As I mentioned before, I have recently moved my desk & computer from my bedroom to my office. In addition to creating too much space in my bedroom, this move also removed all the music sources from my bedroom. Basically, my room is roomy and quiet (I guess that's what a bedroom is supposed to be :). Well, I like to listen to Internet radio (can't play that on my iphone) on the bed before I sleep; however, the current set up doesn't allow me to do that. I've been trying to find a (cheap but very good) solution to this problem and I think I have found one.
Apple has a product called Airport Express, which allows music sharing via AirTunes. So what does it mean? It basically allows your to stream any audio from your iTunes library to any speakers connected to the Airport Express. What it means is that I only need to buy a set of speakers and an Airport Express unit and then I will be able to play my iTunes music in my bedroom. That's cool except it doesn't completely solve my problem... I need to play audio outside of iTunes (e.g. Real player or Quicktime) and I would like a cheaper solution ($99 for a device for audio streaming isn't exactly cheap in my book).
After some digging around, I found this awesome software called Airfoil from Rogue Amoeba. It does exactly what I wanted and it only costs me $25! The setup is super easy; it took me less than 5 minutes. After installing the software on my desktop, I installed their iPhone app, and voila, my Internet radio was playing on my iPhone! I can now listen to my favorite radio/music wherever I go inside my home. Very nice. Now, I just need to find a nice speaker for my iPhone and then I'll be all set in my bedroom.
I highly recommend it if you have been looking for a solution for streaming music all over your house. It works on Windows and Linux too!
Feel so satisfied...
Why? Because I just ate the food I made.
The radio station I listened to was talking about how to make ่พไป็่ today. My mouth watered after listening to that discussion so I went to buy the ingredients to make the dish after work. Well, I remembered I still have tofu I bought a while ago (you know, one of those rare situations when I really wanted to have some home-made food and bought a lot of ingredients but never cooked them) so I ended up making a dish that has shrimp, scallop, and tofu in it (pretty different from what I wanted orginally. haha... I supposed that's what happened to a lot of things in life). In addition to this dish, I made another dish using some leftover ingredients from last time and some new ones (celery, carrot, mushroom, fish, and scallop). It took me a little over an hour to cook these two dishes but it felt so good when I ate them (seriously though, it only took me 5 mins to finish the meal; i couldn't even finish two pages of a book... I need to find a better ROI dish). As a bonus, I have lots of leftover and I don't have to worry about what to eat for a few days.
By the way, I so wanted to eat more. So to help me from eating the food, I am writing this post. lol...
The radio station I listened to was talking about how to make ่พไป็่ today. My mouth watered after listening to that discussion so I went to buy the ingredients to make the dish after work. Well, I remembered I still have tofu I bought a while ago (you know, one of those rare situations when I really wanted to have some home-made food and bought a lot of ingredients but never cooked them) so I ended up making a dish that has shrimp, scallop, and tofu in it (pretty different from what I wanted orginally. haha... I supposed that's what happened to a lot of things in life). In addition to this dish, I made another dish using some leftover ingredients from last time and some new ones (celery, carrot, mushroom, fish, and scallop). It took me a little over an hour to cook these two dishes but it felt so good when I ate them (seriously though, it only took me 5 mins to finish the meal; i couldn't even finish two pages of a book... I need to find a better ROI dish). As a bonus, I have lots of leftover and I don't have to worry about what to eat for a few days.
By the way, I so wanted to eat more. So to help me from eating the food, I am writing this post. lol...
Labels:
Personal
How good are you?
Have you ever experience the following situation: For some reasons, others think that you are super awesome and got a lot of praise from them but then, in your head, you are asking yourself, "Seriously, am I that good? Or did I do a good job in hiding my weakness?" And then now, do you have the pressure of trying not show your dumb side when you talk to those people because you don't want to ruin your good image? Just a random thought to share before I head to bed...
Labels:
Life
Proper Grammar
My ADHD is in play again... Anyway, I was trying to figure out what I did on my previous trip to Japan (basically trying to re-live that experience and figuring out the name of all the places I visited) and then an incoming email from someone I don't know interrupted me. There were quite a few grammatical mistakes and I immediately had a lesser impression of that person. You know what, it wasn't the first time I had this reaction. Whenever I see a lot of grammatical mistakes in someone's email, I felt lesser about that person (note, it only applies to those whom I don't know, so if you are my friends, don't worry, I don't mind your quick/short email with grammatical mistakes since I already know who you are. Plus, I have quite a few grammatical mistakes when I send you guys quick emails too :P).
