.::output >> /dev/null::.

Finally got it today at about 5 p.m.! It left the delivery center at about 5 am this morning according to UPS tracking system. Well, that is all that needs to be said. It is going to be a weekend well spent on reading.

Spend time all alone for Spring Break. EOF

Though here are some interesting things that happened:

• Had to pay $600 for a new pair of glasses
  Unfortunately the pair that I own was broken by a toilet roll. I dropped the toilet roll while trying to put in on the top of the cabinet. Though the toilet roll weights only very little, the impact must have loosened the screw. I did try fixing it but I lost the screw in the process.
  Because of the way the system works here for making new glasses, I had to go for an eye examination first. It was basically the same routine testing like the ones they did back in Malaysia. However because it was done by a certified optometrist, he could charge me $50 for it.
  The lenses themselves cost $265 + $70. $265 was for the normal lenses. There is no way I was going to get cheap lenses. I had to have multi-coated anti-reflection as well as medium-index lenses. The $70 was for transition lenses.
  The rimless frame itself was about $200.
  And that is it. So even if I wanted to save money by not going anywhere, I ended up spending more money that I would have had I gone to Vegas instead. But I can also look at it this way, had I gone to Vegas and broken my glasses too, then I would have ended up spending much more.
  The new pair of spectacles will only arrive in two weeks so until then I have to make do with my repair and some super-handy super glue.
• Manga Marathon
  Decided to read some manga that I would not have read if I did not have the time. I had always wanted to read Inuyasha because it was a very well-developed manga. And it was really long too. In fact it is one of the longer running mangas that I know. It is currently at its 400th chapter. In fact, Inuyasha is not like most of the manga I am used to. It does not involve fighting tournaments and all the usual stuff. I was really impressed by how the illustrator weave the different characters together. And she has successfully made the story that much more interesting. The number of main characters that she choose was just right too. It was neither too many nor too little and each had the chance to show their character fully. The anime is rather good too. Also she keeps you in suspense and does not reveal too much of what will happen next.
  But I also decided to read some romance/ comedy manga. And those prove to be very enjoyable too. It was a nice experience compared to the other types of manga. Besides, the fact that these novels are usually short make them fun to read too. I just spend around 6 hours to finish the whole series.
  There are of course those that are really long. But they are mostly just to satisfy their loyal fans. I do not really enjoy those since it seems that the story has been protracted just to make the fans happy. Thus the story feels boring because they have to keep introducing new characters. And they are stalling the (inevitable) ending.
  Also, despite some negative reviews for this manga, Love Hina was a really nice read. I just finished it an hour ago and it was rather satisfying. I mean there were ridiculous moments but its length was just right. There were no unnecessarily drawings just to make the manga longer. And there weren't too many characters as well. Also the fact that it revolves around the live of students trying to get into a top university makes it slightly pertinent to my current life. The author was also kind enough to write that this is a story and it is not so simple to actually get into a top university.
  I learned a bit more about how the exam system in Japan works too and it was rather interesting. Having to take public exams and the the university's own entrance exam to get in. I was also to learn about some of the festivals that they celebrate. And the fact that some students actually go to dormitories to study even though their house might be near the place so that they can concentrate.
  I *would* probably recommend Love Hina to most people. It is really funny. And it has a nice ending. The fact that the characters were not ridiculous looking was also a nice point for it. I really hate manga where the characters are a bit too disproportionate.
• Ruby Rocks
  It is set to become one of my favorite languages. It seems so lightweight. And the fact that is allows these little notations such as

  def myName=(_name)
  @name = _name
  end

  makes the language so much more interesting. For those not familiar with Ruby, the above create a setter for the class variable @name. The use of the = sign is just plain genius. In C or Java you would probably call the method setMyName. These simple things do not exist in other languages. It would seem that the Japanese creator actually took some time to think of subtle issues like this. The use of ! as in !gsub for string substitution that replaces the original string and also the use of ? for boolean is a nice change from having to say isValid.
  Because Ruby's creator is a Japanese, I believe he takes the time to focus on the subtle points. As native English speakers, we might take certain things for granted and do it just as how the other languages have done it but Ruby is really different because of its notations.

