Packing my bike: fighting shipping damage and the 20kg limit

I got a box that doesn't fit very well. A little too short in height, and way too long. Thus, after disassembling my bike and modifying the box, it was like 3 hours past. Well, was a special experience anyway.

I took apart almost everything. I took off the usuals: seat, wheels and paddles. And then, the whole rear derailer and the handle bar. Oh, yeah, the chain, also :)

See the plastic "gloves"? My chain's inside :)

>>June 30th, the flight

MTA510 減肥成功！！

我的愛車 MTA510 - Celer Actin 網站標示重量 13.8 kg
做過以下升級：
無牌煞把 + Deore 變把 -> Deore 煞變把
Deore 鏈條 -> KMC X9SL
正新 1.75 廉價胎(有鋼絲吧) -> Kenda Kwest 1.25 光頭胎
然後加裝座墊包(含補胎組、六角板手組、打鍊器、備用內胎、輕便雨衣) + 水壺架 + 打氣筒 + 碼表再拆掉腳架後
重量變 11 kg!!

13.8->11, a 20% decrease!

目前，裝箱前測重：
車 + 座墊包 + 水壺架 + 打氣筒 11 kg
紙箱 4kg （好恐怖...）
貨架 0.5 kg
馬鞍袋 2 kg
-----------------
共 17.5 kg (小於華航的20kg上限)

安全過關^^ 不過馬鞍袋還沒裝東西。希望馬鞍袋可以當carry-on, 那才是真正安全過關。

只是，跟智誠借來的貨架太窄（我的後下叉很寬），明天要重買orz

出發前最後一週

上週還全心投入在實驗室的 Deletion construct 和 Reporter assay 中，就算期末考將近，也完全沒有心情，也沒有動力唸書。已經一隻腳踏出校門的準畢業生，看到課本中一堆理論的東西，都覺得很不實際，跟實驗室中實際的實驗或甚至校外的真實生活沒甚麼關聯。於是覺得考試、上課是無聊的東西，不太想碰。一頭栽入實驗的世界裡，整天待在醫學院；上週五為了去保健中心看皮膚科而回總區亂逛時，竟然已經開始有種懷念卻陌生的感覺了。

而隨著 Reporter assay 結束，細胞處理掉了、Construct 送 sequence 靜待結果，實驗室的工作也差不多告一段落了。這次 construct 能夠跟 lab mate 馨誼合作真的學到很多。因為過去已經連續敗在 DNA cloning 的手下兩個夏天了，對於這次 construct 的初步檢定結果都只要沒有完美的顯示成功就悲觀的告訴自己「又失敗了，重作吧！」我心裡想得只有 debug 實驗過程和重作。馨誼卻以很特別而樂觀的觀點來解釋我們的結果。恩，直接送 sequence 吧，一定有的。沒想過我對實驗結果得解讀會因為過去的失敗經驗而受影響。希望這次，construct 真的能成功。

期末考科數不多，每科都大玩臨時抱佛腳大法（這樣反而還不會有「唸過但忘記了」的狀況發生）。今天最後一科：基因科技，很幸運的出了應用題，考了實驗室最常有人做的EMSA和過去一個月一直在研究的serial deletion & site directed mutagenesis。好耶，不用念就會的東西。於是，很高興的寫完，第一個交卷。

本週，脫離了以實驗為重心的生活，忙著跟一堆人道別＆做北海道之旅的最後準備。今天跟 BCT 的學生聚餐，聊了很多。一直因為覺得當助教常被學生問倒，不能給他們讓我自己滿意的回答而自責的我，今天才知道他們竟然認為我懂很多，大部份問題都回答得出來。是我自我要求太高？自信心不足？不過，經過當助教被學生用一堆五花八門的問題轟炸的經驗後，我發現自己在實驗室跟 lab mate 討論時比較能夠表達自己的看法，對實驗各種狀況的解釋也比過去扎實了。

下週，進入全新的生活，脫離穩定，開始流浪。

Music phone manners

MP3 capable music cell phones are slowing getting into people's pockets, replacing Walkmans, iPods, and other music players. The first batch of music phones used to be clunky, hard to use and only has memory to hold 5~10 songs. Then they start to get memory card slots alowing huge memory upgrades, and the user interfaces got better and better. Then came Sony Ericssion's Walkman phones and Motorola's iTunes phones, using branding to remind consumers that phones really can play music well, a feature previously largely ignored by consumers. It is then that music phones starts to boom.

What's different between music phones & dedicated music players? Other then the ability to make calls, phones have real loud speakers that were made to do loud rings. In the case of music phones, manufacturers saw that this speakers would be nice for music playback, and tweaked them to play loud music in good quality.

Now, the walkmans with headphones start to be replaced by phones with speakers. Thus you get a modern digital pocket boombox. Some people start to do away with headphones and play music loudly with phones in the public. You see dumb asses on the bus, the seat right behind you, booming out their favorite music, which happens to be the very tune that you hate the most. Hay, other people are not deaf! Give a little consideration to others when you are in the public, will you?

When new forms of tech comes into life, people forget to apply manners. Rude e-mails, phone rings in speachs & meetings are all examples. Come on, just apply a little common sense and be considerate to others. Excuses of "Mom didn't taught me back then"just doesn't cut it.

BCT 助教工作結束

時間過得好快，歡樂的實驗課就這樣結束了。
帶生技系的學弟妹做實驗是個很快樂的回憶。不但在教學得過程中可以複習 BCT 教過的東西；也了解了很多我從沒想過的看實驗的不同看法；各種千奇百怪的實驗失誤方式也令人大開眼界（Load DNA gel 沒加 dye, DNA漂掉了才加 dye... 塗菌棒燒紅了馬上插到整杯酒精中整個燒起來...）；在配藥與分裝藥品的過程中更是把修課時因助教代勞而沒學到的前製工作搞清楚了，總之當助教的收穫真的很大。不過更重要的，又因此認識了很多很high很歡樂的朋友（奇怪，為甚麼生技系可以這麼歡樂？）。

只是，第一次當助教，而待實驗室的經驗也不是那麼豐富，以至於偶而會被問到一些不會回答的問題，讓人感到很慚愧。尤其是一些做實驗的原理跟實驗結果上瑕疵的解釋，有很多問題都是我平時不會想到要考慮的東西，也有些是從來沒唸過的東西，結果就變成我去代為問別人，得到答案後又回去復述一遍。這樣的助教有價值嗎？學生不能直接去問老師或大助教嗎？也許我是負責回答簡單問題或是在老師或大助教在忙的時候可以代為回答某些問題吧。不過真的覺得我應該在上課前準備得更週到的，有種對不起學生的感覺。