Think about it, when you first "meet" someone through email, your writing is basically a reflection of who you are and that's the first impression the recipient has about you. If you have a lot of grammatical mistakes in your first email, you could be seen as someone who's careless or who doesn't pay attention to details. If you are looking for a job, these mistakes will hurt you a great deal. Even if you aren't looking for a job, the recipients may think that you don't respect them as you can't even spend a minute to proofread the mail. So, please remember to proofread your mail when you email someone you don't know or barely know.
Anyway, just a random thought I want to capture. I better proofread my blog post or I'll just be hypocrite :).
Think about it, when you first "meet" someone through email, your writing is basically a reflection of who you are and that's the first impression the recipient has about you. If you have a lot of grammatical mistakes in your first email, you could be seen as someone who's careless or who doesn't pay attention to details. If you are looking for a job, these mistakes will hurt you a great deal. Even if you aren't looking for a job, the recipients may think that you don't respect them as you can't even spend a minute to proofread the mail. So, please remember to proofread your mail when you email someone you don't know or barely know.
Anyway, just a random thought I want to capture. I better proofread my blog post or I'll just be hypocrite :).
Labels:
Life
Home office is set up!
I was helping a friend move today and yesterday. We got done early today and when I got home, I thought why not go head and move my desk to the other room to and make it my office. After spending 1.5 hours, my home office is officially set! There is much more room for my chair to move around and my books are right next to me. I want more desk space though; maybe I should get a new L-shape desk. For those who are planning to visit me, my guest room is gone and you'll need to stay in my office :). I still have a mattress so you can still comfortably. Next up is to get a new chair.
You know, it's the first time I don't have my desk/computer in my bedroom! It'll take me a while to get used to it and I'll probably need to get some stuff to fill my bedroom. It has too much space.
You know, it's the first time I don't have my desk/computer in my bedroom! It'll take me a while to get used to it and I'll probably need to get some stuff to fill my bedroom. It has too much space.
Labels:
Personal
Focus
I have a serious time management problem as it seems like I don't have any time anymore for some reasons. I also think that I might have ADHD. It's like I want to do A, so I do A but then I would think about B so I went ahead to do B and then after a while, I would remember I was doing A. It could happen up to 5-6 activities at the same time. It's very annoying. I think it's a focusing problem but at the same time, it's so weird that I remember I was doing some previous activities and I would go back to finish them. I can get all these things done eventually but these "context switching" are hurting my head! In nerdy computer terms, I feel like my head can keep track of these activities in a queue but then the way it prioritizes them is wrong. It assigns random priority at random time.
Enough geeky talk. I also wonder if there are way too many things I want to do so I really should prioritize them. So what do I want to do? Well, other than office work, I have been trying to write this blog, read some photography books, read about business magazines, process my photos, attend networking events, learn Spanish, install the latest Snow Leopard :), and set up my home office. There are a few more that I won't even bother mentioning. Hmm... I really need to cut down on what I want to do. Seriously, I don't know what people do when they have kids. They have to give up on everything and put all the attentions on the kid.
Enough geeky talk. I also wonder if there are way too many things I want to do so I really should prioritize them. So what do I want to do? Well, other than office work, I have been trying to write this blog, read some photography books, read about business magazines, process my photos, attend networking events, learn Spanish, install the latest Snow Leopard :), and set up my home office. There are a few more that I won't even bother mentioning. Hmm... I really need to cut down on what I want to do. Seriously, I don't know what people do when they have kids. They have to give up on everything and put all the attentions on the kid.
An interesting read
Someone recommended this article by John Gardner. I thought it was an interesting read. I like the following:
"Meaning is not something you stumble across, like the answer to a riddle or the prize in a treasure hunt. Meaning is something you build into your life. You build it out of your own past, out of your affections and loyalties, out of the experience of humankind as it is passed on to you, out of your own talent and understanding, out of the things you believe in, out of the things and people you love, out of the values for which you are willing to sacrifice something. The ingredients are there. You are the only one who can put them together into that unique pattern that will be your life. Let it be a life that has dignity and meaning for you. If it does, then the particular balance of success or failure is of less account."
Enjoy.
"Meaning is not something you stumble across, like the answer to a riddle or the prize in a treasure hunt. Meaning is something you build into your life. You build it out of your own past, out of your affections and loyalties, out of the experience of humankind as it is passed on to you, out of your own talent and understanding, out of the things you believe in, out of the things and people you love, out of the values for which you are willing to sacrifice something. The ingredients are there. You are the only one who can put them together into that unique pattern that will be your life. Let it be a life that has dignity and meaning for you. If it does, then the particular balance of success or failure is of less account."
Enjoy.
A story...