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Malaysians plan Asian space food: "Malaysian scientists have already conquered most of the technical hurdles involved in sending someone into space. But one major obstacle still needs to be overcome."

This had better not be real. In times when people are sending astronauts to space to actually try manufacturing cures for diseases and such, my country plans to waste a fair amount of money to investigate how to prepare local cuisines in space?

What bugs me more is the fact that the reporter lists this as: one major obstacle. What major obstacle? Are we the only ones who cannot survive in space without tasting something local for one week?! The more I read it the more I think that this report might be insinuating this idea and making fun of whoever proposed this. It is not the first time that a British tabloid has reported something like this.

Also, the lack of an authoritative source to cite for his comments does not lend credence to this already preposterous article. While I do believe that someone living in Malaysia is capable of suggesting this absurd mission, I am even more in shock that someone actually reported it on new.bbc.co.uk. There seems to be no valid reason why someone who want to spend money to investigate how to prepare food in space. I know that not too long ago, someone proposed space tourism so is Malaysia trying to pioneer space cooking competitions?

I cannot imagine what people will think of next. On the other hand, if we are indeed that feeble to not be able to survive without our local food, then is it any wonder why we are never part of any serious space expedition?

Q: How many lawyers does it take to change a light bulb? A: Whereas the party of the first part, also known as "Lawyer", and the party of the second part, also known as "Light Bulb", do hereby and forthwith agree to a transaction wherein the party of the second part shall be removed from the current position as a result of failure to perform previously agreed upon duties, i.e., the lighting, elucidation, and otherwise illumination of the area ranging from the front (north) door, through the entryway, terminating at an area just inside the primary living area, demarcated by the beginning of the carpet, any spillover illumination being at the option of the party of the second part and not required by the aforementioned agreement between the parties.
The aforementioned removal transaction shall include, but not be limited to, the following. The party of the first part shall, with or without elevation at his option, by means of a chair, stepstool, ladder or any other means of elevation, grasp the party of the second part and rotate the party of the second part in a counter-clockwise direction, this point being tendered non-negotiable. Upon reaching a point where the party of the second part becomes fully detached from the receptacle, the party of the first part shall have the option of disposing of the party of the second part in a manner consistent with all relevant and applicable local, state and federal statutes. Once separation and disposal have been achieved, the party of the first part shall have the option of beginning installation. Aforesaid installation shall occur in a manner consistent with the reverse of the procedures described in step one of this self-same document, being careful to note that the rotation should occur in a clockwise direction, this point also being non-negotiable. The above described steps may be performed, at the option of the party of the first part, by any or all agents authorized by him, the objective being to produce the most possible revenue for the Partnership.

This is a generalization but so far it has served to be a rather accurate one. I like to use books that are written by university professors. The most obvious reason being that the books are written by people who know how to teach and what it is that they are teaching. Teaching from a book is not something that everyone can do. Indeed many have failed at this task. However, not every professor can be a good writer either.

Generally, for books that are meant to instruct and educate on subjects that are more theoretical than just being practical (compare a book about OpenGl and a book about computer graphics or a book about SQL and a book about database system), the professors do it the best. They have been teaching for so long and they know how people learn this stuff. In short, books that are supposed to teach you the foundations of the fields must be written properly.

Another observation I have made is the fact that good books have websites. And the websites are hosted on the university pages. Moreover those websites are updated frequently. This shows that the author is willing to take the effort to maintain the website himself or herself. This dedication to his or her work implies that the author is not out to get money for his book. Moreover it shows that the author takes pride in his or her book. Books that have commercial websites are generally useless. Websites that are under the publisher's domain are generally just thrown together and do not contain anything useful. These websites are seldom updated and contain only the sparsest of materials.

On the other hand, websites that are maintained by the professors themselves are useful. They usually have the latest lecture notes and list of errata. And also they have a comprehensive list of supplementary materials. This list is particularly relevant for books on CS since the field changes rapidly. On these same websites, you can also find the views of the professor on matters that might not be directly related to the book. A good writer is always finding new things to write about. A good sign that the author is a good one is to check when was his latest writing. It need not be a new book but it should be an article that he has written by himself. The article could be something simple, maybe discussing the issues of nature. The point is: people who write in their free time are always better authors. They write because they have strong feelings about things and are passionate about sharing them.

