Posts (page 2)
Not everything I know I learned from my years at Cornell, but I did learn lots. For one, I learned that writing well is very important - not just because it communicates more effectively, but because sometimes, what you write, what you create, will be read many years into the future. It's often the most direct, intimate thing you leave behind. Writing is inherently a means of communicating with the future* – with people in the future, unlike phone calls, instant messages, emails - usually. *not necessarily only after you're gone, but you most likely won't be able to discuss, edit or otherwise modify what you've written. So it's important to get it right when you write, because you won't be present when the reader is reading your writing - usually.
So what does it mean to write well? Is it just spelling and grammar? I confess that that is what I thought before Cornell. Freshman year, writing was a requirement. But I nearly flunked out of my first writing course - creative writing. I thought it was the instructor, who clearly seemed to favor the writing of one or two students over others. Perhaps the instructor was just putting their work up as examples of good writing, but it doesn't really help the other students struggling with their own writing. Writing is clearly not a learn-by-example skill - after all, there are clear boundaries like plagiarism that makes examples less helpful. I didn't actually "get it" until the next semester, when I took "philosophy of mind." Unlike "creative writing" - which seemed to me at the time to allow one to write about anything - any subject - philosophy required rigorous logic and reasoning. All of a sudden, there was a clear and present pupose to writing. I had to compose my thoughts into coherent series of explanations, paths of reasoning. Reading other examples of philosophical writing, paying attention to the reasoning and arguments, looking for flaws in logic, etc. - all helped my own preparation for writing. I learned to write effectively, paying attention to nuances in meanings of words, and the context in which they are used. While it was a challenging course, I was profoundly rewarded with my newly developed writing ability. I got it.
These days, the ability to write effectively is still a rare skill in the larger world. Many people write as if they were just transcribing their speech – as in speaking, not a speech. Speaking relies so much on nuances and inflections in the manner of how things are said, and of course the person(s) one is speaking to. It is, of course, far more intuitive than writing. Children, at an early age, learn that how you say it is often as important if not more important than what you say. Writing is a skill acquired at a much much later stage - when even the most rudimentary sentences are heaped with praise and accolades.
I sometimes believe that like many things, writing improves with use and practice. But alas, in my efforts to encourage my son to write - a blog - I think he does not yet "get it". Writing is a counter-intuitive means of communicating.
Went to Disneyland yesterday with Carina (Christopher was on a sleep-over). We went late - got there around 5pm, stayed until about 10p. She had fun - we waited about 40 mins to get on the new Finding Nemo submarine ride - amazing that it was her idea to wait. It was cool, nice effects. not claustrophobic at all - except when the sub stopped for a few minutes. Then we hit autopia - she couldn't get the hang of steering, but the car ahead of us stalled for a couple of minutes.
For awhile, we searched for lolipops and mouse ears. Finally, after the fireworks - which was impressive if they did that every night - we settled on some mickey pops and a princess cone hat with LED lights. The night time experience is quite different - duh - in that it actually seems more dream like - limited vision, flickering lights - and people silhouetted and wearing funny costumes. I saw people with jackets that had elaborate flickering displays on the back - kind of like a miniature times square billboards.
Lots of couples. There's something for everyone, but a bit too much for me. It's impressive that Disney has been able to keep things fresh and not let things just coast while they rake in the bucks. And more impressive that they have tried hard not to let things get "cheap" - as in low quality. Still, some things seem cheesy or cheap.
The on screen keyboard takes getting used to. There's some auto-correction feature that sometimes gets in the way when you want to enter something not in the dictionary - you have to override it. AT&T coverage is ok, but yes, not as fast for data as Sprint or Verizon. No third-party apps is a huge problem for me - especially since Apple has left out many many functions. Doing things through the web browser is not ideal for many applications. There's no tethering - once you connect it to your computer, it wants to sync through iTunes, and the Bluetooth support is limited to Handsfree and Headset profiles. There's no Bluetooth support for printing or even file transfer - basic profiles found on most Bluetooth phones going back a few years.
Maybe Apple will add features and support for some these missing features - or maybe not. I think even mighty Apple had their hands full launching iPhone as it is with as much stability as it could. I know the touch screen function had to have lots of engineering in it because it actually had lots of advance error-correction noise filtering built in. For example, when you put it up to your ear, it ignores the ear touches on the screen so it doesn't trigger hanging up or a number of other options on screen. It's a capacitance screen - not a pressure-sensitive type - so only contact with your skin will be recognized. I think that means no gloved fingers.
Other problems - since there are no drop down menus, I don't know how one selects text for copying and pasting. Since your Mac OS keychain is not synced to the iPhone, when you surf your favoritie sites, you need to type in your username/password again. And since I can't install my password storing app - SplashID - like I can on most smart phones (Symbion, Palm OS, Windows Mobile) - it's pretty frustrating to go to sites where I don't recall my login information (yes, I actually have a different password for each site, and use several different usernames - I'm paranoid that some unscrupulous or breached site with my username/password will allow access into all my other accounts).
Is there such a thing as luck? Unexplainable coincidences? Uncanny timing? Maybe, maybe not.
I would say that most people would consider me lucky, and I might agree. But I also know that I've always had to work really hard to prepare for "lucky" things to happen to me - being at the right place at the right time. Isn't there some old adage that goes something like "Success is 90% perspiration and 10% luck" ?
While I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth, I wasn't raised in poverty - and I was given great opportunities - which I took advantage of. In contrast, I've seen people who consider themselves "unlucky" pass by opportunities without doing anything, and then say 'see, I told you I am unlucky." Well, it wasn't luck or no luck. Dumb luck, maybe. But why leave things up to chance? Be prepared and lady luck will reward you with opportunities you'd have never dreamed of.