現在，終於了解某些老師為甚麼會說每一個學生都是可愛的。偶而就會有人做出有趣的失誤或問會令人會心一笑的問題。而每回答一個問題，也多了一些成就感；看到問問題的人露出了解的表情，其實真的會讓人有種滿足感。

上週四，最後一次上課。在均郁請喝飲料、大家狂拍照、還有錄影、發表感言、和一片歡笑之中，這學期的 BCT 週四班就告一段落了。跟大家這樣度過了一學期，就這樣結束，有一點點些微的哀傷。

其實，助教經驗的收穫已經大到薪水相對的不重要了（雖然BCT助教薪水算是偏高的）。真的要很感謝均郁讓我大四就有機會當助教，也感謝這一個學期來的照顧。

--

小組員A：「啥？小助教有打平時成績喔？小助教想吃甚麼嗎？」
我答：「我分數打完了耶。」
小組員A：「喔，是你打得喔，我以為是所有的小助教一起打分數耶。」
小組員B：「沒問題的啦，小助教是好人！」
我：（囧rz）
（其實老實說，真的覺得每個學生都很棒，所以我打的分數沒甚麼鑑別度XD）

--

「小助，有沒有 dd water?」
「來，這裡。」
「謝謝，小助教是好人！」
......

充實

畢業前最後幾週，聚會多、活動多、實驗更多。其實生活有點過度充實，不過這樣的生活比較有踏實感。就算如此，很多事情都將隨著畢業而結束還真的有點哀傷。感覺整個人生都將隨著畢業而進入完全不同的世界；不變的只剩下對旅行與實驗的興趣。

總之，最近 blog 很乾不是因為不想寫，而是生活太精彩，沒時間寫。
（事情多到連 lab notes 都一直寫不完，期末一科都還沒念...orz）

衝啊～ Deletion construct 跟 Reporter assay 都要給我出來！！！

WWDC '07

It's Steve Jobs' show time again! This is really going to be big for Apple, new OS, great popularity, fast growth...

The first big thing I see from Engadget's keynote live transcript is EA, the largest game publisher in the world, announcing Mac support for several new games. Count in also the most successful game company Blizzard, which has supported the Mac all along, and you can wave the days of "game-less Macs" good bye.

Sure's amazing for Apple. In the past year, I've got so many classmates asking me about Macs. And with every one I know who tried Windows Vista complaining about how they hate it, I think it is likely that many of my friends will be "upgrading" to a Mac when they get tired of Windows XP. Wait till Apple releases a light weight Macbook that doesn't heat up too much, and people will be buying them in doves :)

畢業

送舊、謝師宴、聚餐... 原來畢業也頗忙的...

不過都還沒有真的要離校（還有2週後的期末考呢），使這一連串活動少了點真實感...

和邦尼悠閒的亂騎

恩，還有糖跟宗霖。很high的把車帶到台北去想騎觀音山，卻天公不做美一直下雨。不甘心只有騎到河濱車道，索性雨騎到碧潭當運動XD
不過照片還不錯呢！

回家時，到火車站，車剛打包完又剛剛好一班車開走... （這半年來，凡舉公車、客運、捷運、火車都有 90% 以上的機率碰到這種事。無論我何時出門一定會見到一班車從我面前走掉，這不是滖是啥？）接著，下一班原本30分鐘後的車誤點20分鐘，等於我在車站耗了一個小時以上。不過剛好在我有帶相機時見到太魯閣號，算是不幸中得一點補償吧...

車社送舊 & マダオ

Photos on Flickr
快畢業了，「送舊」相關得聚餐越來越多。當然，車社待這麼久了，也是會被送的。

不過這次送舊感覺不開心。也許也有個人因素吧。
走進去，被歡迎了一下，點了餐，然後就一直呆坐在那。大家聊的話題我大都已不太了解，是我太自閉了，還是已經跟社會脫節了？但，我在實驗室比較不會這樣啊。

這家店很奇怪。我的確遲到了一點，比較晚點餐。但餐前的麵包跟湯明明就是不太需要時間準備得東西。老闆娘就是堅持要第一批點餐得人主餐都吃完了，盤子收了，才要把我得餐前菜送來。正當我坐在那很悶，又不爽老闆娘這種不尊重人得上菜方式，索性把老闆娘叫來罵一罵。要不是這是大家來送舊，我老早就直接走人了。

上菜了，靜靜的吃完，不怎麼好吃。此時大家的話題離我更遠了。只好跟坐對面同樣沒話題的蒼蠅四目相望。

時間晚了，想說先走，卻被拉著狂拍團照。嚇一跳，這次竟然是社費請客，還有小紀念品，一個用鋼絲凹出的精美單車鑰匙圈。真感謝曉嫚呢。
---
唉，現在似乎真的一離開實驗室就悶悶不樂的。幾天前為了找RA的事把自己搞得感覺好像快過勞死了一樣，聽了細胞生化老師的建議，暫時放棄，到美國再找，把自己從那快瘋掉的邊緣救回。不過現在卻變成生活中沒甚麼值得期待或努力的目標，陷入了極度的空虛感。

半年前，穿得好看一點還會讓自己多一點自信，開心一點。幾天前拿折價券去理髮廳給人家設計了個龐克頭，但這次，除了頭上涼快點，心理上沒有任何的改變。

可惡，越打越悶...

聲明：鄉民們再見啦！!

各位朋友：

請不要再寄Ptt信給我了，我不會上B了。
寄信到我的email我幾乎一定收的到。

就這樣

---

今天跟3個同學出去吃飯，竟3個一起在我面前開始討論結婚的問題......

Celer Actin...

Since my bike model: Merida MTA510 is getting more and more popular, it's more common on the streets of Taiwan. Good thing it's still hard to find one that looks totally the same as mine, since mine's an early model, with a gold/black paint that's not available anymore. Yet I still wanted to make my bike feel more "uniquely mine". Many people personalize by sticking on stickers of various parts brands, but that seems too commercial, and not very personal. I felt giving my bike a name would be cool, so here I go, and went writing the name on with a felt-tipped pen. Doodling on my bike sure is the way to go!

Many names went through my mind, such as that of fast animals or the like, which are all too commonly used on kids' toys. Then I thought, to make it special, I should put in some special sauce of my studies: Biology jargon. For speed and energy, the closest thing would defiantly be muscle related stuff or metabolism elements. Thus I went with the muscular protein: Actin. Then I looked up a Latin dictionary for the equivilant of rapid, and found: "celer". Thus there I got a name: "Celer Actin".

To top it off, and for fun, I topped it off with a label "ATP loaded", to "provide" the energy source need for actin activity :)

照片...

