill, up to Central and then down San Pablo and back onto Solano. That one was long and tough, almost blacked out once! The thing that really kills you is when you pass Dunkin Doughnuts but you can't go in! I make sure I don't carry any cash when I run so I don't get tempted. I never ate at Dunkin by the way. Guess it can't beat fresh Krispy Kreme....
The last running route is of course back and forth on the Ohlone Greenway up to St John's Church near Portrero and back. It gets kinda quiet on the weekday's though, and sometimes theres a patrol car going back and forth, so I get a little freaked out, especially when I go by the low cost housing areas. But so far so good, nothing happened.
Anyway, right now I actually have a pair of shoes just for running. I used to use my running sneakers for anything under the sun, but after I spoiled the last pair playing golf and tennis, don't think that's gonna work out anymore. I think running shoes just aren't made for good lateral movement. Or maybe I'm just making the wrong moves.... Either way, its time for a new pair of shoes. ;)
Speaking of shoes, I actually have too many pairs of shoes. Even some that I never really used. I have one pair of North Face hiking boots worth US$100 with Nubuck leather that I never really used. I always wanted a Nubuck because it's like the ultimate leather for hiking boots. But sadly the boot is just so hard that its so so uncomfortable! Then I have a pair of Timberland low cut gortex hiking shoes, which was great for rainy weather, but then the sole keeps coming out when it gets too wet. Waterproof, but not the sole, damn... And don't get me started on the bowling shoes, which I have used only twice (and don't ask me why I bought them, I can't even bowl a 100). My best shoe buy? Timberland hiking/construction boots worth $70, with steel toe and insulated base! Why is it so good? Cos its construction safety standard but yet its very comfortable, for hiking, how bout that? I wouldn't use it for too much hiking though, the steel toe gets in the way after a while....
Yah I know my lady friends will be going, "What? That's it? I have like 200 pairs I don't use!" Well, girls tend to buy real cheap shoes but many many of them, to match every single outfit. Most of my shoes cost at least a hundred and are durable enough to last a few years. I have a female friend who throws away shoes every 3 weeks or so...
The only time I ran in the middle of the night (once) was in freshman year. The route was standard, one round around campus, but no it wasn't a nice flat round! First leg out of the dorms you go right upslope on Bancroft. It feels okay at first, but you just want to die when you hit Piedmont. Then its flat along Piedmont and you run down Hearst, which is such a breeze! The flat stretch along Oxford really feels like a warmdown, but then up Bancroft past the RSF and back to Unit 3 and that's a real test of endurance! I always made it though, my dorm mates thought I was a commando or something. But those were the days when I was actually slim and fit haha!
One of my other running routes was one round around the back of Albany hill, up to Central and then down San Pablo and back onto Solano. That one was long and tough, almost blacked out once! The thing that really kills you is when you pass Dunkin Doughnuts but you can't go in! I make sure I don't carry any cash when I run so I don't get tempted. I never ate at Dunkin by the way. Guess it can't beat fresh Krispy Kreme....
The last running route is of course back and forth on the Ohlone Greenway up to St John's Church near Portrero and back. It gets kinda quiet on the weekday's though, and sometimes theres a patrol car going back and forth, so I get a little freaked out, especially when I go by the low cost housing areas. But so far so good, nothing happened.
Anyway, right now I actually have a pair of shoes just for running. I used to use my running sneakers for anything under the sun, but after I spoiled the last pair playing golf and tennis, don't think that's gonna work out anymore. I think running shoes just aren't made for good lateral movement. Or maybe I'm just making the wrong moves.... Either way, its time for a new pair of shoes. ;)
Speaking of shoes, I actually have too many pairs of shoes. Even some that I never really used. I have one pair of North Face hiking boots worth US$100 with Nubuck leather that I never really used. I always wanted a Nubuck because it's like the ultimate leather for hiking boots. But sadly the boot is just so hard that its so so uncomfortable! Then I have a pair of Timberland low cut gortex hiking shoes, which was great for rainy weather, but then the sole keeps coming out when it gets too wet. Waterproof, but not the sole, damn... And don't get me started on the bowling shoes, which I have used only twice (and don't ask me why I bought them, I can't even bowl a 100). My best shoe buy? Timberland hiking/construction boots worth $70, with steel toe and insulated base! Why is it so good? Cos its construction safety standard but yet its very comfortable, for hiking, how bout that? I wouldn't use it for too much hiking though, the steel toe gets in the way after a while....
Yah I know my lady friends will be going, "What? That's it? I have like 200 pairs I don't use!" Well, girls tend to buy real cheap shoes but many many of them, to match every single outfit. Most of my shoes cost at least a hundred and are durable enough to last a few years. I have a female friend who throws away shoes every 3 weeks or so...