It is even better if the university that the professor comes from uses that book too. And, of course, it will be excellent if the professor is teaching that class too using the same book. I am usually wary of books that have undergone many editions yet the professor himself or herself has not been using that book to teach. Changing chapters around is not a good reason to come up with a new publication. There is no reason to come up with a new edition unless you have discovered a serious flaw with your previous edition. In fact, books that have new editions each year are generally the most useless books on the face of the earth. The authors are probably under pressure from the publishers just to come up with a new book. Pity those poor students who own the worthless books and cannot even sell them now.

Good books always come together with excellent materials. They do not include a CD that is not necessary. Why include a CD unless you are fairly sure that the material is hard to obtain? Especially in the field of CS, whatever is on that CD is probably obsolete by the time the book ships. So instead of having a CD, maintain a website instead. By excellent material, I mean that the book contains a list of references at the end of each chapter. It also contains certain features that help you learn. For instance, some icons to quickly identify important information. And inserting a line of joke or two between the text is always a good idea. Authors with a sense of humor can make the material fun and enjoyable. Of course the purpose of the book is still to read like a book so do not make it so informal until it reads like it was just a recorded version of a lecture.

Furthermore, I also like reading the preface to the book. I like it when the author mentions how the book is structured and why he or she chose such a methodology for presenting the book. A preface that describes what the book teaches and not why or how it is done is not very useful: I can find out what the book teaches through the table of contents. While reading the book, I like finding out if the author really exercises what he or she preached in the preface.

Last but not least, authors that are considerate will ensure that they do the following:

• Put the diagrams on the same page as the paragraphs that describe it to minimize page flipping.
• Always finish the last sentence of the page on the same page so that the reader does not need to flip over to the next page.
• Write in short simple sentences.
• Leave some margin on the side for the reader to take notes.
• Use color only where it actually serves to illustrate things better. Having the titles appear in blue is not really useful.

In short, those are the trends of good books that I have personally witnessed. Your personal experience with books will vary but I am fairly certain that if you like to read and learn from books, you will agree with me on some of the things I mentioned.

I have been following a few manga series over the years. Two of which are none other than DragonBall (not DragonBallZ or DragonBallGT) and Rurouni Kenshin (SamuraiX). Currently, I am reading Naruto, Shaman King, Bleach and some other shorter ones that I occasionally pick up. Moreover, I get my source of manga through scans and translations made possible by some manga groups.

Anyway, through my reading I have noticed some very similar patterns for mangas that fall into the category of action (fighting). So far Naruto, Shaman King, DragonBall all have a lot of fight scenes. So my "pattern" here only works for manga of this genre. I am in no position to claim that my observations are right. Neither have I seen these observations anyway else so these are indeed opinions of my own.

