From the "It should be hype" Dept.
Going to Ottawa for the weekend.
Right now, all I have planned is a one-day white-water rafting trip.
Unfortunately we have a 12-person boat--my brother says that it's not as exciting as the 6-person size.
Still, I'm excited.
Should be fun.
Cheers,
Tai
From the "Damn, it is Hot Outside!" Dept.
My brother and I went for a 5 km run this evening. Even though it was 10:30 at night, it was still 26°C. However, when you included humidity, it felt like 31°C (88°F for those of you state-side). It made for a really muggy run today.
Overall, it was a positive run. I recently checked my weight during a physical and it has ballooned to 170 lbs! I hide it well, but I am shocked.
I shudder to think of what i must have weighed back in Jan 2002; when I actually felt fat.
Carrying an extra 30 lbs of weight has made running really difficult. It's a struggle really, you expend a lot more energy with each step.
I've been struggling with my weight ever since I came back from Europe in June 2001. Granted, I'm not obese, but I want to have a long and active lifestyle, something that sitting in front of a computer does not afford.
From the "Eureka" Dept.
So last week I presented a new XML-based language for the Mazda.ca website. I think they will use the language for the backend content storage for the entire domain. I'm very happy, as the language that I wrote is the culmination of what I've been reading. I've been talking with Owen about extending the language a bit as well.
Damn, I do a lot of stuff at work.
I started working on a spreadsheet for work last night at 11:30 pm. I was up until 2 AM in the morning working on it. I was trying to use the INDIRECT() Excel function to lock cell reference values in an excel spreadsheet. The problem was the quantity of edits:
- There were over 2560 cells in the Excel worksheet that needed to be added.
- Each cell had 14 individual cell references which needed to wrapped by the INDIRECT() function and double quotes, and
- Once you use the INDIRECT() function you can no longer do vertical fills or hit F4 to change the relative cell references to absolute cell references.
So I was sitting in front of my computer for about an hour freaking out.
It then occured to me that I could a script out a small application to pump out the cell formulas by text. Fifteen minutes later I was was finished the PHP application (in one line of code too!) and by 2:00 am, I had fixed the spreadsheet.
I am quite proud of myself.
From the "Times are a Changin'" Dept.
So I finally broke down and started replying to eVites. For the longest time, I refused to use the system because the privacy policy was draconian. Back in Late 2001, the eVite privacy policy stated that it could take "guest list" data and sell it to 3rd-party marketing firms. It also withheld the right to mail "guests" marketing material.
I actually commented on this to a few friends in a "short-lived" email string. I don't think anyone really reads the privacy policy but me. I actually emailed eVite with some feedback, as well as asking them to take me off their marketing lists and the lists of their 3rd Party marketing vendors. Their response was that they could not control the 3rd Parties and that I should email them separately.
So began a brutal cycle of non-replies and guest list removals from eVite.
Now that it's 2003, I'm glad to say that eVite has revised their Privacy and Terms of Use statement--all in positive ways. Granted, what they've done isn't groundbreaking. It was best practices back in 2001.
I'd like to think that my complaints were one of the reasons for this positive change.
-T
I was on the train and slightly motion sick as I attempted to read about the new Porsche 911 X50. So, I decide to write about an interesting conversation I had with Warren, a new project manager who joined OnX about 3 weeks ago.
Warren and I travelled down to Auburn Hills to meet with our client. We chatted most of the train ride there, and I realised something about myself.
In a recent conversation with Jen, we argued over my rather "subdued" outlook on life. A particular sore point for Jen is that I'm not very "passionate" about anything. I'm not a passionate guy. I admit it. I have no real vices. I don't smoke. I don't gamble. I can't even drink.
I'm a fun guy.
Now, Warren and I were talking about his children, and how lucky they are that their father can provide them with the things that I never had when I was growing up: Summer Camps, Tae Kwon Do lessons, music lessons, etc. In fact, when I think about it, one of my fondest childhood memories isn't all that pretty.
Growing up in Scarborough I remember a day where the neighborhood kids and I pulled an old TV from the garbage dumpster near the housing complex that we lived in. Being rather destructive children, we spent most of the day destroying the old TV using sticks, rocks, or any conventional object lying around.
