Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Talim typhoon...

要来了
基隆&台北都是下午4:00以後停止上班上課
(No~我不要下午4:00後就没公車回家了・・・)
明天八成也不用上班了
(check here)

後面還有一個Nabi耶...

最新動態:
中央気象局
美國海軍聯合台風警報中心

Alright, so searching is the future if computing?

I've recently had some great experience with the "new" way of using a computer: searching, both with Apple's spotlight and Google's desktop search v2.

Both gave instant search results, which gave me a thought of using it to launch applications. Well yeah, it's convenent, fast and simple to launch programs this way. But what's so special about it? What made it be emphasized by Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and others so much?

Yeah, is sure's much better then digging in a crowded start menu or applications folder in finder. But, so what? People had always been able to launch programs in this fast and simple manner with command bassed OSs, such as DOS or UNIX. Adding this way of launching programs is just a fix to the crapy GUI(graphical user interface) that someome screwed up in the past.

So don't be too suprised at how this "non-graphical" user interface works so well, it's just taking a page from an old book.

By the way, the start menu is the biggest crap in windows that I hate the most. Could never guess who came up with this kind of junk that wastes precious time of thousands around the world.

Monday, August 29, 2005

Taiwan railroad sucks

Once again, the train from Keelong to Taipei is out of service.(like, is this normal, or is operating smoothly a rare seen?) Anyway, it's not like the usual when they're "just" not on schedule, but they're completely down, I guess.

But what really sucks is that all the train takers came over and clogged the bus station to Taipei. Forming long lines of over half a mile(kind of...). They just don't have enough busses to process that much passengers.

I really think that the government should just shut down the railroad company, sell the assists, and set up a whole new rail company.
---
Crap, I'm stuck here.

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Google's answer to Konfabulator?

Google just released it's 2nd version of it's desktop search software. Like most other google downloads, it free to individuals. The biggest difference to it is the addition of a "sidebar" (just as in the image in the left), which shows info from the web such as news, RSS feeds, weather, stocks, and a search field for searching files on your computer or googling the web. (Additional add-ons could be downloaded to add more functions, just like Konfab's "widgets")



However, doesn't this seem similar to Konfabulator, which Yahoo just bought? Looks like delivering webcontent to your desktop recently got hot. Konfabulator sort of pionnered that idea, with great eye candy; then Apple built a similar function called Dashboard into the latest MacOS X Tiger; then the concept showed up in sidebar form in copy-cat-Micro$oft's preview of Windows Vista(the next version of windows, which was codenamed Longhorn) Now, Google also did a sidebar and released it.

Look very useful, simple and functional, however, this time, I like Konfabulator's eyecandy better. This is the first time I favor Yahoo's product instead of Google's I guess. But what I chose was bought, not made by Yahoo, anyways. And maybe I could just use the desktop search without the sidebar :D

By the way, Google desktop is for Window$ only, while Konfabulator works for both Windows and Mac.

Sunday, August 21, 2005

Spam in comments, now I'm pissed off...

Damn!
Now there's spam in the form of blog comments
Don't make me close down my comments

Now California should come up with a new law against blog-spaming so those guys could be stopped

Leave the web clean!

Thursday, August 18, 2005

夜中躺在路中間的野狗

今晚不想做什麼正事
又根據前兩次的經驗知道夜騎貓空比白天快一小時, 又涼又舒服, 於是就把車組一組, 往貓空殺去.

不過一開始就不是很順利
煞車片境有如磁鐵般貼著輪框...花了20分鐘調整;
然後又太久沒充氣, 後輪軟到有雙避振的效果

不過問題解決後基本上都蠻順利的

延軍功路騎到木柵, 再經過政大上山, 一路上狀況都不錯, 也很高興體力比上武嶺時好多了...
直到...

在剛看到頭頂上經過的北二高後沒多久
在窄窄的上坡路段赫然發現一隻野狗在
"路中間"
乘涼...
由於是上坡路段, 牠又剛好在坡變緩的地方
~也就是頭燈照不到, 我也看不到的地方~

當時我正以時速約20以上, 掛中盤死命的往上衝
而且下午剛下過雨, 地是濕的...

我看到牠時, 只跟牠距離不過幾公分而已

結果
不經考慮的動作: 雙手猛按=>前後輪通通鎖死
(德技我對不起你~~你說的煞車技巧在危急時完全忘光了)

車網路邊測滑, 我往反方向滑去
(幸好後面沒車, 否則這個世界就少了一個愛騎山坡的笨蛋...)
兩個膝蓋+一邊手肘+臉頰都擦傷
後燈分解了, 右煞把又彎了
(不過主車體只有小小的"ㄌㄠˋㄌㄢˋ")
眼鏡也掉了一個鏡片(後來裝回去了)

倒是那可惡的狗, 等我摔了才嚇了一跳,
然後悠閒的走開...(怒)
---
不過倒是感謝那很棒的bell安全帽
摔到頭的時候
只感覺"好軟~~"
終於知道上次唯中在陽金上的感覺了XD
不過, 雖然只有小小的刮痕, 摔過的安全帽還是要換
再來一頂bell的吧^^

手套上的刮痕則小到幾乎看不出來

嗯, 護具還是很重要的
下學期參加活動要戴安全帽的規定似乎應該嚴格執行才是

Saturday, August 13, 2005

Accessing PubMed on a PDA!


