Way Diary

Skype crash before signing in and windows live messenger error code 81000490

2011-05-28T14:11:00.000-07:00

Windows live messenger error code 81000490:
http://cliffveale.wordpress.com/2010/12/14/windows-live-messenger-error-code-81000490/

Skype crash before signing in:
http://heartbeat.skype.com/2011/05/problems_signing_into_skype_an.html

What is next?

2011-05-06T06:44:00.000-07:00

I am planning to go for a thesis option for my MS degree will help me to specialize on a topic that I really like. MS without thesis is just a bunch of these stupid classes but just more difficult to get through.
That is why going for jobs to see what I really like is a good thing - for a thesis master degree.
Having a non-thesis will not help my specific career because it is not a specialize into a topic. Well, MS non-thesis would place me higher on payscale and that is it - no gurantee that it will be faster to graduate.

I think I will do better if I do one thing and just one thing. As my friend Rajat in wsu doing MS thesis right now, he said. he said: there is no gurantee that MS non-thesis will graduate faster, because you have research credits in a thesis option.

I mean, after reading 451 (Database) and 466 (Embedded systems) exam and questions. What the hell with a BS degree, the topics are just too diverse, and I don't think I will use the new knowledge as much as the professors will expect - I won't use all of them. Yes, some of the knowledge is going to be a waste - because I want to specialize.

-------------------
For those who knows KC at WSU:
A chinese student was walking in Sloan 353 and was dragging his feet while walking.
The sound of it - is like KC is coming.
I am like, "Oh dude. please don't drag your feet while walking. I thought you are KC."
Of course I am a Chinese. But DON'T do it! You are not that old yet.
PLEASE DON'T drag your feet!!

Parallel Download like apt-get - apt-fast

2011-03-28T15:16:00.001-07:00

apt-fast instruction
http://www.webupd8.org/2010/08/you-can-now-install-apt-fast-from-ppa.html

How to Remove minefield firefox beta 4.0 on linux with apt-get

2011-03-28T03:40:00.000-07:00

Proven to work on kubuntu 10.10 x86

(1) Install ppa-purge to remove the repository of Firefox/Minefield beta 4.0 [1]

sudo apt-get install ppa-purge
sudo ppa-purge ppa:ubuntu-mozilla-daily/ppa

(2) install firefox 4.0 stable [2]

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mozillateam/firefox-stable
sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get upgrade

Basically, (1) is the undo of [3].

[1] http://bigbrovar.aoizora.org/index.php/2010/01/10/how-to-safely-remove-ppa-repository-from-ubuntu/
[2] http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2011/03/firefox-4-ppa-for-ubuntu-10-04-and-10-10-users/
[3] http://linuxhub.net/2010/07/install-firefox-4-beta-2-in-ubuntu-using-ppa/

Vegetarian Quotes (1)

2011-03-25T03:25:00.000-07:00

Truely man is the king of beasts, for his brutality exceeds theirs. We live by the death of others: we are burial places! I have from an early age abjured the use of meat, and the time will come when men such as I will look on the murder of animals as they now look on the murder of men. ~Leonardo da Vinci

Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet. ~Albert Einstein

Animals are my friends... and I don't eat my friends. ~George Bernard Shaw

I have no doubt that it is a part of the destiny of the human race, in its gradual improvement, to leave off eating animals, as surely as the savage tribes have left off eating each other.... ~Henry David Thoreau, Walden, 1854

We manage to swallow flesh only because we do not think of the cruel and sinful thing that we do. Cruelty... is a fundamental sin, and admits of no arguments or nice distinctions. If only we do not allow our heart to grow callous, it protests against cruelty, is always clearly heard; and yet we go on perpetrating cruelties easily, merrily, all of us - in fact, anyone who does not join in is dubbed a crank. ~Rabindranath Tagore

We don't need to eat anyone who would run, swim, or fly away if he could. ~James Cromwell

We all love animals. Why do we call some "pets" and others "dinner?" ~k.d. lang

A veteran USDA meat inspector from Texas describes what he has seen: "Cattle dragged and choked... knocking 'em four, five, ten times. Every now and then when they're stunned they come back to life, and they're up there agonizing. They're supposed to be re-stunned but sometimes they aren't and they'll go through the skinning process alive. I've worked in four large [slaughterhouses] and a bunch of small ones. They're all the same. If people were to see this, they'd probably feel really bad about it. But in a packing house everybody gets so used to it that it doesn't mean anything." ~Slaughterhouse 1997

Would you kill your pet dog or cat to eat it? How about an animal you're not emotionally attached to? Is the thought of slaughtering a cow or chicken or pig with your own hands too much to handle? Instead, would hiring a hit-man to do the job give you enough distance from the emotional discomfort? What animal did you put a contract out on for your supper last night? Did you at least make sure that none went to waste and to take a moment to be grateful for its sacrifice? ~Anonymous.

"The time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look on the murder of men."- Leonardo da Vinci, artist and scientist

"If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be vegetarian" Paul McCartney...he's a tosser, but its a good quote.

"For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love."
Pythagoras, mathematician

"If a group of beings from another planet were to land on Earth -- beings who considered themselves as superior to you as you feel yourself to be to other animals -- would you concede them the rights over you that you assume over other animals?"
George Bernard Shaw, playwright, Nobel Prize 1925

"I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights. That is the way of a whole human being."
Abraham Lincoln, 16th U.S. President

"As long as there are slaughterhouses, there will be battlefields."
Leo Tolstoy

"Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages."
Thomas Edison

Animals are my friends... and I don't eat my friends. ~George Bernard Shaw

Nothing more strongly arouses our disgust than cannibalism, yet we make the same impression on Buddhists and vegetarians, for we feed on babies, though not our own. ~Robert Louis Stevenson

We all love animals. Why do we call some "pets" and others "dinner?" ~k.d. lang

"I smell burning flesh, and I hope to God it's human." - Morrissey

source: http://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110320040617AAiCu6w

Block full page Skype Ads that has started to appear since March 2011

2011-03-10T04:44:00.000-08:00

Add this entry to your firewall to block new full page ads on Skype that has started to appear since March 2011.

try a few things here:

block outgoing port 80 requests from skype

block
ip address: 72.246.0.0
subnet mask: 255.255.0.0

And now I don't think anyone can block this range of ip address using hostfile...

~~How to edit host file in windows 7 and vista~~
~~http://www.windowsreference.com/windows-7/edit-hosts-file-in-windows-7-windows-vista/~~

~~How to edit host file in windows xp~~
~~http://kb.simplywebhosting.com/idx/0/045/article/~~

(I used a firewall and the firewall log and wireshark to figure this out.)

Cisco NAC Agent - The Big Distraction

2011-03-08T19:24:00.000-08:00

Cisco Clean Access has been a big distraction since it was used at my university.

Prolonged bug that has not been fixed (list):
1. Cisco NAC Agent does not recognize new versions of Antivirus or other antivirus products in market. This result in users have to buy antivirus products that are limited by Cisco. That actually restricted the users' choice of antivirus. User should have the freedom to choose their own antivirus, not Cisco. At the time of this writing, Cisco NAC Agent does not recognize Avast Antivirus 6. When I first moved in to the University, Cisco NAC Agent did not recognize Comodo Internet Security (Full Antivirus and firewall included). And that forced me to install AVG on my three computers while I have big homework and exams due.