This is what I remember as being a fond memory.
I guess not having any of those extracurricular activities; never having the opportunity to do the things that I wanted (until well passed my formative years) meant that I never really developed the passions that some people have today.
I mean, when you hear about children sitting on the side of the road doing nothing, that was basically my neighborhood.
Granted, I'm only 25. I still got time to go to find my passions (next to Jen, of course).
-T
I was on the train and slightly motion sick as I attempted to read about the new Porsche 911 X50. So, I decide to write about an interesting conversation I had with Warren, a new project manager who joined OnX about 3 weeks ago.
Warren and I travelled down to Auburn Hills to meet with our client. We chatted most of the train ride there, and I realised something about myself.
In a recent conversation with Jen, we argued over my rather "subdued" outlook on life. A particular sore point for Jen is that I'm not very "passionate" about anything. I'm not a passionate guy. I admit it. I have no real vices. I don't smoke. I don't gamble. I can't even drink.
I'm a fun guy.
Now, Warren and I were talking about his children, and how lucky they are that their father can provide them with the things that I never had when I was growing up: Summer Camps, Tae Kwon Do lessons, music lessons, etc. In fact, when I think about it, one of my fondest childhood memories isn't all that pretty.
Growing up in Scarborough I remember a day where the neighborhood kids and I pulled an old TV from the garbage dumpster near the housing complex that we lived in. Being rather destructive children, we spent most of the day destroying the old TV using sticks, rocks, or any conventional object lying around.
This is what I remember as being a fond memory.
I guess not having any of those extracurricular activities; never having the opportunity to do the things that I wanted (until well passed my formative years) meant that I never really developed the passions that some people have today.
I mean, when you hear about children sitting on the side of the road doing nothing, that was basically my neighborhood.
Granted, I'm only 25. I still got time to go to find my passions (next to Jen, of course).
-T
From the "Worse than Microsoft" Dept.
Hey Guys,
I finally got around moving my stuff off my iBook and onto my server (shameless plug--hosted by Blacksun.ca).
You can take a look at my site while I build it.
So far, my CSS stylesheet is 100% valid. My XHTML Strict webpage needs a lot of work though, but I'll iron those things out soon enough.
Moving my stuff on the server has one good consequence:
I can work on it remotely from either my PC or my mac
I think OS X is spoiling me -- the font rendering of my new page looks wicked, but they are jagged on a PC.
Looking forward to many an update (looking more forward to finishing this damn redesign).
Cheers,
Tai
From the "This Just In" Dept
I was in the mood for salt, so I went to the vending machine to buy a bag of corn chips (a childhood favourite of mine) for 75-cents. I opened the bag, smelled an acrid odour and took a bite of what turned out to be a stale, rancid corn chip.
Blah.
Chip manufacturers fill potato chip bags with nitrogen gas. It must have leaked out. Nitrogen gas is relatively inert; it doesn't react. When oxygen is introduced, it causea an oxidation reaction in the oils used to fry the corn chips. This makes them stale. In extreme cases the oil goes rancid.
From the "Weekend Review" Dept.
I went to two BBQs this weekend. Both birthdays. One for my friend Thip and another for my friend Ruth. Thip is leaving for a 2 year stint to teach English in Japan. Ruth is currently pursuing her masters degree at UofW.
Too much food. I think I ate a total of 3 dinners on Saturday.
Later that night, a group of us went to celebrate Chung's graduation from Ryerson at the Cafe Havana. It was okay. Lots of people that I haven't seen in a while, but the layout of Cafe Havana is slightly puzzling (two very narrow floors with very limited capacity>.
Sunday was more of a rest day. I mowed the lawn, walked around the neighborhood with Jen.
From the "the Bells are ringing" Dept.
Here is a conversation I had recently with Jen. I find it amusing.
Cheers,
Tai.
From the "Back in the day when I was young..." Dept
"...I'm not a kid anymore, but some days I wish was a kid again."
