Write Zone

Journal Day 2: System Integration (assignment 1)

2016-01-10T16:33:00.002-08:00

What is the most critical aspect of integration efforts in systems engineering and why?

Integration is like solving a jigsaw puzzle from a 10,000 feet observation.

The aspect of human interaction is most important in system integration. People is the most critical aspect of integration efforts. We manage interfaces among system and other systems
Without people none of the planning can happen. We all need to work together to ensure successful system integration.

Requirement, requirement, requirement .... (not location location, location ...)
C - characteristic (i.e. copper)
R - Relation (i.e. greater than, less than)
V - Value (i.e. 10 mil, )

Integration is exchanging EMMI
Energy
Matter
Materials
Information

Decompose - breaking system into subsystem and components
Aggregate - bringing things together

Journal Day 1

2016-01-07T04:14:00.001-08:00

It's been a long time since I opened back this blog page again. This year I vow to myself to write at least fifteen minutes EVERYDAY!!! Let the journey begin...

A cinquain about cats---by Angela

2010-04-21T17:14:00.000-07:00

Cats

Smart, clever

Crouching, stalking, pouncing

Graceful as the ivory moonlight

Hunting.

Book Review By Eric: Double Fudge

2010-03-21T06:42:00.000-07:00

The following excerpts are some of Eric's selected chapter summaries of the book "Double Fudge."

...

Chapter 9: The Panda Poop Club

Fudge made up a name for a club called The Panda Poop Club. The reason why he called it that because he was the only one to pick up poop. He used the paper towel to pick it up. Fudge's family went to the air and space museum in Washington D.C. , but Fudge calls it Fudgington. He went to the Panda's gift shop and bought a big, giant panda stuff animal. And that is not the one he wanted. The one that he wants cost $474.

Chapter 10: Bird On Strike

Fudge's bird couldn't talk because they thought he fed it a marble. At night, he tried to trick his older brother, Peter. He immitated his bird by making uncle Feather his mynah bird talk but he was actually talking. When Peter came in the room, he yelled at him for tricking him. Then Fudge started crying.

Eric's Dreams

2010-01-20T16:58:00.000-08:00

My kids and I were playing a game. We call it dream writing. So, they will tell me their dreams and I will write down exactly the words they said.

Here is Eric's dream:

I was at McDonald's and Ronald tried to make a funny face. Then he did. He made a face like Large Marge. And all the waiters joined in to make Large Marge's faces, and then we watched a funny movie about mice and cats. There were a bunch of cats and on the cats it said one billion cats. And a tiny tiny tiny mouse came and ate the whole cats. Then I woke up.

Angela's dream:

I read about a sad story in a magazine where a boy accidentally killed his own brother. Then I ended up in my basement. My friend, Ryan Kennedy, was dead. Suddenly, he rose from the dead and he wouldn't let me go upstairs until I untie the complicated knot on his shoelaces.

When I woke up sweating I ran into my parents' bedroom and had another dream.

There was this guy who appeared to be very nice. He served us dinner and we rode to his house. Then he appeared to be very scary. I ran into his room and hid in his closet. When he was looking for me in his closet, he was typing a secret code on his cell phone. When he found me he had a strange face. And had his face one inch away from my nose.

Then my mom called for me to wake up and go to school.

The Story of My Life

2010-01-07T19:47:00.000-08:00

Chapter 1: I’m Born into the South of Vietnam
Chapter 2: Growing up with my Brothers and Sisters
Chapter 3: Dad and Mom start their businesses and Coffee Shop
Chapter 4: Escaped Vietnam
Chapter 5: First Arrive in America
Chapter 6: I went to school in Kansas with my cousins
Chapter 7: Living with my Uncle back in Seattle
Chapter 8: High School, Restaurant Jobs
Chapter 9: College
Chapter 10: The Navy
Chapter 11: Marriage
Chapter 12: Kids
Chapter 13: Back to College and BSEE degree
Chapter 14: Intern in Irvine
Chapter 15: Engineering job in Seattle
Chapter 16: Marshall Islands
Chapter 17: Virginia
Chapter 18: Learn to Write
Chapter 19: My Blog becomes a Success
Chapter 20: Become Financial Independent and Quit my Job
Chapter 21: My Trip Back to Vietnam
Chapter 22: Travel around the World
Chapter 23: Establish a Charity Foundation

Would You Abdicate or Advocate?