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Going crazy with CFD
I just learned something new today. For most Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) problems, the solution (dependent variable) is the flux of the primitive variables (i.e. flux of density, velocity and energy) at any given time and not the primitive variables itself. I guess that is in contrast with what ppl like myself in solid mechanics deal with; which is mainly the primative solution of strain. So are we any inferior, 'cos strain is like only one variable? Hell no! Strain is actually 9 variables arranged in a 3x3 matrix, while density (1), velocity (3) and energy (1) flux only constitute 5 variables! Well ok, there's still pressure, which makes it 6 variables, but only 5 variables need to be solved for in the partial difference equations (PDE), which is the hard part, in CFD. :P
There is however, a striking similarity between the CFD and solid mechanics methods of solution. In CFD the boundary value problem (BVP) can be solved in the conservation form or the non conservation form, with the former being preferred because the solution remains stable over a discontinuous shock wave. In solid mechanics the BVP can be solved using the displacement method or the force method, with the former being preferred because the solution remains stable over discontinuous stress fields (i.e. nonlinear behavior). So I guess we should just kiss and make up and learn from each other after all!
In other news, I watched silent hill and scary movie 4 today. Scary movie is absolutely hilarious! But they have so many spoofs though, and the spoofs even look almost like the original set that there isn't really much of its own story. And besides, its less that an hour and a half long, a tad too short for my $9.50..... Silent Hill was just weird, I still haven't really got it. I guess its supposed to just scare the shit out of you, but I wasn't really scared, more like humoured. It topped the US box office though!
There is however, a striking similarity between the CFD and solid mechanics methods of solution. In CFD the boundary value problem (BVP) can be solved in the conservation form or the non conservation form, with the former being preferred because the solution remains stable over a discontinuous shock wave. In solid mechanics the BVP can be solved using the displacement method or the force method, with the former being preferred because the solution remains stable over discontinuous stress fields (i.e. nonlinear behavior). So I guess we should just kiss and make up and learn from each other after all!
In other news, I watched silent hill and scary movie 4 today. Scary movie is absolutely hilarious! But they have so many spoofs though, and the spoofs even look almost like the original set that there isn't really much of its own story. And besides, its less that an hour and a half long, a tad too short for my $9.50..... Silent Hill was just weird, I still haven't really got it. I guess its supposed to just scare the shit out of you, but I wasn't really scared, more like humoured. It topped the US box office though!
Monday, June 19, 2006
Hitting the driving range
Sembawang golf course 9pm on sunday nights, u're gonna see me there every weekend! Why? 9 cents for 50 balls for students. OMG is that cheap or what??? I thought u can't buy anything for 9 cents nowadays. I mean, even egg prata at The Prata Place cost $1.20, which is insane (but good...)!
So DZ and I were wondering over dinner how the price of prata could go up and up and yet nobody complains? DZ says it might have been inflation. Well, inflation is like 2.5% a year or something right now, and it so does not explain the grossly inflated price of prata everywhere! I think we should open up the borders more and let locals go over to JB for prata every night. 50sen for egg prata in JB! Then lets see how these local profiteers compete!
Last night over drinks at P and K's place, P was saying how come everyone seems so broke when tax is so low and everyone lives at home over here. Good question, really, why is everyone so broke? Well, I postulate that for those who drive, its the car. Cars are so insanely expensive. And not to mention you can't really buy resale here. So if cars are expensive why do people keep buying them? Status? Maybe, but you can be rich in New York City and still not drive a car, so... Public transport system sucks? Possibly. Despite all the "first world" and high tech gadgets, public transportation isn't really public, especially if you hear the recent public outcry over rising bus fares and profiteering. I once met a renowned Stanford professor who said that public transport only remains successful if its public and subsidised. Not privatised "public" transport. Maybe there really is only one solution to reducing the number of cars on the roads.
Back to golf. My swing's getting a little more consistent, but still not happy with it. Driving range 9pm at night when its quiet empty and the weather's cool is really therapeautic. I can't imagine going on the green in the daytime in this weather, how can you enjoy it in this heat? Besides, you tend to see better players practicing at night. Sometimes the coaches take time off to practice, or even the counter guy. By the way, counter guy is pretty damn good man! I once saw a coach that hit 200 using irons, and off the range using woods. Now that's some technique I should learn man! In other golf news, Tiger Woods is out, on father's day too. Aw shucks, go Tiger anyway! :P
So DZ and I were wondering over dinner how the price of prata could go up and up and yet nobody complains? DZ says it might have been inflation. Well, inflation is like 2.5% a year or something right now, and it so does not explain the grossly inflated price of prata everywhere! I think we should open up the borders more and let locals go over to JB for prata every night. 50sen for egg prata in JB! Then lets see how these local profiteers compete!
Last night over drinks at P and K's place, P was saying how come everyone seems so broke when tax is so low and everyone lives at home over here. Good question, really, why is everyone so broke? Well, I postulate that for those who drive, its the car. Cars are so insanely expensive. And not to mention you can't really buy resale here. So if cars are expensive why do people keep buying them? Status? Maybe, but you can be rich in New York City and still not drive a car, so... Public transport system sucks? Possibly. Despite all the "first world" and high tech gadgets, public transportation isn't really public, especially if you hear the recent public outcry over rising bus fares and profiteering. I once met a renowned Stanford professor who said that public transport only remains successful if its public and subsidised. Not privatised "public" transport. Maybe there really is only one solution to reducing the number of cars on the roads.