So my friend Janice came back to TO after spending most of the last 8 years in Hong Kong. It's interesting, how old friends who haven't seen each other in years just start off like no time has passed at all. I spent most of tonight talking with her.
Good times.
From the "Odour eaters department" dept.
So I'm with Janice most of the night chatting. When I first see her we hug. When I left the house later this evening we hug goodbye.
Now I smell like baby powder.
You heard it hear first.
From the "Toh Family Eats" Dept.
We scheduled an impromptu celebratory dinner for Win's graduation. The Toh family, never short of class or high taste, decided that the best place for dinner would be the time-honoured "Chinese Buffet". In fact, it was the Starwalk Buffet. How could you go wrong.
Unfortunately I wasn't able to upload that MSN conversation I had with Jen yet. I'll get around to it.
Cheers,
Tai
From the "For the first time in my life, I am awake" Dept.
The above line is a famous quote from a neuropsychological case study of a retro-anterograde amnesiac known only as "H".
"H" couldn't remember his past (retrograde), nor can he encode new memories (anterograde). His life was eternally in the present. He could not remember his wife's name or their 15-year marriage, but everytime he saw her he would shout out, "Why Hello!!" and all he could say is that he knew that he was in love with her.
He only had short-term working memory -- about 7 seconds if he wasn't concentrating.
He had this diary that he kept. In it was written the words:
For the first time in my life, I am awake.
It was written over and over again, thousands of entries, each one of them scratched out. When asked why they were scratched out, H would respond, "I didn't write it." When asked if it was his hand writing, he would say, "It looks like my hand writing, but it isn't mine."
From the "Should I be Afraid" Dept.
Jen had an interesting dream the other night. I saved the MSN conversation, and will upload it tomorrow. It's kind of disturbing. Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock.
From the "XML Hacking and Flash Actionscript" Dept.
I think I may have solved the XML problem that I had been given. Late last night at about 1:00 am, I had this insight--for a brief moment I understood the problem. I wrote down some notes and will probably build the language tomorrow.
From the "trimming the fat" Dept.
I ran 5 KM today. My heart rate was in the 170 bpm range. I wasn't running fast (8-9km an hour), but I'm getting stronger. Now I just need to keep the motivated and make sure I don't get lazy with my both my cardio and strength training routine.
From the "Dad's Gift" Dept.
Father's Day is this weekend. I've been thinking about a gift and I would love to get my father a "Big Green Egg". It's a ceramic smoker, bbq, grill. It's amazing. It has 1.5-inch ceramic walls and ways about 160 lbs. The VP at Humantech had one. I've wanted--I mean, my dad would really like it.
Who am I kidding. I want one.
The Big Green Egg
From the "Finally, after 8 years" Dept.
My brother Win started at OCAD in 1995 (he's a year older than I). After 8 years of struggle, apathy, sheer ignorance, and luck, my brother will be receiving his bachelor's degree in graphic design.
Congrats Bro.
It's been an interesting tale for Win. I'm glad that he finally finished at an accedited university.
That's all for now.
Tai
From the "I don't know if I'm smart enough" dept.
At work I've been confronted by some interesting conceptual problems. The first is centers around XML driven site design for one of the projects that the Creative Team at OnX is undertaking. However, it is my firm belief that it represents a greater problem that I see with XML based site design.
I guess the problem is best defined as: "How does 1 XML file know its location relative to the other XML files that it interacts with? " or rather, "How does the parser know?"
So I've been given roughly a week to think about the current direction of the project and suggest solutions as to how to implement this XML blueprint accross a larger site.
Trust me, it's an interesting problem. I wish I could articulate it better.
My second problem is even more interesting, and I find that I'm thinking about it at the most in opportune times. One of the cool things that OnX will be delving into is the idea of an adaptive interface based on a user's history with a website. Of course, this concept is not new at all; Yahoo, AOL, and Microsoft have been doing this in their "portal" strategies for a while. What makes OnX's position different is that we must interact with several different vendors at the same time. It is an opportunity for us to define the User Interface look and feel, its behaviour as well as the business rules wrapped around these decisions for the clients entire web presence. Furthermore, in this case, since the vertical of this client is in the Automotive Sector, what we are building will most likely be the first of its kind. In fact, the technology that we are using is cutting edge.
