Finally got those 2 sticks of 512MB RAM I ordered from Small Dog Electronics in Vermont. I have had my PowerBook for over three years and it’s worked flawlessly (can’t say that about a 3-year-old PC running Windows). But ever since the upgrade to Mac OSX Tiger, it’s been a bit sluggish running a few “big” apps simultaneously.
Having more memory is a beautiful thing.
“I” want a memory upgrade.
I don’t think I’ve ever received this kind of efficiency from any place, private or public… I wrote KQED Public Radio regarding a segment I heard about the death penalty (which I wanted to blog about). But I just couldn’t find the broadcast anywhere on KQED or NPR. So I wrote them:
From: Shun Chu [mailto:*****@wiredatom.com]
Sent: Tuesday, December 13, 2005 2:27 AM
To: fm < *****@KQED.org>
Subject: a segment on sister helenHello,
For the life of me I just can’t find a segment that KQED aired on Sister Helen and another man (I think maybe he’s a lawyer) in some kind of forum setting talking about capital punishment/death penalty. I can’t remember when I heard it except that it was in November, 2005. All the search results that turned up in the KQED search engine were not relevant to the segment I heard.
Please help me locate the segment (its title, time and maybe where to find it?).
Best regards,
Shun Chu
The very next day at 10AM sharp, I received a reply from KQED’s Listener Services:
From: “fm” < *****@KQED.org>
Date: December 13, 2005 10:00:15 AM PST
To: “Shun Chu” < *****@wiredatom.com>
Subject: RE: a segment on sister helenDear Shun Chu:
The program you requested was part of the Aurora Forum from Stanford on October 27, 2005.
Here is the link to the website where you can access the discussion:http://www.auroraforum.org/events.archive.102705.php
If you have trouble using this link then go to www.auroraforum.org then go to events, then archives and look for the discussion on Capital Punishment.
Hope this helps.
Paul Toulmin
Listener Services & Community Calendar
KQED Radio 88.5FM, 89.3FM, 88.1FM & 88.3FM
415-553-2261
Shweet…
Finally got a hold of a beta version of Google Earth for Mac and found where I currently live… It doesn’t seem like much because the stupid tree (big one too) cast a shadow over the one-story house…
WICKED!
And this is my grandma’s home in Taipei up on the Mt. Yang-ming…
This was our last [tiny, dinky] apartment in NYC (where Jason and Alicia were among the few who have visited and actually spent the night at!)
One important lesson I learned out of using Google Earth was, it’s fricking tough to find places through the bird’s eye view. It was relatively easy to find places in the U.S. since everything is nicely correlated to addresses. But looking for my grandma’s house in Taiwan was very hard, even though I knew how to get there from various points ON THE GROUND. Literally flying around trying to locate the exact location from a different perspective totally screwed up my orientation. I ended up having to use longitude and latitude coordinates I found from another site to locate her relatively big house.
I have a new found respect for birds, pilots and Superman.
A “Slashdotter” commented:
“Wall Street Journal tech columnist Lee Gomes says that the top tech blogs ‘aren’t part of some proletarian information revolution, but instead have become the tech world’s new elite (WiredAtom Editor’s note: Here’s a PDF version in case WSJ decides to make the article unavailable). Reporters for the big mainstream newspapers and magazines, long accustomed to fawning treatment at corporate events, now show up and find that the best seats often go to the A-list bloggers. And living at the front of the velvet rope line means the big bloggers are frequently pitched and wooed. In fact, with the influence peddling universe in this state of flux, it’s not uncommon for mainstream reporters, including the occasional technology columnist, to lobby bloggers to include links to their print articles.'”
Suckas!
via [Slashdot]
Apparently the patent system is working out just great for America.
Excerpt from Slashdot:
“So a journalist tries to interview the top ten patent holders in the US. As he finds out, neither the USPTO, nor the patent processing companies are able to identify them. Even more surprisingly, ‘America’s greatest inventor is apparently an obscure guy in Japan who makes stuff most people can’t comprehend. And the nation’s greatest native inventor seems to be a man who has come up with 100 different ways to make a flower pot.'”
Great. That flower pot guy I bet is ripping millions off of the system — NOT.
via [Slashdot]
Nail fungus (also known as onychomycosis) is supposedly one of those medical conditions that doctors immediately give up on, much like my warts. It’s very hard to get rid of simply because the fungus lives comfortably underneath the hard and well-protected nails. It’s moist, warm, and for toenails, dark, all of which are perfect conditions for fungus proliferation. Ironic how the very thing that’s evolved to protect humans also turns out to be the best defense system for the fungus.
Unfortunately one of my toe nails got infected somehow, and the stupid fungus just keeps spreading under the nail, making it thick and flaky, sometimes even powderish. Apparently there are a few high tech and a couple of low tech solutions to remedy the situation…
Lamisil
One hi-tech solution is taking Lamisil tables once a day for, oh, 8 months or so. But this is probably the most stupid method. Lamisil is known to severely damage the liver beyond recovery. That’s why the stupid thing needs a prescription and close monitoring from a doctor with periodic liver check ups. It gets expensive with the pills, doctors visits and liver tests. This is an example where modern medicine does more harm than good to mankind. I can’t believe Novartis got the drug approved by the increasingly useless USFDA. I mean, who in their right mind would allow a company to market a drug that could potentially kill a patient for a medical condition that’s not even remotely close to fatal? FDA should be sued for this. It’s been said that the rate of curing onychomycosis is only roughly 30%, obviously not high enough to risk one’s life on. And because of its potential danger, only the young and extraordinarily healthy are recommended for this drug.