Back to golf. My swing's getting a little more consistent, but still not happy with it. Driving range 9pm at night when its quiet empty and the weather's cool is really therapeautic. I can't imagine going on the green in the daytime in this weather, how can you enjoy it in this heat? Besides, you tend to see better players practicing at night. Sometimes the coaches take time off to practice, or even the counter guy. By the way, counter guy is pretty damn good man! I once saw a coach that hit 200 using irons, and off the range using woods. Now that's some technique I should learn man! In other golf news, Tiger Woods is out, on father's day too. Aw shucks, go Tiger anyway! :P
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Where do I belong?
Sometimes I'm not sure if I know where I belong. In the corporate arena, or in front of a computer? I guess I can't be blamed. After all, how many people go to work like me feeling as if they are a PhD student? Yet I am not a PhD student, nor would you classify me as a researcher, and I'm getting no guidance at that. But then again, I guess you just do what you gotta do and just see where the wind blows you know.....
So I've been learning something new everyday lately. And with everything new I learn, I learn that there's more things that I don't know. Now, that's kinda freaky you know, cos it really should be a nutty professor who's doing such things and worrying about how to save the world, not a government engineer!
Just yesterday I was trying to get the gist of nonlinear static analysis. I mean, that's the stuff that most finite element programs can do nowadays, so its no biggie. We learnt that in school too, all that Newton Raphson strategy with automatic load incrementation, stiffness update, iteration, energy norm termination blah blah. But Professor Filippou did warn that its not so simple, you gotta know when to use which parameters and which strategy. I thought it was all baloney, just turn on all of the controls and put the maximum parameters, that always works in the classroom right? Well, in the real world, your computer software (and hardware possibly) is gonna blow up in your face if you don't know what you're doing. And what matters worst is, what parameters do you even start with?
Today I moved on to eigenvalue analysis. There was this chapter on Guyan reduction. Basically that's good 'ol static condensation that you learn in school, just condense out all the undesired degrees of freedom to make your solution go faster. Simple stuff? Again wrong! In a real model you may be looking at thousands of degrees of freedom. Let the computer decide? Turns out that's the least accurate way....
Let's not even talk about meshing. Use the automatic mesher in the computer? Yeah it churns out very nice symmetrical meshes. But computational mechanics is not about aesthetics. Nice mesh often equals poor mesh, especially if your dumb automeshing software always takes the easy way out by mixing tria and quad elements, resulting in stiffness locking. Guess you can't rely on automatic meshers despite their claimed sophistication....
And there's more to come: nonlinear contact analysis, damage modeling, geometric nonlinearity etc. And I always wondered how difficult could it be to use a general purpose finite element program? Pretty damn difficult, if you want to push it to the limits and there's nobody else around to help you....
So I've been learning something new everyday lately. And with everything new I learn, I learn that there's more things that I don't know. Now, that's kinda freaky you know, cos it really should be a nutty professor who's doing such things and worrying about how to save the world, not a government engineer!
Just yesterday I was trying to get the gist of nonlinear static analysis. I mean, that's the stuff that most finite element programs can do nowadays, so its no biggie. We learnt that in school too, all that Newton Raphson strategy with automatic load incrementation, stiffness update, iteration, energy norm termination blah blah. But Professor Filippou did warn that its not so simple, you gotta know when to use which parameters and which strategy. I thought it was all baloney, just turn on all of the controls and put the maximum parameters, that always works in the classroom right? Well, in the real world, your computer software (and hardware possibly) is gonna blow up in your face if you don't know what you're doing. And what matters worst is, what parameters do you even start with?
Today I moved on to eigenvalue analysis. There was this chapter on Guyan reduction. Basically that's good 'ol static condensation that you learn in school, just condense out all the undesired degrees of freedom to make your solution go faster. Simple stuff? Again wrong! In a real model you may be looking at thousands of degrees of freedom. Let the computer decide? Turns out that's the least accurate way....
Let's not even talk about meshing. Use the automatic mesher in the computer? Yeah it churns out very nice symmetrical meshes. But computational mechanics is not about aesthetics. Nice mesh often equals poor mesh, especially if your dumb automeshing software always takes the easy way out by mixing tria and quad elements, resulting in stiffness locking. Guess you can't rely on automatic meshers despite their claimed sophistication....
And there's more to come: nonlinear contact analysis, damage modeling, geometric nonlinearity etc. And I always wondered how difficult could it be to use a general purpose finite element program? Pretty damn difficult, if you want to push it to the limits and there's nobody else around to help you....
Monday, June 12, 2006
so u think you can dance?
Did everyone watch the finale of "so you think you can dance?" tonight? That was some hard core action! As expected the top 2 dancers were that couple from San Francisco (Bay area rocks!). Their moves were so awesome, coupled with their ever smiling personality! I mean, you can see they were dancing for the love of dancing, for the love of the music, winning or losing doesn't really matter. How I wish I could dance like that? Just feel the music, and be good at it too....