有些畫面會讓人看了就反感。

受不了的東西還是不要去接觸吧。

畢業小聚餐

非常感謝于珈請大家出來聚餐。同學們即將畢業，飛散到世界各地，追求自己想要的人生。能夠這樣聚在一起同樂實在很棒。

Here's the>> photos
Wish a good luck and great future to everyone.

Interesting notes from philosophy class

Taiwan is unique in the whole world, even historically, in the following ways:

1. No country has ever turned from a society of only impoverity and refugees into one of the most wealthy countries in the world.

2. No other society can be "classless".

3. We are in a country whose government's budget is not approved by the legislature.

4. No one is interested in politics.

Shimano 零件詳細說明

Mobile 01 上有強者整理出對於 Shimano 零件等級的詳細說明。
搞不清楚 Shimano系統的產品分級的人可以好好的去看看。

Vaio TZ | Building on 10 years of technology

In celebration of the 10th anniversary of Sony's Vaio series computer sells in Japan, the newest update of the ultra slim T series was announced today.

It's thinner, yet the DVD drive is still there. The beautiful design of the cylinder shaped battery bay with the power button on the side was brought back from previous models, and farther refined. And the weight is just about 1Kg. And of course, the better specs, such as a choice of 32GB flash memory in place of a harddisk; Intel's newest generation of the Core2Duo family; a better screen with more vivid colors, and much more.

What surprised me the most is the newly designed keyboard. It's got separate cubby (may I say eraser like?) keys floating out from a lower surface: how very MacBook like. I've saw on Wikipedia that this kind of keyboard design looks like the "chicklet keyboards" of more then 20 years ago, which has not shown up in computers for a long time. This design was the main reason that I considered the MacBook much better looking then the iBook G4, and consequently led to my purchase of my Mac. Seems like Sony is now getting on the going retro bandwagon. Yet, with making the base under the floating keys glossy, Sony farther refined this design and made it more like a work of art. They claimed that it looked like "stones on water". How very zen like...

Great, I am once again clamoring over a beautiful keyboard... This beauty definitely looks much better to me then my MacBook, as I always liked Japanese style zen like designs. Yet it's much more expensive then a MacBook, and my MacBook haven't even passed it's first year, which mean I should stick to it for at least 2~4 years to come. Maybe I'll get a Vaio TZ if someday I have money to get a 2nd computer.

Packing bikes for air travel

After reading many sites, here's what I know:
There are 4 ways of packing:
Box: the most common, you could either get one at a bike shop, or buy one from the airline for about 10USD. Yet not much protection.
Clear plastic bag: very rare, lets cargo workers know it's a bike and treat it more carefully. No physical protection, though.
Bike bag: more expensive, little protection, yet convinent.
Bike hard case: too expensive. Max protection, yet heavy, massave and may need additional shipping fees due to the size.

Guess I'll go the box way. Some one said that Cannondell boxes are best because they are smaller and easier to handle. With a trip to the bike store, I realized that most boxes are rectangle, designed to fit bikes with the rare wheel still on: a little over sized for me who will be taking off the rare wheel. Cannondell boxes are said to be square, fit for my style of bike disassembly, yet as Cannondell bikes aren't all that common, so are the boxes. The shop I went to threw them out.

I should take off:
both wheels, seat (maybe leave the post in place), paddles, rare derailer, chain.
The handle, if needed

Let out the air from the wheels.

Prepare:
foam or Styrofoam for padding, tape for fixing everything in place to prevent damage, paddle wrench, hex wrench to detach derailer, hard paper tubes to strengthen the box sideways, spacer for fork.
And maybe a 2nd, larger box for protection.

*rare derailer should be taped to the rare triangle for protection. Throw in bags, sleeping bags and other gears except helmet, and try to fill up the box to provide padding for the bike.
*Baggage handlers handle boxex by throwing them around roughly, so make sure there is enough padding.

Reference:
http://blog.so-net.ne.jp/its_a/2006-02-04
http://www.bike-nz.com/faqs/packing/
http://maxp.net/bike/packing.php
http://www.switch-backs.com/switchbacks-pack-mountain-bike-travel.html
http://www.bikeaccess.net/bikeaccess/Articles_db.cfm?Search=box%2Cbag%2Ccase&Article=Wrapping%20Your%20Bike%20in%20Plastic
http://www.bikeaccess.net/bikeaccess/Articles_db.cfm?Search=box%2Cbag%2Ccase&Article=Packing

First person sued for posting songs on blog

Yahoo 新聞 | 部落格貼歌違法！高職生判刑5月

這高職生太天真，笨笨的幫人家做免費宣傳卻被判侵權賠錢還要坐牢。台灣的 IFPI 已經很客氣了，目前為止只找了幾個代罪羔羊；美國 RIAA 曾經每個月找一堆「疑似抓MP3」的人庭外和解，不管你是否有抓歌的確實證據，反正你沒錢請律師就一定要付錢和解。


網路，使人們接觸到現實社會的黑暗面，很多人卻不自知。請學會保護自己，不然就多多之持有開放使用權的地下/非主流音樂。

Savings account interest

An interest of 17 cents every month really equals to nothing. Big banks are all that wealthy, yet picks on every penny. 5% interest rates of local small banks are much better. I'll be looking for a small bank CD account with a high interest rate first thing after I get back to the US, I had enough with 17 cents per month (which was only 15 two months ago...).

唉

可惡，最近尋找畢業後出路＆橋北海道團的事情搞的壓力越來越大，再加上長期睡眠不足，身上皮膚越來越爛，想去游泳都不敢下水...

這一年來的生活事事不順，問題連連，該說日本買的御守不靈驗還是說我的人生本來可以更糟的？

現在只能走一步算一步，每一通電話、每一封email都是一個希望，雖然目前為止每一個回應都是個幻滅...

現在只有在實驗室做實驗時，或在當助教教人家做實驗時，我才敢覺到生命有意義...

Postbac programs?

Nature | The places in between
I was just flipping through a copy of Nature at the library, this time not for research papers, but for job listings. And I came upon this interesting article. So there are programs for people (like me) in the gap between graduation and grad school, so called "Postbaccalaureate" programs. You prepare for grad school applications while having the full time lab experience before hand, and best of all, with pay. My hopes went high for a split second, as I excitedly opened my MacBook to look it up.
...
Okey, so the application deadlines are long past, just as grad school applications. And with the NIH program, only US citizens graduating from US universities can apply. Great, yet another chance turns moot.

Arrrrrrrrg!

Now what? Pester every herpes virus PI that I can find with email?

Get my new Sony Cybershot H9!

In preparation for my Hokkaido biking trip, I decided I need a good camera, so as Sony came out with their newest ultra zooms (the H7 and H9), their only models that feature manual shutter speed and aperture controls, I went to pick one up. I choose Sony mainly because it uses memory sticks, which my Clie can read, and I really like Sony's user interface designs. If I was using a Palm TX instead of a Clie TH55, I would considered a Nikon or Cannon, brands that use SD cards.

