Friday, June 6, 2008
Party Animal (派對動物) - Cookies
This is perhaps the only song from Cookies that I like (well I don't really know their songs). The choreography really matches the song nicely :)
Sunday, June 1, 2008
$40 coupon for digital to analog TV converter box
I'm sure many of you already know that on 2/17/2009 there will be no more TV broadcasting in analog. However, some of my friends don't know that one can get a $40 coupon to buy a digital to analog TV converter box. If you
https://www.dtv2009.gov/ApplyCoupon.aspx
Hope this helps :)
- Do not have pay TV service like cable and DIRECTV
- Plan to keep using your old analog TV
https://www.dtv2009.gov/ApplyCoupon.aspx
Hope this helps :)
Friday, May 30, 2008
Breaking My Heart - Michael Learns To Rock
The melody of this song will fit its title. The feeling of breaking up with your lover.. :P
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Tell your taste without hurting others
Let's say you're having lunch with your friends at a Chinese dim sum place and one of them says
"These chicken feet are so delicious, you want to give it a try?"
Being born in the US, you've never eaten such thing before and you say
"Oh no, that's so disgusting! I can't imagine that you dare eat that..."
".............."
How do you think your friend should respond?
There're at least 190 countries in the world, each probably having very unique eating culture. My experience tells me that if you grow up eating something everyday, you just can't feel that it's disgusting, no matter how much it is to people who've not tried it before.
Actually, we don't only have eating culture in this world. We have music, fashion, painting, architecture, to name a few. My love towards Rachimanioff's piano concertos doesn't ridicule your passion on Joan Jett's rock songs. I like Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture doesn't mean that your favoring of Japanese Zen Gardens is bad.
When it comes to a matter of taste, there's just no right or wrong.
If you're arguing for, say, whether a government policy should be approved or not, even if you may hurt some other people's feelings (which isn't necessary in most of the cases methinks), it may be worth it because it has an effect on people's daily lives, some impact on the real world.
If you're arguing against somebody's taste, not only it's invalid because when there's no right or wrong, you just can't argue by definition, the effort is also wasted as it doesn't do any good to the world but hurting others' feelings.
"Well, I'm not arguing. I'm just being honest and expressing my true opinion. Are you telling me that I should lie?"
No, I'm not telling you to lie. But being honest doesn't mean that you need to hurt others' feelings. Even if you're being honest, there are better ways to tell your thoughts.
Taking the chicken feet case as an example, you could instead say
"Oh, that looks interesting. I like eating Shaomai more though, thanks for offering :)"
Hearing that, your friend may not realize that chicken feet are disgusting to you but at least s/he would know that you don't like eating them.
When I was in high school, my Chinese teacher once told us that we shouldn't read Carnegie's book How to Win Friends and Influence People because it would inhibit us from treating people genuinely. I do agree with what he said to a certain degree but I also think that the principles illustrated in the book show some of the most fundamental human traits. One of the principle says that
If you disagree with other people's taste sharply, they'd think that their feelings are wrong and feel bad, even though that's not your intention.
"As you said, it's not my intention, so it's their problem for interpreting it the wrong way."
Well, using that as an argument is like saying that it's not your intention to kill that guy by pushing him off the building because you think that he'll fly instead of hitting the ground and die.
It's not that people want to interpret your words this way, it's just how human minds work.
It does take some brain power to avoid conveying your message bluntly. However, I think it's worth it. Is that a phony act? I don't think so. Think of it as politeness. Do you think that always saying "thank you" to people after receiving help is phony? Probably not.
Appreciate the difference in tastes among people. It usually is the difference that fosters creativity :)
"These chicken feet are so delicious, you want to give it a try?"
Being born in the US, you've never eaten such thing before and you say
"Oh no, that's so disgusting! I can't imagine that you dare eat that..."
".............."
How do you think your friend should respond?
There're at least 190 countries in the world, each probably having very unique eating culture. My experience tells me that if you grow up eating something everyday, you just can't feel that it's disgusting, no matter how much it is to people who've not tried it before.
Actually, we don't only have eating culture in this world. We have music, fashion, painting, architecture, to name a few. My love towards Rachimanioff's piano concertos doesn't ridicule your passion on Joan Jett's rock songs. I like Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture doesn't mean that your favoring of Japanese Zen Gardens is bad.
When it comes to a matter of taste, there's just no right or wrong.
If you're arguing for, say, whether a government policy should be approved or not, even if you may hurt some other people's feelings (which isn't necessary in most of the cases methinks), it may be worth it because it has an effect on people's daily lives, some impact on the real world.
If you're arguing against somebody's taste, not only it's invalid because when there's no right or wrong, you just can't argue by definition, the effort is also wasted as it doesn't do any good to the world but hurting others' feelings.
"Well, I'm not arguing. I'm just being honest and expressing my true opinion. Are you telling me that I should lie?"
No, I'm not telling you to lie. But being honest doesn't mean that you need to hurt others' feelings. Even if you're being honest, there are better ways to tell your thoughts.
