Abeo

QR Code

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 01:08:00 +0000

QC Code Generator
http://qrcode.kaywa.com

Procrastination hack ( Copy Article)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 14:56:00 +0000

Procrastination hack: '(10+2)*5'

Submitted by Merlin on October 11, 2005 - 5:30am.

Following on the idea of the procrastination dash and Jeff’s progressive dash, I’ve been experimenting with a squirelly new system to pound through my procrastinated to-do list. Brace yourself, because it is a bit more byzantine than is Merlin 2005’s newly stripped-down habit. It’s called (10+2)*5, and today it will save your ass.

Who it’s for

procrastinators
the easily distracted
compulsive web-surfers
people with a long list of very short tasks (a/k/a “mosquitos”)
people having trouble chipping away at very large tasks

What you’ll need

a timer
- must be easy to reset
- electronic kitchen timer is particularly good (pref. with multiple alarm memories), or
- an app like Minuteur (get the newest version—several cool new features)
a reduced subset of your to-do list
- tasks that can be worked on (not necessarily completed) in blocks of 10 minutes or less
- GTD people: next actions only, please
an hour of your time (less is potentially okay, but it’s non-canonical)
your sorry, procrastinating ass

How it works

It’s called “(10+2)*5” and here’s why:

10 - Work for ten minutes with single-minded focus on moving toward completion on a single task. Ten minutes, and that’s all you’re allowed to do is work, work, work. No cheating, because (DING!) you actually get a break when you’re done…
2 - After ten minutes of sweaty, dedicated work you get a 2-minute break to do whatever you want—drink coffee, read 5ives, call your bookie, whatever. When the two minutes are up, it’s back to work on the next task on your list. This is important.
*5 - You’re going to iterate this four more times for a total of one hour’s working/breaking

Important squirrely rules

You do not need to ﬁnish your task or your project in ten minutes; you just need to move it forward
If you ﬁnish a satisfying amount of work in fewer than ten minutes, STOP, and go right to your 2-minute break, than start another 10-minute dash
Do NOT skip breaks! You are not allowed. Breaks cannot be missed. Period. Go surf the web. Now. Seriously. GO!

What will happen

You’ll blaze through an hour’s worth of work/not work and will ﬁnd yourself looking forward to both the breaking and working parts of the cycle. (Dang, how’s that for a change?)

The MacGufﬁn

The Now Habit
by Neil Fiore

Okay, you caught me. That’s the hack: you can and eventually will skip breaks.

In his (extremely wonderful) The Now Habit, Neil Fiore suggests a similar habit of “unscheduling,” where you only make obligations to the things that you enjoy and that are not the source of procrastination. John Perry suggests “Structured Procrastination,” where you only give high priority to “unimportant” tasks. Of course, this is taken to a hilarious extreme with Joshua Newman’s plan for scheduling just a few minutes of work per hour, and then focusing on the “more important” tasks like DVD re-arranging.

In all these cases—each of which will surely seem ludicrous to the “Why don’t you just go do your damned work?” crowd—the trick is to snap your mind out of the inert state that’s allowing procrastination to take over. You’re breaking down whatever resistance has made you not do what your brain knows needs to be done.

Your hacks for your problems

“(10+2)*5” can be adapted in any number of ways (change any of the three numerals to your liking), but remember: these goofy hacks only work because you’re a pathetic bastard like me whose mind can be tricked into work as easily as it can be lulled into torpor. Set your rules, follow your rules, and keep moving forward. Snap that procrastination by slipping your work through the back door.

Now go take a break. You’ve earned, you hard-working hacker, you.

Ideas box 09

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:06:00 +0000

I just created a mail inbox for storing ideas which i come up with. Following the instruction from the very aspirational blog litemind.com. What I try to achieve is enhancing my creativity so that I can improve my life quality by reducing the wasting time. Working hard but wisely is the best goal aim for.