2010-01-07T03:45:00.000-08:00

abdicate v. to step down from a position of power
abridge v. to shorten, condense, or lessen in length
absolve v. to forgive or free from blame
abysmal adj. extremely wretched, bottomless
acquiesce v. to comply passively, to give in
advocate v. to support, or be in favor of
aesthetic adj. concerned with or appreciative of beauty
affinity n. sympathy, attraction, kinship
agenda n. program, things to be done
aggrandize v. to make great
allusion n. an indirect reference
altruistic adj. unselfish concern with the welfare of others
amnesty n. an official pardon for a group of people who violate a law
animosity n. ill will, active dislike
anomalous adj. irregular, abnormal, unusual

Response from Microchip

2010-01-03T17:34:00.000-08:00

This could be the beginning of the blog era for ee.

Look Inside The Brain

2010-01-03T08:39:00.000-08:00

Four weeks ago my doctor recommended me for an MRI on my brain. The whole process took me only 10 minutes, however, the waiting took a lot longer. The lab technician pushed me through the machine, head first, my legs propped up by a pillow. I didn't look at the picture after I'm finished. I was in a rush to get going to work. In the video clip you can see how it's done.

How not to over eat during this Holiday Season

2009-12-26T04:05:00.000-08:00

While everyone is enjoying the holiday with their family and friends, we unconciously pack on those pounds that we've been trying to keep off. Here are some tips to keep you in check:
Don't eat fatty food
Avoid sweet of any kind, especially candy canes
Try to move around instead of staying in one place
Anyone has anything else to add please feel free to chime in .

Merry Christmas 2009

2009-12-25T21:06:00.000-08:00

I know many of you are with friends and family, just like I'm with my family now. I just want to take the time to wish you Merry Christmas and wonderful new year. I especially like this time of year when every one in our family gather together and share our good time together. It's the time we give and receive presents from each other. The time our kids get the chance to see their cousins from other states; our parents and siblings come to spend time with us and share stories and play card games and watch movies together under one roof. I know you and your families are enjoying this time, and appreciate the gifts from each other. Merry Christmas to every one!

Wordpress new release

2009-12-23T13:18:00.000-08:00

I know some of you guys have been waiting to upgrade your website with Wordpress, there is not better time than now. You are in for a treat! Wordpress just released the new version Wordpress 2.8 loaded with new features. A cool feature that we blogger can not do without is the added function to upload files in batch. I still have nightmares from the old day when I used to upload a file one by one, and waiting for hours in between each file. Now those days are long gone. Ahh! Isn't technology wonderful! You can download the new Wordpress version by following this link on the right. Just remember to credit me for telling you the good news. Here's a tall order. Go, do it now!

Getting snowed in on a Monday

2009-12-21T13:58:00.000-08:00

I woke up early today, and was about to change into my work clothes. Then, my mind started to debate with me whether I should call in to take the day off, and I gave in. I'll call in later, assuming most people will stay home today anyway. I went downstairs around 6am, openned up my laptop and began searching the internet. Over the last few days I've been browsing the john chow website. This guy is teaching other to make money online. I question how he can make any money online without any products to sell. He updates his blog site very regularly, almost everyday for the past few weeks. New jibberish such as internet marketing, affiliate, seo, ppc, etc... were all very new to me, until recently my curiousity was taking me to all these related making money websites. Is it possible? These guys claimed they've been making $20000 to $40000 a month, some even stated making six figures income per year. I wanted to find out if all the fusses are in fact truth as they claimed. I began to think if I could make this kind of money, I would have more time to pursue my passion. I could travel to places I've only dream about because of the limited time. Passion, freedom, time are all the necessary ingredients for success.

Cool Laptop Design

2009-12-18T19:34:00.001-08:00

Want to design some product?

2009-12-18T19:10:00.000-08:00

So, you want to design a product, but you don't know where to begin. Consider this analogy: it's nature's call that all babies have to learn how to crawl before they can walk. Before you want to know how to do something, you need to know where to start. Pertaining to product design, first you need to have an engineering degree. Well, you don't have to have a degree. You can learn how to design products without getting an engineering degree. It's possible, but it's not easy. The hard part is how you are getting the experience. You will have a tough time getting an engineering job without an engineering degree. Unfortunately that's how you gain experience in product design. You can learn on your own, but like I said, it takes a lot of determination and persistence on your parts. However, if you are passionate enough to follow your dream, then nothing is impossible. My advice for you is STAY IN SCHOOL and FINISH that degree before you venture out on your own. Don't be so hard on yourself.