Anti-fungal Creams
Enough about Lamisil and FDA’s increasing incompetence. The next hi-tech solution the anti-fungal creams like Nizoral, Leucatin, or Tineacide, or you can try the cream version of Lamisil. What the hell… Lamisil cream? So there’s more than one way Lamisil can f*ck with your body?
Apparently anti-fungal creams are among the least effective form of treatment on nail fungus; they simply drive the fungus deeper into the nail bed. But even this is better than gambling with that stupid Lamisil.
Surgical Removal
The last hi-tech method that I am aware of is by removing the infected nails completely. But of course, this is a bit over the top for such pesky creature. Every surgery comes with its own risks. And it seems the fungus is not worth the risk. Even then, the odds of surviving a surgical removal, I’d bet, is still better than Lamisil.
Enough of hi-tech.
Now let’s move on to the low-tech remedies that actually work surprisingly well. It’s been said (in various forums and articles) that natural remedies are by far the most effective ways to treat the condition without giving away your right arm (or liver).
Vinegar
Some people claim that applying distilled vinegar twice a day on the infected nails changes the pH levels of the nails for 12 hours in each application. The acidic vinegar is soaked in the nail; the change in pH level makes the fungus disinterested in inhabiting in the nail. But because vinegar doesn’t actually kill the fungus, any laziness in application will allow a lapse in the pH level and gives the fungus that much more time to be around. It’s said that after about 7 to 8 months of diligent application, the infected nail will be completely grown out. That’s when you get to enjoy a fungus-less life.
I tried the vinegar. The down side of this is that it stinks (figuratively and literally). The nails change color after a few days because of the changes in the pH level. This is by far the cheapest remedy though… However, it is at the expense of your social life… It’s probably not worth it if you don’t want people to think you smell funny every time they are around you. If you can cleverly cover up the browning color of the nails and the pungent vinegar smell, this may be for the budget-minded you.
The Magical Tea Tree Oil
The last remedy, which is also highly recommended by many people, is using an oil extract from a tree native to Australia. Tea tree oil naturally possesses an anti-fungal property in its chemical make up, making it the natural choice to treat nail fungus. And because of its potency and strength, applying it twice a day, many people have reclaimed their nails in as little as three months! It can also be used to effectively treat athlete’s foot.
I started on tea tree oil today. Hopefully I will be able to blog about my success in a couple of months. A bottle of 1-fl. oz/30ml of tea tree oil costs about $10 at Whole Foods. And it smells very nice… No more stinky vinegar! My added twist to the remedy is that I actually took a nail filer and filed the nail down to as thin as possible to increase absorption of the stuff into the nail bed. I also took a blade to carve a small marker at the root of the nail so that I know when the last portion of the infected nail is gone.
My conclusion is, nature provides so much in terms of disease control without the unnecessary side affects that modern medicine usually (and almost always) comes with. People should take advantage of the proven successes of certain alternative medicines. Some people argue that such remedies do not have enough studies to quantify their effectiveness. And besides, they are not regulated by the FDA. What? Did you say the FDA? The FDA has more ties to the drug industry than George W. Bush has brain cells. Who is to say that whatever FDA approves is safer than thousands of years of trial and error with herbal medicine. In the case of Chinese medicine, every use (or combination uses of as well as their side effects) are well documented. One document in particular, is Ben Cao Gang Mu (《本è‰ç¶±ç›®ã€‹), or “The Compendium Materia Medica” (more info here) is complete with descriptions and pictures for the properties of each herb. I mean, the FDA only approves drugs after certain success rate in human testing in a given number of years. Herbal medicine has been human tested for thousands of years. And yet we doubt its effectiveness? That’s not to say that any kind of herbal remedy should be taken lightly. But to write it off completely is just plain silly.
My brother wrote an blog entry about MacGyver. Ahh~ What fond memories I have of that show.
Back in the days (80s), almost all the cousins would be visiting my grandparents, and Saturday at 8PM, we would all gather around the TV and tuned in to MacGyver religiously. Right after it was “The A Team“, which wasn’t quite as good ad MacGyver, but we were kids; we didn’t know any better. I think our parents didn’t mind us watching MacGyver mostly because of the show’s non-violence approach towards solving conflicts. But all we knew was, that guy was wicked cool.
I got so into that show I even spent my Chinese New Year money on a similar wallet that MacGyver was using in the show, and one year, I took out all the money (around NT$2,000… about USD$50 at the time) and bought a watch just like his (I had a picture to compare it with!). But shortly after I got that watch, the show revealed something about his watch which mine didn’t have. I felt cheated by the guy who sold me the watch. I bet that was the easiest $50 he ever made. Crazy days. Gosh I was such a dork.