Any ideas I come up with will be sent to the inbox. Then the ideas will be revisited so i can choose the best to apply.

email: ideasbox09(at)gmail(dot)com

Success article from UTS career service

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:27:00 +0000

To thrive and stay employable in the 21st century workplace, you will need to consciously manage your career and continue to build skills throughout your working life.
Employment is no longer a given - something that you achieve once and then forget about. Instead you'll need to consciously manage your career and continue to build your skills throughout your working life in order to remain employable.
This means staying in touch with changes in your workplace and work sector; identifying what you need to learn to keep your skills in demand; taking responsibility for your own personal and career development; and taking whatever action is needed. In this way, you'll successfully manage the relationship between work and learning throughout your working life.

Skills for lifelong career management

Self awareness
Knowledge of your strengths, skills, values and interests.
Self promotion
Being able to target identified needs in the workplace and match your own knowledge, strengths and skills to them.
Exploring and creating opportunities
Being able to identify, create, investigate and seize opportunities.
Action planning
Being able to plan and implement a course of action.
Networking
Being able to develop and effectively make use of a network of contacts.
Matching and decision making
Identifying or 'matching' together the factors that affect decisions, so that you can make informed decisions.
Negotiation
Using discussion, compromise and agreement to make decisions and solve problems.
Political awareness
Understanding the way organisations function, and how people and power structures within organisations operate.
Coping with uncertainty
Being able to work effectively in changing circumstances.
Development focus
Being committed to lifelong learning and focused on your own personal and professional development.
Transfer skills
Being able to apply existing skills to new circumstances.
Self confidence
Being self-reliant and certain of your own abilities.

FPT Australia Address

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 06:57:00 +0000

About FPT AUSTRALIA Pty. Ltd.
Director of Operation: Mr. Lê Mai Anh
Add.: Level 39, 2 Park Street, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia
Tel: +61 417 238 103

Autumn 09 Reflection

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 13:53:00 +0000

This semester was so hectic since all the subjects are about programming. I supposed to learn a lot but i didn't. Many things get me so confused that I can get my hear clear enough. But I have to admit that I didn't do my best for this semester because of my laziness.
Here is the list of mistakes I made. It doesn't not fully address all the problems but it partly shows the weaknesses of mine.
+ Studying for marks rather than knowledge. It seems I more focus on getting good marks for the assignments. Doing assignment is a quicker way to gain the knowledge about the subjects. It is also way to consolidate all the things I learn so far. This means obtaining knowledge of the subjects is far more important than just doing subjects for marks. The lesson learned is if I strive for the knowledge, it could help me later on because when I fully understand the subjects I could apply it to the others things.
+ Did not prepare well for the exam. I was more relaxed when it comes to the end the semester with the thought that the semester was gonna end soon so I could take a little bit time off the study. But i was wrong, this must be the crucial time of the semester when I need to revise everything I study throughout the whole semester. Not only the fact that I didn't study well but also I was distracted by partying. And this is my biggest mistake. I think I'm gonna pay for that but don't know how severe its gonna be.

So what i can do to fix it?

Job Applications

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 06:30:00 +0000

I just applied for these postions
+ Casual Stocktake At Kunokunia
+ Voluntary Position at ICE Australia

xTrain

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 01:35:00 +0000

XTrain is website about On Demand Training on the Internet. Users have access to high quality video training with social network communities, leading experts and portfolio reviews and certifications. You can also get free class on this website. Check this out!

Price Water Cooperhouse

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 04:06:00 +0000

- FT Global 500

- IT in internal firm services

- Semester 2 is important for penultimate (second last) year students as some companies offer formal vacation or internship roles during this time. Closing dates for vacation employment programs are generally June to August

- Vacationer Program

- PwC Preview -> Nov 2009

- Recruiment Process

+ Online App

+ Online testing

+ Phone interview

+ Personality Questionare

+ Assessment Centre

+ Offer

- Professional business language ???

- Looking for vacation Program

Reflects on First Three Weeks

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 09:58:00 +0000

I've got 4 subjects this semester. They are Web Services Development, Data Structure and Algorithms, Interface Design and Database Programming. I realise that there is a need for setting up a way to study these subjects through out the semester, otherwise I will end up with poor marks and distracting myself. I also need to manage my time efficiently so i can start my own project which i haven't had any idea of.
BUT, roughly here is my estimated time for each subjects and activities

WSD ( 5 hours at home and 3 hours in class )
- JSP + XML must be mastered by the end of this semester.
DSA ( 5 hours at home and 3 hours in class )
- Finish lab asap. On the day lab issued or at least the next day.
- Discuss with other class mates.