Picking up the workout program again

2009-12-16T04:32:00.000-08:00

I got up at 5am this morning to go to the YMCA for some early excercising. I feels great! For sometimes now I have been slacking off on the excercising program. When I first joined the Y about two months ago, my intention was to do the workout 3 times a week. I kept it up for the first weeks, then, I was occupied with other things that were going on in my life, and I began to slip a few days after that. Well, I never seem to be able to keep up with any program I started. This time it should be different. I've been doing this for a long time, and this time I'd better stick with the program. Today is Wednesday; so Friday will be another 5am workout day for me. Let's see if I can maintain my promise. I'll report in another post on Friday. Anyone reading this blog should hold me accountable for this. Until Friday ....

IT Support

2009-12-14T18:40:00.000-08:00

The Burning Candle

2009-12-13T18:18:00.000-08:00

The flickering flame hovers atop an eight inch long white cylindrical candle with its base stuck firmly into the mouth of the crystal candle holder. The orange flame waves lightly to the breeze caused by every single breath of mine. The flame, slender and tall, is blue at its base, wraps itself around the wick at the center of the candle. The top of the wick curves slightly to the right, its tip turns amber as if it is trying to withstand from the heat of the flame. A pool of liquid candle wax is rising up around the wick, swelling up to the rim, it is about to spill over the side. In a moment the clear liquid wax will streak down along the side of the candle, racing all the way down the crystal holder at the base.

Four Things In My Room

2009-12-12T19:47:00.000-08:00

For this next piece of writing I am required to pick out four things in my room and describe each one. The descriptions below are still in free writing format.

Granite table: That sheet of rock is so beautifully laid down to make a table top in the kitchen. I wonder how old that rock must be. It must be a huge piece of rock that has been somewhere in a mountain in Brazil. The surface is ingrained with magnificent patterns and its color so appealing to the eyes. The reflection of the ceiling light against the smooth surface of the granite table top makes the room appear brighter.

White board: It’s held against the wall by two nails. I put it there. When I hang it, I could not find the right size of nails. I thought the existing nails are not strong enough to hold it in place. But yet it’s been there for months now without giving a sign that it’s about to fall off. Angela and Eric have been keeping their daily tasks on the board. It becomes the daily reminder for our family. Every morning I’m supposed to write the date for the day in the upper left corner. But I forget to do it sometimes.

Refrigerator: I’m thankful for the engineer who invented the refrigerator. On a hot day I can have a cold drink ready to serve anytime to quench my thirst. I keep all kinds of food inside. There isn’t any room inside. From time to time I have to push away the other food to make room for new food and drinks. The refrigerator helps keep my food from rotten too soon. I can’t imagine living life without a refrigerator in the house. It must be a very harsh life. You have to do your groceries shopping on the daily basis to get your fresh vegetable and meats. How are you going to keep your dairy products fresh without the refrigerator? In the winter time, it’s not an issue. But when the weather becomes warm, that’s when you’ll appreciate the benefits of the refrigerator.

Filing system: I don’t know if the filing system I created is the best system out there or not, but it’s been keeping my kitchen table from getting cluster with junk mails. I’ve been very successful in organizing my mails since I thought of setting up the system for organizing and sorting out the incoming mails. I learn to be a little more organized, and it’s making things a lot easier to find and to keep track of. I’m proud of my invention. This system has helped me from frustration by the constant bombardment of the daily junk mails and billing statements and the likes.

The Room Where I Write

2009-12-11T04:50:00.000-08:00

Below is my first writing assignment for the course. The instructor asked us to look around the room where we're in and describe it with details and using the four senses. Please don't forget to give your comment.
The granite table top the contractor had just finished installing last night is now crowded with lots of things on it. My laptop computer sits in the center taking place of almost the entire surface of the table. The table is not that big, just enough for me to lay down a cordless telephone in one corner, a stack of notebooks, a cup of tea (I don’t drink coffee any more), and a filing system for all my daily mails. A wire frame magazine rack is nailed against the back wall to hold magazines but there is hardly any magazine in it. It’s more for holding bulky catalogs and fancy flyers from random advertisers. A vase my daughter made as a project from her art class is now filled with assorted pens and pencils. It has a heart shape object affixed to the outside rim with the word Mom penned in by a black Sharpie ink.
At this time my kids are still sleeping soundly in their bedrooms upstairs. The refrigerator is humming in the corner next to the pantry. I hear an occasional clicking noise coming from the refrigerator. I must have the temperature setting too high. I should give it a tweaking on the dial to bring it down a little. The date on the white board on the wall hasn’t been updated since last November. The kids have been using it to pen in their scores on good behaviors daily. I’ve been slacking off on my part to keep the board up to date. I could hear them teaming up with their mom drilling me down with their cynical criticism on my big flaw now.