Not much time left to write a review of is today, so here's a short summary of my first thoughts.

First of all, I got a black model. The plastic case is jet black with a granny texture, similar to Sony's own Alpha A100 DSLR, gives a nice feel of good quality. On the other hand, there is a silver model which is downright ugly and disgusting, feels more like a toy.

I originally wanted a good camera. Yet I havent got much time to test it's photo capabilities yet. I was playing a lot with it's entertainment functions: It's got built-in photo retouch software, with functions such as making cross shaped shines, blur the background, make the background gray, and more. Sometimes these modifications make really hilarious effects on the photos. I had one mod that made me laugh more then 5 minutes. Also, it can play your photos as slideshows on it's huge screen, while playing music in the background. I just loaded some music on to the camera, and boy is it fun. The flip-up screen allows you to set the screen to a comfortable angle to watch the slideshow, and you can sit back and control it with the supplied remote.

Something that surprised me is that it can use a built-in gyroscope to determine the orientation of the camera when you press the shutter button, and save the picture automatically in the right orientation. No more flips required anymore.

The lens cap is quite loose but won't fall off unexpectedly. Yet, there was one time I turned it on with out removing the cap. The telescoping lens simply pushes the cap out of the way and stretches out. Yet when I leave the cap closed on purpose, the cap got stuck and the lens retreated back into the case when it struct the stuck cap.

Little Liuchu island biking trip - Day 2

Well, after a whole month of procrastinating, busy life and bad moods, I've finally found the time and am in the mood to continue some more story telling... :)
(Link to day 1 | All photos)

Apr 6

After a night at uncle's in Kaoshung(高雄), I planned to ride directly to Pingdong(屏東), Dongong (東港) port and off to Little Liuchu island (小琉球), yet uncle & aunt said they are going to Pingdong and could give me a ride. Considering that would save me some time, I once again disassembled my bike and hopped on their car. Interesting how disassembling my bike rapidly surprises people every time, though. I got off at Chauchu(潮州), where another uncle's house is. Nice that I could leave my clothes here and ride off to the island with a lighter load, yet, I stayed for an hour, had a chat and a banana, and got back on the road with 2 more bananas in my pack. Bananas are free and fresh since uncle has some banana trees of his own.

I like the feel of riding in Pingdong, typically feels like in a southern tropical place with all the rice paddies, betel nut trees, bananas and coconut trees. Yet in the cloudy day, it's not as hot as usual, quite nice and comfortable. I got to the port at about 10:30am, finding out that my speed isn't as fast as day one, and that I might have got there faster if I started from Kaoshung, saving that one hour's chat.

But oh well, I got there and quickly found the ferry terminal for the island. There was 2 ferry companies, with one of them working for the government with less frequent departures but a cheaper price. I bought a round trip ticket for only 350 and got on with my bike. I was told that a fee of 50NTD will be collected for my bike upon arrival at the island.

The ferry was much cleaner and the ride was much smoother then I expected. You could clearly see 2 kinds of passengers on board: the excited tourists and the island residents who sleep through the ride. And as you guessed, yours truly was one of the excited tourists who can't stay in his own seat for more then 5 minutes, walking around, looking here and there and taking pictures. And even more excited when the island comes into sight.

As we come to shore, I went aft to "rescue" my bike from the sea of scooters, took my bike on to the pier and some one directed me to exit in one direction. I went that way and was already outside of the terminal, wondering why no one came to collect my bike's 50NTD transportation fee... (In the end, I realized that under the direction of that mysterious "somebody", me, and several others exited from the entrance, bypassing the toll collection.)



Finally on the road circling this little tropical island. The sea air was clean and cool, free of polution, the same also with the surrounding sea water. Best of all, this place isn't as crowded as in the city, nor as tense the life style. Just by standing on this tiny coral reef island, I can somehow feel an atmosphere of serenity and relaxation.

Went down a route off the road leading to a rocky sea shore, and saw the sea water close up and personal this time. The water was so clean it was practically crystal clear, and the shore line so clean and pristine that it seemed untouched by humans. Never, have I ever saw sea water this clean around Taiwan. And the sea shore drift garbage that we all expect on most Taiwan sea shores are nowhere to be found in this natural environment. Ah, this is such a great place for a vacation, a clean and natural tropical island so close to Taiwan and the ferry tickets so affordable.

Next to the little route, on the side of the road, stands a resting post, where I was so fortunate to meet 4 other cyclers riding around the island. The 2 husband and wife couples were staying in bed&breakfasts on the island and planed to stay for 3 days, relaxing and taking their time. They told me that the seaside sunsets and sunrise were dazzling. At that instant, I started to regret leaving my clothes at uncle's house: I started to wish I had planned to stay on the island longer. Having seeing that the road around the island was only 20km long, I never though I would want to stay there. Yet, I believe now that a relaxing night on the clean beach would be like a dream. But then again, I set out on this trip to get a taste of solitary, not romance. So maybe next time, if I would ever want to goto a tropical island to have some sweet romance, this would be a great destination.

As the group of 4 planned to ride in the opposite direction, after a pleasant chat, we bid our goodbyes, hoped we'd meet on the other side of the island, and parted our ways. Soon I arrived at the main harbor on the island, the one where the other ferry company comes in. Now, this is where all the tourists are: gone with the serenity and the place filled with seafood restaurant, souvenir shops, snack stands, convenient stores, scooter rentals and even stores selling flowery beach trousers (yikes, only 60NTD each!!!), and beach sandals. So this is where I had my lunch, simple noodles and ride on.

Since there's not much cars nor buses on the island, most people get around on motor scooters. And thus, you see very interesting views of whole groups of tourists in cheep beach pants with flower paterns and slippers on their feet, on rental scooters forming a large group of young riders zooming by. Just can't help but laugh at the interestingly comical sight. This is truly a place where people come to have fun.


The main attractions of the island are mostly stones and holes of special shapes around the shore, all works of the power of sea waves. Many of those attractions require tickets, and those are the ones that I by pass. I just don't see the point of paying to see a stone. Yet the free ones are good enough.

There are several small dirt roads that lead out from the main road, which made me really want to try some offroad routes, although I only got road tires on. I initially hoped those dirt roads would cut through the grass bushes to the sea shore, yet, all of them lead to dead ends with tombs. Well, not a good place for "off road" riding...