IF ( 4 hours at home and 3 hours in class )

DP ( 5 hours at home and 3 hours in class )
- DBA roles

Project ( 5 hours)

Reading time ( 5 Hours)

Wake Up Early in the Morning and do the JOB! STUDY!

Autumn 2009 Semester

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 05:12:00 +0000

All I want is keeping up the good works which I did last year. Its not gonna be easy to achieve, but I believe in my inner strength, which will help me get through all of difficulties I'll be facing this year.

Wish me luck

Manh Tuan Vu

Plans for 2008's vacation

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 01:25:00 +0000

A few things I need to do before I'm going back home

- Prepare Resume and Cover Letter by visiting Career Service Center
- Finish reading Code Complete 2 Book
- Basically prepare for next semester's subjects
+ Basic understanding of XML
+ Working on JSP with Eclipse
+ Revise skills in CSS and XHTML
+ Java and C ++ revision

- Finding companies offering internship in Australia
- Build a website for my own

Picked-Up Article

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 12:02:00 +0000

And finally, some real-world applications of Computer Science that might be relevant to teenagers

Here are some activities that teenagers might be familiar with, listed alongside some associated challenges and what concepts in Computer Science address these challenges:

Surfing the web

When you type in words on a search engine's web page, how does it give you back the results so quickly? (search algorithms, parallel computing)
How does a search engine company go about indexing and storing information about the billions of webpages online at a given time, especially when pages are constantly being created and deleted? (web crawling, data mining, databases, parallel computing)

Playing computer games

How come modern games look so rad, with all of their cool 3-D effects, and how can it all be rendered in real-time as you are playing and constantly changing the in-game environment? (computer graphics)
How come the in-game enemies seem to be 'smart' and able to learn from your actions? (artificial intelligence)
How is it possible for you and dozens of other people to play online simultaneously and still have the game feel responsive most of the time? (networking, client-server architecture)

Downloading music and movies (legally, of course)

How come filesharing programs like BitTorrent can perform so much faster than simply downloading from a website? (networking, distributed algorithms)
Isn't it astounding that when you download a file, it always arrives at your computer intact in pristine condition, even though it had to travel through thousands of miles of unreliable copper wires? (reliable networking protocols, error detection and correction)
How can high-quality photos, audio, and video be compressed so much (1/10 to 1/100 of original size) without losing much quality? (lossy compression algorithms)

Shopping online

How can you be reasonably confident that nobody will steal your credit card number while you are shopping online? (network security, cryptography)
How can the retailer keep track of what items are in stock and report the results in real-time on their website? (databases, web programming)
How can the retailer accurately predict what other items you might like to buy based on what you've recently bought? (artificial intelligence, machine learning)

Using your latest awesome cell phone

How come cell phones can now be used for so much more than simply making phone calls ... back in my day, we just used cell phones as, well, phones (programming for embedded devices, networking and communications protocols, wireless networking)
How can you effectively navigate around the options and even browse the web on that tiny screen on your phone? (user interface)

Neurotically updating your MySpace and Facebook pages and stalking other people's profiles

How come it's so easy and enjoyable to simply browse around and get lost for hours on these sites? (user interface)
How can these sites recall, store, and visualize interesting social networking relationships? (databases, search, visualization)
What steps do these sites take and what options do they provide to you to ensure that your privacy is maintained? (security models)

Traveling on an airplane

As modern planes become more and more automated, with more of their subsystems being controlled by software components, how can you feel safe flying on a machine where a single software bug could jeopardize hundreds of lives? How can we find difficult-to-squash bugs and give guarantees that software is functioning correctly? (software reliability, program analysis)
How do air traffic controllers manage to constantly direct hundreds of planes while under high-stress conditions? How can computers aid them in doing their jobs so that passengers can enjoy safe and timely flights? (user interface, communications, networking)
When purchasing tickets online, how is it possible for the computer system to search through millions of possible combinations of routes to give me the best deal on my tickets? (algorithms, search, parallel computing)
How come the self-check-in kiosks are so easy to use and much more efficient than waiting in line for people to check you in? You just swipe a credit card, and you're all set! (user interface, networking, databases)

Source: http://www.stanford.edu/~pgbovine/computer-science.htm

Paola Antonelli: Design curator

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 07:42:00 +0000

Just watch her talk at TED recently.