• Important pilot episode
  Most of the mangas I read had their pilot episode appear in Shonen Jump. The pilot episode is very important and is usually about 50 pages compared to the normal episodes which are usually around 20 pages only. The purpose of the pilot episode is to gauge how well the reader will respond to the manga. For me, I can decide whether I will continue reading this series by the style of drawing. Moreover, it is important for me to empathize with the protagonist of the story. If the artist is unable to achieve that then this series will not be successful.
• An unlikely hero
  The hero will be revealed in the first episode. He (the hero is seldom a she, I think) will always be someone who has some special ability. The hero himself might not know it yet but through the conversations of those around him, you can infer that the hero is no ordinary person. The artist will try to hint this to the reader casually and not explicitly. Moreover, the hero shall befriend an even more unlikely acquaintance. Together this pair will work together in the next few episodes as the mystery unravels.
• Ridiculous amount of never-ending power
  The hero will also be almost non-human or a human that possess some potent power or ability. In the first few episodes (it could run up to 50) the hero will vanquish all villains using his current level of "power" (which will definitely be higher than his power during his first battle). I have used the term power here because it is not limited to physical strength but includes other forms of abilties (the abilties to use some of the "spirits"). Moreover, the hero is able to advance in his level of power through a series of training and fighting.
• Ancient history
  To add depth to the character, the artist will insert pieces of the hero's past and history into the story as it unravels. Usually the hero will be of some special descent of people that possess some special ability. Sometimes, the artist will reveal the past of some other characters in the story too especially of those who are close to the hero.
• Simple endings first!
  The first few episodes will have simple endings. That is to say that there is a clear line between one story and the next. These first few episodes are meant to further elaborate on the character of the hero. Furthermore, these episodes will also introduce some of the main companions of the hero.
• Then greater evil!
  Greater evil will soon follow. This is where the hero will first lost the battle and will undergo more training. This will the part of the series where the fight scenes can take up an entire volume and still not end. Usually this is also the stage where all sorts of special combo moves are revealed. By this time, the manga series will have a steady number of readers. The steady rate of readers is important because the later part of the series is more enjoyable if the reader is familiar with the first few episodes.
• An enemy turn good
  There will be an enemy who will be turned to the hero's side. This will also be one of the hero's closest companion. This side-kick idolizes the hero and will strive to be like him. Of course there will be more than one enemy who will turn his back to the dark side but usually there will be one who is most prominent.
• A conspiracy
  The greatest evil will often be of the form of a conspiracy. This conspiracy involves factions of the supposedly good guys. Throughout the story before this conspiracy is revealed, the artist will insert suggestions of it. Suggestions usually take the form of masked characters, or shadows talking in the dark. It may also be as simple as a grin from the mouth of the enemy. The skilled artist is capable of such innuendoes.
• An apprenticeship
  The hero will also always fall under the tutelage of some master as the story unfolds. This is in accordance to the notion that the hero will have an infinite among of power which can be released through training.
• Extremely long fight scenes
  As the story unfolds, the fight scenes get longer. Moreover the fight scenes are not longer centered around the hero only. His companions will also have dangerous battles. To make the series of battle even longer, the artist usually relies on the idea of a tournament to determine the best fighter. Sometimes the artist will also include many more villains that help the antagonist. The hero and his friend will have to battle all of them before fighting the villain.
• A simple love story
  The artist, at his own discretion can choose to insert some form of romance in the story. The romance is usually not too elaborate but it serves rather to show that there is someone that cares about the hero in a way deeper than that of his closes companions.

Though there are some variations to this, this pattern of story-telling is usually the one that artists follow. Because this applies to a manga, the descriptions above are not necessarily embodied in writing. Instead the artist strives to describe them using his drawing and limits the conversation to provide some background to what is going on.

I guess that this time-tested pattern is what gets the reader excited about the manga and the fight scenes. Usually a good fighting manga will span about 200+ episodes.

Occasionally, I come across some interesting messages generated from fortune. Here is one of them:

After the Children of Israel had wandered for thirty-nine years in the wilderness, Ferdinand Feghoot arrived to make sure that they would finally find and enter the Promised Land. With him, he brought his favorite robot, faithful old Yewtoo Artoo, to carry his gear and do assorted camp chores.
The Israelites soon got over their initial fear of the robot and, as the months passed, became very fond of him. Patriarchs took to discussing abtruse theological problems with him, and each evening the children all gathered to hear the many stories with which he was programmed. Therefore it came as a great shock to them when, just as their journey was ending, he abruptly wore out. Even Feghoot couldn't console them.
"It may be true, Ferdinand Feghoot," said Moses, "that our friend Yewtoo Artoo was soulless, but we cannot believe it. He must be properly interred. We cannot embalm him as do the Egyptians. Nor have we wood for a coffin. But I do have a most splendid skin from one of Pharoah's own cattle. We shall bury him in it."
Feghoot agreed. "Yes, let this be his last rusting place."
"Rusting?" Moses cried. "Not in this dreadful dry desert!"
"Ah!" sighed Ferdinand Feghoot, shedding a tear, "I fear you do not realize the full significance of Pharoah's oxhide!"