2. Even if your antivirus is on the Cisco preferred list, you may not be able to update your antivirus signatures/database if you have temporary access at that moment - some antivirus signatures/database update servers are not on Cisco's whitelist. That means you have to install an antivirus product that is on Cisco's white-list and the antivirus update server is also need to be on Cisco's white-list. The only way to find out that you have the antivirus that is Cisco approved is to try it yourself, because the school never disclose the approved list.

3. After a logout of Cisco NAC Agent, you may not get another pop-up prompt window to enter your username/password to login for next 5 to 10 minutes. Say for example, I am using google docs and I wanted to print or save my work, a disconnection of 5 to 10 minutes is a great distraction.

The Cure for Eczema and Hand Dyshidrosis

2011-03-02T18:38:00.000-08:00

My personal experience: Beef is also bad for eczema. For me, eczema worsen for the next few days after consuming beef.

"There are simple ways to chelate (flush) aluminum from your body. Chlorella, an algae supplement, is wonderful for removing all heavy metals."
source: http://owen.curezone.com/healing/chelation.html

With that being said, that implies you should also avoid fish as well because of mercury concerns. "Stop eating shellfish (shrimp, scallops, lobster, etc.), which have high levels of heavy metals."
source: http://nickshell1983.wordpress.com/2010/06/29/the-cure-for-eczema/

Now here, in essence, tells you to adjust to vegetarian diet:
"Remove strong acid producing foods such as beef, chicken and pork for at least 90 days and if you become successful at doing this, then set another goal for an additional 90 days - soon you won't miss these foods."
source: http://eczema-natural-healing.com/eczema-food-allergies.html

That is why I am have become a vegetarian, and vegetarianism helps a lot on my eczema.

This re-confirm my understanding of what is not good.

Additionally, you need to do these steps listed here:
http://nickshell1983.wordpress.com/2010/06/29/the-cure-for-eczema/

and now it is up to you to subscribe the ideas listed at the following link (may help additionally):
http://eczema-natural-healing.com/eczema-food-allergies.html

Website Updated

2011-02-23T05:16:00.000-08:00

Added

Custom error pages (.htaccess and error.php)

one error page handle all the http errors.

Report the weather in your area base on your IP address. PHP post request and some string parsing was coded. (see http://www.theforwardway.com)

Breakdown at: http://theforwardway.com/location.php

A java script time: reading your PC clock
Facebook like on website and blogs
New highly customized blog templates

Page numbered
Google ad-sense enabled
Social networks share enabled
Yahoo pipes for all the blogger feeds listed on home page
Facebook like enabled

Add Facebook Like button to Your Blogger Posts
(linked to facebook Application ID)
http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/82876/How-to-Add-a-Facebook-Like-Button-to-Your-Blogger-.aspx

Google followers enabled
Feedburner

Personal Feedburner Flare
Disqus Comments Link: Display the number of comments for each post (in rss feeds).

Disqus, Facebook Connect
http://www.knowliz.com/2009/01/enable-facebook-connect-for-blogger.html

import existing comments to disqus
comment sync with disqus

Switched from Facebook Notes to Networkedblogs
http://socialwayne.com/2009/09/08/how-to-use-networkedblogs-and-facebook-to-increase-blog-traffic-and-engagement/

Are Facebook, Blog Catalog, and NetworkedBlogs Stealing Your Adsense Earnings?!
http://sourceblogger.com/are-facebook-and-blog-catalog-stealing-your-adsense-earnings/

Facebook Application ID for all three blogs

Content-wise

2011 resume
new ME! section (music, folk dancing, philosophy is a transferred to this), and programming IT section
photos.theforwardway.com is the photo album (this doesn't have all the photos due to privacy. Use of Facebook is encouraged.)
Homepage quicklinks: added onlinealarm clock, email/files.theforwardway.com
Contact Page

Skype Call, Google Chat, Better looking email form.

Subdomains and Redirections

email.theforwardway.com for webmail
files.theforwardway.com for file server
blogs are now has subdomains in diary.theforwardway.com, dungslake.theforwardway.com, pick.theforwardway.com

Google custom search (http://www.google.com/cse/) on blog, on homepage, tweaked result, auto-completion and refinement enabled
favicon.ico
website banner - the dude is gone for the dudette.
Search engine submission

Google webmaster tools
Website: Sitemap generator

http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/

Needs
Cron job for automatic sitemap generation for search engines.

FYI, ip v4 is running out
ipv6 deployment status
http://www.vyncke.org/ipv6status/detailed.php?type=&country=us

http://www.theforwardway.com

Ruby on Rails on Kubuntu 10.10 Instructions

2010-10-31T22:05:00.000-07:00

First follow:
http://www.christopherirish.com/2010/08/25/how-to-install-rvm-on-ubuntu-10-04/

which refers:
http://rvm.beginrescueend.com/rvm/install/

Read also:
http://www.productionscale.com/home/2010/10/19/using-rvm-on-ubuntu-1010.html

sudo apt-get install libxslt-dev libxml2-dev
sudo gem install nokogiri
http://nokogiri.org/tutorials/installing_nokogiri.html

http://www.solutioncottage.com/ShowSolution.aspx?solID=207

You may need:
http://ruby.about.com/od/rubyversionmanager/ss/installrvmlinux_2.htm

Tutorial on Ruby on Rails
http://railstutorial.org/book

Access denied on command line shutdown in Windows 7

2010-10-25T05:33:00.000-07:00

If you have encounter these problems:

Getting Access is Denied when accessing Windows 7 share from Windows XP[1]
PSShutdown? Access Denied? Pulling hair out? [2]
shutdown -i Access Denied? [3]

Solution:

"Thanks to a precise post at one of the MS forums, this gem comes to anyone looking to use psshutdown with Windows 7 systems:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion \Policies\System
create or modify 32-bit DWORD: LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy
set the value to: 1

PSShutdown will fail before you do this, and succeed after. Sure, you've got to create an account with a password on the Win7 box and give it administrator rights, but by now you already knew all that." -- [2]

Source
[1] http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en/w7security/thread/23369f35-bc45-4147-9c3e-74a47d530757
[2] http://board.homeseer.com/showthread.php?t=141913

[3] http://www.online-tech-tips.com/computer-tips/remote-shutdown-command/

How to do an automatic login on Cisco Clean Access Agent

2010-09-08T18:58:00.000-07:00

Synopsis
There is no script to do automatic login on Cisco Clean Acess Agent in any version of windows.

Affects
All version of Windows, including the latest Windows 7, 32 bit and 64 bit.

Prerequisites/Notes
You must make sure you have fulfilled the requirements that is requested by cisco clean access agent first.