I never in my wildest dreams thought that I'd be doing this at OnX.
So I guess the point of this blog is that these problems are extremely complex. They are "over and above" what I'm currently doing, so I find them mentally challenging. I'm hoping that I'll have a moment of inspiration where I shout, "Eureka!" and all my problems will be solved.
Stay tuned.
From the "I want a new computer" dept.
Jeez, it's only been 18 months, and I already want to replace my iBook with one of the new Aluminum Powerbooks.
Why do I need it? I don't, but I want it.
Tai
The second problem is something that going to haunt me until I figure it out. It's one of those brain teasers that really push and elevate your problem solving skills to new heights. Maybe I'll be innovative.
From the "out of practice" dept.
Not much to talk about today. Work was busy as always. I had an awful conference call today too. It was a complete waste of an hour. That pissed me off because it forced me to do a "half-assed" deliverable for one of my peers.
One of my coworkers was experimenting with Flash / .JSP integration. Quite cool, considering that no Flash Remoting was used. Hmm, I don't think anyone understood what I just said.
I bought a new Firewire 52x CD-burner. It's quite fast. VROOM!
I'm kind of stoked. It looks to be a banner year for the PC Adventure Gaming scene. Several releases come to mind:
- Broken Sword 3
- The Longest Journey 2
- Siberia 2
-T
From the "it's like a ghost town here" dept.
Hey folks,
Just and Update on things:
- Flo's B-day in Collingwood - Went up to Bluemountain to play a full game of golf and celebrate Flo's B-day. Interesting Fact: There are actually 5 oceans in the world - Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic and Southern. The Southern Ocean is actually new. It was "created" in the summer of 2000 by the International Hydrographic Organization. The Southern Ocean extends from the coast of Antarctica north to 60 degrees south latitude, which coincides with the Antarctic Treaty Limit. First I've heard of it....
- Trip to New York - Jen and I took a 5 day vacation to see our friends Lynn and Cort in NYC / New Jersey. We had a great time. We did a lot of things, saw a lot of the city. Some highlights include:
- Yankees game (they won)
- La Bohemme on Broadway
- Natural History Museum
- Planetarium
- Matrix Reloaded
- Shopping at Jersey Gardens (an outlet mall)
- Performance Review at OnX.com - My performance review was very positive. I even managed to get a raise: 3%. Oh well, at least I managed to stay ahead of inflation. I am very pleased though. During the all-hands, company meeting, they told us that no one is getting a raise this year. This means that:
- I am doing a kick ass job, or
- I am grossly underpaid.
"Well, now you're just mildly underpaid..."
- Still working on the site - I tweaked my stylesheet last weekend. I'm almost done.
- Getting healthy - I've been trying to get back into shape. However, when Jen finally came back from Vancouver, it really threw my schedule into a loop. I was getting into a really good pattern for working out, but with Jen being back, I found myself spending all my free time with her. Now that Jen is working in Ottawa for Canada Post, I can start working out again. Yesterday was a good strength training session. Today I ran 3.25 Km.
So Jen saw the Italian Job tonight with Kev and Vi. Apparently it was really good.
Jen bought me a cool book: The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. It's an interesting premise. Leonardo Da Vinci has placed a series of codes and ciphers in his works of art. The main protagonist must solve the code + fend off hostile attacks from a "secret society". Interesting premise. It actually has cipher built into it's book jacket. When I was reading the front and rear jacket, I noticed that certain letters in the front and back leaflets were bolded. When I added them up, I got the cryptic message:
"Is there no help for the Widows Son". If you google for this term, you'll get results about the links between Mormonism and the secret society of the Free Masons. Specifically with the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith. I think that this will be the subject of the author's next book. The book'w website has a nice scavenger hunt with some very simple puzzles. Quite a nice touch. The best thing about the book is the research that the author does. Very similar to some of the "Gabriel Knight Mystery" Games. I like the references to one of the coolest unsolved mysteries of our time: Rennes Le Chateau.
I'm heading to bed. Night all.
-T