It's been a while since I posted cuz I have been traveling. I flew down to SF for a mini-vacation and then flew over to NY for a business trip. It was very tiring but it's over and will have a few weekends to get a few things done before another vacation. So, anything interesting happened during my trips? Well, my vacation was awesome and I'll write about it later. As for my trip to NY, I overheard an interesting and I thought I would share it with you guys :).
When I left NY, I took a hotel shuttle from the hotel to the airport. There was a man and a woman sitting behind me and they had a very interesting conversation. Actually, it was more like the guy was telling an interesting story. The guy talked like he didn't care if anyone overheard it... By the way, the guy sounded like a professor of some sort.
So this professor has a friend who was the CEO of a company that sells some tanning products. He was accusing this CEO of doing some "false" advertisement on his product, a tan lotion. Specifically, the ad was saying that it would be great to use the tan lotion as you would get the vitamin D you need and, in turns, you could avoid vitamin D deficiency. According to the prof, this deficiency problem only exists in those who are over 65 and reside in US Northeast (I thought Northeast has more sun than Northwest). The product, however, is targeted towards female from 18-35 living in Cali and Florida, so the ad is totally false (or useless). I thought it was pretty funny.
This prof went on talking about this CEO's wife. She's an artsy person and she actually made a movie that called something like "Woman Loves Woman". She basically had a warehouse in LA and NYC and then invited a lot of her female porn friends to the warehouse to make out and have sex in front of an audience whom she invited also. The movie, however, wasn't about the porn stars; they were just the backgrounds. The movie was really about the audience. I thought that was pretty interesting and am actually curious what the movie is like. Anyway, about a year after this movie, the CEO's wife divorced the CEO becuase she decided that she's a lesbian. What a twist...
This CEO then got really depressed or something and decided to quit his job to go rediscover himself. So what did he do? According to the prof, the CEO did a lot of road trips and went to various gentlemen club around the world. In addition, he also did some drugs along the way. His last stop was Amsterdam and, apparently, he was killed by durg overdose when he was there. That's not the end of the story though.
The CEO's wife then held a celebration (instead of a funeral because that's what the CEO wanted she said) in their Beveley Hill home in LA. When the prof got to the house, he was greeted by a drunk CEO's wife. In additional, she gave him a gift since the prof and the CEO were pretty good friend. To his surprise, the gift contained some of the ashes of the CEO! Very strange and that's the end of the story as we got to the airport...
I really didn't want to eavesdrop his story telling but man, he was talking like he didn't care. You know, the driver actually giggled when the guy was talking about the artsy movie (with lesbians and such).
When I left NY, I took a hotel shuttle from the hotel to the airport. There was a man and a woman sitting behind me and they had a very interesting conversation. Actually, it was more like the guy was telling an interesting story. The guy talked like he didn't care if anyone overheard it... By the way, the guy sounded like a professor of some sort.
So this professor has a friend who was the CEO of a company that sells some tanning products. He was accusing this CEO of doing some "false" advertisement on his product, a tan lotion. Specifically, the ad was saying that it would be great to use the tan lotion as you would get the vitamin D you need and, in turns, you could avoid vitamin D deficiency. According to the prof, this deficiency problem only exists in those who are over 65 and reside in US Northeast (I thought Northeast has more sun than Northwest). The product, however, is targeted towards female from 18-35 living in Cali and Florida, so the ad is totally false (or useless). I thought it was pretty funny.
This prof went on talking about this CEO's wife. She's an artsy person and she actually made a movie that called something like "Woman Loves Woman". She basically had a warehouse in LA and NYC and then invited a lot of her female porn friends to the warehouse to make out and have sex in front of an audience whom she invited also. The movie, however, wasn't about the porn stars; they were just the backgrounds. The movie was really about the audience. I thought that was pretty interesting and am actually curious what the movie is like. Anyway, about a year after this movie, the CEO's wife divorced the CEO becuase she decided that she's a lesbian. What a twist...
This CEO then got really depressed or something and decided to quit his job to go rediscover himself. So what did he do? According to the prof, the CEO did a lot of road trips and went to various gentlemen club around the world. In addition, he also did some drugs along the way. His last stop was Amsterdam and, apparently, he was killed by durg overdose when he was there. That's not the end of the story though.
The CEO's wife then held a celebration (instead of a funeral because that's what the CEO wanted she said) in their Beveley Hill home in LA. When the prof got to the house, he was greeted by a drunk CEO's wife. In additional, she gave him a gift since the prof and the CEO were pretty good friend. To his surprise, the gift contained some of the ashes of the CEO! Very strange and that's the end of the story as we got to the airport...
I really didn't want to eavesdrop his story telling but man, he was talking like he didn't care. You know, the driver actually giggled when the guy was talking about the artsy movie (with lesbians and such).