The best part of the island was the beach, which I already saw on the ferry, and longed to go. The road to the beach was yet another obscure leading off from the main road. As with most of the shore of the island, is was a clean shore facing crystal clear sea water. But something made this beach stand out: it's not a shore of sand, it's full of coral reef and sea shell debris with all sorts of colors (mostly white, though), and a lot of sea weed. I took of my sandals and walked out to the near shallow part of the sea. I could see clearly through the water, my feet, the coral pallets and cute little sea weed that look like fur balls. Sometimes you step on one of those, and it feels, well slippery and furry. The dry part of the beach, on the other hand, is a great place to sit, since most of it were pallets, it's not as hard to clean off as sand. Even of you do get sand on your feet, you just walk in the clean sea water, and you're all clean again.

By the way, the 2nd banana tasted good on the beach.

Not long after leaving the beach, I meet the other cycling friend of 4 again, and they invited me to some coffee. Turns out they always bring coffee, a mocca pot and a little stove on trips. Although it's not the best coffee beans, it's still so nice to have coffee here outdoors. We talked more about coffee, bikes and more. Turns out we know the same bike store in Taichung(台中). The biking community in Taiwan sure's small.


Taiwanese people tend to like to give names to stones that look like faces from certain angles, and here I give you the "Indian stone" and the "budda stone". Well does look a little like it, but what's going on with all the fluffy green "hair" on the Indian? And why do I think that the Indian's mouth look more like Optomus Prime from the Transformers...

Next on, after a little climb, there's a century old tree

And as a very very old tree is like a miracle, people think it's kind of holy, and so as you would expect with Taiwanese, a "shrine of the old tree" would always be next to the tree, worshiping the "tree god".


"The White Lighthouse" was about 1km from the old tree, at the end of the up hill route. Well, it's a lighthouse alright, it's white alright. But I don't see anything special of it. I don't understand why I had to wait about 20 minutes to get a picture of it alone: waiting for 1 pair of newlyweds to get their wedding photos taken. And, after I released my shutter once, I had no chance to do it again, as another pair of newlyweds, this time with all family and friends came for the same thing... What a commotion!



Soon it was time to leave, as uncle was waiting back at Chauchu(潮州) was waiting for me for dinner. I got to the ferry terminal 3:00, and waited for the 3:30pm one . Yet the 3:30pm one came and said the water's too shallow and the other, shallower boat was on another duty. Thus it was not until 4 that I got on the boat. Yet in the one hour waiting time, I met another group of bikers from Kaoshung. I guess making new friend of all different walks of people is part of traveling alone, making it interesting in another way then that of traveling with old friends.


I got back to Donggong harbor at about 4:30pm. This time, yes, they did remember to collect that 50NTD fee for bike transport. I was back in Chauchu in about an hour, yet got lost in Chauchu city for a short while.

Dinner was at a "beef hotpots" restaurants' where you pick up the stuff you want to put in your pot your self, in plates and they calculate the price by the empty plates you left on your table. Usually when eating hotpots with friends, they'll argue what should go in first, what goes in next. But with uncle and cousin here, they just dump everything in and start eating, regardless of the danger of overcooking anything. Throwing food in the pot freestyle don't give you food cooked to the right point, but it still tasted good enough, and you don't worry about anything but eat till you're full. That's an interesting approach.

Got Google Maps working on my Clie!!!

Here's a screen shot.

Previously Google Maps didn't work on Japanese Palm OS, yet, thanks to Mini's tip on 1src, I edited the prc file with HexEdit (not to take credit for the fix, please check out Mini's site for details), and the error message was gone!

Although it's a shame the maps of Taiwan are empty, I'll have mobile G Maps for my Hokkaido cycling trip this summer :)

Mac software for bio-scientists!!!

I was recently reading MacNN on my Clie with Avantgo, and came over a report on a new software called Papers, which is a software to organize scientific paper pdf files in a database, just like in iTunes. Just what I was looking for! Just downloaded it and will be giving it a try :)

By the way, the site it self is amazing. I was really happy to see another bio-scientist who is also a Mac lover. Best of all, there were many other software other then Papers, such as 4peaks, which analyzes DNA sequences; EnzymeX, that helps you plan restriction endonucleus digestions (complete with the buffer requirements, reaction setup calculator and everything you could imagine needed); and even an RNAi designer. Other then that, there's many interesting wallpapers avaliable for download, pictures of pipettes, tips, tubes and confocal pictures of cells.

It's always exciting to know someone with multiple interests that complies with your own. I wonder if I'll ever get to know someone who likes viruses, mobile gadgets, Mac computers, business stories, cycling, traveling, Japanese culture, coffee and web designing. If that person ever shows up in my life, I guess we'll be really close friends :)

Google maps now covers Taiwan!!!

Example: 台大門口
Google Maps終於有台灣的地圖資料，而不用對著空空的衛星照完猜猜樂了。終於，在Urmap之外，台灣的網路地圖又多了一個選擇。

不過，目前似乎資料還不夠完整。地圖查詢資料不像美國、日本的那麼完整，台灣的幾乎都是網路使用者自行上傳的資料。而道路導航查詢目前對於台灣還是不能用了。需要開車指南的，還是要求助於本土的Urmap。

Junk food

Got a pack of m&m's and a bottle of Coke zero.
m&m's are too sweet, not very tasty.
Coke zero, which is said to contain zero suger and zero calories, tastes like water with a touch of pepermint chewing gum... simpily disgusting. Real suger is much better.

Game Over

With a phone call, I finally confirmed that I am officially rejected by all programs, so much for the nice day dreams.

I now finally have no excuses to postpone finding a lab technician / research assistant slot. Application competition is said to be at a record high this year, and I shall try again next year. If the 2nd try doesn't work, I might as well find a real job, or leave the biomed field for good.

Arrrgggg......

衝突

終於了解心中長期的茅盾有一部分是因為心中追求自由的唯心主意和社會主流的唯物論的衝突

...

上課時希望趕快下課,上午希望趕快中午,下午希望趕快回家,傍晚對著電腦銀幕發呆希望時間趕快過去.
日復一日,什麼事也不想做,懶洋洋的,不知道這樣度日有何意義?

申請不到學校來找研究助理工作,大部分都要博士,不然就要有特殊技能. 越看越慌不知該如何是好.

封B耍自閉,發現人間蒸發可以做的很徹底.

...

And then you come to a sad realization that all roles that you play in this world are highly replaceable. Halelujeh!

Apple enters NTU campus

News link on Apple Taiwan

So the first campus Apple store in Taiwan opened today in NTU, yet I didn't know until I got a news letter from Apple in my email, just now. Oh well, just happened that I didn't walk pass that corner of the campus today.

Apple has been a strong presence in American campuses. Maybe that may also happen soon in NTU, with the help of this new store. But here's the big question: Does this store offer educational prices to faculty and students as the campus stores in the US do? From what I see in that news letter, not a word regarding this is present. So I assume, no.

Sad intelligence

Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

Ernest Hemingway
US author & journalist (1899 - 1961)

From Quotations page

Okey... Someone tell me how to turn stupid.