One of my biggest peeves are lotteries - especially those run by states. Lotteries just take advantage of many people who are struggling to make ends meet. Yeah, it gives them some hope or dreams - but it doesn't really. The odds are so bad that these people are really just throwing their money away. It's state sanctioned scamming. At best, it's some form of cruel entertainment - at worst, it's a voluntary tax on the working class. And which politician wouldn't love people volunteering to pay a tax they don't have to pay? Yeah, it helps fund education in California - but heck - it doesn't have to be that way. It's just a way for politicians to scam the people out of hundreds of millions of additional dollars to pay for something their property taxes should be paying for anyway. It just allows the politicians to divert the actual tax dollars to some other pet projects.
An evening stroll with Carina on her bike around the neighborhood - she really seems to enjoy these walks, unlike Christopher. Today we happened upon a small little baby bird sitting on the sidewalk. Carina was absolutely fascinated and started chattering on about the little baby bird needing to find her mommy bird. We couldn't find a nearby nest, which it must have fallen out of. It was shivering from the cool breeze, it seemed like. So, I allowed her to carry it back to the house in her bike helmet.
When we got back, I googled "caring for baby bird" and found wise advice to return the baby bird to where we found it. So after dinner, we took the little bird back to the area where we found it - but placed it in some high grass so that it could hide and have some shelter from the wind. We'll return tomorrow to see if it got home.
I've got two young children. I know about bad dreams that kids have. Unfortunately, mine is the grown up kind. It's about aggression and racism. Things that make me so angry. I'm not talking about overt stuff here - it's subtle, patronizing, but all the same, the message is clear - you are a minority, you're different, you're not worth my respect.
The dream took place at my parents house - where I grew up on Long Island. Some trespassers parked their cars on our backyard lawn and went into the woods behind our house. They come out ot the woods and start messing up our lawn and harassing us, picking on a good nature gardener who is Asian. The gardener is bewildered and on the verge of tears - I did not hear what the trespasser said. The gardener began to walk away, but the trespasser followed and was preparing to kick the gardener while his buddies watched and laugh. This made me angry and rushed forward to stop the trespasser, shouting at him to stop and leave.
Why did these trespassers think that they could harass an Asian man without any retribution or consequences? Of course this was just a dream - but it is a reflection of real attitudes prevalent in the US. Evidence the recent CBS radio show "the Doghouse" featuring a prank call to a real Chinese restaurant by the show's hosts, taunting them with racist mockery and sexual harassment of the Chinese woman answering the call. Yes, this is the same CBS that fired Imus for his nappy-headed ho's comment. Asians just don't get the same respect as even African Americans.
Yesterday, I had a meeting with the largest car manufacturer to discuss online marketing - particularly the in-language sites for Chinese Americans and Latinos. They wanted us to write a business plan for them to justify continuing these in-language sites. The senior guy at the meeting is white, and the project manager is Chinese. Even the Chinese guy, who spoke with a mild accent, questioned the need for in-language site. (Asians are often undermining their own - in order to gain "respect" with whites). Clearly, these guys would rather get rid of the in-language sites, and mentioned it as an option. They've begun redesigning the main site, but the in-language sites were not slated to be updated. This is the world's largest automaker, doing really well with high profits. This is not a matter of budget. And they confessed its not a matter of ROI. They just questioned the need to continue to support the in-language site. Translation: "Why should we support Chinese Americans and Latinos specifically? They should just use the English site." True, English fluency is not a question in these "target" markets.
But what is often forgotten by many marketers and advertisers is that in the efforts to reach their customers and build a brand relationship with them, the advertisers' money supports the things the customers care about - whether it's sports, tv shows, magazines, or online content. In-language is not the real issue. And in effect, this support through advertising is really about giving back to the customer's community. Witness local merchants who advertise in school yearbooks. It's about giving back to the communities that they serve by supporting the things their customers care about.
So basicaly, this major auto manufacturer does not want to give back to the Asian Americans and Hispanic communities that buy their cars. They don't want to support the sports, newspapers, magazines, and online content that these customers care about. That's the bottomline. Knowing this, if you are Asian American or Hispanic, would you want to support this company with your hard-earned money?
In large bowl whisk together 2 cups flour, 1/4 cup sugar, 2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/8 teaspoon salt.
Cut in about 1/3 - 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter with pastry
blender until mixture looks like coarse crumbs - more butter makes it
more "shortbread" texture, less butter for more "cake" texture.
optionally add:
- chopped dried fruit, raisins, chocolate chips, nuts, etc.
in a small cup, beat 1 egg, add 1/2 cup heavy cream or milk, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. add this mixture to the flour mixture. stir until just combined.
knead dough gently on lightly floured surface. Roll or pat the dough into a circle about 7 inches diameter by 1 - 1/2 inches thick. Cut into 8 slices. Alternatively, cut dough with cookie cutter (make it about 1 inch thick or less).
Bake at 375F (190C) for about 15 to 18 minutes or until lightly browned.
Optionally. after removing from oven, put oven into broil, sprinkle
heavy coat of confectioners sugar on top of scones and put into oven
for a few seconds, letting the sugar melt and caramelize but not burn.
Stuff i saw recently at costco:
canon sd900 (not as nice as my sd800)
xbox 360 bundle with arcade games (lame)
white playstation 2 (with xtra black controller)
lame selection of video games (cars)
anti-check fraud pens with special ink that can't be washed off 10 for =
$11.99
microsoft gps navigation software with gps receiver for only $99