Relieve Steps
1. Install autohotkey. download from http://www.autohotkey.com/download/

2. Download the autohotkey code from my website:
http://theforwardway.com/programs/ciscologin.ahk

3. Modify the ciscologin.ahk, putdown your username and password right after the comma of the "Send," commands. Spaces are ignored in send commands. For special characters like space ! # + ^ {} Use {} For more details see autohotkey documentation http://www.autohotkey.com/docs/commands/Send.htm

while True
{
WinWait, Cisco NAC Agent
WinActivate ; Automatically uses the window found above.
WinSetTitle,Cisco NAC Agent, ,Cisco NAC Agent Entering Password. Do not move.
Send,{Esc}
Send, ;putdown your username after the comma on this line
Send,{Tab}^A{Del}
Send, ;putdown your password after the comma on this line
Send,{Enter}
WinSetTitle,Cisco NAC Agent Entering Password. Do not move., ,Cisco NAC Agent Logging in
Sleep 1000
if WinExist(Cisco NAC Agent)
{
WinActivate ; Automatically uses the window found above.
Send,{Enter}
Sleep 1000
}
if WinExist(Cisco NAC Agent)
{
WinActivate ; Automatically uses the window found above.
Send,{Enter}
Sleep 1000
}
if WinExist(Cisco NAC Agent)
{
WinActivate ; Automatically uses the window found above.
Send,{Enter}
Sleep 1000
}
if WinExist(Cisco NAC Agent)
{
Winclose Cisco NAC Agent
}
}

4. Save the script into your startup folder of the windows start menu.

5. Find your Cisco Clean Access Agent from the the notification area of the windows taskbar, right click the agent's icon, choose "Popup Login Window".

6. Double click the automatic login script now to activate the automatic login script for cisco clean access agent.

Other Information
Cisco Clean Access for Max OS/X
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20060506184128453

Response to Facebook: At the end of August, 2010

2010-09-04T00:23:00.000-07:00

Hey. Thank you. I usually do nothing for my birthdays. Birthday is a good way to keep in touch with friends. However, don't be upset if I miss your birthdays, but I am trying my best. And, I must hand-in my assignment on time... I am so afraid when a big project is assigned without my instructor(s) splitting it into smaller project first. I need to enjoy getting the work done. After a break from my University, I have much less stress compare to two years ago, as a result, the classes seemed to be less complicated. Psychology can make all the differences, and it is a thing that is hard to fix when it goes sideways.

Making backups is the hardest thing to do. This year, I will have a total of five harddrive returns to harddrive manufacturers. In previous years, I return one or two drivers per year. Drivers are so easy to break, I own ten harddrives myself, and that includes the drives in laptops and external drives. Lucky, I have SSD and harddrives in Raid 5, they are more reliable. I replaced two drives from the Raid 5 this year alone. And I don't like moving data around. Five harddrives to return - there is a potential that I don't have another copy of this massive amount of information. This year, I am lucky, I seemed don't have much to lose.

I found out I have too much clothing, I change my laptops a lot, but I hardly have enough old clothing to throw away. Too bad I have t-shirts that I always wear, but some of them have been seven years old already and most of them just simply don't get old. Well, one of my friends told me, Russian researchers had 25 men and women who were 50 years old (and another bunch of people doing nothing as the control group), and these subjects have been living in the style of soviet era despite the time of experiment is around 1995 for 10 years. They eat, dress, listen, and do the same old thing as if they were in youth. The result of the research was that the control group die faster than the ones who live in their youth lifestyle.

So, *perhaps*, in a long run, changing your clothings and lifestyle significantly for too many times across a few decades may make you feel older.

Thus, I am not getting old... YET.

There are researches and experiments make me believe in friends more. Most of us agree that human is born social. Another research that I have heard about is that in an elderly nursing home a group of random patients are given plants for them to water, and another group is given plants but the nurses water the plants for them. The result is the group that water the plants themselves survive longer, and the group with the nurses watering plants die faster. The nurses just strip away patients' valuable opportunities to water plants in the control group. Therefore, this shown the fact that even interactions with plants has a significant benefits already. So, treasure the friends. I see my friends are doing it, and some are even more so. I am glad that my friends have the motivation to nudge me online, even when I am terribly overwhelmed with some other things.

Human brains work in ways that most of us don't even have a clue. To exemplify this, The third experiment I want to talk about is semi-solid food in nursing home. Nurses used to feed semi-liquid in a cup. Researchers asked the nurses to make bacon-shaped semi-solid bacon, and banana-shaped semi-solid banana, and so on. The result is that the patients have an increased appetite when shaped semi-solid food is served. Perhaps their brains associate food better with the shape of food.

All above somehow showed that social interactions and communications in physical world make a difference in personal health. Although online experiences with friends are also crucial. As technological barriers are still pretty heavy in online environment, online environment still have a long way to catch up with the physical world in terms of social interactions. Although we don't understand the mechanism of human brain; nonetheless, concluded from the experiments mentioned above, things just won't go wrong with more physical interactions with people. For those who has been online for too much, just like me, should moderately get people into gatherings and parties so that they don't miss out the benefits of physical and social interactions.

And so, I have established that there are some benefits for celebrating birthdays, even if it just meant to have small online chats, which is still better than not doing it at all.

At the end of August, 2010

2010-08-31T21:55:00.001-07:00

School started last Monday, Aug 23.

Life is just seemed long enough for everyone to have a moment to become stupid. If it really is so, I would like to be averagely stupid across my life so that I am not going to be as painful as the others. :)

I am attending Washington State University and live in a Residence Hall. Suzanne Anderson was the instructor who recommended me to go to Vancouver Film School. I will join her class again for a semester of "advanced animation" and 5 people as a group will submit a group project to an animation festival. This class counts towards the completion of my degree. Lots of measures have been done to make sure I don't get sick in the winter.

The purpose of the animation class this semester is to learn some teamwork in a smaller setting, classes that I have taken in VFS really made me shine, even in my weak areas like character design. Although I don't know everything, I do contribute, and I do have things to share in class.

I would like to bring the positive vibe, and upbeat momentum of VFS back to WSU.
All I have to do in these 9 months is to focus on my academic obligations, and don't get sick and semi-broke at the end of months.

As far as food concerned,
I am tired of asking them not to put onions in my food. If I forgot to ask them not to put onions, they just will put them.
I did have a hard time to tell a beef patty from a veggie patty. Because they mix beef with chopped vegetables.

I think I was fooled once. The guy who cooked the patty once claimed it was a veggie patty for the garden burger. Garden burger is supposed to have veggie patty in it every time.
So I have to say,
"Make sure the garden burger has a veggie patty in it, like it supposed to. And no onions."
"No onions!?"
" Yes, no onions."

A lot of food such as jello and yogurt annoyingly contains kosher gelatin. May be they are adding that just because they think it is cool, but in fact that has added considerable amount of obscene gore to my vegetarian diet. After the first week, I have discover that. I will need to cut out jello and yogurt from diet, so that I am not having my nice cows beheaded. So I reckoned that my family have no idea that Jello contains cow bones, if I tell them certainly it is gross.

Oh, sweet the yogurt, with high-fructose corn syrup bestowed by Yoplait, which is the most corny thing in food in my very humble opinion, that will keep the people as fat as they would like. I think it is supposed to be healthy!

After the first week, I have discover that. I will need to cut out jello and yogurt from diet, so that I am not having my nice cows beheaded. So I reckoned that my family have no idea that Jello contains cow bones, if I tell them certainly it is gross.

Vegetarian options are not enough, almost everyday I am eating veggie burrito, veggie burger. cheese stick, french fries, veggie pizza (garlic may be present). There is also a salad bar.
They may add other crap onto the cakes and pies.