Foxy: 惡質P2P 還是無知使用者？

http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxy
剛剛收到學校寄來的信：

Subject: 「校內訊息發送」請勿使用foxy點對點傳輸軟體
Date: April 14, 2007 5:16:39 PM GMT+08:00

foxy是天使還是惡魔?

使用foxy非常容易造成個人電腦中的所有資料供人分享，可能原因包括P2P軟體本身的漏洞、使用者設定不當，或是P2P軟體本身或相關程式遭有心人士加入惡意程式。

帳號密碼、機密資料、企劃案、研究報告、試卷、論文等，都可能被他人透過foxy從網路上搜尋到，資訊安全受到威脅。

報載今年二月底台北縣某位警員因使用foxy，造成國家元首車隊路線的道路警衛資料外洩；4月13日刑事局發現警方9個單位的筆錄資料，因為警員使用foxy造成資料外洩。這些事例都反應使用foxy的高度危險性。

計資中心提醒全校使用者立刻將foxy軟體與相關資料夾移除，並將於一週後開始進行流量過濾，如果仍發現使用foxy，將以公文通知所屬系所或單位。
。

感覺還頗嚴重的，全民用P2P違法抓檔，大家一起資料外洩？
雖然我沒用過Foxy, 不過以一般P2P的使用方式，應該是一開始要指定一個「共享資料夾」，然後要分享的東西才擺資料夾。我想應該是某個沒概念的員警把機密文件放在「共享資料夾」裡了。

不過學校本來就已經有鎖P2P常用的port了，只是現在特別針對Foxy發出警告。而Foxy跟其他P2P的最大不同就是不限流量，因此犧牲掉所有可佔用頻寬來達到最快抓檔速度。若這次學校禁用Foxy而使學校網路變快，我想也是功德一件吧。

Photo webalbum switch to Picasa

So Zoto has closed their free accounts, including mine.
I originally went to Zoto because they provide a free 1Gig photo space. Now they say that they are giving better functionality, unlimited space, but no more free accounts. Thus, good bye Zoto.

Luckily, Google's Picasa web albums came just in time. Originally, Picasa only has 200MB, which I could fill up in 2 biking trips, thus I didn't use it. Just as Zoto started charging, Picasa bumped up to 1gig, turning into the perfect substitute to Zoto, just in the right time :)

Thus, here's my new web photo site at Picasa!
But, still, I am keeping my free account at Flickr. I will use Picasa whenever I exceed my 200MB/month upload limit. A loose rule is that cycling trip photos goto Flickr, while non-cycling multi day trips goto Picasa because these trips easily produce batches larger then 200MB.

BBS

最近完全不想上B。

開始以 Mobile01 跟 1Src 為我上網的重心。
很有趣的，Mobile01上關於單車的討論竟然比單車社社版多很多。

剪頭髮

頭髮又長了，長髮+自然卷=爆炸頭。

聽說家附近新開了一家剪頭髮的，新開幕特價，就去試試看。
招牌上寫著「費絲髮型設計」，雖然被兩家髒亂的店家夾著，店面本身還算時髦。看起來有點像專剪女髮的，有點猶豫要不要進去，不過都過來了，就硬著頭皮進去。

哇咧，剪髮的都是打扮時髦的正妹... 都是那種流行打扮的，還有不錯的眼影... 雖然口味重了點，純欣賞也不錯XD
結果，正妹叫我坐下之後叫了個男的過來，我你咧，這一個是型男... orz
忽然有種整家店裡我最土的感覺。

不過，給一個年紀相近的男的剪，似乎不錯，感覺這樣應該比較會知道我適合甚麼髮型吧。

剪到一半，型男試著開話題：「你讀甚麼學校？」（為甚麼每次剪髮都是這個老梗？）
「台大。」
「海大？」
「恩...」(算了，懶得糾正了，反正畢業後失業，那個學校都一樣)
「你在這附近租房子嗎？」
「沒有，我家住這裡。」（這倒是實話）
「喔，那樣很方便耶，你很多同學都要租房子；我有聽說很多住高雄的說。」（囧，我同學?）
「你今天要補課嗎？」
「不用。」
「這樣啊，聽說有些人要補課耶...（疑惑貌）」
（傻笑）（此時忽然想到，老爸的學生，海大的似乎要補課耶，囧。）

剪完沒有特別感覺如何，只覺得我穿著土土的 T-shirt，然後一臉希巴爛的皮膚，不管配甚麼髮型都很醜。等臉上的表皮細胞有一天吃夠類固醇，開始高興的生長後，再決定剪的如何好了。

不過根據經驗，若我自己心情沒有特別輕鬆愉快，似乎類固醇再多都沒有用... 爛皮膚啊...

Not going with the flow

I hate "me too" products, period.

When I buy something, I want something that's cool, different, a pleasure to use, something that makes me feel good holding it. Thus I don't like to use what everyone else does.

Let's see...
I use a Mac while everyone uses Windows PCs (Computer OS).
Mac OS is elegant and productive. You get to get your work done, instead of dealing with errors, crashes, viruses, worms, flaws, lags and all the crap that normal people encounter with computing. In this case, viruses and adware mostly target the most popular platform: Windows, so using a less popular platform keeps me away from those hassles.

Firefox instead of Internet Explorer (Web browser).
Similar to the first one, I avoid the popular yet less stable solution. Firefox also provides extra functionality, such as easily manageable extensions & skins, instant in-page search, and customizable search box (which I default to PubMed for research paper search). Many small options, such as tabbed browsing, restoring the last opened pages, searching with google and Wikipedia from the address box... all though little things add up to a great experience. Best of all, it's cross platform, I can use it on a Mac.

Palm instead of Windows Mobile (PDA OS).
Interestingly, this is yet another against Microsoft option. Yeah, Microsoft tends to commoditize inferior products to the public with strong marketing. Yet, in this case, Windows Mobile (WM) isn't exactly worse then PalmOS. Due to the stagnant development of Palm OS, the lead of Palm over WM is almost gone, with Microsoft constantly adding features. However, I stick to Palm because it has an intuitive user interface, while WM tends to hide all the features in layers of meuns. Palm also is more responsitive, with most applications giving instant feed back to your input.

Clie over iPod (Mobile music).
Find this interesting? I am comparing a PDA against the iPod! Will, as I said, I like cool stuff. The iPod is considered good looking to most people, yet I think the feel of white plastic is too heavy. My first Clie (NX73V) has a magnesium casing, while my recent one (TH55) has a glossy reflective screen cover over a metal screen bezel. I have a great big color touch screen compared to that of the iPod which is half size. My Music player looks better then the simplistic white screen on the iPod. I can also drag me music in and out freely from my memory card on any computer, while the iPod is locked on to iTunes on your own computer only. Best of all, I can edit song info, delete songs, edit playlists on my Clie. A flexibility that the iPod doesn't have. Actually, if I really won't a MP3 player, I would want a Sony Walkman, which is designed beautifully, and not seen in everyone's pocket on the streets. Yet, it's locked on to Sony's equivalent to iTunes: Sonicstage, which is Windows only. If only the Walkman supports Mac OS, I'll get one.