Her topic about design has amazed me with interesting ideas from many designers.

And this is amazing website which I've ever seen.

http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/2008/elasticmind/

Plans for next year

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 02:56:00 +0000

- Become ACM memberships
- Working on a projects about software
- Finding information about bank industry
- Improve communication - > Professionals

Google Ambassador Program

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 02:52:00 +0000

Google Ambassador Program

All of the Google Ambassadors for 2007-08 have already been selected and contacted. Students who are interested in applying for the 2008-09 academic year should visit this site again during summer 2008 to apply.

The Google Ambassador Program rewards hard-working engineering students by allowing them to take a study break on Google. Google ambassadors identify opportunities to order pizza for their computer science peers, most often around project deadlines or exams. Ambassadors are Google’s main point of contact, and responsible for making the program successful at their university. Take a look at some of the hungry college students Google is feeding!

The study break you’ve been searching for

Ambassador responsibilities:

Representing Google at your university for the academic year.
Organizing study breaks for up-and-coming software engineers who are toiling away in computer labs late at night.
Impressing your friends with your Google gear!

Ambassador requirements:

Computer science major or related fields
One-year commitment
Undergraduate and graduate students are eligible
Excellent study habits and pizza-eating skills
Ability to recruit other pizza-eaters, and keep them happy, one pizza at a time

Program Specifics

The spirit of the Ambassador program is meant for smaller, spur-of-the-moment venues. Whether you are coding in the labs, prepping for an all-nighter in the department lounge, or conducting a meeting with a specific CS club, Google wants to support hard working computer science students. We also want to make sure that you don’t go hungry or study on an empty stomach.

Ambassador benefits include:

Leadership role
Exposure for your university at Google
Free food
Google gear
Admiration from your CS peers

Please note that this is a volunteer position, and is, quite simply, a fun way for Google to support that great things you do all year long.

How to apply

Applications will be opening later this year. Please return shortly for more details on how to apply and for participating universities.

Link: http://www.google.com.au/support/jobs/bin/static.py?page=studentsau.html&sid=ambassador

IT Falculty news

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 06:26:00 +0000

Oracle Information Night 13th August 6pm Intercontinental Hotel

Posted by annam on 2008-08-06 13:39:33.191236 [Current Until: 2008-08-30 00:00:00]
Oracle are having some information sessions for IT grads on 13th August at 6pm at the Intercontinental Hotel in the city. There will be food and beverages. If you would like to go please rsvp sharon.lim@oracle.com

Oracle is the world's largest enterprise software company.

The *Oracle Graduate Development Program (GDP)* is an excellent platform for promising graduates to launch themselves into the corporate world.. The 2-year program consisting of orientation, formal training, project rotations in the core lines of business, and finally job placement. The formal training is a combination of structured development programs on soft skills and functional competencies via various delivery formats.

You will have the unique opportunity to gain hands on experience with leading technology and the chance to work with partners and customers from a diverse range of industries across the world.

Come to learn more about the program at one of our information sessions *VENUE DETAILS* Date 13 August 2008 Venue Hotel Intercontential SYDNEY Corner Bridge and Philips Street Sydney, NSW 2000*

Time 6-8pm Drinks and canapes will be provided

*Disciplines required:*Undergraduate and Postgraduate Programs in Commerce/Engineering/IT

To apply, email your resume and academic transcripts by31 August 2008 to campusrelations_au@oracle.com

Please RSVP by 11 August 2008 to sharon.lim@oracle.com if you are planning to attend the info night

IT Traineeship (UNiSyd)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 23:48:00 +0000

IT Traineeship Position Summary

Under supervision and direction, perform routine field activities associated with installing, maintaining and servicing electronic products onsite. May include audio/visual systems in addition to multi-vendor systems, hardware, software and operating systems. Usually handles basic, non-complex products and/or problems, referring more complex problems to higher level technicians. Able to install and repair desktop products in a controlled environment and has some knowledge in software. Some peripheral skills may be applied. Workshop* work in PC cleansing and preparation, also asset and inventory of PC refresh and rollouts.