Ever been to zouk lately? Zouk was good last Saturday. Can't remember the DJ's name, some ang moh who was spinning a good mix of house and trance. I could imagine those 2 dancers grooving away at Zouk.... Well, maybe Spundae at 1015 Folsom in the City. Yeah, that's the place to be alright! The last time I went there I think was Armin Van Buuren in 2004, though I may be wrong. He brought out Burned With Desire when my 2 friends went out for a smoke. That was so AWESOME! And I got his autograph too, though I lost in eventually in the process of moving.... My aim in life? To go to 1015 Folsom every saturday. Okay, alternate Saturdays in the winter, so I can fly up to Whistler every other! ;) Maybe I should just find a job at Boeing in Washington state, just like C. Right in between, the best of both worlds. Xcept that Washington ain't have much good Chinese food..... Well, you can't have everything I guess...
Somebody gave me a gift last week. She came back from Taiwan and got me a bottle of Taiwanese wine. I haven't opened it yet, cos I've already had too much alcohol in JB and its time to detoxify haha. But it was wrapped so nicely and that really makes it special: the extra effort. I'm not good with gifts, to be frank. Most of the time I just put it in a paper bag. A nice paper bag of course, but you could see there wasn't as much effort in that. The last time I put efforts into gifts I guess was Freshman year in Cal, and after that somehow I never got down to doing it again. That was a long time ago.... Guess I should spend more effort next time.
Anyway, I'm procrastinating again. I like to do the hardcore technical stuff. But somehow when the work is presented to me on a plate, I procrastinate, preferring to do the simple meanial tasks first. An article I just read says that just spend 5 minutes doing the hard tasks first. Then later when you go back to it, it won't feel so hard. Maybe I should follow this advice at the start of the day. I often take that 5 mins like 5 mins before knocking off work! haha
Ever been to zouk lately? Zouk was good last Saturday. Can't remember the DJ's name, some ang moh who was spinning a good mix of house and trance. I could imagine those 2 dancers grooving away at Zouk.... Well, maybe Spundae at 1015 Folsom in the City. Yeah, that's the place to be alright! The last time I went there I think was Armin Van Buuren in 2004, though I may be wrong. He brought out Burned With Desire when my 2 friends went out for a smoke. That was so AWESOME! And I got his autograph too, though I lost in eventually in the process of moving.... My aim in life? To go to 1015 Folsom every saturday. Okay, alternate Saturdays in the winter, so I can fly up to Whistler every other! ;) Maybe I should just find a job at Boeing in Washington state, just like C. Right in between, the best of both worlds. Xcept that Washington ain't have much good Chinese food..... Well, you can't have everything I guess...
Somebody gave me a gift last week. She came back from Taiwan and got me a bottle of Taiwanese wine. I haven't opened it yet, cos I've already had too much alcohol in JB and its time to detoxify haha. But it was wrapped so nicely and that really makes it special: the extra effort. I'm not good with gifts, to be frank. Most of the time I just put it in a paper bag. A nice paper bag of course, but you could see there wasn't as much effort in that. The last time I put efforts into gifts I guess was Freshman year in Cal, and after that somehow I never got down to doing it again. That was a long time ago.... Guess I should spend more effort next time.
Anyway, I'm procrastinating again. I like to do the hardcore technical stuff. But somehow when the work is presented to me on a plate, I procrastinate, preferring to do the simple meanial tasks first. An article I just read says that just spend 5 minutes doing the hard tasks first. Then later when you go back to it, it won't feel so hard. Maybe I should follow this advice at the start of the day. I often take that 5 mins like 5 mins before knocking off work! haha
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Back from JB
The long weekend is finally over..... Not! I'm still off on Monday haha! Well, this weekend was a project team retreat in JB using funds from our recent IQC gold award. JB is a city in Malaysia that is really close to Singapore for those who don't know. So what did we do? Basically, eat, shop and watch soccer! It's world cup season I guess, and a weekend getaway in a town where the world cup is being watched everywhere you go, there's no lack of entertainment. Wanna go to a bar? They're watching the world cup there. Wanna have supper at the hawker center next door? There's world cup there too. How bout just hang out in your room? Roommates watching the world cup!
The hotel lounge itself had a huge screen which was showing the game, of course. But they also had some skimpy chicks dancing and singing throughout the whole match, which means you can't hear the commentary. Isn't that the worst possible way to watch a football match? Apparently most people think not, cos the lounge was fully booked!
Traffic was really a bummer on the way home though. Which is why I didn't have much of an afternoon today. But otherwise, an unforgettable trip. Didn't take too many pictures though, cos despite what they tell you, I ain't feeling comfortable walking around JB with a camera slung around my neck. A sure target for robbery especially during the midnight supper sessions. I find it kinda strange that the super low cost housing and all is like right next to our 5 star hotel. I mean, once you step outside the hotel you are a prime target for a mugging..... Maybe that's why the only hotel guests who stray out to the neighbourhood for supper are Singaporeans and Malaysians...