Merida over Giant (Bike).
Giant bikes, iguanas and yukons are everywhere. I don't see how they are better then Meridas, yet their prices are about 20% higher then a comparable Merida with similar graded parts. Thus, getting a Merida MTA510 is a no brainer. I have enjoyed my bike and have never regretted saving that 20% for other add-ons.

PHS over GSM (phone system).
Now this is not an easy choice as the previous ones. At the time of choice (4 years ago), going with PHS means great looking Japanese phones, battery power of 1 month per charge, mobile e-mail and internet, and calling fees of only about 20% of that of others. Yet, now the GSM phones are much more advanced, while recent PHS phones are crapy, and none from Japan. The recent phones even have crappy battery life, and no e-mail nor internet. The only advantage left is calling fees, yet good thing I still holding on to my old phone, retaining most of the advatages...

超強單車重改

這是強悍改車的極致吧！很有殺氣的土炮味，而且一看就知道超重的orz
開站強檔專輯-小蜜蜂傳奇

KDDI going to the US?

Reuters reports that KDDI is planing to set up camp in the US, as KDDI mobile, using the Sprint CDMA network.

Cool! As long as I can afford it, I would really love to use Japanese phones out of Japan. Imagine a reasonably sized clamshell phone with a humongous high-def screen, real HTML web browser with Flash support, usable good quality camera, office doc readers, fully functional music player, built-in e-wallet and more. Oh, and the "push e-mail" that's all the rage in the US was so last century in Japan that it's expected to be part of any basic phone: nothing to write home about. If KDDI really provided all that in the US at a reasonable price, many people will be switching from clumsy "smart phones" to easy-to-use, better functioning Japanese feature phones. That would be a big hit to Palm, Blackberry and many others.

Yet, if they went the route of Helio (partly owned by Koreans), charging high fees that people aren't willing to pay, then they would become a niche player that nobody but uber-geeks (or, in business jargon, "pro-sumers") would care about. It would be the Japanese and Koreans fighting it off in the US for a tiny market no one cares about.

No matter how good the phones are, if the prices aren't affordable, then no one cares, just as what Helio achived.

騎車暴走化

換了光頭胎之後，我的騎車習慣似乎有點變了。
不過換了1.25的光頭胎後，忘記重設碼表的輪徑，因此現在隨便可以採到時速30km/hr我也是有點懷疑啦。
總之呢，現在在騎平路時比較常掛大盤又踩高轉速，完全是個暴走化
然後睡了一覺之後，第二天早上就腿軟整個虛掉。
午餐之後，又暴走化了...orz

我還在新市到台南的路上（緩上）巴掉機車呢，小有成就感 :P

接下來必須想辦法解決騎長途時會出現的胯下皮膚過度摩擦皮的問題。

Southern Taiwan and little liuchu island biking trip - Day 1

Apr 5

Planned to get up at 6, alarm changed to 6:30, got up at 7, went out 7:30, and after much procrastination, I've finally packed up my bike and am on the train to Taipei at 8:18. As every years' tumb dusting day, it's a nice cloudy day with slight drops of rain. A look around sure shows a different beat of life today. As this is the begining of a 4 day major holiday, I expected to see lots of people, yet the streets in Keelung are quite clear, and the train station nearly empty. I'd normally see all these places packed on a normal weak day's rush hour. Maybe most of the south going crowd already when last night.

I'm on a 4 day trip to the south and little liuchu island(小琉球). As I am trying to stay put with being single, I set out on my first biking trip on my own, to get a taste of the freedom and loneliness of traveling solo. A twist to this much anticipated holiday though, I've got about 3 research papers in my backpack, and about 15 more, with over 50 pages, in my memory card waiting for me to study during the holiday.

I reserved a bus seat for 9:30 from Taipei to Tainan (國光客運), yet the bus arrived at 9:45. There were slight traffic jams, yet just slightly, which is bearable. The bus stopped at the bus company's own bus terminal in Taichung for a lunch brake. The terminal is half terminal, half highway rest stop, with a simple make shift conviniant store and some food stands. Passangers have 10 minutes to fetch up lunch and use the bathroom, then everyone comes back on the bus and we start off again. 3 movies were shown on the bus, yet I didn't pay much attention to the movies. In one of them, a guy was dating a secret lover behind his wife, and the lover was forcing him to devorce with his wife. Under high pressure, the bastard murdered his lover and his wife had a new baby. I didn't know what happened in the end as the Anime (Honey & Clover, in fact...) loaded in my PDA was much more interesting. Another movie had a guy with an inuit girl trying to surive after their plane crashed in the middle of nowhere. I ran out of interest when the girl died. Well, after much sleep, some movies and read a paper, the bus finally arrived in Tainan at 2:10 pm. The time it took was quite nice, considering the fact that today is the first day of a national 4 day holiday.

Went to Grandpa's in Tainan before setting off south. Grandpa stuffed me with a copious load of food and I hit the road at 2:45 pm, with a stuffed belly.

The road to Kaoshong was shorter then I expected, about 60 km. The view wasn't estonishing, yet it's typical of this part of Taiwan. As always, there were roadside "betel nut girls" (檳榔西施), selling betel nuts in glass walled stands, wearing bikinis. And many of them have a weird combination of nice bodies with ugily faces. I saw one today who has this face that just looks like my most hated old Chinese teacher from high school, YUCK!

Just entering Kaoshong, there was this bridge, with a curved down hill when you get off the bridge. Right when I was picking up speed and cutting into the down hill ramp, a normal "slow" sign came into sight. Yet, under it, was a black sign with shinning yellow letter of the most common Budda prayer (阿彌陀佛). Damn, those remind me of prayers for the dead. In the shock of reading that sign, I nearly lost control, yet got back in control in a split second. That sign could cause accidents by scaring the ass off drivers, man!

Kaoshong is the southern end and a major train maintainence station of the newly built Taiwan high speed rail, and am I happy to see those beautiful trains.


Went to see my uncle here in Kaoshung, and went to a buffet with steak for dinner (貴族世家). Quite an interesting day.

批踢踢...

今天的趣事真多...

批踢踢的進版畫面也出現兔子了


另一方面，還出現了新的BBS站：有名大站 orz

Hello, NTU Single club!!!