Download the IT Traineeship Brochure 1.3MB

Key Responsibilities and Outcomes
Role Purpose

The majority of the work activities of the Desktop Support / Workshop* role is performed in a more directed environment. Assignments range from repair activities, which include replaceable unit swapping, image loading, and unit testing using a detailed script. Some basic troubleshooting duties.

Position handles NBD, Basic Desktop calls, installing and servicing PCs, and PC peripherals and/or electronic equipment
Takes basic service calls and performs incident specific activities as directed by Help Desk, Service Desk or script
May perform routine installs, moves, adds and changes as part of a directed team.
Performs desktop image loading, unit diagnostics and replaceable unit swapping
Runs diagnostics and performs module replacement on PCs, printers and peripherals
Performs preventative maintenance activities on certain products
Maintains a high degree of professionalism in actions, demeanour and dress
Ensures customer satisfaction throughout.

Key Activities/Tasks

Investigate and resolve incidents
Record quick (tap on shoulder) incidents
Update clients on incidents
Update incident records
Escalate issues to TL’s and other managers
Identify and escalate non supported hardware and software to TL’s
Identify and escalate recurring issues
Utilise Peregrin for knowledge management, to record incidents and to get tasks
Update database with changes
As directed by TL and SLC, perform maintenance tasks such as backup, disk sanitisation, installations, project tasks, network monitoring, restorations, network administration, cabling, installation and configuration of desktops, transferring of files
Resolve incidents relating to desktops, laptops, PDA’s printers, starlight, desktop and laptop builds
Installation of third party Defence applications
Update asset database
Ensure adheres to Defence security policies.

Family Business

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 08:57:00 +0000

I just come up with a idea. What if my family's business is more innovative.
The first thing:
All the documents will be digitalized so that my parents can keep track of profits, debt, inventory. In addition, based on the those they can predict a new trend, therefore they are able to apply the best strategy to increase sales.
--> Computers , software to manage inventory.
Besides, if my family's business is cooperated with other competitors in the same industry. That would be a smart move to expand the market. Also it helps update the technology which is a bit old-fashion in my family's company.

Academic Development

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 00:56:00 +0000

Pronunciation:
Problems:
Phonology:
+ Diphthongs
+ Final consonants
Word Stress:
+ Syllables are stressed correctly often.
Sentence Stress and intonation
+ Intonation is too marked
Word linking is sometimes present
Content word stress is used effectively ( quite often)
Chunking of thought groups is used effectively ( quite often)
Action Plan:
- Focus on diphthongs
- Make note of words which cause confusion
- Practice conversation ( 30 min every day) -> say it out loud
- Keep watching TED since its guests are usually good communicators

Helen Fisher: Anthropologist; expert on love

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 10:45:00 +0000

Link: Helen Fisher

Bio:
Anthropologist Helen Fisher studies gender differences and the evolution of human emotions. She's best known as an expert on romantic love, and her beautifully penned books -- including Anatomy of Love and Why We Love -- lay bare the mysteries of our most treasured emotion.

What happens to a person when they fall in love?

The first thing that happens is that your beloved begins to take on what I call “special meaning.” As a truck driver once said, “The world had a new center and that center was Maryanne.” Then you begin to focus all your attention on this special person. You can remember tiny things he or she said or did--and you dote on the things that you adore. You feel tremendous elation, euphoria, ecstasy when things are going well and terrible despair when things go wrong. Real mood swings. You have a huge amount of energy, too, so much that is it often hard to sleep. But most important: you can't stop thinking about this person. You obsessively think about him or her. And you yearn, indeed crave, to win emotional union with this sweetheart. Sure, most people would like to go to bed with a beloved; and they can get very jealous if they think this person is with another. But even more important than making love, they want this person to return their affection, to respond, to call, to write e-mails, to go out with them--and reciprocate their passion.