To my surprise, the dining hall don't ever make soup. I bet if they ever want to make any kind of soup, it is going to be BEEF stew screwed with onions in it. As the mess is boiling and tormenting inside the pot, the random things in there will take turn... to surface, and say hi to you!

I also do not know why they have pears that are harder than apples, and usually have three or four peaches that rotten a bit. And they dare to sell it.
Food quantity is small. For my residence hall dining account, I can have 40% discount. However, when the price is $5 for me after discount, they give me $3 dollar worth of food. (Update: Feb 22, now I know it depends on the server. Fat server gives more food. Server does not know about food gives you more starch. Skinny servers gives you $3 amount of food.)

So, I have to educate them how much money should worth in a dining hall,
"Excuse me, could you give me one more spoon of potato?"
"Yes... There you go." She handed in my food.
"Now, this looks like five dollars instead of three."

On the top of that, I have to pay $922 for the residence hall dining account. Perhaps, the dining halls are here for girly boys, and especially for girly girls. (Feb 23 update: So, in spring 2011, my last semester in WSU, I don't use dining account at all. CougarCash is used instead)

I got a flu the day before I left Vancouver, and I had to buy NyQuil/DayQuil to relief flu syndrome. And heck, my cold medicine contains gelatin as coating.

Vegetarian info
http://www.ivu.org/faq/food.html

Nutrition/dining program of WSU
http://dining.wsu.edu/nutrition

And stupid Dell don't have price protection on their computers, Dell just don't think about the feeling of its customer. last week I bought a $1219US (tax not included) Dell studio 15 with student discount. One week later, which is today, the same laptop cost $1100US (tax not included). I lost $119US in a week. Why I didn't buy laptop from Costco? Because Costco does not have the size and processing power that I required. My Dell studio 15: core i7 720QM, 500gb 7200rpm HDD, 4gb ddr3 1066, ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 5470 1GB, win 7 home premium 64bit, 3 year advance service plan, 15.6" Full HD 1080 LED display, weight around 5 to 6 pounds. Hail, stupid Dell.For other people (perhaps not me), though its lack of choices, Costco is a good place to buy computers for a reasonable price, because you can get a refund in 90 days and 2 years warranty without paying extra, and you don't have to deal with the price drop and potential problems with Dell if the Dell computer constantly having problems that they cannot fix, and put up with the fouled Dell attitude.

After I bought the Dell laptop, the regret simply comes from everywhere. I have searched some laptop forums, and people says, "Welcome, to Dell, in hell. I would rather in hell than with Dell." They says they wait over the phone for Dell customer services for 2 hours, and Dell has been outsourced too much from Dell itself.
Remember, when you buy any cheap Dell or Gateway model, you are no different from getting a piece of junk. It truly stinks. I truly crossed my fingers that my stupid Dell won't breakdown like my Toshiba does.

Finally, with the celebration of the grandly seventh repair (in almost 4 years) of my Toshiba Portege M400, this laptop is given a new fan and a new motherboard. Before the repair, one of the usb was not working, cmos clock not working (so that it was always the date and time that you last time adjusted the clock!),
the fan was so noisy to an extend that its blood-stained rotating blades were going to kill people and cute chickens in my dream.

The hell of Dell
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-7587_102-0.html?threadID=91413

Buy laptop at Costco?
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-7587_102-0.html?threadID=305356

Meet mike the chicken, chicken without a head for two years (1945-1947), and died of suffocation from eating a corn kernel.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_the_Headless_Chicken

The tool to change the HAL type of the guest OS (windows XP) in Virtual Box

2010-08-31T13:44:00.000-07:00

Applies to
Windows XP 32/64 bit any version only

Problem
After you change the number of processors in Virtualbox, you may not be able to use all the processors assigned to the Guest OS (Windows XP).

In task manager, there is only "one CPU", but there is two cores in the device manager.

Solution
Use this HALu.zip, which can be downloaded from:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=81429&page=20

Start the program, select "ACPI Multiprocesor PC" and restarted Windows. After reboot I can see two CPUs in Windows.

After the fix and a restarts, two cores are recognized in the Task manager of the guest OS.

Daily Evergreen Pullman

2009-08-29T06:24:00.001-07:00

Expenses keep some from home

International students tour U.S. or stay in Pullman for breaks due to high travel costs.

My name on local news...
http://www.dailyevergreen.com/story/20291

Vancouver Film School and some other showcases

2009-08-29T04:39:00.000-07:00

Selling tons of stuff on ebay

2009-03-19T22:54:00.000-07:00

Selling:

IBM x22 docking station

CONAIR (CS4J) hair straightener flat iron

pc100 128mb laptop RAM IBM 144pin

3 cellphones
LG CE110

2GB 2 X 1GB PC3200 PC2700 DDR 400 RAM w/ Heat Spreader

Update Jan 2009

2009-01-22T19:37:00.001-08:00

Chinese tattoo style Ukrainian Egg with glassy egg holder. Maya 2009

Not yet Easter, but I draw eggs. Yet, I don't celebrate Easter.
I don't even celebrate birthdays, why should I celebrate Easter!?

------
Synopsis:
Shoreline is evaluating my transcript. I will get to Shoreline CC at Seattle by next Spring - Early April.

==Videos recommend==
1.
Patrick Yau proudly present: Road Pancakes

This one is my semester project.

2.
Patrick Yau proudly present: Kite HD

This one is my final semester project - Kite HD. I have spent lots of time to draw Adonis™ the bird in this short animation.
The wind is computer generated.

If you want to dig deep into technical details of both projects, here you are:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=dgfj675z_130hg2tw4fz&hl=en

3.

KFC Cruelty

KFC staff retrieve chicken wings from trash bin for the meals of customers (Chinese and poor video quality)

I will never ever go to KFC again in the future if I can choose to eat out.

4.
Cradle of Filth - From the Cradle to Enslave
Music Video

Click here for lyrics

I listen to that same song again and again for many times. From the artist point of view, this music is great. However, whether the song is conveying the Truth is yet another serious business.

==Updates==
=1. The transfer and the move
The exams of this awful Fall/winter semester has just ended on last Friday (yesterday in US time). I have no excuse for not updating you guys. Remember you can reply by creating new message on Facebook. If you response here your comments will be read by others. They are great audience of course.

I hate the classes here at Pullman! Some of the classes gave me a mind-boggling headache. The software that I use to write programs for assignments is so unstable. It seems compile wrong code with bizarre behavior. That thing is sure buggy.

I had to use that buggy software to finish the assignments and there is no other choice to replace that software.

My parents agreed with me to switch school, though the lease of my place that I have signed pose a problem.

Probably I will u-haul the things. One thing that is great is that I have a portable queen size air-mattress. I will sell all my heavy bulky traditional mattress. I have portable plastic tables too. I have the future moving in mind.

I don't like the weather in Pullman. The last time it snow, my home outside accumulate 2 feet of snow. Correct, I am so negative about it, because I have to shovel at least 2 hours a day - and up to 4 hours a day to clear up the snow on my car and driveway.

This year I only focus on academic only. I am not holding any position at school.

I am getting some advice from my professors about getting an 3D-animation degree. I have been doing a lot of researches online about the video art industry. And here is what I have found and here I got them summarized:

1.
This industry seems like an male dominant industry. Female counterparts may end up low wages and doing most of the boring work. Is that true? But hey, for the computer science field, isn't it also male dominant too?