Writing lesson #1 - Free Writing

2009-12-09T18:47:00.000-08:00

This is my first piece of writing for this classs. I am supposed to keep my fingers typing away without stopping for 5 minutes. It's hard for me to continue typing my thoughts. What I'm thinking about, I need to write down. I take this class to improve my writing skill. For a long time I contemplate about writing. In high school I was afraid of taking a creative writing class. I signed up for the course, but then I cancelled it. The thought of struggling to come up with ideas to write scared me away. Although I know deep down I really like to write. It doesn't matter what I write about, but I know that by writing clearly, I'd be able to put down my thoughts in a logically way, and my ideas can be expressed on paper or in words. I would like to convey my thoughts to others , and the only way to do that is to write well so others can understand your point. Getting your point across in your writing is important. I like the ideas of being able to write well. I practiced a few times, but then I stopped keeping a journal. I ocassional write a few pieces but I tucked it away somewhere in my stack of papers. Many times I would run across some old papers that I wrote for an English class in college, I giggled to myself for having such creative thoughts in my writings at the time in college. I believe the fact that to be a good writer you want to keep writing and write alot, and that's why I'm not writing that good because I often stop in the middle of a progress plan. This time I am taking this writing course and form a base for my energetic self to propel ahead like a rocket, and keep me from losing steam in the journey ahead. This is my free writing piece. Thank you for reading.

How to make money online search

2009-12-08T16:21:00.000-08:00

I did a search on Google for the phrase "how to make money online by blogging". A plethora of websites come up in my search. I randomly clicked through these sites to see what they have. Most of these sites seem to claim that their blogs exist to teach people how to make money. Most of them have similar web layouts and the categories are almost identical on some of them. It never fails when I notice on the upper right hand corner of these sites is an email subscription box asking the readers to subscribe to some form of ebook. Scattering among the text are several hypertext links of Google "friendly" keywords. Whenever I hover my mouse pointer over these links, an ad would pop up. If you clicked on one of these ads, it will take you to the advertisers' homepage where the products can be purchased. If you bought products from these websites, the sites that led you to the advertiser's page will receive a commission on those purchases. There are several other ways of making money being discussed from these sites, but I will have to defer that to another post.

Problem solving session at work

2009-12-07T17:28:00.000-08:00

We received our PCB a few weeks ago. I checked it out to verify all functions are working, but there was a problem. The flyback transformer doesn't charge to a high enough voltage. I invited a senior engineer to help me scrutinize the problem. After a few bit of tweaking and probing, he identified the culprit. Looking at the supply voltage drooping each time the mosfet is turned on, he pointed out to me that the storage capacitor is starved of charge, and it doesn't have enough time to recharge itself to full before the mosfet turns back on and discharge it again. This cycle repeats as the pwm continues to run. The solution is to slow down the pwm. This can be accomplished by widening the off time, leaving the on time intact. As we troubleshot this problem, it was getting close to the time for us to leave work. We'll check back tomorrow to see if the circuit can be fixed by changing the pwm, and the duty cycle.

Template #1

2009-12-06T06:32:00.000-08:00

What is taking shape? and what's the over all activity?
Name the location? What's taking place.

Example:

The basement area workbench is taking shape, and several tasks are up in the air.

In one corner, a bracket has to be installed to support the table top. Next to the entry door, a small fire extinguisher keeps the lab fire code in force. Outside, a signage decal affixed to the door to forewarn the intruder about dangerous encounter lurking yonder.

Get Organize

2008-10-16T03:36:00.000-07:00

I started a lesson on how to get organize from the book "Time Management from The Inside Out." The SPACE technique seems to offer a logical way to manage time. I'm applying the steps using Google Calendar as my daily planner. It looks like an excellent choice, since portability and mobility are the primary factors for me to consider this tool. I will try out this technique for several months to see how it will work out.