My brother reminded me about trying to watch MacGyver after we moved to Thailand. The Thai cable aired the show in Thai (of course). I can’t remember how I found out that while the show was being aired, they also broadcasted the English dialogues over the radio!! Holy cow… that was one happy day. I mean, it was ghetto as hell, but we were happy. One time I taped the show on video tape (and on cassette tape). But the playback speeds on video and cassettes are different, so we had a lag on the cassette every 10 minutes or so… What a life…
Come to think of it, me insisted having everyone calling me “Chu” may have something to do with that show… If you haven’t made the connection already, I will not be available for comments when you see me in person.
In 1994, the year I came to the U.S. for college, I stayed with my cousins in Seattle for a month or so. I missed a two-hour MacGyver special for Thanksgiving (or was it Christmas?)… Until this day, I still kick myself for forgetting to watch that. Chu’s stupid memory (lack thereof).
Years later, I read/heard somewhere that the show had actually be discontinued for a couple of years in the U.S., but due to its enormous popularity in Asia, the producers made two more seasons just for the fans in Asia. Come to think of it, that was probably a rumor.
Image shamelessly taken from rdanderson.com (not related to Richard Dean Anderson) without permission.
WiredAtom has been a runaway success… It’s beyond my wildest dreams having started blogging just six months ago. I credit most of this popularity to my lucky break. That speech, a direct result of my camcorder’s break down, single handedly put this blog on the map. Steve Jobs, once again, changed my life (ok, that sounded lame….) demonstrated his reality distortion field in the cyberspace.
As a quick update from my last statistics monitoring, here’s what happened a month later… 27,000 hits and 8,000 unique visitors and counting…
Carl finally showed me something I didn’t know anything about… Foxposé is a pretty awesome FireFox plugin that turns your opened tabs into minature thumbnails, creating an effect similar to Mac OSX’s Exposé. Now that’s pretty damn cool. Even Windows users can enjoy a small piece of Mac.
Remember a while back I decided to use Opera full time? Boy, what an experience. The interface took me a week to kind of get used to. I must say that Opera’s interface is not very intuitive at all, or as what UI designers would say, poorly conceived “affordance“. And then I had to deal with it sporadic crashes on random sites. Worst yet, I can’t download the latest build in hope they may have fixed the problem in one of the builds. That’s when one starts to appreciate Open Source software… You can always get nightly builds of your software of choice, and there’s always the chance one of the developers would have addressed the issue you are dealing with…
Armed with Foxposé, I installed SessionSaver .2 (for Firefox 1.5, install this version instead), Yahoo Companion (the feature I missed the most on Internet Explorer) and StumbleUpon, I am going to try to use Firefox 1.5 full time for a while to see how the new version fares on memory management. Carl swears by Camino (Mac only), but I just don’t see its value without all the cool plugins Firefox enjoys. I am also tempted to switch to Thunderbird since Apple Mail has been doing a piss poor job on filtering out the latest junk mails. Ah~ Open Source…
Forbes.com is running an interesting story on “Email Time Capsules”. I wish I’d thought of something like this for my thesis project. It’s a cool article nonetheless.
It’s one thing to have a physical time capsule where you can access it later. But it’s quite different to preserve things digitally, mainly because technology changes quite rapidly that you just don’t know if the technology in 20 years is going to be able to access what you tried to preserve 20 years ago. Some museums are trying desperately to find ways to preserve their digital art collection. Wired also has an interesting article on the subject. Here’s another article on the subject of digital art’s longevity (or lack thereof?).
via [Forbes.com]
These couple of months seem extraordinarily long. Most of my classes at UCSC finally came to a close. As for my “Human Centered Design” online class at SCAD, next week is the finals; and finals at SCAD is always hell. Fortunately I invested a lot of time on the project in the past couple of assignments, everything is on schedule to be completed.
On a different note, Bryan finally “discovered” his hands a couple of weeks ago as well. Sometimes when one of his hands gets in his field of view, he freezes the hand and analyzes it carefully with his eyes wide open. At about the same time, he also realized his fingers were better than the pacifier. With his newfound soothing object in his mouth, pacifiers are no longer good enough for him.
Another interesting development about Bryan is that he has developed the ability to giggle out loud. We found out last week when I pretended to sneeze. He just laughed and laughed. Apparently it doesn’t take much to amuse an infant. Nor does it take much to keep an infant occupied for half an hour with the same mobile on top of his crib for the past three months.
Busy baby lives.
The music industry has been complaining about how cheap songs are on Apple’s iTunes music store. Even though iTunes seems to be the only solution to curb the explosive music pirating subculture, the record executives just don’t get it.
Sony, acting like a jackass, put out a CD with a copy-protection measure built-in. The CD installs an invisible piece of software in the computer to make sure the owner of the CD can’t rip it. But the plan backfired as a trojan virus, brilliantly, piggybacks on the Sony code.
And the record executives complain about CD sales going down the hill? Who’s going to buy a copy of CD that they can’t rip, and worst yet, could potentially put a security flaw in CD owner’s computer?
Dumbasses.