2.
"The only thing i ever took away from the lectures is that if your in animation, you basically specialize in one aspect of what your good at. For example if your good at making eyes, your dream job will be "the eyeball guy." ..something around those lines, high specialization, there is no, do whatever you want type of thing, at least not with any of the big companies."

Source: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AjZGlKixD5gvBhzk8P.WG38jzKIX;_ylv=3?qid=20080917111624AAk6IIT

I am kind of surprise for what the guy says about the Video arts industry. But hey, for the computer science field, isn't it also you sleep under the desk when the workload is gonna to kill ya?

3.
I guess I will pick up trash, renaming files from those lazy guys who incorrectly named that quit the company 3 months ago... If it is real talented work, it can be that I am in the company a few years before I can get involve.

But hey, at least in Hong Kong, it is typical. Companies don't want to hire a janitor and it is simply saving operating cost to let the "prawns" do all the clean up work. I will be sucking-it-up.

4.
I am asking them if they have good animation schools that they recommend to me?

I have been searching online. The Art Institute of Seattle and related schools turns out having bad reviews and labeled by students that they suck up money from students all the time. I am really scared.

Source: http://www.studentsreview.com/PA/AIOP0_comments.html?page=13&type=&d_school=The%20Art%20Institute%20of%20Pittsburgh

=2. Perhaps no more crappy car because of the recession for the Santa?

I will get a 4WD for sure because the cars will get cheap in the next few months. I want to conquer the heights of snow.

Hybrid doesn't save money. Yes, hybrids save gas, but there will be a higher cost of repair when a hybrid goes wrong. I am not rich enough to buy a hybrid. Hybrids are quieter but conventional ones are quite enough.

If it is 2nd-handed car, I would prefer certified pre-owned car.

Friends typically recommend imported cars. I have heard Toyota is a great choice. I want a car that have higher clearance of snow, not to mention more safety feature.
I am thinking about the fuel economy of my second car and rather not to have a powerful engine that waste me more gas and end up speeding. At Washington, the fastest highway I can find can go only up to 70 mph for the speed limit - that means I can only go at most 80 mph. There is no need to buy a power car.

I think to make this kind of decision I will go shop around with my sister and several friends during Christmas - probably at Seattle, and buy it around first half of the next year.

You know I have got fed up with unexpected repair cost of used car, and I hope that my 2nd car will be rid of the repair problem.

My sister will have my car if I leave the US, so we both will use the suggested car for at least 4 years.

With my current Honda Civic 91 LX, it seems like a bad idea to visit elsewhere like Seattle. Though, I have yet to convince my mom that a pricey can be well worth it. My parents can afford it but in this kind of situation we are all prone to save money. Actually I prefer to get a even better car once I get my job and have income, may be a hybrid car, when the hybrid technology is mature.

A few months later it will be the next time to buy. Probably I want to exploit the weak US dollar as the trillion rescue program is about to roll out - when more layoffs are expected in next few months.

The good thing is that, computers and LCD monitors are getting cheap now in the US! 4Gb ram $25 at Tigersdirect now (It was $100 10 months ago for the same speed) - $389 for a quad core intel q6600, power supply, case, 4gb ram and board. CircuitCity is going on liquidation, pick up cheap stuff there.

So, will I go for Master of Computer Science after the Bachelor graduation? The answer is probably not in the near future. I think I will try go for Master of Finance first. And well, if I can find an internship/OPT, that is always preferred. However, in this kind of epic global economic situation, I don't think the market needs me for now.

=3. The Kill-all Solution
And also here is my kill-all solution for repair almost all the common software problems of typical computers:
http://sites.google.com/site/waywardwayfarer/computers/software-recommendations/the-kill-all-solution

It is also okay that you send this to others so that they can get help too. It is a free resource from me under GPL license.

=4. Recycling for Profit
Pullman garabage disposal, like other recycling companies in the US, only recycles materials that are profitable for them. Materials that are not profitable are white and mixed paper, plastic bags, and plastics that are not PET 1 and 2. WSU is still taking in white and mixed paper, so I am planning to dumb my paper in a WSU recycle bin. For a broken CFL bulb, they told to drive halfway to Colfax to dispose it, which I did. Imagine lots of people in Pullman don't have cars, how can they dispose things like broken CFL bulbs? It is so inconvenient. Therefore, many simply don't recycle, even though they are aware of this will hurt the environment. The recycling effort in Pullman is not good enough.

Costco
When you visit at Costco, you can see they are packing some electronics in a big plastic shell. This can take a lot of space during transportation, and wasting more plastic than necessary. Many packaging of Costco items is not recyclable expect the cardboard. They might end up using less packaging than other stores because Costco items are sold in big box; however, further reduction of packaging will help the environment. Well, profitability can stop corporations from choosing pricer greener alternatives; but it should not be the case with mechanise packaging - it should be cheap to change a smaller packaging.

Anyway, thanks for reading.

Lonely Angst Boy

2008-07-13T19:52:00.001-07:00

These are not poems. These are just strings of thought. There is no one to impress. Not even one.

Lonely?
I am unexplainably exhausted.
I think I am sick, Not coming down with cold though.
I think it is more of a mental illness.
Everyday I wake up, I feel like I have been drowned but somehow I have survived it.
I am alone, and I have get used to be alone.
But I don't think I am lonely. Um, may be I am, but I deny it.

No one to Impress, and thus Status Quo
I have no one to impress. To impress someone, it is kind of stupid.
Instead, effort is better spend on finding out who I really am.
Most people may feel themselves under the same situation, even if people have many friends,
they don't have someone to describe their real thinking and feel themselves nothing.

But I am something in the nothingness, somehow there is nothing to live for.
I don't need to have any goal. I just need to survive.
If I survive, probably I am surviving for others.
I am thinking if I really need to feel happy.
Happy isn't better. I think. More pain and suffering isn't good either.
The worst is that there is no one to impress. I am under no one.
I don't have to do anything for myself either.
That is very odd. Felt like I had been dead already. But not quite.
I am living for others. I survive because it is just because. It is status quo.
That is all life is about? Merely live, and be dead sooner or later. Very odd.
Why spending so much efforts to do so much? Just to impress?
Huh? You want to be filthy rich, or famous, or giving birth to a city-load of kids?

I had thought about suicide, but I have put that away.
Just because that is not the official branch of doctrine of mine, but I am thinking about it anyway -
Just because it is logically valid, though it is anti-world and anti-humanity.

Angst - it is hard to describe.
Living in the status quo, but there is not anything leading to self-destruction,
but there isn't anything to move me forward either.
As long as I am loving someone, I don't want to leave this world.
The world needs me - the kind of good thinkers who wants to spin off insanely good ideas to push the world itself forward.

Hi? Angst Boy
Trying to sort out who I really am...
There is a reason for me look so anal everyday.
I just simply don't want to be merely a programmer. It is a job analogous to a white-collar construction worker.

People downplayed a lot of things and become ignorants to peoples' need. Well it is all systematic.
Trying to figure out why it is so hard to get married and even to get a girl-friend nowadays.
I had been figured out why it is so hard to study my degree.
It is all sociological. Everything I did is totally against the flow.
And I am thinking to figure out how to get out of this terrible situation.