We had lunch at this nice pizza joint on the ground floor on the first day. It was a nice quiet pizzeria, pretty much like pizza hut up a notch I guess. I had absolutely no idea that once nightfall beckons, all the tables would be gone, and the whole place would turn into a dancefloor! Heheh, the ultimate business transformation I guess! Even the pizza signs and menu remained during dancefloor mode! I guess the only telltale signs were the beertaps which were strangely not in operation during lunchtime.....
The hotel lounge itself had a huge screen which was showing the game, of course. But they also had some skimpy chicks dancing and singing throughout the whole match, which means you can't hear the commentary. Isn't that the worst possible way to watch a football match? Apparently most people think not, cos the lounge was fully booked!
Traffic was really a bummer on the way home though. Which is why I didn't have much of an afternoon today. But otherwise, an unforgettable trip. Didn't take too many pictures though, cos despite what they tell you, I ain't feeling comfortable walking around JB with a camera slung around my neck. A sure target for robbery especially during the midnight supper sessions. I find it kinda strange that the super low cost housing and all is like right next to our 5 star hotel. I mean, once you step outside the hotel you are a prime target for a mugging..... Maybe that's why the only hotel guests who stray out to the neighbourhood for supper are Singaporeans and Malaysians...
We had lunch at this nice pizza joint on the ground floor on the first day. It was a nice quiet pizzeria, pretty much like pizza hut up a notch I guess. I had absolutely no idea that once nightfall beckons, all the tables would be gone, and the whole place would turn into a dancefloor! Heheh, the ultimate business transformation I guess! Even the pizza signs and menu remained during dancefloor mode! I guess the only telltale signs were the beertaps which were strangely not in operation during lunchtime.....
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Ignacio Chapela wins!
Ok, this post comes one year too late, but I'm totally surprised! Ignacio Chapela is this professor who was battling against UC Berkeley because they did not give him tenure due to his allegations against Novartis, which Cal invests heavily in. In 2003 he staged a sit out protest by camping outside California Hall and lecturing in the hot sun day and night. I stopped by the lecture in amusement. I mean, I suppor this guys fight against the big giants but I thought it was game over for him. Guess not:
Ignacio Chapela Wins Tenure Battle
In May 2005, after a two-year battle, biologist and professor Ignacio Chapela was granted tenure with full back pay by the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Chapela -- a vocal opponent of the University’s research ties with the agrochemical and biotechnology firm Novartis (now Syngenta) -- was denied tenure in 2003 despite the overwhelming support of faculty in his department, Environmental Science, Policy and Management. Chapela remained at the teaching post he had held for ten years while he appealed the decision, charging the University had retaliated because he spoke out about improprieties in the Novartis agreement. In April 2005, Chapela filed a lawsuit against the University over the denial.
In 1997, Chapela opposed a US$25 million contract between the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology and Novartis, granting the genetically-engineered seed producer first rights to negotiate licenses on a major portion of the department’s discoveries, allowing two Novartis representatives to sit on the department’s research committee, and requiring certain faculty to sign confidentiality agreements. Chapela openly led public opposition to the deal, arguing the contract was negotiated in secret, was detrimental to academic freedom and a misuse of the university’s resources, and would ultimately bring damage to the environment, native plants and public health. The Atlantic Monthly ran a cover story on the contract titled “The Kept University” and California State Senator Tom Hayden held hearings in Sacramento. The contract was allowed to expire in February 2004.
In November 2001, Professor Chapela again stung the agricultural biotechnology industry when he and researcher David Quist published surprising findings in the scientific journal Nature: genetically engineered corn, banned in Mexico, had contaminated indigenous strains in the Oaxacan highlands; and the transgenic material or DNA detected was fragmented and unstable. If these results were confirmed, it meant that the world’s reserve of wild, biodiverse maize might be irreparably diminished.
The peer-reviewed paper was met with a storm of criticism, particularly on the question of unstable DNA, already a concern among scientists. As Paul Gepts, University of California, Davis plant geneticist, pointed out to an Australian news agency, “There is little research done on the stability of transgenic DNA…. These are important questions to investigate and yet the idea has never been tested in a systematic way.” Internet postings and letters-to-the-editor in Nature attacked the Chapela and Quist research, and the editors took the inexplicable and unprecedented step of “disavowing” the article, stating, “the evidence available does not justify publication of the original article.”
Later studies by the Mexican government confirmed the existence of the transgenic corn in Mexico, and an investigation tied some of the letters to Nature and web postings to fictitious “scientists” created by a public relations firm hired by Novartis.
When the University Budget Committee voted to deny Chapela tenure in 2003, it did so despite the unanimous support of an ad hoc tenure committee and a nearly unanimous vote for tenure (32 to 1) by his faculty peers. Chapela’s cause benefited from widespread student support, on-campus vigils, backing from the Berkeley Faculty Association, and letters from international scientists and supporters. It sparked an interdisciplinary campaign for intellectual freedom in scientific research and academic debate, including webcast conferences. Hearing that his bid was finally granted, Chapela wrote an open letter to his supporters:
“I know of no other case where the public’s role in the conferring of tenure has been more evident. There is no doubt in my mind that I owe this tenure to you, as well as to others beyond yourselves who, without knowing, have been prodigal in support of a place to think and speak freely.”