[台北電訊/綜合報導]
有鑑於單車運動逐漸普及化
據說本屆社團營運團隊決議，台灣的單車運動已經大眾化，不需要再大力推動
因原有的使命已達成，因此將行社團改制，朝向全新的目標前進

目前全球人口以對數成長急速激增
根據Wikipedia記載，2007年的世界人口已經突破66億
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population )
而台灣人口密度 636人/km^2 也已經是世界排名前幾名
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population_density )
眼看世界食物量供給逐漸失衡，有些人肥到進不了自己家門，有些人卻嚴重營養不足。
根據馬爾薩斯的人口對數成長理論，地球的食物供給將在不久的將來跟不上人口的成長

因此，為了緩和人口爆炸問題對地球環境的負荷
為身在這個太陽系中獨一無二的美麗新球上負起一個房客的基本維護責任。
台大單車社陶社長於四月一日下午1點於位於活大的社辦開辦記者會，
宣示全力推行單身運動，將原有「台大單車社」改制為「台大單身社」
全力推行台灣單身新運動。

另，配合這次社團改制，以進行網站全面更新，網址為：
http://club.ntu.edu.tw/~club20364/
（不負責任記者 台北報導）

Google TiSP: Free WiFi with a flush!

Google has just launched a new product that will provide free home Wifi to everyone, hooray!

Google TiSP beta, code named project teaspoon, is aimed to give everybody free wireless internet connection from their own toilet!
Be sure to click on the "get started" link on the page and see how it works! The installation procedure is so cool, I would really like to talk about it, but don't like to spill the beans, go and take a look! (LOL)

Five for Fighting | Two Lights

After listening to Five for Fighting's "The Riddle" on Pandora for some time, I was addicted to the song, and went to a store to pick it up (for 12USD, the normal price in the US, yet expensive from Taiwan's standards). It's been many years since I last find an English song that I truely find touching and can't resist the desire to buy. Five for Fighting, which is really a one man band of John Ondrasik from LA, does light rock music on a wide range of topics from love, peace to family, and even wisdoms of life. This is really what I like the most, songs about experiences, memories, struggles, all the feelings that you get in real life. Like a breath of fresh air in a world filled with "love songs" that only focus narrowly on romantic relationships.

Yahoo mail's storage turns infinity

Yahoo is expected to remove it's 1GB storage limit from it's free email service, by it self, a pretty cool decision. Yet, as a long time Yahoo mail user and a Gmail convert, I think Yahoo missed the point. Although this upgrade would give Yahoo a great competitive advantage over competitors (Gmail has a constantly growing limit, now at 2.8GB and still growing slightly everyday; Hotmail has a limit of 2GB), that would not win me back over to use Yahoo mail as my main email.

Yes, at first I tried Gmail because Yahoo mail at the time has only 6MB, while Gmail has 1GB. But then, I was hooked on to Gmail's simple and fast AJAX based interface. Soon after, Yahoo updated their service to have 1GB storage, and then added an AJAX interface that, frankly, looks better then Gmail's. I considered moving back to Yahoo, which was my first email account, I sure did. Then 2 things bugged me.

First of all, Gmail has a nice notifier that pops up the moment you get new mail, allowing me to give real fast replies, and never worry about forgetting to check my mail. Well, with Yahoo, I sure can fix that with a widget or Yahoo messenger's mail notifier. Not as elegant, yet does the job.

But here's the real pain in the ass: spam. Gmail's spam filter does so good a job that I only see spam about once a month: it is only the graphic based spam that could get pass the filter. Gmail allows me to enjoy email once again. On the other side, Yahoo lets at least 2 spam mail into my inbox everyday. Yahoo even has a fancier name for it's spam filter: "Spam Guard (TM)", yet, it lets the same spam past again and again. I could click the "this is spam" button to train the filter, yet the same identical spam shows up tomorrow, reminding me that the " this is spam" button never works.

Yahoo still doesn't get the point. They add fancier functions time and again, yet the spam filter still doesn't work for me. While Gmail keeps my inbox clean, and also provides the luxury of simple text ads that don't bother me, and tight integration with other Google apps, such as spreadsheets, docs and much more.

Watch the fun Gmail puppet show on YouTube :)

TMNT

Who's interested in remembering some memories from childhood? Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles are back, this time in modernized 3D computer animation. Ah, the good old days as a kid, always having fun... By the way, did I say this movie come back has gotten highest sales in box office last week in the US?

In theaters March 30th in Taiwan, anyone wanna go? Anyone?

Trailers
Official site
Intro on Yahoo Taiwan

New tires

Today I changed my bike's tires from the chunky XC tires (the CHT cheep 26/1.95 tire that came with the bike in front and Kenda Karma 26/2.0 in the rear) to the newly bought road tires that my friends got me from Taichung (Kenda Kwest, 26/1.25). It is much thinner, and smoother, with no chunks. The road tires were actually for my Hokkaido trip in Summer, but I really wanted to test it out and wear out the wax that came on new tires.

Changing the tires turns out to be a 2.5 hour bike maintenance since in the process I noticed that my rims was coated with a thick layer of brake shoe "powder" (the debris from the rubbing of the brakes with the rim), by bike really dirty, my brakes worn out (and the metal parts in the brake shoe was already starting to eat into my rims, ouch!), and my chain also real dirty. So, after the lengthy tire & brake shoe change, and cleaning up my chain, gears, rims, fork and body, I finally got to go out for a test ride.

Switching to road tires was a strange feel. When I first started riding good bikes (more expensive one, in contrast with commuter bikes), I was really satisfied with that "vroom" sound that the chunky tires give, which really sound like motorcycles. But now, it feels a little, well, too silent. With a newly cleaned chain & gear set, and smooth road tires, it's like you glide on the road, with no more then the sound of the wind. It's supposed to be more energy efficient with road tires, but the feel isn't that dramatic, since the roads around my home wasn't that smooth (you get a lot of pot holes and rocks on the road); the difference really kicks in when you start going up hill, when you notice that you can still maintain a speed of 25km/hr on slight hills, it's like all hills are much easier now. Going downhill is another story. Since the tires are thinner (1.25), the downhill curves aren't as stable, as I yet to get used to the handling of the feel. I need more practice to get full control of these tires.

Something else noticeable, is that the tires, being thinner requires much less air to fill up. So I can easily pump it to 60psi before my hands get tired (with my tiny mobile pump, I mean), where as with 2.0 tires, I could get tired before I get the pressure up to 50psi. This and the less weight of the tire it self also contributes to the decrease in energy loss. Yet, with the crappy roads around home, that also translates to a bumpier ride.

On the look of the tires, mine has 2 bright yellow strips on the sides of the tires, which really doesn't look too good on my black/brown bike. Oh well, that's what you get when you trade in good looks for bargain prices...