Looking for good friends that can last long...
Looking for a new me that go directly to the final ultimate solution, rather than solving the problem ad-hoc.
Thinking of why I can't be as direct as I want to be.
I want to conclude what happened to others, so that I can figure out myself.

Angst - It is my philosophical anxiety about the world and about personal freedom.
Trying to figure out why it is hard to do everything big in life besides the expected competitions.
That is why I have to read a lot, my explanation is getting better over time, and it really takes a lot of time.

Who I really am: an artist or scientist;
What I am believing: religion, all about faith; and science, all about human perception of the fact and Truth
--- The two big-time major league fights.

If
I could figured out what is missing in the society, I can supply that
missing supplement to the deficiencies to compensate efforts which are
beyond hard work. After that, I may succeed.

Computer science is a department lacking of smile.
Computer science is a department lacking of care and love.
Computer science is also a department that is boring and fitting into the stereotypical geek image.
With that cool white dim lightings in the building, it is all eternal lifelessness.
I refuse, and I had firmly refuse to be one of them.
I like my major, I believe I can be more than that.
But my classmates don't even look good.
See? It is the social aspect that they are missing.
If I am purely logical, how am I different from a machine?
I have refused to stay that way.
I am not cynical, but I am angry at human ignorance.
I want a new me with a new framework that can deal with the logical bastards in the department.
Just hate to be the only Asian in class.
I want to free myself from them.
The classes that they have taught at the senior level are "useless" to me, I think hardly I will use it.
First it does not interest me.
Second it just doesn't connect to the computing in real life that I have seen and exposed to.
That is almost equivalent to the catholic theology about angels - I feel like they made them up!
I feel like they are already dead as they have running out of ideas.
The minds that can only fit into the caskets,
I am the pooper who poops into the caskets, and I am "the outside."
I want to think outside of the box. I am free from them.
I have to painfully zen through it, more painful than simply pooping.
If
I see more stupid people playing ignorance and playing naive, either I
will make them all cuckolds so as to set their mind straight or I die.
[Laugh]
They don't do that on purpose, I know, but I am running out of patience for trying to outsmart their ignorance.

(Edit: Our needs are ignored.)

This is not the first time I have complains about Facebook

2008-07-13T17:56:00.001-07:00

Facebook is just getting ridiculous. This is not the first time I have complains about Facebook.

Enslaved to Facebook
"You know those kind of applications are very boring and turn us into slaves."
"My profile is less bloated because I have get rid of those junk."

See Annoying Facebook Application

Now I add one more, "Facebook is where the spam is. Your friends are SPAMing you."

Facebook Posting my Marketplace ad Online and I don't know about it
Without my approval, facebook automatically posted my ad which I posted on facebook. I found this as I google my phone number out there on the Internet.

(Edit: the Facebook Marketplace has an option checkbox to whether let your ad be posted on other housing searching websites, but this option checkbox is turned on by default. That is a checkbox that is buried in bunches of other important options, and that is hard to see.)

http://spokane.heyclassifieds.com/housing/sublease/864/summer_roommate_needed_nice_room_and_neighborhood_at_turner_dr

Surprise!

Facebook Ridiculous Account Removal
My sister's facebook account got removed a few months ago by facebook administrators even though she is a real person with only one account, mistakenly joining a wrong network with a similar name.

Facebook's Information Monopoly
Also Facebook is locking up information on the web, thus "owning" and monopolize the information. Facebook is not a substitute for a website or blogs. Facebook is locking up information about me on the web. And a lot of people don't care and don't know about it. The world, for long, has downplayed the Truth by naive ignorance. So now I post on the blogger instead, and let facebook importing my bloggers and my website through Yahoo Pipes, just to avoid Facebook's monopoly on information.

Also Others Bad Experiences with Facebook (PhraseBook)
Thanks for developing your Facebook application. We've disabled your account.
Where technology, politics, media and snowboarding collide.

http://www.idealog.us/2007/06/thanks_for_deve.html

SHIT!

Facebook is good, but its drawback is terrifying.

Ripoff by Technology Products? Here is what I think

2008-07-12T04:07:00.000-07:00

Referring to the article http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/02/controlling-the-living-room/

"By integrating high definition DVD playback and Internet access into their units, they are taking the first steps necessary to eventually make a deal with a cable company to put all their features into just one box; for want of a better word, a WiiDVDCablePVR unit." - http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/02/controlling-the-living-room/

That is essentially a computer, what?

What a fuss to buy all these chubby equipments, wii, tv, such and such. What a hassle to buy an universal remote and you need to train all the remotes. You get used to the old ten remotes, and now even one more remote to take care of? This universal remote, it is more complicated - essentially a computer, you have to get use to it again. Why bother? What a waste of money. I say I am going to use my blazing fast computer to do it all. I don't need all that crap. If you are that good messing around with the remotes all that junk, you had better to learn how to use a computer probably and make the greatest use out of it. If I were that MIT professor I would say "just use the computer," and of course this won't make a good piece of news.

Just clam all that into the computer. This is the same big old trend, sounds familiar? I don't need TiVo, I need a TV tuner. You don't need DVD, a computer will do. You don't need Cable, there are so much online show. PVR? Oh, it is "VCR" to me - ironically. One day I will make the computer cook an eatable gourmet dinner for myself - not so hard too.

No kidding.
Senior, Computer Science, WSU, US

Summer Cleanup

2008-06-19T02:00:00.000-07:00

I trust myself everything will fall into its own place if I do everything just enough. Right now, I am adding entries onto my website, and I want to focus on good health, academic, and internship.

Moving
I have moved to Turner drive from True Street and CCS apartment. I have moved 8 car loads of stuff, and threw away or recycled two car loads of trash which include paper, computing hardware waste with old manuals, and bags. I am selling computer hardware that I don't use on ebay. I have reorganized my boxes of notes accumulated this five years. I buy furniture that can fit into my car so that I don't have to uhaul too much. I have plastic foldable tables as dinning table and working desks. I will only have to uhaul the 2 seat couch and 3 beds.

I changed my address with DOL, Vehicle Licensing, WSU, the bank, the credit card companies, websites and the post office within two days. That was 5 hours of work for me calling them, going to their websites and may be also visiting them.

Sublease clean up
I got one girl living the new place. It took me two weeks to have another person to fill the master room. The first time it was a guy who called me rot because I forgot to give him my address and my cellphone was dead. The second time is I helped my friend to get along with his girlfriend so that she don't have to live in my place, but my friend fixed my car's alternator, and I fixed his relationship with his girlfriend. The third time is someone deposited money into my checking account and he is my roommate now. Therefore, I am residing in the living room and pay a relatively low rent, the girl stay in the smaller room, and the guy stay in the master room. Since the place is all furnished and well equipped, I provide them bed, table, lamps so that they don't have to haul their stuff around as much. Everything is clean and quiet here now in my place. Nice and quiet neighborhood.

Photo album of this new place:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2133931&l=d8ce9&id=27225579

New place and old place clean up
I cleaned the old place for six hours in CCS, and the new place too. The new place I am living now is still crappy by my standard, but others may think that it is a good place.

I have a lazy landlord. He is supposed to collect rent on Jun 1st, but he didn't come. I called him yesterday, and he tagged me a voicemail, but he didn't come.