PAN North America is proud to have had Dr. Chapela as a member of our Board of Directors since 1997.
Sources: Tenure Justice, http://www.tenurejustice.org/Index.html; Mexican Maize Madness, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, April 7, 2002 (accessed on Pulse of Science website); Pulse of Science, http://www.pulseofscience.org; Global Pesticide Campaigner, August 2002; David Quist and Ignacio Chapela, “Transgenic DNA introgressed into traditional maize landraces in Oaxaca, Mexico,” Nature (November 2001, v.416, pp.541-543).
Ignacio Chapela Wins Tenure Battle
In May 2005, after a two-year battle, biologist and professor Ignacio Chapela was granted tenure with full back pay by the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Chapela -- a vocal opponent of the University’s research ties with the agrochemical and biotechnology firm Novartis (now Syngenta) -- was denied tenure in 2003 despite the overwhelming support of faculty in his department, Environmental Science, Policy and Management. Chapela remained at the teaching post he had held for ten years while he appealed the decision, charging the University had retaliated because he spoke out about improprieties in the Novartis agreement. In April 2005, Chapela filed a lawsuit against the University over the denial.
In 1997, Chapela opposed a US$25 million contract between the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology and Novartis, granting the genetically-engineered seed producer first rights to negotiate licenses on a major portion of the department’s discoveries, allowing two Novartis representatives to sit on the department’s research committee, and requiring certain faculty to sign confidentiality agreements. Chapela openly led public opposition to the deal, arguing the contract was negotiated in secret, was detrimental to academic freedom and a misuse of the university’s resources, and would ultimately bring damage to the environment, native plants and public health. The Atlantic Monthly ran a cover story on the contract titled “The Kept University” and California State Senator Tom Hayden held hearings in Sacramento. The contract was allowed to expire in February 2004.
In November 2001, Professor Chapela again stung the agricultural biotechnology industry when he and researcher David Quist published surprising findings in the scientific journal Nature: genetically engineered corn, banned in Mexico, had contaminated indigenous strains in the Oaxacan highlands; and the transgenic material or DNA detected was fragmented and unstable. If these results were confirmed, it meant that the world’s reserve of wild, biodiverse maize might be irreparably diminished.
The peer-reviewed paper was met with a storm of criticism, particularly on the question of unstable DNA, already a concern among scientists. As Paul Gepts, University of California, Davis plant geneticist, pointed out to an Australian news agency, “There is little research done on the stability of transgenic DNA…. These are important questions to investigate and yet the idea has never been tested in a systematic way.” Internet postings and letters-to-the-editor in Nature attacked the Chapela and Quist research, and the editors took the inexplicable and unprecedented step of “disavowing” the article, stating, “the evidence available does not justify publication of the original article.”
Later studies by the Mexican government confirmed the existence of the transgenic corn in Mexico, and an investigation tied some of the letters to Nature and web postings to fictitious “scientists” created by a public relations firm hired by Novartis.
When the University Budget Committee voted to deny Chapela tenure in 2003, it did so despite the unanimous support of an ad hoc tenure committee and a nearly unanimous vote for tenure (32 to 1) by his faculty peers. Chapela’s cause benefited from widespread student support, on-campus vigils, backing from the Berkeley Faculty Association, and letters from international scientists and supporters. It sparked an interdisciplinary campaign for intellectual freedom in scientific research and academic debate, including webcast conferences. Hearing that his bid was finally granted, Chapela wrote an open letter to his supporters:
“I know of no other case where the public’s role in the conferring of tenure has been more evident. There is no doubt in my mind that I owe this tenure to you, as well as to others beyond yourselves who, without knowing, have been prodigal in support of a place to think and speak freely.”
PAN North America is proud to have had Dr. Chapela as a member of our Board of Directors since 1997.
Sources: Tenure Justice, http://www.tenurejustice.org/Index.html; Mexican Maize Madness, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, April 7, 2002 (accessed on Pulse of Science website); Pulse of Science, http://www.pulseofscience.org; Global Pesticide Campaigner, August 2002; David Quist and Ignacio Chapela, “Transgenic DNA introgressed into traditional maize landraces in Oaxaca, Mexico,” Nature (November 2001, v.416, pp.541-543).
Saturday, May 27, 2006
bet you didn't know this
I just read this in the Economist:
"The Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River is not quite what it is often made out to be. It is often called the world's biggest hydroelectric dam. But several others are taller or longer. The Itaipu dam on the Brazil-Paraguay border produces more electricy...."
So much for the Three Gorges huh?
"The Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River is not quite what it is often made out to be. It is often called the world's biggest hydroelectric dam. But several others are taller or longer. The Itaipu dam on the Brazil-Paraguay border produces more electricy...."
So much for the Three Gorges huh?
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Turtles
YW's going away again. So what's new huh? Well this time he left his little turtle with me, since it's gonna be a really long time. I have turtles at home, 3 huge ones actually, but this tiny little one needs more attention I guess, so I can't just leave it lying around with the bigger ones.