Did you find any brain differences between your male and female subjects?

Many of the same brain regions became active in both sexes. In fact, men fall in love faster than women do. But we did find some gender differences: Men tended to show more activity in brain regions associated with the integration of visual stimuli, and with penile erection. Women tended, instead, to show more activity in regions associated with emotion, attention and recalling memories.

Actually, these gender differences make pretty good evolutionary sense. Ancestral men needed to see if a woman showed visual signs of youth and health, signs that she would bear him healthy babies. And when a man saw a good reproductive partner, it would have been adaptive for him to become sexually aroused--to start the mating process. But a woman can't “size up” a man just by looking at him. A woman needs a good provider and protector. So an ancestral woman needed to remember all the things a mating partner had done for her, what he had given her and what he had promised. No wonder women in love evolved the tendency to activate brain circuits for remembering. In fact, women still remember many more of the details of a love affair than men do.

Why only scan the brains of people newly in love? Does that mean that love changes over time?

Yes, love does change over time. We have all experienced this. But this study tells us much more about how this happens. Our subjects who were in longer relationships showed activity in some additional brain regions, areas associated with the processing of emotions. We don't know what this means yet. But I think someday we will find that as true love progresses, brain circuits for thinking rationally about the relationship become more active, and brain areas that generate that tremendous passion begin to relax so that the craving slowly subsides, replaced by deeper, calmer, less urgent feelings.

So you would probably say that romantic love evolved in human beings, right? How did that happen? Why do we love?

I think that the precursor of romantic love, animal attraction, evolved long before human beings—to enable all mammals to focus their mating energy on specific partners, thereby conserving courtship time and energy. In fact, many became attracted immediately – the forerunner of love-at-first sight. But I think this brain system became much more elaborate after our first forbearers descended from the tress of Africa some 4 million years ago. With the evolution of pair bonding and male/female attachment, both men and women began to develop a more complex system for choosing a mate: romantic love. Then, the courtship process became even more intense (probably about 2 million years ago) and the brain circuitry for romantic love took its modern form.

Why do we love? I think romantic love evolved for many Darwinian purposes. Children who fall in love are practicing for life's greatest challenge, choosing an appropriate mating partner. Those of reproductive age fall in love to start a breeding partnership. People who divorce and fall in love again are beginning yet another potentially reproductive relationship. And older folks who fall in love have found a kindred spirit with whom to share the problems (and joys) of aging. In fact, we were probably designed to fall in love with more than one person during our lives, largely so that we would bear children with several partners and thereby increase genetic variety in our lineage.

Why do we choose one person rather than another?

Why him? Why her? There are many, many forces that play a role in who we fall in love with. Timing is important; you tend to fall in love when you are ready, particularly when you are lonely. Proximity is often crucial; we fall for people who we interact with. Both men and women are excited by individuals they regard as mysterious. And most fall in love with someone of the same ethnic, social, religious, educational and economic background and with a similar amount of physical attractiveness, a comparable intelligence and parallel attitudes, expectations, values and interests. We gravitate to people like ourselves.

But most important is your “love map.” We grow up in a sea of experiences that sculpt our romantic choices. Our mother's sense of humor; our father's interest in politics and music; how those around us view honor, justice, loyalty and politeness: thousands of subtle forces build our individual interests, values and beliefs. So by the teenage years, each of us has constructed an unconscious catalogue of aptitudes and mannerisms we are looking for in a mate. Then when we meet someone who fits within this “love map” and they begin to flirt, the interaction may trigger the brain chemistry of romance and we fall head over heels in love.

How does romantic love affect the sex drive and feelings of attachment to a partner?

I think these three basic mating drives -- lust, romantic love and attachment -- are very interconnected in the brain. For example, dopamine, the chemical associated with romance, can drive up levels of testosterone, the hormone of sexual desire. This is probably why you become so interested in “making love” to your beloved. The sex drive does not always trigger romantic love, however. Most liberated contemporary adults have had sex with someone they were not in love with. But you can begin to copulate with “just a friend” and then fall madly in love with him or her-—probably because elevated levels of testosterone (associated with the sex drive) can elevate levels of dopamine and norepinephrine.

