July 27, 2003
More Ciphers?; A new adventure.

From the "Interesting Email" Dept.

I received a comment today on my weblog regarding The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown; a book that Jen gave me. To recap, here is a quote from a past blog:

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".

In my blog, I had noted that there was a cipher hidden in the front and rear leaflets that spelled out this cryptic message:

"Is there no help for the Widow's Son?"
**Note: Punction added by me.

If you google for this term, you'll get results about the links between Mormonism and the cult of Jupiter or the Free Masons. Specifically, you'll find references the founder of the Mormons (and the Latter Day Saints), prophet Joseph Smith.

I received an email stating:

"As the certified first person in the world to find the secret message on 'The Da Vinci Code,' I welcome you to the small circle of true code breakers. So far the members are Me, Dan Brown, and Jason Kaufman, who designed the dust jacket. You too could be next if you solve the remaining cyphers in 'The Da Vinci Code.' I've been google-ing 'is there no help...' waiting for another keen observer, and so far you are the only one. Good luck with the other cyphers."

Does this mean that there is another cipher encoded in the pages of the book?

I'll have to find out.

Cheers,

Tai

Posted by taitoh at 11:07 PM
July 25, 2003
Progress Update: New Site Validates!

From the "Moving forward, never backwards" Dept.

News Flash! My beta site finally validates:

My new site

Things to do:

  • Need a new logo
  • Need to reorganize site layout to remove extranneous pages and content
  • Create Templates for other pages and remove Javascript pop-ups.
  • Relay out the page using CSS2 and inclusion/exclusion techniques
  • Get text relative text size working

Check it out.

-T

Posted by taitoh at 12:22 AM
July 23, 2003
New Books: Exciting.

From the "I don't think it turns anyone's crank but mine" Dept.

So I ordered two books from Amazon.ca.

  1. Designing With Web Standards by Jeffrey Zeldman
  2. Speed Up Your Site: Web Site Optimization by Andrew B. King

I know that they don't sound too interesting, but I'm hyped. They should arrive Friday.

Cheers,

Tai

Posted by taitoh at 11:22 PM
5 Km Run.

From the "Harder, Faster, Stronger" Dept.

Ran 5 Km with my brother and his girlfriend. It was pretty bad. I've been so sporadic with my running that it's really become quite umbearable at times. I should really try to get out more often.

From the "Fatty, Fat, Fat, Fat" Dept.

I weighed myself today: 160 lbs. Not too bad. I've somehow managed to lose about 5 - 8 lbs.

Not that I noticed it.

It was a nice surprise.

From the "What do you want to be..."

Back when I was a kid, I wanted to be a firefighter. Then I wanted to be a scientist; a chemist specifically. I never really wanted to be a doctor, and for about 2 months, I wanted to be a Physiotherapist (my 1st co-op killed that idea).

I'm 25 working as the lead Information Architect for one of North America's largest automotive companies.

That's pretty neat.

Have I peaked yet? I certainly hope not. One thing I must say. I certainly don't find it boring. However, I don't know where this will really lead.

-T

Posted by taitoh at 11:11 PM
To all my female friends.

From the "This is what my coworkers and I talk about" Dept.

Before I forget, I just wanted to relay to all my female friends a simple strategy to help you cope with your boyfriends/husbands.

My coworkers and I were talking about arguments with our "better" halves. Margaret, who is married, said that her husband called her fat. This shocked us all because she's 5 feet 4 inches tall and about 105 pounds.

I told her, "The next time that your husband says that you are fat, tell him that his penis is small and that at least you can lose the fat."

With repeated use, you probably don't even have to say it anymore. A simple pinching of your thumb and index finger to "size him up" would suffice.

Nicholas and Ray suggested doing it in a public place; pointing at your boyfriend or husband's groin and "sizing him up" while running circles around him.

Cheers,

Tai

Posted by taitoh at 07:51 AM
Fun Facts about Me; Not so funny, I think.

From the "Okay, I might as well do it" Dept.

I received this email quiz about me. Rather than reply, I figured it would be a good blog subject.

Read below:

  1. What time is it? 12:13 AM EST
  2. Name: Tai
  3. Name as it appears on birth certificate: Tai Yip Toh
  4. Nicknames: Yip, Yipster, Yippy-Ki-Yay.
  5. Number of candles on your last birthday cake: None. I didn't celebrate my birthday last year because of a passing in my family....
  6. Birthday: Sept 13, 1977.
  7. Pets: 0. Unfortunately, I have had a bad string of luck with pets. They always seem to die.
  8. Hair color: Au Naturel--black.
  9. Piercing: None. My brother had a fake earing once. My mom kicked him out of the house.
  10. Hometown: Scarborough expatriot living in Markham, ON, Canada.
  11. Town you live in: Markham, ON, Canada.
  12. Favorite foods: Fruit of all kinds. High fibre vegetables. All Meats, poultry and seafood (except veal).
  13. Been toilet papering? Yes.
  14. Love someone so much it made you cry: No, not yet. Although in my darker moments, I have made people cry.
  15. Been in a car accident? Yes, only as a passenger.
  16. Croutons or bacon bits? Neither. I'm not a fan of Caesar Salads.
  17. Favorite day of the week? Saturday. I can sleep in with impudence.
  18. Favorite Restaurant? A small restaurant called Yukiko's in Kitchener-Waterloo.
  19. Favorite flower? Orchids--I help my mother grow them.
  20. Favorite sport to watch? Baseball.
  21. Favorite Drink? Luke warm water--I pound back a 1-litre bottle before I go to bed.
  22. Favorite ice cream? Vanilla.
  23. Disney or Warner Bros..? Hmm, toughy. I'd say Disney, but only if that includes Pixar.
  24. Favorite fast food restaurant? Out of all the fast food restaurants, nothing really beats a Harvey's hamburger (perhaps Lick's).
  25. What color is your bedroom? Creamy white walls with a brown carpet. It's really austere. The walls of my room are adorned with the following:
    • Picture of my grandparents
    • dart board
    • My degree from UofW
    • Clock
    • Poster of Bruce Lee that Byron gave me
  26. How many times did you fail your drivers test? Twice. Ontario uses a graduated licensing system. I passed my written test. Failed my g2 drivers exam once when I was 18 (I passed it in April 1997). Failed my G2-exit the first time as well when I was 23 (passed Jan 2001).
  27. Before this one, whom did you get your last e-mail from: Marie Tran.
  28. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Apple Computer Store. I need a new G5 Tower.
  29. What do you do most often when you are bored? Watch TV or surf the Internet.
  30. Most annoying thing people tell me? "You know what Tai? You should smile more often."
  31. Bedtime: 1:00 am.
  32. Who will respond to this email the quickest? Kevin Ng--if I was emailing it.
  33. Who is the person you send this to that is least likely to respond this e-mail? Hmm, Probably me. I believe this is the first time I've ever responded to one.
  34. Favorite TV show? Good Eats.
  35. Last person you went out to dinner with? Jennifer So; the love of my life.
  36. Ford or Chevy? NEITHER
  37. Person you wish you were closest to again? A toss up between one of my old high school buddies: Terence Lui or Jesse Russell.
  38. Time you finished this e-mail? 12:30 am EST

From the "turning the looking glass inside out" dept.

I've come to realize that I'm kind of a like an aesthete--pertaining to or characteristic of an ascetic; self-denying and austere.

A coworker of mine once wondered what were my vices. I told him I have none--I don't smoke, do drugs, drink or gamble. I'm not even into porn that much. LOL!

I wonder if this is what it's like to live a passionless existence?

-T

Posted by taitoh at 12:37 AM
July 20, 2003
Cools Sites; CSS.

From the "I am stupefied and amazed" Dept."

I don't know if this is of any interest to anyone, but you guys have to check out this site:

CSS Zen Garden

It really showcases what you can do with Cascading Style Sheets. All the page variations are based off the same HTML content. It's amazing what you can do with color, imagery and layout.

I love it.

Now if only I could get my code to validate XHTML strict.

Cheers,

Tai

Posted by taitoh at 11:22 PM
Stuff; Personal, Professional & Financial

From the "Personal" Dept.

I basically took this weekend to tune out. I had a hard week at work last week and I was just too exhausted to do much of anything. Didn't really want to see anyone or do anything.

I get like that sometimes.

Spent some time with Jen this afternoon. We don't see each other enough. It sucks having to say goodbye to her every week.

From the "Professional" Dept.

Nicholas and I were chatting over lunch. He says I'm going to burn out.

I think I AM going to burn out.

Over the phone last week, Jen asked me if I enjoy my job. I didn't really reply to her question, but in through the thick-of-it-all, I think I really do enjoy my job.

One of my projects last week finally went live. Here's How you get to it:

STEPS TO VIEWING SPECIAL OFFERS:

  1. Go to either:
  2. Click the "Specials offers" link in the lower, left-hand navigation.
  3. Browse through the special offers available in your area.

I know it looks really small, but this is a big thing to DaimlerChrysler. It took well over 8 months to push the application to production, and to this day I'm still amazed that it actually works. I created the data capture tool (Excel spreadsheet) that is used by the regional managers to input the incentives data. I also helped create the workflow and trained the users on how to use the system.

From the "Financial" Dept.

I finally broke out of my financial paralysis and opened an ING Direct Investment Savings Account. At 2.75%, how can you go wrong?

I realise that a lot of my friends already have an ING Direct account (or a President's Choice Financial Savings), but for the longest time, I've been wondering what to do with my savings, and it finally hit me--I wasn't even "saving" my money properly--Canadian banks don't give you shit-all.

My thanks goes out to my brother Kai for showing me the light.

Cheers,

Tai

Posted by taitoh at 10:54 PM
First Blog for July; Too Busy.

From the "3 Week Recap" Dept.

It's kind of sad how inconsistent I've become with my weblog. First post in three weeks.

Let's run through some of the stuff I've been doing:

  • Canada Day Weekend - (June 26th-July 1st) - Had an awesome time white water rafting with my friends. Pictures can be found on Kevin's Site [www.kng.ca]. Looking to do it again with a 6 man raft. The actual Canada Celebrations are always cool. I stayed with Jen at the Marriot. It was a great location - only 10 minutes from Parliament Hill.
  • XML Architecture - I've been working on a new XML-based architecture for a Mazda Canada's web-domain. Owen and I have extended the language I built, and we have made a working proof-of-concept. The coolest thing about this language is how generic it is. You can basically use it to describe any type of website (Flash or HTML). Very cool indeed. You'll start to see it by fall 2003. Another "bullet" for my resume!
  • My client is killing me - This week alone I clocked in over 60 hours of "billable time". Crazy. I won't get into the details, but we have some big things planned for DaimlerChrysler. Stay tuned.
  • Running - I was doing really well just up until two weeks ago - I was running 10 km; everything was grand. Then work got busy again.
Posted by taitoh at 09:27 PM