Taking the chicken feet case as an example, you could instead say
"Oh, that looks interesting. I like eating Shaomai more though, thanks for offering :)"
Hearing that, your friend may not realize that chicken feet are disgusting to you but at least s/he would know that you don't like eating them.
When I was in high school, my Chinese teacher once told us that we shouldn't read Carnegie's book How to Win Friends and Influence People because it would inhibit us from treating people genuinely. I do agree with what he said to a certain degree but I also think that the principles illustrated in the book show some of the most fundamental human traits. One of the principle says that
Show respect for the other person's opinions. Never say, "You're wrong."
If you disagree with other people's taste sharply, they'd think that their feelings are wrong and feel bad, even though that's not your intention.
"As you said, it's not my intention, so it's their problem for interpreting it the wrong way."
Well, using that as an argument is like saying that it's not your intention to kill that guy by pushing him off the building because you think that he'll fly instead of hitting the ground and die.
It's not that people want to interpret your words this way, it's just how human minds work.
It does take some brain power to avoid conveying your message bluntly. However, I think it's worth it. Is that a phony act? I don't think so. Think of it as politeness. Do you think that always saying "thank you" to people after receiving help is phony? Probably not.
Appreciate the difference in tastes among people. It usually is the difference that fosters creativity :)
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Li Xiang Lan (李香蘭) - Jacky Cheung
A stunning performance by Jacky Cheung. Especially like the violin in the beginning :)
Sunday, May 11, 2008
I just can't wait to get it NOW
It often puzzles me why local retailers can compete with online shops that offer a lower price for the same product.
Take books as an example, Amazon almost always beat the prices of the bookstores (As a matter of fact, I've yet to see a book being cheaper in a bookstore than at Amazon). Why do we still see bookstores around?
One reason I can think of is that people just can't wait to get it NOW.
No, I'm not talking about the case when you really need that pair of ski pants because you're going to Big Bear at 9 am tomorrow and it's 9 pm now.
If you see a new novel written by your favorite author and just by flipping through a few pages you're already very attracted to the story, can you
This effect's even more obvious in women. I always think that
When a woman pays $100 to buy a dress, $60 or more goes into the shopping experience. The remaining $40 or less goes to the dress itself.
If your girlfriend really really, I mean REALLY, falls in love with a dress after trying on ten other dresses and looking at how beautiful she is with the dress on in the mirror the 1000th time, and you tell her
"Hey baby, that looks great on you! I know there's a http://www.shopadresshere.com website and they sell the exact same dress for $20 less! Let's go back home and order it online!"
Wow, even if you can convince her (which I highly doubt), she'll be upset for the rest of the day. Why? You're sacrificing her almost-complete-and-wonderful buying experience, which costs $60, for twenty bucks. The math isn't right.
The reality is that many people can't delay their instant gratification for some long term (even if you're just talking about two weeks) benefit. Wouldn't that be a good explanation why so many people don't have enough funds for retirement?
Jeff Bezos probably needs to create some very real virtual online shopping experience (Second Life?) to lure the people from the malls :P
Take books as an example, Amazon almost always beat the prices of the bookstores (As a matter of fact, I've yet to see a book being cheaper in a bookstore than at Amazon). Why do we still see bookstores around?
One reason I can think of is that people just can't wait to get it NOW.
No, I'm not talking about the case when you really need that pair of ski pants because you're going to Big Bear at 9 am tomorrow and it's 9 pm now.
If you see a new novel written by your favorite author and just by flipping through a few pages you're already very attracted to the story, can you
- Put down the book
- Run back home
- Turn on your computer
- Order the book at Amazon, which costs $5 less
- Wait for TWO WEEKS for the book to arrive since you're using the free Super Saver Shipping?
This effect's even more obvious in women. I always think that
When a woman pays $100 to buy a dress, $60 or more goes into the shopping experience. The remaining $40 or less goes to the dress itself.
If your girlfriend really really, I mean REALLY, falls in love with a dress after trying on ten other dresses and looking at how beautiful she is with the dress on in the mirror the 1000th time, and you tell her
"Hey baby, that looks great on you! I know there's a http://www.shopadresshere.com website and they sell the exact same dress for $20 less! Let's go back home and order it online!"
Wow, even if you can convince her (which I highly doubt), she'll be upset for the rest of the day. Why? You're sacrificing her almost-complete-and-wonderful buying experience, which costs $60, for twenty bucks. The math isn't right.
The reality is that many people can't delay their instant gratification for some long term (even if you're just talking about two weeks) benefit. Wouldn't that be a good explanation why so many people don't have enough funds for retirement?
Jeff Bezos probably needs to create some very real virtual online shopping experience (Second Life?) to lure the people from the malls :P
Thursday, May 8, 2008
My name is "Robert'); DROP TABLE Students; --"
Saw this little comic strip about SQL Injection at a seminar
There're just so many things a web developer has to worry about (~__~ )
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