Romantic love has a more complex relationship with feelings of attachment, that sense of calm and security one can feel for a long term partner. Generally some of the chemistry of attachment can suppress the elation and passion of romantic love. This is probably why it is hard to keep that intense passion alive as the relationship becomes more stable and long term.

How can one keep romantic love alive in a long term marriage?

Do novel things together. Novelty drives up levels of dopamine – the chemical associated with romantic love. And if you and your partner are both interested in sex, make sure to keep this part of your relationship alive.

What happens in the brain when people are rejected in love?

We have begun to study this. After we put 17 people into the brain scanner who were happily in love, we put 20 young men and women into the scanner who had recently been rejected by someone they adored. It was tough to do. I felt such anguish for each subject. Anyway, we don't know yet what happens in the brain when someone has been “dumped” because we are still analyzing the data. Nevertheless, I suspect that we will find that some of the same dopamine pathways in the “reward system” in the brain are involved—-because people don't give up loving easily. We may also find activity in brain areas associated with anger and depression.

You say that romantic love is a drive. Does this mean that we have no control over our feelings?

I think you have to treat romantic love as an addiction. When you need to expel someone from your mind, first you need to throw out all the cards and letters. Don't call. Don't write. Avoid the places where you may run into him or her. Keep busy. Do novel things with old friends or new people. And exercise. Exercise can chance brain chemistry in healing ways, as can sunlight. Some people are helped by antidepressant drugs or “talking therapy” or both.

You reveal that unrequited love can lead to stalking, homicide, suicide, depression, and high divorce and adultery rates. Does this mean that health care professionals could medicate to prevent any of these? Should they?

This is a hard question. Yes, I think that health care professionals can medicate people to help prevent crimes of passion. They already do. And these medications probably help. I think crimes of passion occur, at least in part, because dopamine activity in the brain has become pronounced, making the jilted lover obsessed, energized, focused, motivated, and often enraged. And high levels of dopamine are probably driving down levels of serotonin, reducing impulse control as well—-thus setting up the abandoned person for violent behavior. But let's not forget that people are all very different. And they grow up with different childhood experiences; they have different values and beliefs, and different ways of handling stress and rejection. So, luckily, a great many of us seem to be able to weather the agony of rejection without violence or long lasting depression. But, yes, I think antidepressant drugs and talking therapy can help people in the throws of abandonment.

How about your own love life? What are the advantages of knowing about love? Are there disadvantages? Does dissecting the biology of romantic love take away some of the mystery and passion of being in love?

Well, I have loved and won and loved and lost. I certainly know the ecstasy and despair of romantic love. But I think that learning about romantic love has given me some advantages. I certainly feel more informed, and for reasons I can't explain, more secure. I can anticipate some of the behavior of others and I have some tools to deal with various situations. And I know more about how to trigger love and how to make it last. Disadvantages? Well, perhaps I am more realistic, if you want to call that a disadvantage. But one thing I am positive about – knowing about love will never kill the passion.

If romantic love is an urge that has evolved over time, what is the future of it? Will it change?

The feeling will never change, it's too deeply embedded in the human brain. But today more and more people marry for love. In our hunting/gathering past, many wed for love; they were free to marry whom they chose. But as our forebears settled down to farm some 10,000 years ago, more and more marriages became business ventures done to exchange property or make political alliances or social ties. Romance could not be stifled. The rich took concubines; the poor still wed for love; and many probably fell in love with the person that they married. But with the growth of trade and cities and the Industrial Revolution, men and women fled farm life to live in towns. And as family obligations lessened, more began to wed for love. The steady entrance of women into the paid workforce has intensified the desire to pick a partner for one 's self and today more and more men and women practice what the Chinese call “free love.”