In my previous post on GTD: Getting Things Done, I mentioned that I will be following up with a more thorough article about how my method of doing things compared to David Allen's. Well, suffice to say, my personal techniques so far are adequate but after being polished by the techniques advocated by David, they have become even more effective. My previous method of getting things share similar traits with David's: reviewing, keeping things all in one place, doing, thinking before doing.

Warning: lots of words ahead.

I am into the second section of David Allen's Getting Things Done book. He was mentioning about organizing and how you can choose to use an electric organizer or a paper and pen organizer. Then I stumbled across this article on 43folders: How does a nerd hack GTD?. Merlin was using BBEdit to show all his @action lists in one window. And using Quicksilver he can quickly append a new entry to the text file using the Append to.. command.

However, as much as I like using Quicksilver to quickly add a new entry to my action lists, it does not allow for easy synchronization with my Palm and iPod. StickyBrain filled that niche. By adding a new note that belongs to both the Palm and iPod folder in StickBrain, I am able to keep both lists synchronized. And I can always take them with me wherever I go. This is good because I can never modify notes on iPod so I do not need to worry about versioning and merging. And since if I do modify anything on the Palm it would reflect that it is my latest version and StickyBrain should just replace the whole file and vice versa. There is no concept of merging; this can be a bad thing because if I made some changes on the Palm and forget to synchronize, and then make some changes in StickyBrain, the next time I sync, only the changes in StickBrain will be reflected.

However, using StickyBrain does not solve all the issues that I have:

1. The size limit for the note on the palm is 32K. This should not be a problem but there is no guarantee on what happens when it exceeds the 32K limit. The same thing should apply to the iPod because the iPod cannot store notes larger than 4K. However, StickyBrain is smart enough to link the chunks together (good!)
2. There is no way to sync with .Mac. And I just realized the other day that to install the iDisk component for Windows, it require administrative rights. Therefore, the only folder that you can access on .Mac is the public folder. Even then, it is pretty hard to make changes. I do not think that I can use the default WebFolders program on Windows to run .Mac. So if I forget my iPod or Palm, I have no access to my lists!
3. Furthermore, StickyBrain does not store its notes in .txt format. It stores it using some XML format. So I cannot just access those notes by using SSH from a campus machine into my own machine. The only solution I can think of now would be using VNC. Hopefully, a VNC client can be installed on a Windows machine without administrative rights.

Since my current setup already settles the issue of synchronizing with my computer, iPod and Palm, I am going to continue using StickyBrain. However, I want to be able to export my files using a single click to .Mac. I was thinking of using Applescript to take those files out of StickyBrain but, alas, StickyBrain does not offer AppleScript support. Dead end (for now).

Updated: Webmin saves the day, somewhat. Now I am not dependent on any platform specific tools to have access to my computer. Using the hints over at macosxhints.com I am able to configure Webmin over SSL and use it to access files from my computer. The only thing that is needed is a browser that supports java.

And since I am so keen on being able to access things from my computer, why not run VNC on it too? Indeed, that is what I am doing. This is good because I can use the nice Aqua interface from a windows machine; almost like remote desktop. Three resources for this:

• Server for OSX: OSXVnc
• Client for OSX: Chicken of the VNC
• Client for Windows: VNCviewer

anti-mega: glue:
"physical to digital glue ('inputs'):
CD ripper
DVD rippers
digital cameras
webcams

digital to physical glue ('outputs'):
Airport Express
PVRs
video senders

digital to digital glue:
web servers
APIs
UNIX-style pipes
wifi
3g"

This is a new way of thinking of ubiquitous computing. The author, Chris thinks that we do have enough devices to accomplish ubiquitous computing. We have all our cellphones, iPods, PDAs, etc. For a person such as myself who is living within the campus, finding computers is even easier: just go into any building and log in with your student account. But, even with all the computing power in the world right now, there is a lack of coherence. It is almost impossible to get a PC to sync with my powerbook. Sure .Mac synchronization means that I have access to all my bookmarks, contacts and schedule. But that is about there is to it. What if I need to access other things? What if I need some file to do some presentation? Am I able to access all my notes? The chances of ever needing those files are not too probable, but they are real. And when you really need those files what can you do to get them?