I cleaned the entire house including window trails, window stills, window glass- inside and out. Replaced the incandescent bulbs with CFL bulbs. I am still mending the nail holes on the walls and windowsills and repaint around the old holes.

A window glass in the living room fail off last Sunday. I sleep in the living room, and that window glass could have landed on my face, but it just fall out to the outside. yea, if it didn't fall to the outside, it could have landed on my face while I was sleeping. I was lucky. I know that I need to seal the window with plastic wrap right after the window fall off. It is summer and the plastic wrap works. I cleaned up that windows glass a little bit outside, and seal the hollow window with plastic wrappings, duct tape, and packaging tapes. It has been four days, and the landlord didn't come.

I fix the bathtub too because there is a gap between the tub and the wall with bathtub adhesive. It works great.

My new vaccum works great. It is only $44, and I got a whole can of dust in 5 minutes of usage when I was vaccuming the new place the first time.

I am considering to use LED light bulbs!

Unless the LED bulbs are lower than $60US and at least as bright as 60 watt incandenscent bulbs, the saving in electricity bill would not be apparent.

Nevertheless, the price of LED light bulbs is getting cheaper and cheaper. $52 for a 75W incandescent replacement, good deal! You need to buy the high power ones and you need to know what to buy, or you will end up with some inferior joker bulbs. I have been to that case before, I am asking for a refund for that. The ones that I recommend are in http://www.earthled.com/evolux-led-light-bulb.html

These bulbs are in high quality and work for 11 years. They are not typical cheap ones that you find on ebay. The bulb cost is high, but eventually it will save money with its longevity.

For the same amount of lumen,
Incandescent consumes 60W
Fluorescence consumes 15W
LED consumes only 5-7W!!

Multi-Color LED Lightbulb w/Remote and dimmer switches
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/lights/831e/
Only 5 Watts!!!

Finance clean up
Pay all the credit card debt, cancel all the credit cards that I don't use. Claim my health insurance, and now I got a check from them finally. Pay the rent in advance so that I don't to care about the rent anymore.

Communication clean up
I have revamped the new website, the address is still the same: http://hk.geocities.com/iiaiiappa I have delete and consolidate the blog entries. I moved underutilized blog entries to the website.

I have bought a new N wireless router and using Time Warner Cable. Everything is smooth here in the new place.

My cellphone Treo 650 was dead on Saturday Jun 7 2008, and so I lost a roommate. He is supposed to move in on Monday, but he doesn't have my address. and he didn't email me, but he just kept calling me when my cellphone was dead. He thought that I intentionally not answering his phone, and he call me rotted. Nevermind. On the bright side, I was given a second chance to raise the cheap rent a little bit for the master room of my new place because there were 8 people interested in this room.

My new HP IPAQ hw6945 can use skype! (costs $300 on ebay with GPS software, USB cable, and charger). I like the cellphone very much. One thing is the sound volume and echo is bad. I am thinking to buy Discovery 925 on Amazon.com so that the sound will be great on this cellphone.

I have a US phone number and a HK phone number on skype in addition to my cellphone number. I paid $84 dollars for a year of unlimited calling and skype voicemail box. It is a good deal.

Eating habit clean up
I serve myself natural food. Six sparrow sized meat everyday is okay, but more than that will be unhealthy. I eat whole grain.

I have been visiting a lot of bad chinese doctors in Hong Kong because of my enzyma. However, right now, my enzyma is almost cured because of my juice formula.

I bought a new juicer, two tomatos + one stalk of celery everyday and my skin is healing. I don't feel itchy for two weeks since I use my drink. I throw in half uncooked potato as well in the drink. That is better than the coke. Coke is what I called "the black water." Sweet but do nothing. My drink is way better. The juice that are available in the market is too sweet. Even the unsweeten apple juice has too much sugar in it because it still taste sweet. Therefore, if I need apple juice, I use my newly bought juicer, and that will save money buying juice and save the environment by not purchasing containers that hold the juices.

I don't need to look at that anymore:
http://www.cureyoureczema.com/Affiliates/AffiliatesIndex.html?hop=aucun&type=nohop

I am cured, I can have a girlfriend! lol.

For vitamin supplements and medications, I have my new plastic medical dispenser. I won't forget my pills again!

Computer clean up

I have recycled 9 pounds of computing trash. Parts of dell laptop that can't be sell on ebay, 2 wireless adapters, a wireless G netgear router,

Data lost and Recovery

I lost computer data last December and March. First, I figured out which drive(s) is not working. Second, I scanned all the drives with undelete software. These undelete software copied the recovered files to newly bought harddrives.

Third, I am opening all the files that have been recovered from the scan. These files can be unreadable - a bunch of garbage. I am throwing all these garbage files away. These files may lose their filenames, so I open the files, and figure out what that is, then give them filenames. These files may be duplicated, so I have remove duplicate files software to delete the duplicated files. These files may be not in the correct directory, so I move them in to correct folders.

Lastly, because I have multiple backups, that means I will have to compare the versions of files, and delete the old versions! When some of the files are recovered and I am no clue what those are, I put them into a folder together. May be some day I will need them. When some of the files are recovered and I am no clue what those are, I put them into a folder together. May be some day I will need them. Some of these uncertain files are semi-garbage, and some of them are mp3 while they can be text.

After all these, I will need to do a backup.

Well, I have a lot of backups of contact lists, so I will need to combine all the backups together and merge with the current contact list, and delete the old backups, And make one backup for the newly merged contact list. This newly merged contact list will be put into my new cellphone.

Academic Cleanup
I need to get an internship as a credit class. I am working on it. Very busy. I will get it. I promise.

Social stuff
I have been focusing on good health, living good, organizing and finding internship. It is okay for me to stay out of social life for a while.

Russian Night at Spokane with the folk dancers.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2133920&l=0b0d2&id=27225579

Thanksgiving turkey, The dog, Selling on ebay, zeitgeist, massage, moving, and snow tires

2007-11-27T04:09:00.000-08:00

Had a 20 pounds turkey cooked for a potluck and a newspaper reporter happened to be there. I will be on the news again for the third time. This time is the Moscow Pullman Daily news. Two of my Chinese friends how to cook turkey, and they assisted me to cook turkey. I surprised a lot of people during the potluck event because I just cook as good like an American household. Remember, I am a Chinese. The turkey's bone was then simmered with minced onion, chopped garlic cloves, and a few stick of chopped celery. It was a good broth. My friends taught me how to cook since I am in the United States. They make good dishes, I ask for instructions, and I copycat them. I am good at it. Copycat.

For the football game, Washington State won the Apple cup this year, to my surprise. I am not interested in going to football game. Recalling that last year apple cup it was freezing and raining and windy, Cougars was losing, and I was there. Even though Cougars win the Apple cup this year, the team did bad in general. Let them fire themselves. I don't care about it anymore.