Just a quick remider of what I am doing

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 14:31:00 +0000

I just try to list the projects which I am undertaking now
I try to prioritize them in order of importance
- Preparing and planning for next semester
+ Studying Network: LAN, TCP/IP
+ Database: ideas of database, acquiring new skills with Access, so I can design a app for my family business
+ Application Programming: try to have brief view of what I am doing in next semester, grasp ideas of whose subject and then practice
+ BRM: will ask sub. coordinator for further info. (subject outline)

- Improve English, especially pronunciation ( for conversation and presentation) and writing ( reflective journal and case study, business, report)
- Finding a job and working volunteer
- Building up list of questions used in interview and try to answer

Others:
- Critical thinking
- Join one club
- Play sport ( swimming, basketball)

Interesting topic:
- Web searching

Book I am reading : Google Story

PostgreSQL camp

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 11:09:00 +0000

PostgreSQL DBA 8 Certification Training CertCamp

Date: 2008-08-20 – 2008-08-24 (This is a training event)
Location: Sydney, Australia

ATTEND THIS POSTGRESQL CERTCAMP & GET A FREE iPOD Video!
Register 3 or more candidate(s) for the same class and all three gets a FREE new iPhone, call us for more details!

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CertFirst Trainers are experts and specialized in their given domains. All our PostgreSQL trainers are also certified in Linux, PostgreSQL DBA and as well as in many other leading technologies. CertFirst uses nothing but the best equipment, A+ grade classroom with the state of the art labs that includes dual core processor computers with minimum of 2-4 GB RAM. For quality assurance purposes, average class size is limited to about 6-8 students.

Course & Exam Objectives & Outline

I. Getting Started

1. Installing PostgreSQL
Compiling and Installing PostgreSQL on Linux/Unix
Post-Installation Setup
The PostgreSQL Windows Installer

2. Creating a Database and Testing the Server
Initializing a Cluster
Creating a Database
Starting the Database Server
The psql Client
Startup Failures and Client Connection Problems

II. Basic PostgreSQL Administration

3. Overview of PostgreSQL Architecture
Configuration Files
Physical Storage and File Layout
Tablespaces
System Catalogs
Logging Parameters

4. Roles and Privileges
Roles and Their Attributes
Privileges
Role Membership

5. Security
Securing TCP Connections with SSL
Create Secure SSH Tunnels
Client Authentication
Encryption Options

6. Backup and Recovery
Overview of Backup Methods
Performing an SQL Dump and Restore
Filesystem Backup

7. Maintenance and Monitoring
Routine Maintenance Tasks
Monitoring Database Activity
Monitoring Disk Usage

8. Client Connections
pgsqlODBC and OpenOffice
Windows ODBC and Microsoft Access
Perl DBI

III. Advanced Administration Topics

9. Performance Tuning
10. Continuous Backup and PITR
11. Warm Standby Servers for High Availability
12. Asynchronous Replication with Slony-I
13. Procedural Languages
14. Contrib Modules

Prerequisite knowledge
This course requires students to have understanding of Linux fundamentals as well as SQL.

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My most creative moment

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 01:56:00 +0000

Today, during the time taking shower, I've just realized that shower time is most creative moment. I come up with many ideas which is very important for my study.

So, I should use this time more efficiently. I dont know if this is a quirky things. But Archime came up with a great ideas when he was bathing. So strange!

Road To Success - Beginning

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 01:13:00 +0000

Just take name of a book about Bill Gates, who is the most powerful man in IT industry so far, as a name of my series of thought I come up with.

The aim of this entry is important because it will set the outline for my ideas. In other words, all my thought will be shaped and expressed freely in these entries . On the other hand, it also helps me focus on my finding career path and identifying the interesting projects which could benefits to my family, my job and society.

I begin with recent ideas about Database

As far As I know, database is a integral part of most business, from banking, commerce , education and even government management. The use of database and the degree of applied database vary from organization to org. However, I just focus on the need of database application in Vietnam , where I am studying.

Vietnam with the lack of experienced database administrator and the use of database application leads to the low efficiency in management. They really need an insight into the importance of database. For example, dealing with managing the citizen of VN government will be much easier when they apply database to the great extent. They could manage the information of popularity in much more effecient way.

Austrilia, their focus on business process and internetworking results in the lack of database management. Most graduate are choosing internetwork or business as their majors.

Based on this view, database section in IT industry will be more beneficiary for whom undertake this course.

11:54 PM
July 09 08