(image from http://www.freewarepalm.com/medical/mdontap.shtml)
I just noticed a PDA freeware (both Palm and PPC supported) from the National Library of Medicine called MD on tap, which is " an interface to the MEDLINE database via a device that you tap"
It is a software for searching the MEDLINE database using the PubMed search engine via wireless net connection. A great way to find papers relating to your research. As it even faster then search from a PC, since it's not a browser, it saves the time of rendering HTML webpages, and only sends the content, in pure text to you, and sometimes with a link so you can also view it by the normal way in HTML.
Had a great pleasure with it, since it's simple yet powerful, and extreemly fast.

Now people in the bio/medical field have another reason to get a wireless PDA :D

Thursday, August 11, 2005

Sync folders on your PC with your mobile storage device!

A new beta download from Micro$oft:
SyncToy for Windows XP

Would be really useful for PDAs, memory cards and USB thumbdrives. You can keep all the files on those stuff the same as the files on your harddrive by syncronization. Said to be a preview of a function in the next version of Windows (Vista), but what's important here is that it's really useful, wither it's a preview of what-so-ever.

I'm getting it now, really excited to give it a try.

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Korean played Starcraft to death

Read it on BBC news

Well yeah, it's quite shocking and sad to Europeans or Americans, but we're already used to seeing this in the news from time to time here in Taiwan.
However, the previous ones dies of those new internet RPGs from Korea, which I wasn't quite intrested in, while this one died playing my favorte PC game.
But, here's how I keep alive: I kept being killed/defeted in the game that the lack of accomplishment overwhelms me and I soon loose intrest. But since it's a game of good quality, I come back once in a while to be defeted and back off--again. By the way, it's the only PC game that I play in the past 5 years. Newer computer games are becoming more and more sophisticated that I am simply too lazy to figure out how to play. I now only play games on my PC on an average of about once every 2 months.

Games on my Palm are becoming more satisfying to me. Due to the limited resources on a handheld, most of the games are easy and simple. Games like Bejeweled are easy and can always be finished in minutes. Now that's what I call "instant gratification". Thus, I play Bejeweled more often then any other game on any platform.

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

ptt2 掛了XD

批踢踢兔大爆炸啦!
預計約近 00:00 才能重新開放 Orz

另外批踢踢兔預定在 8/10(三)
上午
03:00停機進行維護作業,
預計在晚間 18:00之前可以完成重新上線 :)

批踢踢兔站長群
Wed
Aug 10 07:14:05 2005

Sunday, August 07, 2005

Thoughts on the PSP

After playing with the PSP for some time now, I think it all makes sense to me now: The PSP is what killed the Clie.

Many theories have been made on why Sony dropped the Clie line. The Palm and PPC fans always like to say "bacause the Clie's crap, no one wants them." I really don't think so. If so, then why did the line live so long? Why didn't Sony drop it earlier? I've always thought Sony is a troubled company, figuring out where's their profits. It's a big complex of thousands of divisions. So it's now cuting the smaller ones (eg. the Clie line) to save money.

But also, I think it's more of a problem of products with over lapping markets. The PSP was actually what the Clie was ment to be: a portable media center. The Clies did what it was ment to do, beautifully. However, labling it as a PDA made it's market limited, since most people don't think of PDAs as media devices. They're thought of as organizers or handheld computers instead, which only business man should need. But the PSP is a gaming device, which would be connect to a reputation of an entertainment hub. And it's also more affordable and acceptable by most people.

Thus, I think Sony must have seen the PSP as the succeeder of the Clie, and much more. Under this stratagy, of course the Clies should be cut and make everybody move to the next big hit, the PSP.

Thursday, August 04, 2005

Finally found some meaning in my life

Have been pretty down for the past year.
But now, after a month doing experiments in a lab, I guess I found just what I'd like to do for a living: doing research. Actually, I'd be looking forward to this day since elementry school, but never expected I'd be so attracted, excited with and enjoying these lab work that seem to be constructed by a bunch of highly repetitive work. However, once you know about the whole big picture, make sure what you're doing, what's your approach, what's your goal, the whole thing sort of sucks you in. Every failures and success, no mater which, makes you more excited with the whole thing. It's all about tackling problems, finding one, pinning it down and conquering it. Failures are not set backs, but rather clues to what you should try next. You find a stratagy, try it refine it and slowly close in on your goal. Even that part of taking notes and organising your progress is an exciting jorney through a new world waiting for your discovery. By just focusing on the experiments, you get to forget all your worries and woes of other parts of your life. Lab work entices your adventurous sprit.

So now, research as a carrier, cycling as a sport, guess that it for my future life^^

明天到底是怎樣?

台北照常呼?
http://tw.news.yahoo.com/050804/39/254e5.html
台北放假呼?
http://tw.news.yahoo.com/050804/161/254sa.html


亂報一通

好啦,以這邊為主
http://www.cpa.gov.tw/

好了,我今天overnight incubate的菌要怎麼辦?
(其實不想放假)

Monday, August 01, 2005

10th planet discovered?

-News from NASA JPL
-News from ABC News
artist's concept of planet catalogued as 2003UB313
(Artist's concept image, with the Sun in the far distance. From NASA/JPL's website)

Do not say "the 9 planets of the Solar systen", from now on, make that 10.

It was reported that the 10th planet of the solar system was found, farther from the Sun then Pluto, the 9th. It is now called "2003UB313", with a size bigger then Pluto, and a similar icy, rocky surface. It was discovered using the Samuel Oschin Telescope at Palomar Observatory near San Diego, CA. The discovery was announced on July 29 by planetary scientist Dr. Mike Brown of Cal-Tech in Pasadena, Calif., whose research is partly funded by NASA.

However, some may say that this is the "real" 9th planet since Pluto is considered by some as an "astroid" instead of a planet.