I got my first turtles many years ago. There were 2 of them, but for some reason they died. Mum says my brother ill treated them or something. Whatever the reason, the hype over the turtle purchase never lasted more than a few months, and after that they became more of a liability. I think we kept them in a little fish tank in those days, so they must have felt pretty trapped.....
After that, no more turtles for me. At least no more until grandma got some turtles and decided that she had difficulty looking after them and gave them to us. I didn't think they were gonna last very long. I mean turtles are supposed to last a hundred years, but the first bunch that came into my house didn't last very long. There were 3 of them. At first they just occupied a small basin in the bathroom. Then they grew, and grew and grew, and now they each occupy a basin and that fills up the whole bathtub! I never really cared much bout them, since they weren't really mine anyway, but mum gives them lots of attention.
So now we have a new addition to the turtle family, and I think it's probably gonna be here for a long time, maybe forever, since I don't think YW's gonna be in town very much and he'll be leaving for good eventually. I'd have just gave it to my mum to look after with the rest of 'em, except she's not around now. My brother's supposed to do the job in the meantime, but he's been out late a lot, so I've actually been the one making sure these turtles are happily fed and all that. The little one's been very restless, I don't think he likes being in a bathtub. That's just too bad since I ain't gonna build a nice rock garden for the turtle. I think people living in apartments just shouldn't keep turtles. They need a proper natural rockscape environment or something....
I got my first turtles many years ago. There were 2 of them, but for some reason they died. Mum says my brother ill treated them or something. Whatever the reason, the hype over the turtle purchase never lasted more than a few months, and after that they became more of a liability. I think we kept them in a little fish tank in those days, so they must have felt pretty trapped.....
After that, no more turtles for me. At least no more until grandma got some turtles and decided that she had difficulty looking after them and gave them to us. I didn't think they were gonna last very long. I mean turtles are supposed to last a hundred years, but the first bunch that came into my house didn't last very long. There were 3 of them. At first they just occupied a small basin in the bathroom. Then they grew, and grew and grew, and now they each occupy a basin and that fills up the whole bathtub! I never really cared much bout them, since they weren't really mine anyway, but mum gives them lots of attention.
So now we have a new addition to the turtle family, and I think it's probably gonna be here for a long time, maybe forever, since I don't think YW's gonna be in town very much and he'll be leaving for good eventually. I'd have just gave it to my mum to look after with the rest of 'em, except she's not around now. My brother's supposed to do the job in the meantime, but he's been out late a lot, so I've actually been the one making sure these turtles are happily fed and all that. The little one's been very restless, I don't think he likes being in a bathtub. That's just too bad since I ain't gonna build a nice rock garden for the turtle. I think people living in apartments just shouldn't keep turtles. They need a proper natural rockscape environment or something....
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
eyesight
So my eyesight is getting bad. Myopia, presbyobia, astigmatism, you name it, I got it. It's kinda embarassing when for the umpteenth time a colleague comes up to me and asks why my laptop screen resolution so low ah?
Anyway, its not the end of the world. Most people will get there someday, it's just that mine has accelerated I guess. Hopefully it's stabilizing and doesn't get any worse. I've got a wonderful optometrist, who works at this place called Igard. He's a professional, masters degree in optometry, visiting fellow at AH and some local polytechnic too, and it normally costs 35 bucks to see him, but they have a tie up with my workplace so its free consultation. Basically, he says there's nothing seriously wrong, and this happens to the best of us I guess, so I have reading glasses for the long hours of work, but regular glasses are fine for the most part except I got to make the font sizes a little bigger. OK, a lot bigger.
It's been a while since I've got the problem fixed so why only start blogging about it now? Well, there's a lot of other young people out there with a multitude of vision problems, especially since Singapore has the highest rate of prescription eyewear in the world (70% of all people). And I recently noticed other people of my age having problems reading. If you think u got problems with your eyesight, better go see a proper professional optometrist. Most of the quacks out there don't know nuts, and if you don't fix it fast with the proper eyewear, it'll only get worse!
And why do u need a professional? Well, I gotta tell u it took a considerable amount of effort for the guy to make sure I didnt have any other eye ailments such as glaucoma, macular degeneration, etc etc, and then a lot of effort using some laser and all that stuff to determine the right glasses alignment and all that to get it done right. Your typical quack who just uses the eyechart is gonna miss something I tell ya. Don't settle for anything less when it comes to your eyes! ;)
Anyway, its not the end of the world. Most people will get there someday, it's just that mine has accelerated I guess. Hopefully it's stabilizing and doesn't get any worse. I've got a wonderful optometrist, who works at this place called Igard. He's a professional, masters degree in optometry, visiting fellow at AH and some local polytechnic too, and it normally costs 35 bucks to see him, but they have a tie up with my workplace so its free consultation. Basically, he says there's nothing seriously wrong, and this happens to the best of us I guess, so I have reading glasses for the long hours of work, but regular glasses are fine for the most part except I got to make the font sizes a little bigger. OK, a lot bigger.