It happened I sold more $100 dollars worth of computing and video recording equipment over the Thanksgiving holiday on ebay. This month alone I made $200 dollars. I had my camcorder broken last year with all other accessories working. I have my 4-year-old dell laptop broken last April, and it doesn't boot anymore. As I have experience on opening laptops, I took it apart and sell the components rather than trash it. The screen (see picture) alone should worth around $110 dollars. It worths more to sell it part by part than trading in a whole non-usable laptop with a company.
Trading in a whole non-usable laptop with a company may require buying a products with them. Because this old dell laptop having a non-working hard-drive and system board, it has no trade in value actually. Now, selling it part by part is the only option for me. I will ask my friends for broken laptop and sell parts online. It can be my real business. It helps income, but can't get rich by this scheme as this is all labor work.

All profits of selling computing components are reinvested on new computing equipments. Most of the shipping materials were reused in previous purchases including some used envelopes and used bubble wrap and used+trimmed anti-static bags. It is green.

List of sold items so far:
Panasonic Remote Control w/ MIC for PV-GS70/GS200/GS250
Battery FOR Panasonic PV-GS150 PV-GS250 CGA-DU12 DU12
5 SONY PREMIUM DVM60PRL MiniDV Mini DV DVC Tapes NEW
DELL TV Audio S-Video TV-Out Cable 70TVD 44CTV
T808 universal bluetooth keyboard suitable for PDA/Cell
logitech MX900 Bluetooth Optical Mouse
Panasonic PV-DAC14D Battery Charger for DU12 DU21 DU14
Battery FOR Panasonic PV-GS150 PV-GS250 BP-DU21 DU21
512MB PC2100 DDR 266 IBM Dell Compaq HP Laptop Memory
1GB PC2-5300 Toshiba Protege M400, R200, S100
256mb RAM Memory for Dell Inspiron 5100 8200 8500
DELL INSPIRON2500 3800 4100 4150 8100 8200 BATTERY USED
AC Adapter Dell Inspiron 1100 4150 5100 8200 PA-9 PA9
---

My haircut last night at 1:30am is my shortest DIY haircut. It took me only 30-minutes compare to two years ago my first DIY haircut took two hours. This picture shows my long hair and I was working in my working area at my new place. Currently sharing a room temporarily with my friend. Late December I will have my own room. What is good for the new place is that I have plenty of space to work with.

Pullman snow early this year. I haven't les-schwab-tired. I plan to do it on today (Tuesday morning). A few people has ask me about les schwab. The answer is: "For any given day they are open, go there at 7:40am, or may be even earlier. The shop is easy to get full, and it is full again today. They close at 4pm!"

A great movie for you to check out.
http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/

English subtitles

Chinese subtitles

Zeitgeist Addendum [ II ] trailer - released in Oct. 2008

As I found out, it is academic institution that emaciate your body, soul and mind. In the United States, it is the system making most of the people stupid. In the university level, it is the overwhelming amount of information that surprise you.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2005-02-02-college-cover_x.htm

Look at table 3 (at the bottom of the page of the following link). Average combined mathematics literacy scores of 15-year-old students, by country: 2003
http://nces.ed.gov/ssbr/pages/international.asp

I get a blood test with the university. Everything under test is fine and I paid $50. Then, because I pay $1300 a year for the WSU maksin insurance, it is time for me to claim the insurance. I have double checked with the university that the insurance that I bought in school covers massage 80% each time and up to $800 per year. That means I can go massage for around 20 times and one hour each session that costs me only $8 dollars (originally $47 per hour).

A massage therapist is far better than a massager. A massager is a machine. A massage therapist is a general term for people who do massage professionally on people. We call massage therapists as massage practitioners in Washington.

So, the massage practitioner did well on me and this is the second time. He relax my muscles by pressing trigger points and squeezing muscles to increase blood circulation and metabolism. He press trigger points to make my muscles and at the same time as the muscles relax they release toxins. In order to excrete the toxins, I drink a lot of water after the session (3 times as much water as a typical day). I can schedule a massage session without any medical reason and yes my insurance still covers for it. I have double checked the information. I will probably go again. Massage is a very useful skill. One day I will learn massage.

Two weeks ago I have moved for cheaper rent. I helped my old roommate at my place and myself to find new people to take over the lease at my old place. I know the new people in the new place a year ago, so in fact they are not new friends to me, but new roommates. I rented a Rug doctor from the grocery shop Dissmore to clean carpets and couches for my old place and my new place. The new place was actually way dirtier. Dogs and cats furs were everywhere if one inspects carefully in the house. This picture is cropped for my profile picture on MSN and skype. See the photo? Look like a galaxy in there. Actually it is one of the most disgusting things ever in my life. I dumped the sewage out of the container shown in the picture, and rinse the container for the second time. The water in the container was just as dark and dirty as the original sewage! What the!? Eww.

During the Thanksgiving, one of my new roommates girlfriend dropped her dog named "Lady" in my new place. My new place is a house. As it is a guys' house the toilet seat is filthy. So, what happened was this, the dog drink toilet water out of the filthy smelling toilet seat. OMG! My new roommate is unaware of the fact that sensible hygiene on pets can help owners' health in return. Gosh! The dog mouth smelled badly. My new roommates still think dog mouth is cleaner then human. Yes, in terms of bacteria, dogs may be cleaner. However, there is a potential cross contamination for parasites, stronger viruses and bacteria. They also claimed that the toilet water is actually clean. However, once the toilet water first get into the toilet seat from the pipe, the water is contaminated with the filthy bacteria-filled scum, so, the toilet water becomes dirty after all for the dog to drink from it. The dog was just pathetic.

Also, the dog woke me up at 8am in the morning for few days for it to go outside of the house for peeing. That is good for it not excreting in the house. Well, but the dog farts.

I cleaned the toliet seat (may be it was not cleaned for 6 months), and refilled the dog's water bowl with drinkable filtered water a few times, and the dog drink from it, and the problem solved. Now if the dog wants to lick me again, I will still have second thought.

The dog stole one pack of turkey bones on the counter which was wrapped in aluminum foil. The turkey bones are for the turkey broth that I have mentioned previously in this article. Okay, the dog wanted the bones, so be it. However, the dog insisted in eating the turkey bones in the living room and the pieces were scattered everywhere. I don't know how to train the dog to consume its food in the laundry room. I spend a hour with it to no avail. Darn it. Whatever. I cleaned the living room after it finished the bones.

My roommate's girlfriend picked up Lady back to their home yesterday. Now, no more doggie.

I was also messing with my new roommate's cat because I want that cat to get close to me. It is afraid of me. I read a lot online and feed the cat a bit of cat food with my scent on it. It helps. Hopefully, a month later I will see even better result than this.

I have slept on Monday night from 8pm to 11pm, so don't worry if I am writing too much. How is your thanksgiving?

Annoying Facebook Application

2007-11-01T20:23:00.000-07:00

so you now know I have removed fluff friends and vampires. You know those kind of applications are very boring and turn us into slaves.

My profile is less bloated because I have get rid of those junk.
If I need to click 200 days and every day spending 15 minutes for going for vampire god that is a lot of time.
and the fluff friend speed goes down every 30 days, so what a waste of effort to keep the speed up.

You know the facebook is less to manage if I drop those fluffy friends. The fluff friend application is featureless. If I am fully employed for that application, the progress of feature development can be a lot better.

In general those number games are really wasting time. Having errors in page loads and also slow page loads result in lots of frustration.

Finally, I should be more focus on my study. If I have appreciate how great other programmers are, now I should focus on myself and hopefully in the near future I will do great as well.