Labels:
Random
Hiking at Burroughs Mountain
There are two national parks that are close to Seattle (Olympic National Park and Mountain Rainier Nation Park) and I tried to go there once a year. I have already been to the Olympic National Park for a camping trip back in July 4th. As for Raininer, I had been planning a trip there since May and after many setbacks, the trip finally happened last weekend.
You can enter Rainier National Park through three entrances:
Sunrise is the highest visitor center you can get to (~64ooft) and you can get the closet view of Mount Rainier via the Burroughs Mountain trail and that's the trail we chose to hike last weekend. The trail is a part loop trail and part out-and-back trail; the total distance round trip is about 9 miles, the elevation you need to climb is about 2500ft (the trail goes up and down at a few places), and the highest point you'll get to is about 7800ft. This trail has three peaks (Burroughs Mountain 1, 2, and 3) and each peak gets you closer to the Rainier and the view gets more and more spectacular but, of course, the difficulty level increases as you go along.
We were lucky enough to get a really awesome day and we were able to see Mount Rainier very close up. The hike is tough towards the end (on the way to peak 3) but the view was totally worth it. I highly recommend to anyone who want to visit Mount Rainier National Park. Where is the details about the trail? Well, I am going to skip them as as you can find it from the link above. How about pictures? Well, it'll be available some time in the future :).
You can enter Rainier National Park through three entrances:
- from the southwest side through the Nisqually entrance to the Paradise visitor center
- from the east side through the White River entrance to the Sunrise visitor center
- from the south east side through the Stevens Canyon entrance (have never been there so don't exactly know where it goes)
Sunrise is the highest visitor center you can get to (~64ooft) and you can get the closet view of Mount Rainier via the Burroughs Mountain trail and that's the trail we chose to hike last weekend. The trail is a part loop trail and part out-and-back trail; the total distance round trip is about 9 miles, the elevation you need to climb is about 2500ft (the trail goes up and down at a few places), and the highest point you'll get to is about 7800ft. This trail has three peaks (Burroughs Mountain 1, 2, and 3) and each peak gets you closer to the Rainier and the view gets more and more spectacular but, of course, the difficulty level increases as you go along.
We were lucky enough to get a really awesome day and we were able to see Mount Rainier very close up. The hike is tough towards the end (on the way to peak 3) but the view was totally worth it. I highly recommend to anyone who want to visit Mount Rainier National Park. Where is the details about the trail? Well, I am going to skip them as as you can find it from the link above. How about pictures? Well, it'll be available some time in the future :).
Egg Hatchery
A radio show talked about this clip (viewer discretion is advised) yesterday. Apparently, that's industry standard. I wonder if I should stop eating eggs. Well, I like to eat too much so I doubt I could do that. Now imagine, once we can use Artificial insemination for reproduction purposes, males will be completely useless and we could be treated the same way. Hmm...
Labels:
News
Bag
I am going to bay area for a few days and am trying to figure out how to pack my DSLR camera and my laptop such that I don't need to check in any luggage. It's a challenge. I need one bag that can hold my laptop and my camera plus accessories (I don't even plan to take any extra lenses); I need another bag that can hold my hiking boots, clothes, and other stuff. The second bag is easy; it's the first bag that makes me think. I have a backpack that could use as the first but it's HUGE (I use if I don't have other carry-on). I'll see what I can do. I still have a day to see if I can buy a bag from some local stores. It's gonna be expensive...
I saw this line from a male photograph, "we're worse than women when it comes to bags". It's so true. I already have TWO bags for my camera and I want to buy another one. Actually, I want to buy another TWO (that's a total of four; that's ridiculous) and the fourth one is for when I go hiking. By the way, these bags aren't that much cheaper than your wife's/gf's/mum's coach bags (or whatever brand you want). I guess guys do spend a lot of bags but our reason is more justifiable - we are buying a hundred-dollar bag to protect thousands of dollars of investment. As for girls, I have a hard time to comprehend...
I saw this line from a male photograph, "we're worse than women when it comes to bags". It's so true. I already have TWO bags for my camera and I want to buy another one. Actually, I want to buy another TWO (that's a total of four; that's ridiculous) and the fourth one is for when I go hiking. By the way, these bags aren't that much cheaper than your wife's/gf's/mum's coach bags (or whatever brand you want). I guess guys do spend a lot of bags but our reason is more justifiable - we are buying a hundred-dollar bag to protect thousands of dollars of investment. As for girls, I have a hard time to comprehend...
Visiting Bay Area
I'll be visiting Bay Area this coming weekends; specifically, I'll be in SF city on Friday (9/4) and in Mountain View area on Tuesday (9/8). If you are free and up for coffee, let me know and we can figure something out.
Labels:
Trip
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