It's been a while since I've got the problem fixed so why only start blogging about it now? Well, there's a lot of other young people out there with a multitude of vision problems, especially since Singapore has the highest rate of prescription eyewear in the world (70% of all people). And I recently noticed other people of my age having problems reading. If you think u got problems with your eyesight, better go see a proper professional optometrist. Most of the quacks out there don't know nuts, and if you don't fix it fast with the proper eyewear, it'll only get worse!
And why do u need a professional? Well, I gotta tell u it took a considerable amount of effort for the guy to make sure I didnt have any other eye ailments such as glaucoma, macular degeneration, etc etc, and then a lot of effort using some laser and all that stuff to determine the right glasses alignment and all that to get it done right. Your typical quack who just uses the eyechart is gonna miss something I tell ya. Don't settle for anything less when it comes to your eyes! ;)
Sunday, May 14, 2006
skate bearings
The new skates have arrived! They really are a major improvement over the old ones. Itchy fingers me just removed an axle to take a look at the well lubed shiny ILQ-9 bearings, aren't they just a beauty?
It was then that I realised I don't know how much exactly to tighten it when I put it back! I searched online, and there are a couple of tips, but it hadn't occured to me that it was such a complex system. After all its just a screw onto an axle that holds the wheel bearings together...
One guy on an online forum says that it don't matter how much u tighten the axle, because its the bearing racers (the middle part of the bearing that sticks out) that gets squashed, and since its supposed to remain still anyway, why bother how much u tighten it? I totally agreeed with him at first. Then a pro replied saying that in order to have bearings not wear out excessively fast, it needs perfect alignment, and a thousandth of an inch out of alignment (or somewhere along that order of magnitude) could screw up the whole thing. Since most products aren't that precise, screwing the axle too tight would actually place your bearings out of alignment and they wont be able to adjust themselves when skating!
Ok, so you don't want to overtighten then. So be on the safe side and undertighten? That doesn't work out too. If you undertighten, the bearings spin around the racers, and the racers spin too, which causes a click click sound while skating and wears out the whole setup too! Argh!
So, to get it all right, you need perfect tightness, so that its barely tight enough and there's minimal spin of the racers when you spin the wheels freely, but no spin of the racers at all when the wheels spin while u skate. And how to achieve that? Well, tighten the wheel until it just barely doesnt move anymore when u try to twist it. Easier said than done though, especially when you are dealing with all these parts with low stiffness! For now, I just try to tighten it to the same amount of twist as the brand new axles that I haven't fiddled with yet. Will let u know what happens after the first wheel rotation.....
It was then that I realised I don't know how much exactly to tighten it when I put it back! I searched online, and there are a couple of tips, but it hadn't occured to me that it was such a complex system. After all its just a screw onto an axle that holds the wheel bearings together...
One guy on an online forum says that it don't matter how much u tighten the axle, because its the bearing racers (the middle part of the bearing that sticks out) that gets squashed, and since its supposed to remain still anyway, why bother how much u tighten it? I totally agreeed with him at first. Then a pro replied saying that in order to have bearings not wear out excessively fast, it needs perfect alignment, and a thousandth of an inch out of alignment (or somewhere along that order of magnitude) could screw up the whole thing. Since most products aren't that precise, screwing the axle too tight would actually place your bearings out of alignment and they wont be able to adjust themselves when skating!
Ok, so you don't want to overtighten then. So be on the safe side and undertighten? That doesn't work out too. If you undertighten, the bearings spin around the racers, and the racers spin too, which causes a click click sound while skating and wears out the whole setup too! Argh!
So, to get it all right, you need perfect tightness, so that its barely tight enough and there's minimal spin of the racers when you spin the wheels freely, but no spin of the racers at all when the wheels spin while u skate. And how to achieve that? Well, tighten the wheel until it just barely doesnt move anymore when u try to twist it. Easier said than done though, especially when you are dealing with all these parts with low stiffness! For now, I just try to tighten it to the same amount of twist as the brand new axles that I haven't fiddled with yet. Will let u know what happens after the first wheel rotation.....
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Medical checkup
I got the results of my recent medical checkup today. Basically I'm healthy, so that's good. However, my LDL (bad cholesterol) is borderline, which is not good, though I have very low levels of triglycerides.
Bad cholesterol? We all know what that is, and definitely that's not a good path to go down, so I gotta start working out more, especially when those new skates come! ;) But what in the world are triglycerides? I searched Wikipedia and all, but still I don't really know what they are. I know its got something to do with fat (so I'm really not that fat after all huh?) and something to do with arterial blockage, so it's probably a good thing that I don't have much of this stuff. But I also see some websites say that its not that much of a big deal compared to LDL (damn). So looks like I still need to work out more after all! (not to mention that IPPT is just around the corner....)
Bad cholesterol? We all know what that is, and definitely that's not a good path to go down, so I gotta start working out more, especially when those new skates come! ;) But what in the world are triglycerides? I searched Wikipedia and all, but still I don't really know what they are. I know its got something to do with fat (so I'm really not that fat after all huh?) and something to do with arterial blockage, so it's probably a good thing that I don't have much of this stuff. But I also see some websites say that its not that much of a big deal compared to LDL (damn). So looks like I still need to work out more after all! (not to mention that IPPT is just around the corner....)
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